Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

When the third generation saw Mitokado Homura submit, he shifted his attention to Utatane Koharu.

Under the Third Generation's icy gaze, which was as sharp as a knife, Koharu Utatane felt a chill run down her spine and nodded, saying, "I'll follow your arrangements."

She wasn't stupid. Since the Third Generation could use Mitokado Enoki's dirty secrets to threaten him, he must have prepared dirty secrets about her to threaten her as well.

If she doesn't listen to the Third Hokage, she will no longer be able to serve as the Hokage's advisor, and even the ninja clan behind her will be implicated.

In order to keep her position as Hokage's advisor, she had no choice but to follow the Third Hokage's instructions. Now that she thinks about it, she really regrets it. She shouldn't have been greedy and abused her power for personal gain.

“Very good. With your help, the new Root will definitely be up and running soon. Don’t worry, the construction of the new Root will not be done by the two of you alone. I will have my son, Sarutobi Takashi, participate in it, and Hatake Sakumo will also join the new Root.”

After successfully subduing Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu to his will, the Third Generation smiled again and revealed his plans.

Will Sakumo Hatake join as well?

Upon hearing the Third Hokage's words, Mitokado Homura's eyes lit up with delight.

For a dark organization like Root, if the leader wants to control his subordinates, he must possess sufficient strength; otherwise, he simply cannot control those rebellious, cruel, and unruly ninjas in Root.

His strength used to be quite good, but since he stepped down to the second line, he has neglected training and suffered from some old injuries, resulting in a serious decline in his strength. In terms of strength, he is still considered to be at a first-class level among elite ninjas, but this level of strength is probably not enough to keep the Root ninjas in check.

But the addition of Sakumo Hatake undoubtedly gave him peace of mind.

This White Fang of Konoha is strong enough to suppress any dissenting voices from Root.

"of course."

The third generation nodded.

Sakumo Hatake is a ninja who is extremely loyal to Konoha. As long as he is Hokage, Sakumo Hatake will obey him. However, he is a person with a pure Will of Fire and is not very suitable for handling dirty work.

But it doesn't matter, he just needs to have Sakumo Hatake put his name on the new root.

In fact, this is also the role that Mitokado and Koharu play in the new roots.

The real person in charge is his son, Sarutobi Takashi.

"Hiruzen, I heard that Sakumo Hatake is now the mentor of Nawaki, Chizuru and Kirito, and you have sent him to carry out a secret mission."

Xiaochun, who was turning over to her new room, suddenly asked.

That's right.

The three generations nodded in agreement.

“I think you should immediately stop their mission and bring Sakumo Hatake back as soon as possible. That mysterious Kage-level powerhouse may reappear, and we have to be on guard. If Sakumo Hatake had been here today, the outcome would definitely have been different.”

After receiving confirmation, Xiaochun immediately offered her suggestion.

She now has absolutely no goodwill towards the Senju clan because they colluded with outsiders to kill Danzo, and as a result, the Third Hokage is forcibly handing over Danzo's work to her. It can be said that she will ruin her reputation in her later years.

Therefore, when the Third Generation mentioned adding Sakumo Hatake to the new Root, she immediately came up with this idea.

This would allow Sakumo Hatake to return to Konoha to participate in the new Root organization and suppress the arrogance of the Senju clan, while also preventing Nawaki and Kirito, two junior ninjas belonging to the Senju clan, from enjoying Sakumo Hatake's protection.

That's killing three birds with one stone.

However, her suggestion did not immediately receive the approval of the third generation.

The third generation remained silent, their brows slightly furrowed as they pondered the pros and cons.

He had just received news of the White Fang Squad's achievements in the Land of Wind, and their results were quite remarkable. They had completed the missions he assigned to the White Fang Squad very well. If the White Fang Squad continued to cause sabotage behind enemy lines, it might accelerate the time it took for Konoha to defeat Sunagakure.

If we bring Sakumo Hatake back now, wouldn't all our previous efforts be in vain?

