Analyzing the Ninja World Starting from Konoha

Chapter 253 Kakashi in Action!

On the front lines, Yamashiro Aoba led Konoha in a fierce battle against the Abby brothers of Kumogakure, while Konoha's rear was in complete chaos.

The two consecutive leaks of major secrets were like two bombshells, throwing the entire Konoha leadership into chaos.

First came the Wood Release human experimentation, followed by the full exposure of the Root organization's true nature.

In particular, the "Root Intelligence" widely circulated in the underground black market not only detailed the personnel organization of Root, but also exposed many of Danzo's dirty deeds in private, including his crazy plan to assassinate the Daimyo of the Land of Fire and install a puppet to take power.

The release of this information caused an uproar throughout the ninja world, and the Konoha F4 were completely stunned.

The most direct consequence was that the Daimyo of the Land of Fire used the pretext of "re-auditing" to directly block Konoha's financial allocation!

When Tsunade received that information, she was also taken aback.

Although Aoba had previously revealed some information about Danzo to her, she still found it difficult to suppress her anger when she actually saw the information!

To verify the authenticity of the information, Tsunade went directly to the orphanage on the outskirts of Konoha without alerting anyone.

As for why the orphanage was investigated, it was because other matters were temporarily suppressed by the third generation.

At this moment, Tsunade understood why Aoba had said he wanted to start training his own people.

As it turned out, Tsunade almost went berserk on the spot after investigating.

The orphanage, which should have been maintained by village funds, is now dilapidated, and even the children's basic needs for food and clothing are a problem.

The orphanage director, the pharmacist Nono, known as the "walking shrine maiden," has disappeared!

Through Tsunade's covert investigation and interrogation, she finally uncovered the truth.

That old bastard Danzo not only secretly misappropriated the orphanage's special funds, but also used the lives of the orphanage children as leverage to force Yakushi Nonou to infiltrate other countries again to steal intelligence!

Not only that, Danzo also forcibly took away a large number of orphans with ninja potential from the orphanage, brainwashed them, and turned them into emotionless killing tools for Root.

Konoha Village, Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk, his brow furrowed.

A thick stack of documents lay spread out on the table, each page stamped with a dark red seal. He had read the contents of the documents three times, but each time he read them, his brows furrowed even deeper.

The Wood Release Plan, frontline battle reports, stalled government funding, and Root intelligence circulating in the underworld —

All the troubles seemed to have conspired together, coming at the same time.

"well----"

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed deeply, placed his pipe on the table, and rubbed his sore eyes.

Just then, the office door was kicked open.

boom!

The office door was pushed open with a loud bang.

Tsunade strode in, clutching a document in her hand.

"Old man."

Tsunade's voice was eerily calm, like the deathly still sky before a storm.

"Tsunade, what are you doing? This is the Hokage's office!" The Third Hokage frowned, his tone tinged with helplessness and reproach.

Then, glancing at the document Tsunade was holding, his heart skipped a beat, and he vaguely guessed what it was.

Snapped!

Tsunade completely ignored the Third Hokage's words and threw the documents in her hand onto the Third Hokage's desk.

"This is a report from the orphanage."

Tsunade said, enunciating each word clearly, "I investigated it myself!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the report, his brows furrowing once more.

"From Konoha Year 48 to Year 51, the Konoha Orphanage had a total of 472 registered orphans, of whom 236 were qualified ninjas. Of these 236, 216 had records stating 'died of illness,' 'missing,' or 'moved out after being adopted.'"

Tsunade sneered, "I had Shizune investigate the addresses of those so-called 'adoptive families,' and guess what? They were all fake. Those addresses either didn't exist at all, or they were empty houses. All two hundred and sixteen children ended up in Root."

Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent.

"besides."

Tsunade's voice grew even colder, "Nearly 70% of the orphanage's annual funding is embezzled under various pretexts. Purchase records are falsified, supply lists are fabricated, and even the children's food allowance is reduced to below the bare minimum. You know where that money went without me telling you, right?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately remained silent.

"This is what disgusts me the most."

Tsunade opened the file on the table and pointed to a name on it.

Yakushi Nono.

"The orphanage director, an ordinary woman, was threatened by Danzo with the lives of those children and forced to become a spy, infiltrating other countries to steal intelligence. A woman who took care of orphans was forced to do dirty work that even the Anbu might not be willing to do."

