They're promoting the "Konoha threat" theory, and spouting nonsense about the Hidden

Chapter 122 The Seeds of Betrayal Have Been Sown

"I've also asked Tsunade, and she doesn't know what happened either."

Hiruzen Sarutobi tapped his pipe and slowly exhaled a breath.

Since Tsunade already suspected that the village was secretly conducting a "Wood Release experiment," she did not inform Hiruzen Sarutobi of the information that Wood Release and the Mangekyou Sharingan were suspected to be in one person.

Therefore, at this time, Konoha was unaware that the two powers were controlled by the same person; otherwise, the impact would likely have been even greater.

"Just as the Mangekyou Sharingan must have originated from the Uchiha clan, the Wood Release must also have originated from the Senju clan. Therefore, the sudden appearance of the Wood Release must be related to the Senju. Could it be the work of those old fogies?"

Danzo Shimura was clearly dissatisfied with not finding anything on the Senju clan members, and then turned his attention to the Senju elders.

Konoha Village has been established for over thirty years. Although the Senju clan has suffered heavy casualties and its transformation into a village has resulted in a dwindling population, some clan elders who have survived since the Warring States period still remain.

Not everyone supported Tobirama Senju's decision, especially the old guard, for whom restoring the Senju clan's glory was their deepest desire.

However, given that the tide has turned and the Wood Release technique has been lost, the only way for them to restore the glory of the Senju clan is to first replicate the Wood Release technique. Therefore, from this point of view, they are highly suspicious.

"It shouldn't be them. If it were them, they definitely wouldn't have kept it a secret if they succeeded... Besides, those old guys just came here to gather information, and they implied that it was an experiment by the village..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi paused, his deep gaze fixed on his old comrade-in-arms.

"...Danzo, you weren't behind this, were you?"

Shimura Danzo was taken aback by what he heard. He looked up at his old friend, wondering why he was trying to pin the blame on him again.

"When we were organizing the materials left behind by our teacher, some of them contained experimental data related to Wood Release. If I remember correctly, that part of the data was entrusted to you for safekeeping, right?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood up, his back to the setting sun, and looked at the "Darkness of the Ninja World" who was famous throughout the ninja world, his words revealing a hint of doubt.

"You didn't secretly restart the 'Wood Release Experiment Project' behind my back, did you?"

"..."

Shimura Danzo met Hiruzen Sarutobi's suspicious gaze, opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

Heaven help him, he really didn't do this!

Although he had this idea, he did not carry it out because he lacked outstanding scientific research talent.

Now that Hiruzen Sarutobi is questioning him based on this, Danzo Shimura actually feels a strange sense of injustice.

No, why are you throwing all the blame at me?!

Although his previous actions were a little excessive, weren't they all for the greater good of Konoha?

Even if he hadn't researched Wood Release, there's no need to interrogate him in this questioning tone.

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't think so. In his view, this matter must be related to people inside Konoha.

It's very simple. Hashirama cells are not something that ordinary people can obtain. So, let's use the process of elimination to rule out any possibilities. If it's not the Senju, not the Uchiha, and not Danzo Shimura, then could it be Hiruzen Sarutobi?

Could this be another case of that inherently evil Hozuki clan brat causing trouble?

"Danzo, you should know the current state of the village, so for the sake of the bigger picture, I hope you can hand over that Wood Release ninja."

"...I didn't do it."

Under Hiruzen Sarutobi's persistent questioning, Danzo Shimura clearly grew annoyed and replied stiffly.

"Then let me search your roots!"

Faced with the crisis in Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi became extremely tough, giving Danzo no chance to refute him.

"You two, go now!"

Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi giving orders to the Anbu right in front of him, Danzo Shimura's face instantly darkened.

Even though he didn't conduct any Wood Release experiments, is his hideout something that he can just let others see?

Danzo Shimura did a lot of things behind Hiruzen Sarutobi's back! If we send someone to investigate, won't everything be exposed?

"Hiruzen, you've crossed the line!"

"Danzo, you should know what I'll do at this crucial moment."

Seeing the helpless expression on his old comrade-in-arms's face, Danzo Shimura's hidden ambitions resurfaced.

"Hokage, Hokage!"

However, he was not blinded by anger. He forced himself to suppress his rage, uttered a few words, and slammed the door as he left.

"Hiruzen, you'll regret this!"

"Danzo, I am the Hokage!"

Seeing his old teammates burst out of the door, Hiruzen Sarutobi turned to look out the window at the tall Hokage Rock sculptures of Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju, a hint of confusion in his eyes.

"Teacher, why did everything turn out this way...?"

-

The subsequent search was not as successful as expected; the Anbu did not find any clues about Wood Release at the Root base.

Although the investigation uncovered many other problems, at this critical moment when Konoha was in turmoil and needed Shimura Danzo as the commander of the Kumogakure defense line, Hiruzen Sarutobi wisely chose to turn a blind eye.

