This puppeteer is a bit... well...

Chapter 75 It's better to lose than to fail

"Phew~"

After listening to Minato's report, Sarutobi let out a long breath, and thick white smoke billowed out, making his aging face appear and disappear.

He had a bit of a headache.

He had just given orders yesterday not to cause trouble for the Sand Village delegation, and yet this had happened today. He really didn't know what to say.

Are you angry?

definitely.

After all, as the Hokage, if someone disobeys his orders right after he gives them, it's like they're treating his words like dirt.

But he couldn't get angry.

This matter is somewhat delicate.

He worried that if he lost his temper, he might do something rash and make the already bad situation even more irreversible.

But he didn't dare to get angry, while others didn't have that concern. Xiaochun slammed her fist on the table in anger, "Sarutobi, the Uchiha clan is getting more and more outrageous. Konoha is preparing for war, and they're the ones who are holding us back. We can't let them off so easily this time."

"That's right," Men Yan chimed in. "It's one thing under normal circumstances, but now that Konoha is already in its war preparation phase, they're still ignoring the Hokage's orders. That's a cardinal sin in war!"

Upon hearing this, Sarutobi simply took a deep drag on his pipe, burning the tobacco leaves he had just lit to ashes in one go.

He understood what the two were saying, but some things were not as simple as they were made out to be.

Because of Madara Uchiha, the Uchiha clan did not have a good relationship with the other villagers in Konoha. Furthermore, the policies of the Second Hokage made many members of the Uchiha clan believe that the village did not trust them, and thus they harbored malicious intentions towards the village.

At this point, any action the village takes against the Uchiha clan will only exacerbate the already strained relationship between the two.

At that time, the Uchiha, who already distrusted the village, might completely believe that the village was targeting them, thus following in Madara Uchiha's footsteps.

The Uchiha clan, who originally trusted the village, will begin to doubt it, causing them to drift further and further away from the village, and even to break ties completely.

How could Sarutobi allow such a thing to happen, given that the village had been entrusted to him by his predecessor?

However, Uchiha Setsuna's actions have seriously damaged the village's interests.

If we act as if nothing happened, other clans and ninjas will be dissatisfied, which will deepen their resentment and hostility towards the Uchiha clan.

How exactly should we solve this...?

Sarutobi felt a headache coming on after just a little thought.

At this moment, Minato Namikaze reminded him, "Third Hokage, now is not the time to pursue blame. The most important thing right now is the duel."

Upon hearing this, Sarutobi was stunned.

Yes, we can make a big deal out of the duel to divert the attention of other clans and ninjas.

Thinking of a solution, Sarutobi breathed a sigh of relief, and his worried expression eased considerably.

He looked up at Minato and nodded approvingly. "Minato is right. Although both sides say they will settle their grudges with a duel, if it is not handled properly, it will not only fail to resolve the grudges, but will also create even greater grudges."

Upon hearing this, the two advisor elders wholeheartedly agreed.

After all, this kind of thing has been quite common in history.

"If Sunagakure loses too badly and feels they've lost face, it might make things even more strained."

"That's true, but it's impossible to expect the Uchiha to go easy on them. They're the kind of guys who value their clan's honor more than their own lives."

"The Uchiha clan must not be given any spots to participate in the duel; their presence will only provoke greater conflict."

The two advisors started discussing back and forth, leaving Minato Namikaze speechless.

Why would you assume that Sunagakure would lose?

Do they think Konoha will never lose, or that it doesn't matter if Konoha loses, as long as Sunagakure is happy and doesn't strain relations between the two villages?

But doing so would severely damage Konoha's reputation and demoralize the troops for the upcoming war.

"What's the situation in Sunagakure right now?"

At that moment, Sarutobi suddenly spoke up and asked a question.

An ANBU ninja immediately appeared in the office and reported to the leader: "Those who are interning are interning, those who are attending classes are attending classes, and the accompanying guard ninjas, apart from a few who are scouting the area and familiarizing themselves with the terrain, are all staying in their residences obediently."

"Where's Ryuji Ayaki?"

"To check on the learning progress of the delegation members at the ninja academy."

Upon hearing this, Sarutobi fell silent.

The two advisors and elders, along with Minato, exchanged bewildered glances.

Even though this happened, it's like nothing happened. They don't make any preparations and just go about their business as usual... Do they not take this duel seriously, or are they confident that they can definitely win?

After a moment of silence, Sarutobi hesitated and said, "...Go and get the list of members of the Sunagakure delegation. I'll take another look."

"Yes."

A short while later, the ANBU ninja brought over two lists.

One was a list submitted by Sunagakure, and the other was a list secretly compiled by Konoha.

Sarutobi placed the two lists on the table and compared them one by one to check for any omissions.

Finally, two suspicious forms were retrieved.

One is a tall, sexy girl with a beautiful face and short silver hair.

A boy with black hair and black eyes, and an ordinary appearance.

Sarutobi tapped on the form and said, "Take a look. The information for everyone else is fine, but for these two, there's very little information available, especially for this guy, Kuro. There's absolutely no useful information."

Upon hearing this, the other three people in the room gathered around.

The list submitted by Sunagakure only included names, genders, and ninja ranks. Details such as the number of missions completed and family backgrounds were only found on the lists investigated by Konoha.

Of course, it's impossible to have everything, and it's impossible to have everything correct, but everyone has some relevant records to some extent.

Records of silver and black are extremely rare.

Especially the black records, which are completely blank.

"I've seen this Silver before. During the Loulan mission, she clashed with Ryuji's team. She possesses superhuman strength comparable to Tsunade and is skilled in Earth Release techniques. She's incredibly powerful." Minato glanced at their forms and said, "As for Black, I don't know."

"Strength comparable to Tsunade's, and a master of Earth Release..."

Sarutobi frowned, and Koharu and Menrei exchanged glances, sensing how troublesome the situation was.

"It seems that Sunagakure is quite confident."

Sarutobi took a deep breath, took out the names of Ryuji and Karura from the Sunagakure personnel list, and frowned so deeply that his brows almost formed a line as he looked at their resumes.

The office fell silent for a moment.

After an unknown amount of time, Sarutobi raised his head, a sharp glint flashing in his cloudy eyes. "The Uchiha clan cannot be chosen for this duel; they cannot win."

Just as Minato thought, this duel could not be lost. Losing would be a huge blow to Konoha's reputation and a major blow to the morale of the front lines.

Therefore, Konoha cannot afford to lose.

No, it's not that we can't lose, it's that we can't be defeated.

We must ensure that Sunagakure doesn't lose face, and we must also prevent Konoha's reputation from being damaged.

(End of this chapter)