Also, this kind of thing can't be done by me, after all, I'm supposed to be the righteous and honorable character. It has to be handed over to Danzō to handle.
Once he had the idea, Hiruzen shared his suspicion that all of the Root ninjas had been wiped out.
Danzō was so angry he was grinding his teeth. If Hiruzen hated Shin, then how could Danzō not hate him too?
"This time Root suffered heavy losses to support your plan. Don't you have anything to say about that?"
"What kind of compensation are you looking for?"
"Funds," Danzō said bluntly. "The formation of Root consumes a lot of resources. Without sufficient funding, how can it quickly become the sharp blade in both our hands?"
"Fine, I'll allocate funds to you right away. But this time, Root had better show some results." Hiruzen agreed readily, not even asking how the money would be used.
"Just wait and see."
The thought of incoming funds made Danzō breathe a sigh of relief. He had been spending way too much lately, just Orochimaru alone cost billions.
Do they think I'm a printing machine?
Orochimaru, huh?
Once your research succeeds, I'll make sure you spit out everything you've swallowed.
With Hiruzen's promise of financial support, his temper improved a lot. He patiently discussed follow-up plans with Hiruzen. Although this scheme had failed, both men were tenacious, they wouldn't be crushed by one setback. They had already come to a shared conclusion: Shin was the key to all their problems. Only by eliminating him could they have a chance to turn the tables.
What they didn't know was that their entire scheme had once again been clearly overheard by Shin.
I want to play, yes, but I never intended for the people around me to get hurt.
So... heh!
---
For the next two months, nothing major happened at the borders. Anyone with a sharp eye could see that Hanzō had ambitions of expansion. But after all, Ame was still just a small hidden village. Although its strength was faintly starting to surpass that of Uzushio, and it was becoming the top ninja village just below the Five Great Ninja Villages, he still wasn't ready to go head-to-head with Konoha.
So he showed great restraint.
Instead of clashing with Konoha on the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire, Ame turned its attention to the Land of Birds and the Land of Grass, sending ninja to their borders and gradually encroaching on their territory. In response, the Land of Birds and the Land of Grass repeatedly protested and sought help from the major ninja villages, but received no real support.
With no other choice, they began lobbying nearby small villages, appealing to emotion and reason, trying to form a small ninja village alliance to resist Ame. And surprisingly, one nation actually agreed to help.
That was the Land of Iron.
Why Mifune agreed to support the Lands of Grass and Birds was unknown to outsiders. But between nations, there were no eternal friends, only eternal interests. One thing was clear to everyone: the Land of Iron's sudden decision definitely wasn't for the sake of justice.
As for Suna, it was still having frictions with Konoha, but nothing too deadly, more like childish spats.
Today I beat you up, tomorrow you find someone to beat me. Today I poison you, tomorrow you throw kunai at me. As long as nobody dies, the fighting continues relentlessly.
Faced with this kind of childish, make-believe conflict, Shin naturally had no interest in getting involved.
For the past two months, he spent most of his time in the research lab working with Orochimaru. However, once a week, he would openly visit the border camp to spend time with Tsunade and Minato.
Meanwhile, during these two months, although Hiruzen didn't continue with his previous plan, he was far from idle.
First, he completely removed Torifu from the upper ranks of leadership. Currently, he held no official post and was simply idle at home, experimenting with gourmet cuisine.
Second, he set his sights on the Uchiha clan. Using grand promises and lofty rhetoric, he began wooing the Dove faction of the Uchiha, drawing them in and pushing them to constantly create problems for Fukuyama.
Shin was quite happy to see this.
The Dove faction was one of the targets of his revenge anyway. Hiruzen recruiting them was no different from delivering them to his doorstep.
Unaware that Shin planned to eliminate the Doves, Fukuyama was troubled by the internal strife in the clan, but not panicked. After all, Shin had spoken with him several times during this period, giving him a sense of confidence and reassurance.
Aside from Torifu and the Uchiha clan, the one drawing attention recently was Sakumo.
Under Hiruzen's orders, he monitored only the Hawk faction of the Uchiha clan. And what's more, he had shifted from covert surveillance to openly watching them. This behavior greatly angered many in the Hawk faction, and some even clashed directly with Sakumo.
However, Fukuyama managed to calm the situation down before things escalated further, much to Hiruzen's disappointment. On top of that, for some unknown reason, he had seemingly "enchanted" the Hawk members. For quite a while, they behaved themselves, leaving Hiruzen with no leverage to exploit.
Instead, it was the Doves, under Hiruzen's constant provocation, who began acting erratically, making them appear like lunatics. This situation didn't just affect the internal dynamics of the Uchiha clan, it spread throughout the whole of Konoha.
Lately, rumors had started circulating again: in order to strengthen his control over the village, he was preparing to target all the noble clans. And the Uchiha clan was to be the first. Previously, he had deliberately blocked their attempts at reform to stir resentment against them, laying the groundwork for this move.
Now, through various means, he had won over a portion of the Uchiha and planned to strike ruthlessly at the rest, with the ultimate goal of making the entire Uchiha clan submit to him and follow his orders without question. And this was only the beginning. Once the Uchiha were dealt with, the other clans would be next.
For a time, dark undercurrents surged through Konoha, and fear spread among the people.
With all kinds of rumors flying around, everyone in the village began to see Hiruzen's true face: harsh and overbearing toward his own people, weak and submissive toward outsiders. His reputation continued to plummet.
As for Hiruzen himself, he was overwhelmed. He couldn't win with diplomacy, nor with force. The constant setbacks left him emotionally drained and close to despair. At this point, he could only hope the follow-up plan he'd spent two months preparing would go smoothly.
---
"I know why the Land of Iron protested against Ame," Minato said seriously to Shin one evening in Tsunade's tent.
This was a homework assignment Shin had given Minato. He hadn't expected Minato to come up with an answer in just half a day.
There was still one month left before their deployment at the border ended, but Minato had never slacked off these past two months. Instead, he had continued honing himself through the battlefield. Though a full-scale war hadn't broken out, there had been frequent small skirmishes along the border. He had fought plenty and gained a lot from the experience.
"Oh? Let's hear it."