Naruto: I became a super shadow in the Anbu.

Chapter 405 You Can't Hide Here

"Hiruzen, come home. You haven't been home for a week."

After Biwako finished speaking, tears streamed down her face uncontrollably, dripping onto the floor and quickly soaking a large area.

Hiruzen Sarutobi tilted his head slightly, staring at Lake Sarutobi Biwa at the entrance.

His hands were trembling slightly under his desk.

He wasn't surprised if his wife questioned, scolded, or complained about him.

However, his wife's urging him to go home and take care of himself only made Hiruzen Sarutobi feel even worse.

Biwako strongly opposed Shinnosuke becoming a foreign affairs advisor. Based on her mother's intuition, Biwako always felt that Shinnosuke would run into problems if he became a foreign affairs advisor.

It has now been proven that Lake Biwa was right, but Lake Biwa has not said anything to blame.

During this week, Biwako has figured out a lot and has moved on from the grief of losing her son even earlier than him.

Or rather, it's not that I've moved on—you can never truly move on from something like this—it's just that I've accepted it, and had to accept the reality of losing my son.

Biwako wiped away her tears, came to Hiruzen Sarutobi's side, and put her hand on Hiruzen Sarutobi's shoulder.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's body suddenly trembled.

"Hiruzen, go home, go back to your clan's territory," said Sarutobi Biwako.
"Not only did Shinnosuke sacrifice himself, but our daughter-in-law, Hōo, also sacrificed herself, as did Hibiki and his son, Enosuke."

You are the Hokage and the head of the Sarutobi clan; the clan needs you to step in and appease them.

You are a ninja, and we have witnessed countless deaths along the way.

"It's your responsibility to return to your ancestral home; you can't hide here anymore."

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood up.

With his blood and qi flowing backward, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who simply stood up, experienced dizziness and lightheadedness.

He felt his physical functions declining.

"Yes, I can't hide here anymore; there are still many things to deal with."

In the village, we need to dispatch the Daimyo of the Land of Hot Springs to guard the ninja as soon as possible, and we need to select a new foreign affairs advisor as soon as possible.

Within the family, it is crucial to comfort the families of those who have sacrificed their lives as quickly as possible.

My son will die for Konoha, and other people's sons will die for Konoha. My grief is not an isolated case.

On the second floor of the Hokage Building, Nara Shikano watched the Hokage and his wife leave the building from the window and breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn't dare leave the Hokage Building during that week, unsure what unusual decision the Third Hokage would make.

Fortunately, the Third Hokage was the strongest Hokage after all, and he did not collapse because of his eldest son's sacrifice.

He returned to his desk and began to study the scroll that Ju Yi had sent back.

The scroll describes the battle between the fox and the two-tailed jinchūriki, Ryūha-jin.

Could transplanting Hashirama cells really allow a fox to master such powerful Wood Release techniques?

Nara Shika wrote several names on the scroll: Fox, Orochimaru, Tsunade, Senju Hanamori, Senju Rinmoku...

In the end, he circled the names of the fox and the thousand-handed unicorn.

If that's the case, everything seems to make sense...
Nara Shikano was startled and immediately destroyed the scroll.

The fox is the most important ninja in the Anbu, and the most important, perhaps only, sword in the Third Hokage's hands. It's impossible for her to have any connection with the Senju clan.

Nara deer antlers would not voice their suspicions.

He had a vague feeling that Konoha was about to change.

That night, after dealing with family affairs, the Third Hokage returned to the Hokage Building and summoned the higher-ups.

Danzo, Tsunade, and Nara Shikaku all arrived at the Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi said calmly:

"I'm sorry, I was in a bad state a few days ago because of Shinnosuke's death, and I missed a lot of things."

Now let's examine Konoha's current predicament. Shikanobu, tell me the intelligence you've gathered so far.

Deer Antlers pretended to glance at the scroll, but in reality, he had already memorized the information perfectly. He said:
"After Advisor Sarutobi Shinnosuke arrived in the Land of Hot Springs, he thwarted the Cloud Ninja's offensive."

However, the daimyo of the Land of Fire insisted that the prince go to the Fire Temple to receive ordination.

