After Orochimaru, the mastermind behind the Konoha Crush plan, was defeated, the remaining allied forces of Sunagakure and Otogakure could no longer cause much trouble. Surrounded by Konoha's elite forces, most of the invaders chose to surrender and were dragged off to the Torture and Interrogation Department.
Inside the office, Jiraiya picked up the report compiled by the ANBU, opened it, and read it carefully.
The scale of the attack from Sunagakure and Orochimaru was far smaller than the Nine-Tails Rebellion back then. Most of the battles took place outside the village, and only a small portion affected the streets in the central area.
With only a small number of buildings destroyed, it would be much easier to resettle the residents and rebuild the village.
Although Konoha's Chunin Exams had failed, they had also managed to gain leverage over Sunagakure. Konoha could use this opportunity to squeeze more benefits out of Sunagakure and ensure that the Sand Village could never break away from Konoha again.
In this regard, Orochimaru had actually done him a favor and consolidated his position as Hokage.
What truly gave Jiraiya a headache was the rebellion of the Sarutobi clan. Behind the old man's back, the Sarutobi clan had secretly colluded with Orochimaru and Sunagakure, attempting to overthrow him, the Hokage.
Among them, the attitude of the Fire Daimyo's mansion was also extremely ambiguous, even supporting the old man's return to the Hokage position.
However, what the Sarutobi clan and the Fire Daimyo hadn't expected was that the old man had no intention of reclaiming the Hokage seat. Instead, he stepped forward to confront Orochimaru and stopped his plan at the cost of his own life.
The old man's willingness to stand up and protect Konoha, aside from his love for the village, was probably also because of the Sarutobi clan's rebellion. He likely hoped to save the Sarutobi clan with his own life and prove that the clan had only lost its way temporarily.
From that perspective, it was practically the Sarutobi clan that personally killed the Third Hokage...
Jiraiya looked at the photo of Hiruzen Sarutobi. The old man still wore that kind smile in the picture, reminding Jiraiya of the days he had spent with his teacher in the past. He sighed softly.
The Third Hokage was dead, but he had left behind a complete mess, along with the troublesome Sarutobi clan.
The Sarutobi clan had openly attacked the Hokage Building and participated in the Konoha Crush plan orchestrated by Orochimaru. If they were let off lightly, the authority of the Hokage's office would inevitably decline, and other ninja clans might start getting ideas of their own.
But if they were dealt with harshly, it could easily push Konoha toward becoming another Bloody Mist Village. Besides, the old man had only just died, so Jiraiya couldn't send the Sarutobi clan to their deaths at a time like this.
At that moment, there was a knock on the office door, and several of Konoha's high-ranking officials entered one after another.
Aside from his assistant Tsunade and the advisors Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, there were also representatives from the Ino-Shika-Cho clans and the Hyuga clan leader. They represented different factions within Konoha.
After a brief silence, Tsunade was the first to speak.
"Jiraiya, how are you planning to deal with the Sarutobi clan?"
"I haven't decided yet. First, I'll remove all Sarutobi ninja from their positions and conduct a full investigation. We'll handle the matter after Sarutobi-sensei is buried."
Jiraiya was still hesitant and unsure how to deal with the Sarutobi clan.
After pausing for a moment, Jiraiya continued:
"However, negotiations with Sunagakure need to be accelerated. Even though Sunagakure attacked Konoha after being deceived by Orochimaru this time, they still need to compensate Konoha for the losses suffered."
"My intention is to station troops inside Sunagakure Village. As for how much funding we should demand from Sunagakure for the stationed forces, what are your opinions?"
"Your plan is good, but you can decide this kind of thing yourself. There's no need to ask us."
The two advisors showed little interest in the negotiations, while the Ino-Shika-Cho representatives and the Hyuga clan leader didn't dare voice too many opinions. The Sarutobi clan issue was essentially a conflict between Jiraiya and the Third Hokage's faction, and they didn't want to get too deeply involved.
If this had been over ten years ago, they might still have had thoughts about competing for the Hokage position.
But after so many years, the battle for the Hokage seat had become increasingly brutal. First the Uchiha clan was forced out, and now the Sarutobi clan had rebelled. The Hokage position itself almost seemed cursed—anyone connected to it ended up unlucky.
Rather than competing to become Hokage, it was better to firmly control an important department and aim for an advisory position instead.
However, the Ino-Shika-Cho clans and the Hyuga clan also understood that Jiraiya had only called them here for appearances' sake. He didn't truly see them as consultants. After all, their qualifications were nowhere near comparable to Jiraiya, Tsunade, or even the two elderly advisors.
After the advisors and clan leaders left, only Jiraiya and Tsunade remained inside the office.
Jiraiya glanced at Tsunade. After overcoming her hemophobia, her complexion had improved greatly, and she seemed to have regained some of her former spirit. It made Jiraiya want to crack a dumb joke.
After staring at each other for a moment, Jiraiya asked:
"What's Naruto's situation? What conditions did he propose?"
"Naruto hasn't put forward any specific conditions yet, but during the battle against Orochimaru, the two ninjas beside him were the Edo Tensei forms of Namikaze Minato and Kushina."
"Minato and Kushina... Naruto reincarnated them with Edo Tensei?"
"That's right. They're probably shopping with Naruto right now. As long as they're around, there's no need to worry about Naruto attacking Konoha for the time being. Naruto seems to have very little attachment to Konoha—or to the Third Hokage."
Jiraiya nodded.
"I know. That was the old man's fault. I tried persuading him before, but it was useless. Fortunately, Naruto didn't join forces with Orochimaru this time, otherwise Konoha would've been in real danger."
After a short pause, Jiraiya continued:
"However, Naruto's willingness to negotiate with us this time is an opportunity. We need to find a way to make him an ally of Konoha. We absolutely can't continue pushing him away."
At that moment, an ANBU entered the office and handed a report to Jiraiya.
Jiraiya glanced over it, frowned, and said:
"This is Kakashi's report. It records a major incident. During Orochimaru's attack on the village, the masked man from the Akatsuki organization also appeared near Konoha."
"And that masked man's true identity is Obito Uchiha!"
"The masked man is Obito Uchiha?" Tsunade's expression changed drastically.
Jiraiya nodded solemnly, then smiled bitterly.
"According to Kakashi, Obito lost himself because of Rin Nohara back then, became the masked man, and launched the Nine-Tails Rebellion against the village."
"Who would've thought that, aside from Nagato and the others, even the masked man turned out to be another ninja who left Konoha?"
Hearing this, Tsunade's expression also became strange.
In reality, it wasn't just Nagato and the masked man. Even Uzushiogakure had been established by former Konoha ninja tied to Naruto and the Uchiha clan.
At the same time, Tsunade secretly wondered just how powerful Konoha would have become if none of those people had ever left the village.
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