The afterglow of the setting sun dyed the Hokage Rock with a heavy, blood-red hue. Danzo, leaning on his cane, walked out alone from the Hokage Tower, the building symbolizing Konoha's highest authority.
Thinking about how Hiruzen was making him take the blame again, he stopped. His turbid single eye stared intently at the enormous faces on the Hokage Rock, especially that of the Nidaime Hokage, Senju Tobirama, his teacher.
The icy wind and snow whipped his wide robes. The countless old injuries he had endured for Konoha seemed to awaken, sending waves of phantom pain.
This pain, along with the decades-deep resentment and regret buried in his heart, now bit into his heart like a venomous snake.
If back then...
At that life-or-dead moment of covering the retreat, if his reaction hadn't been that fatal instant too slow...
Just that one instant! It let Sarutobi Hiruzen, that 'monkey', get ahead of him, shouting those words that changed everyone's destiny.
It was that one moment of hesitation that made Hiruzen the Sandaime Hokage, sitting in Konoha's highest position for decades, while he, Shimura Danzo, could only remain in the shadows.
Protecting Konoha in the way of the 'Root', bearing all the darkness and infamy.
"Sensei... Hiruzen..." Danzo's dry lips moved, his voice so hoarse only he could hear it, each word soaked in bone-deep regret and a burning obsession that had lasted half a lifetime.
"Just watch... someday, my face will also be carved there, carved beside yours!"
He suddenly clenched the cane in his hand, his knuckles turning white from the force. Hiruzen was not only old, but he had also become senile! Weak as rotten mud!
'Today, those bandits from Kumogakure got their hands on Uchiha bloodline and tasted the sweetness. Tomorrow, they will try to seize the Hyuga bloodline, or even target the Kyubi's Jinchuriki again.'
Thinking of this, a cold laugh rose in Danzo's heart, a surge of malevolence churning within.
"Making constant concessions to those bandits from Kumogakure, seeking peace through endless compromise, will only lead to them pushing their luck further and further!"
"Can't even understand such a simple principle anymore... Hiruzen, you truly are no longer worthy of sitting in the Hokage's seat!"
A cold killing intent flashed in his single eye. He did not linger further, his figure merging into the gradually deepening twilight.
In the Hokage's Office, the smoke was so thick it was almost tangible, the choking smell permeating every corner. Hiruzen took a deep drag from his pipe and slowly exhaled.
The coiling smoke blurred his wrinkled face. His gaze also turned towards the Hokage Rock outside the window, his eyes complex and difficult to decipher.
"Sensei, remembering the past brings endless tears. If you were to come back to life and know all the things I have done these years, would you regret giving the position of Hokage to me?"
"The village is in a period of transition now, urgently needing to recuperate. We cannot afford another war..."
He was the Hokage. If he actively prepared for war and fought Kumogakure to the bitter end, the village would inevitably suffer devastating losses.
When that time came, he, Sarutobi Hiruzen, would be held responsible and would probably be forced to resign again.
As for Makoto... based on his understanding of his old friend Danzo, he would absolutely not allow the Uchiha bloodline to be lost to the outside world.
…
The next day, Konoha publicly and severely condemned Kumogakure for using the signing of the armistice agreement as a pretext to carry out despicable theft.
Not only did they wreak havoc in Konoha and secretly attempt to steal the Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan, but they also had the audacity to forcibly abduct a descendant of the Uchiha Clan!
Konoha demanded that Kumogakure immediately and unconditionally return Uchiha Makoto and offer a deep apology for this vile act!
The wording of the condemnation was righteous and stern, each word forceful, displaying an unprecedented tough stance. However, this stance was like thunder in a dry season… impressive in sound, but not a single drop of rain followed.
Beyond this condemnation, Konoha took no further substantive action. There was no Shinobi army massing at the border, not even a proper envoy team sent to question them.
This 'toughness' remained only on paper, pathetically pale.
Hiruzen had just finished dealing with the somewhat skeptical inquiries from the Daimyo of the Land of Fire and was pondering how the guilty Kumogakure would handle the situation.
Their response, however, was like a resounding slap, striking Konoha squarely across the face, leaving the entire Konoha leadership stunned!
Kumogakure's reply was full of arrogance and shamelessness.
"Wanton destruction? Theft of bloodlines? Pure nonsense! Our Kumogakure's envoy team behaved properly during their time in Konoha and never approached any Hyuga or Uchiha clansmen!"
"Uchiha Makoto? Who is that? Never heard of him! Is Konoha fabricating a name out of thin air to frame us?"
What made the blood pressure of Konoha's higher-ups spike even more was that Kumogakure turned the tables, biting back and placing the hat of the 'victim' on their own heads.
"On the contrary, it is Konoha! You have no sincerity for peace! Not only did you brutally murder the leader of our envoy team, but you also illegally detained members of our Kumogakure's envoy team! This is a serious provocation and insult to all of Kumogakure!"
"You must immediately hand over the body of the murderer… the Great Elder of the Hyuga Clan's Main Family! Otherwise, the great army of Kumogakure will raze the Land of Fire to the ground, fighting to the death!"
This act of distorting facts and turning black into white, this brazen operation, its level of shamelessness simply refreshed new ground for the worldview of the Konoha's leadership.
Even with Sandaime's cultivated tolerance, Hiruzen was so angry he saw stars, the veins at his temples throbbing, his pipe almost crushed in his hand!
Angry as he was, Hiruzen lived up to his title of 'The Professor'. He took several deep breaths, forcibly suppressing the churning fury and humiliation.
Going to war now, Konoha didn't even have a suitable leader to take the field. It was impossible for him to take to the front lines himself.
'Avoid their sharp edge! Endure for now!'
He constantly reminded himself, 'As long as Uchiha Makoto in Kumogakure could be dealt with properly, preventing the Sharingan from leaking out, Konoha would... swallow this bitter pill! All for the Will of Fire.'
He only authorized a somewhat sizable operation in the Land of Hot Water symbolically.
On the local battlefield in the Land of Hot Water, relying on the desperate, life-risking charges of numerous Hyuga Clan's Branch Family's members who dared not not sacrifice themselves, Konoha fought a battle with Kumogakure. Both sides suffered minimal losses.
Soon, this conflict, whose symbolic meaning far outweighed its practical significance, came to a hasty end.
The armistice agreement naturally fell through. But what was even more laughable was that the substantive state of war between Konoha and Kumogakure was drawn to a twisted close.
Konoha couldn't afford to fight, and Kumogakure couldn't afford to fight either.
The Third Shinobi World War thus came to an end for Konoha in this absurd and humiliating manner.
The balance of the Shinobi World was quietly changing.
Relying on the formidable foundation laid by Shodaime Hokage, Senju Hashirama, the God of Shinobi's unmatched power, the previous Shinobi World's structure was an absolute one superpower and four great powers.
Having experienced two Shinobi World Wars, Konoha, though suffering heavy losses and always fighting multiple enemies at once, remained the undisputed winner, maintaining a transcendent status.
But this absolute advantageous structure, under the governance of Konoha's F4 led by Sarutobi Hiruzen, slipped away like quicksand.