I am the new Hokage of Konoha.

This has nothing to do with moral character.

Essentially, it's a clash of ideologies.

“Even if we wanted to intervene, our current strength is probably far from enough.” Under the surprised and delighted gazes of Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, Sarutobi Hiruzen finally broke his silence and spoke. “Those people from the Land of Fire have probably overestimated our current influence on the village. It’s almost impossible for you and me to shake the foundations of the Cloud Court in our current state. Furthermore, the Cloud Court itself is far too powerful. Even with my ability to contact my former subordinates, we are no match for the Cloud Court. So, now that you’re here, do you have any good ideas?”

Once Hiruzen Sarutobi made up his mind, he didn't hesitate any longer and immediately got straight to the point.

Seeing this, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu were not surprised at all, and quickly explained:

"Now, Senju Yunting's strength and reputation are comparable to the First Hokage, so we will not fight against him like an egg."

"Correcting all these mistakes doesn't necessarily require a head-on confrontation; we can find a new path!"

Chapter 129 The Darkness of Twilight's Endurance

"With our strength, confronting the Fourth Hokage head-on would only lead to our demise, so we need to find another way," Mitokado Homura said confidently, having already prepared his strategy. "The Fourth Hokage's current control over the Land of Fire is entirely due to the Daimyo. As the letter from the Land of Fire stated, there's a very high possibility the Daimyo is under a genjutsu. Keep in mind, the Uchiha clan, currently the most skilled in genjutsu in the village, are the Fourth Hokage's most loyal followers!"

"Therefore, we only need to send someone to dispel the genjutsu on His Majesty the Daimyo. Once he regains consciousness, he will naturally relieve the Fourth Hokage of all his duties," Koharu Utatane continued. "At that time, the truth will be revealed. Even if the Fourth Hokage is still unwilling to give up and wants to seize power by force, this can already be called treason. Konoha is ultimately a member of the Land of Fire, and the Konoha ninjas who know all this will probably no longer support him as before. If the Fourth Hokage doesn't want to be abandoned by everyone, he will have no choice but to stop."

Public opinion is sometimes worthless, but at other times it is something that cannot be ignored.

This is why Yun Ting uses a roundabout approach to control the daimyo in order to gain control of the Land of Fire, rather than directly confronting them with force.

Those who are not from this world find it hard to understand why ninjas with extraordinary abilities dare not offend the daimyo in the slightest.

In the original work, it seems that only when Obito Uchiha launched the Fourth Shinobi World War did he have a plan to eliminate the Daimyo of the Five Great Nations and put it into action.

At other times, no matter how the ninjas fought to the death, it had nothing to do with the daimyo.

This is the characteristic of this era.

No matter how strong Yun Ting is, he cannot be said to have distorted everyone's thoughts.

All he could do was go with the flow.

The plan proposed by Mitokado Enoki and Utatane Koharu is indeed good on paper.

Although their statement that they would stop there was somewhat idealistic, it was the best solution they could come up with at the moment.

Unfortunately, because of the existence of Kotoamatsukami's power, everything they did was in vain.

However, the two advisor elders, who are currently unaware of the situation, are quite confident about it.

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't have their mysterious confidence and was aware that the plan had many problems, as mentioned before, there was no other good option at the moment.

Unless he is confident that he can defeat Yun Ting.

Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head with a wry smile.

He still has self-awareness.

Even at his peak, he was no match for Yun Ting, let alone now that he is old and frail.

But since it concerns the principles he has upheld for decades, he is still willing to take the risk.

“The Daimyo has Yun Ting’s trusted confidants guarding him, so I will personally take charge of this operation.” At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi, despite his advanced age, said decisively, “In addition, this operation must be kept strictly confidential and cannot be discovered by Yun Ting’s people in Konoha. Also, we must find an opportunity to get Yun Ting to leave the capital.”

"No problem! We and those upper echelons of the Land of Fire have been active for so many years, we can still manage these things," Mitokado Homura assured.

At this moment, Koharu Utatane added, "By the way, Hiruzen, just to be absolutely sure, we still need to inform Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Minato!"

She had originally intended to mention that Kushina had come, but she had learned that Kushina had been sent by Yun Ting to undergo the Perfect Human Pillar Trial, so she didn't bring it up.

"Jiraiya, Tsunade, Minato..." Hiruzen Sarutobi hesitated upon hearing this.

He wasn't as optimistic as his two advisors.

Although all three are considered to be on the same side in terms of relationships, Tsunade and Yunting have a very deep friendship, and Minato has been highly regarded by him over the years, making him a key retainer of the Fourth Hokage.

Given Minato's personality, it would be difficult for him to turn against Yun Ting.

Especially now that the other party has been ordered to stay in the Land of Hot Water and cannot go out, even if we wanted to summon them, they would most likely not leave, whether for official or personal reasons.

Let the water gate remain there.

Whatever happens next, at least leave Konoha with some basic resources.

"Notify Jiraiya. Forget about Tsunade. As for Minato, he's been stationed in the Land of Hot Springs for some time now, having received orders from the Cloud Court. Let him stay there; it will also maintain a deterrent effect on the Cloud Ninja," Hiruzen Sarutobi said.

Koharu shook her head and said, "Minato is fine, but Tsunade must be called."

If Tsunade were present, and the plan had truly failed, the Fourth Hokage wouldn't have dared to directly kill Hiruzen Sarutobi out of respect for her.

This was also a safety guarantee she prepared for her old friend.

