The atmosphere was extremely heavy.
Mitokado Homura stepped forward to smooth things over: "Hiruzen, it seems there really is a base belonging to Uchiha Madara in this canyon. Madara's understanding of the village far exceeds our imagination. Lord First Hokage trusted him too much back then; he must have found a way to infiltrate the Leaf and obtain internal intelligence. We must strengthen the protection of the Scroll of Seals. Perhaps Madara obtained the Five-Style Great Combo from the Scroll of Seals itself."
Mitokado Homura was trying to find an excuse for Hiruzen Sarutobi. If he didn't, he felt Danzo was on the verge of exploding.
The Five-Style Great Combo was a strategic-level ninjutsu capable of causing large-scale explosive destruction. As long as the user had enough chakra, there was no upper limit to this technique's destructive power.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the traces left by the various elemental styles in the canyon and said:
"Each individual ninjutsu was at the elite Jonin level; the perpetrator is at least a Kage-level ninja. For one of Madara's subordinates to possess this kind of strength is worrying. Setting aside the enemy's strength for a moment, let's discuss the impact of this tragedy. Danzo, what are your thoughts? Is Root to be rebuilt?"
Yagami wondered to himself if Hiruzen Sarutobi was thinking of taking this opportunity to abolish Root. In the original story, Danzo had sent people to assassinate Hiruzen; could it be because Hiruzen had been constantly stripping away his power?
"What are my thoughts?" Danzo roared:
"Hiruzen Sarutobi! Your Sarutobi clan produced a rogue ninja named Konosuke Sarutobi! He was the one who used the Five-Style Great Combo! You ask me what my thoughts are? First, let me ask you! Why did you hide the matter regarding Konosuke Sarutobi!"
Konosuke Sarutobi?
Mitokado Homura and Orochimaru simultaneously turned their heads toward Yellow Dog. Yellow Dog's real name was Shinnosuke Sarutobi.
At this moment, Yellow Dog felt very helpless.
'Did my old pervert of a father have an illegitimate son?'
He knew Hiruzen Sarutobi well; there was a time when Hiruzen frequently went with Jiraiya to the women's bathhouse to peep. A dignified Hokage, peeping at female villagers! Because of the peeping, his mother had given his father plenty of trouble.
'Could it be an illegitimate son who became a rogue ninja because he couldn't get recognition from his old pervert of a father?'
Yellow Dog then reconsidered. His uncles, Nippo Sarutobi and Nichiyu Sarutobi, had both learned the Five-Style Great Combo from his father, so it wasn't necessarily an illegitimate son. Nippo Sarutobi's son—Yellow Dog's cousin, Ennosuke Sarutobi—was highly favored by the family and had also studied the Five-Style Great Combo.
As for Nichiyu Sarutobi, relying on being the youngest son of the grandfather, Sasuke Sarutobi, he was a womanizer even more lecherous than his father. He likely had many illegitimate sons.
Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke: "It is absolutely impossible for it to be a rogue ninja of the Sarutobi clan! I know the people of the Sarutobi clan; even if they became rogues, they would never defect to Uchiha Madara. This is too absurd! So much so that..."
Hiruzen looked at Mitokado Homura. Homura's expression clearly suggested that because it was so absurd, it might actually be true. Otherwise, how could one explain the Five-Style Great Combo?
Mastering five elemental styles was difficult enough, but understanding the secret technique of using elemental affinities to trigger a massive explosion was even harder. Aside from the Sarutobi clan, where else was the heritage of the Five-Style Great Combo passed down?
Hiruzen Sarutobi said: "The Sharingan has the ability to copy ninjutsu. Perhaps during one of my battles, Uchiha Madara was hidden nearby watching the whole time and copied my technique."
Hiruzen did not dare pin the crime on the Sarutobi clan and could only desperately guide the suspicion toward Madara. After all, it wasn't too far-fetched to suggest Madara had mastered a forbidden jutsu. Now, how the Five-Style Great Combo leaked wasn't the point; the point was that Madara had become a mortal threat to the village.
Danzo said: "Upon returning to the village, two investigations must be conducted immediately! First! Find out who the rogue ninja Konosuke Sarutobi is! Your Sarutobi clan cannot escape blame! The Sarutobi clan must be held responsible for Root's losses!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi took out his pipe, took a puff, sighed, and exhaled the smoke. It seemed... the Sarutobi clan truly could not escape this storm.
Yellow Dog felt bitter; this task was likely to fall on his shoulders. No matter who the investigation pointed to, it would be unpleasant. Setting others aside, the Sarutobi clan's second strongest expert, Nippo Sarutobi, wanted to succeed as the clan head after his father, so Nippo's attitude was crucial.
'Why did Madara's subordinate use my signature forbidden jutsu?'
Hiruzen said: "Fine, the Sarutobi clan will conduct an internal investigation and get to the bottom of it. Danzo, what is the second investigation?"
Danzo continued: "Root is nearly annihilated! If the ANBU or other ninja companies encounter Uchiha Madara and his subordinates, will they not be annihilated as well? Madara possesses two of the Leaf's top bloodlines—the Sharingan and Wood Style—and even a random subordinate of his masters the Five-Style Great Combo.
Should we not respond with full force? Uchiha Madara is not some elderly rogue; he is a terrifying enemy capable of destroying the Leaf. The battle against Madara is not an arrest of a rogue; it is a war! Dispatch a Commander-in-Chief, two Deputy Commanders, and at least five hundred elite ninjas to wage war against Uchiha Madara!"
Yagami thought to himself that this was getting a bit out of hand. He wanted to play a point-to-point assassination game with Danzo, but Danzo, unable to win the fight, had lost his temper and directly escalated the scale to a war.
The problem was that in a war initiated by Danzo, he would certainly not act as the Commander or Deputy Commander. Danzo didn't even have a capable soldier left under his command; Root was all dead.
"War?" After a brief reflection, Hiruzen Sarutobi agreed with Danzo's idea and asked: "Who do you think is suitable to be the Commander-in-Chief for this war?"
Danzo first looked at Orochimaru.
"I'm not going," Orochimaru said decisively. "Taking five hundred ninjas to deal with a single rogue—whether the war is won or lost, I lose. If the war is won and Madara is killed, five hundred people killed one man; should I be proud of that? If the war is lost and five hundred people couldn't kill one man, how could I still become the Fourth Hokage?"
Yagami couldn't help but look around. Only Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo, Mitokado Homura, Yellow Dog, and himself were here; the other ANBU were standing far away. Fortunately, they hadn't heard Orochimaru being so... blunt. Sometimes he really envied Orochimaru's freedom to say whatever he wanted—a poisonous snake, but direct.
Orochimaru continued: "Furthermore, the best way to deal with Wood Style is for us to master Wood Style ourselves. After changing the experimental subjects for the Wood Style research, the results have been quite good. I believe I have found the right approach; perhaps we will see results within a year or two."
When Orochimaru mentioned changing experimental subjects, he meant finding children in the village with half-Senju bloodlines, similar to Kazematsuri Moegi's son. Wood Style experiments were indeed more effective when performed on the Senju clan.
Mitokado Homura said: "Uchiha Madara's strength is overwhelming. Should we make Sakumo Hatake the Commander-in-Chief?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent. They, the former guards of the Second Hokage, had all seen Uchiha Madara when they were young. They feared Madara from the bottom of their hearts. Madara beating them was like an adult beating children—literally, an adult beating children.