Because one person was absent, Akatsuki's assembly ended hastily this time.
"Do you think Orochimaru is dead?"
Sitting in his wheelchair, Nagato took a deep breath, slightly lifting his eyelids as he looked toward Konan standing beside him.
Konan, her expression cold, replied, "More than whether Orochimaru is dead or alive, what concerns me is Uchiha Obito's intelligence-gathering ability. Before any of us even knew, he had already learned that Orochimaru was attacked by Uchiha Keizumi."
"He seemed to be listening to someone just now. If I'm not mistaken, that should be 'gai.' Uchiha Obito hides many secrets, and 'gai' hides many as well."
"In fact, the latter's secrets are even greater than the former's, because we don't even know his true name, nor do we know why he exists in this world in such a strange form of life."
"These are two extremely dangerous individuals…"
But Nagato interrupted Konan. "The key lies with Uchiha Keizumi, not with Uchiha Obito or gai."
"…" Konan was silent for a moment, then said, "Nagato, do you really believe that someone with such grand ambitions—after using us to achieve whatever purpose he has—will let Akatsuki remain untouched? He'll treat us as pawns, ready to discard us at any time."
"Nagato, if that day truly comes, won't you regret it?"
Nagato replied slowly, "I don't care."
…
"Huff… Konohagakure! Finally, I've made it!"
Biwa Jūzō felt as though he were about to collapse from exhaustion.
He hadn't rested for even a moment in the past two days, relentlessly pushing his stamina and chakra to the limit.
He feared that the members of Akatsuki might catch up to him.
Now that he had finally reached his destination, his whole body relaxed, and he could no longer maintain the cold, aloof demeanor of a Blood Mist shinobi—he even had to lean against a tree, gasping for breath.
After regaining some strength, he did not choose to enter Konohagakure openly, worried that there might be Akatsuki spies within the village.
He slipped in quietly instead.
"At this point, I can only rely on that man… I just don't know whether he'll take me in. After all, I'm not from Konohagakure. If he refuses, I'll probably have no choice but to wander the ninja world, constantly hiding from Akatsuki's pursuit."
Biwa Jūzō muttered to himself.
…
Inside Konohagakure.
Having just faced the cold stares of his clansmen, Sarutobi Hiruzen was suddenly informed by a hastily arriving ANBU that made his scalp tingle the moment he heard it—there had been a clash between the Konoha Police Force and the ANBU! The two sides were confronting each other right in the village streets!
"What on earth has happened?!"
Hiruzen hadn't even made it home yet, and both the ANBU's report and his current reaction were being seen clearly by the other members of the Sarutobi Clan.
But in such an emergency, Sarutobi Hiruzen could no longer be bothered to care about anything else.
With a grim expression, he asked, "Why did the ANBU come into conflict with the Police Force?"
The ANBU was the only card in Sarutobi Hiruzen's hand that he still held with absolute confidence.
It was precisely because of this card that Hiruzen still had at least a little confidence when facing Uchiha Keizumi head-on.
If something happened to the ANBU, then he, the Hokage, would become nothing more than an empty shell!
After all, half of the other shinobi clans in Konohagakure already no longer supported him, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Under such circumstances…
If he lost the ANBU as well, that would be disastrous!
The ANBU shinobi kneeling on one knee before Sarutobi Hiruzen hesitated for a moment before speaking. "...It's because the Police Force believes that our ANBU has been harboring many murderers. They think that among the people our ANBU has killed, some were not slain for the sake of the village, and some of those killed were not truly deserving of death. They plan to conduct a large-scale investigation into the ANBU."
"In short, they want all ANBU shinobi to undergo memory inspection by the Yamanaka Clan. But the memories of us ANBU contain too many secrets—we absolutely cannot allow the Police Force shinobi to act recklessly. And so… the conflict broke out."
Upon hearing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen's brows furrowed deeply.
In the past, the Police Force would never have done such a thing.
Under Uchiha Fugaku's leadership, the Konoha Police Force had treated the ANBU as though they were a plague—they practically avoided them whenever they appeared.
But under Uchiha Keizumi's command…
This was far too overbearing, far too reckless!
To allow the Police Force shinobi to run wild in the village like this would lead to serious chaos!
Keizumi was simply not suited to lead the Police Force—he was not suited to be a leader at all. He was only suited to be a sharp blade!
One thought after another flashed through Sarutobi Hiruzen's mind.
