Chapter – 728 Konoha Conference

Conference Hall, Hokage Building, Konohagakure

The hall was filled with silence, only the breathing sound of people attending the meeting could be heard, and Everyone had a solemn expression on their faces.

In the main seat, Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen sat and glanced at Everyone with a tired expression. He sighed faintly and said, "I hope Everyone has carefully read the summarization of the information that was placed on the table… now let's talk about eveRyōne's opinion on the matter."

Jiraiya put the papers in his hands on the table and said with a serious expression, "It's very clear, up until now, all of us were being played by Danzō. I won't say anything in regards to the rumored problem in his body, however, the injury he suffered at the hands of Kakashi, was definitely intentional to make us think that he is vulnerable and weakened!"

Tsunade-hime agreed with Jiraiya, "According to the information sent by Raikage when he encountered Danzō, there were no signs of that injury on his body, which clearly means that it was healed, heck, Raikage even says that the problem in his soul is also just his act! Based on this, we can conclude that Danzō just wanted us to think that there was some problem with his soul and body. The next important thing is the sudden rumor about his whereabouts at two different locations… those whereabouts were leaked a few days after the supposed 'injury' that he suffered. No doubt, the whereabouts were also leaked by him. His purpose was likely to lure out someone using his vulnerable state as bait."

All the people present in the meeting nodded.

There were too many rumors circulating around about Danzō until a few days ago, which one was true, and which one is false, it was very hard to determine, so no one could judge whether there really was any problem in his soul or not. But now that they have compiled all the information they have on Danzō, it can be clearly determined that Danzō was trying to lure out someone.

The only problem is, that they don't have enough information to accurately determine who is the person Danzō wanted to lure out.

Although they can make some guesses, however, without any strong evidence it's all pointless.

At this time, the Uchiha Patriarch also put down the papers on the table and said, "There is no information about how he obtained that pair of Mangekyo Sharingan, we must determine that as well!"

Hearing Fugaku's doubts, Shisui subconsciously glanced at Kuroto with a questioning gaze, as if asking, 'Did you know anything about this matter?'

Feeling Shisui's gaze, and understanding his intention, Kuroto shook his head lightly, replying, 'no' and signaled him to stay calm.

Despite being perfectly aware of the origin of Danzō's Mangekyō Sharingan, Kuroto has no intention of telling anyone about it, because that would mean explaining the Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual and Kuroto didn't want to do that.

Besides, the threat of Danzō has already been resolved, so naturally, there is no need for anyone to figure out why and how Danzō obtained Uchihas Mangekyō Sharingan.

While the others nodded to Fugaku's doubts, the Hyuga Patriarch questioned, "Do we know where Danzō is hiding?"

The Jonin Commander of Konoha, Nara Shikaku replied, "Although we don't know the exact location where he is hiding, however, based on the information we received from Kirigakure; after his failed attempt to control Yondaime Mizukage Karatachi Yagura-dono, Shimura Danzō immediately fled from the Land of Water and disappeared somewhere in the deserts of the Land of Wind. Kazekage Pakura-dono has already deployed Sunagakure shinobi and they are currently searching for his exact location."

Elder Koharu muttered, "Has he been hiding in the deserts of the Land of Wind?" and sighed, "It really a pity… I never imagined one of us would end up in such a miserable situation."

Nobody paid attention to Elder Koharu's words because no one here had sympathy for Danzō.

Hiashi questioned, "Why did Danzō flee from Kirigakure so decisively?"

Nara Shikaku answered, "Based on what we are told by Kirigakure, there seemed to be two reasons why he fled, first is that he seemed to be exhausted and running out of chakra because of several continuous battles, and the second reason is that he seemed to be fleeing from someone."

Nobody doubted Nara Shikaku's words, because they seemed completely reasonable.

Danzō went through several continuous battles, and then rushed all the way to the Land of Water, even if his injuries could heal, it was only natural for his chakra reserves to get exhausted. Moreover, the place where Danzō and Yondaime Mizukage fought was also near the sea so Yagura had an obvious advantage.

Fugaku asked, "And do we know who was Danzō fleeing from?"

In response to Fugaku's question, everybody shook their heads, and Nara Shikaku answered, "No, we are not sure, there is too little information." And added, "But considering Danzō's strength it has to be someone extremely strong."

Sandaime Hokage picked up Nara Patriarch's words and continued, "Even the five Kage don't have enough strength that would make Danzō flee so decisively. If I had to guess, it could be either Akatsuki or the Amatsukami. The chances that it's Akatsuki is quite high considering the members of the Akatsuki Organization also seemed to be searching for him."

Hearing Sandaime's explanation, everybody nodded, "Makes sense." Because only Akatsuki and Amatsukami seem to have enough strength to make Danzō feel threatened.

At this time, the captain of the intelligence division, Yamanaka Inoichi said, "Kumogakure hopes to use the upcoming conference to unite the five Kage and launch a decisive encirclement to eliminate Danzō because his presence is a threat to the peace of the entire Shinobi World."

Jiraiya sighed, "I never expected a day would come when the Raikage would so actively seek help, it seems Danzō has really put too much pressure on him."

Tsunade-hime expressed her thoughts, "To be honest I don't really see any problem in Raikage's proposal, however, considering the recent actions of Akatsuki Organization… won't it be a little too risky?"

Sandaime nodded, "That's what I am worried about too."

A few days ago, Iwagakure was suddenly attacked by the Akatsuki Organization, based on the information Konoha has been able to gather about this attack, all they know is that Sandaime Tsuchikage was seriously wounded and barely managed to escape, his current whereabouts are unknown. Tsuchikage Ōnoki's son Kitsuchi died in the attack, while the Jinchuriki of four tails and five tails were captured by the Akatsuki Organization, and finally, more than half of the Shinobi present in the village at the time either died or were seriously injured.

Overall, it was a disaster for Iwagakure.

When Konoha received the news of Akatsuki's attack on Iwagakure, it was like a lightning bolt out of the blue; catching everyone off guard.

It must be known that although Iwagakure doesn't have as many Kage rank individuals as Konoha, their strength was still very good, especially the overall military power, Iwagakure had the most number of shinobi out of any great shinobi village.

Yet such an Iwagakure suffered so severely in the face of the Akatsuki Organization's attack.

Now Akatsuki Organization has managed to catch three-tailed beasts, and they also have part of the chakra of Three Tails and Eight-Tails that they acquired during their Konoha Collapse plan.

Although nobody clearly understands Akatsuki's purpose, Everyone instinctively feels that they can't allow the Akatsuki Organization to succeed, but then again, no one seems to have the confidence that they can do anything against Akatsuki.

Just think about it, Iwagakure suffered so badly from the Akatsuki Organization's attack, a few months ago, Kumogakure suffered from Shimura Danzō's rampage, before that Konoha suffered from Akatsuki Organization's Konoha Collapse Plan, and before that Kirigakure suffered because of the civil war initiated by Akatsuki Organization.

The only village that hasn't suffered any sort of attack is Sunagakure, however, their previous Kazekage died at the hands of Akatsuki and now they seriously lack shinobi of Kage rank. Except for the current Kazekage Pakura, no one seems to have such strength.

While Everyone was silent, Hiashi suddenly questioned, "Wasn't Akatsuki dormant for so long? Why would they suddenly become active? First, they target Danzō, then they suddenly change their target and attack Iwagakure out of the blue… this is a bit strange."

Kakashi nodded, and informed eveRyōne, "The reason Akatsuki targeted Iwagakure, it's probably related to Dojin."

"Dojin?!" someone muttered, and asked, "Who is Dojin?!"

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