Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Many people believe that the Third Kazekage is definitely fine, but he has just exhausted too much chakra and is resting for the time being.

But as time goes on, the persuasiveness of this idea becomes increasingly weak.

When a Sand Village Jonin skilled in Earth Release brought the already cold body of the Third Kazekage from underground, countless Sand Villagers fell into a deathly silence, their hearts filled with anger and grief.

I don't know who started crying first.

In an instant, countless Sand Ninja surrounding the Third Kazekage's body began to weep in grief, and the collective cries grew louder and louder.

As the cries spread, news of the Third Kazekage's demise gradually spread throughout Sunagakure.

Upon learning of the Third Kazekage's death in battle, Rasa immediately disregarded everyone's attempts to stop him and rushed out of the safe house to the Third Kazekage's side. Looking at the large hole in the Third Kazekage's chest and confirming that he was dead, he finally broke down in tears.

His parents were both ninjas who died young. The Third Kazekage gave him fatherly warmth. Even though he knew that the Third Kazekage's love for him was largely due to his Magnet Release: Gold Sand, he still regarded the Third Kazekage as his family.

Now that his loved one, who had always sheltered him from the storms of life in Sunagakure, was dead, he felt as if the whole world had turned gray.

Then, a strong hatred arose in his heart and instantly took over his mind.

"Kirito Tohsaka, I will definitely kill you!!!"

Rasa held the body of the Third Kazekage and cried out in anguish to the heavens.

In the crowd, Akasa, sitting in a wheelchair, looked at Rasa, who was blinded by hatred and almost went mad. A faint smile appeared on her thin face, and her eyes gleamed.

A moment later, he patted the armrest of his wheelchair with his recently made prosthetic leg and said to his son Scorpion behind him, "Let's go back, Scorpion."

"Okay, Dad."

Scorpion nodded and then obediently pushed the wheelchair away.

"Dad, can three generations of adults be used to make puppets?"

Once they were away from the crowd, Scorpion suddenly asked timidly in a low voice.

Hearing Sasori's words, Akasago narrowed his eyes slightly, turned around and patted Sasori's head gently, saying, "Not yet. The Third Hokage's corpse is a very important material, and it can't be used for practice. Once your puppetry skills are strong enough, Dad will find a way to get it for you."

Since returning from Iwagakure, the happiest thing for him was discovering that his son was a puppetry genius. This genius was not only reflected in controlling puppets, but also in designing and creating them.

In just a few months, under his careful tutelage, Scorpion's puppetry skills were already comparable to those of an ordinary veteran puppeteer. Given time, it was inevitable that he would surpass him, and he might even surpass his mother.

Moreover, Scorpion has an outstanding talent for learning how to use human puppets.

Due to an accident, after Scorpion came into contact with human puppet technology, he surprisingly invented several secret medicines to preserve the vitality of corpses in a short period of time.

In Akasa's eyes, her son's genius was simply monstrous. He not only learned puppetry from him, but also medical ninjutsu from his mother. He had become proficient in systems and medicine making without her noticing.

"Okay, Dad, I will definitely try my best."

Having received the promise, Scorpion spoke with great anticipation, his young face beaming with excitement.

He likes puppets because they are his friends. The Third Kazekage is very kind to him, and he also wants the Third Kazekage to make friends.

Now that's good, once his puppetry technology is perfected, he can become friends with the Third Kazekage.

When the time comes, he will definitely turn this friend into a super powerful puppet.

Meanwhile, a large number of spies lurking in Sunagakure were stunned when they learned of this explosive news, and then quickly sent the message out secretly in their own ways.

This news is absolutely explosive.

They were certain that once this news was sent out, it would definitely cause an uproar throughout the ninja world, resulting in a major earthquake.

The Third Kazekage was no nobody; he was hailed as the strongest Kazekage, possessing immense strength. His Magnet Release ninjutsu had virtually no weaknesses and was incredibly powerful. He could also fly, making him one of the top tier of renowned Kage-level ninjas in the ninja world.

But the fact that such a great figure died, and at the hands of a young junior, was truly shocking. Many people who heard the news were stunned and couldn't believe it was real.

However, when they saw the second half of the news and learned who had killed the Third Kazekage, they all showed expressions of relief, while at the same time feeling a strong sense of dread and worry.

……

In Konoha, at the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage and three Hokage advisors gathered together in a rare occurrence.

"Hiruzen, what is it that's so urgent that you called us over in the middle of the night?"

Once everyone had arrived, Mitokado Homura, sporting dark circles under his eyes, immediately asked, his voice filled with deep dissatisfaction.

