Konoha: I, Uchiha, am brimming with positive energy

Chapter 197 The Mission to Hunt Down Nagato (Please Subscribe)

A giant toad suddenly appeared on the outskirts of Konoha Village. If Jiraiya hadn't come out of Gamaken's mouth to explain, the giant toad would definitely have been attacked by the guards.

Even the legendary Sannin cannot summon enormous summoning beasts in the village at will.

After learning what had happened, the security team took Jiraiya to Konoha Hospital and then reported it to the Hokage's office.

After receiving the news, Hatake Sakumo sent someone to the Sarutobi clan's territory to inform the Third Hokage.

Now Hiruzen Sarutobi stays at home all day, seemingly having relinquished power; however, Yoichi Uchiha knows that this is a helpless move by Hiruzen Sarutobi, who is very unwilling to start retiring in his fifties.

However, there was no way around it. Sakumo Hatake was a Hokage with very strong principles. Unless his principles were accommodated, the two of them would inevitably clash sooner or later if they worked together.

Uchiha Yoichi was able to accommodate Hatake Sakumo's principles, and he was wholeheartedly focused on developing the village. After he became Hokage, Konoha Village was also known as Uchiha Village. Moreover, seeing the village prosper day by day, Hatake Sakumo stopped interfering with Uchiha Yoichi's behavior.

As long as it doesn't violate his principles and can bring prosperity to Konoha and benefit all Konoha residents, it wouldn't be a big deal for him to relinquish the power of Hokage.

Now, Sakumo Hatake is slowly handing things over to Yoichi Uchiha's wood clone. This can be seen from the files on their desks: the height of the files on Sakumo Hatake's desk is decreasing day by day, while the number of files on Yoichi Uchiha's desk is increasing.

When Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived at Konoha Hospital and saw Sakumo Hatake, Yoichi Uchiha, and Minato Namikaze, he immediately had a bad feeling.

He cursed inwardly, thinking, "That idiot Jiraiya must have impulsively gone to Nagato. He's not replying because he wants to stall Jiraiya and make him come back to ask. If he explains to this hot-blooded fool, he might still go to his apprentice."

But Jiraiya didn't receive his message and impulsively went to find someone anyway, so now the information about the Rinnegan might not be safe.

Soon, Mina Uzumaki came out of the operating room. After seeing Uchiha Yoichi and the others, she made a gesture indicating that everything was fine and said, "I'll be fine after three days of rest. I'm going to see Karin now, Yoichi-sama."

After saying that, Mina Uzumaki left without even saying goodbye to anyone else.

Uchiha Yoichi smiled and said, "Sorry, Mina is in a bit of a hurry."

"Women who become mothers all worry about their children. Kakashi's mother was the same way. It's okay, Yoichi."

Hatake Sakumo said with a smile, how could he care about such a trivial matter? Then he looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen and said, "Third Hokage, Jiraiya should be alright now, let's go in."

"Alright, Sakumo."

Hiruzen Sarutobi forced a smile and nodded, then went inside with Sakumo Hatake.

After being treated by Mina Uzumaki, most of Jiraiya's injuries had healed, and even his bones had been set. This was all thanks to Mina Uzumaki's special chakra, which is why Orochimaru said that Mina Uzumaki was comparable to Tsunade in medical ninjutsu.

If someone is critically injured and on the verge of death, and drinks Mina Uzumaki's blood, then they will know what top-notch medical effects are; severed limbs can be reattached, and as long as there is still a breath left, there is absolutely no chance of dying.

However, only Uchiha Yoichi and Kakashi drank Uzumaki Mina's blood, and that was during the time they summoned Ghidorah.

"Fourth Hokage, old man, what brings you all here? It's just a minor injury, hahaha, thank you for your concern."

Jiraiya, lying on his hospital bed, chuckled as he spoke. His words brought a slight sense of relief to Hiruzen Sarutobi. Jiraiya still knew how to keep things under wraps, so there was still a chance for things to turn around.

Sakumo Hatake asked, "Jiraiya, who injured you? I remember your mission was to investigate the mastermind behind the underground bounty. Are they really that strong?"

"Not really, it was just my carelessness."

Jiraiya feigned a troubled expression, then said, "Fourth Hokage, once I've recovered from my injuries, leave this matter to me. I will definitely resolve it."

"The mastermind behind the underground bounty organization... Could they be in Amegakure? Or perhaps in the Land of Bears and the Land of Demons west of Amegakure?"

