Chapter 113: You'll Create the Record of Being the First Hokage Forced from Power
Hyuga Arima's shadow clones departed quite smoothly. Though some tried to intercept, stopping so many shadow clones at once wasn't easy. Most clones with activated Byakugan evaded the interception. The main reason was this happened too suddenly—no one had anticipated Ritsu would so violently flip the table!
Everyone was caught completely off guard.
It must be known—Sarutobi Hiruzen had acted hastily today, using the Mist ninja against Ritsu precisely because upon learning Ritsu had entered the Military Police Force, he worried the Hyuga and Uchiha clans might band together, making the situation more troublesome and difficult.
He also hadn't expected using the Mist ninja alone to capture Ritsu. This was merely a pretext. As long as he could restrict Ritsu's freedom and achieve the level of "accepting investigation," that would suffice. Follow-up methods would naturally flay Ritsu alive...
But the result—Ritsu didn't follow common sense at all. Having just returned to the village today without even visiting his own Hyuga clan compound, after merely a few questions, he suddenly used violence.
Directly causing the Hokage building, which hadn't suffered any turmoil since its establishment, to have its roof torn off for the first time—and to be crowned with a green hat at that.
This caused all Sarutobi Hiruzen's subsequent schemes to evaporate into bubbles, no longer having any use or meaning.
At this moment, just as Ritsu arranged for Arima to summon clansmen and notify the Uchiha clan—
Sarutobi Hiruzen and the two advisor elders similarly issued orders deploying forces, summoning personnel, immediately ordering the village into wartime control status.
"Find Danzo. Have Danzo bring his Root here immediately."
"Jonin—summon the jonin. Notify the village's jonin."
"We need to arrange people to deal with the Hyuga clan, surround them, prevent Ritsu from gathering with his clansmen. Sarutobi, have the Ino-Shika-Cho families assemble elites to watch them!"
"Also don't forget the Military Police Force. Can't let the Uchiha get involved. They've very likely already colluded with Ritsu... need Anbu or Root to go guard against them. Damn it, this is really tight."
Mitokado Homura's expression was very ugly.
Calculating like this, he immediately discovered what it meant to cook without rice.
Konoha Village currently actually had plenty of personnel. Though large numbers remained at the eastern coast and Land of Hot Water border, Konoha's foundation was deep—the village's reserves remained substantial.
But the problem was—the Hyuga and Uchiha were originally the two largest pieces of that deep foundation puzzle.
Now the Hyuga clan was rebelling, and the Uchiha couldn't be trusted.
Just watching these two great houses with remaining personnel would be exhausting enough.
But this still wasn't the hardest part. The hardest part was besieging and killing Hiruko and Ritsu, this teacher-student pair of rebels. The Mist ninja had already verified Ritsu's terrifying nature through actual action. Suikazan Fuguki and other Mist ninja experts had joined forces yet been counter-killed by Ritsu alone.
In other words, wanting to hunt Ritsu required dispatching an even stronger lineup. If adding Hiruko who'd mastered Ice Style Kekkei Genkai, they'd need even more personnel.
"Send word for Danzo to rush over as quickly as possible. Just him coming is fine—dispatch Root to watch the Uchiha clan... No, give the Military Police Force an order. Have them watch the Mist ninja at the embassy. Root will coordinate."
Sarutobi Hiruzen issued orders with furrowed brows.
The Uchiha clan merely had suspicion of colluding with the Hyuga. But if sending people to watch them equaled clearly displaying distrust of the Uchiha, it might directly push the Uchiha—who hadn't colluded with the Hyuga—over to them.
After consideration, he made this arrangement.
Root would nominally coordinate with Military Police Force actions. Their actual mission was monitoring the Military Police Force.
Beside them, Hyakubei remained silent like a wooden person, doing his utmost to minimize his presence. However, his mood at this moment had become quite good again.
Konoha had actually erupted in internal strife. The panic he'd felt earlier when Ritsu revealed Wood Style had settled down. He had to restrain himself from laughing aloud.
This was an undeniable good thing for their Mist ninja.
Fight! Fight! Best if you mutually destroy each other!
