Becoming the Tsuchikage in the Naruto World

Chapter 277: Konoha High-Level Meeting

The Fourth Hokage was dead.

The Third Hokage, who had been in power for decades and lived through three Great Ninja Wars just fine, was succeeded by a Fourth Hokage who suddenly died in an era of peace.

The Fourth Hokage also possessed the Flying Thunder God Technique and was known as the fastest in the ninja world. In everyone's eyes, Minato Namikaze should have been immortal.

However, Minato was just like Tobirama Senju back then; the Konoha ninjas of that time also felt it was impossible for Tobirama to die in battle.

Wasn't the Fourth Hokage the legendary Child of Prophecy? Was a dead Child of Prophecy still a Child of Prophecy?

The onlookers of the ninja world expressed: "Incredible, incomprehensible."

Why wasn't it the Third Hokage who died? He was clearly the only one who couldn't use the Flying Thunder God, yet he was the one who lived to retirement.

"So the Flying Thunder God's greatest weakness is bonds." This was the first sentence the Raikage, A, said after hearing the news.

Minato had died sealing the Nine-Tails, which reminded the Fourth Raikage of his father. Back then, the Third Raikage had also nearly lost his life trying to suppress the rampaging Eight-Tails.

"Yellow Flash, Red Hot-Blooded Habanero, both dead together. Dummy big bro, should we go or not, to attack Konoha?" Killer Bee said while writing lyrics.

For a rare moment, the Fourth Raikage did not strike Killer Bee away but said seriously, "No rush. We'll wait for Iwagakure to make a move first."

"Huh?" Killer Bee looked at the Fourth Raikage very strangely. "What's wrong with my big bro? Is this still my big brother who is full of muscle and only knows how to be reckless?"

The Fourth Raikage seemed to know what he was thinking. A flash of lightning, and he raised his hand to punch Killer Bee on the head, directly making him see stars.

However, the Fourth Raikage still gave an explanation, "This newly appointed Fourth Tsuchikage from Iwagakure likes to let others take the lead while he lies back and reaps the benefits. This time, I want to see what Iwagakure will do first."

There was another person who had the same idea as the Fourth Raikage, and that was the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa. It had to be admitted that after so many years of fighting with Konoha, everyone was surprised to find that only Iwagakure had gained some advantages in recent years.

And who was responsible for Iwagakure's change in strategy in recent years?

No one had paid attention to this question before, but after Ishiro became the Fourth Tsuchikage, everyone seriously analyzed Ishiro's track record and only then discovered that he had been influencing Iwagakure's strategic direction from a very early stage.

Iwagakure's great changes were all because of Ishiro!

So, both the Fourth Raikage and the Fourth Kazekage wanted to see Ishiro's reaction first. As for the Fourth Mizukage, no one could guess his actions.

However, they waited and waited, but there was still no reaction.

For a whole month after the Nine-Tails incident, Iwagakure made no move at all.

It wasn't until a month later that they learned from some clues that Iwagakure's Elite Jonin had been studying a batch of ninjutsu together for this entire month.

As for the origin of this batch of ninjutsu, sorry, it was unclear.

What "unclear"? It was obviously obtained from Konoha! Iwagakure must have participated in Konoha's Nine-Tails Rampage. Not long ago, news came from Konoha that someone had taken advantage of the chaos to loot the homes of many Konoha ninjas.

Rasa's and A's first reaction was: "It must have been Ishiro who infiltrated Konoha that night."

Rasa's and A's second reaction was: "How many good things did Ishiro get from Konoha?"

Rasa's and A's third reaction was: "How did Ishiro know Konoha's Nine-Tails would break its seal? Could it be that Ishiro orchestrated this Nine-Tails Rampage?"

Rasa's and A's fourth reaction was: "Has Ishiro already colluded with the Uchiha clan? We can't fall behind either."

Damn it! No wonder Iwagakure made no move. They were full from eating and were now digesting. Then, the Sand and Cloud villages both began to try and turn the Uchiha clan, in unison.

Although there was no evidence, all countries guessed that Konoha's Nine-Tails Rampage was most likely related to Iwagakure. And unanimously, everyone pinned this blame on Ishiro, who had the title "Fox of Iwa."

When Ishiro got the news, he was a bit dumbfounded, "What's going on? How did I suddenly get the same treatment as the scapegoat king?"

Returning the view to Konoha Village, in the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, Root leader Danzō, and the two advisors with no real duties, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, all sat before the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade.

Hiruzen asked Tsunade, "Tsunade, the Anbu has been investigating the Nine-Tails Rampage for a month. Are there any results?"

Tsunade shook her head and said, "According to the Anbu's investigation, no suspicious personnel have been found in the Uchiha clan."

Danzō heavily pounded his cane on the ground and said, "Fifth, on the night of the Nine-Tails Rampage, the Root members surrounding the Uchiha were attacked. The attacker, after the Fourth contained the Nine-Tails, killed their way back into the Uchiha territory from the outside."

"It was the Uchiha who released the Nine-Tails!" Danzō said with absolute certainty.

Tsunade was not afraid of Danzō. She slammed her fist heavily on the desk and said in a tone even firmer than Danzō's, "You can't even confirm if anyone entered the Uchiha territory. On what grounds do you directly say the Uchiha clan was responsible for the Nine-Tails Rampage? Besides, who knows how the Root members died?"

Danzō was furious, stood up, pointed at Tsunade, and shouted angrily, "Tsunade, are you doubting me?"

Seeing this, Hiruzen immediately came out to mediate, "Tsunade, Advisor Danzō and the Root he leads are all members of the village. They are all trustworthy."

"Danzō, the one who killed Team Tei might not necessarily be an Uchiha. Don't forget Iwagakure."

