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Mastermind of the Akatsuki 379
🕑 Added 2025-04-19 16:00:08 +0000 UTCChapter 379: Hokage’s Questions and Answers
Shisui’s words made Kushina pause. She turned around slowly and said, "Even you don’t want to be Hokage, choosing instead to remain in the shadows as Konoha’s roots. Do you think I would care about the position or the power that comes with it?"
She sighed, "But… Konoha today is disappointing. If Minato were leading the village, it would never have ended up like this. But Minato… is gone for good."
Seeing that Kushina had no interest in the Hokage seat either, Shisui felt a mix of emotions. The once-coveted title of Hokage was now something that people like them actively avoided.
Not just him and Kushina, Tsunade and Jiraiya were the same.
Letting out a quiet sigh, Shisui spoke. "If you don’t want to be Hokage, then it’ll have to be either Jiraiya or Tsunade. Who do you think should take the position?"
Kushina glanced at Shisui and replied, "That’s up to you all. I have no interest in Konoha. Right now, I just want to focus on raising Naruto and making up for the love he lacked in his childhood. For once, I want to be selfish."
After saying this, Kushina felt as if a weight had been lifted from her heart.
There were many reasons why she didn’t want to step forward.
For one, she had no way to explain where she had been all these years. She also couldn’t risk exposing Akatsuki’s secrets.
But more than anything, she was simply tired of protecting Konoha.
Over a decade ago, she and Minato had given their lives to save the village. Yet, the one who caused the greatest harm to Konoha had come from within. Her clan had been destroyed while Konoha stood by and did nothing. Even after her and Minato’s deaths, their son, Naruto, had never been treated as the child of a hero.
Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing for Akatsuki, inheritors of the Will of Fire, to take over Konoha. After all, Akatsuki’s top leaders, just like Minato, were all Jiraiya-sensei’s students.
As Kushina disappeared into the streets of Konoha, Shisui looked down at the unconscious Third Hokage in his hands. He created several shadow clones before heading toward the Root base.
Once the Third Hokage was dealt with, this farce would finally come to an end.
---
Rasa and Sasori were the first to receive the news.
The two were locked in battle within the Forest of Death, their attacks tearing apart the landscape with ease. Even elite jōnin dared not approach the aftermath of their clash.
By all logic, Rasa’s Magnet Release should have been a natural counter to puppet techniques, disrupting and disabling them.
Yet for some reason, some of Sasori’s puppets were completely unaffected. Even at a distance of hundreds of meters, they moved as fluidly as ever.
Rasa quickly realized that there was something off about these puppets.
Unlike the others, these particular ones had numerous black rods embedded in them. These rods didn’t seem to be made of chakra metal, yet their ability to transmit chakra far surpassed it.
What Rasa didn’t know was that these rods were creations of Yin-Yang Release, naturally suppressing most ninjutsu.
This was a gift from Byakuya for Sasori’s role in taking control of Sunagakure, a way to ensure that even without his Third Kazekage puppet, he could still stand on equal footing with Rasa.
Although both men were members of Akatsuki on the surface, in truth, they despised each other and would gladly kill one another if given the chance. But because of Byakuya, they were forced to cooperate for now.
The reason was simple: everything was for the sake of Sunagakure.
If Sunagakure wanted to break free from Konoha’s influence and reclaim its independence, it needed an undeniable justification that Konoha could not refuse.
Seeing that he couldn’t take down Sasori of the Red Sand, Rasa sighed inwardly and occasionally glanced toward Konoha’s urban district, contemplating the best way to retreat while maximizing Sunagakure’s benefits.
As the two clashed, a shadow clone of Shisui arrived, appearing beside Sasori.
Noticing Danzo’s presence, both Sasori and Rasa knew that the plan had entered its next phase. After a few feigned attacks, Rasa dived into the Forest of Death, vanishing into the dense foliage.
Once Rasa was gone, Sasori turned to Shisui and coldly asked,
"Danzo, what’s the situation with the Third Hokage?"
Shisui put on an expression of grief and sorrow.
"The Third Hokage was gravely wounded while defending Konoha and lost consciousness during the battle. Kazekage-dono, you should join me in avenging him."
Hearing this, Sasori frowned slightly.
