Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

But after what happened today, it's hard to say whether the Third Hokage will issue a conscription order to the Senju clan.

As one of the three great clans of Konoha, the Senju clan has an obligation to protect Konoha.

If the Senju clan disobeys the Hokage's orders and sends members to participate in the war, it will greatly damage the Senju clan's prestige in Konoha, which will be very detrimental to Tsunade and Nawaki's future as Hokage.

Therefore, while her assistance to Kirito in eliminating Danzo will certainly be of great benefit to the Senju clan, it will also have significant drawbacks. If they become blindly arrogant, the Senju clan's situation in Konoha will likely worsen.

To prevent the Senju clan from being targeted by the third generation in the future, she, as the clan leader, now needs to have a proper conversation with him.

"It's nothing serious, just some superficial injuries. With Tsunade here, it'll be fine in a few days. However, I couldn't capture the attacker. He killed Danzo. Although Danzo was a serious criminal, he was still a member of Konoha and had made many contributions to the village. He didn't deserve to die."

Therefore, I will definitely punish this murderer severely, and Konoha will absolutely not compromise with this attacker or the forces behind him.

Upon hearing Momoka's words, the Third Generation remained silent for a moment before speaking in a cold voice.

Whatever the reason, the Senju clan went too far this time and was a serious provocation against him as the Hokage.

He could sense that many ninja clans around him were watching. If he didn't show a strong attitude, it would be difficult to suppress the Senju clan and even the Uchiha clan in the future, and to make other ninja clans obedient. The Hokage's prestige would also suffer a major blow.

Upon hearing this, Tsunade, who was healing the Third Hokage, trembled slightly with her hands, then pursed her red lips and continued to heal the Third Hokage diligently without saying a word.

Tsunade is shrewd and perceptive; how could she not see the hidden information behind today's events? All the information points to the Senju clan being involved in this incident.

Although the Third Hokage didn't name the Senju clan by name in his statement, the resentment he harbored towards them was considerable.

On one side are her family who gave her birth and raised her, and on the other side are her beloved teachers who educated her.

Tsunade was caught in the middle, her mind in turmoil, unsure of what to do.

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu were secretly delighted. The Senju clan's big move this time had truly terrified them. They had repeatedly assisted the Third Hokage and Danzo in harming the Senju clan's interests for their own gain, and had already greatly offended the Senju clan. Now, just thinking about it made them feel scared.

Although they were Hokage advisors and held high positions of power in Konoha, their strength was far inferior to Danzo's, not to mention the forces they relied on.

Both of them came from small ninja clans. Over the years, they used their positions to seek personal gain for their own clans, making them much stronger. However, they were at most outstanding among the small ninja clans, completely unable to compete with the Senju clan, and even inferior to the Ino-Shika-Cho clan.

If the Senju clan is determined to harm them, they will only have death to look forward to.

If the Third Hokage takes the initiative to challenge the Senju clan, then the two of them can hide behind him.

As long as they keep a low profile and stop causing trouble, the Senju clan will most likely not target them anymore.

Making an example of someone only needs to be done once.

Danzo had just turned into this chicken.

So, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu exchanged a glance and then slowly retreated behind the Third Hokage in tacit agreement, thus showing their stance.

Tao Hua glanced at the two's subtle actions and then couldn't be bothered to watch any longer.

These two old guys have always been more trouble than they're worth. They're usually the kind of teammates who drag the team down, but they happen to occupy two important positions. If they jump out at crucial moments, they can be quite disgusting.

What's most hateful is that the two were accomplices of Danzo.

She had privately investigated the two men and discovered that they had abused their power for their own families' benefit and even stole some important supplies intended for the front lines. The whereabouts of these supplies were ultimately unknown. They were truly two big rats.

She had already decided that after eliminating Danzo, her next targets would be these two old parasites.

Seeing this, the Third Hokage watched coldly without saying anything, but his dissatisfaction with the two men rose again. What he needed now were underlings who would charge forward for him, like Danzo, and he didn't want to fight the Senju clan directly with real swords and spears.

Now that Danzo is gone, the best candidates are undoubtedly these two old guys.

Unfortunately, those two old guys were completely oblivious to the situation, still thinking they could hide in the background and take advantage of others as before, without paying any price.

"It's definitely time to replace them."

The third generation thought to himself.

The next moment, he heard Momoka's voice: "The murderer should indeed be severely punished. I admit that Danzo made great contributions to Konoha, but he also made huge mistakes, and the mistakes he made far exceeded his contributions. Otherwise, why would he be a serious criminal? This person deserves to die, doesn't he?"

