"Shisui, Itachi, Fugaku, Setsuna… it seems like time's up. I didn't expect to see your faces even after death and hear the news of the Uchiha clan. After I return to the Pure Land, I will definitely convey this good news to everyone."
Seeing Kagami, whose body was breaking little by little, everyone felt emotional. Even after death he still tried his best for both Konoha and the Uchiha. They were truly ashamed that they couldn't even let a hero like him rest peacefully.
"Hmm, Grandfather, I will take care of the Uchiha. You can rest peacefully," Shisui said with slightly red eyes. His father and mother passed away early, and although everyone in the Uchiha clan took good care of him, meeting Kagami made him very happy, and now he was a little reluctant to part with him.
"Everyone, goodbye—" Kagami gave Shisui another hug and then ascended to the Pure Land with a smile.
After Kagami left, the atmosphere became awkward again.
"Ahem, then everyone, we will leave. Let's meet again sometime." Finally, Fugaku coughed, and then Itachi and the others left the building with Fugaku.
---
One Hour Later — Hokage Office
"Whattt? You signed that unequal treaty without the matter of Naruto being solved?" Hiruzen, who was covered with bandages, shouted in shock and disbelief from the main seat, pointing towards the dozen or so people in front of him.
Seeing Hiruzen acting like this, the clan leaders felt even more tired. They were now trying to save a sinking ship, but Hiruzen, the ship captain, was drinking wine and enjoying himself.
Sigh.
"Yes, Hokage-sama, we had a two-third majority vote, so we agreed to the terms. As for Naruto, the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, we can have another meeting regarding it after this war ends or stabilizes."
"Sigh, that's all we ca—"
Bang!
"Hokage-sama, huff… huff… news came from the Fire Capital… dozens of puppets infiltrated the Fire Palace and massacred everyone inside regardless of identity… After our ninjas deployed in the Fire Capital entered the palace, we found the Daimyo as well as his entire family dead… and the treasury was looted…"
As Hiruzen and the others listened, their faces grew more and more pale. First, their entire ruling family was exterminated in their own palace, and Konoha—the guardians of the Land of Fire—had only learned about it now. Secondly, the treasury of the Fire Palace, which held the gold reserves of the Land of Fire for the past thousand years, had been looted, which meant they had already lost half the war before the war had even begun.
"Who… who is so audacious to commit such a crime? Puppets? It's those bastards from Sunagakure… Have they gone mad? If their Daimyo doesn't give them money, will they steal our Daimyo's money? Do they have any idea that this will start the Fourth Great Ninja War? Those— cough cough!" Hiruzen became so angry while shouting that he started coughing heavily.
"Hokage-sama!!"
"Cough cough, I am okay. Shikaku, write a letter to all the other Great Ninja Villages and their Daimyo as well. Tell them that we, Konoha, are willing to lead the war against Sunagakure, who are trying to disrupt the world's order and destroy the world. Additionally tell them, from now on, the Uchiha and Konoha are independent of each other, and the Seven-Tails is with the Uchiha."
"Yes, Hokage-sama." Shikaku immediately understood Hiruzen's meaning. But before Shikaku could leave the office, another ninja barged in. Seeing the same panicked look, everyone in the room had a bad premonition.
"Hokage-sama, Sunagakure has attacked Mount Kikyo. The enemy's strength is around a thousand ninjas and they are headed by Ebizo and Chiyo. Captain Urakishi is holding them back, but we can only hold them for a few more hours. He has called for urgent reinforcements or else by tonight Sunagakure might capture Kikyo Castle."
"Ahhh, I knew those clowns of Sunagakure would attack Konoha first, but I didn't expect them to time it so perfectly. Jirai—" Just when Hiruzen was about to give an order, he remembered Jiraiya was already dead.
"Shikaku, Hiashi, you both take 200 ninjas each and immediately reinforce Mount Kikyo," Hiruzen said with anger. In the entire Konoha, there was no Kage-level ninja other than him, and he couldn't leave Konoha, at least not while the Uchiha were still present.
"Hokage-sama, it would take at least one day to prepare the supplies, and we can reach Mount Kikyo at the earliest by tomorrow night." Shikaku knew that this news was bad for the morale of the war, but someone had to speak the truth.
"Hmm, you have to reach by tomorrow noon. Cat, immediately head to Mount Kikyo and tell Urashiki to hold them until tomorrow noon. Reinforcements are coming.
