[Hokage's Office]
"Aiya, old man, why are you so fired up? I rushed back day and night as soon as I received your message," Jiraiya chuckled casually with a face full of nonchalance.
The Third Hokage knew Jiraiya's nature, but still couldn't help getting angry, "Just look at yourself! I told you to investigate Orochimaru's whereabouts, and after all this time you still have nothing?"
"What the hell have you been doing all this time?"
Jiraiya scratched his nose a bit awkwardly, "Orochimaru has bases everywhere. It's not that easy to find his trail."
"Hmph, then what have you been doing these past two years?", the Third reprimanded.
Jiraiya knew that if he didn't produce some solid information, the old man wouldn't let him off.
So he straightened up and said seriously, "Actually, I had already discovered that Orochimaru fled to the Land of Rice Fields, but before I could find his exact location, you summoned me back."
The Third Hokage looked at Jiraiya with some suspicion. But thinking of the current problems Konoha faced, he didn't dwell on those trivial things.
He sighed, "You're aware of the situation in the village, right?"
Jiraiya's face also turned serious, "I already heard about it on the way."
The Third Hokage moved to the table, picked up the report on the recent Root base attack, and handed it to Jiraiya.
"After Itachi defected from the village, he exposed all the patrol routes. The Root base has already been attacked."
"But Root had many people, and they were quite suspicious by nature. Danzo managed to keep his head."
The Third Hokage briefly explained what had just happened.
Jiraiya, who was on the road until recently, didn't know any of this.
Jiraiya quickly skimmed the report, and his face turned solemn, "How about just handing Danzo over to the Uchiha? It's all Danzo's fault anyway."
Jiraiya never had any liking for Danzo, and he'd be glad to see that old bastard dead.
The Third Hokage took a drag of his cigarette, "You think I don't want to?"
"Root has a lot of personnel. Now they're extremely vigilant. I can't mobilize too many Anbu, and Koharu and Homura are both stopping me."
Jiraiya grumbled discontentedly, "Why do you care about them? You're the Hokage."
The Third Hokage was speechless, 'Jiraiya really has zero political sense.'
Not to mention the two advisor elders, Danzo was someone who had done all the dirty work for the Third Hokage.
Wouldn't he be worried about being betrayed once the rabbit died and the hunting dog was cooked?
Danzo held a mountain of the Third's dark secrets in his hands. If he let them slip, the Third would be immediately forced to step down.
Otherwise, with how cunning the Third was, he would have already sold Danzo out.
He waved his hand, not answering the question.
Instead, he asked a critical question, "Can you fight against the Mangekyo Sharingan?"
Jiraiya had actually never fought someone with Mangekyo Sharingan before, so he had no frame of reference.
He spread his hands, "Even if I could beat one, I definitely couldn't take on three."
Jiraiya wasn't completely devoid of political insight, but he genuinely didn't want the village to go to war with the Uchiha.
Because, as everyone knows, Konoha's ultimate weapon is the Nine-Tails.
But the Mangekyo Sharingan is a perfect counter to Jinchūriki.
Konoha would even have to hide the Nine-Tails. Otherwise, the Uchiha could just turn around and control it, easily destroying Konoha.
Even if the Third used the Reaper Death Seal, it wouldn't help. He definitely wasn't willing to sacrifice himself now.
And it wasn't just one Mangekyo Sharingan user.
The Hyuga clan, once considered the Uchiha's equal, had already been screwed over by Konoha. Were they still expected to serve Konoha loyally?
They'd be doing well just not to help the Uchiha.
Even the Ino-Shika-Cho trio clans were fence-sitters. A change of Hokage wouldn't affect them much.
The other major clans had all been screwed over by Danzo. The best-case scenario was they remained neutral.
That's why the Third Hokage urgently recalled the Sarutobi clan.
If war broke out between Konoha and the Uchiha, the village's very existence would be uncertain.
Then keeping the Sarutobi clan hidden would be meaningless.
The Third Hokage took another drag of his cigarette and slowly exhaled, "I've already transferred some men back from the border."
Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, "Is it a lot of people?"
The Third Hokage frowned, "Hmm, it should be enough to deter the Uchiha."
"As long as the Uchiha don't dare to act, the outside spies and bounty hunters are no real threat."
"You'll stay in Konoha for now. I'll look for a chance to talk to the Uchiha again. You'll come with me then."
Jiraiya also preferred this approach. He didn't want the village to start a fight either.
"Alright. I'll stay in the village for now."
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
It was the Anbu's knock.
"Come in."
"Hokage-sama, Lord Hiashi is already waiting for you in the reception room."
———
[The Next Day]
The Ninja Academy resumed normal classes.
Every village has spies from enemy nations, but those ordinary spies only ever see what's already public knowledge.
If the Ninja Academy didn't open at all, it would make Konoha seem extremely guilty.
Last night, those bounty hunters had been driven off, and Jiraiya had returned.
Plus, the Third Hokage had traded some benefits to the Hyuga clan.
Konoha was now back to normal.
Well, seemingly normal.
In places that couldn't be seen normally, undercurrents were still surging.
[Uchiha Clan Grounds]
"Rengoku, are you really going to send them to school?"
Fugaku asked doubtfully, "They won't learn anything there, and it's dangerous."
Rengoku laughed it off, "Clan leader, what are you so afraid of? Right now, Konoha is even more afraid of us than we are of them."
"If we keep these kids in the clan, it just makes us look cowardly."
"Besides, if our people don't go into Konoha, we won't understand Konoha's movements."
"I also need an excuse to go into Konoha. Don't worry, Sasuke won't have any problems with me there."
Fugaku glanced at the silent Sasuke not far away, "Then go ahead, be careful."
Rengoku made a reassuring gesture, "Then I'm off, Clan Leader."
"Don't forget about the matter with Izumi."
Fugaku nodded, "Don't worry, I understand."
Rengoku flashed over to a group of little kids and led them away.
Fugaku silently stared at Rengoku's departing back for a long time. Rengoku had come to him specially for a talk.
Basically, he said that Itachi was indeed a genius, but Fugaku really didn't understand him.
The two of them were both stubborn and nearly destroyed the whole clan. Their relationship was now extremely strained.
If they wanted to reconcile with Itachi, they could start from his personal relationships.
And wouldn't you know it, Izumi.
Itachi and Izumi had been together for seven years, and Fugaku hadn't even realized Izumi existed.
It wasn't until Rengoku pointed it out that he started to look into it.
Someone like Itachi obviously wouldn't mess around. Though Izumi was still young, she was already pretty much a future daughter-in-law.
Fugaku could naturally ask Mikoto to help out a little, see if there were any difficulties, and whether they needed help.
If there weren't any difficulties, then they'd make some, just so they could help.
At the very least, when Itachi returned, he would know his father had done something for him.
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