Chapter 108: Someone Planted a Nail into Danzo's Root
"Investigate the truth... Kakashi, what will you do?"
"Among the rumors about my father's suicide, it says the latest intelligence was extracted from interrogating a Mist ninja prisoner. Though it sounds somewhat absurd, Sensei, you know—a very high-ranking Mist ninja was indeed captured."
"You mean Suikazan Fuguki."
"Counting the time, the interrogation should have results by now."
Kakashi's gaze turned eastward. Before his entire squad returned to Konoha with Minato-sensei, interrogation of Suikazan Fuguki hadn't yet begun. But so much time had passed now—the Mist ninja had been completely driven back and sent a diplomatic envoy. Whatever secrets were in Fuguki's brain should have been excavated clean by now.
Moments later, he withdrew his gaze, looking at Minato-sensei standing beside him, once again asking: "Sensei, who do you think released these rumors?"
"Hmm? That..."
Minato momentarily couldn't speak.
Who released the rumors?
He'd naturally seriously considered this question, but with limited intelligence, he couldn't reach an accurate answer. The truth remained submerged in deep fog.
"Kakashi, do you have leads?"
Minato asked.
"Sensei, I thought all last night. I kept thinking—rumors can't possibly appear without reason. If someone deliberately spread rumors behind the scenes, why would they spread such rumors? They must have a purpose for doing this."
"That's correct. Whoever's spreading these rumors definitely has a purpose."
"So I changed angles, pondering who these rumors would harm? And who could profit from these rumors?"
"Did you gain anything?"
"Sensei, back at the front lines, it wasn't just my squad that was betrayed."
Kakashi answered.
Minato froze.
He immediately reacted. Besides Kakashi's group being betrayed and nearly wiped out, that young Hyuga Clan head had similarly been betrayed. But those people clearly underestimated Ritsu's capabilities, causing their plan to ultimately fail at the last moment...
"Kakashi, you're saying Clan Head Hyuga is behind these rumors?"
Minato's brow furrowed tightly.
If Kakashi's speculation was true, then... this matter would be truly troublesome. What exactly was Clan Head Hyuga trying to achieve by releasing rumors deliberately targeting and damaging village leadership's authority?
Letting his thoughts diverge slightly, he could foresee those terrible possibilities.
Also, what exactly was Kakashi trying to do?
"This is all just my speculation without any evidence. Sensei, you probably can't leave the front lines for too long, right? You should hurry back. Don't let me affect important matters. I'm very clear about what can be done and what can't."
At this moment, Kakashi conversely advised Minato to return to the front lines.
Minato's heart was a jumble of emotions.
He naturally didn't think Kakashi had truly figured things out. More likely, Kakashi had already made a decision and planned to carry it through to the end. As for where this decision would guide Kakashi's future... completely unforeseeable.
Unfortunately, he as a teacher truly had no solution for this.
Though Kakashi wasn't very old, he was already a jonin who could decide his own fate. He didn't need his teacher to help plan his life's future.
"Kakashi, you—"
"Sensei, I need to continue practicing my blade techniques."
Kakashi's attitude was so obvious.
Minato wanted to speak but stopped.
But Kakashi had already continued polishing his blade techniques as though no one else existed, constantly recalling his father's teachings before death, imitating that figure in his memory's every move.
Minato stared at Kakashi's figure practicing diligently for quite a while. Rin quietly walked over, asking softly: "Sensei, is Kakashi's problem resolved?"
"Not yet."
Minato's mouth curved into a bitter smile full of helplessness. "Rin, don't worry too much for now. I'll think of solutions for Kakashi's matter. You also need to pay attention to maintaining your emotions. Absolutely don't let the Tailed Beast exploit any opening."
"I know. It's just... troubling you again, Sensei."
Rin lowered her head guiltily.
"What nonsense are you saying?"
Minato's smile became extraordinarily gentle. He reached out and rubbed the girl's head again. "I'm your teacher. Caring for and looking after you is natural. If you have any problems, remember to tell me or Kushina promptly. You're never alone—Kushina and I are your support!!!"
These words weren't just for Rin.
They were equally spoken for Kakashi, who was practicing blade techniques.
Kakashi's movements stiffened for that single instant, but immediately returned to normal as he continued concentrating wholeheartedly on practicing.
Minato comforted Rin, greeted the two girls Aika and Akiba, then directly left the training ground. With a Flying Thunder God Technique, he instantly appeared on the Hokage Building's rooftop.
He waited in the reception room for about five minutes before the Hokage's secretary came to tell him Lord Hokage summoned him.
Walking into the Hokage's office, he was immediately met with gray-white smoke.
Through this gauze-like smoke, he could see the Third Hokage with tightly furrowed brow, heavy eye bags, obvious dark circles, clearly not having rested well, and the pipe in his hand flickering with dim reddish light.
"Minato, when did you return?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice also carried lingering exhaustion.
"Not long ago, less than an hour."
Sarutobi nodded. Half an hour ago, he'd received ANBU reports saying they'd seen Minato Namikaze on the street. "Did something happen to bring you back suddenly?"
"I heard people in the village recently are saying I triggered the war with the Mist ninja."
"Even you heard about it!"
Sarutobi smiled bitterly and sighed. "Yes, that happened. Not sure who's spreading such messy rumors behind the scenes. I've already issued orders to the Military Police Force to control the village's speech environment and trace the rumors' source."
"Minato, don't worry! Rumors are always just rumors. This matter won't cause you any harm or obstruction! Once we've traced the mastermind, I'll definitely give you an explanation!"
His tired, hoarse voice carried unquestionable firm will.
Minato fell silent for a moment. He could hear the Third Hokage's care for him, but precisely because of this, his mood became even more complex and indescribable. Definitely give himself an explanation—but where was the explanation for Kakashi's squad?
