Fugaku has gone mad; he's going to create a new Uchiha clan in Kirigakure.

Konoha, Medical Department.

Overcrowded.

Because more than a thousand redeemed ninjas were sent to this largest medical facility in Konoha, the medical ninjas of Konoha were extremely busy.

Nara Shikaku, Akimichi Choza, and Yamanaka Inoichi walked along the corridor.

They had just finished a round of basic medical examinations and still felt the unique exhaustion that comes from being swallowed by silt, as if they had just surfaced from the deep sea.

Along the way, they looked around at the various rooms and saw that most of the ninjas had the same expression, lying on the bed in a daze.

In fact, when they first woke up, it was almost the same; it felt like they had been in an incredibly long dream. Seeing the sun even made them want to cry. They never wanted to experience that feeling again in their lives.

But then again, at least the person is still alive...

I miss my daughter.

Yamanaka Inoichi suddenly spoke up.

"I miss my son too."

Choza Akimichi sighed, a hint of lingering fear even showing on his face.

This kind of fear is not felt at the time; only those who survive it can slowly savor the terror of gradually sinking into the abyss and losing consciousness.

"Luckily, Fugaku held back..."

"He's not going to hold back. If Konoha refuses to negotiate, we'll all be turned into clay statues, and..."

Nara Shikaku rolled his eyes, held up three fingers, and waved them in front of the two of them.

"Thirty million taels! I don't even have a bounty of that high on the black market. Now that's great, I'll have to work even harder from now on."

"Ha ha."

With a smile, Yamanaka Inoichi lowered his voice.

"Shikaku, tell me, now that the Third Hokage has completely abdicated and the Fifth Hokage has taken over—so hastily that there was no inauguration ceremony, he just signed the order and took office—do you think the Fifth Hokage will let the three of us stay in our current positions after all these years of service to the Third Hokage?"

Nara Shikaku stood with his hands in his pockets, his steps unwavering, his gaze sweeping over the heavy metal door at the end of the corridor leading to the underground special medical area.

"We'll still use it for now, but it's hard to say what will happen in the future."

His voice was calm.

"The fifth generation leader has no foundation in the village anymore. There won't be any major changes until she completely takes control of the village. Otherwise, why would she send the three of us over? Someone has to do the work, and someone has to be familiar with the old accounts."

"Moreover, given the current situation—one is Fugaku, and the other is suspected of having the Rinnegan—it would be best if we weren't allowed to do the job of the Hokage's assistant; it's incredibly troublesome."

"Haha, that's so typical of you..."

...

Underground medical room.

This is the best medical room in Konoha's medical department, possessing the most comprehensive medical technology and the best medical ninjas.

In the very center of the room lay Mitokado Yan.

Tsunade stood beside the hospital bed, her long golden hair tied in a high ponytail, swaying with her movements.

At this moment, she had already changed out of the flamboyant clothes she wore at the casino and into a simple white medical gown, with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, revealing her smooth forearms. She placed her hands lightly above Mitokado Homura's chest, her palms emitting a soft, vibrant green chakra light.

A group of people stood around, watching silently.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was holding a pipe, but it wasn't lit.

Jiraiya leaned against the wall, arms crossed, his usual frivolous expression gone.

Danzo Shimura stood in the shadows a little further away, his right arm and right eye missing, his empty sleeve hanging down.

The three members of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio who had just entered, along with Kakashi Hatake, stood on the outer edge.

Time passed second by second.

Finally, the green light in Tsunade's palm slowly subsided.

She exhaled a long breath, fine beads of sweat appearing on her forehead. She wiped them away with her sleeve with a swift and decisive motion. Almost the instant she finished, Mitokado's eyelids twitched a few times on the hospital bed before slowly opening.

His gaze was initially unfocused, but as it adjusted to the light, it gradually focused, sweeping across the familiar faces around him.

After a brief silence, the corners of his mouth actually twitched upwards, revealing a weak but genuine smile.

"Ah, I can finally retire."

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura were not surprised by these words. They knew their old friend's personality better than anyone. He was the kind of person who would let things take their natural course, but once he started something, he would do it well and push himself to the limit.

"So, what's the situation now?"

Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi briefly recounted the events. Homura Mitomon listened quietly, his face expressionless, until the Third Hokage finished speaking. He remained silent for a moment before finally speaking.

"Has Kakashi gathered the final intelligence?"

All eyes turned to Kakashi.

"Yes."

Kakashi nodded.

