From here on out every chap will be 2100+words! So please leave an review!
Chapter 97: White Fang's Deal with the Third Hokage—His Life for His Son's
"A trap?"
Fuguki vigorously shook his head, as though fearing the Mizukage would accuse him of reckless aggression and squandering comrades' lives. He explained rapidly: "Absolutely impossible it was a trap. Lord Mizukage, you know that I've always been responsible for intelligence gathering on Konoha Village. Though some highly classified intelligence is difficult to obtain, I'm well-informed about most matters."
"I had already received intelligence that massive upheaval occurred within the Hyuga Clan. White Yaksha rebelled, overthrowing the Main Family's rule and becoming the new clan head with overwhelming Branch Family support. What's interesting is that this new clan head didn't remain at the compound to consolidate his rule. Instead, just days later, he was kicked to the front lines to fight us. Moreover, supposedly White Yaksha wasn't given any position at the front—he was simply used as the most ordinary jonin, dispatched at will."
"Based on this intelligence, I judged that White Yaksha's rebellion against the Main Family likely offended Konoha's upper leadership. Konoha's higher-ups found him eyesore-inducing, possibly an unstable threat, so they wanted us Mist ninja to eliminate him for them."
At this point—
Everyone was shocked speechless.
Orochimaru's recording subordinate held his brush as though caught in a paralysis jutsu, not daring to continue writing. Though Fuguki hadn't named names, there were truly few who qualified for the descriptor "Konoha's upper leadership."
Orochimaru's lips curved upward, his smile increasingly pleased. He challenged: "Your reasoning is too far-fetched. By your logic, wouldn't Konoha's upper leadership have extraordinarily narrow minds?"
The questioned Fuguki immediately grew anxious, hastily defending himself: "Lord Mizukage, you're still young and haven't dealt with Konoha's Third Hokage, so you don't understand. In fact, if this were the Third Hokage from ten years ago—courageous, resourceful, and full of ambition—he truly wouldn't disgrace the title 'Hero of the Shinobi.' But the Third Hokage of recent years is no longer that fearless hero. White Fang's death is the most powerful evidence!"
This resounding defense made everyone's expressions change.
Shikaku couldn't restrain himself. He stood up and began: "Lord—"
Bam!
A heavy strike to the abdomen prevented Shikaku from uttering a complete word. Ritsu's Gentle Fist knocked the wind out of him, and he collapsed back into his chair.
Ritsu's right fingertips pressed against Shikaku's throat, his pure white eyes radiating brutal, cruel killing intent. His gaze swept across Inoichi Yamanaka, Choza Akimichi, Shibi Aburame and others, silently issuing a warning: whoever dared sabotage or obstruct this interrogation would become his mortal enemy.
Intimidated by Ritsu's fierce gaze, and seeing Shikaku struck, Inoichi and Choza's angry expressions didn't translate into action. This was also because Shikaku, enduring the pain, had timely raised his hand in a "don't move" gesture.
The two could only sit in their chairs, glaring furiously at Ritsu, their dissatisfaction overflowing. Unfortunately, their dissatisfaction couldn't harm a single hair on Ritsu's head.
The actual victim Shikaku showed no signs of anger or rage on his face. Enduring the pain, his lips moved slightly as he whispered: "Clan Head Hyuga, I acted impulsively just now. I won't cause trouble again."
Only then did Ritsu withdraw his hand, returning to his seat as though nothing had happened.
Uchiha Izumo and Uchiha Teyaki widened their eyes. They had only vaguely captured a blurred figure—they hadn't seen clearly how Ritsu struck. This made their gazes toward Ritsu contain not just anger but several parts respect.
This was typical Uchiha. They scorned the weak and respected the strong.
Even though Ritsu already had impressive battle achievements, nothing convinced them more than personally witnessing his prowess.
After all, hearing is false, seeing is believing!
The Uchiha genuinely trusted their own eyes. Things heard contained too many falsehoods, but no one could deceive them before their very eyes!