After Hiruzen smoothed things over, the tense atmosphere in the office finally eased a bit.

Koharu took the opportunity to say, "Fifth, has the Anbu obtained any definite news related to Iwagakure?"

Tsunade shook her head and said, "Not yet. But there is something very suspicious. Just as the Fourth was dealing with the Nine-Tails and I was dealing with the Seven-Tails, a battle occurred near the Fourth's house. One of the parties in the battle used a powerful Fire Release."

"I have confirmed that none of our own people went to the Fourth's house at that time. Neither of the combatants was one of us. And the Fourth's house had clearly been infiltrated."

"Near the Fourth's house?" Homura had a headache. Because Kushina was a Jinchuriki, the Fourth's house was actually some distance from Konoha Village. Very few Konoha ninjas went there.

With no witnesses, it would probably not be easy to find clues about the two combatants.

"Can we determine the identities of the two combatants?" Hiruzen asked.

Tsunade shook her head and said, "One side only left a trace of Fire Release. The other left no trace at all."

"Hmph, Fire Release. It must be the Uchiha," Danzō snorted coldly, directly making a conclusion.

Tsunade was speechless. Using Fire Release well, back in the Warring States period when ninjutsu relied on family inheritance, could barely be said to be a sign of the Uchiha.

But by this point in the era of hidden villages, if you randomly grabbed ten Elite Jonin in Konoha, six of them would know Fire Release.

Fire Release was no longer representative of a certain ninja clan. This ratio might be a bit lower in other hidden villages, but not by much.

Tsunade did not refute Danzō; she couldn't even be bothered with him. The others also did not respond to Danzō's words. Danzō was obviously slinging mud at the Uchiha clan.

"Are there any movements from Iwagakure's higher-ups?" Hiruzen asked. He was referring to Ishiro, Ōnoki, and Ikura. Only these three from Iwagakure had the strength to release the Nine-Tails or drop the Seven-Tails on Konoha from the sky.

If considering that the Seven-Tails had fallen from the sky, then the opponent should have the ability to fly. Ikura was then less suspicious. Considering the style of action, the person who came to everyone's mind first was Ishiro.

Tsunade shook her head and said, "The Anbu's intelligence ninjas have no direct intelligence." After speaking, Tsunade looked at Danzō.

Danzō frowned. His Root had been almost completely replaced in recent years, and his intelligence personnel had not been replenished in time. His intelligence gathering on Iwagakure was not as good as before the Third War. Intelligence of this level, on the movements of Iwagakure's higher-ups, was not easy to collect.

Seeing Danzō's expression, Tsunade also knew he had no useful intelligence either, so she continued, "However, although the movements of Iwagakure's higher-ups are uncertain, in the month following the Nine-Tails Rampage, Iwagakure gathered the village's powerhouses for a period of intensive training."

"And on the night of the Nine-Tails Rampage, the homes of many ninjas in the eastern part of our village were burglarized, and the bodies of many ninjas who died in that area were looted."

"The intelligence squad analyzed that it cannot be confirmed whether Iwagakure was the culprit who released the Nine-Tails or the Seven-Tails, but the one who collected the ninjutsu scrolls was definitely Iwagakure."

"Is it Iwagakure again?" Hiruzen took a deep drag from his pipe, then said, "Tsunade, from now on, we must focus on suppressing Iwagakure."

"Almost every major loss the village has suffered in these years has been because of Iwagakure. The cause of White Fang's death lay with Iwagakure. The loss in the first battle with the Sand during the Third War was because Iwagakure handed over the Third Kazekage puppet to the Sand."

"Iwagakure was later the first hidden village to withdraw from the Third War. The Land of Earth has also surpassed the other three great nations economically, steadily becoming the second great nation after the Land of Fire."

Hiruzen took another drag from his pipe and continued, "Jiraiya's death was also because of Iwagakure. The breakdown of our relationship with the Mist was also because of Iwagakure."

"In addition, the breakdown of the relationship between the Uchiha clan and us also involved Iwagakure. The child who went missing from the Uchiha clan a few years ago should be in Iwagakure now."

"More importantly, during the Third and Fourth Wars, we have repeatedly inflicted heavy damage on the other three hidden villages, but Iwagakure alone has suffered almost no losses in these two great wars."

"In a few more years, the vitality that Iwagakure lost due to the Second Great Ninja War will have recovered, but our four villages have been constantly bleeding. Compared to after the Second War, our strength has basically not improved."

"And Iwagakure's overall strength has been continuously improving. According to intelligence, Iwagakure, which was originally not skilled in medical ninjutsu, sealing jutsu, Lightning Release, genjutsu, sword techniques, and combination ninjutsu, has made rapid progress in these areas in recent years."

Hearing this, Tsunade couldn't help but frown. She hadn't expected the situation to have deteriorated to this extent. Although she had been back in the village for some days, because she wasn't the Hokage before, she hadn't paid attention to this kind of intelligence. In Tsunade's mind, Iwagakure was still that big, clumsy village that only knew Earth Release.

Finally, Hiruzen looked around at everyone and said, "The most, most terrifying point is that Ishiro used Sage Jutsu in the battle that killed Jiraiya. After Lord First, a second Sage has appeared in the ninja world, but this person is not from Konoha, but from Iwagakure."

Hearing this, everyone fell silent. It hadn't been obvious before, but now they suddenly realized that Konoha's situation was already so critical. Tsunade suddenly stood up and said to the four, "I want to visit the Uchiha clan. Teacher, Senior Homura, Senior Koharu, the three of you come with me."

The Hokage personally visiting the Uchiha clan was a gesture of goodwill. Calling the other three was to show the formality of the village's leadership and also to give the Uchiha clan a step to reintegrate into the village. As for why Danzō was not included, Tsunade didn't say, and no one guessed.

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