Utatane Koharu had an ugly expression.
At this moment, she was gritting her teeth, her eyes filled with cold malice and anger toward Minato Namikaze!
After all...
If not for Minato Namikaze's arrival, even though the three of them were despised by everyone, no one would have dared to force them off the stage.
That was why she was currently gnashing her teeth, wanting to kill Minato Namikaze and Orochimaru, and reclaim the dignity they had lost!
However, it was a pity.
Homura Mitokado did not speak; he merely stroked his goatee, pondered for a moment, and let out a sigh.
"It's difficult, too difficult!"
"Minato Namikaze's base of support is terrifying, especially after Minato died, we offended the Ino–Shika–Chō deeply."
"Especially since we allowed Danzo to weaken the Ninja Clan, those Ninja Clan saw it all."
"Therefore..."
"Even though Minato Namikaze is currently just an Edo Tensei body, as long as he is not being controlled by Orochimaru, and he himself is willing to lead and control Konoha, then every Ninja Clan in Konoha today will support him."
"Including—the Uchiha!"
"Although we can influence most of the Civilians here, and add the Sarutobi, Utatane, Mitokado Clan, and Shimura clans..."
"But, it is far from enough!"
"We cannot shake Minato Namikaze's foundation of governance, and even spreading rumors to smear him is meaningless!"
"Even if the Civilians curse Minato Namikaze like dogs, as long as those Ninja Clan are willing to support him, Minato Namikaze doesn't care about the lives of the Civilians at all."
"There's no way!"
"Minato Namikaze is not Sakumo Hatake; that kind of killing trap for Sakumo Hatake is ineffective against Minato Namikaze!"
With Homura Mitokado's words, Utatane Koharu also fell into silence.
That's right!
The three of them knew Minato Namikaze too well.
Although he looked gentle as water, he was actually a ruthless person!
When he was in power before, he acted steadily, but that was because he knew he was still young and had plenty of time to slowly control power and squeeze them out of the core circle.
Now, it's different!
The returned Minato Namikaze seemed more like he was taking revenge; he was pushed back to the position of Hokage by the Ninja Clan.
And what about them? They were Minato's enemies!
On the other side.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been pondering for a long time, finally put down the pipe in his hand and spoke in a very heavy tone: "Relying solely on the Civilian class and our Four Clans, it is basically impossible to control the overall situation of the Village."
"My retreat just now was also a tactical withdrawal!"
"Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to withstand the situation tonight. As for the solution to this matter, I can think of about three paths right now."
"The first one, the right to govern!"
"Koharu..."
"I need you to go to the Daimyos Palace, inform the Daimyo about this matter, explain it completely, and persuade the Daimyo to stand on our side."
"He wouldn't want a dead person sitting in the Hokage's seat every day, would he?"
"The second point, bring Jiraiya back!"
"He is Minato's teacher after all; I believe Jiraiya will persuade Minato."
"After all, he is already a dead person. Matters of the living should be resolved by the living. Although I did treat Minato poorly regarding Naruto, I did it for the sake of Konoha."
"I believe Jiraiya will stand on my side!"
"And I believe that no matter how dissatisfied Minato is, he will listen to his teacher, Jiraiya."
"The third one, Edo Tensei the teacher and the First Hokage!"
"As long as we don't give the teacher too much time to understand the current situation of the Village, let the teacher and the First Hokage deal with Minato, and then send the brothers back to the Pure Land immediately."
"Walking on three legs is more stable."
"However..."
"Koharu, Homura!"
"I want to ask one last time, are you really determined to gamble once?"
"If we stop now and don't interfere with the Village's affairs in the future, then given Minato Namikaze's character, he will most likely still give us some dignity. At most, we just won't enjoy power, status, or gain benefits in the future..."
"But..."
"If we really make a move, we will completely tear our faces off, and it will be a fight to the death between us and Minato's side!"
"With new hatred and old grudges combined, if we fail, we will most likely be killed and our clans destroyed."
"Yes!"
"Minato is the Yellow Flash of the battlefield and has also served as Hokage; we cannot be fooled by his kind face."
"Once he truly becomes an enemy, Minato won't hold back when killing!"
"Especially since we swallowed the inheritance of Minato and his wife, and abused his son Naruto all these years, this grudge is greater than the sky."
"Now that I have voluntarily stepped down, he has no reason to trouble me!"
"If a war really starts, that's hard to say."
"Plus, the Uchiha!"
"They hate us to the bone. If Minato Namikaze leads this time, the Uchiha will definitely settle old scores and grievances!"
"So..."
"I am asking for your opinion one last time: should we admit defeat or give it a shot?"
This time, Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes were filled with cold light.
Obviously.
Having been Hokage for so many years, he still had some insight into people.
Therefore, he understood!
Minato Namikaze is not Sakumo Hatake; he will not be coerced by public opinion.
When they confronted each other in front of the Root headquarters earlier, he could feel that there was killing intent in Minato Namikaze's eyes.
This was the reason he chose to retreat; he was not confident that he could withstand a Minato Namikaze who had killing intent!
That was the Yellow Flash who came out of the battlefield. Although his voluntary retreat had caused Minato Namikaze to temporarily restrain his killing intent, as long as he was willing to live peacefully in the future, Minato Namikaze would most likely not trouble him.
But, likewise.
If the three of them retreated but didn't stop, and continued to cause trouble, and Minato Namikaze found another opportunity, he would definitely not let them off easily!
Coupled with the Uchiha who had been stifled for a long time, having the opportunity to settle accounts with them, they would definitely slaughter their clans crazily.
Therefore.
He still had to secure the advice of his two old friends. After all, if they took this step, there would be no regret medicine to eat in the future.
And regarding this.
Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado both fell into deep thought upon hearing this.
This decision was not easy to make!
Because once the wrong choice was made, the consequence would be the death of their clans.
However.
Thinking about their past years of holding power, they could not endure the current gap, so the two of them only thought for less than two minutes before giving their answers.
"Decided, let's gamble!"
"Me too!"
Hearing these words, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but feel a surge of heroism.
His eyes were cold, and he nodded: "Since it's decided, then let's gamble."
"No time to lose, do it immediately!"
"Koharu, leave Konoha overnight and go to the Daimyos Palace. Homura, use the highest-level communication channel to contact Jiraiya immediately. After contacting him, go and secretly connect our manpower; at the very least, we need to be able to mobilize them at any time."
"As for me, I will go Edo Tensei the two former Hokage."
"Edo Tensei?"
"I am the Professor of Ninjutsu, how could this possibly stump me?"