Chapitre 13: Decision
A silence falls over the Hokage's office.
The Root member, having finished his account, lowers his head, barely daring to breathe in the tension-filled atmosphere.
From his stretcher, Danzō observes the shocked faces of everyone, a grimace of bitter satisfaction crossing his face as he weakly coughs. "I see you understand now," he murmurs resentfully. "Welcome to my nightmare."
His eyes gleam with both fear and greed as he recalls Luo Lei's power. 'That Kekkei Genkai... I thought the Sharingan and Byakugan were the only ocular powers.'
"Luo Lei... how have you changed so much? You were the epitome of the Will of Fire." Still holding the remains of his broken pipe, Hiruzen finally breaks the silence, his voice filled with disbelief.
The guilt is evident in his eyes. "If we had known... if you had shown us your true power earlier... What did we do wrong?"
Slowly recovering from the shock, Koharu speaks up. "It's that unknown Kekkei Genkai," she murmurs in fear. "It has completely transformed Luo Lei."
Homura nods. "His current strength... likely surpasses even Sakumo at his prime," disbelief coloring every word.
"And the worst part," adds Hiruzen, "is that all of this is deliberate. Luo Lei has been deceiving us, waiting for the perfect moment to humiliate us, to rub our mistakes in our faces."
Silence falls once again as each person processes the gravity of the situation.
"What do we do now?" Koharu finally asks, her voice trembling. "Luo Lei has proven to be more dangerous than we ever imagined. He slaughtered an elite Suna team, wiped out 15 Root ninjas like they were nothing, and... and practically toyed with Danzō."
Homura, the most anxious of them all, feels his heart pounding so hard it threatens to burst from his chest. His voice is barely a whisper as he speaks: "Hiruzen... if Luo Lei returns... if he comes for us... what will we do? Not even Danzō could..."
Swallowing hard, he continues, his voice gaining strength driven by fear: "We must act now! Luo Lei's actions are a mockery, a blatant provocation. He's openly challenging us! We have to make him pay, or the trouble will never end."
"Exactly!" exclaims Koharu, slamming the table. "Luo Lei has trampled on our rules, slapped us in the face with his insolence. He must understand that our laws are unbreakable!"
Hiruzen remains silent, his eyes burning with barely contained fury.
His mind is a whirlwind of conflicting thoughts. How could he have been so blind? How did he not see Luo Lei's true nature?
Finally, with a controlled yet tension-filled voice, he asks, "What do you propose we do?"
Koharu speaks first: "Call him back! We must control him, put him under constant surveillance."
Homura, however, goes further: "Kill him!" he shouts, his eyes gleaming with hatred. "Our prestige cannot be tarnished like this. Konoha's rules are sacred. Luo Lei must pay with his life."
"KILL HIM?" Hiruzen roars, his voice thundering through the office. He rises abruptly, his chakra radiating in waves of palpable fury. "HOW DARE YOU SUGGEST THAT, HOMURA?! IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOUR STUPIDITY, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!"
The Hokage advances, his imposing figure making Homura step back. "YOU leaked the information! YOU put Luo Lei in this position! And now you propose we kill him? HOW?"
Hiruzen gestures violently, his face contorted in rage. "Konoha is practically empty! Our ninjas are at the front. With what force do you intend to face Luo Lei? HAVE YOU COMPLETELY LOST YOUR MIND?"
His voice becomes a dangerous growl. "The war is at a critical point. If Luo Lei loses control, if Konoha enters internal conflict, EVERYTHING will collapse. Do you understand the magnitude of your stupidity?"
BOOM!
Hiruzen's fist slams into the desk, splitting it in two with a deafening crash. Those present recoil, terrified by this display of fury.
Breathing heavily, he looks around. His voice is now a bitter whisper. "We're trapped. What Luo Lei has done is a blatant provocation, but we can't act. For the sake of Konoha, for the sake of this damned war, we have to swallow our pride."
He collapses into his chair, the weight of the situation crushing him. "Even if Luo Lei had slaughtered a hundred of our own, we can't do anything. The overall situation is too delicate. We're... we're at his mercy."
Homura opens his mouth, but the words stick in his throat.
"I... I just... damn it! How could I have known everything would go to hell like this?"
His eyes desperately scan the faces of his companions. "You all knew! Every one of you! Why didn't you stop me? And now you want me to take all the blame? It's unfair!"
Koharu, with a sigh, intervenes: "Hiruzen is right. Like it or not, we're trapped in this nightmare." Her voice trembles. "The war... the war comes first. If Luo Lei is as monstrously powerful as he seems, at least let him use that strength for Konoha on the battlefield."
Homura, defeated, slumps in his chair. "Fine, do whatever you want," he mutters bitterly. "As if my opinion matters now."
"I trust Orochimaru. He... he'll know how to handle Luo Lei." Hiruzen pauses, as if the next words physically pained him. "We'll follow Luo Lei's report. We'll make a 'strategic compromise.'" He spits the words as if they were poison. "Root will take the blame."
His eyes harden. "I'll keep constant communication with Orochimaru. We need to know every move, every breath of Luo Lei." His voice becomes a growl. "And no one, NO ONE, makes any rash decisions against him. Understood?"
"Understood!" Koharu and Homura exclaim in unison.
From his stretcher, Danzō lets out a bitter laugh that soon turns into a painful cough. "Oh, wonderful," he murmurs. "It seems I'll have a 'forced vacation' for at least half a year. How considerate of you all."
His face, though bruised, shows an unsettling calm. "As if I had a choice. All for the 'good of the village,' right?"
What none of them know, what they can't even imagine, is that this scene, this humiliating capitulation to Luo Lei's brute strength, is destined to repeat itself. Over and over again…
What is the name of Ōnoki's son?
________
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