Escape From Konoha

"I didn't expect that guy Danzo to actually make a move..."

In the office of the Hokage Building, Hiruzen put down all the work at hand and was reading a piece of information passed from the Anbu.

Rumors that were unfavorable to him as the Hokage began to spread on a small scale in the village.

——Wood Escape Experiment.

At least twenty or thirty years have passed since the initial wood escape experiment.

Although the executor of this experiment was the root led by Danzo, the person who issued the order was him, the Hokage.

Therefore, this rumor is not false in a strict sense.

But the wood escape experiment he initially led was not mandatory.

Instead, after signing the consent form, the injection of the first-generation Hokage cells began.

These documents, as well as the original consent form, were all well preserved. Therefore, Hiruzen couldn't be said to be too flustered when Danzo used such things to talk about things.

As long as the information from that year is made public, although there is no way to eliminate all the effects, it can at least make Danzo's plan go to waste.

The only tricky part is that it involves Orochimaru, who has defected from the village.

Rebellious ninjas will receive very serious hostility in the village.

If Orochimaru is also involved in public opinion, then the testimony he provides will obviously be less convincing.

Because Orochimaru was also one of the participants, and he, the Hokage, was the important researcher who was personally assigned to assist Gen.

This is where Hiruzen finds himself most embarrassed.

Although he was troubled by Danzo's moves, Hirazan was still able to maintain his composure.

Danzo would make a move, he had already expected it.

It is impossible for Danzo to watch Hokage's position fall into the hands of others. He will definitely use this gap to compete with him as Hokage.

"Kakashi, immediately lead Anbu to stop these rumors, and don't let the scale of these rumors expand."

Hirazan ordered Kakashi who was standing in front of the table, and gave him instructions.

He is not afraid of these slightly whitewashed rumors, but letting these rumors develop is not what Ri Zhan wants to see.

As long as Tsunade returns quickly and her position as the fifth Hokage is decided as soon as possible, then these rumors will become a secondary issue.

"yes."

Kakashi nodded, and left from the office using the Blinking Technique, taking the completion of Hirazan's order as the top priority.

Not long after Kakashi left, the office door was hastily pushed open.

"Hokage-sama, something serious has happened!"

"Don't panic, Lujiu, this is Danzo's move."

Seeing Lu Jiu, the squad leader of the ninja, rushing in, even abandoning the usual etiquette of knocking on the door, it can be seen that he is currently in a state of anxiety.

Compared to Lu Jiu's panic, Ri Zhan was much calmer and comforted him.

"Has Kakashi gone over to stop the rumors?"

Lu Jiu also knew that he seemed to be too eager, but the opponent was that Danzo, the man known as the dark of the ninja, so he couldn't tolerate him not being nervous.

Different from the small fights in the past, Danzo is here for real this time.

Therefore, after hearing the rumors in the village for the first time, Lu Jiu ran over directly.

Compared with Anbu's well-informed news, the Nara clan's news channel was a step slower.

"I have sent Kakashi there, and the influence caused by those rumors will soon be under control."

Hiruzen said while smoking.

Shikaku felt at ease, and then said: "In this case, the subsequent deployment of defenses must be arranged in advance. Elder Danzo must have backup plans."

"you mean……"

"Let people from the security forces join in and assist the Anbu in their operations. I'm worried that the rumors will intensify, and the Anbu's manpower alone may not be enough."

Shikaku said with a serious look.

Danzo possesses more than just the power of his roots.

He is the leader of the Konoha Fighting Faction.

The root is only the most representative organization of the Konoha fighting sect, but it is not the entire fighting sect.

If Danzo mobilizes all the strength of the martial arts faction, then the Anbu alone cannot stop it.

Even with the addition of security forces, Shikaku didn't feel very safe.

Hiruzen pondered for a moment, and after some consideration, he ordered into the surrounding air: "Tell Kakashi to ask the security team to join the action."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

The ANBU ninja lurking in the darkness left in an instant, chasing Kakashi with Hiruzen's orders.

After seeing the ANBU leave, Shikaku then asked: "Hokage-sama, I would like to ask, when will Tsunade-sama come back?"

Relying on rumors to influence the direction of public opinion in the village is, in the final analysis, only part of Danzo's plan, the so-called appetizer.

The real killer move is yet to come.

In this case, only by bringing Tsunade back to Konoha as soon as possible can people's hearts be stabilized.

The root of the contradiction lies in the selection of the Fifth Hokage.

As long as Tsunade's identity is established as soon as possible, no matter how many plans Danzo has, they can only come to nothing.

"It's not clear yet. Jiraiya has already gone to look for it. I believe there will be news back soon."

Hiruzen said to Shikaku after being silent for a while.

"It's been so long and there's still no news?"

Shikaku said in surprise.

