Chapter 209: The Might of Konoha

Chapter 209: Chapter 209: The Might of Konoha

Within the Hyuga clan compound.

After handing the mobilization order issued by the Third Hokage to his younger brother Hizashi, who had hurried over, Hiashi picked up his teacup and took a small sip.

Hizashi finished reading the contents of the order and said without hesitation, "I’ll go!"

At present, setting aside the sparsely populated Main Family, there were only a handful of elite jōnin among the Hyuga Branch Family, and Hizashi was one of them.

As the clan head’s younger brother, Hizashi naturally could not shirk a responsibility like this.

"This Kamigami organization is extremely mysterious. Be careful." After a brief pause, Hiashi added, "Choose two more jōnin from the clan to go with you. That way, you can watch each other’s backs."

Hizashi acknowledged the order and immediately left the Main Family residence. After selecting two jōnin from the clan whom he knew well, he headed toward Danzo’s Root base.

The moment he arrived at the courtyard of the Root base, Hizashi discovered that quite a number of shinobi had already gathered there.

"Shikaku, Inoichi, Choza..."

Looking over one familiar face after another, Hizashi could clearly feel just how seriously the village was taking this operation.

There was no doubt that, as important supporters of the Hokage’s faction, the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clans—the three secret-technique clans collectively known as the "Ino–Shika–Cho"—had each sent their strongest member: their respective clan heads.

At the other end of the courtyard, Hizashi spotted Tsume Inuzuka and Agō Inuzuka of the Inuzuka clan, along with their ninken. Standing quietly in a corner was the head of the Aburame clan, Shibi Aburame.

Just then, Danzo entered the courtyard at the head of a large contingent of Root shinobi.

Stepping onto the raised platform, Danzo leaned on his cane and said coldly, "This mission is to eliminate the Kamigami, an organization responsible for countless crimes. I will serve as the commander of this operation. I expect everyone to work together and obey orders!"

With that, Danzo did not even wait for a response before forcefully beginning to assign everyone their respective tasks...

...

Meanwhile, on Hyuga Kagami’s side.

Kagami had only just slipped back into the village from the secret detention facility and dispelled the Shadow Clone he had left at home to conceal his movements when an ANBU operative arrived at his door and relayed the Hokage’s orders.

Without hesitation, Kagami immediately headed for the Hokage’s Office. When he arrived, he discovered that the rest of his comrades from Team 11 had already gotten there ahead of him.

The Third Hokage, who had been standing with his back to the four members of Team 11, slowly turned around.

"There is a new mission I need to entrust to you."

Kakashi immediately stepped forward. "ANBU Team 11 awaits your orders!"

As ANBU directly subordinate to the Hokage, Team 11 had no right to refuse a mission. Even if the Third Hokage ordered them onto a mission from which there was no chance of returning alive, ANBU were required to carry it out unconditionally.

The Third Hokage nodded lightly. "The village has already decided to place Elder Danzo in full command of the operation to eliminate the Kamigami."

Hearing this, Shisui glanced at Hyuga Kagami from the corner of his eye, only to find Kagami perfectly calm, his expression unchanged, as though the Kamigami had absolutely nothing to do with him.

Seeing that, Shisui also settled his own nerves.

The Third continued, "I need to know every detail of this operation against the Kamigami. Therefore, from this moment onward, Team 11’s mission is to observe and monitor the entire operation."

Kakashi hesitated slightly. "Are we to monitor Lord Danzo as well?"

The Third replied solemnly, "Every shinobi participating in this operation is to be monitored. Danzo and Jiraiya are no exceptions!"

Kakashi answered, "Yes!"

At that moment, the Third’s gaze swept across Kakashi, Hyuga Kagami, and Guy one by one before finally settling on Shisui.

"Shisui, you will be responsible for monitoring the movements of the Uchiha clan."

Without the slightest hesitation, Shisui immediately replied, "Yes!"

For the Third to give Shisui such an order was clearly a sign of his trust in him, so Shisui was extremely pleased.

More and more, he felt that Hyuga Kagami’s idea of creating a common enemy for both the village and the Uchiha clan had been both correct and ingenious.

After leaving the Hokage Building, the four members of Team 11 made their way to a secluded, deserted forest.

Kakashi was the first to speak. "This mission is primarily about surveillance, but there are simply too many targets we need to monitor. So I suggest we split up!"

Naturally, Kagami and the others had no objections.

Seeing that no one had any objections, Kakashi began assigning their tasks.

"I’ll be responsible for monitoring Lord Danzo and the members of Root. Kagami, you’ll monitor Lord Jiraiya and the Hyuga clan. Guy, you’ll monitor the elite jōnin from the various major ninja clans."

Hearing this, Hyuga Kagami glanced at Kakashi.

He had to admit, Kakashi was a pretty decent captain. Whenever they went on a mission, he would always step forward and take responsibility for the most troublesome part himself.

This time was no exception. Monitoring Danzo, the leader of Root, was clearly the most sensitive and troublesome assignment of them all, yet Kakashi had once again voluntarily taken that burden upon himself.

Once their respective assignments had been settled, Kakashi and Guy departed one after the other.

Shisui, who had deliberately stayed behind, made sure there was no one around before saying eagerly, "Senpai, your plan really worked!"

Kagami was somewhat curious. "It worked that quickly?"

Shisui nodded heavily. "Right now, everyone in the clan is talking about how to encircle and eliminate the Kamigami. Hardly anyone is even mentioning rebellion anymore!"

Seeing how excited Shisui was, Kagami patted him on the shoulder.

"Don’t celebrate too soon. This is all only temporary. As long as the conflict between your Uchiha clan and the village remains unresolved, the danger of rebellion will never truly disappear."

Shisui froze for a long moment after having cold water poured over his excitement, then sighed.

"Yeah. Right now, everyone has simply been frightened by the Kamigami we fabricated. The conflict between the clan and the village hasn’t actually been resolved."

After collecting himself, Shisui asked again, "Senpai, what should we do next?"

Kagami replied, "The village has launched such a large-scale operation against us. There’s no reason for us to meet them head-on. For now, we’ll lie low and wait for the heat to die down!"

With that settled, Kagami and Shisui parted ways and went their separate directions.

Once Konoha mobilized in full force, it quickly displayed the might befitting the strongest of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

In less than a week, the vast majority of black markets, intelligence dens, bounty stations, and other underground establishments operating in the shadows throughout the Land of Fire were thoroughly swept clean.

Large numbers of black-market operatives were captured and thrown into Konoha’s maximum-security prison.

And that wasn’t all. Every bounty ninja and rogue ninja operating within the Land of Fire was caught in the crossfire as well, suffering a merciless crackdown at the hands of Konoha.

After all, not every bounty ninja or rogue ninja possessed the monstrous strength of the Akatsuki. The vast majority were only at the level of genin or chūnin.

As for the very small number of bounty ninja who possessed jōnin-level strength, most of them were well-informed. The moment they learned that the Kamigami had committed a major crime in Konoha and assassinated the leader of the Kumogakure delegation, the more perceptive among them had already fled the Land of Fire ahead of time.

As a result, Konoha’s sweeping operation proceeded exceptionally smoothly.

They did not encounter even a single instance of meaningful resistance...