Chapter 17

This time, Sakumo Hatake personally escorted him back to Konoha, even though there was a risk of being ambushed on the way.

After all, Sosuke's injuries could not be delayed. If they weren't treated quickly, he might not fully recover, making him much weaker in battle.

Since Sosuke is a shinobi who relies on his Taijutsu and Kenjutsu, this would greatly reduce his combat power.

The safety of the border isn't that important anymore.

Since Sosuke killed the captain of the Sand shinobi, Shirou, even though the leader of the Sand Village was very angry about his death, they didn't dare to cause trouble immediately.

Even that old woman, Chiyo, probably couldn't ignore the higher-ups' objections and lead an attack on Konoha directly.

However, it was only a matter of time before they launched an attack on Konoha. 

So, after escorting Sosuke back, Sakumo couldn't afford to delay and had to return to the front lines immediately.

This battle could very likely be the event that started a war between Konoha and the Sunagakure.

At this moment, Sakumo wasn't sure whether he should be grateful to him for solving a major problem or complain that he had stirred up a hornet's nest.

Sakumo moved at incredible speed. Even while carrying Sosuke, it took a few hours to reach the gates of Konoha Village.

By the time he was rushing back to the village, news of his return had already been sent ahead by messenger hawk.

In the Hokage's office, Danzo and Hiruzen were arguing about Sosuke.

"We can't hesitate any longer. Now is the perfect time to kill Sosuke!" 

Danzo demanded.

But Third Hokage was struggling with the decision. 

It wasn't that Third Hokage didn't want to kill Sosuke but because he was just considering that doing it now would spark public outrage.

After all, Sosuke's performance was incredible. 

He had defeated Shirou, and even when fighting against the famous Hiruzen Sarutobi himself, Shirou had never shown a single weakness.

But now, Shirou was actually killed by Sosuke. If this news spread, the entire village might see him as a hero.

Even the shinobi Hiruzen had always supported Konoha's White Fang, but Sakumo had never been able to defeat Shirou.

However, Sosuke had accomplished this incredible feat.

It was important to mention that Sakumo was already the captain of the border forces and also the vice-captain of the Anbu.

This gave him a status in Konoha that was second only to the Hokage himself.

Now that Sosuke had achieved something even Sakumo couldn't. It would be difficult to convince the public if Hiruzen didn't give him a proper reward.

Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed and said, "Do you think I don't know this is the best opportunity? But we can't risk provoking public outrage!"

Danzo, however, slammed the table in anger and roared, "How much longer are you going to hesitate? If we miss this chance, who knows if we'll ever be able to kill that brat again!"

Right now, Danzo was starting to doubt their plan to have the Village Hidden by Clouds kill Sosuke. 

After all, Sosuke had already killed a top-level shinobi.

Now, a monster like Sosuke was severely injured and unconscious. Even a little kid from the street could take his life. 

Danzo didn't understand why the Third Hokage was still hesitating.

The Third Hokage knew that the victory in front of him was just blinding Danzo, and he coldly reminded him, "Don't forget, Konoha isn't just completely under our control."

Hearing this, Danzo finally calmed down completely.

Even though they both held most of the power in Konoha, there were still many powerful families in the village. 

Konoha had only been founded for about twenty years, and not all the clans had fully pledged their loyalty.

Not to mention, just dealing with the Hyuga and Uchiha clans alone was enough to make them feel nervous.

If they rashly killed Sosuke this time, the other clans would surely notice something was wrong.

Once they realized that the two of them sought to monopolize control over the Hokage position, they might unite against them. If that happened, even Danzo and Hiruzen wouldn't be able to escape.

Seeing that Danzo had finally calmed down, the Third Hokage continued, "Besides, Sosuke is now in Tsunade's hands. Do you think you can kill him right under her nose?"

Hearing this, Danzo immediately lost his temper.

Although Tsunade was only eighteen years old, she was already an elite jonin, and her combat strength was strong enough to fight against Kage with her bloodline.

In other words, if they wanted to kill Sosuke now, Danzo would have to do it himself, and none of his subordinates could handle the task.

Danzo, who was used to operating in the shadows, scheming and manipulating from behind the scenes, now didn't feel confident about killing Sosuke himself and stopped insisting on killing Sosuke.

The Third Hokage sighed and said, "You should leave for now. I need to come up with a reasonable reward for Sosuke's achievements."

The thought of rewarding someone who could become a major threat in the future gave the Third Hokage a headache.

He had no patience to continue arguing with Danzo.

After sensing this, Danzo wisely chose to leave and had no interest in getting involved in such matters.

...

1st Bonus Chapter - 200 ✅

2nd Bonus Chapter - 500

3rd Bonus Chapter - 1000