Konoha: I have a clone in One Piece.

Chapter 132 This is all a conspiracy by the Hidden Cloud Village!

Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly turned around, and the scene that came into view made his veins bulge instantly!

Suddenly, incredibly bright lightning illuminated the once bustling and peaceful Konoha Village, followed by raging flames. The villagers' panic and commotion even reached the village entrance.

The elders of Konoha, along with the legendary Sannin Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade, as well as some clan leaders, were all thrown into turmoil at this moment.

"!!!"

"That direction is... the Hokage Building!"

Standing nearby, one of Konoha's high-ranking officials, Finance Minister Mitokado Homura, exclaimed the truth in shock.

Since its founding, Konoha has never been attacked like this before. Even the monstrous Uchiha Madara was stopped at the Valley of the End outside the village by the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama!

And now, someone has actually bombed the Hokage Building!

"Quickly! Go back and protect the village!" As the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately recovered and shouted the order angrily.

Then, he turned his head and glanced at Shimura Danzo, giving him a meaningful look.

Hiruzen Sarutobi hoped that Danzo Shimura would stay here to keep an eye on the potentially suspicious Cloud Ninja envoys. He also had a ulterior motive: he wanted to minimize Danzo's opportunities to appear in front of the villagers.

Without waiting for anyone else to respond, Hiruzen Sarutobi ignored even his own son and rushed headlong towards the village!

"Walk!"

Nearby, Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya reacted and quickly ran towards the village.

"Yes!" ×99

The many Konoha Jonin and clan leaders who had come to greet the Cloud Village envoy responded in unison.

Subsequently, nearly a hundred figures rushed towards the Hokage Building.

In the blink of an eye, only Danzo Shimura, the leader of the Root organization, and some of his Root subordinates remained silently standing at the entrance of Konoha Village.

"???"

"Uh...it seems your village has been attacked?" the envoy from Kumogakure asked somewhat awkwardly.

They never expected that such a thing would happen in Konoha Village so soon after they arrived.

This……

It's really hard to explain.

"Ha, hypocrisy!"

"Did your Hidden Cloud Village plan this all along?" A somewhat haggard-looking Shinnosuke Sarutobi roared at the Hidden Cloud Village envoy.

The Third Hokage's son's clothes looked very neat, and it seemed that apart from some mental decline, he had no other problems.

But Sarutobi Shinnosuke knew perfectly well what he had encountered in Kumogakure!

The inhuman torture methods and the cruel and vicious methods of interrogation left his body covered in wounds beneath his intact clothes!

Therefore, Sarutobi Shinnosuke harbors extreme hatred for the people of Kumogakure!

"Hey! Don't slander good people! We..."

"Hehe, Shinnosuke is still too impulsive, please don't mind him."

Just as the envoys from Kumogakure were preparing to fiercely refute that they hadn't done it, Shimura Danzo interrupted them.

As a friend of Hiruzen Sarutobi for decades, Danzo Shimura understood the meaning behind Hiruzen Sarutobi's departing gaze without any difficulty.

The Root leader, his face grim and his expression icy, looked at the envoys from Kumogakure:

"With this sudden turn of events in Konoha, we may not have time to entertain you for the time being."

"So, I'll trouble you to stay in Konoha for a few more days!"

After saying that, Danzo Shimura waved his hand, and the Root members around him instantly surrounded the Cloud Ninja.

"etc……"

"take away!"

"Yes, Lord Danzo!"

The next moment, the Root members ignored the Cloud Ninja's explanations. They obeyed Danzo's orders, expressionlessly taking control of all the Cloud Ninja, and then followed Shimura Danzo's footsteps towards Konoha Village.

……

Konoha Village, at the Hokage Building.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, rushed here.

Many Konoha ninjas were already nearby rescuing the injured from the explosion.

Upon seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi arrive, the Konoha villagers cheered excitedly, as if they had found a savior.

"Hokage-sama! Hokage-sama has arrived!"

"Hokage-sama! Waaaaah..."

"Hokage-sama!"

"Okay, okay, it's alright now, everything's fine~"

As Hiruzen Sarutobi walked, he reassured the villagers, then looked at the ruins of the Hokage Building, which were covered in black ash and soaked with sweat.