"Cut the act. Everyone knows you’re one of the key players in the Konoha Crush plan. Just don’t forget our deal when you take over Konoha. Konoha no longer has the power to suppress Sunagakure. You’d best hurry up and abolish the previous treaty."
Shisui glanced at Sasori before responding, "We’re all under Byakuya-sama, there’s no need to be so rigid about these things. I won’t take the initiative to revoke the treaty. If you want it gone, send someone to negotiate with Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado. Given the current situation, your demands aren’t excessive; they’ll agree."
Sasori snorted coldly. "Even if we both serve Byakuya, Konoha and Sunagakure aren’t subordinate to each other. I don’t believe there will ever be lasting peace between us. We’re both acting for the sake of our own villages, there’s no need for pretenses."
Shisui didn’t respond. Instead, he simply formed a hand seal, dispelling his shadow clone into a wisp of white smoke.
---
Meanwhile, Byakuya’s battle with the First and Second Hokage had reached a critical point.
The longer the fight dragged on, the more Hashirama and Tobirama could sense Byakuya’s overwhelming strength. They couldn’t help but admire the fact that the shinobi world still had such powerful successors.
After tanking an explosive tag bombardment, Hashirama’s reanimated body slowly reassembled itself.
Floating mid-air, Byakuya looked down upon him, and Hashirama found himself growing excited at the thought of going all out against him.
With Byakuya’s current abilities, even if Hashirama were at his peak, taking him down wouldn’t have been an easy task.
Byakuya’s skill in both ninjutsu and taijutsu had reached the level of Hashirama’s youth.
His expertise in genjutsu and sealing techniques was also impressive, reaching at least Kage-level.
The only thing missing was Sage Mode, Byakuya lacked the ability to harness natural energy, preventing his ninjutsu from reaching their maximum potential.
Because of this, he was also unable to use True Several Thousand Hands.
Compared to Hashirama’s excitement, Tobirama’s thoughts were far more complex. He had no idea where this monster named Byakuya had come from.
Since the start of their battle, Byakuya had used no fewer than twenty different jutsu.
Each one belonged to a different nature transformation, and he had even demonstrated multiple Bloodline Limit. It was like fighting a one-man army.
What was even more terrifying was that Byakuya’s body housed all these bloodline limits without any apparent incompatibilities. Just what kind of physique and soul strength did he possess to withstand such contradictions?
If Tobirama were still alive, he wouldn’t have been able to resist the urge to research Byakuya.
If he could uncover the secrets behind Byakuya’s abilities, it would greatly advance Konoha’s bloodline transplantation techniques.
With that, Konoha’s war potential could rise to an entirely new level. However, researching Byakuya was nothing more than a pipe dream for the Second Hokage.
He was just a dead man, lacking the power to take Byakuya down. Even if he did manage to capture him, it would only be a gift to the Monkey’s disciples.
At that moment, Tobirama seemed to realize something and turned his gaze into the distance.
The Monkey had been gone for quite some time now. Why hadn’t he returned with reinforcements? No matter how many battles were happening elsewhere, nothing should be more important than this one.
And where were Danzo, Koharu, and Homura? Had they already perished in the earlier conflicts?
After once again blasting Tobirama’s reanimated body apart, Byakuya turned toward Orochimaru in the distance and said, "Orochimaru, are these two dead men the only reinforcements you have? Where are the others?"
Orochimaru, who had been watching the entire battle unfold, paled.
He was genuinely afraid of Byakuya’s combat strength. Even though he was currently one of Byakuya’s subordinates, he had summoned none other than the First and Second Hokage.
Even at only half their original strength, they should have been overwhelmingly powerful.
As Hashirama’s body regenerated, he glanced at the shaken Orochimaru, then at Byakuya, and slowly spoke.
"You over there, the Monkey’s student, you must be Orochimaru. Since even with Tobirama and me under your control, you still can’t defeat Byakuya, why don’t you two just talk things out? I don’t see why you need to attack Konoha just because you left it."
"Aniki?! The fuck?!" Tobirama’s expression shifted. He knew all too well that his brother was always the first to suggest sitting down and talking things out.
But things weren’t like they used to be. They no longer held absolute military superiority.
Back in their time, the only reason the other four great villages visited Konoha and calmly attended the Tailed Beast distribution talks was the sheer power of Hashirama and Madara.
