Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

Chief Qingshui did not lose his composure.

His mood visibly sombered, as if he were shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere.

"Lord Mizukage, what if, what if it turns out that the person can't be saved?" Qing asked, glancing cautiously at the Shimizu clan chief as he spoke. The chief, however, kept his head down and did not react to his hypothetical question.

"What should we do? Isn't this supposed to be a meeting?"

In fact, the meeting only got down to business at this point, since if the tracking team was absolutely certain of rescuing the person, there would be no need for a meeting at all.

"The intelligence coming back from Konoha not only mentions that the Cloud Ninja and the Iwa Ninja suffered the same attack, but both Cloud Ninja and Iwa Ninja have also sent envoys. The Cloud Ninja's envoy has already arrived in Konoha and lodged a protest, demanding an explanation from Konoha. The Iwa Ninja's envoy is still on his way, but if nothing unexpected happens, I estimate that he has similar intentions to the Cloud Ninja," Mei Terumi continued.

She looked at everyone present and said, "So... I would like to ask you all, as allies of Konoha, what should we do at this time? Should we protest like the Cloud Ninja and the Iwa Ninja? Or should we make other choices? Please feel free to speak your opinions without any reservations."

Any comments?

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. The lazy and trouble-averse Six-Tails Jinchuriki simply closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair, and began to rest. The Fifth Mizukage's temple throbbed with unease. This bastard was too lazy to even put on a show, let alone use his brain.

Fortunately,

Aren't all so many people unreliable?

“Since we are allies, we certainly can’t be like the Cloud Ninja,” Zabuza Momochi said firmly.

Are we supposed to pretend we're deaf and dumb?

Qing Yin, with a sullen face, raised his objection.

Whenever Konoha, his ally, is mentioned, he can't help but think of the Byakugan he lost. A persistent phantom pain lingers in his eye sockets, reminding him not to forget the humiliation of being bullied. Although, apart from him, it seems that none of the young people present are moved.

"of course not."

Zabuza Momochi said calmly.

"I just said we can't shift the blame onto Konoha like the Cloud Ninja did. Don't forget, this matter... strictly speaking, has nothing to do with Konoha. Kazuma wasn't even a Konoha traitor. Demanding an explanation from Konoha is unreasonable and illogical."

"So tell me, what should we do?"

Qing's attitude became increasingly hostile.

"Request for help."

These words,

It wasn't Zabuza Momochi who said that.

The one speaking is Hozuki Mangetsu.

"Requesting help?"

Hearing these words of 'showing weakness,' Qing's expression grew even more gloomy. 'You said we should ask Konoha for help? Do you know that doing so means trampling the village's dignity underfoot?'

“That’s right. If Kazuma and the others really do escape, I estimate they will definitely flee back to the Land of Fire, which is Konoha’s territory. Since they’ve come to Konoha’s territory, isn’t it only natural to ask Konoha for help?”

As he spoke, Hozuki Mangetsu looked around with a meaningful gaze. "And everyone, please don't get the point wrong. We're here to discuss how to deal with Kazuma and the others. To be honest, I always feel that their way of capturing ninjas with bloodline limits is some kind of sinister plot. If we can't nip their plot in the bud, it's going to get really troublesome!"

Qing frowned and remained silent.

Suppressing his displeasure, he admitted that there was some truth to what Hozuki Mangetsu had said.

Based on the current intelligence, the Mist Ninja are the third to be attacked. At this point, it's not hard to see that Kazuma and the others are probably planning something bad, and it's the kind of 'big thing' that would make him provoke the Cloud Ninja, the Iwa Ninja, and the Mist Ninja even after he's been wanted by Konoha.

Zabuza Momochi glanced at Mangetsu Hozuki, who was 'barely' a friend, and realized he was thinking the same thing.

"As for the issue of face."

Hozuki Mangetsu grinned, his attitude quite frivolous. "Wasn't that thing already trampled into the mud five years ago? Even our Fourth Hokage has become someone else's puppet. What face does he have left? Besides, what's face compared to substance? By the way, speaking of the Fourth Hokage... this might be related to that Uchiha Madara! Otherwise, I really don't understand how a rogue ninja from the Land of Fire could find out our whereabouts."

Ok!

That last sentence is complete nonsense.

