In the forest outside Konoha Village, thousands of ninjas watched Hyuga Kaze's disappearing figure, unable to tell whether they were disappointed or relieved.

They were assigned to ambush the mysterious man on the outskirts of Konoha Village, but they didn't have time to set up a strong barrier, so their chances were already slim.

Hyuga Kaze left gracefully, while Konoha was left in ruins. Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the corpses scattered everywhere with a sorrowful expression.

Nara Shikaku came over and presented another problem, "Hokage-sama, according to the report, the masked man has already left using space-time ninjutsu, but we still can't let our guard down. Also, there are too many injured people tonight, and we may not have enough doctors."

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Shikaku with a respectful expression, his eyes filled with complex and unreadable emotions. "Too many things happened tonight. I'll have to trouble you with the rescue and damage assessment. Medical personnel can be drawn from various clans who have studied medical ninjutsu to do their best to treat patients. I will arrange for the Anbu and the Barrier Team to work together to ensure security."

Shikaku calmly accepted the order, respectfully took his leave, and then consulted with members of various clans and some commoner Jonin.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the ruins of the Sarutobi clan's territory, frowned, and began to smoke. Too much had happened that night, and he needed to sort things out.

At that moment, several ANBU ninjas rushed in to report, their voices filled with fear, "Lord Hokage, we just discovered that the Hokage Building has been broken into, the Scroll of Sealing has been stolen, and the spare supplies warehouse under the Hokage Building has been emptied!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi froze abruptly, and after a few seconds, he gritted his teeth and squeezed out the words "Uchiha Tajima" from his throat, with a few streaks of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

After struggling to arrange for people to inspect other secret warehouses and to set up the search and cleanup work in the Uchiha and Sarutobi clan territories, Hiruzen Sarutobi returned to the Hokage's office, looking exhausted, and discussed matters behind closed doors with Danzo Shimura and a few others.

The atmosphere in the Hokage's office was terrifyingly tense, with everyone wearing gloomy expressions.

Hiruzen Sarutobi glared fiercely at Danzo and coldly demanded, "What's the deal with all those experiments and data from Root?!"

He knew a little about Danzo's underhanded dealings. What angered him wasn't that Danzo had done such a thing, but that so many messes had been left unresolved and then broadcast.

The thought of the possible reactions from those families and commoners gave him a splitting headache; what he had heard tonight was enough to ruin the reputations of all the high-ranking officials in Konoha.

"Everything I've done is for Konoha," Danzo said with a stern face. He knew that tonight's events had gone a bit too far, but he still sincerely believed that everything he had done was for the good of Konoha.

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu glared at Danzo and said coldly, "This reason is insufficient to explain to the residents of Konoha, nor will it satisfy those clans. The incident happened suddenly; once they realize what's happening and cause trouble, do you think we'll still be sitting here?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at his old comrades, his eyes filled with gloom. He always valued his reputation above all else, and tonight it was all ruined. How to handle the events revealed by the mysterious man was also a huge problem. This was no longer something that could be solved simply by dismissing Danzo. On the way back, the ninjas had been giving him and Danzo strange looks.

Thinking of this, Hiruzen glared at Danzo with hatred, "You suddenly disappeared during the battle. You've already cleaned everything up, haven't you? And Sasuke, where did you take him?"

Danzo was both horrified and aggrieved by Hiruzen's fierce gaze. He explained, "What nonsense! That masked man is slandering me. Root has not conducted any human experiments. As for Sasuke, that masked man massacred the Uchiha clan tonight, and I was protecting him."

These shameless words disgusted his three old friends who knew him very well, making them feel as if they had swallowed flies. However, it seemed that Danzo had destroyed all the unfavorable things, so they could rest assured.

"Hand over Sasuke, and the Anbu will protect him," Hiruzen Sarutobi instructed, then turned to Koharu and asked, "How's Naruto doing?"

"This is a rare piece of good news tonight. He ate expired instant noodles, got an upset stomach, and stayed in the bathroom the whole time, so he didn't see anything. When the screen showed the part with sound from behind, I had already arranged for someone to knock him out and protect him."

Hearing this, Hiruzen finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"So, how do we explain tonight's events? Too many people have seen that light screen!"

Koharu Utatane looked back and forth among her old buddies. "The civilians are alright, but those ninjas are hard to appease. What's more, after seeing the fate of the Uchiha clan, can they still trust us?"

"Ninjas are meant to sacrifice themselves. If those clans dare to make any moves, Root will not tolerate them," Danzo's words were always so firm and domineering.

Hiruzen rolled his eyes in annoyance. "How many people does Root still have? Can they suppress so many civilian ninjas and clan members? Let alone Root, the Anbu has suffered heavy losses, and some Anbu members are already restless!"

Even though their families combined had over two thousand ninjas, they were still far inferior to the common people of Konoha and the ninjas of other families. Moreover, the gap was even greater when their base was starting to become unstable.

After a long silence, Danzo, his eyes fierce and terrifying, offered his suggestion: "The Anbu and Root suffered too many losses tonight and need a lot of replacements. I think it would be better to recruit those restless civilian ninjas, and together with members from our clans, our strength will be formidable. Then, Hiruzen, you handle the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, and I'll talk to Hiashi Hyuga. Basically, Konoha will be at peace!"

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