Naruto :Madam, You Don’t Want Anything To Happen To Sasuke, Right?

Uchiha Haru looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen with a faint trace of amusement before turning away.

The Hokage of Konoha—one of the five greatest ninja villages in the world—had fallen to this state.

Just two ninja village leaders dared to speak to him like that!

Where was his pride?

Where was his dignity?

Sarutobi Hiruzen's face darkened with anger. Had he not cared about his image, he would have been furious.

It was truly outrageous!

But from Uchiha Haru's perspective, all of this was the Hokage's own fault.

Nothing ever forms in a day.

During Sarutobi Hiruzen's tenure, he maintained a submissive posture toward the outside world while struggling to hold things together internally.

People said he worked diligently, pushing Konoha to its peak.

But what had that really amounted to?

When the First Hokage was in charge, Konoha was unquestionably the strongest ninja village in the world.

No one could deny it.

Beyond anything else, the title of Ninja God Senju Hashirama alone was enough to intimidate every ninja in the world.

The Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama—master of forbidden jutsu—was not as powerful as his elder brother, but possessed his own unique strengths.

Not only did he develop a variety of brilliant forbidden techniques, but he also managed relations with the Uchiha clan effectively.

Under their leadership, Konoha continued to grow.

And then came the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.

What had he done?

Relying on the reputations left by the First and Second Hokages, he managed to maintain the title of the world's top ninja village for a while.

But what happened after?

In order to stabilize his position, Sarutobi Hiruzen repeatedly compromised with outside forces.

Take, for example, the incident where Hidden Cloud ninjas invaded and attempted to abduct Kushina and Hinata.

Such a major event, and it happened right under his watch.

Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't dare to pursue it.

Even when he was clearly right, he was forced to settle with others.

Imagine if the same thing happened to the Hidden Cloud Village.

This wasn't about the relative strength of the villages.

Even if there were differences among the five great nations, those gaps would never be large enough to allow one village to completely crush another.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was simply too weak.

He was also incredibly cunning. To maintain his rule, to ensure he could remain Hokage, and to secure opportunities for his descendants to claim the position,

he did many things behind the scenes.

How many talented ninjas died or left during Sarutobi Hiruzen's reign and refused to return?

Konoha's hero, White Fang—the Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato—the Uchiha clan's massacre...

Even his own disciples, the legendary Sannin of Konoha, were reluctant to stay and aid him.

How could Konoha possibly improve under such circumstances?

As the saying goes, those who walk the righteous path have many supporters; those who do not, have few.

Konoha's decline was in part caused by the Third Hokage himself.

That he had fallen to this state, and that —leader of several ninjas from other villages—could speak to him so openly,

was entirely his own fault.

As Samui and the others left, Uchiha Haru glanced at the Fourth Kazekage standing silently beside him with a meaningful expression.

Orochimaru, disguised as the Fourth Kazekage, suddenly became nervous.

He was genuinely afraid of Uchiha Haru now and wanted to avoid him as much as possible.

He only wished to finish what he needed quickly, pay his debts, and never meet Uchiha Haru again.

He was thoroughly fed up.

It had been too long, and every encounter with Uchiha Haru had brought nothing but misery.

After Uchiha Haru left, Orochimaru also departed silently.

Almost all the outsiders had gone, leaving only the Konoha shinobi standing.

With so many gone, Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression was sour.

"Order two Anbu squads to search the village thoroughly for any sign of Orochimaru," he commanded. "I don't want another incident like the Forest of Death!"

"Yes, Lord Hokage!" the Anbu ninja responded promptly.

"In addition, increase security across the village, especially for ninjas from other villages participating in the Chūnin Exam. We must ensure—"

"That nothing happens," Sarutobi Hiruzen finished grimly.

This would be a huge blow to Konoha's reputation otherwise.

The Third Hokage gave these orders to show he was doing something about the recent chaos.

After all, many eyes were watching.

If something else happened, it would be disastrous for Konoha.

But what could he really do?

He could only tighten security.

Even if he knew Orochimaru's abilities well, how could a handful of Anbu find someone like him if he wanted to hide?

The so-called search and guard enhancements might work against ordinary ninja,

but against someone like Orochimaru, they were almost meaningless.

At best, it was better than nothing.

At least the other ninja villages could see Konoha was trying.

And from his understanding of Orochimaru…

After making a move this time, Orochimaru likely wouldn't act again for quite a while.

