Escape From Konoha

"That's really not something Hokage-sama would say."

Although all the ninjas and villagers standing on the stage heard Hizan's announcement, it was certain that it would cause some commotion among the crowd.

But there are still some ninjas who didn't believe this kind of words, which came from Hokage's original intention.

Red is one of them.

As a jounin, she is also the mentor jounin for this year's graduates. She has had a lot of contact with Naruto. She can't say that she fully understands him, but she never believes that the old man will reveal himself at this time. mistakes.

"Asma, don't you know what happened?"

Hong didn't know what was the reason that prompted Hokage to make such a decision, but the smell of conspiracy inside had been clearly smelled.

Asma held a lit cigarette in his mouth, took off the cigarette butt, blew out a smoke ring, and said: "No, I haven't met the old man much recently. The old man's behavior is indeed a bit strange."

"The rest of the people also looked like they couldn't believe it."

"Of course, as Hokage, how could he do such a disqualified thing. It's really inappropriate."

It was not Asma who said this, but Ebisu who was standing on Asma's right. His voice sounded very deep and depressed.

Even during the end of the Third Ninja War, many ninjas in the village were dissatisfied due to the appeasement policy implemented by the Hokage himself, but subsequent resignations were only decided through internal jounin meetings. Such a public meeting is simply impossible.

"I didn't expect you to come too. How about Naruto?"

Hong asked.

"With Kai protecting us secretly, there will be no problem for the time being. But Kakashi's whereabouts are still unknown, even Mr. Shikaku. Something big must have happened up there when we didn't know it."

Ebisu stared at Hirazan above, feeling a little uneasy.

While they were communicating, standing on the roof of the Hokage Building and looking down at the crowd below, Hizhan spoke again at this moment:

"...One of my faults was that on the day of arresting Orochimaru, I did not use my full strength, which resulted in Orochimaru successfully escaping. This matter...is absolutely true. And at that time, I did have the power to arrest Orochimaru. Capture..."

The tone of voice changed from calm to sad, and what Hizhan said made the atmosphere of the scene suddenly tense.

Many people looked at Hiruzen in disbelief.

Because of Orochimaru's defection, Konoha's original reputation suffered a huge blow.

Not only that, but Orochimaru's defection was charged with wantonly using the ninjas and villagers in the village for taboo human experiments.

Today, the families of those victims are still living in the village of Konoha, and they deeply hate defectors like Orochimaru.

And things are far more than that. In order to ensure that Konoha's confidential information is not leaked, Konoha has repeatedly set up Jonin and ANBU teams to pursue Orochimaru over the years. However, because Orochimaru is too cunning, the pursuit team is in vain every time. He returned and suffered many casualties from chasing Orochimaru.

These old and new grudges should have ended at the beginning.

As a result, because the Hokage himself did not do his best on the day of the incident, more people died, and he failed to give justice to the families of the victims...

Therefore, the family members of the victims who appeared below because of Orochimaru looked at Hiruzen, the Hokage, in shock, as if they thought they had heard wrong.

"What does it mean?"

"Hokage-sama, please give us an explanation!"

"What happened in Orochimaru's negotiations?"

Such sounds continued from the crowd. They ignored the pain and guilt expression on Hiruzen's face and started questioning him one after another.

Not only the civilians, but also the ninjas couldn't sit still.

Many of them were former supporters of Hiruzen.

They couldn't believe this was real.

Of course, there are more militant instigators.

They had long been dissatisfied with Hiruzen, the Hokage who liked to implement appeasement policies externally. Such dissatisfaction had already been laid during the Second Ninja War before the Third Ninja War.

At this time, they saw that Hiruzen was about to fall, and naturally they were not willing to let go of such a great opportunity.

After all, if Hiruzen himself doesn't stand up and make a statement, they can only complain quietly in secret.

"...Second..."

Hiruzen still had a sad look on his face and continued to speak.

The voices below became quieter again, and the eyes looking at Hiruzen were full of complexity and doubt.

Something that the Hokage himself admitted could never be false.

That's why those of them who once had faith in Hiruzen were in such a low mood.

"I must clarify one thing, that is, regarding the Kyuubi's attack on Konoha twelve years ago, I did not deliberately delay the rescue time, causing the fourth generation to die in the battle with the Kyuubi..."

He denied the untrue rumors that he had framed the Yondaime.

Such words make many people feel at ease.

However, before they could breathe a sigh of relief, Hiruzen said again: "However, the genin in the village... Naruto Uzumaki is indeed the son of the Fourth Hokage. It was also me who personally concealed the identity of the heroic son of Naruto Uzumaki..."

stunned.