Moreover, Nawaki, Kirito, and Chizuru are all important young shoots of Konoha, and they need a reliable strong person to protect them right now. They can't afford to get into trouble.

The third generation is currently somewhat undecided.

"Hiruzen, only when the rear is stable can the people on the front lines fight the enemy with peace of mind. Don't let one thing distract you from the other. You know the enemy's strength best. If he comes to Konoha to cause trouble again, are you confident that you can drive him away or defeat him?"

Seeing that the Third Generation had not responded for a long time, Koharu, who was turning over to her room, decided to add fuel to the fire.

Koharu Utatane's words undoubtedly stung the Third Hokage's backside. He immediately made up his mind and said menacingly, "It's time to bring Sakumo Hatake back. I won't make the same mistake twice. If that guy dares to come again, I will make sure he doesn't leave alive."

Chapter 177: Tsunade's Shock and Hyuga's Choice

While the Third Hokage and two Hokage advisors were having a secret meeting, at the Nawaki family home in the Senju clan compound, Tsunade and Momoka were having a tense argument face to face.

"Lady Taohua, why weren't I informed about this matter beforehand? Also, who exactly is that Kage-level ninja? Where did you find such a powerful ninja?"

Tsunade, with a cold face, loudly questioned Momoka.

Such a huge event happened today, and she, a direct descendant of the Senju clan, knew nothing about it and was completely kept in the dark. This made her feel very unfamiliar with the entire Senju clan and she had a severe lack of security.

Therefore, she must ask Tao Hua about the ins and outs of today's events.

Otherwise, she would move out of the Thousand Hands territory and live elsewhere.

Momoka's face was equally cold. Facing Tsunade's question, she didn't choose to answer, but instead asked in return, "Tsunade, in your heart, is your clan more important, or your teacher, the Third Hokage?"

Because of Tsunade, the opportunity that she, Kirito, and the others had worked so hard to obtain was lost.

She has a lot of personal problems in this matter, but Tsunade has equally big problems. This child's stance is not firm enough, and she actually sided with outsiders.

"I, I don't know."

Upon hearing Momoka's words, Tsunade's expression changed, and she hesitated before speaking.

In fact, she thought about this question for a long time on her way back, but she still couldn't come up with a definite answer.

In her heart, the family that gave her birth and raised her is of course very important, and she is willing to give her life to protect it. But her teachers are equally important to her. She lost her parents at a young age, and the three generations who educated and cared for her are like fathers to her.

Therefore, both are very important to her, and it is difficult for her to give them up.

"Sigh~, what if I told you that Nawaki almost died because of the Third Hokage's leniency towards Danzo? What would you choose then?"

Momoka wasn't surprised by Tsunade's answer; she simply dropped a bombshell to provoke Tsunade.

"What did you say? How is Rope Tree now?"

Upon hearing this, Tsunade was immediately shocked and asked anxiously.

Seeing Tsunade's expression, Momoka was pleased. Her cold face softened slightly, and she said gently:

"Thanks to Kirito being by his side, we got through it without any real danger. Let me be frank with you: Danzo, in order to take revenge on our Senju clan, ordered the Root members to track down and betray the White Fang team, and used other ninja villages to kill Nawaki."

Danzo's ability to remotely control Root from prison was entirely a result of the Third Hokage's indulgence. His release from prison is a fact, but I haven't found concrete evidence to prove it.

Furthermore, since Danzo has the cursed mark planted by the Third Hokage, the Third Hokage must have known that Danzo ordered the Root members to ambush the White Fang team, but he did nothing and let Danzo go so easily.

Do you think the Third Hokage will do what will happen to Nawaki and the Senju clan if he continues to indulge Danzo like this? Does your good teacher really care about you?

As Momoka continued to explain the cause of today's events, Tsunade was completely stunned, her mind going blank.

She had no doubts about Momoka's words, because she knew that Momoka loved Nawaki and the Senju clan very much and had no reason to lie to her. However, she never expected that her beloved teacher would do something so outrageous and heartbreaking.