Just like the snake he was named after, Orochimaru preferred lurking in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. One blow—silent and deadly.

This time, he had already targeted Sasuke Uchiha and left his cursed seal. If he were to act again, it would likely be only when the time was ripe.

"Where is Jiraiya?"

"Has anyone found out where Jiraiya has been recently?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked after a brief pause.

Ever since Jiraiya returned to Konoha, he had been elusive as ever. Apart from knowing that he was somewhere within the village, they had almost no concrete information on his whereabouts.

And when dealing with someone of Jiraiya's caliber, Sarutobi couldn't treat him like any ordinary ninja—sending ANBU to track or monitor him would be pointless.

He would sense them immediately, and the act alone would only damage their already fragile trust.

All he could do was let Jiraiya move freely, occasionally checking on his location. That was the best he could manage.

"Reporting to the Hokage," one of the nearby ANBU spoke up, "Lord Jiraiya has been spending his time in brothels, as usual. He also occasionally meets with Uzumaki Naruto. In addition, a few days ago, one of our agents spotted Lord Jiraiya paying a visit to Uchiha Haru."

Hearing this, Hiruzen's face remained expressionless. Despite the report that his prized student was frequenting brothels again, there wasn't the slightest trace of disappointment.

In fact, he silently praised Jiraiya in his heart.

Among the three Sannin of Konoha, Jiraiya had always seemed the least talented and most unruly. But over the years, he had proven himself on countless fronts. He was no less powerful than Tsunade or Orochimaru.

And more than that, he was cunning.

After his return to Konoha, he did nothing out of the ordinary. He hung around the red-light district, met Naruto every now and then—things that would never raise suspicion.

"A smokescreen," Hiruzen thought, nodding internally. "A clever move to stay off the radar."

Meeting with Naruto made sense. Naruto was the son of Jiraiya's beloved student, the Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato. Now an orphan with no support—of course Jiraiya would keep an eye on him.

There was nothing wrong with that. It was only human.

But when he heard that Jiraiya had also gone to see Uchiha Haru, Hiruzen's expression changed.

He hadn't misheard. Jiraiya—his most trusted, intelligent disciple—had gone to see Uchiha Haru.

That was odd. As far as he knew, Jiraiya and Haru had never met before, had no prior connection or dealings.

Why would Jiraiya seek him out?

The idea gnawed at him. Could it be… because of Tsunade?

Tsunade had once gone to see Haru and nearly returned with a completely altered perspective. Several of her most trusted aides had even been swayed by him.

What if Jiraiya was falling into the same trap?

If Jiraiya, too, was "brainwashed" by Uchiha Haru… the consequences could be devastating.

But stopping Jiraiya was impossible. He wasn't just any ninja—he had influence, power, and a reputation that extended far beyond Konoha. Hiruzen had sent men across nations to retrieve him. Now that he was back, they desperately needed him to stay.

Orochimaru was still in Konoha. And if that traitor struck again, there was no way Sarutobi Hiruzen, at his age, could stop him alone.

Jiraiya would be his best line of defense.

After a moment of contemplation, Hiruzen gave the order:

"Tell Jiraiya what happened. Let him know that Orochimaru is still in Konoha."

He took a slow drag from his pipe.

"Also, tell him we've received the latest intel that Orochimaru might be hiding in the surrounding areas outside the village. Have him help investigate."

If Jiraiya were sent out on a mission—just outside the village, not too far—there would be no chance of him meeting Uchiha Haru again. And in the event of an emergency, he could return swiftly.

It was the perfect compromise.

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

The ANBU received the command and immediately vanished, shadows disappearing into the wind.

Even if they knew the intel they were delivering to Jiraiya was fabricated, they didn't question it.

They never did.

That was the essence of the ANBU's role in Konoha.

Konoha's ANBU were the direct operatives of the Hokage—loyal only to the village leader, taking orders without complaint or hesitation.

Whether it was intelligence gathering, assassination, or disinformation, the ANBU executed all tasks behind the scenes.

They were the Hokage's shadows—tools of war and guardians of order.

They didn't need explanations. They only needed two words: Follow orders.

And so, they obeyed without question.

Once the orders were dispatched, Sarutobi Hiruzen remained still in his seat.

He took another deep pull from his long pipe. The scent of burning tobacco filled the air as smoke curled in front of his aged face.

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