Shikaku had recovered by now. True to his word, he made no further moves, obediently listening as Fuguki continued spouting outrageous claims, his mood even heavier than before.
Of course—
This wasn't because of what Fuguki was saying. As a top-tier intellect, and with the Ino-Shika-Cho clans deeply bound to the Sarutobi Clan, he knew many, many of the village's unseen dark truths.
What truly shook his mood was Orochimaru's attitude!
As the Third Hokage's proud disciple, Orochimaru hadn't interrupted to stop this interrogation when hearing Fuguki criticize and gossip about the Third Hokage. Instead, he allowed the disparagement to continue...
This made Shikaku's heart fill with uncontrollable chills, his hands and feet turning cold. Only through extreme effort could he prevent them from trembling.
Orochimaru, what's going on?
Had something gone wrong in his relationship with the Third Hokage? Cold sweat silently slid from his temples, and his back transmitted waves of damp, sticky discomfort.
For Shikaku, each moment felt like an eternity!
Meanwhile, Fuguki continued his tirade.
"...Many in Konoha Village still believe White Fang's suicide was because his heart was too fragile. This is absolutely laugh-out-loud ridiculous. That White Fang who killed without mercy, leaving mountains of corpses and seas of blood in his wake, was psychologically fragile? What a joke! This is absolutely the most absurd, ridiculous joke I've ever heard!"
"Clearly White Fang had already been driven to desperation by rumors spread by Konoha's upper leadership. If he didn't commit suicide, the Third Hokage, feeling his position as Hokage threatened, wouldn't sleep peacefully for a single night. Eventually, Konoha's leadership might target not just White Fang himself but his clan, his son, his students—all could face danger. In fact, this is exactly what happened. White Fang only had one son who survived, but all his students died!"
Fuguki spoke with flying spittle, clearly having hit one of his trigger topics. "The way I see it, White Fang only had two choices then. Either suicide, so the Third Hokage no longer felt threatened and his child could survive, or rebellion—eliminate the Third Hokage and replace him. But admittedly, the odds of success were slim, and failure would implicate his son and clan. So ultimately he could only commit suicide, trading his own life for his son's survival."
"Moreover, shortly after his suicide, his son became the Yellow Flash's student, didn't he? White Fang himself tasted the bitterness of having no backing, so he traded his life with the Third Hokage. He would commit suicide, but his son had to survive and become truly one of the Third Hokage's own people. Yellow Flash is the student of Jiraiya, one of the Sannin, and Jiraiya is the Third Hokage's student..."
"Enough, Suikazan Fuguki, shut up! You're getting more outrageous. Everything after this point is pure speculation!" Finally Orochimaru spoke up to stop Fuguki.
This statement made everyone feel somewhat awkward. What did he mean by "after this point is pure speculation"?
Did that mean everything before was fact?
Even the slowest to react now sensed something wrong. Why didn't Lord Orochimaru seem even slightly angry about his teacher's reputation being insulted? Was this him getting too into character as the Fourth Mizukage? Completely immersed?
They were full of doubts, their emotions complex, yet they dared not speak out.
Ritsu's two strikes had brought sufficient intimidation. Moreover, even Shikaku Nara, that top-tier intellect, had been disciplined into obedience—why should they stand out?
To put it more bluntly—
White Fang's death was already shrouded in shadows. Conspiracy theories had once been rampant, but the Hatake Clan wasn't any major clan. The young genius Hatake Kakashi remained subject to others' manipulation. If another ten or twenty years passed, White Fang's suicide would likely truly become an old matter no one mentioned or cared about.
But now only five or six years had passed since White Fang Sakumo Hatake's suicide. The matter hadn't been completely ground down into a brief, insignificant historical anecdote. People like Shikaku Nara, Inoichi Yamanaka, Choza Akimichi, and Shibi Aburame had once admired White Fang, who made enemies flee in terror. The Uchiha likewise deeply respected White Fang as a fearsome killing god...
Now hearing this enemy Fuguki's "slander," they each harbored their own thoughts.