"First, your speculation is basically correct. Fugaku Uchiha's Mangekyou Sharingan needs time to absorb energy, but he can also summon a giant mouth to devour it in a wide area. Basically, slow-moving, large-target ninjutsu, even Earth Release which can change the terrain without chakra, is not very effective against it."

"Secondly, when he absorbs a portion of chakra and transforms it into that extremely vital energy, he can still absorb attacks that come his way, but he won't actually absorb them. The evidence is that in similar scenarios, the chakra contained within the mud increases, while his own chakra seems to remain unchanged. This is my speculation, and to confirm this, we need the Byakugan's cooperation."

"Therefore, the best way to fight the Fugaku clan chief is to fight head-on, or to use a move like the mysterious man's, strong enough that he can't absorb it, or to use a taijutsu that is fast enough, powerful enough, and doesn't rely on chakra transformations."

"Is it similar to the Eight Gates Formation?"

Mitomon asked.

"Pretty much, but unfortunately Konoha only has one Guy, and Guy hasn't yet mastered the Eight Gates to the legendary highest level."

"And his knife."

From the shadows, Danzo's sinister voice rang out.

"His sword is the most troublesome. It can be used for reconnaissance, teleportation, ninjutsu sealing, and even seems to be able to suppress the cells of the First Hokage."

"After I lost all my Sharingan, I should have been devoured by the First Hokage's cells, but during my time in the Land of Whirlpools, I was still forcibly suppressed by that power. Before I left, Fugaku Uchiha personally 'took' all the remaining First Hokage cells from my left arm."

Beside her, Tsunade remained expressionless, though her handwashing motions were slightly too forceful, causing water to splash over the edge of the basin. Naturally, she was unhappy that these people were using her grandfather's cells for experiments, but since the initiator was her great-uncle Tobirama Senju, what could she say?

"Jiraiya, what about you?"

Mitokado Yan turned his gaze to the white-haired man.

Jiraiya scratched his head, a hint of embarrassment and helplessness on his face.

"I didn't get much substantial information out of her. Konan said she would not betray Nagato, that was her bottom line. However, she also talked about some things from their early experiences. Based on my understanding of these three kids, I could roughly guess what happened."

"In short, three war orphans, one of whom is suspected of possessing the Rinnegan, which is said to be possessed by the Sage of Six Paths, yearn to change the world and yearn for peace, so they establish an organization called Akatsuki."

"However, as the organization grew, they were seen as a threat by Hanzo of the Land of Rain. Of course, someone instigated this, and I don't know the specific process, but the result was that a sham peace talk turned into a trap targeting the core members of Akatsuki."

"Yahiko is dead, and Nagato has gone berserk. Based on my understanding of Nagato, he will choose a very extreme way to fulfill Yahiko's dream. Although I don't know the specifics of their method, the fact that the incident involving the Fourth Hokage and his wife six or seven years ago was related to them proves that they want to capture the Tailed Beasts and obtain greater power."

"Of course, there must be a reason for revenge, after all, it was Elder Danzo who instigated Hanzo in the first place."

"I was simply fulfilling the duties of an intelligence worker."

Facing the gazes of the crowd, Danzo showed no emotional fluctuations, and simply said calmly.

"The Land of Rain almost rose to become the sixth great power. As the root of Konoha, I instigated internal conflicts within the Land of Rain to weaken potential threats. I don't think I did anything wrong. But you, as a ninja of Konoha, knowing that the other party was a ninja of the Land of Rain and that they had the Rinnegan, still ridiculously trained them and didn't even bring such important information back to Konoha. If we really take it seriously, you are the one who betrayed Konoha."

"Alright, alright."

Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted Danzo and looked at Tsunade.

"Tsunade, I've already signed the papers. You are now the Hokage of Konoha. I can answer any questions you may have, but I will no longer hold any official position in Konoha, nor will I be directly involved in any specific command or decision-making. You can decide how to handle this series of troubles yourself."

Tsunade turned around, shook the water droplets off her hands, picked up a towel to dry them, and showed no politeness or sympathy for the plight of Konan and the other two.

He simply spoke directly.

"Konoha has suffered a severe blow and its prestige has been tarnished. There is no time for lamenting the past or settling old scores. At least now is not the time. In order to salvage this situation, we need to do three things."

"First, and most importantly, is to stabilize internal order and restore confidence."

"It's not just the villagers' confidence, but also the confidence of the daimyo of the Land of Fire."

She looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Teacher, the ransom you finally got from the Daimyo did protect Konoha's economy, but the Daimyo and the civil service group behind him suffered heavy losses. Admittedly, they don't have the power to do anything to us."