He knew that he would have to go there personally—there was no other way.
"Wait… is Keizumi present?" Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly thought of something and asked at once.
The ANBU shinobi replied, "Uchiha Keizumi seems to already be on his way."
Sarutobi Hiruzen drew in a sharp breath.
...
At the same time, on a certain street in Konohagakure.
"Kakashi-senpai, you're finally here."
When Kakashi hurriedly arrived, an Anbu ninja quickly came forward to meet him and gave a brief explanation of the situation.
Kakashi's half-lidded, dead-fish eyes showed a trace of helplessness.
He glanced at the group of Anbu ninjas gathered nearby, then looked at the cluster of Police Force ninjas standing opposite them.
Kakashi suddenly felt a bit of a headache coming on.
Who would've thought that the Police Force and Konoha's Anbu would clash in such a way? The key issue was that Kakashi found himself in an awkward position no matter which side he stood on.
As a member of Konoha's Anbu, Kakashi, in principle, ought to stand with the Anbu.
He should have been standing with the Anbu ninjas, facing off against the Police Force ninjas.
But the problem was—
Kakashi actually agreed with the recent righteous actions carried out by the Police Force in the village. In this morally twisted shinobi world, it seemed that only this kind of extreme Absolute Justice could correct the warped sense of morality held by so many people.
More importantly, Kakashi had a certain understanding of Uchiha Keizumi's strength.
He also knew that once such a conflict broke out, Uchiha Keizumi would definitely intervene.
And that would be a big problem!
After some thought, Kakashi asked, "The operation to thoroughly inspect all Anbu ninjas' memories—was that a decision made on their own by a few Police Force members, or was it an order issued by Uchiha Keizumi?"
The Anbu ninja standing before him shook his head indignantly. "Not sure. All we know is that this group of people has gone mad, biting down on us like a pack of rabid ninja hounds and refusing to let go."
Kakashi let out a quiet sigh in his heart.
He looked around and found that quite a few more Anbu and Police Force ninjas were hurrying over from all directions.
The number of ninjas gathering on this street was increasing rapidly.
Altogether, there were already several dozen of them—and all were Konoha's elite shinobi.
Just as Kakashi was about to say something, his eyes suddenly narrowed slightly, his gaze focusing in one direction.
"Uchiha…"
"Keizumi."
Kakashi realized that things had escalated.
It wouldn't be easy to settle this peacefully now.
"Keizumi-sama has arrived!" On the other side, at a Police Force ninja's loud shout, all the Police Force and Anbu ninjas' gazes fell upon Uchiha Keizumi.
At that moment—
Many Anbu ninjas who had been stubbornly facing off against the Police Force twitched slightly beneath their masks.
Clearly—
They, too, knew full well the power that Uchiha Keizumi possessed.
"Hokage-sama has arrived as well!"
Until a sudden shout rang out from one of the Anbu ninjas—
Only then did all the Anbu ninjas instantly find their true pillar of support.
Indeed—
They saw Konoha's Third Hokage, under the escort of two Anbu guards, swiftly making his way toward them.
…
"Why are there so many people gathered here…"
Even before Sarutobi Hiruzen arrived, he could already see the distant crowd from afar. On one side stood Konoha's Anbu, on the other, the Police Force—separated by no more than two meters.
That thick scent of gunpowder in the air was so strong that even from over a hundred meters away, it felt stiflingly acrid.
It seemed that just a single spark would be enough to ignite and blow up the powder keg before their eyes.
When that happened… it would become an armed clash between Konoha's Anbu and the Police Force!
The scale of it would be enormous—perhaps even dragging the entire village into a massive civil conflict.
By that point, even Sarutobi Hiruzen would have no way to mediate this confrontation.
After all, those Anbu ninjas had taken up arms against the Police Force precisely out of loyalty to him, the Hokage.
If he, the Hokage, tried to mediate the conflict without siding with the Anbu, how would he answer to those loyal Anbu ninjas?
But if he favored the Anbu too much, it would only stir resentment among the Police Force and make the situation even more explosive.
Just the thought of it—
Made Sarutobi Hiruzen's scalp prickle.
If it had been a few years ago, it would've been fine.
Back then, Uchiha Keizumi's wings had not yet fully grown, and the Konoha Anbu alone could suppress the entire Police Force.
Let alone a mere clash—even if the Police Force launched a coup—
Sarutobi Hiruzen would still have had the power to crush it.
But now, things were different.
The times had changed.