After speaking, Anbu retreated.

Once Anbu retreated, Hiruzen’s expression started to fluctuate, teetering on the brink of rage.

The aftermath of Orochimaru’s defection hadn’t yet subsided, and now another event in the village was the true source of his fury—

The Nine-tailed Jinchuriki identity was leaked.

Somehow, rumors spread, portraying Uzumaki Naruto as a demon fox incarnation, intent on destroying the village and slaughtering Konoha Ninjas, inciting public sentiment and causing a complete outbreak of this public opinion.

This caused Naruto’s caretaker to abandon him without hesitation, fleeing directly from Naruto’s house, refusing to return to feed him.

And in the village, besides that person, no one else was capable of pulling this off.

Because this affair is too reminiscent of the White Fang incident, identical in its approach.

The same method, the same speed, striking right at the core.

But what’s different is this time it targets the Nine-tailed Jinchuriki, a baby less than a year old.

"Danzo... why did you do this?"

Hiruzen gritted his teeth, his fist clenched tightly on the tabletop, bloodshot eyes appearing, clearly his rage had amassed to a terrifying brink.

Regardless of Naruto being the son of the Fourth Hokage, his identity as a Jinchuriki shouldn’t be casually exposed; it was the village’s top secret.

Hiruzen couldn’t understand why Danzo would do this.

Root operates extremely but wouldn’t be foolish enough to expose the Nine-tailed Jinchuriki’s identity.

For Konoha right now, this seems entirely harmful, with no benefits.

Hiruzen looked at another document on the table, which was about Root’s redeployment.

At eight this morning, Root Leader Shimura Danzo led a large number of Root Ninjas to aid the Hidden Cloud battlefield, having already left Konoha.

Hiruzen found he could no longer confront the object of his wrath.

Danzo had left early, and Root’s assistance was crucial in ensuring Konoha’s victory on the Hidden Cloud battlefield, confirming that Hiruzen couldn’t afford to act rashly against him.

"..."

After quite a while, Hiruzen gradually calmed down the anger inside him.

The exposure of the Nine-tailed Jinchuriki’s identity is already a foregone conclusion; since that is the case, intensifying protection for Naruto is necessary. Even though the Jinchuriki identity is exposed, Konoha’s protective measures aren’t fragile to that extent.

But the more troubling aspect is where the public sentiment leads.

Naruto is portrayed as a Nine-tailed Demon Fox trying to attack Konoha, killing hundreds of Konoha Ninjas. Many villagers have collectively petitioned to have Naruto, this demon fox incarnation, executed immediately to secure the village’s safety.

Hiruzen was angry at Danzo’s audacity and equally frustrated by the villagers’ ignorance.

Therefore, the key lies in vindicating Naruto next.

And it’s the only way to break the impasse.

Originally, he wanted Naruto to enjoy a peaceful and happy childhood, as an insignificant repayment to Minato and Kushina.

With things at this juncture, he could only vindicate Naruto with his identity as the son of the Fourth Hokage to help him through this difficulty.

Otherwise, Naruto’s life in the village would become precarious, which would be extremely unfair given his identity as a hero’s son.

Having realized this, Hiruzen immediately wrote a document intending to issue a public announcement clarifying that Naruto was not a Nine-tailed Demon Fox murdering Konoha Ninjas but a hero of Konoha.

This way, it could reverse all the unfavorable public sentiment against Naruto in the village.

As Hiruzen finished writing the document and planned to have Anbu release it, his hand suddenly paused.

He abruptly realized that things might not be as simple as he thought to resolve.

If he chose to do this, might it not just fall into Danzo’s trap?

The son of the Fourth Hokage is Naruto’s last protection card in Konoha.

If he plays this card and still can’t make the village’s public sentiment quiet down but instead exacerbates it, and Danzo makes another move, Hiruzen may not be able to manage it as Hokage.

If this is so, what is Danzo’s ruthless motive?

Hiruzen chuckled bitterly, promptly realizing it’s for his Hokage position.

Danzo’s goal isn’t hard to guess.

Orochimaru’s defection has already reduced his prestige.

Indeed, it’s a great time to strike at him.

Now he can’t suppress some voices in the village, especially those warrior voices from Danzo’s side.

Danzo’s traps have always been interconnected, unlikely to be so simple for him to break free.

While the matter has blown up this far, if he uses the identity of the son of the Fourth Hokage to vindicate Naruto, perhaps it’s also a trap designed for him by Danzo.

If Naruto’s identity is exposed and still can’t resolve the problem, whereas Danzo seizes other weaknesses to launch another public sentiment attack using the Nine-tailed Jinchuriki controversy, then not only Naruto, his Hokage position might also be lost.

Once his Hokage position is forfeited, control of Naruto falls into Danzo’s hands, which for Konoha would be the most terrifying scenario.

Hiruzen gently exhaled as he put down the written document.

"Let’s wait and see, and as for Jiraiya, I hope he can remain calm..."

Deep, unrelenting worry appeared on Hiruzen’s wizened face, seeming like an elderly man sitting there, on the brink of entering his grave.