Chapter 288: it's not your fault, it's Danzo's fault!

"Orochimaru!"

Everyone present stared in shock at the man with the elongated neck.

This man... is he even mortal?

Whenever people in the ninja world thought Orochimaru had died, even when they mourned his passing or were on the verge of forgetting him, this guy always reappeared mysteriously, reminding everyone he was still alive.

"You're still alive!"

A hint of surprise flashed across Jiraiya's face as he deliberately lied with good intentions: "We could never find any trace of you. We thought you died in that big explosion..."

"Thanks to you..."

Orochimaru's body slithered into the hospital room like a snake, then quickly transformed back into human form. He smirked mysteriously: "I've been following you all along and noticed you didn't seem to be looking for me..."

"Hahaha..."

Jiraiya scratched the back of his head, laughing awkwardly: "The situation was urgent, you understand..."

"No problem, I can forgive that."

Orochimaru's smile deepened: "I was following you to see if anyone was trying to kill you..."

"You rascal!"

Jiraiya angrily retorted, instantly displaying a double standard!

"Enough."

Orochimaru chuckled, not wanting to argue with Jiraiya over this matter. He had come with an important message: "According to my information, Akihara Kagura has found another way to obtain the Rinnegan..."

"It's very likely that Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi, the Uchiha brothers, also have a pair of Rinnegan. The Rinnegan evolved from the Uchiha clan's Sharingan. Akihara Kagura doesn't care about this pair of Rinnegan. He's long prepared an alternative plan..."

"!!!"

Everyone's expressions changed.

If this is true, what should they do?

"First, we need to control Sasuke..."

Jiraiya suggested a plan.

"You're too late."

Tsunade's face darkened, her brows furrowing with worry: "Jiraiya, shortly after you left Konoha, the entire Root mobilized to hunt down Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Obito. I also dispatched several teams to assist them..."

"..."

Everyone fell silent.

"I see..."

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed as he continued: "That little guy initiated his plan when Jiraiya went to the Land of Rain. With two plans in action, at least one will succeed..."

"There's another troubling issue..."

"I included Team 7 among the dispatched teams..."

Tsunade's eye twitched as she seemed to recall something terrifying: "If Akihara Kagura's goal includes the tailed beasts..."

Then...

She had essentially handed the Nine-Tails to Akihara Kagura!

"The Nine-Tails is crucial."

Nagato, lying on the hospital bed, reminded in a low voice: "If Akihara Kagura wants to revive the war weapon, he will definitely try to capture the Nine-Tails..."

"I will immediately send the Four Hokages!"

Tsunade decided to leave immediately, stating firmly: "With the Four Hokages, Kagura can't..."

"Wait..."

Jiraiya quickly stopped her, mentioning another problem: "Kagura has always claimed that the four reanimated Hokages are under his control. Our first priority should be to seal the previous Hokages to prevent them from being manipulated by Kagura to attack us..."

"That's impossible!"

Tsunade shook her head quickly, not believing it: "From my observations, the previous Hokages and Akihara Kagura have never gotten along..."

To put it bluntly…

The four previous Hokagess never agreed with Akihara Kagura's proposals.

Of course, most of this is because Akihara Kagura's proposals were too frightening.

Naturally.

The four previous Hokages also did not agree with Tsunade's proposals.

These four previous Hokages had more governing experience than she and Akihara Kagura; their policies and proposals were more in line with Konoha's interests.

"I do believe this matter..."

Orochimaru smiled slightly and offered an intriguing perspective: "When Akihara Kagura and I were colluding, I saw with my own eyes that he used the Reanimation Jutsu to revive the four Hokages, who were then unable to escape his control..."

"!!!"

Everyone present looked at Orochimaru with strange expressions.

This guy...

Why does what he says always sound so odd?

Orochimaru spread his palms and smiled, reminding Tsunade: "If the four Hokages had escaped Akihara Kagura's control, why didn't they tell you about his collusion with me?"

"..."

Tsunade fell silent.

Yes...

Orochimaru hit the nail on the head.

If the previous Hokages knew about Akihara Kagura's collusion with Orochimaru, why hadn't they told her, at least to make her more cautious of Akihara Kagura...

"Moreover..."

"If I'm not mistaken..."

Orochimaru looked at Tsunade and asked: "Didn't Akihara Kagura claim in Konoha that Danzo was still alive and that he always respected Danzo?"

"Yes."

Tsunade nodded.

Jiraiya couldn't help but frown and said in a deep voice: "Danzo's influence on Akihara Kagura is too deep, which is why he turned out this way..."

"Hah..."

Orochimaru sneered, mocking his two old friends: "Has anyone seen Danzo since I caused the Konoha's Incident?"

"Well..."

Tsunade recalled what Akihara Kagura had said about Danzo, and explained in a deep voice: "Danzo colluded with you to kill the old man, which is why he's been hiding in the Root..."

"Danzo has long been dead."

Orochimaru shook his head and sneered: "That Incident was a plan orchestrated by Danzo, Akihara Kagura, and me!"

"If it weren't for the cooperation of Konoha's strongest, how would I have dared to initiate the Plan! The plan was to elevate Akihara Kagura to the Hokage position!"