He remembered that more than half a month had passed since Jiraiya was out, and two groups of ANBU were following him to assist him. How could it be possible that no news came back?

"I am also surprised by this matter, but now I can only believe that Jiraiya can handle the matter. At this time, our opponent is mainly Danzo to prevent his next actions."

"Having said that..."

Lu Jiu faintly felt uneasy.

"What do you think Danzo will do next?"

Hiruzen looked at the jounin squad leader whom he trusted and asked for his opinion.

Danzo has already started to take action, so this 'battle' will not end so easily.

Rumors are only the first step, and there will definitely be second, third, and even more means to make them tired of dealing with it.

If both sides continue to consume in this way, it will completely disrupt Konoha's internal management.

But it is not that easy to bring down Danzo, at least it is impossible to do it with force.

The martial arts faction is no longer as powerful as before. After so many years of development, it has begun to occupy a certain voice in the village. Not to mention the root of the leader, it will not be easy to defeat them.

And once force is used, it will inevitably lead to very serious consequences, and even civil war may occur, allowing other countries to take advantage of the situation.

This is not what Hiriza wants to see.

Therefore, Hiruzen hopes to solve this problem in a peaceful way.

Even if an armed conflict occurs, try to avoid escalating the incident.

"Honestly, I don't know what Elder Danzo's next move will be, nor do I know what he relies on to do so..."

Just when Shikaku opened his mouth to speak, the office door was pushed open again.

And the action of pushing the door is quite rough.

The two newcomers entered the office almost at the same time.

Mitomen is inflamed, and I will sleep with Koharu.

Obviously, they knew exactly who was behind the rumors in the village, and Danzo's actions made them uneasy.

"Hiruzen, what's going on between you and Danzo?"

Faced with the questioning from the two men, Hiruzen frowned, then relaxed and answered: "You should ask Danzo about this kind of question, not me. I also want to know if Danzo spreads these rumors. What do you want to do?”

"Is it because of the position of Fifth Hokage?"

Mito Menyan said in a low voice.

Hiruzen sighed, took a puff from the cigarette rod, and acquiesced.

"That guy Danzo..."

After going to bed, Koharu secretly gritted his teeth and was dissatisfied with Danzo's behavior.

Hiruzen felt bored when he saw this scene.

He didn't believe that these two old friends couldn't see that this was a dispute initiated by Danzo.

However, these two people came to him first to ask for an explanation. Obviously they knew that they could not find a breakthrough from Danzo, so they could only come to him to nag, hoping that he would calm down the matter, take the initiative to negotiate with Danzo, and bring the villagers to justice. The rumors were put to rest.

Because if the rumors are allowed to ferment, no one knows whether more characters will be revealed and more people will get angry.

"Hiruzen, what are you going to do about this?"

Mito Kadenen asked, looking directly at Hiruzen.

"I have asked the ANBU and the security team to control the direction of the rumors. As for when it will end, it is not me who has the final say."

"But you are Hokage!"

"I won't be anymore soon, and now I am unable to suppress Danzo's ambition."

Hiruzen's words surprised Mito Kadoyan, but he quickly calmed down.

"No matter what, you are the most vocal figures in the village, and you cannot let people in other villages laugh at it. I hope this farce ends as soon as possible, and we will also provide help to control the rumors in the village."

As advisors, the two of them also have many close associates who can assist the ANBU and the security team in their operations.

No matter how long this fight for the position of Hokage lasts, the issue of rumors must be controlled and cannot be left unchecked.

"If you had stood by me like this before, things wouldn't have reached this point."

Looking at the two people leaving in a hurry, Hiruzen blew out smoke rings with a complicated expression on his eyes.

"As a consultant, I may have my own difficulties."

Lu Jiu said from the side.

After all, there are many people watching that kind of high position, and it is human nature to want to firmly control the authority of the consultant.

"But the current situation does not allow them to be mere wallflowers anymore. The balance that Konoha has maintained for many years is about to be broken."

Hiruzen coughed. Although he was still struggling to hold on, his aura was no longer as strong as in his prime, and he was full of depressive twilight.

Suffering from the political struggle within the village and the pressure from the outside ghost country, his body has long been exhausted after these years of hardship.

"So, continuing the previous topic, how do you think Danzo can stop this incident? Or, in other words, how can we buy enough time before Tsunade comes back?"

Hiruzen looked up at Shikaku.

"It is impossible to completely control the rumors. The only way is to negotiate with Elder Danzo."

"I'm afraid this is also the situation Danzo hopes to see."

Hiruzen naturally knew that if he wanted to solve the rumor problem once and for all, he could only go to face-to-face negotiations with Danzo.

But this means that he has given up the initiative and will gradually increase Danzo's bargaining chip.

Hiruzen had no intention of doing this until the situation was unclear.

"I can't think of anything else to do."

Lu Jiu shook his head.