Byakuya suddenly laughed. "That works for me. I was just thinking about having a chat with Orochimaru-sama. I’m not a Konoha shinobi, after all, meeting with Konoha’s Fifth Hokage in advance doesn’t sound bad."
Hearing this, Hashirama’s expression darkened. Tobirama’s face instantly turned ice-cold.
If Byakuya and Orochimaru truly joined forces, Konoha would be in grave danger, it might even be broken up into smaller, weaker villages.
Wait… Fifth Hokage?
Did that mean there had been a Fourth Hokage?
With that thought, Tobirama crossed his arms and asked in a cold voice,
"You over there, kid, did the village really have a Fourth Hokage?"
Byakuya nodded, his tone laced with amusement.
"Yes, Konoha had a Fourth Hokage. But he’s already dead. This man, Orochimaru, was one of the candidates for Fourth Hokage, but unfortunately, he lost to Minato."
"Orochimaru was a Hokage candidate?"
Both Hashirama and Tobirama’s minds began racing.
Hashirama thought of Madara. Back then, after their falling-out, Madara had left the village. When he returned, he brought the Nine-Tails with him and started talking about the future.
Could Orochimaru’s situation be similar to Madara’s? If so, things were going to get complicated.
Tobirama, however, focused on a different detail. He turned back to Byakuya and continued questioning him.
"Kid, how did the Fourth Hokage die? Who killed him?"
Before Byakuya could respond, Orochimaru spoke first.
"The Fourth Hokage died during the Nine-Tails incident. Someone manipulated the Nine-Tails into attacking the village. To protect Konoha, the Fourth Hokage used the Reaper Death Seal and perished along with the Nine-Tails."
"Died to the Nine-Tails?"
Hashirama’s expression became somewhat peculiar.
He really couldn’t imagine a scenario where he would die at the hands of the Nine-Tails.
Even someone as weak as Tobirama wouldn’t fall to the beast. The creature was certainly powerful, but not enough to kill a Senju.
Tobirama pressed further,
"Someone controlled the Nine-Tails… Don’t tell me it was the Uchiha?"
Byakuya nodded.
"Judging by what happened back then, it was most likely an Uchiha, probably Madara Uchiha. I’ve fought him several times over the years, and he should have the ability to control the Nine-Tails. Unfortunately, he always escapes before I can finish him off."
"You’ve fought Madara Uchiha several times? And you couldn’t take him down?"
Tobirama scoffed, as if he had just heard a joke.
"Listen, kid. I acknowledge your strength, as you might even be on par with me at my peak. But you clearly don’t understand Madara’s power. If your opponent really was Madara, the one running would be you."
"Besides, Madara died at my brother’s hands. I even kept his body in my lab for research. There’s no way he just magically came back to life."
Byakuya glanced at Tobirama and smirked. "Well, I suppose he isn’t the Madara you remember. But it doesn’t matter. As long as he calls himself Madara, he is Madara."
At that moment, Hashirama frowned.
"Tobirama, why did you experiment on Madara’s body? Didn’t I tell you-"
"Aniki, shut up."
Tobirama cut him off before he could finish.
Then, turning to Orochimaru, he asked, "Orochimaru, don’t tell me you’re working with the Uchiha in this attack? Did you even borrow Madara’s power?"
"I know that Monkey well enough. If you managed to sneak so many people into Konoha, you must have had help from the inside."
At the mention of the Uchiha, Orochimaru paused for a moment before replying,
"Second Hokage, let’s not talk about my allies for now. The Uchiha clan disbanded years ago. Only two or three of them remain."
"The Uchiha… only have two or three members left?"
Tobirama was both shocked and delighted, his emotions tangled as he asked,
"When did the Uchiha disband? Who did it?"
"Itachi Uchiha. For the sake of the village, he wiped out the entire clan."
As he answered Tobirama’s question, Orochimaru glanced at Byakuya, waiting for instructions. He was unsure of what to do next and felt trapped in a difficult situation.
Upon hearing of the Uchiha’s downfall, Hashirama let out a sigh before turning back to Byakuya.
"Byakuya-kun, your chakra should be almost fully recovered by now. Let’s continue our fight, Orochimaru over there has already realized you were stalling for time."