To prevent the ninja monks from becoming the daimyo's guardian ninjas, Shinnosuke, the advisor, sent a fox to assassinate Kaigyo, the head priest of the Fire Temple.

The good news is that Kaikyo died suddenly, and the Fire Temple was in chaos, so it was no longer able to send ninja monks into the castle tower.

The bad news is that the Cloud Ninja, in alliance with the Iwa Ninja, sent six powerful individuals to ambush and kill Shinnosuke's advisor.

The fox returned to the Land of Hot Water, killed Ryuuto and Mimai of Iwagakure, and reclaimed the Land of Hot Water. It is now hunting down Tsuchidae and the remaining Cloud Ninja.

The castle tower of the Land of Hot Springs is now in the hands of Konoha.

A ninja from the front lines delivered a message, requesting the village to resolve the issue of the guardian ninja of the Land of Hot Springs as soon as possible.

The fox is the vice-captain of the Anbu, and Nara Kiichi is Shinnosuke's advisor's assistant; neither of them is suitable to be a guardian ninja.

As for the former Guardian Ninja Captain Sarutobi Yamato, he was seriously injured and is expected to be sent back to Konoha for treatment in the next couple of days.

Tsunade remained silent.

The battle between the Land of Hot Springs was indeed fierce. Who could have imagined that a border probing would turn into the deaths of hundreds of ninjas and into a brutal exchange of high-ranking officials between the two sides?

Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, "Two high-ranking members of Kumogakure have died, and the remaining Tsuchikage will not be spared by the fox either."

"Could we take this opportunity to retaliate against Kumogakure? Aren't they eyeing the Land of Hot Springs? Let's conquer the Land of the Moon."

Nara Shikanobu said, "There's no problem with the tactics. Kumogakure has suffered heavy losses, so we can take this opportunity to send troops to conquer the Land of the Moon and make the daimyo of the Land of the Moon submit."

However, the strength of our Konoha is also below the safety line.

During both Shinobi World Wars, we faced the situation of fighting three ninja villages simultaneously.

If we invest too much resources in the Moon Kingdom, I fear the other villages will take advantage of our misfortune.

Then, another Ninja World War will break out.

Konoha has lost many strong warriors, and it is unlikely that it can win three wars at the same time.

Advisor Yan, Advisor Sakumo, Advisor Koharu, Advisor Shinnosuke, and Uncle Torifu—they all sacrificed themselves.

Most importantly, we must also be wary of Madara Uchiha; our strength is stretched thin.

Therefore, I believe that tactically we can conquer the Moon Kingdom, but strategically, we should not take any risks for the time being.

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, suppressing his thoughts of revenge.

But his eyes were full of killing intent. If there was another Shinobi World War, he would go to the direction of the Land of Lightning in the Hidden Cloud Village to avenge Shinnosuke.

A murderous aura filled the air, and for a moment, even the Hokage's office felt a bit cold.

Hiruzen Sarutobi then asked, "Do you have anyone to recommend for the new foreign affairs advisor?"

Nara Shikanobu said, "Actually, in terms of strength, Orochimaru or Jiraiya would also be suitable."

However, it's unclear whether the two of them are willing to do so.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Tsunade and said to her:

"Tsunade, find a way to contact Jiraiya and get him back to the village."

Also, organize a few class reunions and talk to Jiraiya and Orochimaru to see if they can act more normally.

Tsunade did not refuse; besides Orochimaru and Jiraiya, she had no other choice at the moment.

The deaths of three foreign affairs advisors in Konoha dealt a significant blow to the village's prestige and strength.

Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "As for the guardian ninja of the Land of Hot Springs..."

"Let the fox and Nara Iori hold them off for a while. Once Yamato's injuries have healed, let him go to the Land of Hot Springs; he's familiar with it."

　My lower back started hurting in September, and the pain was unbearable. I went to the hospital for a checkup. The good news was it wasn't a herniated disc; the bad news was severe ligamentitis. It's incredibly painful; I can't even sit still. I have to sit at work, and I have to sit while writing after get off work, so I can't write much each day. I'm trying to treat this ligamentitis as soon as possible. During my back treatment, I can only manage two chapters a day, I apologize.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)