Hiruzen demonstrated extraordinary vitality upon waking, even though it was shortly after the surgery performed by Tsunade.

When he opened his eyes, it was clear that his left eye was completely white, a sign that he had lost his vision.

"Sarutobi-sama!" exclaimed the medical monkey upon noticing that he had regained consciousness.

With a dry throat and a hoarse voice, Hiruzen murmured, "Where is Hiroshi?"

Upon hearing the question, the medical monkey fell silent.

Tsunade, who had awakened upon hearing the exclamation, approached Hiruzen. However, she stopped upon hearing her sensei's question. After all, she knew that Hiroshi Sarutobi, Hiruzen's son, had died.

Hiruzen's good eye wandered until it found Tsunade's figure. Seeing her silent and downcast, he understood. Of course, he wasn't naive. He understood what that silence implied.

"He… died?" Hiruzen asked, his voice tinged with disbelief, as if still reluctant to accept the truth.

Tsunade bit her lip before answering: "Yes, he died."

Upon hearing this, tears began to stream from Hiruzen's eyes. The scene was heartbreaking.

For Tsunade, who was watching, a painful tightness gripped her chest. After all, he was the sensei who had trained her since she was young. Seeing him cry in this way deeply affected her.

"W-Who was responsible?" Hiruzen asked, though he already knew the answer, still hesitant to accept it.

"Enma said it was Danzo. And…" Tsunade responded softly, but her eyes reflected a cutting coldness: "Right after the news of your son's death, Danzo took on the role of acting Hokage. This only reinforces my conviction that he's behind it. And, worse still, he blamed you for all the ambushes against Uzushiogakure."

"Danzo…!" Hiruzen had never spoken Danzo's name with such fury. When he tried to get up, his wounds began to reopen, causing him to cough violently: "Cough, cough…"

"Sensei, you can't move yet!" Tsunade rushed to him and forced him to lie down again.

The situation was critical for Hiruzen, and even if he recovered, the longer it took, the worse his reputation would become.

Danzo was maneuvering skillfully, painting Hiruzen as the villain, blaming him for all the misfortunes that had befallen Uzushio. And this was just the beginning. One by one, all the mistakes and problems that occurred during Hiruzen's tenure were being exposed, with Danzo placing the blame directly on him.

Without proof to refute the accusations, those who believed in Hiruzen found themselves powerless, while the people's trust began to erode. When Danzo finally showed favorable results, more and more people would start to believe that Hiruzen had been a terrible Hokage.

History had already proven that, even when something isn't true, a well-told lie can easily become "truth" in the eyes of many. The reality is that it doesn't take much to incite hatred against someone; you just need to plant the seed, and the rest unfolds on its own.

A clear example of this was the hatred everyone held for Naruto. He, who should have been seen as a hero, was treated worse than a cockroach, rejected by those who should have embraced him, even though he was innocent.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

There are many other examples that could be cited. The crucial issue is... If Hiruzen doesn't act quickly, it might be too late. Even his wife and youngest son could become targets of Danzo's machinations.

'In the end, could the darkness I believed was necessary end up consuming me, devouring me to the bone?' Hiruzen thought, bitterly laughing at himself.

And, if there was something he cared about almost as much as the village and his family, it was his reputation. Knowing that Danzo was tarnishing his name made his blood boil, and an unfamiliar rage began to bubble up inside him.

══════

Tanaka could cover a large area and identify enemies and potential allies with his map, avoiding both the green and red points. This allowed him to avoid unnecessary confrontations, leading him to find a safe place.

"Here, you all will be safe, you little brats. Hahaha," Tanaka said, ending with a relaxed laugh.

Automatically, all the adults and teenagers sighed. The children simply imitated them.

Some sat on the rain-soaked ground as they caught their breath. All the tension dissipated, and they now felt as if they could finally breathe.

"Ahh, this is good, this is good…"

Some murmured.

Among them were even three pregnant women, one of them being Kana's mother, with blue hair slightly lighter than her daughter's.

"Mom, how's my little sister?" Kana rubbed her mother's belly as she gently asked.

