Several days had passed since Shimizu returned to the village, yet his personal freedom remained completely unrestricted. There were no ANBU shadowing him, no quiet surveillance in the dark—his life continued just as before, confined to the same simple, monotonous routine of training between two fixed points.
None of this surprised him.
Back in Takigakure, after understanding Jiraiya's stance, Shimizu had already realized that while he might face some trouble this time, it would never escalate to the point of being labeled a rogue ninja.
After all, only a handful of people knew the truth, and on Konoha's side, every one of them was "one of their own." With that, what would be so difficult about concealing the truth entirely?
Shortly after returning to the village, Jiraiya had personally taken Shimizu to meet the Third Hokage, where they laid out the full truth of what had happened. His intention was clear—he wanted his teacher, the current Hokage, to withstand all pressure and firmly stand on Shimizu's side.
And Jiraiya was confident.
Everything he was doing now was to build leverage for Shimizu. He firmly insisted that the entire incident had been a scheme orchestrated by Kumogakure—that Shimizu and Minato had uncovered their plot and, seizing the moment when the Third Raikage was distracted while fighting the Nine-Tails, struck decisively and killed him.
This version of events had long since spread beyond the twenty or so surviving Konoha shinobi from the mission—it had already permeated the entire village.
As for evidence, Kushina's abduction within the Kumogakure camp, along with the deaths of eight Konoha ANBU, served as more than enough proof.
Upon hearing of Kumogakure's actions, how could the people of Konoha not unite in anger? How could they not burn with righteous indignation?
And so, with remarkable ease, Jiraiya not only glossed over the fact that Shimizu had killed the Third Raikage under the influence of genjutsu, but also elevated him into a hero of Konoha—someone who had risked his life to eliminate a formidable enemy.
Through this series of maneuvers, supported by numerous witnesses, the distinction between black and white had, at least within Konoha, been completely reversed.
After careful deliberation, the Third Hokage confirmed that only five people on Konoha's side knew the truth—Shisui, Minato, Shimizu, Jiraiya, and himself. Taking into account Shimizu's importance as the so-called "Child of Destiny," as well as Konoha's current period of relative stability, he ultimately decided to fully support Shimizu.
Even so, resistance remained strong during the high-level council meeting.
Koharu Utatane was the first to voice her doubts. "According to the reports we've received from Kumogakure, they're accusing Konoha of betraying the alliance and are demanding that we hand over the murderer, Shimizu Uzuki."
Homura Mitokado added with concern, "Their claim has also been acknowledged by Takigakure. Such a treacherous act…"
He trailed off, but the implication was clear. If Konoha were branded as the one who stabbed an ally in the back, it would become the target of the entire shinobi world.
Without allies, how could Konoha hope to survive against the combined pressure of the other great nations?
But the Third Hokage had long anticipated Kumogakure's accusations. His voice rang out firmly.
"Kumogakure is the mastermind behind this entire scheme. Do you expect them to admit their wrongdoing?"
"And as for the demands we made—have they given us a proper response?"
Konoha's demands were straightforward: hand over the full list of those responsible for abducting Kushina and killing the eight ANBU.
Yet Kumogakure's investigation had only identified a single special jōnin as being involved.
Their response, unsurprisingly, was weak and unconvincing.
After all, no one believed that an operation of that scale could have been carried out by just one special jōnin.
Akimichi Torifu didn't rush to offer his opinion. Instead, he turned to Danzo. "What about the bodies of the ANBU? Did you find anything?"
Danzo shook his head, his tone tinged with regret. "The attacker was undoubtedly a highly skilled assassin. The method was clean and efficient—every one of them was killed with a single strike to the heart."
"To eliminate eight ANBU in one go without alerting anyone… that would have to be a well-known expert in the shinobi world."
Following Danzo's line of reasoning, Akimichi Torifu ventured a guess, "Then the one who struck—could it have been the Third Raikage?"
"Although there were no traces of Lightning Release chakra, we can't rule out the possibility that he used some kind of special weapon."
"What do you mean?"
"The wounds in their hearts weren't caused by any conventional blade. Their shapes were highly irregular, and even the Torture and Interrogation Unit couldn't match them to any known weapon," Danzo explained slowly. "However, it's still possible that the Third Raikage acted personally and deliberately obscured the evidence to mislead us."
"I see…" Torifu murmured. "Then the whole incident really does seem like Kumogakure's doing. But even if they had succeeded in capturing the Nine-Tails, they would have lost their Two-Tails jinchūriki in the process."
"There's no way we would return the Two-Tails jinchūriki while our own Nine-Tails host hadn't made it back to the village…"
From any village's perspective, such a trade would be absurd—Kumogakure would essentially be gambling the Two-Tails and a massive sum of resources in exchange for the Nine-Tails.
"They didn't succeed in this scheme," the Third Hokage said, narrowing his eyes slightly as he guided the discussion forward. "So we can't speculate on what they intended to do next. Just as when we previously agreed to lend out the Nine-Tails jinchūriki, we never imagined she would be abducted again…"
Back during the Second Great Ninja War, Kumogakure had already committed a serious offense—kidnapping Kushina during her graduation period as a perfect jinchūriki.
If not for Shimizu leading the mission that ultimately brought her back, Konoha would now be facing a Kumogakure that possessed three tailed beasts.
The Third Hokage concluded firmly, "In truth, it is Kumogakure that betrayed our trust. If not for Shimizu's decisiveness this time, we would have truly lost the Nine-Tails."
A tailed beast was, in essence, a nuclear weapon. The mere presence of one carried immense deterrent power.
It was proof of a great nation's strength—and the foundation of that strength.
To lose one would deal a devastating blow to a village's standing.
Akimichi Torifu pointed out the core issue for Konoha. "In that case, there's no need for us to concede any of the interests in the Land of Waterfalls…"
"And as for Kumogakure's demand that we immediately return the Two-Tails jinchūriki… is there any reason to comply?"
Indeed, now that relations between Kumogakure and Konoha had effectively broken down, was there any need to return the Two-Tails at all?
Danzo was the first to state his position. "Since Kumogakure was the one who broke faith first and attempted to seize our Nine-Tails jinchūriki, why should we show them any courtesy?"
Koharu Utatane hesitated. "If we do that… what will the other nations think?"
Homura Mitokado, however, leaned toward keeping the unexpected prize. "Regardless of the truth, the current situation is that Kumogakure can no longer form an alliance with us."
"In that case, why should we let this opportunity slip away?"