However, it was clear that his "goodwill" was not accepted by Shimura Danzo. After this "humiliation", he decisively severed his bond with Sarutobi Hiruzen and extended an invitation to Orochimaru.

He had been paying attention to Orochimaru for some time, knowing his desire for immortality, and therefore provided him with some financial assistance.

However, due to his relationship with Hiruzen Sarutobi, he didn't go too far, only exerting influence covertly. But Hiruzen Sarutobi's recent investigation made him completely unscrupulous, directly increasing his contact with Orochimaru.

Orochimaru, of course, accepted it all without hesitation, and their relationship instantly reached its peak.

With the availability of outstanding scientific research talent, the Wood Release experiment plan was officially restarted by Danzo Shimura.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, don't you suspect me?

it is good!

I'll show you!

"Since so many participants failed, could there be a problem with the recipients? Should we use people with the Thousand Hands bloodline as recipients?"

After briefly browsing through the documents left behind by Tobirama Senju, Orochimaru astutely noticed the problem.

"Back then, the teacher had already tested it on the Senju clan members, but it didn't work at all. For reasons of secrecy, those materials were deliberately destroyed long ago."

"Whether it's effective cannot be judged solely by the results; further research is needed to draw conclusions. Could the experimental subjects provide some people with the bloodline of the Thousand Hands?"

Orochimaru clearly possesses the true qualities of a researcher and did not abandon this path because of Tobirama Senju's failure.

Besides, his cold-hearted nature did not soften his heart just because the Senju were Tsunade's clansmen, and he did not hesitate to use the Senju clansmen as test subjects.

"No, those people are too few in number. Moving even one of them would cause a huge problem! Besides, this Wood Release technique has just appeared, and it's the most critical time. Those people definitely can't be used for experiments."

Danzo Shimura shook his head, rejecting the proposal.

However, he immediately thought of someone, someone who shared the same lineage as the Senju clan—Uzumaki Kai.

As a member of the Uzumaki clan who came to Konoha with Michiko Uzumaki, Kai Uzumaki is not only exceptionally talented, but the Uzumaki clan is also a close relative of the Senju clan.

Coincidentally, this Uzumaki Kai is currently undergoing training at Root, and using him for experiments under these circumstances might yield some special results.

"The Vortex Clan? That's definitely a direction to consider."

Orochimaru nodded, also expressing his approval.

However, all of this is just a plan, and it can only be implemented after the Fourth Shinobi World War ends.

Moreover, they had no choice but to leave Konoha at this time, for a very simple reason—Konoha's front line could no longer hold out!

Under the ferocious offensive of Kumogakure and Sunagakure, the Konoha front, lacking a commander due to the return of the village to thoroughly investigate the Wood Release and Mangekyou Sharingan incidents, completely collapsed. At this time, the armies of Kumogakure and Sunagakure were already on the verge of reaching the Land of Fire.

Under these circumstances, Konoha could not sit idly by and wait for its demise. In addition, the investigation into Wood Release and Mangekyou Sharingan had stalled, so Hiruzen Sarutobi had no choice but to put the matter aside for the time being and deal with the frontline battles first.

Therefore, under these circumstances, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, and Orochimaru rushed to the front line of Kumogakure, while Torifu Akimichi, Sakumo Hatake, and Tsunade went to the front line of Sunagakure, and the fierce battle began again.

As for Jiraiya, he intentionally severed ties with Konoha at this time.

Judging from the current situation, the number of people he has or has not made a significant difference. However, the Rinnegan is related to the "Child of Destiny" and is the key to whether the Shinobi World War can be ended.

So he immediately decided to stay in the Land of Rain for the time being and personally teach the three children.

At that very moment, Hozuki Shingetsu finally returned to Kirigakure with the Tsuchigumo clan.

Back in Kirigakure, how could Hozuki Shingetsu not want to further disrupt the situation when faced with this predicament?

So, at his behest, and taking into account some rumors circulating in the ninja world, Tsunade replaced her grandmother and officially became the number one on the Heavenly Ranking.

The second place on the Heavenly Ranking was also marked as belonging to a Mangekyou Sharingan user who wished to remain anonymous. Hozuki Shingetsu even thoughtfully added a note in parentheses after the name, suggesting that the user might be a Konoha Uchiha ninja.

Besides using the rankings to disgust some people in Konoha, Hozuki Shingetsu also revealed a plan to the ninja world, called the Wood Release Experiment Plan.

Hozuki Shingetsu cleverly uses conspiracy theories that are popular with the public to explain the Senju clan's move to transform from a clan into a village as a result of the village's inability to use the Senju people for experiments, so they had no choice but to disband the clan and break up into smaller groups.

After all, the move by Konoha's number one ninja clan to disband its clan name was truly perplexing. The reason given for strengthening the bonds between villages was too righteous and did not conform to people's consistent conspiracy theories. This explanation was more likely to be believed by them.

Based on this, Hozuki Shingetsu even shouted a slogan:

Half of Senju's sacrifices occurred on the battlefield, and the other half on the operating table!

(End of this chapter)