Because of the war between Kumogakure and Amegakure, the Third Hokage ordered him to gather intelligence, collect information on the ninjas of both Kumogakure and Amegakure, and closely monitor the movements of Kumogakure. He's been extremely busy these past few days.

He hadn't had a good night's sleep in almost a week, and today he was really too tired to stay awake any longer. He was just about to get some rest when his subordinate woke him up and told him to come to a meeting.

Koharu's situation is similar to that of Mitokado Ero. She used to have a good life, but now she is being forced by the third generation to work at Shingen-no-kami, and the daily workload is becoming too much for her.

To be honest, she now admires Danzo very much.

Although this guy isn't a good person, his work ability is undeniable. She and Mitokado Homura combined might not be as efficient as him.

"The Third Hokage called you here to give you face. If you don't want to come, you can give up the position of Hokage advisor. It will save you from holding this position without doing anything."

At this moment, Senju Momoka stood on the Third Hokage's side and said in a sarcastic tone.

"you……"

Koharu was immediately angered by Momoka's mockery. She wanted to retort, but Mitokado Homura held her shoulder, so she had to swallow her words and glare at Momoka, who was looking at her with disdain.

"Ahem, that's enough. Now is not the time to argue. Look at this. This is the latest shipment from the front lines. We must make a decision before dawn."

The Third Hokage is currently worried about the big thing Kirito just did and doesn't want to waste time watching the three of them argue, so he speaks out to stop them.

After saying that, he handed a scroll to Tao Hua.

When Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu saw that the Third Hokage did not hand over the information to them first, their expressions changed, but neither of them said anything. Their eyes were fixed on Momoka, trying to discern from her facial expression how important the information the Third Hokage had just given them was.

The next moment, the two saw Tao Hua's expression change drastically, and then she showed a relieved smile.

Seeing the change in Tao Hua's expression, the two felt a chill in their hearts, realizing that this information was likely to be detrimental to their three generations of lineage.

Sure enough, when they saw the contents of the scroll, their expressions changed drastically, and then turned grim.

Kirito Tohsaka led his troops to attack Sunagakure, using the power of the Tailed Beasts to help others wipe out more than 2,000 Sunagakure ninjas on the front lines. He also successfully killed the Third Kazekage.

Although the content is short, its significance is astonishing.

Both of them were shocked by the information contained therein, and their hearts remained unsettled for a long time.

"Time is of the essence. Tell me your thoughts on how to handle this matter."

Before the two could calm down, they began to ask the three for advice on how to handle the situation.

However, his gaze remained fixed on Momoka as he spoke.

Momoka didn't speak immediately, but calmly watched the Third Generation, waiting for the Third Generation and the other two to perform.

The intelligence was shocking. Kirito made a great contribution to Konoha tonight, but it still couldn't hide the fact that he was disobeying orders.

Soon, at the Third Hokage's signal, Koharu Utatane, who was already prepared for battle, spoke up: "Third Hokage, Kirito Tohsaka is incredibly audacious. He actually dared to attack Sunagakure while our Konoha and Sunagakure were negotiating peace. He is showing contempt for the Hokage and the village's authority. Obeying orders is a ninja's duty. If everyone followed his example, wouldn't Konoha be thrown into chaos? This matter must be severely punished."

Chapter 221: Rules are set by the strong

"Xiaochun, you've gone too far. Although Kirito disobeyed orders, his starting point was still for the sake of Konoha, and he gained a lot. Not to mention eliminating more than two thousand Sunagakure ninjas, his elimination of the Third Kazekage was definitely a great achievement."

"This is wartime. It would be wrong to severely punish someone who has rendered meritorious service like this. It would definitely damage the morale of other ninjas, and the losses would outweigh the gains."

After Koharu Utatane said some stern words, Homura Mito immediately shook his head and, unusually, stood up to speak for Kirito.

"Hmph, I admit he has made contributions and his intentions are good, but I'm afraid he might do something bad with good intentions. We are currently in the process of negotiating peace with Sunagakure. His words clearly indicate that he does not intend to bring peace to Konoha. Sunagakure has suffered such a great loss, do you think they will let it go?"

"Our Konoha is already in dire straits. Our financial and human resources are nearing their limits. Negotiating with Sunagakure is the best way out. Continuing to fight would only be a losing proposition for Konoha. Besides, if everyone followed his example and disobeyed orders, what authority would the Hokage have? Konoha would descend into chaos."

Koharu continued forcefully, relentlessly focusing on Kirito's actions of disrupting peace and disobeying orders.