Tsunade's voice grew louder and louder until it was almost a roar.

"Shimura Danzo! That bastard turned Konoha's orphanage into his talent breeding ground! Those children weren't even taught how to write their own names before he took them away for cruel brainwashing training!"

"Those who survive become emotionless killing machines! Those who die—no one even remembers their names!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi closed his eyes with a sorrowful expression.

silence.

A long silence.

This silence fueled Tsunade's anger even more.

"Speak up, old man!"

Tsunade slammed her hand on the corner of the table, shattering it. "Who is the Hokage? Is it you, or Shimura Danzo?!"

Faced with Tsunade's barrage of questions, Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep drag on his pipe and slowly exhaled thick smoke, his wrinkled old face filled with exhaustion and helplessness.

"Tsunade, calm down—"

The Third Hokage sighed, his voice sounding somewhat aged. "I truly knew nothing about the orphanage. Danzo—he really went too far."

"Excessive? You call this excessive?!"

Tsunade was so angry that she laughed. She suddenly sat up straight, pointed at the Third Hokage's nose, and cursed him without any politeness.

"What about the Anbu? The Anbu is supposed to be the direct subordinate force of the Hokage, answering only to the Hokage! Why can that old man Danzo order the Anbu around so easily? Why are there even more members in Root than in the Anbu?!"

"Do you even realize that the entire ninja world is laughing at Konoha? Even the underworld intelligence network is spreading rumors that Konoha has two Hokage, one a Hokage of Light and the other a Hokage of Darkness!"

The Third Hokage's fingers, holding the pipe, stiffened slightly. After a moment of silence, he stammered, "Tsunade, you don't understand the situation back then. The original purpose of Root was simply to be a training institution for cultivating and supplying talent to the Anbu, but—"

He paused.

"I just didn't expect Danzo to go to this extent."

"That's enough!"

Tsunade ruthlessly interrupted the Third Hokage's weak and feeble explanation, her eyes filled with deep disappointment and disdain.

"Stop deceiving yourself with those high-sounding excuses! Danzo's ambition was entirely nurtured by you!"

Tsunade said mercilessly, "Kai coveted the Hokage position, dared to attack the Hokage, and even dared to tamper with the Daimyo."

"Old man, what are you thinking? Are you governing a ninja village, or are you raising a beast that will eventually turn on its master?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's hand trembled slightly.

He wanted to explain for Danzo that Danzo didn't really intend to attack the daimyo, but he swallowed his words back.

Because apart from this one, every other charge is supported by irrefutable evidence.

Misappropriation of orphanage funds, unauthorized expansion of the underground network, threatening civilians with the lives of orphans to act as spies, and infiltration of the covert command system —

Any one of these points alone would be enough to warrant the execution of Danzo.

He wasn't completely unaware of these things.

He simply chose to turn a blind eye.

Danzo has been suspended from all his duties.

Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke with difficulty, "The Anbu are keeping an eye on him. Once things stabilize at the front, I will—"

"Wait?" Tsunade interrupted him coldly. "How long are you going to wait? Until he's hollowed out the entire Leaf Village before you make a move?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi was silent for a moment, then shook his head.

"Tsunade, the most pressing issue right now isn't Danzo."

He took another document from the drawer and handed it over.

"The financial allocation from Daming has been delayed for two months. I sent three groups of people to Daming Prefecture to urge payment, but all of them disappeared without a trace. The supplies at the front are almost gone. I urgently raised a batch of supplies to hold out for now, but it can only last for a month at most."

Tsunade took the document, glanced at it, and frowned.

"I originally planned to go to Daming Prefecture in person."

Hiruzen Sarutobi gave a wry smile. "But with Danzo's situation in such a state, I can't leave at all. The remnants of Root haven't been completely wiped out, and the Anbu need to be reorganized. The village is in turmoil—"

He looked at Tsunade, his eyes filled with a pleading expression.

"Tsunade, I know you're disappointed in me, but right now, Konoha needs you."

Tsunade remained silent for a long time.

She turned around, walked to the window, and looked at Konoha Village outside.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone on the rooftops of varying heights, wisps of smoke rose from their chimneys, and ninjas and civilians strolled to and fro on the streets.

This village was built by her grandfather with his life's work.

"I will stay and handle the orphanage and healthcare system matters."

