Chapter 1058: The Villagers' Complaints and Departure!
Chapter 1058: The Villagers' Complaints and Departure!
Ten minutes later!
The Konoha elders looked at the pile of explosive tags in front of them, all feeling a chill run down their spines.
There were at least a few hundred, the total from the previous two explosions. If they all went off, they would be enough to blow the entire Yamanaka Clan sky-high.
This indirectly proved Ino's innocence.
Who would bomb their own clan?
However, Ino's innocence didn't necessarily mean Tsunade was innocent. Many of them secretly observed her but found nothing suspicious.
"Have the villagers evacuate first, then search the village and find all the explosive tags!"
Asuma's voice was urgent, clearly showing his anxiety.
He didn't want his village to be leveled just a day after he took office.
Konoha was truly a village that faced disaster after disaster.
In the original plot, Konoha was attacked only during the Nine-Tails Incident and Pain's Rice Carrying. But in the Ninja World where Tang Ping had been transported, Konoha was attacked and destroyed repeatedly, almost like a regular occurrence.
Whenever the Blazing Sun Kingdom wanted to poach from Konoha, they would launch an attack.
If the elders knew this, they might have agreed to let the Blazing Sun Kingdom poach in exchange for not being attacked.
These attacks were the reason Konoha's strength rapidly declined.
Otherwise, even with the Blazing Sun Kingdom constantly poaching, Konoha wouldn't have weakened so quickly and would have retained the title of the strongest ninja village until the final battle with the Akatsuki Organization.
Now, the village elders were numb, which was why they remained so calm.
In the past, if the village was attacked like this, they would have been furious and would have immediately found the culprit and destroyed them.
But now, things were different!
The culprit was the Blazing Sun Kingdom, and they were fortunate enough that the kingdom didn't cause more trouble. They certainly didn't dare to provoke them.
"Yes, Hokage-sama!"
The Konoha ninjas responded in unison.
Asuma, however, kept a close eye on Tsunade, determined not to give her any chance to play tricks.
"I will leave Konoha tomorrow!"
Tsunade glanced at Asuma and said this.
Her words indicated that she would not continue causing trouble in the village.
For Konoha, her departure had both advantages and disadvantages.
The advantages were obvious.
With a Sannin like her in the village, everyone had to stay on edge, fearing she might use her influence to cause internal chaos.
The disadvantage, however, was her strength and abilities.
A powerful Kage-level ninja joining the Blazing Sun Kingdom would not be good for Konoha.
Her other ability was even more important.
Medical Ninjutsu!
She was the pinnacle of medical ninjutsu in the Ninja World, and if she joined the enemy, the impact would be significant.
This was the best time to deal with her. If this opportunity was missed, there might never be another chance.
Asuma considered whether to take action against her.
Even if she had high prestige in Konoha, as long as he didn't make a move within the village but instead ambushed her on the road and blamed the Blazing Sun Kingdom, it could work.
But before he could make up his mind, he saw Shikamaru shake his head slightly, clearly guessing his thoughts and advising him not to be impulsive.
To be honest, the hatred Shikamaru, who had darkened, felt toward Tsunade was even stronger than Asuma's.
But now wasn't the time.
If they really made a move, the Blazing Sun Kingdom might launch an attack immediately.
If that happened, Konoha, which was still not fully prepared, wouldn't stand a chance.
"Alright, I will see Tsunade-sama off tomorrow!"
Asuma calmed down after Shikamaru's reminder and nodded.
Letting her leave was for the best.
Given her character, even if she left Konoha, she wouldn't participate in actions against the village. This was evident from the final battle, where she did not join the Blazing Sun Kingdom's forces.
Of course, Asuma wouldn't be so cooperative if it weren't for the concern over the Blazing Sun Kingdom.
Soon, the entire Konoha mobilized.
Villagers streamed into a human tide, heading toward various shelters.
"Hurry up!"
"Ugh, why do we have to evacuate again!"
"Yeah, how many times has this happened now!"
...
The villagers had their complaints.
It wasn't that they didn't understand that this was for their own good.
The problem was that Konoha's repeated evacuations were wearing thin on everyone.
Sure, the village would allocate funds to rebuild destroyed homes, but that didn't cover the contents inside.
In other words, if your home was destroyed, congratulations!
You'd get a new house, but all your furniture, clothes, and other items that couldn't be taken to the shelter would be lost.
One such incident was enough to cause significant losses, let alone multiple times.
This was one of the reasons why Konoha's population had been steadily declining.
If you can't guarantee my safety, why would I stay?
In such an emergency, it was impossible to count everyone, so no one noticed that several thousand people were missing.
Normally, several thousand people would be a significant number.
But in a village of hundreds of thousands, a few thousand were barely noticeable.
Most crucially, these were all civilians and members of declining small ninja clans, not large clans like the Sarutobi, Hiruzen, or Yamanaka.
If it were a clan like those, even a few dozen missing people would be noticed immediately.
After the evacuation, Konoha's ninjas thoroughly searched the entire village.
They found several scattered explosive tags and some people were killed by these traps.
Just like when Asuma was killed, if you let your guard down, the explosive tags wouldn't care about your status.
The number wasn't large, totaling fewer than a hundred.
But even with such a small number, Konoha had to clear them.
These explosive tags were like landmines; if left uncleared, their detonation later would have disastrous effects.
So, the Konoha ninjas worked through the night to sweep the entire village.
Fortunately, they were ninjas with astonishing efficiency. If it were ordinary people, it would have been impossible to search the entire village in one night.
To help, ninjas from outside villages also took on a few areas.
With Asuma now the Hokage, these ninjas from various forces naturally followed his orders.
It was thanks to this external support that such a massive task could be completed in half a night. Otherwise, it would have been impossible.
At this moment, many people missed the Hyuga clan.
If the Hyuga clan were still around, with their Byakugan, the entire village could have been searched in less than an hour, and no one else would have been needed.
The Hyuga clan was invaluable, both on the battlefield and elsewhere.
That's why they were supported by Konoha to become a major clan, on par with the Uchiha, without anyone questioning it.
Unfortunately, Konoha no longer had any Hyuga ninjas.
The current Hyuga ninjas had all moved to the Tenshoukaku, joining various departments and playing significant roles.
The Byakugan was just too useful!
Imagine a human radar, a detection device.
The next day!
Two figures walked out of Konoha's main gate.
Leading was a determined figure with short golden hair, exuding boundless valor, followed by a graceful female ninja with black short hair.
They were Tsunade and Shizune.
At that moment, they left Konoha as planned the previous day.
"Tsunade-sama, let's hurry!"
Shizune whispered, her anxiety palpable.
Once the village discovered that several thousand people were missing, they would definitely come after them.
People were already starting to return from the shelters, and they had to leave before being discovered.
"Let's go!"
Tsunade, of course, understood this. She took one last, deep look at Konoha and the Hokage monument before turning away with a heavy heart.
She knew that her mission's failure meant Konoha would be invaded by the Blazing Sun Kingdom, and this would be the last time she saw the village intact.
Just a few hours after they left, a team led by Kakashi set off in pursuit of Tsunade and Shizune.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
