Lately, the atmosphere in Konoha Village has been unusually oppressive and heavy, as if shrouded in a gloomy haze.

As the border war with the Cloud Ninja and the Iwa Ninja continued, the kind and gentle smile that was once on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face gradually disappeared, replaced by exhaustion and worry.

The ninjas and villagers of Konoha Village all keenly noticed that the Hokage's temper seemed to be getting worse and worse, and sometimes he would suddenly lose his temper without any warning.

Even Hiruzen Sarutobi himself felt extremely anxious and exhausted, and his emotional control had greatly decreased.

Border closures caused by war inevitably lead to shortages of supplies and price increases.

In addition, a mysterious organization recently made a large-scale purchase of supplies in the Land of Fire and secretly emptied the warehouses of the daimyo and many nobles. As a result, the price of supplies in the Land of Fire has soared, making it much more difficult and burdensome to ensure the supply of supplies to the front line.

These were already enough to annoy Hiruzen Sarutobi, but this was just the beginning.

First, due to the massive theft of supplies, the ongoing war, and the surge in bandits, many noble merchants lost confidence in Konoha and turned to other ninja villages to issue missions, resulting in a significant decrease in Konoha's daily missions.

Secondly, Sarutobi Asuma went to the front lines. Although, at his own suggestion, he was assigned to positions with minimal danger, there is no such thing as absolute safety on the battlefield.

His eldest son, Sarutobi Shinnosuke, and his wife, on whom he had placed high hopes, died inexplicably during a mission with extremely low risk, leaving behind only a pitiful grandson.

That's not all. Many people in Konoha are also very interested in Asuma's achievements, and they discuss Asuma's contributions in the taverns of Konoha.

However, Konoha's overall situation on the front lines was not good, so how could Asuma, who was in a logistical position, achieve outstanding results?

In the protracted battles at the border with the Cloud and Rock ninja, Konoha was generally on the defensive.

The situation is alright on the Iwa ninja side, but Onoki is clearly in a hesitant and probing phase, and the conflicts have mainly been small-scale.

The Iwa ninja's tactics are mainly characterized by group attacks, which makes them much less aggressive in small-scale skirmishes, thus posing a relatively small threat to Konoha.

In contrast, the battle with the Cloud Ninja was much more brutal, resulting in numerous casualties. The Hyuga branch family alone lost twenty to thirty scout ninjas.

Because of the slander from that mysterious person on the night of the Uchiha massacre, and the previous nonsense spoken by someone pretending to be Asuma, the Sarutobi clan had no choice but to embark on this path as well.

Those clansmen with less combat experience suffered heavy casualties, which greatly increased their resentment towards him, making Hiruzen Sarutobi feel that his own backyard was on fire.

Fortunately, during the battle with the Cloud Ninja, many fearless ninjas emerged from the Root and Anbu. Some of them, in coordination with Danzo's Wind Release, managed to hold off the Fourth Raikage.

The other group chose to fight to the death, perishing together with many Cloud Ninja!

Furthermore, Jiraiya's sudden appearance on the battlefield provided powerful support to the Konoha ninjas.

Perhaps concerned about the actions of other ninja villages, and seeing that a breakthrough could not be achieved in the short term, the Cloud Ninja were unwilling to fight to the death with Konoha. They gradually consolidated their battle lines and confronted Konoha at the border.

Then, the Iwa ninja also quietly retreated, abandoning their probing and entanglement with Konoha, but their troops did not completely withdraw.

The ninja world has temporarily returned to peace.

On the day they received news from the front lines, the residents of Konoha once again felt the Hokage's warm smile.

In his speech, he described how the Konoha ninjas, undaunted by sacrifice, fought bravely and successfully thwarted the evil plot of the Iwa and Kumo ninjas.

Among them, Sarutobi Asuma took the lead and led the Sarutobi clan to make some minor contributions. Of course, the other ninjas and clans also worked hard and made significant contributions.

Contrary to Hiruzen Sarutobi's prediction, while the residents of Konoha applauded and cheered upon hearing the news, their enthusiasm was noticeably lower than before.

This left him feeling both heartbroken and panicked, as if things were spiraling out of control.

He quickly expanded on his explanation, describing to the audience the great significance of the victory and its benefits to the residents of Konoha, and stating that under his leadership, everyone's lives would surely get better and better.

In the crowd, Hinata Kaze yawned boredly and silently complained to himself.

"Is this a complete replica of those bald leaders from my past life, or even worse? At least they would praise others first in meetings, talk about what they actually did, and then subtly mention their own achievements. This old monkey has completely replaced other people's achievements with empty words like 'contribution'."

Not only did he complain, but with Hinata Kaze's senses, he easily heard many people whispering.

"What's the point of fighting if prices don't come down? Now, a day's work only buys half a day's worth of food, it's like working at a loss!"

"What exactly did Asma do? I heard from my brother-in-law, who was retired after breaking his leg, that he was always protected by a group of people on the front lines!"

"Shh, don't talk nonsense. Recently, many ninjas and villagers have mysteriously disappeared. Many of them got into trouble because they were talking nonsense."

"Do you think what appeared in the sky last time was real...?"

Hearing these words, Hinata Kaze found it very interesting. The old monkey was performing passionately on stage, but the audience below ignored him, which showed that the video he had played earlier was indeed effective.

If the residents and ninjas of Konoha could continue to be fooled, they would eventually observe, compare, and ponder after receiving a hint.

Just like Kakashi, didn't he have any doubts about White Fang's death?

The crowd is watching you, you monkey!

Although Hyuga Kaze disliked Hiruzen Sarutobi, he didn't harbor much ill will towards him.

As far as Hinata Kaze is concerned, as long as they don't offend him, he can even consider them a cute sugar daddy, since the Sarutobi family has contributed a lot of resources to him.

The significance of this war for Hyuga Kaze lies in the fact that many branch family members who were hopelessly loyal to the main family and forced others to act as their dogs died or were injured on the battlefield, and the Hyuga family was purified.

That way, when he takes action next, he won't have to get his hands dirty with the blood of his clansmen!

Unwilling to continue listening to the long, stinky monkey's cries, Hyuga Kaze discreetly retreated, using the crowd as cover to unleash the Flying Thunder God Technique, disappearing silently from the spot.

"Brother Wind"

Upon returning to the clan's territory, Hyuga was greeted by an adorable little girl.

She blinked her adorable big eyes, her voice was soft and cute, and she seemed a little shy when she greeted people, her fingers touching each other.

"Hinata-sama," Hinata Kaze politely returned the greeting, his eyes filled with a deep affection for Hinata.

Don't get me wrong, Hinata Kaze isn't a lolicon, it's just that the person he likes happens to be a loli.

Hinata has a decent personality and is quite polite to me, but unfortunately, her father is the head of the main branch of the Hyuga clan. Once I start reforming the Hyuga clan, this identity will become a cardinal sin!