Chapter 50

"We know the details, and being a Shinobi, such things are an everyday occurrence. That said, at the end of the day, it was Kumo that was harmed, so it is only right that we seek some sort of compensation, and it's not like you lost anything of significance, right?" The Kumo elder nonchalantly stated, as if the actions they took were just trivial matters.

"You tried to assassinate me, that I understand, but then you went after my son's life. Is that how Kumo wants to justify its actions?" Hiruzen, for the first time, spoke in the meeting, and anger seeped when he mentioned Kumo's attempt on Asuma's life.

"Hokage, this is the world of Shinobi, and being a Shinobi himself, he should be aware that such things might happen. If you are so afraid for your son's life, maybe you should lock him up at home. It's not like such tactics are new to the leaf. Did you not assassinate our previous eight tails, Jinchuriki?" The Raikage couldn't help but intervene and mock Hiruzen. For someone who believes that might makes right, Kumo's actions were justified from his point of view, and Fukai's death was something like a bitter pill that he couldn't swallow to this day.

Hiruzen, who heard Raikage's words, couldn't help but grit his teeth. Although there was no evident proof of Konoha being responsible for the previous eight tails Jinchuriki's death, as the Hokage, he knew better. So he chose not to refute the Raikage's words.

"Those were all things that happened in the past. We are gathered here today to discuss our upcoming future, and Kumo genuinely wishes for peace. I am sure, as strong as the Leaf is, it wouldn't be able to handle another war after losing Yondaime and most of your elites during the Nine-Tails attack, right?" Elder Karai intervened to keep the meeting on track. If they started delving into each other's past actions, the discussion could drag on for days. Their target was to stall and keep this meeting going as long as possible while the other Kumo ninjas completed their tasks.

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Kumo Envoy Building, Konoha

"Gai Sensei, we have movement; they are moving." The Kumo ninjas had already deployed decoys, and their real bodies used a special technique to blend in, making them invisible. However, Kazuki was still able to detect them using his senses, and the rest of his team tracked them with the scroll that Hiruzen had provided earlier. Gai's team moved stealthily, and so did each of the other Leaf Shinobi teams tasked with keeping track of the Kumo Shinobi. The Kumo ninjas had their respective targets, with three moving towards the Nara compound, two towards the Uchiha and Hyuga clans, and the rest heading to various locations within the city.

 As the meeting progressed and the Kumo ninjas stealthily attempted to reach their targets, two other parties were quietly working towards their goals. In a house within the village, a group of mercenary Shinobi prepared to carry out their nefarious plans. They carried a large container sealed with fuinjutsu, waiting for a particular signal within the city.

 "Damn, is this all that remains? Did Iwa not say that we would have the support of close to a hundred Shinobi, while all that remains is less than a dozen people? Are we sure that we can still pull this off?" One of the mercenaries couldn't help but ask, as originally, they did have close to a hundred Shinobi. However, after the Leaf increased security, most of the mercenaries were hunted down, and only less than a dozen survived. Fortunately, the package was still intact.

 "Shut up. The fewer people alive means more money for each of us. We simply have to complete the mission and escape," the man acting as the temporary leader commented when he sensed hesitation among the group. Once everyone understood that it would benefit them more, they didn't care about losing their comrades anymore.

 In the dark confines of the Shimura clan, a sleek figure emerged from the shadows, moving toward a man who awaited with impatience.

"Well, Danzo, it seems like you've been waiting for me for quite some time. I am honored for such a warm reception," Orochimaru couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of Danzo's anxious face.

 "Orochimaru, you are late. The meeting has already started, and from the intel I have gathered, Kumo might make their move on Hiruzen during the meeting. I want you to move now." Danzo had a plan to execute, and even if Hiruzen were to survive the encounter, Danzo aimed to create enough chaos to regain control of the village. To achieve that goal, Danzo was willing to go to the extreme.

 "Tsk, tsk, that's not how things work during a trade, Danzo. First, provide me with what you promised, and if it's to my satisfaction, then we can continue with your plans." The snake sage didn't care about Danzo's urgency. The only reason he had returned to the village, even with so much risk, was because the things Danzo had offered were too good to pass. With a disgruntled look, Danzo passed a storage scroll. Orochimaru opened the scroll to confirm the contents, and what he saw satisfied him.

 "So, everything I was promised is in there. Now, about the plan: I want to make sure that the moment you complete the mission, you leave. Is that understood, Orochimaru?" Danzo took a stern tone with the Sannin. If Danzo had the confidence to take down Orochimaru, he would have done it long ago. He could only make deals that would benefit him.

 As Orochimaru read the mission details in the scroll, he raised his brows in surprise and turned to Danzo with a cold gleam in his eyes.

"Are you sure, Danzo? Doing this means you will lose half the village. I thought you wanted to sit in Sensei's place, not destroy half the village. And how did you manage to even find something like this?"

 "Well, sometimes sacrifices are necessary. If they are to sacrifice their lives for the village's sake, then they should be happy about it," Danzo nonchalantly justified his actions.

 Orochimaru chuckled. "I wonder how Sensei would react if he were to know about your scheme."