Hyakubei cheered in his heart.
"Notify the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clans. Have them dispatch experts to surround the Hyuga clan compound. Try to persuade the Hyuga clan not to act rashly and honestly remain in their compound. Hyuga Ritsu's personal actions won't implicate innocent people. But if they dare leave the compound at this time, they're no longer innocent!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen continued ordering.
Then he added: "Also, notify Torune. Have him rush here."
"Danzo, Torune, plus you, Sarutobi... is that enough?"
Mitokado Homura asked.
Their Konoha powerhouses —Orochimaru was at the eastern coast, Jiraiya, Namikaze Minato and others at the Land of Hot Water border. Truly few top tier ninja remained in the village.
"Homura, don't underestimate me! Though I'm no longer young, I haven't aged to where I can't walk. Teaching a lesson to a brat who thinks killing a few Mist ninja means he's invincible —that's still no problem."
Sarutobi Hiruzen tore off the relatively loose Hokage robes unsuitable for combat, quickly changing into practical battle gear.
Then he raised his head to look at the Hokage building before him crowned with this "green crown." Though not a professional sensory ninja, being proficient with the Crystal Ball Technique made him half an expert at sensing. He could feel Ritsu was currently in the forest above.
Eliminating Ritsu was most critical.
Moreover, though this happened suddenly, completely beyond expectations, this didn't seem entirely a bad thing either.
Ritsu's behavior similarly removed the shackles binding Sarutobi Hiruzen. He could openly eliminate Ritsu under the righteous name of executing a traitor. Moreover, because this happened suddenly, as long as Ritsu could be quickly killed, without their leader the Hyuga clan would find it hard to cause further trouble.
At this time—
"Hokage-sama, haven't you thought clearly yet?"
The voice came from above.
Ritsu jumped down, landing steadily on the other side of the street. Looking at Sarutobi Hiruzen standing opposite, he smiled. "Voluntarily abdicate and you can retain some dignity. Otherwise... you'll create the record of being the first Hokage forced from power."
"Hyuga Ritsu, do you think you have the ability to control everything?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't become angry, only stared coldly at Ritsu.
"Even the Sage of Six Paths wouldn't dare claim he could control everything. However... I can control your life!"
"Is that so? Then I'd like to see what degree you've developed Wood Style to."
The instant his words fell, Sarutobi Hiruzen attacked.
He flung his hand, throwing three shuriken while rapidly forming seals with both hands.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
The three flying shuriken multiplied into dozens in the blink of an eye, shooting toward Ritsu like sudden torrential rain.
" Twin Lion Fists!"
Ritsu released chakra like azure flames from both palms, sketching out lion head shapes. He swung his palms swiftly, quick as thunder. Though the shuriken were densely packed as rain, the Byakugan could clearly capture every shuriken's position. He knocked down every single one without exception.
However, these small tricks were undoubtedly merely greetings, a layer of misdirection providing cover for the real attack.
"Earth Style: Antlion Technique!"
As the shuriken were deflected, Sarutobi Hiruzen completed complex seals, unleashing this Earth Style technique with exceptionally formidable killing power.
His student Orochimaru had used this move during the frontline battlefield counterattack on the Mist ninja main camp, breaking the Fourth Mizukage's Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave technique with it.
At this moment, the earth beneath Ritsu's feet began rotating rapidly like a whirlpool. Various scattered rocks and debris on the ground were all swept in and crushed by compression. One could imagine what fate awaited humans swept into it.
Of course, Sarutobi Hiruzen still exercised restraint, controlling the Antlion's attack range. Otherwise, if he went all out without control, he could sweep half the street into it, creating a literal hellish scene.
However you looked at it, Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't do such things. This was near the Hokage building, Konoha Village's heart. Everyone living here was a Konoha villager, genuine allies.
Therefore, he deliberately controlled the Antlion's attack range, targeting only Ritsu.
However, what slightly disappointed Sarutobi Hiruzen—Ritsu wasn't swept into it.
The Byakugan's perception was number one in the shinobi world. While deflecting shuriken, Ritsu clearly saw chakra flowing within Sarutobi Hiruzen's body, saw him pour chakra underground.
