Chapter 101: The Calculations of Both Sides

For Yamanaka Chujiu, screening the elite was far more difficult than he had imagined.

It was not that no one was willing to go; it was that every Konoha ninja was willing to go.

Even those Konoha ninjas who had elderly parents and young children at home, and were the sole pillars of their families, were willing to risk their lives to follow Orochimaru to the East Front.

For glory.

Since the passing of the Second Hokage, it had been a very, very long time since the Konoha ninjas had experienced the feeling of victory.

Konohagakure had achieved victories on the battlefield.

For instance, Sunagakure, Amegakure, Iwagakure, Kirigakure, and Kumogakure had all been defeated, but victories on the battlefield would quickly turn into a peace of neither victory nor defeat.

Facing the enemy, you wouldn't even feel comfortable saying: "I am the victor!"

A more important point was that the Konoha ninjas trusted Orochimaru.

They believed their sacrifices would not be in vain; even if they died on the battlefield, their families would be properly cared for by Orochimaru.

In the end, the selection turned into a competition, keeping Yamanaka Chujiu dizzy with busyness.

While Yamanaka Chujiu was screening the eight hundred elites, Sarutobi Hiruzen once again summoned his old classmates and the Elders of the four great clans for an emergency meeting.

In the conference room on the top floor of the Hokage Building, the atmosphere was heavy.

The three old classmates looked solemn, remaining silent.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's tone was cold: "Orochimaru has openly defied me; he already views the position of Hokage as his own, completely ignoring my authority."

"What should we do now?"

Mitokado Homura said: "Hiruzen, Orochimaru's reputation is too high right now, and the Konoha ninjas' adoration is at its peak. They still have four thousand elite ninjas in their hands; it is not suitable to have a direct falling out for the time being."

Utatane Koharu said: "Homura is right. If we act rashly, it will only cause dissatisfaction among the Konoha ninjas, and might even trigger a rebellion, plunging Konohagakure into the crisis of a civil war."

An Elder of the Sarutobi clan echoed: "The two of you are correct."

"We can only endure for now, monitor them in secret, look for their weaknesses, and wait for a suitable opportunity to suppress their reputation."

"Endure?" Shimura Danzo sneered: "Do you think Orochimaru is Minato Namikaze?"

"My good student will not just watch us make moves; he will actively expand his influence and escalate his attacks until we have all lost our power!"

Elder Sarutobi said: "Lord Danzo, I am not reconciled either."

"But right now, we have no better way."

"The problem is that Orochimaru's strength is immense; none of us are his match."

Shimura Danzo's face twitched a few times, but he did not refute.

He was also nearly sixty years old, his physical functions had declined severely, and his strength had long since fallen far from its peak.

Especially since he was blind in one eye, had not collected Sharingan on a large scale, and certainly had not prepared a prosthetic arm with Orochimaru's help.

At this moment, let alone defeating Orochimaru, Shimura Danzo might not even be able to defeat an Elite Jonin of Konohagakure.

Elder Sarutobi continued: "Because our strength is insufficient, we can only endure."

"If we want to change all of this, we can only win over more ninjas and consolidate our power."

"Of course, if a genius appears among our younger generation—they don't even need to be as strong as Orochimaru or Minato Namikaze—our situation would be much easier to handle."

"Send the child to the East Front, use our absolute strength to assist him, crush the Mist Ninja, and sign a victory treaty; then, Orochimaru's reputation will instantly become worthless."

Following this, the entire conference room fell silent.

Because within the four great clans, there were no outstanding young ninjas.

Sarutobi Hiruzen calculated secretly in his heart.

The most excellent descendants among the four great clans were Sarutobi Hiruzen's two sons.

Sarutobi Shinnosuke, who currently served as the Anbu Captain, and Sarutobi Asuma, who had run off to the Land of Fire to serve as one of the Guardian Shinobi Twelve for the Daimyo.

Shinnosuke controlled the Anbu; one could not boast about him, otherwise, this group of old fogies wouldn't be able to hold meetings here.

Asuma was even harder to boast about, because he was one of the Guardian Shinobi Twelve; if pursued strictly, he was a rogue ninja of Konohagakure.

How could one boast about this?

Thinking it over and over, Sarutobi Hiruzen understood completely that he could only endure now and wait for an opportunity.

"Fine, let us proceed according to everyone's suggestion."

"The Anbu will closely monitor Orochimaru's every move; if they have any abnormalities, report to me immediately."

"Also, the Elders must settle their minds; do not be afraid to spend money, and win over as many civilian ninjas as possible to support us."

"We have only one goal: we absolutely cannot let Orochimaru take the position!"

"Yes, Lord Hokage!"

The Elders of the four great clans responded in unison, then rose one after another to leave the conference room to execute Sarutobi Hiruzen's orders.

In the conference room, only the Konoha F4 remained.

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat in his chair, turning his head to look out the window; his voice was somewhat ethereal.

"Koharu, and Homura, you need to visit the various ninja clans to consolidate our foundation and stabilize our relationships."

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu also left, and in the end, only Shimura Danzo remained.

Sarutobi Hiruzen did not look at Danzo, nor did he speak.

Shimura Danzo did not speak either, merely sitting there with a sneer.

A long time later, Danzo rose, let out a cold snort, and then pushed the door open to leave.

In the end, he even slammed the door hard: Bang!!

The door:...

Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo were the core of the Konoha F4; the two of them knew tacitly that Orochimaru would not be as content and law-abiding as the Fourth Hokage.

They absolutely could not passively wait for Orochimaru to reveal a flaw on his own; they had to take the initiative to strike.

Just like how they dealt with Hatake Sakumo back then.

But the situation is truly different now; the Hyuga clan has dug up the matter of Hatake Sakumo, and the risk of Root causing more trouble is boundlessly high.

Shimura Danzo wants a clear order from Sarutobi Hiruzen, or at the very least, a clear promise of a safety net.

Meanwhile, Sarutobi Hiruzen wants Shimura Danzo to take full responsibility on his own and not drag the Third Hokage and the collective down with him.

In the end, it was Shimura Danzo who compromised.

Having finalized the list of eight hundred people, Yamanaka Chujiu was so exhausted that his soul felt like it was about to fly away.

But he could not rest, because there were still people waiting for him.

The six remaining captains of the secret organization he personally established, the Rising Sun Organization—Kazamatsuri Harume, Yano Shoichi, Mitsuki, Kurama Hidechi, Aoki Takayuki, and Itachi Uchiha—had been waiting for him for a long time.

"You've worked hard."

"It's not hard work; Lord Chujiu and Brother Shisui fighting on the front lines is what's truly dangerous and exhausting!"

"Call me Brother Chujiu!"

"Hehe, Brother Chujiu is too amazing! Leading the Konoha army to cut through four countries, conquering Kumogakure, and defeating the Fourth Raikage—it's just like the legendary ninja!"

"Nonsense, there has never been a ninja like Brother Chujiu in the past; Brother is an unprecedented super ninja!"

Yamanaka Chujiu was amused to the point of laughing out loud, then gave each boy a flick to the forehead and each girl a pat on the head.

He asked with a smile: "Come, Harume, tell me, to what extent has the mutual aid economy of the Rising Sun Organization developed over these past two months?"