"Hahaha..."
It wasn't just Hiruzen Sarutobi.
After hearing what Sakumo Hatake said, the jonin present all broke into smiles.
Many even laughed out loud.
Although Danzo Shimura was an elder of Konoha and had his own direct subordinate, Root, which trained ANBU ninjas, every single person in the meeting room at this moment was a jonin.
They either had their own clans backing them up, or they were commoner jonin under Sakumo Hatake's command; they had no fear of Danzo Shimura.
To them, the entanglement between Lord Li Anshi and Danzo Shimura was no secret.
To avoid coming face to face with Lord Li Anshi, to avoid coming within a hundred meters of him, Danzo had even built a basement in the Shimura clan's compound to hide from his potential attacks.
Now, the Third Hokage had convened a jonin meeting, and Elder Danzo actually dared not attend because Lord Li Anshi was here.
If word of this got out, all the ninjas would probably laugh at Elder Danzo for the rest of his life.
"Sigh..."
The corner of Hiruzen Sarutobi's mouth twitched.
He wanted to laugh too.
But right now, he couldn't.
Because Danzo Shimura was supposed to be the main subject of this meeting.
Anyone else could be absent, and the meeting could proceed normally.
But without Danzo, it would be impossible to even start the discussion.
What a joke!
You were about to take the man down, but you wouldn't even allow him to come to the meeting room to defend himself?
In the future, if the Hokage wanted to get rid of someone, could he just convene a jonin meeting while that person was out of the village?
Then who would dare to leave the village to carry out missions?
Wouldn't they be afraid of the same thing happening to them?
Rubbing his forehead, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke to Li Anshi, "Anshi, look, is it possible for you to let Danzo off this one time?"
"After all, there are some things I need to ask Elder Danzo clearly in front of everyone before I can decide how to proceed."
"Lord Hokage..."
"Words spoken are like water splashed."
"Since I have already said that I will act against Elder Danzo if he appears within a hundred meters of me, I will naturally not go back on my word."
"However, you have a point. If this matter is difficult for you to resolve without Elder Danzo present, then it will also be difficult for me to answer to Tsunade."
"How about this? I will not participate in this jonin meeting."
"I'll go to Ichiraku's to get something to eat. I hope that by the time I get back, you all will have decided how to reply to Tsunade."
"At that time, just tell me directly."
After saying that, Li Anshi waved to Hiruzen and jumped out of the meeting room window.
For Li Anshi, all of Konoha's rules were shackles.
Take the grudge between him and Danzo, for example.
If not for all the overt and covert rules of Konoha, the moment he had learned that his three subordinates had been taken away by Danzo under the guise of a "test," his dagger would have already been in Danzo's neck.
However, Li Anshi also knew that unrestrained freedom was not true freedom.
A kite with a broken string—who knew where it would fall?
If he didn't find an anchor for his own "heart," going astray would be the least of his worries.
What Li Anshi feared was that one day in the future, he would become the version of himself that he hated the most.
He didn't dare to overestimate his own adherence to his "bottom line."
Therefore, he tried to avoid anything that might cause him to touch his own moral boundaries.
The matter with Danzo could be said to be a part of the political darkness of Konoha.
If Hiruzen couldn't give Tsunade a satisfactory answer this time, Li Anshi would probably be truly disappointed in him.
At that time, whatever he chose to do, Hiruzen would likely have no face to question him.
After all, for now, Li Anshi's spiritual anchor was Tsunade, not Konoha.
It was only because Tsunade cared about Konoha, and because he had grown up in Konoha, that he was willing to abide by its rules.
Everyone was willing to play within the circle of these rules; who won or lost didn't matter.
But if someone wanted to use their "administrator" privileges to make others play by the rules while they themselves stepped outside of them, then Li Anshi could also let them know that this circle of rules was only a rule because he was willing to abide by it.
If he was unwilling to abide by it, even if you stepped outside the rules, Li Anshi would still erase the "administrator"!
I'm already nearly invincible, how could I let you disgust me?
…
Less than a minute after Li Anshi left, Danzo Shimura's figure appeared in the meeting room.
Seeing this, the jonin in the room all curled their lips.
It was obvious that Danzo had people around the Hokage's building.
Otherwise, he couldn't have arrived so quickly.
However, the jonin present could also understand this.
After all, who could blame him when he had an unstable threat like Li Anshi hanging over his head?
If Danzo wasn't sure of Li Anshi's location, he would never leave the Shimura clan's compound in his true body.
"Danzo, you've finally come."
"Hmph!"
Hearing Hiruzen's address, Danzo snorted coldly. "Hiruzen, it's not like you don't know about the grudge between me and that guy."
"What? Are you that eager for me to die?"
Although he said this, he didn't actually believe that Hiruzen would really abandon him.
In fact, even with Li Anshi, Danzo felt that even if he had come earlier, Li Anshi would not have killed him.
Killing him elsewhere and killing him during a jonin meeting were two completely different things.
If Li Anshi dared to act against him during a jonin meeting, he would undoubtedly be cutting himself off from Konoha.
When the rumor had spread that it was not Li Anshi who couldn't leave Konoha, but Konoha that couldn't leave him, Danzo had strongly disagreed.
After all, even a powerhouse as strong as the Asura of the Ninja World, Madara Uchiha, had died not long after leaving Konoha, hadn't he?
What did that mean?
It meant that Konoha possessed the ability to protect the Asura of the Ninja World, Madara Uchiha!
And without Konoha's protection, even the Asura had to die. Li Anshi was still a long way from the God of Shinobi and the Asura. If he left Konoha, his fate would be no better than Madara's.
