Moments later—
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, finally arrived at the Hokage Building.
The sight awaiting them—
piles of corpses, blood pooling across the stone, ruins still smoldering—
struck both men with shock, fury, and deep sorrow.
"I'm sorry, Lord Third," Minato said bitterly. "Kushina wasn't feeling well. I stayed by her side… I didn't sense the attack immediately."
Hiruzen shook his head, face dark and weary.
"No, Minato… this is not your fault."
"Lord Third, Lord Hokage…"
A broken, low voice interrupted them.
Both men turned.
Evan sat amid blood and scattered limbs, his body drenched in gore, expression heavy with grief.
"Evan!"
Minato's face paled.
"Lord Third, Lord Hokage… I'm sorry. I came too late. By the time I arrived… Elder Koharu had already… already…"
Evan's face twisted in sorrow, eyes trembling with forced grief.
"Ah…"
Hiruzen's entire body jolted.
His pipe slipped from his fingers, clattering to the ground.
His legs buckled—
Minato barely managed to catch him.
"You… you said this… this pile… is Koharu?"
Hiruzen's eyes widened, veins standing out.
That slurry of flesh? That's the idiot Koharu, Evan sneered internally.
But aloud, his voice broke with emotion.
"Yes… that is Elder Koharu Utatane.
She was… she was crushed to death by that monster…"
His voice cracked; he even choked up.
"Pff—!"
Hiruzen suddenly coughed up blood.
"Lord Third!"
Minato cried out and caught him again.
"Call the medical corps—now!"
"N-No."
Hiruzen forced out each breath. "Just… help me up…"
"…Sigh."
Minato lifted him gently.
Hiruzen staggered forward.
He knelt beside the pulped remains of his comrade, trembling.
Tears welled in his aged eyes.
From the moment Tobirama appointed him as Third Hokage,
he, Koharu, Homura, and Danzō had stood together—
weathering storms, bleeding for Konoha, surviving decades side by side.
Decades of burdens shared.
Decades of companionship.
They were all so old now.
They should have been enjoying peaceful twilight years.
But instead…
"Who? WHO DID THIS?!?!"
Hiruzen roared, face contorted with grief and rage.
Evan immediately put on a furious expression.
"He called himself Kuyue, a Sand shinobi with Magnet Release. He crushed Elder Koharu with his own hands!"
Minato clenched his jaw.
"What is going on here?"
Something wasn't adding up.
Sunagakure and Konoha were on the verge of alliance negotiations.
Konoha had even released Pakura.
The next step should have been peace talks—
So how did this turn into slaughter?
"It was Pakura!"
Evan shouted angrily.
"She held a grudge! After being released from Konoha Prison, she gathered all the Sand shinobi and attacked us for revenge!"
"If I had known this would happen, I would have whipped her eight hundred times before letting her out!"
"Damn her!"
Hiruzen's eyes burned with hatred.
Right then—
The Uchiha Police Force arrived.
Behind them came Danzō and his ROOT,
followed by the Hyūga, Akimichi, Nara, Yamanaka, Aburame, Inuzuka clans…
The area descended into chaotic noise.
At the same time, ANBU operatives continued searching the wreckage.
"Lord Hokage! The… the Scroll of Seals… it has been destroyed!"
The reporting ANBU trembled with disbelief.
"What?!"
"How?!"
"Damn those Sand scum, they know what they've done?!"
"Unbelievable! The Scroll of Seals holds countless forbidden jutsu!"
The uproar grew worse.
Nara Shikaku, who had stayed silent until now, frowned deeply.
They destroyed the Scroll of Seals?
Why?
A normal shinobi would steal it.
Forbidden techniques were priceless assets.
So why destroy it?
Unless…
The attacker had no interest whatsoever in forbidden jutsu.
Shikaku stiffened.
Who the hell had the confidence to look down on Konoha's forbidden arts?
But before anyone could think further—
Another ANBU rushed in, face horrified.
"Lord Hokage! Elder Homura—"
Hiruzen froze.
A horrible premonition pierced his gut.
"What happened to him?"
The ANBU swallowed hard.
"Elder Homura… was killed on the road to the Hokage Building.
And the fourteen Mitokado clan members accompanying him… all dead."
"What—"
Hiruzen swayed.
Two lifelong friends dead.
He looked instinctively toward Danzō—
Danzō stood in a shadowed corner, face stiff and gloomy.
Hiruzen's heart eased slightly.
At least Danzō was still alive.
"Pff—!"
Hiruzen spat a second mouthful of blood.
This time he collapsed entirely, his body withering like a dying leaf.
"Lord Third! Lord Third!"
"WE MUST AVENGE THEM!"
Evan rose to his feet, fury radiating off him like flames.
"Sunagakure's treachery has gone too far!"
"They slaughtered Koharu and Homura, murdered our shinobi, destroyed the Scroll of Seals!"
"Konoha must demand justice!"
He clenched his fist and knelt.
"I, Evan, volunteer for battle!
I request that Konoha mobilize troops against Sunagakure—
to avenge our fallen elders and comrades!"
His voice trembled with righteous grief.
The surrounding shinobi were instantly inflamed.
Survivors of the battle, members of the Utatane and Mitokado clans, and countless others shouted:
"Yes! Send the army!"
"Justice for the elders!"
"Kill Pakura!"
"Crush Sunagakure!"
The battlefield surged out of control.
Minato did not stop them.
His expression had turned cold.
Even without a full investigation, the attacker was obvious.
Sunagakure would have to give an explanation—
even if that explanation required Konoha's army marching south.
Konoha blood could not be spilled for nothing.
Uchiha Fugaku stood at the side, expression unreadable.
Another war…
Nara Shikaku frowned harder.
Something feels wrong… very wrong.
Hyūga Hiashi's face remained calm.
None of this concerned the Hyūga directly.
Evan looked at Hiruzen, sneering internally.
Let's see how you reject this momentum of public fury.
Start the damn war already.
But he underestimated Hiruzen's stubbornness.
The Third Hokage, seeing the rising outrage, suddenly shuddered.
Clarity returned to his eyes.
He looked around—
at the fury, the pain, the desperation—
and realized something terrifying.
If he said one word—
just one—
another Shinobi World War would begin immediately.
But…
The last war had barely ended.
So many had died—
including Konoha's own children.
To start another war, immediately after the last?
What if Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri take advantage of the chaos?
Would this become the Fourth Great Ninja War?
Hiruzen hesitated.
Danzō watched silently, his face sinking deeper into shadow.
No one understood Hiruzen better than he did.
He saw the hesitation, the fear—
and felt only disappointment.
Even with two lifelong comrades dead, Hiruzen still wavered.
One day, Danzō thought bitterly,
"When I die… will he hesitate like this too?"
This Konoha is pathetic.
Hiruzen has sat in the Hokage's seat far too long.
He is no longer the sharp, iron-willed warrior from decades ago.
This village needs a new Hokage.
A stronger Hokage.
A Hokage like… me.
Without another word, Danzō turned and walked away.
Pakura, huh?
If the Hokage won't deal with her—
then ROOT absolutely will.
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