Chapter 208: Summons

Chapter 208: Chapter 208: Summons

Inside the Hokage’s office.

The Third Hokage sat in his chair with a gloomy expression, taking one puff after another from his pipe. Smoke hung thickly in the air, filling the entire office with the smell of tobacco.

Itachi stood properly off to the side without saying a word.

Just then, the office door was pushed open, and several figures entered one after another.

The person leading them was none other than Shimura Danzo, advisor to the Hokage and leader of Root. Leaning on his cane, his entire body seemed to radiate a cold, sinister aura.

Following closely behind him were Konoha’s other two Hokage advisors, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane.

Once all three advisors had arrived, the Third finally set down his pipe and said, "Itachi, explain the situation to the advisors."

Itachi did not dare delay. He immediately gave the three advisors a detailed account of how Uchiha Hideki had been attacked inside the village by Kamigami and subsequently abducted.

Upon hearing that Kamigami had once again committed an attack inside the village, Danzo immediately flew into a rage.

"Such audacity! Just what do those bastards think Konoha is?!"

Koharu Utatane agreed, "We can’t allow these bounty ninjas to continue running rampant inside the village!"

Homura Mitokado did not speak, but he nodded as well, clearly agreeing that something had to be done about Kamigami.

Although the one who had been attacked was a member of the Uchiha Clan, to Konoha’s higher-ups, this was undoubtedly a resounding slap in the face as well.

Once word of this incident spread, it would not only severely damage Konoha’s prestige as the foremost of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, but would also set a terrible precedent for other bounty ninjas, tempting more reckless individuals to follow Kamigami’s example.

The Third turned toward Danzo and asked, "How is the investigation going?"

As the man in charge of Root, Danzo was responsible for more than half of Konoha’s external intelligence operations. Even renowned operatives such as Yakushi Nono, the famous "Walking Priestess," as well as Yakushi Kabuto, who possessed exceptional talent as a spy, had once been members of Root and Danzo’s subordinates, gathering intelligence on the various shinobi villages throughout the ninja world for him.

At the Third’s question, Danzo frowned.

"The useful intelligence we’ve managed to gather regarding Kamigami is extremely limited. My personal assessment is that this organization was only established within the last few years. As for... as for the Akatsuki, there simply hasn’t been enough time. Root hasn’t managed to gather any useful intelligence on them yet."

Obviously, Danzo wasn’t telling the whole truth.

Regarding Kamigami, it was true that Danzo had yet to obtain any useful information.

But when it came to the Akatsuki, Danzo was far from ignorant.

In fact, it could even be said that among everyone in the village, Danzo’s understanding of the Akatsuki was second only to Hyuga Kagami’s.

Several years ago, it had been Danzo’s own conspiracy that caused the Akatsuki, then led by Yahiko and originally friendly toward Konoha, to come into conflict with Hanzo of the Salamander, the leader of Amegakure, culminating in a fierce battle between the two sides.

From that point onward, the Akatsuki officially entered the era of Nagato’s leadership, transforming from a shinobi organization devoted to maintaining peace into a bounty-ninja organization that accepted any kind of commission—even war.

Danzo had originally believed that with the death of their leader, Yahiko, the Akatsuki would soon be wiped out under Hanzo of the Salamander’s encirclement and suppression.

Yet unexpectedly, during the recent investigation into Sasori and Kakuzu—the two rogue ninjas encountered by the Third—he discovered that not only did the Akatsuki still exist, but it also seemed to have recruited numerous powerful rogue ninjas, including Sasori and Kakuzu.

This discovery left Danzo both furious and embarrassed.

After all, if one traced everything back to its roots, the transformation of the Akatsuki itself, as well as its hostility toward Konoha, had all been caused by him.

Because of that, he couldn’t—and didn’t dare—bring up those old events during a meeting of Konoha’s higher-ups.

After pondering for a moment, the Third shifted his gaze toward Koharu Utatane and asked, "Has Kumogakure responded?"

Koharu replied, "For now, Kumogakure has only demanded that Konoha issue them a formal apology. They may also demand compensation afterward."

Clearly, the sudden emergence of Kamigami and the Akatsuki, two immensely powerful bounty-ninja organizations, had instinctively made Kumogakure wary.

Before they could uncover the true strength and background of these two organizations, Kumogakure did not dare launch an all-out war against Konoha. And without the confidence to start a war, they naturally had no reason to push Konoha too far.

Hearing this, the Third breathed a slight sigh of relief before saying, "In that case, recall Jiraiya from the front lines!"

Both Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado nodded.

At present, the village was desperately lacking in top-tier combat power. Meanwhile, the Third had to remain in Konoha and could not leave the village lightly, lest he be ambushed by the mastermind behind the Nine-Tails’ attack just as the Fourth Hokage had been.

Therefore, now that the dispute with Kumogakure had been settled, recalling Jiraiya, who had been stationed on the Kumogakure front, was the only real choice available to Konoha’s higher-ups.

Danzo, however, merely sat there with a flickering gaze, his thoughts unknown.

The Third continued, "Recruit elite jōnin from the Hyuga, Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi, Inuzuka, Aburame, and other shinobi clans. Danzo will serve as commander, with Jiraiya as his deputy. We will devote everything we have to hunting down and eliminating Kamigami!"

Hearing that the Third had placed command in his hands, Danzo secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

At present, aside from the Third, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado, the only person in the village capable of competing with Danzo for influence was Jiraiya, the sole remaining member of the Three Legendary Sannin still loyal to Konoha.

Therefore, when the Third ordered Jiraiya’s recall, Danzo had been worried that Jiraiya would replace him as commander of the operation to suppress Kamigami.

In the end, however, the Third had still chosen him.

Clearly, in the Third’s eyes, when it came to missions involving encirclement, pursuit, and extermination, Danzo—who had spent years handling Konoha’s dirty work—was still the more experienced man for the job.

Once everything had been settled, the advisors left the Hokage’s office.

The Third then looked toward Itachi and said, "When you return, you may inform your father of the results of this meeting."

The Third had allowed Itachi to sit through the entire meeting precisely because he wanted to extend an olive branch to the Uchiha Clan and placate them, preventing the Uchiha from launching a rebellion while the village was in a weakened state.

Itachi immediately nodded.

Despite his young age, he had already understood the Third’s intentions.

Soon after the meeting of Konoha’s higher-ups concluded, Root ninjas carrying temporary summons personally authorized by the Third Hokage began making their way toward the village’s various shinobi clans.

Almost simultaneously, prestigious clans such as the Hyuga, as well as secret-technique clans like the Ino-Shika-Cho, all received the summons issued by the Third.

The clan heads of Konoha’s various shinobi clans found themselves deeply troubled as they stared at the Third’s summons.

Even among these ancient shinobi clans with long, unbroken lineages, elite jōnin were exceedingly rare.

In fact, throughout all of Konoha, aside from the Uchiha Clan—which controlled the Military Police Force and possessed a large number of elite jōnin—the other shinobi clans could practically count their elite jōnin on one hand...