Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 0
Chapter Title: The Third Hokage's Concerns
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In the Hokage's office, the pipe of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, flickered dimly.
On the desk before him lay a pursuit report written by Kakashi.
It had been two weeks since Orochimaru's defection. Kakashi had carried the unconscious Yamato back to the village.
After treatment, Kakashi and Yamato had reached a consensus: they didn't want Yukimi dragged into it.
Thus, the two concealed certain details, omitting any mention of the Ibuki Clan. They merely reported to Danzo and the Third Hokage that they had encountered Orochimaru and the "Asura" who had come to extract him. The pair seemed to have struck some sort of deal.
Orochimaru had fled beyond the borders of the Land of Fire. "Asura" had wounded Yamato, and Kakashi had been defeated as well.
But for reasons unknown, the enemy had spared them both.
Sarutobi Hiruzen did not reprimand Kakashi. He simply instructed Kakashi and Yamato to rest and recover properly.
Then came the matter of Yamato's reassignment. Lately, Sarutobi Hiruzen had been mulling over how to pry Yamato away from Danzo's clutches.
After all, on paper, Danzo's Root Organization fell under Anbu. As a Konoha ninja, Yamato naturally answered to the Hokage.
But if Yamato's loyalties still lay with Danzo, then even placing him in Anbu would just give Danzo an easy pawn to plant there.
Sarutobi Hiruzen understood the Will of Fire all too well. To truly turn Yamato into a Konoha ninja, he had to break free of his devotion to Danzo first. Changing a person's mindset was far harder than shifting titles or affiliations.
That was why Sarutobi Hiruzen hadn't pressed Danzo for Yamato just yet.
But no sooner had one crisis ebbed than another surged.
The head of the Konoha Military Police Force, Uchiha Fugaku, brought in an investigation report.
"What did you say? 'Asura' came back?!" Sarutobi Hiruzen's aged face twisted in shock beneath his Hokage hat as he heard Uchiha Fugaku's briefing. The pipe in his hand froze mid-puff.
A month had passed since that assault, and half a month since Orochimaru's flight. Sarutobi Hiruzen had dispatched Konoha's sensor ninjas to work with the Barrier Team, scouring the village's protective barrier. They had found and patched a few weak spots.
Yet now the Konoha Military Police Force was reporting that "Asura" might have slipped in again!
Did they think Konoha was some public restroom? Come and go whenever they pleased?
Uchiha Fugaku delivered his prepared statement.
"We can't pinpoint the exact time yet. It could be a remnant from before, hidden away until the shop owner and his family just now discovered it."
Hoo—
"Is it confirmed to be 'Asura's' handiwork?" Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice drifted from beneath his hat.
"On that night, anyone capable of pulling it off... I don't believe it was one of our village ninjas." Uchiha Fugaku's words thickened the tension in the office.
Would you rather suspect a shadowy outsider, or one of your own?
Your choice.
"I understand. We'll leave it at that for now. He did pay up, after all." Sarutobi Hiruzen drew deeply on his pipe, exhaling a slow plume of smoke. His elderly voice emerged from under the hat.
"Yes, Lord Hokage!" Uchiha Fugaku withdrew from the office.
Once Fugaku was gone, Sarutobi Hiruzen stared at the Military Police Force's report, utterly baffled.
What are your true aims, you who wield such power? Sarutobi Hiruzen had even briefly suspected this enigmatic ninja was the same masked figure behind the Nine-Tails Night three years prior—the one who slew the Fourth Hokage and his wife, along with Sarutobi's own spouse, Biwako.
But many ninjas had glimpsed the Sharingan pattern in the Nine-Tails' eyes that night, and "Asura" had shown no abilities tied to the Sharingan or the Uchiha Clan.
Neither the reports from the Hiashi brothers nor the intel from spies embedded in the Hidden Cloud Village mentioned any Sharingan-related powers or techniques.
That spiraling orb jutsu, on the other hand, bore an eerie resemblance to one devised by Namikaze Minato.
"Ah, what troubled times." Sarutobi Hiruzen rose slowly from his chair and approached the window.