Chapter 50: Fueling the Bloody Mist; Operation: Humanitarian Harvest
"Hiruzen, you still haven't told me how we're going to use this..." Danzo asked impatiently.
He felt like a man listening to a master storyteller who had suddenly paused to take a long sip of tea right before the climax. The suspense was killing him.
"Patience, Danzo. You're always in such a rush."
Hiruzen gestured to the stack of diplomatic scrolls on the desk. "Tenzo, Hizashi—take a look at these. You're both High Commissioners now. You need to get used to the administrative side of the village. It's not just about missions; it's about providing the strategy."
Hizashi picked up the scrolls with natural ease. Tenzo followed suit, though his hands still felt a bit cold from Danzo's earlier interrogation.
The scrolls were filled with diplomatic fluff from the other Great Nations. The Stone, the Sand, and even the minor villages were all issuing "condemnations" of the Cloud's aggression. Of course, none of them were doing it out of the goodness of their hearts—they were trying to provoke Konoha into a full-scale war with Kumogakure so they could pick over the remains.
"I don't know much about the Kaguya Clan," Hiruzen mused, puffing on his pipe. "I've heard rumors that they were once called the 'Clan of Combat,' rivaling the Uchiha in their bloodlust. Looking at this letter, they certainly seem... eager."
Tenzo steadyed his breathing and offered his assessment. "Lord Hokage, they aren't blowing smoke. Combat is literally written into their DNA. But as for being 'rivals' to the Uchiha..."
Tenzo had to admit that Danzo's earlier insult was accurate. "They're riding the coattails of the Uchiha's legend. They're vicious brawlers, but they lack the peak talent that Madara or Izuna possessed. They have a high average combat floor, but a relatively low ceiling."
"I see," Hiruzen nodded. "A 'Mist Version' of the Uchiha, only far more unpopular and with less political capital."
The Uchiha were founding members of the Leaf. They had helped Madara and Hashirama settle the era of chaos. No matter how much friction existed, they were shareholders in the village's original stock. The Kaguya, by contrast, were just a pack of wolves that the Mist kept in a cage.
"In that case, let's give them the fire they're looking for."
"The Kaguya are beyond reason. There's no point in trying to talk them down."
"The Third Mizukage wants the political 'legal' cover to launch his Bloody Mist purges? Fine. We'll give him the excuse. We'll make him dance until his village burns."
Hiruzen looked at Danzo. "Get your brush ready. Draft a statement. Send it to Koharu and Homura for polishing, then broadcast it to every hidden village in the world."
Danzo sat at the side table, dipping his brush in ink.
"First: Thank the Great Nations for their support. Emphasize that Konoha values peace above all else, but that our patience for provocation is at an end."
"Second: Regarding the Eight-Tails 'incident.' State that Konoha has reason to believe the Third Raikage's administration is conducting 'unethical military experiments.' Frame it as an attempt to replicate the Kinkaku and Ginkaku incident—eating the flesh of the Tailed Beasts to gain power without a host."
"Third: The Smear. State that the Cloud's aggression is a desperate attempt to cover up their 'Illegitimate Succession.' Hint that the Raikage only took power because he was complicit in the Gold and Silver Brothers' ambush of the Second Hokage."
Danzo's brush paused. Illegitimate? It wasn't true—the Third Raikage was the undisputed leader—but in a war of words, truth was a secondary variable.
"Fourth: The Conclusion. Label Kumogakure as the 'Tumor of the Ninja World.' Encourage the other villages to ramp up their own 'War Readiness' to defend against Cloud aggression. Hope that the Great Nations will follow the 'Will of the Previous Kage' and manage their internal affairs without using war to distract from their own failures."
Danzo's brush moved in a blur. He was practically grinning.
Tenzo felt a shiver. This message was a work of psychological art. On the surface, it was a brutal attack on the Cloud. But the subtext was aimed directly at the Mizukage.
By calling the Cloud's leadership "Illegitimate," Hiruzen was handing a weapon to the Hozuki clan and the other opposition factions in the Mist. They would use those same words to attack the Third Mizukage.
