Chapter 102
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"The Hagoromo Clan… Uchiha Clan… Allies? What is this?"
Hearing new information about Sasuke and Gensou, Naruto couldn't help but use his rarely activated brain to think.
Beside him, Tsunade clenched her fists.
Onoki's implication that Konoha had treated Sasuke too harshly, causing him to defect, was about to provoke Tsunade, who never tolerated slights against Konoha, to slam the table and retort.
"Hold on, Hokage-sama."
The meeting's host, Mifune, stopped Tsunade.
He wasn't worried that Tsunade's fist would smash the table, but a samurai had just come up to him and whispered something urgent, making his face tense.
"What's the matter?" Tsunade, giving some face to the host, inquired.
Mifune looked at Tsunade, "A Konoha ninja has just arrived with an important letter for you."
Tsunade and Shizune's expressions changed.
The location of the Five Kage Summit was known only to a few high-ranking officials of the five great villages.
Knowing that Tsunade was attending the summit, Konoha still sent a ninja with a letter. This could only mean something significant had happened, something Tsunade understood well.
"Konoha's in big trouble?" The other Kage and their aides also realized the gravity of the situation, their gazes quickly shifting.
Tsunade did not hesitate, leaving Shizune and Naruto in the meeting room, and quickly exited to meet the Konoha ninja who had rushed over.
"Hokage-sama!" The ninja promptly handed her a sealed letter.
Tsunade broke the seal and read through it swiftly, her brows furrowing deeply.
As expected, trouble had indeed struck!
The Root base had been destroyed, Danzo was dead; the Scroll of Seals's secret room had been breached; there had been a riot in the high-security prison.
The latter two were manageable.
The Scroll of Seals was still intact, and the prisoners in the high-security prison hadn't escaped.
The major issue was the destruction of the Root.
Although Tsunade disliked Danzo's extreme methods and was wary of the Root, she knew that the Root, while harmful to Konoha, was an extremely sharp weapon against external threats.
The best example was the demand by other villages to disband the Root after the Fourth Shinobi World War.
Now, with Danzo dead and the Root base destroyed, even the remaining Root members on missions outside were no longer significant.
This meant a major military force supporting Konoha had been wiped out.
When Tsunade saw that the primary suspect for all these events was Gensou, she gripped the letter tightly, then asked the Konoha ninja:
"What's the situation in Konoha now?"
The ninja replied, "Under the guidance of the two elders, Konoha has raised its alert level. The enemy hasn't appeared again. Before I left, the village was stable."
Tsunade nodded, "You can rest now."
After a brief moment outside, Tsunade returned to the Five Kage meeting room.
As soon as she sat down, Onoki curiously asked, "What happened, Tsunade?"
Hearing this, everyone else turned their attention to her.
Tsunade didn't hide anything.
Such a big incident would soon be known to the other villages anyway.
She said directly, "The Root in Konoha has been destroyed, and the culprit is most likely Hagoromo Gensou."
Instantly!
It was like a bolt of lightning struck the hearts of the four Kage and their aides.
Their first thought was that the Hokage must have made a mistake.
But seeing Tsunade's composed expression, with no intention of taking back her words, they realized that something serious had indeed happened.
In the following moments, shock, fear, and even joy and excitement flashed in their eyes.
What was the Root?
"Can't deal with foreigners, but can deal with you" certainly did not apply to the Root.
Quite the opposite, "Can deal with you, and deal with foreigners even more harshly" was more fitting for the Root.
After all, if they were so ruthless to their own people, they would be even more so to outsiders.
While shocked and apprehensive about Gensou's bold move of destroying the Root, the death of Danzo, the "Shadow of the Shinobi," would have made them applaud if the Hokage weren't present.
It was a good death! Gensou had done them a favor by eliminating a constant threat from Konoha.
If only he could do more of this to Konoha, someone thought.
Thus, when Tsunade decisively supported Raikage's proposal to form a joint force of the five villages, the reaction in the room subtly shifted.
The sun moved from the east to the west.
...
Having spent most of the day in the interrogation room instead of Konoha Hospital, Sakura and Ino finally finished their questioning and walked out safely.
One was the future personal disciple of the Hokage, and the other was the daughter of the Yamanaka clan head. Although they had frequent interactions with Dr. Sosuke, the investigation revealed it was mostly medical and daily conversations, so the Anbu didn't give them too much trouble.
Back in the sunlight, Sakura and Ino exchanged a bitter smile, both seeing the lingering shock and confusion on each other's faces.
After a long silence, Sakura finally spoke, "I can't believe Dr. Sosuke turned out to be him."
She had learned from the Anbu that Dr. Sosuke was very likely Gensou.
She couldn't imagine that the person Sasuke had been pursuing had come to Konoha and interacted with her for so long.
Recalling her first meeting where she couldn't even lift her head in front of him, and then remembering how he had taught her in the hospital, Sakura's feelings were complex.
It was like a villainous boss from her knowledge had come to her side, treating her gently and politely, creating a stark contrast that made her feel a strange delight.
Shaking her head vigorously, Sakura tried to clear her thoughts, refusing to let "Hagoromo" influence her feelings.
She should be thinking about Sasuke.
Right!
Where is Sasuke? If Gensou was here, where did Sasuke, who followed him, go? Could he have been abandoned?
Sakura was about to share her worries with Ino when Ino, finally snapping out of her thoughts, grabbed Sakura's hand excitedly:
"I can't believe we met the real Hagoromo Gensou! Oh my gosh! I even talked about his exploits in front of him! Sakura, was I very foolish?"
'This woman is hopeless!'
Seeing Ino's starstruck expression, and worried that her behavior might draw suspicion from the nearby Anbu, Sakura quickly pulled her away.
She definitely didn't want another trip to the interrogation room.
(End of Chapter)