Tsunade finally spoke, her voice cold but firm, "But old man, you must give me an explanation regarding Danzo. Not wait, not drag it out, but give me an explanation."

After saying that, she pushed open the door and left without looking back.

boom!

The door slammed shut behind me.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat alone in his empty office, the setting sun casting a long, long shadow over him.

Meanwhile, in another corner of Konoha Village.

In the dimly lit room, Kakashi sat quietly at the table, holding an intelligence scroll he had bought at a high price from an underground gold exchange.

Due to the previous leak of information about Wood Release, Kakashi became somewhat wary of the intelligence network in the underworld.

As soon as the information about Root was leaked, he immediately spent a lot of money to buy a copy.

However, when he saw what was on the scroll, he was struck dumb.

The scroll is densely covered with records of all sorts of shady, dirty work that the root unit has carried out over the years.

One piece of intelligence, like a sharp knife, pierced Kakashi's heart.

[In Konoha 45, he manipulated public opinion within the village, smeared Sakumo Hatake (the White Fang of Konoha), suppressed his prestige in the village, and prevented him from competing for the Hokage position.]

"Father!"

Kakashi's hands trembled violently, his knuckles turning white from the excessive force.

Konoha White Fang!

The man who was once hailed as a hero of Konoha, and whom even the Sannin had to show deference to, actually died in a political conspiracy orchestrated by the village's higher-ups!

That night involuntarily came to mind.

His father, the powerful ninja who once struck fear into the hearts of his enemies on the battlefield, did not die by the enemy's blade, but in his own home, he used the short sword that had slain countless powerful foes to cut open his own abdomen.

Blood stained the tatami mats and Kakashi's entire childhood.

Back then, my father abandoned his mission in order to save his comrades.

Kakashi always believed that it was his father's fault, because ninjas must follow the rules, and abandoning a mission is a disgrace for a ninja.

But now, when all the clues are put together, Kakashi finally realizes that there was an extremely fatal flaw in what happened back then!

My father was on an S-class classified mission back then!

According to Konoha's regulations, S-rank missions typically involve assassinating important figures from enemy countries, stealing core classified documents, or engaging in combat with extremely powerful opponents.

This level of mission is a top-secret operation directly deployed by the Hokage!

Regardless of whether the mission succeeds or fails, its specific details and execution process must never be made public in the village!

But what about back then?

No sooner had his father returned to the village than news of his abandoning the mission to save his comrades spread like wildfire throughout Konoha overnight.

Even Kakashi, who was still in the Ninja Academy at the time, could hear people pointing fingers and cursing viciously at his father wherever he went.

Why would the details of an S-rank classified mission be known to the civilians and genin of the village?!

This would have been impossible without the instigation and deliberate dissemination of information by higher-ups!

What terrified Kakashi even more was the companion his father had risked his life to save.

The guy who, at the height of the rumors, not only failed to stand up for his father but also joined the accusations, delivering the most fatal blow to his father.

After acquiring this information, Kakashi immediately used his authority as the captain of the secret service to sneak into the archives and look up the documents from that year.

He discovered that the person his father had saved had died during a regular C-rank mission shortly after his father's suicide.

He died quietly, and his body was never even brought back to the village. The cause of death on the file was only written in a few words: "Encountered a wandering ninja from an enemy country and died in battle."

What a coincidence!

The coincidence is so nauseating!

"Danzo————"

Kakashi gritted his teeth and squeezed out the name, a strong killing intent filling the room.

In the past, Kakashi might have had some doubts about this underground intelligence.

However, combined with the secret files he found and the various scandals that Danzo was exposed during this period, the truth has become clear.

Danzo deliberately leaked the secrets of the S-class mission in order to eliminate dissidents, incited public opinion in the village, and forced his father to commit suicide!

Then he killed the person who had been rescued to silence them!

Did the Third Hokage, as the highest authority in the village, really know nothing about all of this?

Or did he choose to acquiesce?

Kakashi closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

When he opened his eyes again, the confusion and pain in them had completely disappeared, replaced by a chilling coldness and determination.

He slowly stood up, picked up the ANBU mask, and gently put it on his face.

He did not seek confirmation from the Third Hokage, nor did he report to anyone.

Kakashi pushed open the window, and in a flash, he transformed into a black afterimage, disappearing into the night of Konoha.

The direction he was heading was precisely where the root base was located!

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