The people below stared at Hiruzen in stunned silence.

Didn't expect there to be a reversal at this time.

The things that Hokage personally confirmed are naturally extremely convincing.

In other words, Naruto, who has been hated and despised by them for so many years, is indeed the son of a real hero, not a fiction.

The villagers and ninjas who had cursed Naruto were at a loss for a moment, looking at their hands blankly, as if they were saying 'what stupid things have they done'.

"Why is this happening?"

"Master Hokage, why are you hiding such a thing?"

"Could it be that you really want to regain power..."

"Since this is the case, isn't the testimony that the four generations of adults were not framed also full of lies?"

"..."

Doubts, anger, confusion, confusion, questioning... In short, all kinds of voices came out, making everything here in a noisy atmosphere, which made people feel extremely harsh.

Next, no matter how the working ninjas mediate, the emotions of the crowd below can no longer be suppressed.

Some places even lost control and caused stampedes. Fortunately, ninjas had quick eyesight and quick hands to prevent such a thing, otherwise there would have been many tragedies today.

Facing the commotion below, Ri Zhan didn't say a word, just bent down and bowed, like a gesture of apologizing, and didn't raise his head for a long time.

"Sun Slash..."

Behind, Mito Kadoen and Koharu, who were watching Hiruzen, wanted to step forward to stop them. They couldn't bear to see their old friend suffer such humiliation. However, they noticed the coldness coming from beside them, so they still put their palms down and closed their eyes. Eye sighed.

"Danzo, your goal has been achieved, don't torture Hiruza anymore!"

Mitomonyan knew that there was no way to hold the next public meeting.

The mood of the crowd has reached such a level that it is almost on the verge of losing control.

Whether it's Orochimaru, or the revelation of the fourth generation of Hokage, each of them is enough to keep Hiruzawa from coming to Taiwan.

But now that the two broke out together, the consequences can be imagined.

Konoha's sky has changed.

"Of course, I didn't intend to take his life. I will kill him in the future and enjoy my old age in peace, and my colleagues will not be in vain."

Danzo looked calm.

There is no comment at all on the noisy sounds around.

In fact, the disclosure is enough here.

Because, only these two things were indeed done by Ri Zhan.

Although the cause of the matter has more complex components, such as the intervention of the roots, etc., the angry crowd has already started infinite associations.

And this kind of association will turn false things into reality, and all kinds of mistakes that have not been mentioned, or even that Hiruzen has not committed, will be directed towards Hiruzen.

Even if it is not true, it will become true.

Remove the roots completely from it.

After all, if some things are said in too much detail, there may be flaws.

"I hope you will do what you say."

Mitomen Yan couldn't judge whether Danzo's words were true or not, but at this time, he could only trust him so much.

Then, he turned to Anbu not far away, and ordered: "Stop this public meeting and disperse the crowd."

"yes."

Anbu, who received the order, acted one after another, staring at the pressure of the crowd as if they were going to eat people, and began to evacuate the crowd.

◎

"So it's true... I'm..."

Leaning his back against the wall, Naruto's whole body was shrouded in the shadow of the wall, looking at the lines on his palm, with an indescribable loss on his face.

Before coming, he fantasized that his respected Grandpa Hokage could clarify these untrue rumors and give him justice.

However, this time it really became a 'fairness' to him.

Although this kind of 'fairness' is not what he wants.

"Naruto, you are here."

Shikamaru's voice came from the side, and judging from the anxious look on his face, he came running.

"It's Shikamaru... Sorry, I have something to do."

Naruto turned his head and glanced at Shikamaru, then turned around and returned towards his apartment. His figure was very lonely, as if he had been hit hard by something.

"Naruto, wait—"

Shikamaru wanted to catch up.

"Don't worry about it, Naruto is not so fragile, it's best to let him calm down alone now. If you go there now, it will only be counterproductive."

Sasuke appeared behind Shikamaru, leaning his back against the wall and said.

Shikamaru looked back at Sasuke, rubbed his brows in distress, and said, "It seems to be the case, but I didn't expect it to be true. Things seem to be a little troublesome now."

"It's not a trouble, it's just that Naruto sometimes likes to get into trouble. After he calms down, he will naturally recover. What are you going to do next? Judging from the public speech of Lord Hokage just now, I'm afraid..."

Sasuke's words stopped here, as if he had predicted something.

"Ah, even if you say that, I don't know what to do."

Shikamaru spread his hands, as if giving up thinking.

Not only Orochimaru, but also with Naruto's heavy blow, it can be said that their Hokage, it can be said that the position of Hokage has reached its end.