Smiling, Kana's mother said, "I've already told you there's no way to know if it's a girl, right?" She laughed, "But yes, the baby is fine. You're very kind, Kana."

"Hehe~" Kana giggled adorably.

Bittersweet scenes played out here and there among the people who had been saved.

It was a way to lift the mood, as some of them, in particular, had lost important people or even their homes. It was hard for them to be too optimistic about the future. But as long as there is life, there is still hope.

At least they were still alive, and that was what mattered most.

"So, this is where we say goodbye, you little brats, hahaha," Tanaka said.

However, as soon as his words fell, the atmosphere, which had been more cheerful, was almost immediately replaced by immense tension.

Although it was only for a short time, he had been the one who had given them the greatest sense of security since the war began.

"Yami-sama, don't go." One of the children went to him, clutching his pants as tears streamed from their eyes.

The adults were more sensible, but their gazes betrayed the burning desire for him to stay.

However, even in the face of the tearful looks of some children and the adults who seemed reluctant to let him go, Tanaka had no intention of staying. But then he remembered something his mother, in his past life, had told him when he took in a stray dog that was injured:

'Since you decided to save this poor little animal, be responsible and take care of it until the end. Otherwise, you're simply satisfying your desire not to see the poor little animal suffer, but you don't want to commit. That's something your mother despises, do you hear?'

The situation wasn't exactly the same, but it was a fact that if he left, there was a high chance that the war would catch up to them, and without protection, having saved them would have been in vain.

Thinking for a moment, he said: "Okay, you little brats, you managed to convince me. I'll stay until you're settled and safe, but wait a bit. I'll be right back; I have something to do first."

Saying this, he simply vanished before their eyes after gently moving the child holding onto his leg aside.

"Where did he go?"

Confusion was written on many faces, while their admiration for him grew even more.

Meanwhile, in the dungeon of ghosts and zombies, Tanaka, who had created this dungeon, picked up a mask identical to the one he was wearing, with the same attributes.

'Since I've decided, I'll see this through to the end.'

After that, he took off the mask, returning to his original appearance. However, this didn't last long. He created a dome-shaped barrier around himself but compressed it to fit closely around his body, just 2 cm away from his skin. Then, he put on the mask again, changing his appearance back to 'Yami,' even hiding the existence of the spiritual barrier surrounding him, and then created a shadow clone.

When the shadow clone was created, a smile appeared on the clone's lips as it said, "Success."

Hearing this, Tanaka also smiled.

"Very well, I'm leaving now; you stay and take care of them. If you run out of MP... Well, I don't even need to say what you should do, right?" Tanaka said.

The clone responded with an ironic smile: "Do you even need to ask, you brat?"

"..." Tanaka was left speechless.

The clone laughed in response. It seemed that joking with himself was more fun than he had imagined.

Sighing, Tanaka walked away, leaving only his clone behind.

Almost reaching the edge of the dungeon's barrier, when the zombies and ghosts started to appear, he waited for the clone to replenish the MP and break the barrier while flying in the sky. He then took off the mask and put on a third one, changing his appearance once again.

This time, he chose to follow a path different from 'Yami.' It was also when he began to visualize the direction he wanted to take...

Wearing the smiling white opera mask, his appearance began to change.

Soon, he took the form of a person with a height of 1.72 meters, a slim build, amber-colored eyes, and messy black hair. He wore a black high-collared, long-sleeved shirt. The sleeves had brown leather covering the wrists and arms. He wore light brown pants cut below the knees, and around his waist, a pair of brown belts that crossed each other. He carried ninja pouches on the belt.

'Very well. Today, in this world, Zephyr Grinberryall is born, a ninja with great wind affinity,' he thought as he also switched rings, adjusting the element to wind.

"Ah, ah, ah." After testing a bit, he found the ideal voice. It was the same voice he had assumed when adopting this identity. Although he changed the first name, he didn't alter the appearance and intended to act accordingly, though not entirely.

||- Note -||

Chapter 69 is already released on Pa treon!

patre on.com/Tozoku