Chapter 16: Not My Wish (Part 1)

Hiss—whew.

Inside the office, the Third Hokage let out a deep, turbid breath. His right hand, holding his pipe, trembled slightly. Because of his anger and frustration, his chest felt as if a raging fire were burning within it; the flames of fury nearly scorched his chest, and he felt an urge to crush the pipe in his grip.

"……This time, it was my miscalculation."

The Third said with an extremely grim expression. This move could not be called particularly brilliant, yet it had successfully stirred up a massive disturbance. If this political crisis were not handled well, it would very likely trigger a war once again. At that point, the already weakened Konoha Village would be forced into a major battle with the Cloud Ninja Village. If that happened, could Konoha, already at the end of its rope, defeat the Cloud Ninja? Not to mention, how would they deal with the need to simultaneously guard against the Rock Ninja and the Sand Ninja, who would 100% stab them in the back?

In this matter, he had indeed underestimated the resolve of the Cloud Ninja. If he had known this would happen, he should not have let him go, but rather……

The Third let out a long sigh. In the end, he was old. If the one handling this matter had been the Fourth—no, if the Fourth had not died, perhaps this kind of thing would never have happened.

"Sarutobi, what are you still hesitating there for! Why don't you immediately send people to bring the Cloud Ninja delegation in, disperse the public, and ensure the situation does not deteriorate further?!"

Watching the Third stand there looking troubled for a long time without moving, Danzo, who was sitting to the side, could no longer restrain himself; he stood up and roared.

"Are you still going to be lost and at a loss for what to do at this point in time!?"

He had long been unable to stand the weakness and hesitation of the Third Hokage. This time, he had also released the person behind their backs, only for it to lead to such an awkward consequence. As expected, Sarutobi was no longer fit to continue serving as Hokage. The only one who could continue to lead Konoha Village forward—was himself! Danzo thought to himself.

"What are you still standing there blankly for? Immediately send people to bring them in, and then disperse all the crowds watching the show in the nearby streets!!"

Danzo turned and gave the order. The ninja outside the door was clearly stunned; he looked at Danzo, then turned his head to look at the Third Hokage.

"……Go, do as Danzo says."

At this moment, the Third had already lost his composure somewhat. He took a few deep breaths to forcefully suppress the anger in his chest, thinking about what he should do next to suppress the matter.

It was just that, at present, the development of the situation had already exceeded his control. This was no longer a question of whether Konoha wanted to smooth things over, but whether the Cloud Ninja Village was willing to let it go and make peace. The Cloud Ninja envoy had used his own death to complete a checkmate against Konoha. Although it hadn't completely killed them off, it had brought about massive trouble; the slightest mishandling could trigger grave consequences.

Thinking back on it now, he, who had been single-mindedly wanting to settle this matter, was perhaps the most naive one of all, the Third Hokage lamented in his heart.

To have been bitten back by a mouse that had been forced into a corner—it was truly both painful and infuriating!

"Understood!"

After receiving the nod of approval from the Third Hokage, the ninja outside the door hurried off to convey the order.

"Hmph!" This scene not only deepened Danzo's inner anger by a few degrees, but it also made him realize that no matter how much he wanted to seize power and become Hokage, the reality was that the Third's reputation and control over Konoha were far above his own. Even a gate-keeping ninja looked to the Third for cues and almost ignored his own orders.

Danzo forcefully suppressed the anger in his heart and warned the Third Hokage.

"No matter the result of this incident, you must take full responsibility for it, Third Hokage!"

Danzo was so angry that he didn't even call Sarutobi by his name, addressing him directly as "Third Hokage" instead; from this, one could see how intense the fire of his jealousy and hatred was.

"I will naturally take full responsibility without you needing to tell me, but what is more important now is to suppress this matter. No matter what, we must prevent Konoha from falling into war again."

"That goes without saying, but if you fail and cause Konoha to be engulfed in the flames of war—Sarutobi, you must step down from the position of Hokage, and then we shall have the Council of Elders recommend a new election!"