"Next, it is not difficult to see that there will be huge changes at the top to decide on the candidate for the Fifth Hokage. This is no small matter. I don't know who the person named Danzo is, but he gave me It feels very bad. It would feel very bad for him to become Hokage."

Shikamaru started to analyze the existing information and expressed his feelings about Danzo.

"Having said that, we don't know what to do at all. We are still on the educated side, and it is impossible to intervene in meetings between high-level officials."

Shikamaru continued his thoughts, full of pessimism.

Sasuke fell silent and said nothing.

His thoughts were similar to Shikamaru's.

Although I am very sorry and feel sorry for what happened today, this kind of thing is force majeure. Even if I have become a chuunin, my right to speak in the village is still insignificant.

As for the identity of the orphan of the Uchiha clan, at this time, there is absolutely no way to use it.

"It feels like a natural disaster, which is irresistible..."

Shikamaru smiled helplessly.

"Even if it's a natural disaster, there are ways to resist it. The reason why we can't resist it is because we are too weak, we are just children."

Sasuke retorted.

"I'm really confident. If that's the case, then I have to go back. Be careful, no one knows what will happen until things are settled."

Sasuke put his hands into his trouser pockets, shook his flowing black hair, turned his back to Shikamaru and left.

"Ah, I will."

◎

"...In view of the many faults of the Hokage himself, which have had a huge negative impact on the village, after a high-level decision, the current position of the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen has been suspended."

After the interrupted public meeting, what followed was a jounin meeting that all jonins must attend.

There were five people sitting at the front of the conference room.

In addition to the four senior officials who attended the public meeting before, Shikaku, who had disappeared for many days, also joined the decision-making team as the Jonin squad leader.

When Koharu read out these remarks before going to bed, Shikaku sat silently. Judging from his complexion, he had not been abused in any way. When Ding Zuo and Haiyi, who were sitting in the seats in front, saw this, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, as if they suddenly found their backbone.

"Therefore, the next election regarding the Fifth Hokage must be put on the agenda as soon as possible."

Seeing the jounin talking incessantly, Koharu seemed unaware when he went to bed and continued to speak calmly:

"In view of the fact that the Daimyo and Hokage only gave out two candidate lists. Therefore, the next election of the Fifth Hokage will be between Shimura Danzo and Tsunade. The election meeting of the Fifth Hokage will be held at It will be held three days later at nine o'clock in the morning. At that time, both candidates need to be present. The above is the content of this Jonin meeting. Do you have any questions?"

After turning to bed, Koharu looked at the hundreds of top jounin sitting in front of him.

The Jonin were not surprised by this decision.

Based on Hiruzen's previous actions, he no longer has the ability and qualifications to continue to hold the position of Hokage and must give up this position.

The new Hokage is naturally elected from among the many Jonin in Konoha.

Reputation, character, and strength are all within the scope of key inspections.

After such remarks, a jounin raised his hand, stood up, and asked, "I would like to ask, where is Tsunade-sama?"

"We are currently sending Jiraiya, who is also a Sannin, to look for him."

Turning to bed Xiaochun replied.

"Then what if Tsunade-sama doesn't have time to participate in this vote?"

The jounin continued to ask, seemingly unwilling to do so.

Obviously, he believed in Tsunade's ability more than Danzo.

It's hard to compare in terms of strength, but whether it's reputation or character, Tsunade is more worthy of his trust.

Before Koharu could speak before he went to bed, Shikaku, as the Jonin squad leader, took the lead and said: "If Tsunade-sama fails to arrive in time, we can only treat it as a waiver."

"Abstain? Wouldn't that be too unfair? Why not find Tsunade-sama first and then conduct this voting meeting."

Jonin continued.

Many people also nodded and agreed with this approach.

Lu Jiu's voice was low and he responded to these people in a calm tone: "No. After these days of nonsense, the village's management system has already had a source of chaos, and the other villages have almost learned about the situation here. Look at the joke on our side. Therefore, we must determine the candidate for the Fifth Hokage as soon as possible and pool all our efforts to survive this crisis and regain trust. What we are lacking now is time. If Tsunade-sama cannot arrive in time , I can only say that I am sorry..."

"how so……"

"There is nothing we can do about it. Konoha cannot lack the Hokage. The sooner we decide the Hokage, the sooner the village's crisis will be lifted. If other villages and countries take advantage of the situation because of the delay in deciding the Hokage, we will wait. He is the sinner of Konoha."

Shikaku's attitude was very determined.

Although he didn't like Danzo as a person, he was still riding a tiger when things got to this point.

Otherwise, Danzo would not have released him at this time.

As for Tsunade's whereabouts, I'm afraid...only Danzo knows where she is.