Focusing on contributions and ignoring mistakes, Momoka disagreed with the Third Hokage's assessment of Danzo. She argued that Danzo had meticulously plotted to kill Nawaki, the First Hokage's grandson, and that alone was enough to warrant his death a thousand times over.

She must use Danzo to establish her authority today. It's not just about killing him; she also wants to make it clear to the rest of Konoha that the Senju clan was right to kill this villain, and that Danzo deserved to die.

If the Third Hokage does not compromise on this point, the Senju clan will never back down; this is their bottom line.

The Third Hokage, Momoka, remained silent, still fixated on the already deceased Danzo, and did not draw any further conclusions regarding Danzo's conviction.

"I heard that Danzo, a serious criminal, has made public appearances before. I don't know if the news is true or not. If it is true, then he must have made some shady deals with some people. Some people are breaking the law and are suspected of helping serious criminals escape Konoha's laws."

Seeing that the three generations refused to compromise, Tao Hua immediately dropped a bombshell.

Upon hearing this bombshell, Sanji's expression became unsettled. Releasing Danzo was indeed his fault as Hokage, and he hadn't expected Momoka to know about it.

That damned Danzo! He's so careless in his work. Even in death, he'll continue to drag us down with him.

He didn't know if Momoka had any solid evidence, but if she did, and he continued to protect Danzo, then the people Momoka had just mentioned would become him, the Hokage.

The Hokage's leading the way in breaking the law is a serious offense, and his prestige will be severely damaged once the villagers find out.

At that point, he will likely be forced to step down from the stage by the crowd.

However, he absolutely cannot back down in front of Tao Hua now. If he does, wouldn't that be an admission of guilt?

He thought for a moment and then said, "This is absolutely a rumor. Danzo has been imprisoned from beginning to end. Moreover, in order to prevent Danzo from escaping from prison, I personally planted a curse seal under him that can kill him from a distance. Therefore, it is absolutely impossible for him to escape from prison."

"He planted a cursed seal on Danzo? I didn't expect this guy to be so ruthless."

Momoka was startled when she heard the explanation from the third generation.

The others were equally shocked; they never expected that the seemingly gentle Third Generation would have such a ruthless side.

It's important to know that Danzo and the Third Hokage grew up together and were even classmates. They were close brothers who had gone through thick and thin together for many years. Later, after the Third Hokage became Hokage, Danzo was also his right-hand man, providing him with tremendous help.

As a result, after Danzo committed a serious crime and was imprisoned, the Third Hokage actually placed a cursed seal on Danzo.

In an instant, everyone who heard the Third Hokage's words looked at him differently.

The Third Hokage could sense the change in the way others looked at him, and he couldn't help but sigh deeply. But there was nothing he could do. He couldn't bear the serious crime of releasing Danzo, at least not now.

For the sake of Konoha and the Sarutobi clan, he must continue to firmly hold the position of Hokage and absolutely cannot allow the enemy to have such a huge handle against him by secretly releasing Danzo.

Compromise is either a one-time event or an endless series of times.

If he compromises with Momoka this time, and Momoka uses this matter to threaten him in the future, will he still be able to continue to be the Hokage?

In short, it's better to expose yourself than to be caught red-handed.

His self-disclosure was quite effective; he planted a curse mark on Danzo, which undoubtedly indicates that his relationship with Danzo has broken down.

Under such circumstances, no normal person would think that he would release Danzo on his own, because that would likely give Danzo the opportunity to break the curse seal on his body and escape control.

Even if Momoka produces evidence, he can still deny that it was fabricated by someone using the Transformation Technique. After all, Danzo, the person involved, is already dead. Unless he can be brought back from hell, no one can prove that he intentionally released Danzo without permission.

In this world, only he, Danzo, and Sakumo Hatake knew about his secret deal with Danzo.

It's impossible for him to reveal this. Sakumo Hatake isn't in Konoha right now, which means no one can confirm it.

As for the claim that he planted a curse mark on Danzo, which some might say is a hoax to exonerate himself, he is not afraid. He has evidence to prove it is true. Several members of the Sarutobi clan have secretly seen the Vajra curse on Danzo's body, which can withstand investigation.

He went to great lengths to cover up the fact that he had secretly released Danzo's shadow clone.

For example, whenever Danzo released his shadow clones, only his son, Sarutobi Takashi, was present to personally inspect them and secretly escort them out.