He knew in his heart that the raging fire had been extinguished by some powerful water-based technique.

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at Kosuke Maruboshi, who was standing in the crowd carrying a large pot, and nodded to the Konoha genin.

Then I felt a pang of heartache.

The Hokage Building contains countless important documents: lists of Konoha ninja, lists of spies, analyses of the ninja world situation, village economic reports, and so on...

These things that were so important to Konoha Village have all vanished in an instant!

Hiruzen Sarutobi's anger was overwhelming: "Damn it! Who is it???"

However, the next moment, when he glanced around and found no familiar objects from the office in the ruins, his anger hadn't even had a chance to erupt before his heart sank.

"Oh no! The Book of Sealing!!!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly had a strong sense of foreboding and hurriedly formed hand seals to sense his surroundings.

The Forbidden Techniques Scroll of Konoha, also known as the Book of Seals, is a treasure of Konoha Village that is almost as important as the Nine-Tails. It contains many incredible and powerful ninjutsu, making it one of the most important assets and trump cards of Konoha Village!

Therefore, to prevent damage or theft, the scroll was covered with numerous sealing techniques and sensory barriers set up by successive Hokage.

However, at this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi discovered that all the techniques set up on the forbidden scroll seemed to have completely failed.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't sense the existence of the scroll!

It's important to understand that this kind of destruction, which didn't even affect the surrounding streets much, couldn't possibly break the barrier and sealing technique attached to the scroll!

In other words...

"Someone has stolen the Book of Seals!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression instantly darkened, and his entire body involuntarily emitted a surge of chakra, causing the ground beneath his feet to tremble and kick up dust.

Just then, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and a group of ninja clan leaders arrived.

"..."

Looking at the ruins that the Hokage Building had become, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and remained silent.

Jiraiya's face showed an unusual seriousness as he addressed Hiruzen Sarutobi, who stood silently before the ruins, asking:

"Old man, are you alright?"

"..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes were filled with worry.

Of course something happened!

His heart was heavy.

After all, the Book of Seals has been stolen!

However, when the Third Hokage turned around and saw the various expressions on the faces of the ninja clan leaders around him, the worry in his eyes quietly disappeared.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's face was filled with indignation and regret:

"I really didn't expect that just leaving for a short while would result in thugs bombing the Hokage Building!"

"It's fine if the building collapses, just rebuild it."

"But! That villain actually harmed so many innocent villagers of Konoha! I absolutely cannot tolerate this!"

With that, Hiruzen Sarutobi solemnly commanded:

"Jiraiya, Orochimaru, you two go and thoroughly investigate the area around the village to see if the invading enemy has left any clues."

"Clan Chief Aburame, and Clan Chief Hyuga, both of you have excellent sensory abilities. I would appreciate it if you could also help with the search!"

"Men Yan, take some of your spies to maintain order in the village. Tell the villagers that everything is alright and not to worry or panic!"

"Tsunade, Koharu, organize the medical ninjas and quickly treat the wounded."

"Everyone else, stop standing there and help treat the wounded!"

"yes!"

Upon hearing the Third Hokage's order, everyone immediately sprang into action.

"..."

After everyone had left, the Third Hokage turned back to look at the ruins. His composure from before had vanished, replaced by a heavy heart and eyes filled with worry once more…

Ultimately, thanks to the ninjas' best efforts, Konoha's losses were minimized on the surface, and many injured villagers expressed their gratitude to those who had done their best to help them during the disaster.

For example, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utatane, and Tsunade, etc., all expressed their gratitude to Orochimaru and Jiraiya, who were sent to pursue the enemy.

Aside from Danzo Shimura, who wasn't even there...

……

In the dead of night, at the Sarutobi clan's territory.

Because of the bombing of the Hokage Building, Hiruzen Sarutobi and three Konoha elders discussed the incident at home.

The four of them sat around a makeshift desk, none of them seeming to be in a good mood.

Danzo Shimura said with a fierce expression:

"Hiruzen! This is definitely a conspiracy by the Hidden Cloud Village!"

"The Root ninjas who stayed behind in the village told me that before the explosion, there were intense flashes of lightning around the Hokage Building!"

"Such a powerful Lightning Release ninjutsu, and those Cloud Village envoys arriving at just the right time—this is definitely not a coincidence!"