It was precisely because of this thought that Danzo had later fanned the flames, spreading rumors like, "Without Konoha, Little Li's Flying Dagger is just relying on the village's protection to avoid being killed by other villages," and, "If he leaves Konoha, death is his only ending."
However, these rumors had not caused any waves in Konoha or the ninja world. In fact, Danzo had even lost quite a few of his intelligence agents for spreading them.
Later, Hiruzen had made a public statement, saying with a smile that Little Li's Flying Dagger was Konoha's Little Li's Flying Dagger, and that Konoha could not be without him either, which had made Danzo look like a clown.
His refusal to come when Hiruzen had convened the meeting was an attempt to drive a wedge between Li Anshi and the other jonin.
And everything had gone as he had expected.
He was an elder of Konoha; Li Anshi was just a registered jonin.
Look, hadn't these jonin, in order to get him to attend, expelled Li Anshi from the meeting room?
All he needed to do was repeat this a few more times, and it would be impossible for Li Anshi to stay in Konoha any longer!
Here, Danzo selectively forgot that the one who had killed the Asura of the Ninja World, Madara Uchiha, was Konoha's First Hokage, the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju!
But in this era, the strongest in Konoha were the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Mito Uzumaki, followed by the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the White Fang of Konoha, Sakumo Hatake.
As for Mito, because of her relationship with Tsunade, she would not act against Li Anshi unless he caused significant damage to Konoha.
And as for Hiruzen and Sakumo, it wasn't that Li Anshi looked down on them, but beyond ten meters, even if the two of them came at him together, they were just a piece of cake in his eyes.
"No."
Hiruzen shook his head. "Danzo, I have never wanted you to die."
"However, it seems you want us to die..."
"Hmm?"
As soon as Hiruzen said this, the atmosphere in the entire meeting room changed.
More than thirty jonin all turned their gazes to Danzo Shimura.
The matters discussed in every jonin meeting were major issues concerning the development of Konoha.
But no matter what, the Third Hokage's statement that Danzo wanted them all to die was beyond everyone's expectations.
"Hiruzen, what do you mean?"
Hearing that Hiruzen's words were not a joke, Danzo was also stunned.
When did the monkey's attitude towards me change like this?
Instantly, Danzo became furious, his voice low and heavy, "Hiruzen, although I lost to you in the struggle for the position of Hokage, you cannot insult me like this!"
"I have rendered meritorious service for Konoha, I have shed blood for Konoha!"
"In terms of loyalty to the village alone, I dare say I am not beneath you."
"By slandering me like this, what are you trying to achieve?"
"I'm slandering you?"
Hiruzen shook his head. "I do not doubt your loyalty to Konoha, Danzo."
"But, before that, please explain to us why, when you were handing over the troops to Tsunade, you did not give her the herbs for the salamander poison?"
"Do you not know what kind of impact the conflict on the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain will have on the entire ninja world?"
"What?"
Hearing Hiruzen's question, Danzo's expression changed drastically.
How could Hiruzen possibly know about this?
In order to make this matter seem reasonable, he had secretly guided the ninjas of that unit to seek out merchants to collect herbs to fill the gap.
Of course, to achieve his own goals, he had also secretly informed those merchants of the herbs' purpose.
He figured that once those greedy merchants knew this, they would act in a way that would satisfy him.
"Elder Danzo, is this true?"
The other jonin couldn't help but question him now.
As jonin, they had a good grasp of the situation in the ninja world.
They also knew that the battle between Konoha and the Rain Village would determine whether the world would continue in peace or if the Second Great Ninja War would break out.
Not everyone was like Danzo, willing to use the lives of other ninjas in the village to achieve their own political goals.
After all, if a great war were to break out, they would be the ones who had to go to the front lines to fight the ninjas from other villages.
Besides Li Anshi, even powerhouses like Sakumo Hatake and Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't be sure they would survive a great ninja war.
Danzo, on the other hand, had been seriously injured in the First Great Ninja War, losing an eye and an arm. He only needed to stay in the village and didn't have to go to the battlefield.
As for the battle with the Rain, everyone knew there was a considerable gap between their ninjas and Konoha's.
However, their leader, Hanzo of the Salamander, and his summon were a major threat.
If the antidote for the salamander poison could not be made, the only one on Konoha's side who could withstand the poison and fight Hanzo was probably Tsunade alone.
Even Sakumo and Hiruzen, without the antidote, might be able to kill the salamander in battle, but they would be poisoned to death afterwards.
If Danzo had really withheld the herbs, then he would undoubtedly be the sinner who dragged Konoha into the vortex of war!
He himself would be fine, staying off the battlefield in the initial stages due to his injuries.
But they, on the other hand, would have to lead their clansmen and subordinates to charge into battle once the war broke out.
"Answer me, Danzo!"
Hiruzen stepped forward, standing right in front of him and demanding an answer.
He was also afraid that these agitated jonin would act against him.
"Nonsense!"
Danzo retorted furiously.
"Hiruzen, you have to believe me. I have already given all the herbs to Tsunade."
"Who knows if Tsunade didn't go gambling somewhere and lose, selling off the herbs to pay her debts and then framing me?"
"Right, I remember there are herb merchants in the village, aren't there?"
"You can go and ask them, see if that unit has had any transactions with them."
This was a little trick of Danzo's.
He was telling the ninjas to ask if the unit led by Tsunade had had any transactions with the merchants of the Land of Fire.
However, he did not specify whether the unit had sold the herbs to the merchants, or bought herbs from them.
Both selling and buying were considered "transactions."