With Danzo's shrewdness, he would not kill Tsunade and waste such an excellent medical ninja... but he would definitely control Tsunade so that she could not have any contact with the outside world, thus missing this vote. .

When the dust settles, even if Tsunade returns, nothing will be changed.

Now, whether from the perspective of the family or the village, it is Shikaku's opinion that the best way is to make Danzo the fifth Hokage as soon as possible.

"Any questions?"

Mito Menyan opened his mouth and said.

Some Jonin looked at each other and wanted to say something, but in the end they sat down and did not speak because of scruples.

"In this case, let's disband. The election of the Fifth Hokage will also be conducted among the villagers. The public security in the village will be temporarily entrusted to the jonins to help control it."

Compared with chuunin and genin, jounin are better than chuunin and genin in terms of management and combat experience, as well as their calm mentality and handling methods in times of crisis.

With the help of all the Jonin, the work of the security team and ANBU will be much smoother and easier, and they will not be in a hurry.

Once the candidate for Hokage is determined, the village will regain its past stability.

◎

Iron country.

The empty and uninhabited forest was covered with heavy snow, the temperature was very low, and an icy paleness could be seen everywhere.

In the ice and snow, a root ninja wearing a colorful animal mask stood in front of Tsunade and confronted her.

"How about it, Tsunade-sama, have you thought about it carefully? If you agree, we will return it to Miss Shizune immediately without harming a hair on her head."

"Shut up! Are you still considered a ninja of Konoha like this? You're actually taking hostages and endangering the people of your own village!"

Tsunade gritted her teeth at this root ninja and clenched her fists. She wanted to punch the root ninja in front of her away, but in the end she restrained her urge to do it.

It can be seen the anger and helplessness in her heart.

Facing Tsunade's murderous posture, all the nerves in the ninja's body were tense.

Although there was no fear in his eyes, his body's instinct still made him wary.

In any case, facing a ninja of the Sannin level alone, he had no chance of winning by himself.

Especially the Tsunade in front of her was a terrifying woman with unparalleled power.

To this day, the immortal myths and legends of her youth are still circulated in Konoha's bathhouses.

For example, one punch left fellow Sannin Jiraiya on the verge of death... This shows how terrifying this kind of strange power is. It is definitely not a powerful attack that ordinary people can withstand.

"Our basic research on tailed beast drugs has reached a bottleneck. We need better ninjas to break the deadlock and create more effective tailed beast drugs. This is inseparable from Tsunade-sama's help."

"I told you, I won't do this kind of human experiment for you! Those who are wise, please hand over Shizune to me!"

Tsunade angrily rushed to the root ninja, grabbed his collar with her palms, and effortlessly picked him up with one hand.

"This is for the future of the village... We must rely on this medicine to check and balance the Kingdom of Demons... Tsunade-sama's medical ninjutsu is an indispensable and important part."

The root ninja seemed not to feel the murderous aura in Tsunade and said without emotion.

"How many times do I have to say it before you understand?"

"Asking Tsunade-sama to join the research is the highest task given to us by Danzo-sama. Even if we die, we must complete it."

The root ninja responded mechanically, as if he had no emotions of his own.

"You are really like puppets without a soul. Then let me tell you, no matter how many times you threaten me, I will never cooperate with you!"

Tsunade frowned in disgust, left the root ninja roughly on the snow, turned around and left.

"Ahem." The root ninja coughed and spit out the snow in his mouth. He looked at Tsunade's leaving figure and said, "Is this really okay? Miss Shizune is the niece of Jōnin Kato, and she is also the most important thing to you, Tsunade-sama." People..."

However, his threat only made Tsunade stay on the snow for a few seconds, and then left even more determinedly, as if she didn't care about the threat.

The root ninja stood up from the ground and patted the snowflakes on his clothes.

"Thanks a lot."

The voice came from behind, it was a root ninja without a mask.

He had an orange ponytail and carried a ninja sword behind his back.

He stared in the direction Tsunade was walking away with an expressionless expression.

It was Danzo's trusted guard, the Jonin - Yamafuze.

"It seems that she was not suspicious. She still thinks that we are forcing her to participate in the research on tailed beast drugs. She did not think that there was a problem in the village."

The root ninja whispered.

"Just hang her here so that she won't notice our real movements. There is no one here, and she won't have access to any information from the outside world."

"Then Jiraiya's side..."

The corner of Shanfeng's mouth curled up, and he was confident.

"In the name of the Third Hokage, he has been transferred back to the village through the ANBU. Next, we only need to wait for Danzo-sama to become Hokage. Our long-cherished wish for many years will soon..."