And by publicly "supporting war readiness," Hiruzen was giving the Mizukage the external threat he needed to justify the "Bloody Mist." He was goading the Mizukage into killing his own best soldiers.
Danzo chuckled. "You're goading the Mizukage to see if he's as 'Great' as Gengetsu Hozuki?"
"It's a gift to the Mist's opposition," Hiruzen smiled. "And a trap for the Kage. If the Mizukage is as unstable as we suspect, he'll double down on the purges to prove his 'legitimacy.' He'll break his own village to save his hat."
Hiruzen turned back to Tenzo. "I mentioned you've made 'minor errors' in the past. You didn't argue, which means you acknowledge them."
Hiruzen raised a hand to stop Tenzo's frantic explanation. "The past is buried. We start with a clean slate today. But don't let it happen again."
"Maintain your correspondence with the Kaguya. I want intel on every bloodline clan in the Mist. If the Mizukage pushes them to the brink of extinction..."
Hiruzen's eyes glinted with a mix of pragmatism and feigned mercy.
"...then Konoha will provide 'Humanitarian Asylum' based on the Will of Fire. If they want to survive, they can bring their bloodlines to the Leaf."
"This is a Priority-One mission, Tenzo. If you bring me a harvest of Mist bloodlines, I will personally see to your commendation."
Tenzo's heart hammered. He understood the play perfectly.
The Cloud Village steals bloodlines by kidnapping kids. Hiruzen is going to 'save' them by making them refugees. It was a much cleaner, more efficient way to build a military monopoly.
"Lord Hokage, all future correspondence with the Kaguya will be opened and archived alongside Hizashi," Tenzo vowed. "I will not fail the village!"
By giving Tenzo this mission, Hiruzen had effectively "pardoned" him while ensuring the Clan Head was too busy hunting for Mist refugees to plot against the Anbu.
At that moment, Danzo looked at Hiruzen and felt a strange, nagging doubt.
Wait. The 'Illegitimate Succession' argument... if someone looked at the history of the First War, couldn't they say the same about Hiruzen?
The "Shadow Team" had survived, but the Second Hokage had died. To an outsider, it looked suspicious.
Danzo shared a long look with Hiruzen. After fifty years, the "Old Monkey" could read his silence perfectly.
Hiruzen smiled. He reached into his tunic and pulled out the First Hokage's Necklace, letting the deep green crystal catch the light.
"Lady Mito gave this to me yesterday," Hiruzen said casually. "It's the First's legacy. She said she trusts me to carry the torch."
Danzo's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Beautiful... truly beautiful!"
Dammit! Danzo thought, his envy reaching critical mass. With Lady Mito's public blessing, Hiruzen is untouchable! No one can question his right to rule if the Founding Matriarch is handing him the family jewels!
Danzo immediately gave up on the "Illegitimacy" thought. It was a dead end. Instead, he started thinking of how he could get on Lady Mito's good side. Maybe I can help her with her gardens? Or fetch water? I need to show some 'Youthful' filial piety!
A Few Days Later. The Ninja Academy.
Kakashi Hatake sat at his desk, his expression one of strange, calm focus. He was reading a scroll of advanced blade-theory his father had given him, ignoring the noisy chatter of the classroom.
Asuma and Shisui (who was a few years younger but already in the Academy) watched him with curiosity.
"Hey, Kakashi," Asuma whispered. "I thought you were leaving? Didn't you say you were graduating this week?"
The "Prodigy of the Hatake" looked up, his eyes devoid of their usual arrogance. He looked like a man who had seen a ghost—or a god.
"I'm staying," Kakashi said simply. "I've realized that being a 'Genius' in a classroom doesn't mean anything in the real world. I'm not ready yet."
Asuma and Shisui shared a look of pure shock.
What did the White Fang say to him? they wondered.
They didn't know that Kakashi hadn't just spoken to his father. He had seen an "Eternal Genin" open the Gates of Hell and a Hokage who could command the heavens.
The Academy didn't feel like a prison anymore. It felt like a bunker. And Kakashi intended to stay inside until he was a monster too.
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