"However, midway through, Tsunade reaped the benefits of the plan, and on the night the Plan ended, Danzo was used as a sacrifice by Kagura to resurrect the old man, and the previous Hokages were also revived that very night!"

"I know about this too..."

Nagato cautiously added from the side: "When Danzo died, Akatsuki's contact person, Zetsu, reported this to me..."

"!!!"

Tsunade widened her eyes, took a deep breath, and suppressed her rising anger: "This matter... Kagura revived the previous Hokages with the high-level's permission... The purpose was to prevent you from using the Edo Tensei to control the previous Hokages to attack Konoha..."

"That was a lie..."

Orochimaru chuckled, looking at his old friend Tsunade as if she were a naive little girl: "In fact, when you were chosen to succeed as Hokage, Kagura had already figured out how to avoid your influence..."

"Therefore..."

"Before you returned to Konoha to take over the Hokage position, Kagura had me and Kabuto take the Reanimated Dan Kato to attack you; he even knew about your relationship with Dan Kato. All of this was to make you believe one thing..."

"He must use the Edo Tensei to revive the previous Hokages..."

"Otherwise, it would be me controlling the previous Hokages to threaten Konoha."

"After you became Hokage, he pretended to have just revived the four previous Hokages, and began to secretly use their identities to control Konoha's political situation..."

"That bastard!"

Tsunade swung her fist, smashing it against the hospital wall!

Boom!

The entire wall was suddenly shattered by a single punch!

However, no one present said a word; they merely shrank back. They all understood the Hokage's feelings.

They all understood...

They all understood...

As someone who had ascended to the position of Hokage, she had been pre-planned to become a puppet even before taking office, with every step controlled by others...

After completely shattering the hospital wall with one punch, Tsunade's mood remained unsettled for a long time. She recalled the first time she met Akihara Kagura...

Back then...

She had just become Hokage and was thinking about how to cooperate with this Hokage advisor, working together to protect Konoha...

Even after the resurrection of the four previous Hokages, that advisor always supported her proposals and even took the initiative to handle some inconvenient matters for her.

At that time...

Tsunade even understood why Sarutobi Hiruzen used Shimura Danzo.

But the result?

The resurrection of the four Hokages was his conspiracy.

Their participation in governance was his conspiracy.

The decisions made by the four Hokages were his conspiracy.

That bastard!

When the four Hokages were resurrected, she thought they would support her, making it easier to govern Konoha. Instead, she found herself constantly hindered...

"So that's how it is..."

Tsunade stood before the broken wall of the hospital, gazing at the scenery of Konoha, and said coldly with narrowed eyes, "It turns out that before I even entered Konoha, I had already stepped into his trap, without the slightest awareness..."

"Actually, it's not entirely bad!"

Orochimaru, seeing Tsunade on the verge of rage, chuckled and consoled, "After all, while Kagura was in Konoha, he did solve many problems for Konoha, and it is indeed because of his presence that Konoha has come this far..."

Without Akihara Kagura, Konoha would have just been one of the great ninja villages occupying fertile land, constantly coveted by other villages...

It was precisely because of Akihara Kagura that Konoha could thrive, even conquering Sand Village and Mist Village, with Rock Village and Cloud Village also forced to bow down...

"I will immediately dispatch the sealing team!"

Tsunade glanced at those present and said in a deep voice, "The Anbu personnel must also be mobilized to first find a way to seal the four previous Hokages to prevent them from becoming tools for Akihara Kagura to attack Konoha!"

"I quite agree with this suggestion..."

Orochimaru smiled as he looked at Tsunade, "The combat power of the four previous Hokages, especially the strength of the First Hokage, Hashirama, is enough to destroy the entire village of Konoha..."

"..."

Tsunade felt her head was about to explode, yet she had to forcefully carry out this task: "Even so, we cannot sit idly by. We must not let Akihara Kagura lead us by the nose; we must find a way to seal the four previous Hokage first..."

"This is not easy..."

Orochimaru, smiling, shared his thoughts, "To seal them, we must first destroy the bodies of these reanimated beings..."

"Among the four previous Hokages, the Second Hokage and Fourth Hokage are skilled in the Flying Thunder God technique. If they want to leave, they can easily escape..."

"But..."

Jiraiya interrupted Orochimaru, stating something favorable to them: "Moreover, I believe the four previous Hokages still want to protect Konoha. Kagura has likely not extinguished their will, and I think they will cooperate with us to be sealed..."

"Konan and I can also help..."

Nagato, lying on a hospital bed, proactively suggested, "Although the Six Paths of Pain were mostly destroyed by Kagura, I have revived them..."

"Besides..."

"This matter is also a mess we created..."

Nagato, looking at everyone present, took the initiative to admit his mistake, "If it weren't for us trying to collect Tailed Beasts to create war weapons, Kagura wouldn't have been able to exploit this..."

"This is not your fault, Nagato."

Hanzo of the Salamander, patting his shoulder, coldly comforted him, "If you must blame someone, it's because Shimura Danzo, the former advisor to the Hokage, conspired with me to kill Yahiko that led to your thoughts…"

~~~

Nah, Danzo can't take a break Hahah

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— Ending + Extra Chapters!

Read upto Chapter 348: End! + Extra Chapters of Sasuke's Rebirth where the world Akihara Kagura is not around. Thank you!