Chapter 41: Interruption

"Damn it! Think! Who was it?.."

Hiruzen knelt limply on the blood-stained tatami mat, as he beat the floor furiously.

The maids and Sarutobi ninja were the first to arrive at the crime secene and had no idea who was behind it.

Even if this residence was outside of the Sarutobi compound there was still ninja nearby monitoring different people.

But even then the killers smoothly swaggered in and murdered them.

"Hmph, It's those evil Uchiha! They're always up to no good!"

Koharu squinted his eyes and declared with absolute certainty,

Homaru shared his input,

"It's possible this was an act of revenge."

The group of elders were doing what they did best.

When you don't who's at fault, blame the Uchiha!

"Hiruzen, calm down and look carefully..."

Danzo arrived and asked a nearby Anbu for a brief summary of what had happened.

He narrowed his uncovered left eye, and squatted down beside Shinnosuke's corpse.

He pointed at the cut and said,

"Right here…"

With Danzo's reminder, Hiruzen swallowed his anger and looked at his old friends hand.

Mixed in with the blood, there was an almost invisible black substance.

A substance they recognised.

"This is..."

Hiruzen reached out and touched it while trembling,

Danzo frowned and said,

"It's iron sand."

"Someone from the Kazekage clan with magnet release is likely the culprit."

In the second Ninja war, the Konoha elders were familiar with what happened in the battle against Sunagakure.

The Third Kazekage with his iron sand quite literally crushed hundreds of leaf shinobi.

If the White Fang hadn't been sneaking about and slaughter Sand Shinobi causing the Kazekage to play defensively then they would have suffered a lot more.

"Sunagakure!!!"

Hiruzen growled as he uttered a name with a hate filled tone.

The Magnet style kekkai genkai was unique to Sunagakure's Kazekage clan.

"Hiruzen! Calm down! The shinobi from enemy villages are still here. It's not a good time to punish Sunagakure for their impudence."

Noticing that Hiruzen was about to lose control of himself, Koharu dissuaded him.

Two other major villages, and many others were still in Konoha for the Chunin exam.

If they heard that the Hokage's family had been murdered, then they may try to stir up more trouble.

Homura joined in and added,

"Hiruzen, for now we should-"

"Shut up!!!"

Homura choked on the second half of his sentence,

The three of them had never saw Hiruzen look so angry.

They kept their mouth shut hoping he wouldn't suddenly point his gun at one of them.

Five years ago, his wife Biwako Sarutobi died in the Nine Tails Disaster.

Now, all of his closest relations had been killed and his legacy would end here.

Wait... Asuma's alive, I almost forgot.

Even if he's not that good at anything, I just need to keep him away from politics.

"Where is Sunagakure's shinobi?!"

Hiruzen's face was flushed with anger as he asked imposingly,

An Anbu appeared in front of him and said,

"The sand's genin Pakura and Guide Jonin Baki are currently waiting for the start of the third test."

"Let's go!!"

Hiruzen leapt up and took long strides towards the Forest of Death.

Homura and Koharu quickly followed suit.

Danzo stared at the corpses of the two before catching up.

Although, he wanted Hiruzen to step down from the position of Hokage so he could take it for himself.

He didn't want him to cripple Konoha before that.

…

…

Hachiro glanced over the shinobi in front of him.

There were genin from the rain that were looking around and gathering information.

They probably came under Nagato's orders.

After a quick observation he noticed some familiar shinobi

One was Yūgao Uzuki, the other was Hiashi who he had seen a few hours ago.

Two Hyuga ninja and presumably an inazuka clan member holding a dog in his hands.

Hachiro waved at Hiashi and flashed him a smile.

Hiashi seemed surprised he was interested in interaction before nodded in return.

Shisui and Fugaku Uchiha were already in the stands.

Probably to encourage Itachi.

Hachiro folded his arms and leaned against the railings in front of him.

Mei held onto one of his hands.

"Congratulations everyone, all of you who have made it here have entered the third stage of this chunin exam!"

An eighteen year old, Kakashi stood out in the middle of the venue.

"I am Hatake Kakashi, I will be your examiner for the third test. I will the explain the rules for everyone, now..."

In the middle of his explanation, several Anbu squads and the four elders appeared.

Everyone was confused, why is the Hokage making a scene?

Hachiro sat up and acted as if he was genuinely uncertain about what was happening.

He thought to himself,

I wonder what he will do now, that his own child has died.

Probably not a 'Konoha will remember your sacrifice'.