Chapter 11: Man-Made Disaster (Part 2)

The Hokage Building.

The Third Hokage sat on the sofa with a deep frown, and opposite him was Shimura Danzo, his old friend and rival of many years; however, neither of their expressions were particularly pleasant right now.

The conference room was filled with the acrid smell of a head-on confrontation.

"Why, why did you let him go!?"

Veins bulged on the back of Shimura Danzo's hand as he gripped his cane; he suppressed the rage in his chest as much as possible while rebuking the Third Hokage.

"Why let that lackey go when he was caught red-handed? If you were worried that the Anbu couldn't handle it, then you should have handed him over to my Root. I guarantee that it would only take a few hours to dig out every secret in his brain!"

"To let go of a great criminal who snuck into the Hyuga Clan and attempted to kidnap a direct bloodline descendant, and even to send him back after he was caught red-handed—Sarutobi! This can no longer be described as just being senile; this is a betrayal of Konoha and the clans that trust Konoha! As the Third Hokage, you must take responsibility for this, Sarutobi!"

Shimura Danzo stared fixedly at the Third Hokage with a sinister gaze; his anger seemed to be a denunciation of the Third Hokage's dereliction of duty from the bottom of his heart, but what he was truly thinking inside, no one knew.

"I trust everyone in the village; they will surely be able to understand my desire to avoid war at all costs."

The Third Hokage responded to Shimura Danzo's rebuke in a steady tone; his expression was calm, as if not a single ripple had been stirred, and he looked at his old friend's face, twisted by anger, with clear eyes.

"That is weakness!"

Danzo roared!

"No, this is a compromise that must be made for the sake of peace."

The Third Hokage retorted.

"If we continue to pursue this, it will only destroy the atmosphere of the negotiations and make matters more complicated. Konoha, having experienced the Nine-Tails Incident and the death of the Fourth Hokage, is currently in an unprecedented state of weakness. What Konoha urgently needs now is time to recover its strength, to fully cultivate the next generation to become new branches and leaves so that they can support the great tree that is Konoha to continue surviving."

"So, what the village needs to do now is not to seek revenge for every grievance, but to make certain compromises for the sake of peace and the future—do you understand, Danzo?"

"Doing something that is practically a betrayal of the village in the name of peace—you are becoming more and more arbitrary, Third!"

To speak only of benevolence, righteousness, and peace, yet ultimately cause damage to one's own interests—how could such a thing be considered a compromise? It is already the behavior of a surrender faction.

"Everything is considered for the future of Konoha; I already have the resolve to bear all the infamy."

But the Third Hokage did not care what Danzo thought; he had already made his own decision regarding this incident.

The severity of the Cloud Ninja delegation leader sneaking into the Hyuga Main House during peace talks and attempting to kidnap the direct eldest daughter of the Hyuga Clan Head did not need to be explained by Danzo. This was already a desecration of the peace talks and a direct declaration of war, missing only a public statement; yet, the Third Hokage still chose to endure it and did not make the matter public. Not only that, he even let the Cloud Ninja delegation leader go, attempting to suppress the incident.

The Third Hokage had his own concerns. Ever since the Legendary Sannin had successively betrayed the village and left, the new generation, led by the Yellow Flash, had also withered away. The notable ninja were either killed on the battlefield, died from rumors within the village, or even chose to betray the village. This included the Third Hokage's own three direct disciples, as well as the White Fang of the Leaf, who died miserably at the hands of his own people.

"This village can no longer withstand any more waves; the more critical the time, the more cautious we should be."

"The most important thing now is to cultivate the successors of the next generation... It is already time to stop the war."

The Third Hokage walked to the window and looked out at the bustling, noisy streets filled with people; a chilling killing intent appeared on his wrinkled, aged face.

Letting the Cloud Ninja go and choosing to swallow this bitter pill was almost equivalent to trampling Konoha's dignity underfoot. Did they really think the Third Hokage would not hold the Cloud Ninja accountable?

The Third Hokage certainly wanted to do so, but he could not! Part of the reason was that Konoha truly could not withstand a Fourth Great Ninja War, and another part of the reason lay with the Third Hokage himself. After all, he was no longer young, and for many things, his heart was willing but his strength was lacking. Moreover, he was already an old man of over 60; he was overly cautious and lacked initiative, conservative and unwilling to take risks—he had succeeded in guarding the home, but had lost all his edge.

When all is said and done, the "Ninja Professor" of the past was no longer in his prime; now, all that remained was a frail, elderly man still struggling to support Konoha Village.

Therefore, what the Third Hokage valued now was actually the issue of inheritance, such as the village's stability, prosperity, and recovery. As for aggressively holding the Cloud Ninja accountable? If Konoha were in its peak period, the Third Hokage would have considered it, but now, Konoha still had to prioritize self-preservation.

"Danzo, if we continue to fight like this, I fear that both of us old bones will have to go to the battlefield to risk our lives against the enemy. Not to mention how many children and young people will have to pay with their precious lives for the political decisions of us old men before we even reach the battlefield."

"The village is a home that everyone should protect; it is only natural to pay with one's life for it."

Facing the serious-looking Third Hokage, Danzo retorted directly.

"Being tough now is to avoid the next war. If we do not deal a heavy blow to the enemy and completely eliminate them, then peace will never truly arrive. Sarutobi, your actions will not bring peace to Konoha; they will only cause us and the village to fall into the quagmire of war again and again."

"The concepts of ninja and Ninja Village are actually the same: only by being strong enough can you make everyone fear you, and fear is the only way to stop war!"

One could feel the murderous atmosphere spreading in the air; when Danzo said these words, he believed them in his heart as well.

"Doing that will only continue to intensify the conflict and will be of no benefit to the current Konoha."

Danzo sneered from the bottom of his heart at the Third Hokage's policy of compromise, believing that it did not solve the problem at all, but merely delayed it until it became even more serious. Although it seemed to protect peace now, in reality, it would only make the price the village paid in the next war even more tragic.

"To achieve your so-called strategy of fear, what price must Konoha pay, Danzo?"

The Third Hokage said with a frown.

"At all costs, until the goal is achieved!"

Danzo said viciously, his twisted face full of killing intent.

Perhaps because he had lived in the shadows for many years, Danzo's personality was not only twisted and paranoid but also carried cruelty and extremism.

The Third Hokage let out a long sigh. He understood his old friend's personality and methods very well, and it was precisely because of this that he did not dare to entrust certain matters to him. In the Third Hokage's heart, Danzo's methods were too "absolute"—the implication of not leaving the enemy any way out was, in fact, cutting off one's own retreat.

"You will directly ruin the entire Konoha, and even the entire new generation of young people, by doing this. And it is precisely because of your black-and-white, friend-or-foe personality that you cannot become a true Hokage, Danzo!"

The Third Hokage rebuked in an extremely stern tone; clearly, he had also been angered by Danzo's overly extreme ideas.

"Sarutobi!!"

The Third Hokage's words were like a thorn, piercing deeply into the most sensitive part of Danzo's heart.