Chapter 86
"Don't treat them too harshly; they are our guests after all."
Though he said that, he just knew that the village's prison would be overfilled with them if they let them stay there. And they didn't look like they were going to try anything. Still, he left them with police forces, which were mostly composed of the former Hyuga clan members.
"No need to worry, Hokage-sama; they won't be able to do anything under my watch."
The captured shinobi were left to do as they wished as long as they were watched. So, he left them to Hiashi Hyuga to oversee. And they shouldn't stay in the village for long, as long as their village would be able to buy them back.
Whatever they got from Iwagakure, they will pay him now. Oh, it was always nice to get some free money. And this should teach them not to try to fuck with Konoha again. Though in the end, they were just puppets for the real ones that posed a danger to him and the village.
"Put them to work or something," Hiruzen said. "Even if they are guest, don't let them loiter around without doing anything. Who knows, maybe they even get too bored and try something funny."
After finishing watching over his new guests, Hiruzen left them to be. Fugaku already questioned them, and they didn't know much, only that they were paid off to harass Kusagakure until Konoha intervened. Well, they did, but what now?
He didn't think that Onoki would leave it at this and forget all his hate for Konoha. Nothing was that easy in this world. And if it were this time, he wouldn't believe it. He really didn't like how he couldn't predict what would happen next.
Before he even realized it, completely lost in his own mind, Hiruzen returned to his office. It was more familiar than his own home by now. Even though he didn't have any work to do right now, he was always better at thinking things through here than anywhere else.
Shizune had already left, since there was nothing for her to do. So, he was on his own, apart from a team of ANBU always surrounding him. At this point, he didn't know if he liked that he could sense them or not. It was easier to pretend he was alone when he couldn't do that.
Though a lot had changed now. No longer did he go through hoops and loops trying to keep his persona. By now, he would be surprised if anyone believed him if he told them that he wasn't the real Hiruzen.
They would probably think he was too tired and was spouting nonsense. In that case, he would be happy if he could turn off his senses and not feel their presence around him. Even an illusion of privacy seemed quite nice.
"Oh, good, you're still here." Jiraiya, as always, didn't know how to use doors and climbed through the window into the office. "I finished looking through the shinobi in the village. I don't think anyone could be bought out. And I didn't find anyone with a reason to betray the village either."
"With the right price, anyone can be bought out. If someone offered me a billion, I don't think I would be able to easily refuse such an offer."
"Well, that might be, but every shinobi with family has just too many benefits for them to even consider betraying the village," Jiraiya explained. "Free healthcare, free education, compensation for their families if anything happened to them. And since they knew that our village probably had the best education and, with Tsunade here, the best medics, it gave them even less reason to turn their backs on the village. Every single one of them would rather have peace of mind than money."
"And the ones who don't have families?"
"They still have little reason to turn their backs on the village," Jiraiya replied. "A few months ago, maybe, but now every shinobi is earning considerably more than they did before. And they are looking forward to the benefits they would reap later on."
Nothing is as easy as it seems. Just what was Onoki planning? He thought that once he pushed away most of his forces from the village to deal with his little trick, he would do something. But nothing else happened.
He didn't like it. That old cunning man was playing a long game, and Hiruzen knew it would keep him on edge. But all was good for now; there seemed to be little internal problem within Konoha, so all he had to do was concentrate his eyes and ears outside the village.
"Hokage-sama!" Just as he was thinking things through, Hizashi barged into the office. "I have news from the Land of Water."
"Is it bad?"
"The Fourth Mizukage has intensified his culling of Kekkei Genkai users, using any excuse to persecute them. Even those who are related to them are not left alone."
"But that's not all, isn't it?" Hizashi wouldn't have rushed back from his mission so readily for something like this.
"With how things are, I believe that a civil war might soon break out within the Land of Water. There are already forces working together to oppose the Fourth Mizukage."
"That is expected, after all; there are plenty of clans who use Kekkei Genkai, and they won't sit still while they are being killed off," Jiraiya commented.
"I agree, but that is as long as everything is kept inside the Land of Water," Hizashi replied to Jiraiya. "Mercenaries are being contacted from both sides. And it seems a new village has popped up in the Land of Rice. It seems that Orochimaru's attack on their Daimyo has made them prepare themselves for another attack, and they seem interested in being involved in the conflict of Kirigakure."
A new village? There was no point in even considering it. It was Orochimaru. That snake was still annoying him to the very end. But what was his connection with the current Daimyo? He must have her permission to build his village on her lands.
Hiruzen still had no idea what Orochimaru's plans were. Even if he wasn't going to do anything to Hiruzen, that didn't mean that his actions wouldn't affect Konoha. And now he had to watch over the Land of Rice and see what was happening there.
Just thinking of it gave him a headache. And the year was coming to an end; there was no word from the capital city. He hoped that they wouldn't completely cut down their budget; as much as they earned now, it was never enough.
Hiruzen would rather prepare for the worst and start saving up than wait for something to happen and have nothing to fall back on. If a conflict does arise, it will burn through his finances very quickly.