"However, in my opinion, these people are like bees. If you take a bite, it's like harvesting nine layers of honey. If you don't give them enough confidence and sweetness afterward, they will slowly lose interest in 'collecting honey,' which will plunge the entire Land of Fire into decadence."

"You've been Hokage for decades, you should know the difference between an individual and an organization working diligently and doing things half-heartedly. This isn't a problem that can be solved by killing people. I will handle this personally."

"Secondly, it's about protecting the Jinchūriki."

"Regardless of what Akatsuki's purpose is, since they have attacked the Tailed Beasts before, let's focus on one thing: protecting our own Jinchuriki will at least put us in an invincible position."

She pointed to Kakashi and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.

"Kakashi Hatake, you are the Fourth Hokage's student, so it is most appropriate for you to raise and care for his child. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio will assist you. Centered around these three families, select reliable personnel to form a Jinchuriki protection team. Tomorrow, I want to see all the information about the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki in the Hokage's office."

"Yes, Fifth Boss!"

Kakashi, Shikaku, Choza, and Inoichi bowed in unison to obey the order.

"third."

Tsunade paused, her gaze sweeping over Hiruzen Sarutobi once more.

"It's an investigation into the past history of the Senju clan. Of course, it's not an investigation into you, teacher, elder Mitomon. Although you've done your fair share of despicable things, you wouldn't stoop so low as to do that to your own teacher."

"But don't you think all of this is 'too coincidental'? From Second Grandfather to Dan, to Nawaki, to Kushina, the Senju clan and those associated with them have withered away in various 'reasonable' ways. Is it really just fate behind all this?"

"You mean... Nagato is the one behind it all?"

Jiraiya asked.

"Are you an idiot?"

Tsunade glared at him without any politeness.

"Back then, Nagato was just a little kid! How could he have planned for decades? There must be a deeper, longer-existing mastermind behind it all, and this mastermind is either extremely afraid of the power of our Senju clan, or hates the Senju clan."

She stared at Jiraiya.

"I'm entrusting these clues and traces of old events to you, Jiraiya. Use your intelligence network to dig them out and investigate."

"I still need to find the Child of Prophecy..."

Jiraiya muttered unconsciously.

Tsunade clenched her fists, her knuckles making a soft "crack" sound, and a dangerous glint flashed in her amber eyes.

Jiraiya immediately raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Okay, okay! I'll go check!"

After saying that, Jiraiya sighed.

He backed down, not because he was facing Tsunade, but because once he set his mind on something, no one could change it, not even Tsunade.

However, the facts are undeniable. He sought the Child of Prophecy to bring peace to the world, but instead, he seemed to have made the world even more chaotic, even causing the deaths of his own disciple and Tsunade's only blood relative in the world. He is now somewhat lost, so at least until this mess is resolved, he will not seek out the Child of Prophecy. Or perhaps later, when he has time, he will go back to the Toad Sage and ask...

---Divider line

In an apartment in the core area of ​​Konoha.

The curtains were drawn, and the room was dimly lit.

Uchiha Sasuke lay on his bed, eyes open, staring blankly at the familiar patterns on the ceiling.

His hair was disheveled, and there was even sleep in the corners of his eyes; he hadn't been to the ninja academy for several days.

On one hand, the Konoha Anbu subtly but explicitly "suggested" that he should not move around freely for the time being, which in effect restricted his freedom.

On the other hand, he himself didn't want to go at all.

The reason is simple: I just slept at a classmate's house.

I woke up to find the world turned upside down.

How could this be...

A traitorous father, a runaway mother, a brother who killed the entire clan, and he, the abandoned one.

He pondered for days and nights, but could not find an answer.

Therefore, he didn't even know what kind of emotions to have when facing all of this, so he could only stare blankly.

Just then, there was a gentle knock on the apartment door.

Sasuke did not move.

A moment later, the door opened, and an ANBU ninja wearing an animal mask silently walked in, stood at the bedroom door, and spoke calmly.

"Uchiha Sasuke, the Fifth Hokage summons you."

---Divider line

"Useless, all of them are fucking useless! They're driving me crazy!!"

Led by the Anbu, Uchiha Sasuke arrived at the Hokage Building. However, before he even entered the office, he heard a woman's roar coming from inside. He knew that this was the Fifth Hokage, the granddaughter of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and the princess of Konoha.

He was told this by the secret agent on the way here.

"Is this how you treat the son of a hero? His father saved this village, he became a Jinchūriki, and now the whole village thinks he's that fox? Damn it, how has Konoha become like this! No wonder the Uchiha clan betrayed us; if it were me, I would have betrayed them too!!"