Mitokado Homura, standing nearby, nodded in agreement: "That's right!"

"The barbarians of Kumogakure have always been prone to going back on their word, and we know about what happened to our teacher."

"We had agreed to peace talks back then, but they suddenly launched an attack on us halfway through."

"Now it seems that the alliance they talked about before was just an excuse! Their real purpose is probably..."

"Well……"

Mitokado Homura's words trailed off, and he then looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen with a puzzled expression:

"Hiruzen, you're the first one there. Were any important documents stolen from the Hokage Building? What else has Kumogakure been doing besides blowing up buildings?"

Beside them, Koharu Utatane and Danzo Shimura also looked over with puzzled expressions.

"I……"

Hiruzen Sarutobi opened his mouth, but each time he hesitated, unsure how to bring up the matter of the Book of Seals being stolen.

Seeing their old friend's hesitant expression, the three of them immediately felt a pang of anxiety.

Mitokado Homura quickly pressed, "Hiruzen! Don't hesitate any longer, what can't you tell us?"

"What exactly is missing?"

"Sigh~"

Hiruzen Sarutobi closed his eyes and sighed helplessly. He then opened his eyes, looked at the three of them, and solemnly uttered the devastating news hidden in his heart:

"The Book of Seals is gone!"

The news came so suddenly that the three of them felt as if they had been struck by lightning, their hearts sinking to the bottom of a valley.

"..."

The conversation suddenly stopped, and the room became completely silent.

After a long silence, Danzo Shimura broke it.

He stood up angrily and roared at Hiruzen Sarutobi, "Hiruzen! Why didn't you say so sooner?!"

"Do you know how many powerful ninjutsu techniques are contained in the Scroll of Seals?"

"Those are forbidden techniques that can sway the course of a war; they are the trump cards our teacher left us!"

"Now that it's been taken by the enemy, have you considered how much damage it would cause to Konoha if another war breaks out in the future?"

Beside them, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, finally recovering from their shock, echoed with lingering fear, "That's right!"

"The forbidden techniques recorded in the Book of Sealing are terrifying in both power and effect!"

"Hiruzen, you should have informed us about this immediately!"

Koharu, who was switching dorm rooms, frowned and asked seriously:

"By the way, Hiruzen, you didn't tell anyone about the lost Scroll of Seals, did you?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head gravely: "No."

"I kept this a secret and only told you guys about it."

Indeed, the Book of Seals is extremely important.

If the rest of Konoha finds out about this, it will likely cause quite a bit of panic.

Mitokado Homura nodded in agreement: "That's good, this matter must be kept a secret!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at the group, then narrowed his eyes and said slowly:

"I remember all those forbidden techniques. I will rewrite them on a scroll later, so Konoha's losses are actually not that great."

"The crucial question now is, who was responsible for the explosion at the Hokage Building?"

"And who has the Book of Seals?"

Danzo Shimura sat down again, his face grim, and scoffed disdainfully, "Hmph, Hiruzen! Need I even say more?!"

"Isn't this obviously a conspiracy by the Hidden Cloud Village?"

"The powerful Lightning Release ninjutsu, the messenger who just happened to arrive and attracted our attention, and the things they did in the past."

"Our encounter when we went to the Land of Lightning for peace talks with our teacher, and the kidnapping of Kushina Uzumaki by Cloud Village spies a few years ago."

"The Hidden Cloud Village has always been stealing forbidden techniques and treasures from all over the ninja world; their barbarian nature is common knowledge!"

"This incident was clearly a meticulously planned scheme by them, all for the purpose of seizing the Book of Seals from Konoha!"

"What kind of goodwill does Kumogakure have, offering to form an alliance? Are they trying to bribe a chicken?"

Indeed, the reputation of Kumogakure has never been good; it's known for its reckless brutes, thieves, madmen, robbers, and treacherous scoundrels who go back on their word...

These are all deep impressions that the Hidden Cloud Village left on the people of the ninja world!

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu both expressed strong agreement with Shimura Danzo's analysis:

"That's right! Kumogakure is indeed highly suspicious!"

"..."

Listening to Shimura Danzo's analysis, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, remained silent, his expression shifting between light and shadow, but he had already silently concluded that the culprit was Kumogakure.

(End of this chapter)