At this point, exploring the rumors itself is not the key to reversing the situation.

Shikaku would not consider the authenticity of those rumors.

If this source is not cut off, public opinion in the village will continue.

Rumors are not terrible. What is terrible is that Danzo wants to use this rumor to achieve some unknown purpose.

This was what Shikaku was worried about.

◎

The process of controlling rumors was not smooth.

Because of the sparse manpower, Kakashi only controlled the rumors in the downtown area. As for the rumors in some remote corners, they should still be spread secretly, and the content of the rumors became more and more outrageous and divorced from reality.

For example, at the beginning we were still talking about the Wood Release experiment, saying that the third Hokage had desecrated the remains of his ancestors. Later, the finger was pointed at the Third Hokage for using the Hokage's power to secretly steal children in the village, conspire with Orochimaru, conduct taboo research, and gain stronger power to control Konoha.

Afterwards, he was investigated by an unknown elder named "Danzo" and exposed Orochimaru's ugly deeds. However, because there was still the protector of the Third Hokage, Orochimaru calmly escaped from Konoha even if the matter was exposed.

Even after leaving the village, he still had a close relationship with his mentor, the Third Hokage.

This is also the reason why Orochimaru has been able to get away with it for so many years.

An unknown elder reprimanded him many times to no avail.

In short, many things cannot be confirmed to be true or false, but they are spread in a certain way.

Even insiders like Kakashi heard this and had to sigh that Genbu was really good at spreading rumors.

Although these voices are still very weak at present, the influence of such content will continue to accumulate.

When it accumulates to a certain level, it doesn’t matter whether the content is true or false. What’s important is that this is a fact that people recognize.

At that point, it's all over.

Therefore, such voices must be suppressed and cannot be allowed to gain momentum.

…

"They are talking nonsense, Grandpa Hokage is not that kind of person!"

Hearing the rumors on the street, Naruto couldn't restrain his inner anger. He clenched his fists and wanted to go up and argue with those people.

"Don't mess around, Naruto. Those are just ordinary people. If you hit them, you will be arrested by the security team immediately."

Unlike Naruto, although Sasuke was also very angry about these rumors, he also knew that these civilians who spread the rumors were just a group of followers. The real hateful thing was the people behind the scenes.

He had always had a good impression of the Third Hokage and did not believe that he would collude with a dangerous person like Orochimaru.

"But what they said was too..."

Naruto was too angry to speak.

"Sasuke is right. If we go up to this kind of thing, it will only be a waste of time. Let's let the ANBU and the security team handle it."

Sakura also came to stop Naruto and told him not to act rashly at this time.

Although the rumors continue, not everyone is blindly following them.

Those who had at least benefited from the Third Hokage were arguing with their arguments and starting to fight against those who spread rumors.

Genin like Team 7, who had a great impression of the Third Hokage, naturally stood on the Hokage's side and were at odds with the rumormongers.

"The most important thing now is to do your job well. If we hit them now, it will only put the Hokage in a more disadvantageous situation."

Sasuke was very calm.

As chuunin and genin, they could only wait and see what happens.

In such a struggle, to be honest, they are dispensable pawns and cannot play any key role.

"Speaking of which, where is Mr. Pervert?"

Naruto asked as he didn't see Ebisu's figure.

"With such a big thing happening, Ebisu-sensei can't sit still. I guess all the Jonin have been mobilized now."

Sakura said helplessly.

"Damn it! Don't let me know who did it!"

Naruto could only retract his fist unwillingly and endure the bad words spoken to Naruto by the people around him.

"Go back. It seems that all the tasks for the past few days will be stopped. If something happens, don't use force."

Sasuke shook his head, and after reminding Naruto and Sakura, he was not in the mood to stay outside and left directly.

After something like this happened, Class 7 no longer even had the mood to practice.

◎

"It seems that things are not going well."

His father, who left in a hurry, came back in a hurry. Shikamaru, who was sitting on the corridor at home, turned his head and said.

Shikaku nodded without concealing it with a heavy heart.

"I didn't expect even you to know."

"It's hard to figure out this kind of thing after walking around outside. So, how is the situation over there, Hokage-sama?"

The village has long been filled with all kinds of rumors that are not good for the Hokage. Even if they are suppressed by ANBU and security forces, it will take time to be effective.

If the Hokage does nothing during this period, it will definitely make this matter worse and cause panic within Konoha.

"With the current level of rumors, it is impossible to shake Hokage-sama's position. But the worst part is this."

"It's just like a warm-up exercise before the official game, is what you want to say."

Shikamaru spoke with a very vivid metaphor.

He didn't know Danzo and Genbe, but that didn't prevent him from making such speculations about the people behind the scenes.

In fact, in the chess and card games he is good at, this is also a very classic and commonly used tactic by both sides.

