"Elder Chiyo, this is a duel, step aside!"
Though Pakura's tone was weak, her anger was unmistakable. She had already seen Rasa being lifted up; if she missed this opportunity, there might not be another one as favorable.
"No matter who wins or loses, I won't let the victor kill the defeated, Pakura."
Chiyo sighed and said, having just come up with the idea of stepping down, she encountered Pakura's fight to the death with Rasa; although she didn't want to interfere with village matters, the death of either would bring trouble to the Hidden Sand Village.
"One is the Fourth Generation Kazekage, the other is a Hidden Sand Hero, neither of you can have an accident, Pakura, I'm not favoring Rasa!"
"If you're not favoring Rasa, then step aside. Otherwise, if he can betray me, next time he can betray you!"
Pakura saw Rasa about to be rescued and became anxious, preparing to use the Sage Curse Seal once more.
But her current strength couldn't support the Sage Curse Seal. Just as the markings appeared on her neck, Pakura fainted due to exhaustion, and then collapsed forward into Chiyo's arms.
"Take the Fourth to treatment, I'll take care of Pakura!"
Chiyo took out a puppet, then let the puppet lift Pakura and said to the on-site Hidden Sand Ninja: "Tell everyone not to spread this, Anbu should immediately monitor the village, and.... Ebizo, you must immediately detain Muraki and get to the bottom of this matter!"
If what Pakura said is true, then the one most likely to know about this matter is Muraki who negotiated with the Hidden Mist Village, and he also supports Rasa among the Hidden Sand's upper echelon.
In terms of investigation, now that Rasa is unconscious, it's the best time.
"Alright, sister."
Ebizo replied calmly and then went to summon Anbu, although both were among Hidden Sand's upper echelon, they still had different standings.
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In Konoha Village, Hatake Sakumo investigated all Wood Release Bloodlines, but still did not have information on that enemy outside who could use the Wood Release Bloodline.
However, Danzo was highly suspicious. According to what Orochimaru said, when he implanted the Wood Release Bloodline into Danzo, he brought along a few people to observe, possibly learning the method of transplanting the Wood Release Bloodline.
Actually, Orochimaru didn't know whether Danzo had researched it, but that didn't prevent him from saying so, Danzo indeed had such intentions after all.
Thus, the suspicion surrounding Danzo grew, especially since whatever he might have done outside, and how many Root Ninja hadn't been summoned back, remained unknown.
Meanwhile, in the Hokage Office, a fierce discussion was ongoing about how to handle Danzo.
His unauthorized actions had brought great losses to Konoha Village. By rights, he could already be executed and his body reclaimed.
However, upon hearing Hatake Sakumo's intention to deal with Danzo, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu all came to the Hokage Building to plead for Danzo.
"Sakumo, Danzo has done great things for Konoha before, can't be executed for this one incident, it's unfair to him."
Sarutobi Hiruzen opened his mouth to plead, apart from Danzo being his childhood friend, their group also needed Danzo, not to mention Danzo's impressive strength.
Utatane Koharu also spoke: "Yes, Fourth Hokage, you can let Danzo make contributions, his strength is strong."
Seeing that his two friends had already spoken his thoughts, Mitokado Homura could only nod and say: "Fourth Hokage, Hiruzen is right."
Hatake Sakumo crossed his hands and rested his chin, saying: "Danzo is highly uncooperative at present, refusing to reveal anything to the Interrogation Team, yet the matter starts with him.... Lord Third, I've been very lenient with him."
"Danzo might have already brought all the Root back...."
"Might have? Lord Third, are you sure you want to use such a vague term?"
Uchiha Yoichi said: "Ninja intelligence needs to be extremely cautious, a slightest mistake can bring severe consequences, it's ridiculous to use such terms to exonerate Danzo now."
Sarutobi Hiruzen felt anger rising within upon hearing this, but kept his expression neutral.
The relationship between the Uchiha and Sarutobi-Ino-Shika-Cho had always been strained, with little interaction between the two. Even team-ups seldom made them teammates, so after Sarutobi Hiruzen stepped down as Hokage, Uchiha Yoichi couldn't even bother with appearances now.
"It's inevitable for the Ninja Race not to be confined to Konoha, the Uchiha also frequently do business outside, provided it doesn't bring trouble to the village; from the Rinnegan incident, how many ninja died in the village?"
"Even in war, we wouldn't lose so many elite ninja; but now Konoha has lost forty-three Chunin and eleven Jonin, and it takes over ten years to train a Jonin!"
"It could have been avoided from the start!"
The last sentence made Jiraiya's expression turn bitter. The village's ninjas' death due to Nagato can be half attributed to Danzo, and the other half to himself.
In childhood, failing to report information on the Rinnegan, and the previous time insisting on facing Nagato, resulted in Minato and many Konoha Ninja's deaths.
Originally, Sarutobi Hiruzen brought him over to help plead for Danzo together.
But upon hearing that last statement, Jiraiya simply didn't have the mood or the face to help plead for Danzo.
However, on the side, Nara Shikaku said: "Fourth Hokage, although Danzo has made many mistakes, he still possesses considerable strength. If he has intentions of repentance, it might be best to let him contribute to Konoha."