Ten minutes ago, Minato Namikaze was still negotiating an alliance treaty with Ian in the conference hall, and as expected, the other party refused to change the terms, maintaining a firm attitude.
This made Minato realize that the other party had no intention of forming an alliance at all. He left with a sentence, "Shikaku, please take good care of the envoy for me," and returned to his office.
Minato rubbed his temples, looking tired. The purpose of the Cloud Village was still unclear. Under the guise of an alliance, what were they really trying to achieve?
He had to admit that the excuse of an alliance was indeed very good, leaving Minato with no way to act.
The other party had been staying honestly in Konoha for the past few days without causing any trouble, giving him no excuse to overreact.
He could only wait for them to reveal their true intentions, but this was far too passive and completely unlike his style.
"Perhaps I'm too concerned about the alliance, wanting to minimize the sacrifices of the village's ninjas."
Minato gave a wry smile. Before this, he had been determined to fight, but he still hesitated.
An alliance, no war between two countries, it truly spoke to his heart!
Just then, an ANBU appeared in the office, saying in a cold voice, "Hokage-sama, the bodies of Numbers Fourteen and Fifteen were discovered at the Konoha Inn, and all the Cloud ninjas staying at the inn have disappeared."
"What!"
Minato's face was filled with coldness, and he said coldly, "What do you mean disappeared? Didn't I order you to monitor them twenty-four hours a day?"
"Konoha is this big, where could they have gone?"
The ANBU ninja lowered his head and said, "We rushed to the inn immediately after Numbers Fourteen and Fifteen lost contact, but we didn't find any sign of them. I've already sent Numbers Seven and Eight to pursue..."
As soon as he finished speaking, another ANBU appeared and said urgently, "At the Hyuga compound, but it seems the Hyuga clan leader has already killed them!"
"Dead?"
Minato was stunned. "Since you found them, why didn't you stop them?"
The ANBU ninja pointed outside the window and said, "We didn't find them, but it's already spread everywhere outside!"
"This is bad, go to the Hyuga compound immediately!"
Minato put on his Hokage cloak and said to the ANBU ninja, "Immediately go and guard Ian, do not let him step out of the Hokage Building!"
"Yes!"
...
Five minutes later, Minato arrived at the Hyuga compound and found that the number of Konoha ninjas watching was far beyond his imagination.
Even the Ino-Shika-Cho and Uchiha clans had arrived.
The other party was so clear about the locations of Konoha's major clans; was this the reason for their aimless wandering these past few days?
The crowd automatically parted, and Minato walked into the Hyuga mansion with a grim expression. The sight of cloud ninja corpses everywhere made his heart sink. Had he arrived too late?
"Yo! Hokage-sama, you've arrived just in time."
Lin Yu stepped over the corpses of the cloud ninjas at his feet and said, "Quick! Arrest them all. They intended to harm Konoha's high-ranking officials and also implicated the leader of Konoha's rare clan. This is a capital offense!"
Konoha's high-ranking officials? Hiashi Hyuga, as the leader of the Hyuga clan, could indeed be considered a high-ranking official of Konoha.
But by "leader of a rare clan," did you mean the Uzumaki clan?
That was indeed a rare clan!
Minato had not expected Lin Yu to be at the Hyuga compound. He first gave Hiashi a reassuring look, then, with a stern face, said,
"Is what he said true? Mr. Ito."
Ito's face was full of hatred, and he gritted his teeth, "Nonsense! It was the Hyuga clan leader who murdered us Cloud ninjas. The cloud ninja corpses all over the ground are evidence!"
"Ridiculous! So the morgue in our Konoha filled with corpses is also your Cloud ninja's doing!"
Ito looked at Lin Yu, what was wrong with this person's thought process? Could these two things be compared?!
"Hokage-sama, please uphold justice for us Cloud ninjas!"
Ito forced a few tears into his eyes and said painfully, "We from the Cloud Village came to Konoha with aspirations for peace, hoping to form an alliance, but we were brutally murdered by your village's ninjas. You must give the Cloud Village an explanation!"
Minato looked at the cloud ninjas in their night-assault clothing scattered everywhere, and his cheek twitched. Was he treating him as a blind man?
"Does your Cloud Village really want an explanation?"
Ito wiped his tears and nodded, "I request that Hokage-sama handle this impartially. An eye for an eye!"
"Otherwise, our Cloud Village will never let this matter rest!"
Minato looked at Lin Yu and said expressionlessly, "An eye for an eye, what do you think?"
Lin Yu smiled at Ito, then clapped his hands and said, "How about this, let's call everyone outside to vote. That way, it will seem fairer."
Ito's eyes flickered, and he had no objection. For him, the longer the delay, the better.
Lin Yu walked to the door and called in ninjas from the Ino-Shika-Cho, Uchiha, Yuhi clan, Aburame clan... As for other small clans, they should hurry back and take a bath and go to sleep!
"Alright, that's roughly the situation. Do you think it should be an eye for an eye..."
"Or... kill them all!"
The people who came in heard the other option, their expressions changed slightly, and then they fell silent.
Many people were secretly observing Minato's expression, but they couldn't glean anything.
Then, Shisui Uchiha was the first to make a choice, standing next to Lin Yu, his answer was self-evident.
Itachi Uchiha followed closely and stood beside Shisui. He trusted his brother Shisui, and Shisui's choice would definitely not be wrong!
Next, Choji Akimichi, Inoichi Yamanaka, Shibi Aburame... all walked to Lin Yu's side.
That's right, Lin Yu only let people he recognized in. This was cheating!
"You! You are all in this together! Hokage-sama, they are in this together, it's unfair, this is unfair!"
"Oh? Is that so?"
Minato walked to Lin Yu's side and said softly, "Then I'm truly sorry, I am also in this with them."
A like for the Hokage!
This was the sentiment of the others. Although the Hokage should not make a decision at this time, as this was a common tactic of those in power.
At this moment, the others completely acknowledged Minato. This was their Konoha's Hokage!
"You, you!"
Ito's expression was ferocious, but at the next moment, he burst into laughter, "Hahahaha!"
"My mission is complete. Whether you are in this together or not is no longer important."
Ito indeed did not expect Konoha to be even more united than their Cloud Village. He had originally planned to use diplomatic relations to restrain the Hokage, but now it seemed impossible.
Minato pressed, "What exactly is your goal? A plan with so many loopholes could never succeed!"
Ito laughed as if he had gone mad, "It doesn't hurt to tell you. My mission was to delay you, and coming to the Hyuga clan was just a guise. Of course, if I could have obtained the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan, it would have been an added bonus!"
"Damn it! You really wanted to go after Hinata!" Hiashi Hyuga's eyes were filled with rage. If it weren't for Lin Yu, he would have been succeeded by the other party today!
Ito let out a sneer, "Byakugan? At most it's a prize. Compared to our goal, it's not worth mentioning."
Ito's gaze imperceptibly glanced at Lin Yu, which made Lin Yu's heart stir. He looked at Shisui and Itachi, and suddenly realized, "I know who their target is!"
"It's Sasuke!"