Therefore, the instant Earth Style: Antlion manifested, he used Wood Style Kekkei Genkai. Long vine branches grew from his arms, firmly wrapping around the third-floor window of the building diagonally opposite, pulling himself into the air, perfectly evading the Antlion's attack.
Standing on the building's third-floor wall, Ritsu looked down at Sarutobi Hiruzen and completed hand seals.
"Hidden Mist Technique!"
Gray-white mist surged in all directions like a tide. In the blink of an eye, the entire street was shrouded in mist so thick you couldn't see your hand before your face.
Hyakubei, trying his best to become a wooden person, bit his teeth and rapidly formed seals, also unleashing Hidden Mist Technique, making the mist even thicker.
However—
"This mist can't block the Byakugan."
Sarutobi Hiruzen murmured softly.
As the ninja professor who'd mastered a thousand techniques, he naturally knew Hidden Mist Technique. He also understood that when two people simultaneously cast Hidden Mist Technique, neither could use the mist to sense the other's position.
But the problem was—his opponent casting Hidden Mist Technique was Hyuga Ritsu.
The Hyuga clan's Byakugan could see through this thick fog. Using Hidden Mist Technique to counter Ritsu's Hidden Mist was completely like taking off your pants to fart—superfluous, pointless, meaningless!
The Byakugan and Hidden Mist Technique combination was truly troublesome. Or rather, Hidden Mist Technique seemed to truly reach its ultimate effectiveness only in the Hyuga clan's hands!!
Sarutobi Hiruzen himself wasn't a professional sensory ninja. He could only perform sensing ninjutsu in safe, stable environments. More accurately, most sensory ninja couldn't simultaneously maintain sensing ninjutsu during high-intensity combat.
Therefore, this situation was quite troublesome.
Sarutobi Hiruzen stood in the mist, clearly realizing that eliminating Ritsu truly wasn't simple. Just this one Hidden Mist Technique brought considerable trouble.
He couldn't accurately locate Ritsu's position, yet Ritsu could clearly see his every move. Fighting like this—he'd definitely be at a disadvantage.
Fortunately, he was the ninja professor.
He'd mastered a thousand techniques and possessed extremely rich combat experience.
Though this was also his first time encountering the troublesome Byakugan + Hidden Mist combination, he still thought of a countermeasure.
"Water Clone Technique!"
He created over a hundred water clones in an instant.
These water clones' strength was minimal, but chakra consumption was similarly minuscule. Moreover, being solid clones meant even the Byakugan couldn't discern which was his real body. These water clones could serve to confuse vision and buy time.
Beside him, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu also performed Water Clone Technique.
In the blink of an eye, three to four hundred Hokages and advisor elders appeared in the area surrounding the Hokage building.
These water clones, along with the real bodies, all moved.
Simultaneously, not only were Sarutobi Hiruzen and others trapped by Hidden Mist Technique—ninja originally nearby and those noticing the Hokage building's disturbance rushing quickly toward it were also startled by this thick fog.
The nearest batch who rushed fastest plunged into the thick mist.
"Ambush! This is Hidden Mist Technique!"
"Damn it! What's going on? Have Mist ninja infiltrated the village?"
"Back-to-back formation!"
Responsible jonin shouted loudly, skillfully forming defensive formations against the caster's assault. What surprised them somewhat—they encountered no enemy attacks, only sounds of combat transmitting from the Hokage building's direction.
Outside the mist-shrouded range—
Konoha ninja who'd spontaneously rushed to investigate all stopped, not daring to recklessly enter. Everyone was no rookie—they understood how troublesome the Mist ninja's Hidden Mist Technique was. Unless you were a sensory ninja, best not rush into the mist gambling with your life.
Moreover, aside from combat, there was another important mission requiring execution—evacuating villagers living in the surrounding area. Ninja who'd received complete military education spontaneously gathered under jonin command. Though strangers to each other, they could still cooperate, evacuating villagers to the nearest shelters.
The order placing the village under wartime control had already spread widely. The entire Konoha Village plunged into a state where every rustle sounded like danger!
****
50+advance chapters at patreon.com/Eatinpieces