After organizing various pieces of information, Hiruzen Sarutobi discovered anomalies regarding Root and Danzo Shimura.
As the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi ultimately controlled Konoha's largest intelligence network. The secret meeting in the Land of Grass, Danzo mobilizing personnel, abnormal activities in the Land of Earth, and communication Ninja Hawks that had lost their masters—these intelligence reports gathered from different channels gradually outlined a "final answer."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression turned cold.
He sat silently in his seat and shared his suspicions with Orochimaru.
"Danzo Shimura has very likely already perished. It is possible that the Root members he led were there to attack the Ninjas of the Land of Rain and the Land of Earth."
After reviewing the data, Orochimaru reached a similar conclusion.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice grew colder. "Orochimaru, tonight, lead the Anbu to forcibly take control of Root. First, seal off all three core Root bases in the Village for me."
Orochimaru nodded solemnly.
"Teacher, are you worried that the remaining RootNinjas might make a move?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded. "Root still possesses some outstanding Ninjas, but I don't know how many were lost this time following Danzo to the Land of Grass."
Hiruzen Sarutobi speculated, "After you take control of Root, immediately organize the detailed information collected, including the list of Ninjas Danzo took with him and any potential strongholds Danzo might have hidden in the Land of Grass."
"What about you, Teacher?" Orochimaru asked.
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep drag from his pipe, using the blue-gray smoke to obscure half his face.
"Danzo likely died in the Land of Grass. I must lead a team there myself. You and I both know Danzo's strength well. Whoever could secretly kill Danzo Shimura is not an ordinary force in the Ninja World; ordinary Ninjas simply cannot participate in this kind of battle."
Orochimaru frowned. "As the Hokage, your safety is more important, Teacher."
Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head dismissively, his eyes becoming even sharper.
"Unless the Land of Earth sends out its entire force, even if Hanzou and Ōnoki join hands, they cannot hold me back!"
His words were resonant and powerful, truly reflecting the transcendent air of the Strongest Hokage, the Hero of the Ninja World, and the Professor of Ninjutsu.
With that, Orochimaru accepted the critical mission. Leading the Anbu elite, he raided the Root bases that very night.
The RootNinjas in the core base were few and far between, completely unable to resist Orochimaru's forceful seizure of power.
In less than half an hour, Root had changed hands.
This Konoha organization, which had been occupied by Danzo Shimura for so long, had completely become Orochimaru's tool.
Upon hearing the news, Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu were shocked.
They even suspected for a moment that Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura had clashed!
When these two members of the Konoha F4 found Hiruzen Sarutobi to demand an explanation, all they received were guesses like "possibly," "perhaps," "can't say for sure," and "wait for my news."
This made Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu highly suspicious that Danzo Shimura had already been imprisoned by Hiruzen Sarutobi.
As for Hiruzen Sarutobi's speculation that "Danzo might have died outside the Village," the two elders remained quite cautious until they received confirmation.
Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's impatient expression, the two Advisors were helpless, but they still bit the bullet and asked about the protest from the Land of Fire nobles against Konoha.
"How should the Village resolve the dispute between the Misaka clan and the Uchiha Clan?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi only wanted to know whether Danzo was dead and how he died; he didn't want to care about anything else.
He had no intention of answering these questions.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's complete dismissal forced the two KonohaAdvisors to find other solutions on their own.
At the Root base, Orochimaru quickly discovered the data clues specifically left behind by Uchiha Fucheng.
For Orochimaru, Root's greatest legacy was the various secret bases scattered throughout Konoha. In particular, the numerous pieces of equipment for biological and human experimentation, along with detailed experimental data, were absolutely priceless treasures to Orochimaru.
When he learned from the treasury that Danzo Shimura had secretly captured members of the Senju Clan and even used many of Tobirama's relatives for human experimentation, he immediately notified Tsunade, given their relationship as comrades-in-arms.
This information made Tsunade so angry that her eyes turned red.
She nearly crushed the Root human experiment records and, in her fury, directly smashed through several walls.
In Tsunade's heart, even if Danzo Shimura was dead, he still owed the Senju Clan a proper explanation.
At this moment, the Shimura Clan had become the number one "hostile target" on Tsunade's list of hatred.
"Don't you find it strange?" Orochimaru's snake-like pupils revealed flashes of cold light. "Only a few intelligence scrolls were discovered. Who did Danzo usually target the most ruthlessly?"
Tsunade frowned. "The Uchiha Clan?"
Orochimaru chuckled. "The Uchiha Clan was bullied the worst by Danzo, yet in the Root base, I didn't find a single Sharingan."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "Clan Leader Fucheng is very capable."
Orochimaru was noncommittal.
After forcibly taking control of Root, he had repeatedly searched several bases.
He was convinced that the core base had definitely been looted by someone beforehand.
Tsunade waved her hand, not caring. "I don't care if it was looted or not. As long as these pieces of evidence are genuine, they are enough to implicate the Shimura Clan."
"Raiding the Shimura Clan's secret vault will surely bring more intelligence to the surface. As long as we can dig out more information quickly, I don't believe the Uchiha Clan won't cooperate with you."
Tsunade said with extreme certainty, "The Uchiha Clan will definitely kick the Shimura Clan while they're down. The Shimura Clan is doomed this time."
Tsunade's expression was sorrowful and angry. "I just want all the evidence of the Shimura Clan's crimes. We cannot let them push all the blame onto Danzo, and we cannot let them escape punishment."
Orochimaru was noncommittal, but seeing Tsunade's angry expression, he nodded slightly.
"Fine. When Teacher Hiruzen returns, I will bring it up with him. But you cannot act on your own; after all, some of the things Danzo did also harmed the Hokage's interests."
Tsunade nodded in thanks.
Orochimaru, however, shook his head and said, "Tsunade, Jiraiya is also returning to the Village!"
This one sentence made Tsunade fall silent instantly.
Land of Grass, a desolate and chaotic hillside.
The elite Rock Ninja unit numbered, labeled, and collected every piece of remains they found.
"There were nearly eight to fifteen Ninjas who perished together. Very few items were collected; they are basically just fabrics and daily necessities common in the Land of Rain."
After tallying the various pieces of information, the Rock Ninja surveying the scene reported to the leader.
"According to the recounting of the Ninjas who escaped, this is because the enemy was too strong, forcing them to stay behind to block the pursuers. But based on the details they recalled, these pursuers were not the Rain Ninjas who attacked them in the town."
The Rock Ninja leader looked slightly sorrowful as he gazed into the distance at the winding path down the mountain. "This place is a full hour away from the town where the meeting was held. If the Rain Ninjas wanted to silence all of our personnel, they shouldn't have let them escape into the mountains."
"Are you saying…?"
The Rock Ninja leader shook his head. "There is no need to guess. Without actual evidence, for these major nations, ordinary accusations are meaningless."
Hanzou of the Land of Rain recently contacted the Tsuchikage. The possibility that the pursuers were Rain Ninjas is not zero, but Hanzou's suspicion is not high.
The group of Rock Ninjas packed up their items and were just about to leave.
A massive Fire Release fireball descended from the sky and smashed into the crowd!
"Enemy attack!"
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