The person behind the scenes wanted to take advantage of this to test and find out the cards held by the Hokage.

And Naruto had to respond to that.

Shikaku glanced at Shikamaru.

"What's wrong, dad, you won't let me get involved, right?"

Shikamaru saw Shikaku looking at him in a strange way, and his heart suddenly tightened.

Although he has a good mind, he does not think that with his current ability, he can enter this level of political struggle.

"How is that possible? Although I am very optimistic about your future, this kind of thing is not something you can intervene in right now."

"Then you are..."

"Don't go out for a walk recently. Even if you go out, you should take the family guards with you."

Lu Jiu looked serious.

"so serious?"

Shikamaru was startled.

"You don't know how dangerous this person is. When I first met Elder Danzo, I thought he was a very dangerous ninja. In order to achieve his goal, he will do whatever it takes. I don't think his next actions will only Limited to rumors, maybe then..."

Shikaku didn't say anything further, but with Shikamaru's mind, he quickly understood what exactly he meant.

——Use force to force the Hokage to submit.

If things evolve to that extent, it is likely to cause a civil war in Konoha.

"is it so serious?"

Shikamaru felt that this kind of consideration was too unrealistic.

"When you sit in my position, you will understand how terrifying this person is. As a planner, you must take all circumstances into consideration to ensure nothing goes wrong. Moreover, force is also a way to demonstrate political influence."

But once force is used, it means that things have reached an irreconcilable point.

From the standpoint of Konoha Ninja, Shikajiu hopes that Danzo will not go to that step.

However, he couldn't place his hope on Danzo's kindness.

"Next, I will stay at the Hokage's side and bring some of my clan members over to help. Remember to tell your mother later that I won't be eating at home these days. In addition, no matter what happens, there is no need to send anyone. Come find me."

After Lu Jiu finished speaking, he walked towards the end of the corridor and disappeared.

"Do you want this side to have a choice to protect itself?"

Shikamaru looked at Shikaku's disappearing figure and thought of the last sentence, 'No matter what happens, there is no need to send anyone to find me'... In essence, he was already considering the worst possibility.

For example, Hokage lost this political struggle, and the elder named Danzo took over Hokage.

The Nara clan's support for the Third Hokage is limited to those who will be brought by Shikaku next.

However, once an accident happens to Hokage, the Nara family must rely on Danzo to ensure that the family will not be liquidated by the new Hokage afterwards.

The contract with the Sarutobi clan since the Warring States Period, I'm afraid...

"It's such a troublesome game for adults. Is it okay to just pick it up and say no? You have to make things so complicated..."

Shikamaru scratched his head and stood up. After Shikajiu's mention, he was not in the mood to spend time leisurely here.

◎

"how is the progress?"

In the root base, Danzo looked at his subordinate standing in front of him and asked.

"It's proceeding according to the plan. Both the Anbu and the security forces are active. Not only that, but the advisor seems to be leaning towards the side of Hokage."

The root ninja replied.

"Those two old things don't matter, our main opponent is the Third Hokage."

Although Danzo's face was very cold when he spoke, when he heard the word "consultant", he could vaguely feel the strong disdain in his tone.

To him, the position of the consultants at this time is no longer important, no matter who they support, they can't change the current situation.

He even hoped that these two old advisers would be more ignorant, so that he would have an excuse to get rid of the advisers as well.

It's a pity that those two people are very good at protecting themselves, and it's a bit unrealistic to use this opportunity to kill them.

Moreover, the two of them will need to appear later to help Genji stabilize the situation.

Therefore, Danzo decided to let these two go.

The premise is that the two consultants know how to advance and retreat, and don't touch his bottom line.

Even with his colleagues, he didn't want to do anything wrong.

For Konoha's future, even the offspring of Kagami can be ruthless killers, taking away the opponent's Kaleidoscope Sharingan, and now it is not too late to sacrifice these few people.

On the contrary, if sacrificing these people can make Konoha better, he will never be stingy with the butcher knife in his hand.

"Then over the Pig, Deer, and Butterfly tribes..."

"They will make arrangements for themselves when it comes to trade-offs, and the same goes for other ninjas. Their family has a big business, and they often don't put their eggs in one basket. Ninjas who don't understand this principle have disappeared from the history of Konoha gone."

A smile appeared on Danzo's gloomy face, giving people an extremely terrifying feeling.

"It's obvious, Lord Danzo."

The root ninja lowered his head and said.

"Now, let's move on to the next step. It's time to end this nonsense."

"yes!"

The root ninja stepped back.

Only Danzo was left standing there, and then he turned around and walked towards the huge iron gate that was originally open behind him.

"Next, it's my time..."

Only I can lead Konoha to be the strongest! Danzo's face was firm and his eyes were as sharp as a knife.

After crossing the huge, pitch-black iron gate, the figure quickly disappeared.