"Jiraiya, have someone watch over the new village and its actions. Hizashi, I want you to go to the Land of Wind and keep Sunagakure in check. I want to know beforehand if they are mobilizing any forces."
"I'll get it done."
"Understood, Hokage-sama."
Something told him that the next year would not be as peaceful as he hoped it would be. What irritated him the most was that he knew that neither of the villages was truly his enemy. He should focus on Akatsuki before they gain more power.
As of right now, they were just a small group of powerful shinobi. But from the reports Pakura had sent to him, they were gaining a reputation with various villages, not only gaining wealth but also contacts with various powerful people.
But he couldn't do anything about them. Sending a few people would only be sending them to their deaths. Even Fugaku alone wouldn't be able to do much. And yet, if he sent out a bigger group, other villages would not accept any explanation and think that he was attacking them.
His only play was to be defensive. Secure his internals and watch out for external powers. He should also send word to Asuma to watch out for anything suspicious. If his enemies can't strike Konoha, they might go after the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.
…
Using chakra to not only protect his body but also heal it from the backlash of his strength seemed to be the answer to how to control his strength. But Hiruzen wasn't satisfied. It had become common for him lately not to be satisfied with anything he had done.
And it wasn't just about his training. No matter what he had done to prepare the village for any kind of attack, he just didn't feel satisfied with it. He tried to look into the system, but it gave him nothing. No new quest, nor anything else.
It made him even more worried. He was missing something, and he could only think that he would realize what it was when it was already too late. But he couldn't do anything now either way. If he didn't know what to do, he just had to continue to think about it.
"Fuck it," but he wasn't a man who could just sit around and wait for an answer to fall into his lap. "Owl! Find Shizune and Kakashi and bring them to my office."
Cleaning up his bloody fists, Hiruzen took one last look at the stone cliff and the massive holes he had made inside it. Even while using chakra to protect his hands, the skin still got bruised. Even perfect chakra control couldn't stop that.
With his head clearer, Hiruzen knew what he had to do. To begin with, he wasn't a fighter, so why was he even thinking about fighting Iwagakure or other villages? There were other ways to deal with conflicts aside from fighting through them.
Returning to his office, he took out a piece of paper and started to write. Whatever Onoki's problem was, Hiruzen would try to talk to him first before anything else happened. At least he hoped he wouldn't have regrets about not doing everything he could before anything started.
It was a simple message he wrote. An invitation to talk in a neutral place where they could achieve some kind of compromise. That was all Hiruzen wanted, and he hoped that Onoki would at least try to put his hatred aside for this much.
"Hokage-sama," Kakashi and Shizune arrived together. He didn't question them about it, but he did make a look that he knew what was going on.
"I have a mission for both of you. Kakashi, you are to go to Iwagakure and deliver this message straight to the Tsuchikage himself," Hiruzen gave the letter he had written to Kakashi. "Shizune, you are to go to the Land of Iron and ask General Mifune to accommodate us as soon as possible and to be a witness to my talks with the Tsuchikage."
There was no way Onoki would listen to anything Hiruzen had to say. But with someone neutral being there, he might at least start a conversation. This was the only thing he could think of doing right now that could bring some results.
Now he could only wait for a response. If he won't even agree to this much, at least Hiruzen will know that there is no escape from the conflict that will soon arise. Though he didn't even know why all of it was happening.
Why would Iwagakure involve itself with Konoha right now? He did suspect a third party that could have spurred it all. But then again, he had no course of action he could take to stop any of them.
The balance over the five great villages was fragile, and the civil war in Kirigakure would already threaten everything to collapse on itself. If he acted rashly, who knows how bad things might go from there on out? Maybe he should consider a Kage summit if nothing else works.
Prepare and wait. That was all he could do now. Let Hizashi and Jiraiya gather information while he puts Fugaku and ROOT on the sidelines, ready to be deployed anywhere at any time. Though by now most people knew of the existence of ROOT, they had no idea of its true strength yet.
And that was his best card he could play at any time. Though it would only work best the first time. And he would rather not use it to begin with. Leaning back in his chair, he watched as Kakashi and Shizune left to do what he asked.
He was getting tired again. One battle after another. Never stopping, never letting him rest. Why the hell did he do such a damn good job out of all of this mess? Now, it seemed like he would never be able to retire.
His dreams of lazing around on his porch and wasting the last thirty years he had doing nothing seemed to slip away from his grasp once again. And sadly, this time, he couldn't do a poor job either, as it would only make his retirement harder to achieve if there were a war to fight.
But maybe it wasn't all that bad. It didn't seem to work with the Raikage, but it doesn't mean he can't use the same tactic with the Tsuchikage. Whatever Onoki wanted, surely, he would put it all aside if Hiruzen promised to retire and not get involved in the politics of the shinobi world anymore, right?
A.N. As always, thanks for reading and supporting me, so I can continue writing without any concerns, and if you want more, up to seven more chapters, you can support me on pa treon. com \ ironwolf852.