Hozuki Mangetsu had no evidence to prove that Kazuma and the others had any connection with the guy who called himself Uchiha Madara, but he also had no evidence to prove that they weren't connected, right? That didn't stop him from connecting the two and making a senior like Ao understand the seriousness of the matter more clearly.

He had seen their department head, the Hokage's assistant, do similar things many times in Konoha.

Under the guise of hunting down Uchiha Madara, he repeatedly achieved his goal of eliminating dissidents, gradually spreading his influence to almost all departments in Konoha Village except for the Anbu. In his view, aside from that empty title, the department head was the true Hokage of Konoha, and as for that fat guy who was sick every other day... he was just a puppet.

"Full Moon, shut up. Speak properly and stop talking nonsense."

Mei Terumi glared at the outspoken guy.

What you said is true, but don't you understand the principle of seeing through things but not saying them? Saying things like that will make the Fifth Mizukage lose face, okay?

"Anyway, I think this isn't over yet. First it was Cloud Ninja, then Iwa Ninja, then it was our Kirigakure, and next... maybe Sand Ninja and Konoha are in the plan too." After saying this last sentence, Hozuki Mangetsu leaned back, mimicking the posture of the Six-Tails Jinchuriki to gather his strength.

"I agree with Full Moon's opinion."

Zabuza Momochi was the first to express his support.

Then, after receiving a signal from the Mizukage, Kisame Hoshigaki agreed to help rescue Konoha. Then came the Shimizu clan chief, the Six-Tails Jinchuriki Urabozu... and even Ao nodded in approval in the end, without using the name of Genji to cause trouble.

It's true that he's unhappy with Konoha, but he wouldn't care if his Byakugan was gouged out for the sake of the village. Why would he act impulsively at this time?

The meeting proceeded smoothly without any obstacles.

Ultimately, the Fifth Mizukage made a decision: if the Anbu's pursuit force could not rescue the kidnapped Shimizu Hirozaki, then Hozuki Mangetsu would lead a team to Konoha to seek help and join forces with Konoha to deal with this rat jumping around like this.

Anyway, Hozuki Mangetsu was already planning to go to Konoha.

Moreover, he had spent nearly five years in Konoha and had developed close relationships with many of Konoha's high-ranking officials, so there was no doubt that this matter could be entrusted to him.

[Chapter 298. Hiruko's Ambition]

He and Ma and the others slipped away very quickly.

They weren't inexperienced rookies. They used to work as security guards for the Fire Lord, and later when they went out to make a living, they took on shady underground jobs. So they had a deep theoretical knowledge and practical experience in the skill of escaping, plus the assistance of the sensory ninja Tenmoku.

Kisame Hoshigaki's pursuit force failed to find anyone.

Without even catching a glimpse of him, they were misled by the illusion left behind by the horse and went astray. After sighing in despair, they had no choice but to return to the village dejectedly and declare their pursuit a failure.

Then,

Hozuki Mangetsu set off, carrying a letter in his own handwriting from the Fifth Mizukage, and boarded the ferry bound for the Land of Fire.

······

Konoha Village.

Zongxian has been extremely busy lately.

The information about the Fifth Hokage's blindness could not be kept secret in the end, and somehow it spread throughout the entire village. However, no matter how hard the police department and the ANBU investigated, they could not find the source of the leak, because the three people suspected of leaking the information were found to be headless corpses.

Extracting information from the corpse is impossible, unless the soul is summoned from the underworld... In short, although Zongxian guessed that this was most likely done by that insane bastard Uchiha Obito, it was just a guess after all, and even if there was evidence, it would be useless.

The problem isn't how the information was leaked.

Rather, it's about how to deal with the series of troubles that follow the leak of information. The 'Kage' is the leader of the village, the pillar of the village, and the backbone in the hearts of all the villagers. This is the intangible but real prestige accumulated by Konoha Village over more than fifty years of history.

In particular, rumors have now spread in the village that "the Hokage's assistant assassinated the Hokage." Although the police department managed to control the spread of the rumors in a short time, this matter will never end until the source of chaos and panic, Obito Uchiha, is dealt with!

Honestly, the best solution at this point would be for Akimichi Torifu to step down as soon as possible, and for Sogen to rightfully succeed as the sixth head. Then all the problems would be solved.

but,

Akimichi Takefu doesn't speak first.