Tao Hua was a shrewd and experienced woman. When she heard the Third Hokage reveal that he had planted a curse mark on Danzo, she knew that continuing to pursue the matter of the Third Hokage releasing Danzo, a serious criminal, was pointless. The Third Hokage must have already cleared away all the strong evidence.

The evidence she possessed consisted only of some photos, without even recordings of conversations. In the ninja world, due to the transformation technique, such evidence was essentially useless. The only truly powerful evidence was the ability to read minds through genjutsu on the person in question.

However, Tao Hua did not panic. She said coldly, "Bring it up."

The next moment, a Jonin from the Senju clan appeared in front of Momoka and handed her a storage-type summoning scroll.

Tao Hua took the spirit scroll, opened it, and then formed a hand seal to take out the contents.

With a loud "bang".

A cloud of white smoke appeared, and five heads, submerged in glass containers filled with green liquid, came into view.

"What do you mean by this, Tao Hua?"

The third generation looked at the five heads and instantly realized something was wrong. He frowned and said...

He recognized all five heads. They were ninjas from the Ino-Shika-Cho clan, the Aburame clan, and the Shimura clan, and all of them were elite Jonin. However, they were already considered dead in Konoha's records, and three of them were even rogue ninjas.

"The owners of these five heads were all Root ninjas. They belonged to a Root ninja squad called the Skull Squad. According to their memories, they did many shady things for Danzo, including killing their comrades in the village. If the Third Hokage doesn't believe it, he can have the Yamanaka clan ninjas examine the brains of these heads."

Momoka stared intently at the Third Generation with icy eyes, revealing the origins of these heads and the hidden information within them.

These five heads were naturally given to her by Kirito as evidence of Danzo's crimes. With them, she had enough evidence to show that Danzo deserved to die.

Upon hearing this, the third generation secretly groaned inwardly.

He knew that Danzo's crimes could no longer be covered up this time, and even if he died, his reputation would be tarnished. It would no longer be effective for him to use Danzo's great contributions to Konoha to offset the mistakes he had made before.

Killing a comrade is an unforgivable crime in Konoha and can never be forgiven.

“I see. I will send someone to confirm this later. If Danzo really did commit the crime of killing his fellow villagers, I will definitely punish him severely.”

The third generation remained silent for a moment, took a deep breath, and sighed.

"I think it's okay to do it now..."

Tao Hua was unwilling to accept the suggestion from the third generation to confirm later and was about to speak out in rebuttal.

But Tsunade interrupted her, saying, "Lady Momoka, the Third Hokage is injured and needs treatment and rest. Evidence testing can be done anytime, there's no rush. What do you think?"

Momoka was just one step away from getting the Third Hokage to submit and declare Danzo a culprit deserving of death in front of everyone. How could she possibly give up?

She wanted to scold Tsunade for getting in the way, but seeing the pleading expression and eyes on Tsunade's face, she finally softened. She opened her mouth, but ultimately chose to acquiesce, looking at Tsunade with a disappointed expression.

"Teacher, the special chakra in your wound has been cleaned, but just in case there is any omission, I need to conduct a comprehensive examination of your body. Please come with me to the hospital now."

Seeing that Momoka was no longer speaking, Tsunade immediately spoke to the Third Hokage.

The Third Hokage knew that Tsunade was helping him and giving him a way out, and his heart warmed instantly. He readily accepted the offer and nodded, saying, "Okay, I'll listen to you."

After saying that, he left quickly, accompanied by Tsunade.

Due to Tsunade's intervention, the confrontational exchange between the Third Hokage and Momoka ended abruptly.

"Sigh~, my dear older sister is good in every way, but sometimes she is too soft-hearted. No wonder she suffered so much in the original story. In the end, she couldn't bring herself to be ruthless towards her mentor, the Third Generation."

On the other side, Kirito, who had returned using a White Zetsu clone, disguised himself as an ordinary ninja. He watched Tsunade's departing figure and sighed.

If Momoka succeeds in getting the Third Hokage to admit Danzo's crimes and personally declare that Danzo deserved to die, then the negative impact on the Senju clan in today's incident of colluding with a mysterious Kage-level powerhouse to kill Danzo will be much smaller, and it can further damage the Third Hokage's prestige.

Unfortunately, he was just one step short. Tsunade, mindful of her teacher-student relationship, allowed the Third Hokage to escape unscathed.

However, there are some advantages as well. At least the Senju clan and the Third Hokage haven't completely broken ties yet.