Nawaki is her own brother, her only family in the world. How could the Third Generation allow Danzo to do such a thing and just sit idly by?

"Lady Taohua, how did you know about these things?"

Tsunade suddenly thought of a question and asked it.

"It was I who told Lady Momoka."

The next moment, a familiar voice appeared in her ear.

Upon hearing that familiar voice, Tsunade's eyes widened instantly, and she turned around to see Kirito suddenly appear before her.

To be precise, it is Kirito's soul clone.

"Kirito, what are you doing here? You must have used the Spirit Transformation Technique to leave your body and come back. You're playing with fire, aren't you? This far away."

Tsunade looked at the pale, translucent Kirito in front of her and instantly realized what was going on. She scolded him anxiously.

While the technique of spirit transformation is powerful, if a ninja uses it to leave their body for an extended period of time, their physical body may be in danger. Once their physical body is gone, their soul will have nowhere to reside for a long time and will slowly perish and die.

"Don't worry, sister. What's here is just a soul clone I created with my soul power. It won't harm the original body. Let me answer your questions about what's next."

Kirito noticed Tsunade's concerned expression and smiled.

Then, he began to recount in detail what the White Fang Squad had encountered after leaving and the ins and outs of the assassination attempt on Danzo.

The reason they didn't tell her about this beforehand was that they were afraid she would act on her emotions, become confused because of her concern, and expose the operation.

However, he only mentioned the White Zetsu clone briefly, without revealing much information, only saying that he and the other party had a cooperative relationship.

After Tsunade received firsthand information about the White Fang Squad from Kirito, she finally understood why Momoka and Kirito had joined forces with others to kill Danzo.

Danzo is too dangerous. For Nawaki's safety, he really has to die.

Moreover, this person betrayed his companion, which is a crime deserving of death.

At the same time, she was also deeply disappointed by the inaction of the third generation.

"Why would he do that? He's the Hokage, he's the one who taught me what the true Will of Fire is."

Tsunade said sadly.

"Because he is also the head of the Sarutobi clan."

Kirito immediately reminded him.

Upon hearing this, Tsunade pursed her red lips and remained silent. As intelligent as she was, she naturally understood what Kirito meant at a glance.

The reason her teacher hasn't severely punished Danzo is most likely because Danzo has some kind of leverage over her.

She had no doubts about this.

Danzo was, after all, the leader of Root, and she knew very well what Root did. It was perfectly normal for Danzo to have something on his hands that could threaten the Third Hokage.

After all, the Sarutobi clan is currently at the height of its power in Konoha, with many important positions in various departments being held by members of the Sarutobi clan. If corruption exists in these departments, it is very likely that it is related to the Sarutobi clan.

"Tsunade, you can no longer be soft-hearted towards the Third Hokage. He is no longer the Third Hokage who needed the help of the Senju clan. The Sarutobi clan behind him is now far stronger than the current Senju clan and holds great power in Konoha."

You may not be aware of this since you haven't been involved in clan affairs, but since your grandmother passed away, there have been more ninja clans clashing with us over their interests. The Sarutobi clan is the supporter behind these ninja clans, and now they've set their sights on our Senju clan.

If you continue to show leniency towards the Third Hokage and fail to strive to become the next Hokage, the Senju clan's interests will inevitably be seized by the Sarutobi clan, and the Senju clan will cease to exist in name only.

Seeing that Tsunade was disappointed in the Third Hokage, Momoka seized the opportunity to make her completely lose faith in him and to put her on the heavy responsibility of reviving the Senju clan.

"I……"

Tsunade was in a state of confusion, unsure how to answer, and felt immense pressure that made it hard for her to breathe.

She knew that once she agreed to Momoka's request and took on the responsibility of reviving the Senju clan, she would inevitably clash with the Third Hokage, leading to a major change within Konoha, which would inevitably involve bloodshed and sacrifice.