Hiruko's face showed deep contemplation, as though recalling the village's situation before and after White Fang's suicide. Choza shifted his large body with some unease and discomfort, frequently glancing at Shikaku and Inoichi beside him, but both had faces like still water, silently lowering their gazes.
Shibi Aburame's high collar and sunglasses blocked almost all his expression changes, but his tightly knit brows proved his emotions were far from calm.
Kō Inuzuka sweated profusely, constantly regretting why he'd come to suffer this ordeal. Especially since sitting beside him was Sarutobi Mochimoto, a Sarutobi Clan member—he didn't dare turn to see what expression the man wore, but he could fully imagine Mochimoto's frustration at being angry yet not daring to speak.
Uchiha Shisui was also exceptionally uncomfortable, though not because his chakra was depleting too fast to maintain the genjutsu. At this level of consumption, he could persist another two or three hours without issue.
What truly disturbed him was Fuguki's slander against the Third Hokage. He couldn't accept that the Third Hokage he admired matched Fuguki's description.
But—
Unless Lord Orochimaru announced the interrogation's end, he didn't dare take it upon himself to stop the genjutsu.
He could only let his heart silently suffer.
His two clansmen, however, Uchiha Izumo and Uchiha Teyaki, nodded vigorously and exchanged glances, seemingly truly believing Fuguki's claims.
"Lord Mizukage, this isn't speculation but well-reasoned deduction based on confirmed reality, the Third Hokage's personality changes in recent years, and White Fang's suicide as the final result!"
Fuguki continued defending himself.
But this time Orochimaru firmly stopped Fuguki's wild claims. "Enough about ancient history. Why White Fang committed suicide no longer matters to us. Back to the point—you concluded the intelligence passed to you wasn't a Konoha trap based solely on these reasons?"
"Lord Mizukage, you haven't done intelligence work, so not understanding is normal. But I guarantee Hyuga Ritsu is absolutely not someone who follows rules obediently and remains passive after being schemed against. Don't be fooled by Konoha defeating us this time—next they'll face even bloodier, more brutal internal conflict. Once they've fought themselves into severe weakness, it'll be our opportunity again!"
Seeing past examples couldn't satisfy the Mizukage, Fuguki immediately switched tactics, using his predicted future to secure his survival.
Upon hearing this—
For the first time, Ritsu felt somewhat embarrassed and unable to sit still.
He couldn't help cursing internally: What nonsense is this bastard Fuguki spouting? How the hell am I not law-abiding? He's making me sound like some trouble-seeking busybody who slaps passing dogs just for the hell of it!
Especially everyone's scrutinizing, wary gazes made even his thick skin difficult to bear. Beside him, Teacher Hiruko also smiled as he looked over, and from the main seat, Orochimaru sent him an amused glance as well.
He took a deep breath, suppressing all emotions, plastering a carefully crafted fake smile on his face, completely disregarding everyone's stares.
At this moment, to make his claims more convincing, Fuguki added: "Just like the conflict between the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha back then—this kind of high-intensity internal strife is also Konoha's tradition!"
He spoke with such confidence.
Making everyone present feel somewhat uncomfortable and awkward, wanting to refute and complain yet completely unable to voice it—that frustrating sensation.
Orochimaru also felt this topic had become tedious, so he redirected: "Enough about Hyuga Ritsu. I'll ask you another question. Was Team Kakashi's intelligence also passed to you by certain Konoha people?"
"Team Kakashi? No, Lord Mizukage, that wasn't me. Though the intelligence I received did mention White Yaksha was going to support this Team Kakashi, I didn't seek out Kirigakure Shinya—Shinya came to me first, proactively proposing cooperation. He obtained that intelligence even earlier than I did!"
Fuguki hastily denied responsibility. Kirigakure Shinya had courted his own death—he hadn't been the one to doom him.
"Hmm?"
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. Fuguki's answer made him smell something abnormal. This matter seemed different from what he'd imagined.
He tapped his fingers on the desk and asked: "Explain in detail. What exactly happened?"