Shinka and Mei had no clue about the private discussion between Inori and Shiki.
Everything but the boy's Roen Transformation was to be revealed as the two did not have any knowledge of it so he just encouraged them to honestly share all of the mission's info.
Both of them had their suspicions regarding Shiki's intentions but after hearing from the boy how he would not get any official punishment, they wished to try it out.
Would the village truly act as Shiki had predicted?
If it did, then their sense of attachment to the Konoha hierarchy would definitely weaken.
And that was precisely what the boy wanted.
Disillusionment.
Turning people against Konoha was not only unrealistic, it was utterly unnecessary, he simply needed them to lose all faith and trust in the current leadership.
Give everyone the perspective they needed to separate the interests of the Hokage and Advisors from the interests of the village at large.
Legitimacy.
That was the mightiest sword and strongest shield of the Hokage faction, once they were stripped of it, it would just be a matter of whose fist is bigger and Shiki was more than confident in his side in that regard.
If the Uchiha clan could be persuaded to "join the cause", their union with the remainder of the Senju clan along with the alliance with a still existing and strong Uzumaki clan would represent not only inviolable strength, it was a callback to the founding of Konoha itself.
What could be more legitimate than that?
Mei revealing the village leadership's constant scheming against Team 6 who she was a part of to her clan, was a small but important initial impulse.
The Uchiha and the Senju had little love for each other, but what they did have in abundance, was respect, the kind only rivals across generations could develop, an acknowledgement of each other's power and skill.
Sometimes, that was what mattered most for a successful alliance.
As for Shinka, Shiki honestly was a bit lost.
She did not have any particularly high status in Root or even in her clan due to being taken by Danzo's people so young.
As such, her position was far more precarious than Mei who had the entire Uchiha clan behind her.
Shiki could see that despite not being prone to expressing herself much, the Aburame girl had warmed up to him significantly and the doubts she had in the village and its leadership due to the events their team went through were quite deep.
'While she will not bring over any faction, that will make pulling her over as an individual much easier and she is very talented in her clan's Hidden Jutsu so it would be foolish to let go of her.' Were Shiki's official thoughts on the matter.
Personally, though, he had gotten a bit attached to the girl that seemed to hang more and more on his every word and action as her faith in the village decreased.
'Her looks underneath all that clothing too . . . Mhm, mhm!'
Clothing could not block his Kukyo - Seven Senses after all.
*
Arriving in Konoha, Shiki did not even make a show of reporting the mission's success as shinobi were usually required too and simply headed straight home to the Uzumaki manor.
Taking his actions as a signal, Mei grit her teeth and elected to go back to the Uchiha clan directly and leave the report to her sensei.
"Just stick with me Shinka. It will be better for everyone." Inori commented with a wry smile before starting to make her way to the Mission Assignment Desks.
The Aburame girl elected to follow the advice and simply followed her.
Soon, various undercurrents would begin to stir in Konoha's political environment or rather, already stirring ones would finally grow to shake things up.
While Mito's previous stance against the village leadership did somewhat unbalance them, so long as they made no further mistakes in the short term, re-solidifying their position of authority would pose no issue.
Three whole years without incident, more than enough time but . . .
Getting caught in such an obvious scheme would turn the dying embers of the previous controversy into fire.
*
In the Hokage's office, Inori and Shinka stood before the man himself.
"So what happened this time?" Hiruzen questioned, a headache already forming.
Inori dutifully retold a carefully edited version of the events that took place, including Shiki's massacre of the Root squad.
'Danzo . . . I told you to leave the boy alone for the time being!' Hiruzen internally complained.
Still . . .
"The boy killed a squad of Root shinobi?" The Hokage's eyes gleamed with sharpness as he questioned.
This was something he could use to put pressure on Mito, however . . .
"Yes. He sensed them ahead of time, figured out their motive was to interfere with our mission and elected to take them out." Inori responded.
"Their intention?" Hiruzen inquired.
The Violet Rose proceeded to explain what they discovered the mission of the Root squad to be, not revealing that Shinka had been the one to rat them out.
'Damn bastard, even if you want to make political moves, using a piece as volatile as that boy is obviously a bad idea! You did ruin my plans but you all put our entire regime at risk! What the hell are you thinking!?' The Hokage was already cursing his old friend and his reckless behaviour in his mind.
Tense silence took over the room for a moment.
"Where were you in all of this?" Hiruzen finally asked.
"I elected to support his actions. There is no fooling his sensory abilities which is why I heavily recommended this type of operation should not be taken." Inori explained.
"To preserve a semblance of trust and minimize backlash, I had to push all the blame onto Danzo-sama's Root. Shiki is suspicious but most of his hostility and attention is focused in that direction." She concluded.
Hiruzen sighed.
'That's still fine, taking the blame is what Danzo's for anyway. But I'll still have to provide an explanation to Mito-sama.' The Hokage thought to himself.
If the brat was completely hostile to him, then he would be forced to turn black into white and insist the boy had wilfully killed Root operatives on their own mission and committed a grave crime in doing so.
'But with Inori redirecting most of his hostility to Danzo and his Root, there is still some room to turn the situation around.' Hiruzen pondered.
The Hokage turned his eyes to the beautiful Elite Jonin, one of his most trusted operatives.
'Ah Inori, it seems you still have brilliance left to show, leaving you to Root would be a mistake.' He thought.
While showing no signs, Inori made note of every small shift in Hiruzen's mentality and attitude.
'I still got it.' The Violet Rose was filled with hidden thrill at being right in the centre of the game.
However, while the Hokage plotted based on Inori's information, things were also moving on Shiki and Mei's side.
*
In the Uchiha clan, Clan Head Fukutsu had heard his daughter's retelling to the events and called upon his son Fugaku for an impromptu family meeting.
As for Shiki, all he had was a casual discussion with Mito while their side made no further moves.
+++++
Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
500 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
1000 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters
Every earned BONUS CHAPTER on Webnovel will also be posted on Scribble.
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -