Bang!
A cup was smashed to the ground by Danzo, shattering into countless pieces.
Scalding tea splashed everywhere.
A Root ninja's face was burned, but he did not dare say a word.
Danzo's face was livid.
Ever since his operation against Sunagakure failed, Danzo felt as though nothing had gone his way.
It was as if someone was constantly opposing him at every moment.
The dirty water from the Three-Tails incident had been poured onto him. He had tried washing it away several times, yet he still could not cleanse himself of it.
Clearly, the matter's heat had already passed.
Yet somehow, someone would suddenly bring it up again.
First, Kirigakure.
Then Sunagakure's Ninja Major Events Weekly.
After that, Kirigakure specially sent death warrior ninja.
And now, even Konoha's own ninja were framing him.
He had clearly done nothing.
"What deep grudge does that animal have against me?"
"This old man has done so much for Konoha, yet I was framed by a Konoha ninja."
"Shameless bastard!"
"I truly want to dig up your corpse and whip it a hundred times."
"Even Hiruzen no longer trusts me and wants me to investigate."
"What can possibly be investigated?"
Danzo forced himself to calm down.
"An investigation will never reveal anything. If Hiruzen wants the truth, then I can only create a truth for him."
"The true culprit is the Uchiha!"
A plan formed in Danzo's mind.
At the beginning, in order to reduce trouble, Konoha had hoped to reach a tacit understanding with Kirigakure and push Rin Nohara's matter onto the Uchiha and the Kaguya clan.
But Kirigakure had not cooperated.
Now, Danzo thought of the Uchiha again.
However, this time, he could not casually push the blame onto the Uchiha.
What Danzo needed was to create a chain of solid evidence.
Evidence that proved the Uchiha had done it.
He had to make Konoha, Kirigakure, and everyone in the shinobi world believe it.
"I need to plan carefully."
"Otherwise, Hiruzen may truly refuse to let go of me."
"And there's also the attacks on the Shimura clan."
So far, dozens of Shimura clan ninja had already died.
Some had been killed while carrying out missions outside.
Some had been traveling with merchant caravans.
Some had merely gone to post towns near the village.
Danzo had prepared many methods to catch the murderer.
He arranged tracking ninja to pursue him, but they could not track him at all.
He set up traps, but the other party seemed able to see through them and never fell for them.
Danzo had even personally taken action once.
But the other party still escaped.
And he had not even seen what the attacker looked like.
"The attacker's strength is above mine."
That made Danzo's heart sink.
Danzo had some confidence in his own strength.
In the entire shinobi world, how many people were stronger than him?
In Konoha, there were Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sannin, and Minato Namikaze.
In Iwagakure, there was Onoki.
In Sunagakure, there were Rasa and Pakura.
In Kirigakure, none.
In Kumogakure, the Fourth Raikage and Killer B.
Amegakure's Hanzo of the Salamander.
As for other famous ninja, like Iwagakure's Roshi, Kirigakure's Yagura Karatachi, Sunagakure's Chiyo…
Danzo felt that at most, they were around his level.
Under these circumstances, the suspects behind the murders of the Shimura clan became clear.
"Which one of these people is it?"
"Comes without a trace, leaves without a trace. Moves extremely fast."
"Acts under the banner of revenge against this old man."
"Because of that, the discussions about this old man murdering Rin Nohara have been brought up by even more people."
At first, Danzo had also suspected the Uchiha.
But now, he had already ruled them out.
Danzo did not believe the Uchiha possessed the strength to accomplish something of this level.
"Unless Uchiha Madara came back to life."
At that moment—
A figure ran in quickly.
"Danzo-sama, news has come from the Land of Wind."
"What is it?"
"The Root ninja we sent to the Land of Wind to investigate Sunagakure's recent movements… are all gone."
Danzo froze.
"All gone?"
"Yes. Not one remains."
"Damn you, Rasa!"
Danzo's mood had already been terrible.
Now, it became even worse.
Danzo felt as though the entire world had turned against him.
…
…
After returning to Sunagakure, Rasa decided to put the Kusagakure matter on the schedule.
"Have Pakura lead the team."
"No one in Kusagakure will be Pakura's opponent."
"Forget defeating Kusagakure. Even crushing Kusagakure completely will be well within reach."
"However, before officially killing the first Kusagakure ninja, I still need to publicize the evil Kusagakure has committed against Sunagakure through Ninja Major Events Weekly."
"That way, we will have a justifiable cause."
During wartime in the shinobi world, there was actually no need to consider so much.
If attacking someone brought benefits, then attack.
If someone displeased you, then kill.
But during peacetime, things were slightly different.
Actions required a justifiable cause.
That way, when other ninja villages thought about using this opportunity to target Sunagakure, they would have more concerns.
Sunagakure's reputation would not suffer any negative impact.
If its reputation did not suffer, then the number of mission commissions would not decline.
For most ninja villages, mission commissions were a major part of village income.
With the assistance of Ninja Major Events Weekly, Sunagakure's attack on Kusagakure would not attract too much criticism.
It would be a reasonable attack.
Before long, Pakura arrived at the Kazekage Building.
"Husband."
Rasa handed the plan to Pakura.
"Lead a force to attack Kusagakure. The main objectives are Uzumaki bloodline ninja, the Box of Ultimate Bliss, the Dragon Life Reincarnation Technique, and Fire Release: Heavenly Prison… Understood."
Having led armies in the war against Kirigakure for so many years, Pakura did not place a small Kusagakure in her eyes.
"Pakura, Kusagakure may be small, but its strength cannot be underestimated. If the Box of Ultimate Bliss is opened, no one knows what kind of effect it may have. You must be careful."
"Your safety is the most important."
"Also, other ninja villages may very well get involved."
"Be careful of them."
Pakura nodded.
"Don't worry, Husband. I'll be careful."
"Good. Then go gather the army now. Move toward the direction of the Land of Grass first. Once the next issue of Ninja Major Events Weekly is released, you can attack directly."
Very soon, a new issue of Ninja Major Events Weekly was printed.
With those merchants actively spreading it, it expanded at an extremely fast speed throughout the entire shinobi world—
No.
Throughout the entire world.
The first thing everyone saw was the headline.
"Kusagakure sent ninja to disguise themselves as sand bandits, killing thousands of civilians in the Land of Wind, robbing hundreds of merchant caravans, and ambushing hundreds of Sunagakure ninja."
"Their sins are grave. Their crimes are unforgivable!"
"I, Kusayanagi, swear to the heavens that everything stated above is absolutely true."