65. A brewing Storm

Inside the Senju clan compounds,

The reunion between friends lasts for a few minutes as Nawaki wails away his grief in front of his friends.

Sob… Sob…

The old maid Shiya wipes Nawaki and Choza's faces with a towel as Nawaki sobs and asks Minato.

"Where… where is Yuji?"

"Yuji… he… he is out on a training mission and is currently not in the village." Minato has a bitter expression on his face.

"Is that so?" Nawaki's face loses some of its luster from meeting his friends.

"Young clan head, Yuji did come to visit you. It was seven days ago." Shiya informs him.

"He did?!"

"Yes!" Shiya nods at him.

"Then why didn't you inform me?" Nawaki asks with an impatient expression.

"I did inform you. However, you weren't responding to any of us. Even Lady Tsunade came to meet you, but you didn't respond to her either." Shiya smiles bitterly.

"Hmm… I remember it now. Tsunade Nee-san did visit me, but I wasn't in my right mind at that time and ignored her." Nawaki laments.

"So, did he leave any message for me?" Nawaki asks in anticipation.

"Mmm… he did!"

"He said, "Even though I can't share your pain of losing a loved one; I will stand beside you to lessen it since we are friends." Shiya recites Yuji's words.

"After waiting for you for a while, he left with his little sister," Shiya informs him.

"So, he did come!" A slight smile appears on Nawaki's face and his sour mood washes away.

"Where is Kushina? She lives with you, right?" Tsume asks him.

"Kushina… she!" Shiya and Nawaki's expressions turn grim.

Minato and Shikaku sense the tenses in their mood.

"Is she alright? Can we meet her?"

"Sigh…" Shiya sighs and shakes her head.

"Young lady Kushina is in a comatose state ever since Lady Mito's death. Her death severely affected Kushina."

Shiya leads them toward Kushina's room.

Inside her room, Kushina is lying on her bed with her eyes closed. Shiya gently ruffles her hair and exits the room.

"I hope she recovers soon." The group prays for her recovery.

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Outside the Hokage Office,

Multiple jounins and chunnins gather in a formation as they wait for Hokage to address them. Most of the jounins and chunnins of the village are on the battlefield. Only a selected few are still in the village to either protect the village or facilitate the economy of the village through completing emergency missions.

Yet today, all of them received a summon from the Hokage office, the very first thing in the morning.

After consulting other shinobis, they came to be aware of the situation.

Last night, the spies sent crucial intel to the village higher-ups. The intel was so shocking that it shook the very foundation of the village.

Overnight, Konoha deployed several shinobis and Anbus to validate the authenticity of the intel. A few among these shinobis were able to pry the news from their relatives higher up in the hierarchy. And thus, the words spread to the rest of the village.

"If the news is true, then this is the greatest loss to Konoha's foundation since the death of the First and the Second Hokage." A few jounins discuss among themselves.

"It has been a few days since we mourned the loss of Lady Mito Uzumaki and yet to think that such a tragedy… Sigh…" Another shinobi sighs with a heavy heart.

"The downfall of the Uzumaki clan is perhaps our biggest loss so far in this war. Even our victory in war can't out scale the level of loss." Another veteran shinobi shakes his head.

Chii…

A giant eagle flies above the sky of the Hokage Office and soon lands near the window. The window of the Hokage Office opens, and the eagle enters the office.

"That's the messenger eagle of the Anbu unit. Looks like the anbu got some news."

Inside a meeting room in the Hokage Office,

Hiruzen and the rest of the members of the village elder council and various clan leaders are seated around a round table. A few seats are vacant since some of the clan leaders and elders are currently deployed on the battlefield. There is utter silence in the room as everyone in the room is lost in their thoughts.

Hiruzen is seated in the middle seat with his head lowered and hands crossed around his chest. Danzo is seated on his right with a frown on his face. Homura and Koharu are seated on his left side with similar expressions on their face.

"Hokage-sama!"

The faint voice of a shinobi in a black outfit disrupts the silence in the hall.

"Quick, hand me the intel!" Hiruzen impatiently demands.

The anbu member swiftly passes the intel scroll to Hiruzen and takes his leave.

Hiruzen impatiently removes the seal and read through the contents of the scroll. While reading the contents of the scroll, a multitude of emotions appears on his face. From rage, anger, and agony, to grief, sorrow, pain, sadness, frustration, guilt, and finally helplessness.

He silently passes the scroll to Danzo while covering his face with his hands to hide the emotion in his eyes. All these years as a Hokage, he has seen several things and his tears have long since dried by mourning the loss of his friends, family, and his mentors.

However, the current situation still stifles his heart.

Danzo similarly lowers his head and passes the scroll to Homura and Koharu. Soon, the scroll circulates to every person in the room.

Finally, the last person places the scroll on the table and opens his mouth.

"This is a huge blow to Konoha! The one from which it's impossible to recover."

Clench…

The rest of the elders and clan leaders also clutch their fists.

"Uzumaki clan was our biggest ally and a symbol of our village and yet, we…" One of the village elders grits his teeth in anger.

"This debt! It must be paid in blood. I won't rest until I avenge every last member of my clan." A villager elder with red hair clenches his fists so hard that blood seeps out from between his fingers.

"We can't maintain a passive stance any longer. The other villages have touched our bottom line. It's time we make the price in blood."

"Vengeance shall be met!" another clan leader speaks in an icy tone.

"Vengeance!" All other clan leaders and elder council members repeat his words.

Hiruzen also raises his head. A sharp glint flashes across his eyes as he opens his mouth with determination.

"The time has come for me to partake in the battle!"

With these words, he declares his intention.

"Issue a hunt-down order for the members of the Akuma clan. Kill every member of the Akuma clan on sight. Since the four great nations wanted to use them as their scapegoat, we will respond in kind and wipe them from the shinobi world. The tragedy of the Kura clan has yet to calm down and yet…" Hiruzen clenches his fists.

"I will relay the information to the rest of the shinobis waiting outside. Let this news be the spark to ignite the embers of the war."

Hiruzen steps out of the room with Homura and Koharu closely following him behind.

Danzo already left the meeting hall since he has another important task to complete. Deploy his root operatives and assassinate the higher-ups of other villages involved in the massacre of the Uzumaki clan.

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Inside the Root headquarters,

"Damn it!"

Danzo slams his fist on the armrest of his seat, shattering it in the process.

"My plan was perfect! But how… how did everything fall apart? Why?! Why did none of my root anbus make a report to me? Why did I never heard anything about the Uzumaki clan massacre till the day before yesterday? Why… why did none of my anbu unit inform me about the situation?" He clenches his fists in anger.

"Number two!" Danzo yells in rage.

Whoosh…

Suddenly, a masked figure in black clothes appears beside Danzo. The figure lowers his head and awaits Danzo's order.

"Silence everyone involved in this mission. I don't want even a single word about this operation to be leaked outside. Burn all records and bury everything related to this. After everything is done, visit the interrogation and torture team and erase your memories of this mission." Danzo issues a series of orders in an icy tone.

"Yes, Danzo-sama!"

The masked figure lowers his head and exits the room. Danzo sits in his seat and ponders.

"With this, I am back to square one. Any cooperation with the other four nations is out of the window. Now my only choice is to sow discord between Amegakure and other nations. Since Konoha is at a serious disadvantage, I want the situation to be as chaotic as it can be. Even the Samurais of the Land of Iron shouldn't remain unaffected behind in this conflict."

A dangerous gleam flashes across Danzo's mind as he cooks another sinister scheme.