The Third Hokage and Danzo stared directly into each other's eyes, neither giving an inch. The atmosphere inside the conference room suddenly became subtle. Danzo's unyielding performance caused the two elders who intended to persuade them to lock their brows tightly; the steps they had originally taken forward were retracted under Danzo's fierce gaze.

It was clear that this time, Danzo was determined to bring the Third Hokage down. If he didn't handle this well, Danzo would not hesitate to initiate a vote for the Hokage election. After all, he had already missed this opportunity twice (during the Second's era and the Fourth's era), and he would absolutely not miss it a third time.

Facing Danzo's aggressive gaze and attitude, the Third Hokage nodded slightly, yet with immense heaviness.

"Understood. If the final outcome truly becomes unmanageable, I will take full responsibility and resign from the position of Hokage."

"You had better keep your word, Sarutobi."

"If it weren't for the Fourth's early passing, I wouldn't have had to come out of retirement. But after all, the future to be created is not for an old man nearing the end of his life, but should be handed over to the young to lead, shouldn't it? What do you think, Danzo?"

The Third Hokage stared fixedly at Danzo with a meaningful gaze, his words containing hidden mysteries and pointing at something.

Danzo let out a cold snort. He stood up from the sofa and walked toward the outside, stopping when he reached the door.

At this moment, Danzo spoke.

"I only hope that young person won't be a second Minato Namikaze, otherwise you'll have to come out of retirement a second time, Sarutobi."

The Third Hokage's hand trembled slightly, and he almost lost his composure and started hurling insults at Danzo.

This sentence was a malicious accusation, its heart truly wicked. Although everyone present knew that the death of the Fourth had to do with the Nine-Tails, those with dark minds would inevitably think of things others wouldn't. For instance, Danzo had always believed that when the Fourth was deploying the barrier to deal with the Nine-Tails, the Third, who had already arrived nearby, had the full ability to break a hole in the barrier and rush in, yet he chose to stand by and watch.

Here, Danzo was implying that the Third had watched the Fourth and his wife die in battle in order to regain power.

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the two elders nearby changed instantly.

Elder Koharu even stood up directly, pointed at Danzo's back, and rebuked him angrily: "Enough, Danzo! Even I cannot listen to your words any longer! The death of the Fourth is a result no one wanted to see. Stop spouting nonsense there!"

Mito also couldn't watch anymore and said coldly: "Danzo, your words are a bit excessive."

"Hmph."

Responding to the two elders was a disdainful cold snort, and then Danzo's figure disappeared outside the door.

"I had thought that by staying in Root all these years, he would gradually understand everything I have done, but now it seems he has stayed in the shadows for too long—so long that he has forgotten what it is like to walk in the sunlight."

Watching the disappearing figure, the Third Hokage sighed deeply.

"Third, don't take his words to heart. Everyone knows the Nine-Tails incident…… was actually related to the Uchiha."

"That's right. The Sharingan reflected in the eyes of the Nine-Tails was clearly visible to everyone present. No one would question that the death of the Fourth and his wife had anything to do with you. If one must say, all the problems lie with the Uchiha. That crazy clan killed the First Hokage, and that wasn't enough; they even ended up implicating the Fourth."

"Third, we should prepare for the Uchiha early."

The two elders spoke one after another, seemingly comforting the Third Hokage, but as a result, the Uchiha were inexplicably caught in the crossfire.

The Third Hokage was in no mood to deal with the Uchiha problem right now. Furthermore, if he were to provoke the Uchiha at this critical juncture, wouldn't Konoha Village have to face the possibility of external war and internal rebellion simultaneously? With internal strife and external threats, Konoha Village would lose a layer of skin even if it didn't perish. The Third Hokage would not commit such a foolish mistake.

Now, the Third Hokage only thought about how to solve the current problem. The leader of the Cloud Ninja delegation dying in Konoha Village was no small matter. The Third seemed to have already smelled the smoke of war spreading in Konoha Village, and that was something he absolutely would not allow to happen.

The Cloud Ninja delegation……

The Hyuga Clan……

The Third Hokage locked his brows tightly, put down his pipe, exhaled a turbid breath, and spoke.

"——First, send someone to notify the Hyuga Clan."