To be honest, Zongxian couldn't really rush him.

In any case, Akimichi Torifu, the Fifth Hokage, has always been a good person. He has never been criticized, and whenever he falls ill, he temporarily hands over the power to Akimichi Torifu. He can be considered a trusted and respected figure.

The thought of forcing someone to abdicate is almost shameful.

Of course, the more important point is that Akimichi Torifu is backed by the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, the absolute backbone of Konoha Village. If they were pushed to the opposite side, especially the very intelligent Nara clan... that's not what Sogen wants to see.

Therefore,

For now, we can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause, and wait until Akimichi Torifu decides to accept his fate. Of course, we can't keep dragging this out for three or five years, as it's hard to say whether Sogen could handle it. I believe the wise people of the Nara family will help the Fifth Hokage make the wisest choice.

Just as Zongxian was busy dealing with the rumors in the village, information from Kumogakure and Iwagakure arrived one after another. Then, envoys from the two villages arrived one after the other. The envoys were not aggressive; at least they were quite obedient and friendly in front of Zongxian.

But that doesn't mean they're any pushovers.

They first asked if they could send ANBU into the Land of Fire to track down Kazuma and the others. After Sogen refused, they asked Konoha to help rescue them. In short, they kept pestering them and trying to shift the blame onto Konoha.

This is obviously a blatant act of dishonesty.

Zongxian didn't think Konoha needed to take any responsibility for what happened to Kazuma and the others, so he unceremoniously kicked both groups out of his office one after the other.

But these two bastards actually went to the gate of the Akimichi clan's territory and cried and begged to see the Fifth Hokage... Sogen was speechless. These guys were really shameless, but what could Sogen do about these shameless things?

We can't just kick them out of Konoha, can we?

They were, after all, legitimate envoys from Kumogakure and Iwagakure.

"But... what are Kazuma and the others trying to do?" Sogen frowned slightly as he flipped through the latest intelligence. "Storm Release, Lava Release... are they collecting bloodline limits? Aren't the forbidden techniques of the Tsuchigumo clan enough for him?"

You can't blame Zongxian for thinking in this direction.

Given the precedent of the Earth Spider Clan's forbidden technique being usurped, it's impossible not to consider this possibility.

"But... what exactly are they planning to do? Bloodline limits are different from forbidden techniques; they're not so easily usurped. Surely they're not planning to place their hopes on the next generation, are they? But that doesn't make sense! All the Cloud and Iwa ninjas who were kidnapped are men!"

"My lord, an urgent report has come from the eastern border garrison: Hozuki Mangetsu has returned." Just as Zongxian was pondering what kind of wicked scheme Kazuma was plotting.

Kabuto burst into the office, bringing with him the latest intelligence.

"So what if you come back?"

Zongxian glanced at his secretary, who was rushing over in a flurry, and joked, "Does he expect me to go to the village gate to greet him?"

"My lord, please don't joke around. Hozuki Mangetsu, cough cough, this time Hozuki Mangetsu didn't just return as the vice-minister of the Joint Investigation Department. He brought a personal letter from the Fifth Mizukage. According to the information he revealed... Kirigakure was also attacked by Kazuma and others, and a Kirigakure ninja with the Boil Release Kekkei Genkai was kidnapped."

"Even Kirigakure was attacked? With Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure all involved, the five great ninja villages have provoked three of them in one go. If we include Konoha, it's an exaggeration to say they've made enemies of the world. What exactly are they planning to do?"

Zongxian's smile faded.

If it were only the Cloud Ninja and the Iwa Ninja who were attacked—

To be honest, troubles are troubles,

But the bigger problem lies in how to deal with those shameless messengers sent by the Cloud Ninja and the Rock Ninja. As for the pursuit and the horse... we've been doing that for years!

However, Kazuma and his group were local strongmen in the Land of Fire, and they often slipped away to neighboring smaller countries to lay low. They finally managed to find a clue, but they always failed to achieve their goal due to various problems. It's unclear whether Kazuma and his crew were just incredibly lucky, or if there was something else going on...

"Furthermore, Mangetsu mentioned that the Mist Ninja speculated at a high-level meeting that Kazuma and the others' targets might also include our Konoha and the Sand Ninja," Kabuto Yakushi said softly.