Konoha Village.
Hokage Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Danzo Shimura and Orochimaru, his eyes filled with anger.
"Danzo, what exactly happened?"
"Failure is one thing, but why were almost all four thousand Ninja you led out wiped out?"
"It's only been one day. Even four thousand pigs wouldn't all be killed, would they?"
"Look me in the eyes and answer me!"
Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's furious expression, Danzo Shimura's face remained unchanged: "It's all because of that Uchiha Yuzuru. His Mangekyo Sharingan was a bit beyond my expectations."
"He killed thousands of our Ninja with one strike. In that situation, no one could have done anything."
Seeing that Danzo Shimura still dared to shift the blame, Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his hand on the desk: "Danzo, you were the overall person in charge this time. You must take responsibility."
Hearing this, Danzo Shimura said discontentedly: "Why?"
"If you had listened to me and destroyed the evil Uchiha Clan early on, would all these things have happened?"
"Besides, Sakumo Hatake was forced away by you, it has nothing to do with me."
"And Orochimaru..." Danzo Shimura sneered, "We had already surrounded the Third Raikage and his men, but it was your Disciple who suddenly dispelled the summoning jutsu, causing the Eight-Tails to release a Tailed Beast Ball and disrupt all our plans."
Looking at Danzo Shimura's self-righteous appearance, Hiruzen Sarutobi almost laughed in anger.
Orochimaru had lost an arm, and this old teammate of his was still trying to pin the blame on him.
He really wanted to be Hokage!
Hiruzen Sarutobi pointed at Danzo Shimura and said word by word: "Starting today, you are confined to the Root's base. You are not allowed to go anywhere without my orders."
"Whatever!"
Danzo Shimura turned and left the Hokage Office.
"Orochimaru, you go and recover from your injuries first."
"Yes."
After Orochimaru also left, Hiruzen Sarutobi slumped into his chair, somewhat dispirited.
According to the Senju Clan's internal records, the initial stage of the Mangekyo Sharingan had significant side effects.
Overuse of the Mangekyo Sharingan's power would lead to permanent loss of sight.
But Uchiha Yuzuru, that madman, recklessly used his Mangekyo Sharingan to launch such powerful attacks... He really wanted to ask Uchiha Yuzuru, why are you trying so hard, who exactly is in the Hidden Cloud Village?!
Just then, an Anbu appeared in the Hokage Office.
"Hokage-sama, this is a scroll sent by the Hidden Cloud Village."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart sank. He opened the scroll and glanced at it, almost fainting on the spot.
Those bastards from Hidden Cloud Village wanted them to pay another one hundred billion Ryo in compensation?
They were treating them like an ATM.
I'll endure it!
Hiruzen Sarutobi raged for a moment, then sighed helplessly.
Konoha could truly no longer withstand any more turmoil.
It's just paying money, isn't it?
He was most skilled at such things.
After a moment of thought, Hiruzen Sarutobi made a decision.
Let the villagers of Konoha each contribute a little more money, and the large Ninja Clans contribute more.
Finally, like the Hidden Cloud Village, overthrow the Land of Fire's Daimyo and get some money from the nobles.
With this calculation, there might even be some left over.
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Konoha Village.
Street.
"Do you know what's happening with the Shinobi Alliance? Why haven't there been any updates for so many days?"
"Nonsense, the front-line war is definitely classified. Are they going to report the latest progress to you every day?"
"That's true, but I still feel a bit uneasy."
"This time, it's our Konoha, united with the Hidden Mist, Hidden Sand, and Iwagakure, forming the Shinobi Alliance. We also have the support of various Daimyo. What is there to worry about?"
"Exactly. As long as we win this battle, all the humiliation we've suffered before can be repaid a hundredfold!"
"Well said. This time, we'll also make Hidden Cloud Village pay us compensation, and make the Uchiha Clan come and apologize."
Because only a few dozen people returned to Konoha when Danzo Shimura and Orochimaru came back, and they deliberately concealed the truth, the villagers of Konoha still didn't know that the Shinobi Alliance had been defeated.
Just as they were discussing heatedly, two Anbu pushed through the crowd and posted an announcement on the street's bulletin board.
After the Anbu left, the nearby Konoha villagers all curiously gathered around.
The next second, their faces all turned ugly.
"What a joke! The Shinobi Alliance actually failed! What were they doing?!"
"Where did Danzo Shimura come from? How can someone no one has ever heard of be the supreme commander?!"
"More compensation? After such a defeat, are they worthy of us?!"
Although compared to the last time, each family only needed to pay five thousand Ryo, for the not-so-affluent Konoha villagers, this was undoubtedly adding insult to injury.
Not even enough to eat, yet still forced to pay... Many people had frozen to death during winter!
Their lives weren't like this before. How did they fall to this state in just one year?
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Inside the Hokage Office.
The Nara Clan, Akimichi Clan, Inuzuka Clan, Hyuga Clan, Yamanaka Clan, Aburame Clan... The Clan Chiefs of various Konoha Ninja clans were gathered together, a rare sight.
They looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi and said, "Hokage-sama, in this war, we have already lost many elites from our clans. Now you want each of our clans to pay hundreds of millions of Ryo in compensation. Isn't that a bit too much..."
So many clan members died, and they gained nothing, and now they have to pay money... What kind of logic is that in the world!
However, facing these Clan Chiefs of the Village's Ninja clans, Hiruzen Sarutobi's attitude was exceptionally firm.
He took a puff from his pipe and said in a deep voice, "With great power comes great responsibility."
"Everything is for the Village."
Hearing this, the expressions of the various Clan Chiefs were as if they had eaten dirt.
Someone was about to say something, but was immediately glared at by Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"I am the Hokage of the Village. Are you trying to defy my orders?!"
Feeling the Aura emanating from Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Clan Chiefs in the office exchanged glances and finally had to accept their fate.
When the Uchiha Clan left the Village, they thought they could divide up more of the cake and celebrate.
But it turned out the Uchiha Clan was thriving outside.
And not only did they not get to eat the cake, but they also had to give up a lot of their interests.
Thinking about it now, it's truly ironic.
If they had supported the Uchiha Clan more back then, would things have turned out like this today?
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The Ninja of Hidden Cloud Village did not pay attention to what was happening in Konoha Village.
Because each of them was busy with the same thing—
Writing thank-you letters to Konoha Village!