Dog, immediately head to Takahami Street, the gambling district, and pass all the recent intel to Tsunade. Tell her to come back to Konoha. Everyone start preparing for war. Judging by the timing, Sunagakure is the most likely the culprit who killed the Daimyo, and with the wealth of the Daimyo mansion, they can fight the war for a few more decades. We have to prevent those bastards from escaping with our money to their main army or we are finished. Kakashi… KAKASHI… where is Kakashi?" Hiruzen, who was giving orders like bullets, asked angrily.
"Hokage-sama, Kakashi-senpai is in the Land of Hot Springs," one ANBU said with hesitation.
"What is he doing in the Land of Hot Springs? Which mission is more important at this time other than Konoha?"
"He… he has gone to finish Jiraiya-sama's legacy."
"Hmm, what legacy?" Hearing that Kakashi went for something related to Jiraiya, Hiruzen's voice softened.
"After Jiraiya-sama's death, Kakashi-senpai was disheartened, and a few days ago he was sitting on Training Ground Number 3 for hours. Just then Uchiha Tobi passed by and saw Kakashi-senpai and started beating him. After Kakashi-senpai was almost beaten unconscious, he said something to him and motivated him. Then Kakashi-senpai returned to Jonin Council and said that he didn't want to raise his blade against his comrades and that he had lost all hope in Konoha. So he will complete Jiraiya-sama's legacy, Icha-Icha Paradise, and he wouldn't return to Konoha until he completes the series. After that, Kakashi-senpai left Konoha."
No one spoke for a moment. Although they knew that Kakashi liked Icha-Icha Paradise, they didn't expect Kakashi to continue Jiraiya's work and sacrifice himself for it. Hiruzen, on the other hand, was stunned speechless. The most prized jonin of Konoha had left when the village was in its most dire state just to complete that absurd book.
"Bastard… Why are you telling me only now?"
"Hokage-sama, you wouldn't meet us in the past seven days. After that you were busy, so we intended to report to you at night when your schedule was empty."
Hearing this, Hiruzen became even more angry. For the past seven days he was busy with Impure World Reincarnation. Although he had learned it before, it had been decades since he last used it, so he needed some time to remember and perfect it. Now it was good — Kakashi escaped during this period.
"Fox, go call Kakashi and tell him to report to Konoha within three days."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
"Everyone, I want Konoha to be fully prepared for war within three days."
"But, Hokage-sama, what about funding? Konoha returned all the money in the treasury to repay over 200 billion debt to Daimyo Mansion a few months ago, and we do not have money. The Daimyo mansion is also looted, so what about funding?" Just then Hiashi asked with a frown. He would definitely not give any money this time. Their previous war money was still with Konoha and they wouldn't expect Konoha to return it, but this time they would take money first and service later. The Hyuga clan also gave billions earlier to repay the debt and corruption caused by the Hokage faction, so this time he wouldn't be fooled. The other clan leaders had the same thought.
Hiruzen, on the other side, became even more angry. He knew that these ninja clans still had money, but they wouldn't contribute it for Konoha. As expected of these selfish clans, only the Sarutobi clan was the true heir of Konoha.
"I request you to use your clan's own money for the time being. After we take back the Daimyo mansion money, Konoha will repay you with 10% interest," Hiruzen said with a bow, but no one took it seriously.
"Hokage-sama, my Hyuga clan really doesn't have enough money. We can only survive for a month with our remaining funds, and we are depending on Hokage-sama to pass the second term bill."
"My Nara clan is a small clan, and we can only arrange for a hundred million ryō after a month. For now, we also do not have any money."
After that, for the next minute everyone refused to give money. Hiruzen, seeing these ungrateful people, was bubbling with anger, but he also couldn't offer any money himself as an example. The Sarutobi clan's ancestral land was also under mortgage, so how could he give money?
"Then, let's take some loan from those nobles?"
"Hokage-sama, we haven't paid the 70 billion debt we already owe them, and they will not give us another loan until we repay that."
"Then our only option is to catch those thieves before it's too late. The Sarutobi clan will deploy fifty ninjas and the Shimura clan will deploy twenty ninjas. Your ninja clans should also deploy your own ninjas to form a circle around the Fire Capital to catch the thieves."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
After a minute everyone left, leaving only Hiruzen, who was sighing alone in the office wondering how Konoha reached this position.
---
{ Obito : Sometimes my genius… it's almost frightening. }