Uchiha Yoichi suddenly spoke up, and seeing everyone looking at him, he explained, "I just received news from the merchant guild that they encountered a giant purple toad heading towards Konoha from the Land of Rain. It seems to be the toad that Jiraiya, the Jonin, was riding."

Fourth Hokage, dispatch the Anbu. If it truly involves Hanzo, I suggest re-evaluating Konoha's relationship with him.

Upon hearing this, Hatake Sakumo nodded and said, "Hanzo, huh? I didn't expect him to be hiding so deeply. He's actually connected to an underground bounty organization. It seems we should take this seriously."

"Wait, wait, it's not clear whether this has anything to do with Hanzo yet. Isn't this too impulsive?"

Jiraiya quickly advised him that if he concealed information and caused a war between Konoha and Amegakure, he would become a sinner against Konoha once the matter was investigated.

Uchiha Yang said, "It's precisely because we don't know that we need to investigate. Otherwise, we could have directly formulated intelligence targeting Amegakure. By the way, please tell us in detail how many people the other side sent that could have seriously injured you, Jonin Jiraiya, to this extent."

"this."

Jiraiya had never contacted anyone from the underground bounty organization. Although he had gathered some intelligence, it was mostly in the Land of Tea and the Land of Water. How could he possibly fabricate a lie that was related to the Land of Rain?

Seeing Jiraiya's appearance, Sakumo Hatake realized something was wrong and asked, "What's wrong, Jiraiya? Is it inconvenient to talk about it?"

"Sakumo, can I handle this on my own?"

After a moment of silence, Jiraiya finally spoke up and asked.

Upon hearing this, Hatake Sakumo knew that Jiraiya had been lying, but he didn't want to pressure his fellow villagers too much, so he asked, "Is this your personal matter, or is it related to the village? If it's your personal matter, then I can leave it alone, but if it involves the village..."

After hearing this, Jiraiya understood Hatake Sakumo's bottom line, but he didn't want to involve the village in Nagato's affairs.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was standing to the side, said, "Sakumo, leave this to me."

"Even the Third Generation Lord knows?"

Sakumo Hatake was a little angry upon hearing this, but he still said, "You can handle this, Third Hokage, but at least let me know what happened. If something happens in the future that threatens the village, I, the Hokage, might not even know why!"

Upon hearing Sakumo Hatake's words, the ward suddenly fell silent. Minato Namikaze, who was standing to the side, felt sorry for Jiraiya, but he also felt that the Fourth Hokage had already been considerate enough of Jiraiya.

"It's because of my apprentice. During the Second Shinobi World War, I stayed in the Land of Rain for three years and took on an apprentice."

Jiraiya finally spoke, slowly recounting the events that had transpired; including Danzo's dispatch of Root members who mistakenly killed his disciple, and Nagato's Rinnegan, which was responsible for all his injuries.

The continuous stream of intelligence left Sakumo Hatake somewhat stunned.

Information about the Rinnegan, Danzo's clandestine actions, Jiraiya's clandestine actions followed by being severely injured by the Rinnegan, and crucially, the Akatsuki leader who possessed the Rinnegan, who had also become enemies with Konoha because of Danzo.

Fortunately, he asked the question today. If he had been soft-hearted and let Jiraiya fool him, would he have had to face an enemy with the Rinnegan in the future?

Just hearing about the Rinnegan techniques that Jiraiya was facing made Sakumo Hatake feel that things were getting a bit tricky.

Instantaneous, no-hand-seal ninjutsu; deflects all attacks; generates a powerful suction force that even Jiraiya couldn't resist; and can even modify itself into a mechanical weapon. These are not all the details about the Rinnegan.

Jiraiya hadn't even finished testing her when he was knocked unconscious by the Rinnegan.

"Let the village take over this matter."

After a moment of silence, Hatake Sakumo made his decision. Seeing that Jiraiya was eager to speak, he interrupted him and continued, "Jiraiya, you can participate, but you must listen to the village's decision; he defeated you in your teens with his still-developing Rinnegan, and he might very well be another one in the future."

When he said this, Hatake Sakumo subconsciously glanced at Uchiha Yoichi. Although he didn't say it explicitly, the meaning was clear.

If left unchecked, given the potential of the Rinnegan and the other party's hatred towards Danzo, it's not impossible that it could involve Konoha Village.

"And Danzo, the Fourth Hokage."

Uchiha Yang said, "Doing things in private is fine, but being stupid enough to involve the village is unforgivable. Besides, weren't all the Root ninjas supposed to be infiltrated into the Anbu? How come Danzo still has Root members, and they're even secretly allied with Hanzo?"