“By the way… why don’t we call Danzo here too? Rather than letting him die of old age, let him do his best for Konoha in his final moments.” Mitokado Homura hesitated for a moment before finally making this suggestion.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared straight at Homura Mitokado, remaining silent for a long time.

......

Ninjas are known for their swift execution.

This is especially true for established forces that have been entrenched in Konoha for decades.

Although Yunting has suppressed such forces over the years, reducing their influence considerably.

However, its deeply hidden power remains difficult to uncover.

Now, because Yunting has destroyed the traditional system of one country and one village, it has made these conservatives jump up and down while revealing all their true claws.

Although Nara Shikaku, who was in charge of Konoha Village at the time, had been monitoring the group's every move after receiving a warning from Yun Ting, he was surprised to find that his men had not noticed anything amiss.

If he hadn't been so confident, he would have truly believed that everything was peaceful and nothing was happening in Konoha Village.

"See? This is the true strength of these established powers. When they really unleash their power, they will definitely surprise everyone."

At the Shogun's residence, Yun Ting, who had just received a message from Nara Shikaku, flicked the letter in his hand and smiled at Uchiha Shisui in front of him.

That's why he wanted to take this opportunity to wipe them all out.

Given the current situation, Yun Ting can no longer tolerate the existence of any uncontrolled forces within Konoha that are subtly opposing him.

"The conservative forces within Konoha must have already begun preparations, but unfortunately, we don't know their exact timing," Shisui said, frowning slightly.

“No need to worry, there are only a few roads leading to the capital, we can just wait and wait,” Yun Ting said calmly. “Besides, it doesn’t matter if we don’t know the exact time, we can help them decide. I think if I have to leave the capital soon, they definitely won’t let such a good opportunity pass them by.”

Even without any intelligence coming back from Konoha, Yun Ting could easily guess that the target of these people was undoubtedly the Daimyo.

This is the only way to turn things around right now.

As for whether it's possible that he's the target?

If that were the case, Yun Ting would definitely laugh heartily and offer himself up.

Unfortunately, the other party wasn't that stubborn.

This is destined to be an unfair battle.

From the very beginning, Yun Ting's side was already on the winning stage.

Did anyone in the Third Generation foresee this ending?

There must be.

But no matter what, there are always people in this world who would do anything for something, even risk their lives, without regret.

Now, all Yunting can do is send these steadfast defenders of the old era on their way as soon as possible.

"By the way, let's put the power guarding Danzo down in the water."

"After that, we can start casting the net."

......

Outside Konoha Village, in a secret base, Hiruzen Sarutobi and others are gathered.

For former leaders of Konoha, finding an exit route without disturbing Konoha's barrier was far too easy.

As for their disappearance, there were already people skilled in transformation techniques in charge of disguising them, whose every move perfectly matched their true characteristics, making it difficult for outsiders to distinguish between the real and the fake.

At that moment, Mitokado Homura, who had just received the news, exclaimed with delight, "Hiruzen, it's time to set off! The Fourth Hokage has now left the capital, and the daimyo's protective forces are undoubtedly at their weakest now. It's the perfect time to make our move!"

Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression shifted slightly, but he still asked calmly, "Why did Yun Ting go out?"

Mitomon Homura said, "More than a dozen cities in the northern part of the Land of Fire have successively refused to obey the orders of the shogunate, believing that the daimyo was coerced by the fourth daimyo and demanding that the fourth daimyo return power. This was done on purpose by the people in the Land of Fire who contacted us, and the news is absolutely true."

"Now, to prevent the situation from deteriorating rapidly, the Fourth Hokage has personally gone north, intending to quell it as quickly as possible as a warning to others. Our informants even witnessed the Fourth Hokage using Wood Release. The scale and power were undoubtedly his own! We don't have much time left! Hiruzen, you need to set off immediately!"

"Is it really such a coincidence? Could it be a trap?" Jiraiya scratched his head, looking suspicious.

After receiving Sarutobi-sensei's letter, he, who was not far from the Land of Fire, quickly and secretly rushed back.

He, who firmly believed that the chosen one would bring peace, did not agree with Yun Ting's current actions.

In his view, this was all caused by the other party's personal ambition.

Although he naturally didn't want to be enemies with the current Hokage of Konoha.

However, this situation was special. For the sake of Konoha and to prevent the Fourth Hokage from continuing down the wrong path, he ultimately chose to join the operation.

If only the Fourth Hokage had realized his mistake in time.

Jiraiya sighed inwardly.

At this moment, Jiraiya's doubts were also on the minds of many people present.

After all, the process of Yun Ting being lured away was far too smooth.

It went so smoothly that even they themselves could hardly believe it.

There's always a feeling that the other party is cooperating with them.

There's no way around it; Yun Ting, who mastered Wood Release and decisively defeated the Cloud Ninja, has left such a deep impression on people.

This is especially true for them, who are now on the opposite side of the enemy.

Just then, from a dimly lit corner of the room, a familiar voice suddenly rang out:

"So what if it's a trap? Do we even have a choice now? Compared to Thousand Hands Cloud Court, we're at a complete disadvantage. Since we're going to make a move, we have to be prepared to die! The success rate is already less than 11%, what more do we need to think about!"

"Continue to wait? Wait until the Thousand Hands Cloud Court stabilizes everything in the Land of Fire? By then, all we'll face is a slow death! It's better to seize the opportunity while we still have the strength and settle the score in one battle!"

The person who said these words was Shimura Danzo.

However, now, although his attitude and tone are as tough as before, he has an air of desolation and decay that he cannot hide, like the twilight of dusk.