CHAPTER 71

"Um?"

"What information from last time?"

"...."

Worse!

The staff didn't expect the Fire Daimyo to be so upright and directly open the scroll in front of everyone.

Once the daimyo sobers up, will he kill me?

Recalling the daimyo's instructions last time, the staff member wanted to disappear on the spot.

"Let me take a look."

Unaware of the chaos going on in his staff's mind, the Fire Daimyo squinted as he looked at the contents of the scroll.

Sitting next to him, the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning also tilted his head curiously to get a glimpse.

Everyone had still been laughing moments ago, but this ignorant staff member had stuffed the information scroll into his hands like it was some sort of high-level secret, making the whole thing even more suspicious.

I want to see just what kind of precious information it contains.

Since the Fire Daimyo opened the scroll publicly without trying to hide it from anyone, it meant others could read it too. It couldn't be anything too sensitive, right?

Hmm~ Information about Konoha's ninja village?

The Third Hokage and Danzo never gave up on the Muton research. They attempted to replicate the First Hokage's power, conducting experiments on war orphans?

Even Orochimaru was involved?

Good grief, even the villagers and shinobi of their own village weren't spared.

Wait!!

Before the Fire Daimyo could react, the Lightning Daimyo was already breaking out in a cold sweat.

What the hell is this intel, and where did it come from?

Konoha never stopped Muton experimentation and even used its own people?

And worse—they succeeded!!

"What did you see? You look pale,"

The Water Daimyo noticed the Thunder Daimyo's expression and teasingly leaned in to look at the scroll too.

His half-drunk eyes suddenly widened, and the wine glass in his hand slipped to the floor, hitting with a loud thump before rolling twice.

"Konoha actually captured war orphans for Muton experiments? Not even villagers and shinobi in the village were spared?!"

The Water Daimyo exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention instantly.

"What?!"

The room went dead silent.

The Thunder Daimyo's mouth twitched in disbelief as he looked at the Water Daimyo. Are you dumb? You actually shouted it out loud?

What just happened?

At that moment, the Fire Daimyo started to come to his senses.

He had drunk too much and didn't realize he'd leaked such sensitive information. The delay in his reaction was purely due to alcohol.

Shit, I did something really stupid.

"..."

The Fire Daimyo's eyes twitched, and as his nerves finally caught up, he instinctively tried to put the scroll away.

Too late.

Just as he reached for it, the scroll was snatched out of his hands.

All the attending daimyos gathered around, trying to read it.

"So the Third Hokage and Shimura Danzo were this cruel?

Experimenting on war orphans is one thing, but even targeting their own villagers?"

"And they dared to desecrate the remains of the First Hokage too? What line haven't they crossed?!"

"I can't believe Konoha managed to replicate a ninja who actually possesses Wood Release!"

Everyone started talking at once, scolding Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo with every foul word they could think of—calling them monsters, inhuman, insane.

"I just remembered—I have urgent matters to attend to. Shall we end the party here?"

The Lightning Daimyo's eyes flickered, and he immediately proposed disbanding the gathering.

"Then I'll take my leave too,"

The Earth Daimyo—who'd been so drunk just minutes ago—was suddenly sober, waving for his guards to escort him out.

Seeing two of the Five Great Nations' daimyos preparing to leave, the others caught on.

This wasn't just about cruelty. The problem was that Konoha had already replicated a person with Wood Release!

If this experiment continued, would Konoha end up with an army of Wood Release users?

Even if none reached Hashirama Senju's level, just a dozen such users could completely unbalance the power structure of the shinobi world.

This was a concern for every nation and every village.

So, following the Thunder and Earth Daimyos' lead, the others also expressed their intentions to leave.

But not without one question in mind: Where's that scroll?!

Just minutes earlier, the room had been filled with laughter and merriment. Now it was deserted.

Only the Fire Daimyo sat in place, looking blankly at the empty hall.

Everything had spiraled completely out of control.

"You idiot! Why didn't you remind me?!"

He hurled the wine cup at his staff member.

The poor man dodged just in time and defended himself, trembling:

"I tried, Daimyo-sama. But you were... well... quite drunk and didn't seem to hear me."

"You dare talk back?!"

The Fire Daimyo was furious.

The staff member quickly responded:

"Daimyo-sama, we need to act quickly! We have to make a move before Konoha reacts, or else we'll be caught in a political deadlock."

"Besides, if Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo could carry out such atrocities... who knows what else they're capable of?"

Before reading this information, the Fire Daimyo had already thought the Third Hokage and Danzo were dangerously extreme.

But this scroll shattered even that perception—there was apparently nothing they wouldn't do.

"You're right. Send for Tsunade immediately. I want to see her and Uchiha Hiko too!

We must make this public and hold Hiruzen accountable. Let's see how he dares to explain this!"

"Does he still have the face to sit in the Hokage's seat?!"

Although he regretted leaking the information, the Fire Daimyo didn't think he was in the wrong—he only regretted the timing.

Besides, he'd purchased the intel from the Bounty Club. If he could buy it, so could someone else!

In a few days, the entire shinobi world would know the depraved deeds of the Third Hokage, Danzo... and Orochimaru.

"Yes, sir!"

The staff member, wiping sweat from his brow, hurried to send a message to summon Tsunade and Hiko.

He knew he had escaped death today. With the Daimyo now directing his fury toward Hiruzen and Danzo, he was out of the line of fire.

As for the accuracy of the intel—was that even a question?

Even the identity of the Wood Release user had been recorded down to what color underwear he wore. How could anyone fake that?

Just a simple check would be enough to confirm the intel's truth.

Were the daimyos ready to retreat?

This might be the shortest Five Nations Summit in history.

The sudden mass exodus from the party baffled Tsunade. Just hours ago they were all getting drunk, and now they were fleeing like their houses were on fire.

"Lady Tsunade, the Fire Daimyo has summoned you. Please proceed to the palace at once."

"I understand."

Putting her current tasks aside, Tsunade straightened her clothes and prepared to enter the palace.

She hadn't gone far when she ran into Hiko.

"Going together?"

"Yeah."

Nodding, the two walked side-by-side. Tsunade murmured thoughtfully:

"The daimyos from every country left so suddenly."

"Maybe something urgent came up,"

Hiko answered calmly, unaware that the intel he'd provided had disrupted the entire summit, forcing every Daimyo to abandon their agenda and flee back to their countries.

They entered the palace together.

"Tsunade, I recall there's a ninja named Tenzo in the Anbu?"

That was the Fire Daimyo's first question.

Tsunade paused for a moment before replying:

"I'm not too sure."

After all, she had left the village for years, and after returning, she came straight to the Daimyo's residence. How could she know the latest roster of Anbu?

She looked at Hiko.

"There should be someone by that name. I think he's quite close to Kakashi."

It begins.

As soon as the Daimyo brought up Tenzo by name and linked him to Anbu, Hiko knew that Fugaku's information had successfully reached the Bounty Club.

And the Fire Daimyo had bought it.

Tenzo—later known as Yamato—was the artificially created Wood Release user. His original code name in Root was 'Kinoe.'

After befriending Kakashi and under the protection of the Third Hokage, he was transferred to Anbu and given the alias 'Tenzo.'

Eventually, he'd be known as Yamato.

Now that this intel was exposed... how would the world react?

Hiko smiled to himself.

He was looking forward to it.

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