"Third Hokage, order Danzo to return immediately, along with all his subordinates outside. This is an order from the Hokage's office."

Sakumo Hatake said to Hiruzen Sarutobi without any intention of pleading; he didn't object to the village ninjas going out to do their own things, as such things couldn't be prohibited.

But at least you should be like Uchiha Yoichi, not causing trouble for the village, and even occasionally helping the village.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed inwardly, "I understand. I'll signal Danzo in a bit."

"A high-level meeting will be held tomorrow at the Hokage Building."

After saying that, Hatake Sakumo left the ward, and Uchiha Yoichi did not stay either.

After the two of them left, Hiruzen Sarutobi pointed angrily at Jiraiya and said, "You idiot, why didn't you come back to me first?"

"It's your fault for not sending me a message, old man. I've already had Minato ask you about it."

"If I had Minato tell you to come back, would you have? I thought if I didn't send you a message, you would come back and ask me on your own, but I didn't expect you to go to Amegakure on your own and cause such a big commotion."

Hiruzen Sarutobi said angrily, then snorted coldly, "How do we resolve this now?"

After saying that, he left the ward. Rather than getting angry with Jiraiya here, he might as well go and discuss it with Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado.

After Hiruzen Sarutobi left, Minato Namikaze asked with an awkward smile, "Jiraiya-sensei, is there anything you need?"

"It's alright, Minato. You can go back now. My injuries are mostly healed."

Jiraiya waved his hand and said that he had been thinking about Nagato's matter and felt that ever since he heard the news, he had been making impulsive and foolish mistakes.

After some reflection, Jiraiya could only conclude that he was too worried about the Rinnegan, and he was still very worried about it; if the Rinnegan fell into the hands of someone with great ambition, it would cause very serious damage to the ninja world.

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The following day, Hatake Sakumo summoned a group of Konoha's high-ranking officials to the Hokage's office.

The captain of the Dark Guard, the leaders of the interrogation and intelligence squads, Jiraiya, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Orochimaru from the laboratory all arrived.

"I've gathered everyone here today to discuss an important matter, which dates back to about two weeks ago..."

After Sakumo Hatake explained the origins and details of the incident, the Hokage's office fell silent, just like the hospital room had been the day before.

Orochimaru glanced at Jiraiya beside him. He hadn't expected that this idiot would actually know how to hide the Rinnegan. He suddenly became interested in studying it again.

"Let me state my decision. I spoke with the Third Hokage yesterday. We must immediately recall Danzo and his Root subordinates. They must return within five days; otherwise, any Root members still outside will be treated as traitors."

Today was probably the most assertive day for Hatake Sakumo since becoming Hokage. Even after becoming Hokage, his peaceful attitude had never changed, but today he acted as if he were facing an enemy on a battlefield.

"The fourth generation"

Koharu, who was turning over a new bed, wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Sakumo Hatake.

"Transfer advisor, please finish explaining the decision first; regarding Nagato, the leader of Akatsuki who possesses the Rinnegan, it can now be determined that because Danzo harbors great hostility towards Konoha, the next mission to hunt down Nagato and Konan will be issued, tentatively designated as S-rank."

Upon hearing this, Jiraiya immediately became somewhat anxious.

However, before he could say anything, Uchiha Yangyi interrupted him, saying, "Jiraiya, don't rush to defend yourself. If you can severely injure even your master, can you guarantee that any other Konoha ninja would survive?"

This statement made Jiraiya swallow back what he wanted to say; Nagato was indeed a great threat to Konoha Village at the moment.

"The mission is still primarily to capture them alive. As for whether to pursue and kill them, that will depend on Nagato and Konan's subsequent performance. I've decided to dispatch six ANBU squads and ten Jonin squads to carry out this mission. Jiraiya, you'll participate as well."

"I understand, Fourth Generation."

Jiraiya agreed, knowing that this was an opportunity given to him by Sakumo Hatake. Only by bringing Nagato back could he be saved; otherwise, Konoha would consider any threatening enemy a target for elimination.

"There's one more thing. Hanzo should also know about the Rinnegan. I don't know if he'll take it seriously, but we also need to consider our relationship with Amegakure."

After a pause, Hatake Sakumo continued, "Dispatch a ninja battalion to Kawakawa Town and keep a close eye on Amegakure's movements."

Please vote for me!

I will definitely make up for yesterday's debt today.

(End of this chapter)