Seeing this, Mitomon Homura had no choice but to continue pleading for Kirito's life, arguing that he had rendered meritorious service and that it would not alienate the other soldiers on the front lines.

Senju Momoka, standing to the side, remained silent, watching the performance of Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura with a mocking expression and deep disdain in her eyes.

She was a shrewd old woman, how could she not see that these two old men were putting on an act? One was playing the bad cop, and the other was playing the good cop. Mitokado Homura, who was playing the good cop, seemed to be speaking up for Kirito, but he didn't have good intentions either. He was secretly cooperating with Utatane Koharu.

Their ultimate goal was to solidify Kirito's charges of disrupting peace and disobeying orders.

These two charges are not simple; either one alone would be enough to execute a ninja.

Since the start of World War II, Konoha has been fighting for almost ten years, and there was a period when it was fighting on two fronts at the same time against Amegakure and Sunagakure. Even with Konoha's size and resources, after fighting for so long, Konoha is indeed somewhat exhausted, both physically and mentally, and desperately needs a period of peace to develop.

The people of Konoha were also tired of war and longed for peace.

Therefore, when Sunagakure came with envoys to negotiate peace, even though Sunagakure's motives were not pure, they were still warmly welcomed by the people of Konoha, which shows how much the people of Konoha longed for peace.

If someone were to deliberately disrupt the peace at this time, the public outcry could erupt.

Disobeying orders is even more serious. The Hokage is the supreme leader of Konoha, and his orders are absolute and cannot be disobeyed by others, regardless of whether individuals agree or not. This is a fact recognized by the vast majority of people in Konoha.

Therefore, disobeying the Hokage's orders is equivalent to disobeying the will of the vast majority of Konoha people.

In Konoha, defying the will of the majority is unacceptable; one might as well give up the chance to live in Konoha altogether.

If these two people were to actually pin these two charges on Kirito, no matter how many battle achievements he made, it would be difficult for him to win the hearts of the people in Konoha. If someone with ulterior motives were to spread these two charges, many villagers would definitely develop a very bad impression of Kirito.

Given Kirito's current strength, killing him is unrealistic. However, their ultimate goal is not to kill Kirito at all, but simply to eliminate the influence of Kirito's achievements this time.

"Alright, stop acting. Kirito didn't disrupt the peace or disobey orders at all. On the contrary, it was the people of Sunagakure who disrupted the peace. Kirito's actions tonight were just a self-defense counterattack. If you don't believe me, you can wait for the specific information to come back before making a decision. Anyway, there's no rush to convict Kirito. Am I right, Hiruzen?"

After Tao Hua understood the key point, she decisively interrupted the two's performance.

In fact, she was unaware that Kirito had deliberately allowed Chizuru and other Uchiha ninjas to use genjutsu to control the extreme martial arts faction ninjas of Sunagakure and disrupt peace in order to achieve his goal, but she knew that Kirito was definitely not a reckless person.

She was certain that Kirito had prepared an excuse before doing this earth-shattering thing.

After much thought, she concluded that the best excuse Kirito could give for doing this tonight was that Sunagakure had deliberately disrupted the peace. Only in this way could Kirito avoid giving anyone grounds for criticism.

"However, it's not easy to do this without the help of the Senju clan. This kid has really grown up. Even without the Senju clan's help, he already has enough power to do what he wants to do."

Momoka noticed a slight unnatural change in the Third Generation's expression, which further confirmed her judgment, and she sighed.

Judging from today's events, Kirito is clearly starting to develop his own system, showing a tendency to break away from the Senju lineage.

Although she knew it was only a matter of time, after all, Kirito himself was not a true member of the Senju clan, and he was a person with ideas and abilities. It was only a matter of time before he stepped out of the Senju lineage and formed a new system on his own in Konoha.

Actually, it's not exactly a new system. Kirito himself came from a commoner background, and his appearance just happened to meet the needs of the vast number of commoner ninjas in Konoha at that time.

As Konoha has developed to this point, the number of ninjas is no longer dominated by ninja clans. Since the Second Hokage established the Ninja Academy, the number of civilian ninjas has been increasing, and in a very short time, it has surpassed the number of ninja clans.

Although most of these commoner ninjas lacked ninjutsu lineage and their achievements were generally not high, with Chunin often being their limit, their sheer number meant that some geniuses would inevitably emerge.

Before Kirito appeared, Orochimaru was the best example.

However, Orochimaru was raised as a son by the Third Hokage, and he was aloof and arrogant, with little interaction with ordinary ninjas. He was considered to have left the ordinary ninja class early on.