Chapter 224: The Trampled Dignity of a Ninja Village

Chapter 224: Chapter 224: The Trampled Dignity of a Ninja Village

Amid the silence that had fallen over everyone, Jiraiya suddenly spoke, asking Hyuga Kagami, "Tell me in detail what happened when you were attacked."

Hyuga Kagami once again recounted the fabricated sequence of events surrounding the attack, this time explaining everything to Jiraiya in detail.

After listening, Jiraiya nodded and said nothing more.

Everything Hyuga Kagami had fabricated had been carefully considered and refined over and over again. Anything that might lead others to make connections or harbor suspicions had been removed one by one.

As for the parts that were difficult to explain, he simply attributed them all to the members of Kamigami being extremely powerful and possessing strange, mysterious abilities.

After all, even the Third Hokage himself had personally taken action and still failed to capture a member of Kamigami. With that precedent, no one could blame Kagami for failing against them.

After pondering for a moment, the Third Hokage tentatively asked, "Did Shisui display any unusual behavior that night?"

Hyuga Kagami replied naturally, "Lord Hokage, I’ve also heard the rumors circulating around the village. But personally, I think those rumors are completely baseless. They’re not even worth discussing!"

Danzo, standing nearby, let out a cold snort. "Arrogant. What gives you the right to make such a definitive judgment?"

Hyuga Kagami replied, "If Shisui is a member of Kamigami, then how do you explain Kamigami’s recent attacks against the Uchiha Clan?"

Danzo casually answered, "It’s entirely possible that the Uchiha Clan staged those attacks themselves."

"If the Uchiha Clan staged the whole thing themselves, then that would mean Kamigami is secretly colluding with the Uchiha Clan—or that Kamigami was created by the Uchiha Clan in the first place." With a faint smile, Hyuga Kagami countered, "Then why, after killing the chief envoy of the Kumogakure delegation, would Kamigami take the risk of secretly transporting his corpse out of the village? Wouldn’t that have been completely unnecessary?"

Danzo opened his mouth, but found himself unable to answer Kagami’s question. In the end, all he could do was let out another cold snort.

In truth, the question Hyuga Kagami had raised was precisely what had been puzzling all of Konoha’s higher-ups.

Judging from Kamigami’s entire chain of actions—attacking the chief of the Kumo delegation, secretly transporting his corpse out of the village, and attempting to deliver it to the black market—their objective seemed perfectly clear.

Kamigami was after the fifty-million-ryō bounty on Gloya’s head.

If Kamigami’s motives were defined that way, then naturally, suspicion toward the Uchiha Clan would be cleared.

After all, as one of Konoha’s great clans, there was simply no way the Uchiha Clan would do something so utterly absurd for the sake of a mere fifty-million-ryō black-market bounty.

Even Danzo, who harbored extreme hostility toward the Uchiha, didn’t believe they would do something that ridiculous.

The Third Hokage waved his hand. "All right. You may leave."

Hyuga Kagami gave a slight nod, then quietly left the Hokage’s office.

Once Kagami had departed, the Third Hokage turned to everyone remaining in the office and asked, "What do you all think?"

Hyuga Hiashi was the first to step forward. "I believe Kagami and Shisui are trustworthy. It would be unwise to suspect such outstanding young shinobi of the village merely because of a few baseless rumors."

Beside Jiraiya, Fukasaku Sage spoke up. "I sensed that young fellow named Hyuga Kagami just now. From beginning to end, there wasn’t the slightest fluctuation in his emotions. He didn’t seem like he was lying."

Danzo said, "Hyuga Kagami may not have been lying, but it’s entirely possible that he was deceived by Shisui. You should all know that Shisui, who possesses the Mangekyo Sharingan, is far stronger than Hyuga Kagami. Can Kagami’s Byakugan truly see through the falsehoods Shisui creates?"

Danzo’s words plunged everyone present into silence.

Perhaps their impression of the Mangekyo Sharingan had faded somewhat over the years, but after Uchiha Shinichi’s rampage through Konoha, everyone had once again witnessed firsthand the terrifying power that had once allowed Uchiha Madara to rival the First Hokage.

They had all come to realize that once an Uchiha awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, their strength would undergo a qualitative leap, allowing them to accomplish many things that would otherwise seem impossible.

Seeing that no one refuted him, Danzo sneered again. "I even suspect that Hyuga Kagami has already been placed under Shisui’s genjutsu!"

Fukasaku Sage shook his head. With his arms folded across his chest, he said solemnly, "The chakra within Hyuga Kagami’s body is extremely calm, and... in any case, there are no signs whatsoever that his chakra has been disturbed."

Hyuga Hiashi also agreed. "That’s right. Kagami isn’t under the influence of genjutsu. The feedback from the Caged Bird Curse Mark is completely normal."

The Third Hokage breathed a sigh of relief. "That’s good."

The Third had no desire to intensify the conflict between the village and the Uchiha at a time like this.

After all, the suddenly emerged Kamigami, as well as the Akatsuki—which had recruited a large number of Konoha’s rogue ninja—posed an even greater threat to the village.

According to the intelligence available to Konoha’s higher-ups, the Uchiha Clan currently had only one known wielder of the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Akatsuki, on the other hand, not only had Uchiha Shinichi, who also possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan, but Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin, as well as numerous S-rank rogue ninja, including Sasori, Kakuzu, and Hiruko.

In terms of high-level combat power alone, Akatsuki was already no weaker than any of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

The Third Hokage turned toward Koharu Utatane and asked, "Did Sunagakure uncover anything?"

Konoha and Sunagakure had already formed an alliance, so in its investigation of Kamigami, Konoha had also requested assistance from its ally.

Koharu took out a document and handed it to the Third Hokage as she said, "The situation on Sunagakure’s side isn’t looking good."

The Third Hokage took the document and glanced through it, immediately furrowing his brow.

After the Third Hokage’s encounter with Sasori, Konoha had informed its ally, Sunagakure, about Sasori’s situation.

In truth, many within Sunagakure had already suspected that Sasori was connected to the disappearance of the Third Kazekage. However, because Sasori was the biological grandson of Sunagakure elder Chiyo, and because no one possessed any concrete evidence, the matter had remained unresolved.

Now, however, they had learned that Sasori had joined Akatsuki, and rumors were circulating that he was the one who had killed the Third Kazekage.

At that point, the excuse of "insufficient evidence" could no longer cover things up.

The Third Kazekage had been killed. Even if only for the sake of restoring their village’s honor, Sunagakure had no choice but to respond.

And so, they quickly assembled a large pursuit force to hunt down Sasori.

Whether it was merely a coincidence or someone had deliberately arranged it, no one knew.

Just as Sunagakure finished assembling its pursuit force, Sasori received intelligence from Kabuto—the spy he had planted beside Orochimaru—reporting that Orochimaru was hiding somewhere within the Land of Wind.

Thus, Sasori, accompanied by Kakuzu, Hiruko, Shinno, and several other members of Akatsuki, hurried toward the Land of Wind.

The result was obvious.

Amid the endless yellow sands, Sunagakure’s pursuit force unexpectedly ran straight into Akatsuki, and a fierce battle erupted between the two sides.

In the end, the Akatsuki members were forced to withdraw, while Sunagakure’s pursuit force suffered devastating losses and was left with no strength to continue the chase.

The Third Hokage slammed the document onto the desk, his expression darkening.

Following Konoha, Sunagakure had now also suffered a humiliating setback at the hands of a bounty-ninja organization.

The dignity of the Five Great Shinobi Villages was being trampled beneath the feet of bounty-ninja organizations like Kamigami and Akatsuki...