 "Orochimaru, know your place. I have given you what you wanted. It's now for you to fulfill your side of the bargain," Danzo said with an ugly expression, wanting to make his point. Orochimaru simply chuckled, not caring about Danzo, and vanished into the shadows to carry out Danzo's plan.

As Orochimaru exited, Danzo made a gesture, and a Shimura Shinobi flickered next to him.

"Have all the preparations been made?" Danzo questioned with a cruel glint evident in his eyes.

"Yes, Danzo-sama, but are we sure we should carry out such a plan? If we are exposed, the whole clan will be slaughtered," the Shimura Jonin couldn't help but question their clan head's decision.

"Hmph, just follow my orders; don't question them. After tonight, I will rebuild the leaf village as Hokage. Now leave; make sure that nothing goes wrong." Danzo, after sharing his instructions, moved towards the interior of the clan to wait for the results. Normally, he wouldn't have assigned such an important mission to his clan Shinobi, but the severe lack of root elites made him choose such a drastic measure.

The Shimura clan Shinobi, along with a few existing root elites, split into two teams and stealthily moved towards the Hyuga and Uchiha compounds.

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Hokage meeting room, Konoha.

The meeting had been going on for over two hours, and neither party was willing to give up the advantages they held. Hiruzen, although genuinely seeking peace, couldn't help but deny the outrageous requests that Kumo made. Each proposal from Kumo was more outrageous than the last, and the Leaf side clearly understood that the Kumo team had no intention to pursue peace.

"Enough, Raikage, Elder Karai. I genuinely thought Kumo wanted to establish peace between our two nations. Still, from both your attitudes, I see that you have no intention to do so. Why don't you drop this act and tell me the true reason for your visit?" Hiruzen, someone who pursued peace, didn't mean he was a coward. When the Kumo team blatantly mocked his efforts to establish peace, he couldn't help but get angry.

"Hokage, what do you mean by your words? Aren't we placing our requests for peace? If your village truly wants to establish peace, why don't you concede to our simple requests?" Raikage couldn't help but mock in a surprisingly jovial tone.

Hiruzen and the other Leaf Council elders couldn't help but feel angry. "Simple requests—you call these simple requests? Unconditional surrender of our village, conceding a third of our territory, surrendering the fuin grandmaster, transferring the nine-tails control to Kumo, surrendering ten Dojutsu children from Uchiha and Hyuga main branches, and yearly taxes to be paid to Kumo. Tell me, do these sound like simple requests to you? Do you think Konoha is a joke?" Elder Kenji stood up from his seat in anger. From the older generation, he knew how much effort both the Senju and Uchiha clans put into building this village, so the Kumo delegates' words felt like a blatant insult to him. If this were not a peace meeting, he was sure he would have launched an attack.

Just when the Raikage was about to mock the Uchiha elder, Elder Karai's eyes widened in shock as a huge explosion shook the entire Konoha village. No one knew exactly what was happening, except for a few.

Before the Kumo elder could advise because he felt something was wrong, the Raikage quickly sprang into action, cloaking himself fully in lightning armor.

"Mabui, now." The Raikage's secretary, who was simply standing by the side, made a series of handsigns, and the whole meeting room was filled with fuin seals, causing everyone in the meeting room to vanish.

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A few minutes ago, outside the Uchiha clan, the Shinobi ordered by Danzo were patiently waiting when about three dozen ninja stealthily approached them.

"Is everything ready?" The root elite, leading the operation, spoke to confirm if all preparations were carried out properly.

"Here, this will let you bypass all the barriers set around our clan. As promised, make sure you only take out the Uchiha leaders. If even a single person not on the list is harmed, we will personally hunt down Danzo and the Shimura clan. Is that understood?"

The person who spoke was from the Hawk faction of the Uchiha. After the Uchiha clan reintegrated with the village and smoothly acquired a position on the council, support for the Hawk faction within the clan dwindled. Danzo, known for his schemes, convinced the Uchiha dissidents to help him eliminate the Uchiha higher-ups under the promise of aiding an Uchiha in reaching the Hokage position.

"Have the explosive tags been set?" The root Shinobi questioned again without acknowledging the Uchiha's threat, which made the Uchiha member squint in anger. Still, he chose to nod his head lightly to answer the root elite.

"Are you absolutely certain that all the tags employed are the Fuin Grandmaster's creation?" The root Sinobi questioned.

The Uchiha members' anger only flared at the root ninja's behavior, but the lead Uchiha Ninja raised his arm to calm the others.

"Yes, those were the tags that Fugaku personally commissioned from the fuin grandmaster with the help of the Nara clan."

"Good then, let's move." The two dozen Shimura members, along with Root, were followed by the Uchiha Hawk faction. They bypassed the Uchiha security barriers with ease, and just when they reached the vicinity of the clan compound, they stopped. The root ninja nodded towards the Uchiha faction leader to act.

Danzo's original intentions were clear: he was going to use the Uchiha to eliminate the Uchiha and, if possible, try to pin the blame on fuin grandmaster too. Once the commotion created by Orochimaru unfolds, he plans to use it to eliminate the Hawk faction. This way, his Shimura clan and root could emerge as saviors of the remaining Uchiha, and he could manipulate them as he liked once he became Hokage. He even sent a team to the Hyuga to repay them for the recent insult that they made him go through when he went to them for financial aid.