Chapter 125: Everyone is Waiting for Sarutobi Hiruzen to Speak

Instigating a civil war in Konoha was a sudden whim of Onoki.

Yet the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.

Yes, Orochimaru is the student of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen; when Tsunade left and Jiraiya wandered, it was Orochimaru who stayed by Sarutobi Hiruzen's side, obeying the Hokage's orders and fighting for Konohagakure.

The Ninja World universally recognizes the relationship between the master and student as very close.

But Onoki is no ordinary person; he is the representative of the cunning and treacherous in the Ninja World.

Onoki had long discovered that although Orochimaru and Sarutobi Hiruzen appeared to be a harmonious master and student on the surface, they actually had irreconcilable differences regarding the future direction of Konoha, their philosophies on Ninjutsu, and how to achieve peace.

Sarutobi Hiruzen believes in "balance and protection," while Orochimaru advocates "power above all" and, in his pursuit of Ninjutsu, does not hesitate to break ethical taboos.

The grand spectacle of the Fourth Hokage election pierced the facade of their master-student relationship, but it did not fully expose the conflict between the two.

And during the war against Kumogakure, in order to oppose the Third Hokage's compromise with Kumogakure, Orochimaru tore off his mask of warmth and chose to act alone.

Yet, relying on a mere four thousand Konoha Ninja, Orochimaru conquered Kumogakure and forced the Fourth Raikage to surrender and admit defeat.

Konohagakure won a massive victory, but the Third Hokage lost everything.

An enemy that could be wiped out by four thousand men, yet the dignified Hokage, holding over twenty thousand ninja, was single-mindedly focused on compromise, even going so far as to let the Hyuga clan head die.

Immediately following this, Orochimaru and Sarutobi Hiruzen erupted into conflict again over how to treat Kirigakure.

Orochimaru did not even argue; he directly bypassed the Hokage's orders and used his personal reputation to pull 7,500 Konoha Ninja from Konohagakure to rush to the East Front.

The result was a total victory in all three campaigns, successfully conquering Kirigakure once again and even occupying the Land of Water.

The Third Hokage's face was completely lost, trampled into the ground and crushed ruthlessly by Orochimaru.

Onoki believes that Sarutobi Hiruzen will not let this go; he will definitely do something about Orochimaru.

Even if Sarutobi Hiruzen does nothing, can Shimura Danzo hold back? Can the people of the Sarutobi Clan hold back and do nothing?

Onoki pondered repeatedly and finally determined that this was the breakthrough he could exploit.

So he summoned his most trusted Jonin and issued an unquestionable order: "Closely monitor the movements of Konoha, especially the actions of Sarutobi Hiruzen, Danzo, and Orochimaru."

"Once you discover that their conflict truly exists, secretly fan the flames, spread rumors, and sow discord; you must make Konoha fall into internal strife and let them destroy themselves."

The Iwagakure Jonin did not ask why, but bowed to accept the order and retreated silently.

A helpless smile curled the corners of Onoki's mouth; these are the stone-headed ninja of Iwagakure—they are incredibly reassuring when commanded, but it is extremely difficult to choose a successor for Onoki from among them.

"Wait a little longer, a good child will surely appear."

Onoki muttered: "What I must do is protect Iwagakure and create a safe environment for the children to grow up in."

"The most important thing right now is to weaken the overly powerful Konohagakure."

Under Onoki's manipulation, Iwagakure began to quietly push for the intensification of internal conflicts within Konoha.

If Orochimaru's victory shook the Ninja World, then the one feeling the most pressure must be Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Konohagakure, Hokage Building, Hokage Office.

The atmosphere was suffocatingly heavy.

The office windows were tightly shut, illuminated only by a single electric lamp; the people reflected in the dim, yellow light looked like vengeful ghosts from hell.

Their expressions were grave, their long shadows swaying restlessly, filled with repression, anxiety, panic, and helplessness.

The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, sat in his seat, his brows tightly locked, his pipe flickering in his hand, his entire person surrounded by curling smoke.

The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes became deeper, and even his spine seemed to have hunched over a bit.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's prized student, Orochimaru, led Konoha Ninja to defeat Kirigakure, completely ending the Third Shinobi World War and becoming an undisputed hero in the hearts of the villagers.

But he could not feel happy at all, because although Orochimaru's victory removed the war risk for Konohagakure, it placed unimaginable pressure on him, the Third Hokage, almost crushing him.

Shimura Danzo revealed one cold, sinister eye, radiating a chill that kept others at a distance, his gaze sweeping toward Sarutobi Hiruzen from time to time, hiding a trace of imperceptible covetousness.

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu had different expressions, but neither could hide the shock and anxiety in their hearts.

This period of time has been truly unbearable.

First, the Uchiha Clan caused trouble, then the Hyuga Clan turned their backs, and finally, even the staunch Ino-Shika-Cho-Aburame clans distanced themselves from them.

The Inuzuka Clan is still as obedient as ever, but they still will not take initiative to do anything, nor will they do dirty work for the Third Hokage.

Just as they were busy dealing with the conflicts within the village, Orochimaru suddenly made his move, inciting the young ninja in the village to ignore the Third Hokage's orders and follow him to the East Front to fight the Mist Ninja.

No matter how you put it, this is betrayal!

But Orochimaru won, wiped out the Mist army, broke through Kirigakure, and occupied the Land of Water.

The first elder of Kirigakure, Genji, and the only survivor of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Suikazan Fuguki, both chose to surrender and obey Orochimaru's orders.

The victor is not blamed!

Now, the Third Hokage, who did not give Orochimaru the order, has become the target of collective blame by Konohagakure.

Third Hokage, are you really the Hokage?

You thought the Cloud Ninja were invincible, yet Orochimaru was able to defeat them; when you thought the Mist Ninja were troublesome, Orochimaru completely wiped them out.

How could a dignified Hokage make such a wrong judgment?

Clearly, they were enemies that could be defeated with a hard fight, yet you forced us to bow our heads in humiliation, sacrificing the interests and ninja of Konohagakure to the enemy, praying for the enemy to graciously grant us peace...

Sarutobi Hiruzen, are you stupid, or are you evil?

This is truly not a rumor spread by Orochimaru, but a thought that appeared naturally in the hearts of every Konoha villager and Konoha Ninja after the stark contrast between the glorious victory and Sarutobi Hiruzen's policy of compromise.

Many even think: if Orochimaru had been allowed to take power earlier, perhaps Konohagakure could have achieved a glorious victory during the Second Shinobi World War, and the Third Shinobi World War would not even have broken out.

But whether Shimura Danzo contributed secretly to this consensus erupting within two days, no one knows.

The Konoha F4 are already very clear that the threat of Orochimaru is imminent; as long as he is alive, these Konoha high-level officials will not have a day of peace.

But no one is willing to say the words "kill Orochimaru," because it directly conflicts with the philosophy promoted by Sarutobi Hiruzen, and there is even more suspicion of sowing discord in their master-student relationship.

Whoever speaks first now will be Orochimaru's irreconcilable enemy.

If Orochimaru successfully becomes the Fifth Hokage, he will inevitably carry out the most brutal purge against them.

Even if the Third Hokage Group defeats Orochimaru, Sarutobi Hiruzen will use him as the culprit for Konoha's internal strife, making him take the fall for the chaos.

Even if the outcome wouldn't be death, there is no hope of keeping one's current power, status, and wealth.

Therefore, Danzo and the others are all waiting, waiting for Sarutobi Hiruzen to speak for himself.