Seeing Minato not speaking but clearly depressed, Sarutobi was first somewhat puzzled but quickly reacted, realizing why Minato had come. His facial expression became increasingly heavy as he asked: "Minato, you came to ask about Kakashi's matter?"
"Lord Hokage, does this matter still have no results?"
Minato's voice was soft.
Sarutobi's emotions churned like boiling water. On one hand was Danzo Shimura, his old comrade who'd weathered storms with him for many years. On the other was Minato Namikaze, the successor he favored. For him, both palms and backs of hands were flesh. He deeply experienced what it meant to be in a dilemma, unable to advance or retreat!
After a moment of silence, the pipe's light constantly flickered.
Finally, Sarutobi spoke: "Minato, this matter is still under investigation. Someone planted a nail into Danzo's Root."
"Hmm?"
Minato froze. This answer was truly... unexpected. Didn't it sound too perfunctory? Though he hadn't much dealt with Danzo's Root, he'd learned through different channels that this small faction organization within ANBU was famously iron-clad, firmly controlled in Danzo's hands through curse seals and his own set of theories.
"I know this sounds very much like making excuses for Danzo, but I'm truly not deceiving you. Danzo was also pecked in the eye this time. He's currently investigating Root's interior. Minato, I can tell you clearly—Kakashi's matter absolutely won't be left unresolved like this. If Danzo can't trace the mastermind, he himself must bear responsibility for poor management!"
Just poor management responsibility?
These words circled through Minato's heart without being spoken aloud.
However, observing carefully, he felt Lord Hokage this time truly wasn't purely making excuses for Danzo. It sounded like this truly was the case.
After repeated consideration, Minato ultimately didn't ask about Ritsu being betrayed. Inquiring about Kakashi was natural and right because Kakashi was his student. But Ritsu had no connection whatsoever with him—no need for him to ask questions here.
"Lord Hokage, there's one more matter."
"What?"
"Regarding that rumor about Sakumo Hatake-senpai."
Sarutobi sighed heavily. "Really don't know which bastard is now using that Mist ninja Suikazan Fuguki's wild claims to cause trouble without reason. Minato, look at this testimony yourself!"
As he spoke, he pulled out that interrogation confession from his drawer and handed it to Minato.
Minato didn't refuse. He reached out and accepted this confession, beginning to read carefully.
Meanwhile, Sarutobi continued: "Most things in there are Fuguki's own speculation. A Mist ninja viewing our village's matters would naturally approach from a conspiracy theory angle. Yet some people are treating such things as truth—simply absurd!"
His emotions were quite angry, full of displeasure.
After Minato finished reading this detailed, coherent confession that appeared to have no deletions or modifications, he slowly nodded.
The records in this confession were indeed full of shocking statements. He had no way to judge truth from falsehood. However, the claim that Sakumo-senpai traded his own life with the Hokage to exchange for Kakashi becoming his student seemed pure fabrication to him!
Back then, Kakashi, Obito and Rin becoming his students wasn't arranged by Lord Hokage alone.
Assigning the top-ranked genius and a tail-end with deep potential to one squad was a ninja academy tradition. The most typical example was the now-famous Sannin. At the ninja academy, Teacher Jiraiya was also tail-end, ultimately becoming teammates with Orochimaru-senpai and Tsunade-senpai. Their squad leader was Sarutobi Hiruzen, who wasn't yet Hokage then.
Later, generation after generation of graduating ninja academy students often followed this tradition. After all, the ninja academy's training methods didn't necessarily excavate the potential possessed by some special geniuses.
At that time, Lord Hokage had only consulted Minato's opinion, asking if he wanted to be Kakashi and the others' instructor. The choice was completely in his hands—refusing or agreeing was up to him.
And Minato, after secretly observing, had seen through Kakashi and the others' kind natures before agreeing.
From this point, one could see this confession indeed contained inaccuracies.
However, this also didn't represent that Sakumo Hatake-senpai's suicide back then truly had no hidden circumstances. Sakumo-senpai's suicide had too many problematic and inexplicable aspects, making people unable to stop various speculations.
"Minato, do you understand? Those spreading these rumors are purely causing trouble without reason. In any case, I definitely must investigate this matter thoroughly. Whoever's behind this, I'll drag them out."
Sarutobi said with murderous intent.
"I understand, Lord Hokage."
Minato said nothing more.
He had no evidence proving Sakumo-senpai's suicide back then had hidden circumstances. He also wasn't here specifically to fight the Third Hokage. Doing so served no purpose. He was just an ordinary jonin. Even if he found many things objectionable, he was helpless. What he could do now was only silently endure, then actively strive to become the Fourth Hokage.
Only by becoming Fourth Hokage and truly grasping village authority could he change some disagreeable aspects and dig out some malignant tumors parasitizing the village.
"Minato, any other questions?"
"No more."
"Good then."
Sarutobi nodded and asked again: "What's the current front-line situation? Have Cloud ninja made any moves?"
"Currently still continuing the standoff. Only patrol squads have engaged a few times with limited scope—mutual wins and losses—but neither side has expanded to trigger larger-scale hostilities."
"Then continue watching Cloud ninja. This battle is best not fought if possible. As long as Cloud ninja don't proactively launch large-scale offensives, we'll try to exercise restraint. These two years of bitter fighting have truly made the village somewhat unable to bear it."
Sarutobi instructed at length.
Minato nodded repeatedly in agreement. But even to the end, he didn't speak Kakashi's speculation aloud—didn't mention that Ritsu might be the source of these rumors spreading throughout the village. Because he felt Lord Hokage must have already detected this. No need for him to do something superfluous.
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