Chapter 40: Danzō—Hanzō is Dead? What Does That Have to Do With Me?!
The Intercepted Message
A ninja hound carrying a scroll appeared at the outskirts of Konoha Village.
The seal on the scroll bore a unique pattern belonging to Root—one of the village's most secretive ANBU divisions.
Upon discovering this, the Root operative responsible for monitoring Konoha's perimeter immediately recognized that something serious must have occurred. He quickly retrieved the scroll from the dog's mouth.
"It's a message from Captain Terai!"
Recognizing the distinctive markings on the scroll, he prepared to deliver this intelligence directly to Danzō.
Just then, a figure suddenly materialized beside him. After examining the scroll briefly, the newcomer asked in a low, commanding voice: "Shijū, what's happened?"
"Captain Ryōma?"
Shijū was momentarily startled, then replied respectfully, "It's an urgent communication from Captain Terai. Something may have happened in the Land of Rain. I was just about to present it to Lord Danzō."
"The Land of Rain..."
Ryōma murmured to himself, a cold glint appearing in his eyes.
"The situation is urgent—please excuse my haste, Captain Ryōma."
Shijū secured the scroll and moved past Ryōma, intending to seek out Danzō immediately.
However, he had only taken two steps when he felt a sudden, sharp pain pierce through his chest.
Squelch.
Shijū looked down in shock and saw a hand protruding from his chest, blood dripping from the fingers.
"Captain... Ryōma?"
Shijū's pupils dilated as he slowly turned his head, his eyes filled with complete disbelief. "Why... why did you... betray Lord Danzō?"
"You don't need to know."
Ryōma swiftly withdrew his blood-soaked hand, coldly uttering those final words before turning his attention to the ninja hound.
Betrayal?
No—he had merely been temporarily blinded before. Only now was he finally seeing the true light.
"Woof! Woof!"
The ninja hound sensed the imminent danger and attempted to flee.
But unfortunately, a swarm of parasitic insects burst forth, devouring the animal down to its bones within seconds.
Having eliminated all witnesses, Ryōma leisurely wiped the blood from his hands with a cloth. He retrieved the scroll from Shijū's corpse, scanned its contents briefly, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his lips.
"Hmph. As expected—Lord Kazuki was right. A rat hiding in the sewers can only pull off these pathetic tricks."
Though he didn't know the full situation regarding the Uchiha girl, for Lord Kazuki's sake, he would ensure all traces were eliminated.
The next moment, the scroll was consumed by his parasitic insects, leaving no evidence behind.
"Lord Kazuki... with me, Ryōma, protecting you, no one will be able to harm you!"
Ryōma methodically cleaned up the scene, erasing every trace of what had transpired, then vanished as if he had never been there at all.
The Hokage's Fury
The Hokage Building.
At this moment, the Third Hokage was frantically working through mountains of paperwork.
The political fallout from the White Fang's tragic death, combined with recent probing attacks from various shinobi villages, was leaving him physically and mentally exhausted.
But just then, an urgent intelligence report from Tsunade was delivered to his office by an ANBU operative.
Opening the scroll, Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at the contents—and his blood pressure immediately skyrocketed. He nearly fainted on the spot.
"DANZŌ!!!"
Veins bulged prominently on Hiruzen's forehead as he slammed his hand on the desk with enough force to crack the wood. His eyes were bloodshot as he roared: "Go! Bring Danzō here! IMMEDIATELY!"
"Y-Yes, Hokage-sama!"
The ANBU operatives stationed outside the office heard the furious roar from within and exchanged bewildered glances, falling into stunned silence.
The usually gentle and composed Third Hokage was absolutely terrifying when truly enraged!
Soon after, Danzō entered the Hokage's office with a confused expression on his weathered face.
THWACK!
Before Danzō could even speak, a scroll was hurled directly at his face.
"Hiruzen, have you lost your mind?!"
Danzō's visible eye flashed with vicious anger as his face contorted. He ripped the scroll away from his face, yelling indignantly: "What the hell are you doing?!"
"What am I doing?"
Hiruzen gave a cold, humorless laugh. "Why don't you take a good look at what you've done, Danzō!"
Danzō's eyelid twitched violently as an ominous premonition rose in his heart. He bent down to retrieve the fallen scroll from the floor, his eye rapidly scanning its contents.
Before he'd even read halfway through, he nearly coughed up blood from sheer frustration.
The Accusations
"How DARE you, Danzō!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's anger still simmered dangerously as he glared at his former teammate with fierce intensity. "Secretly colluding with Hanzō to assassinate one of our own jōnin, then using Root's resources to collaborate with the rebel Akatsuki organization to assassinate Hanzō—the leader of Amegakure! Truly impressive methods, Danzō!"
This is slander! Complete and utter slander!
Danzō was beside himself with frustration, his aged face flushing crimson as veins bulged on his forehead. "You're talking complete nonsense! Don't you DARE slander me, Hiruzen!"
"Slander you?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's anger only intensified. He slammed his fist on the desk again, glaring daggers at his old comrade. "Look at yourself! Is there a SINGLE thing written here that wrongly accuses you?!"
Danzō's lips twitched involuntarily, but he still stubbornly argued: "I admit—I did arrange for Hanzō to eliminate that Uchiha brat. But I had NOTHING to do with Hanzō's death!"
"You didn't kill Hanzō? Fine, fine—then tell me, WHO did kill him?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi crossed his arms, staring at Danzō with an expression that said 'let's see you talk your way out of this one.' "Was it Tsunade? Or perhaps Uchiha Kazuki? Or maybe just those few Akatsuki children?"
"I—"
Danzō choked on his words, nearly suffocating himself. He desperately wanted to defend himself, but the fundamental problem remained: he wasn't innocent to begin with.
His original plan had been simple—eliminate that Uchiha brat, steal his Sharingan, and research that mysterious genjutsu ability.
But now everything had gone catastrophically wrong. Hanzō was dead, and this entire disaster had been inexplicably pinned on him.
It was like having mud smeared on your pants—even if it wasn't actually filth, everyone would assume it was!
"Regardless... I didn't do it."
Now, Danzō could only resort to shameless denial, stubbornly refusing to accept responsibility. "Everything I did was for Konoha's benefit. Your methods are far too naive and idealistic, Hiruzen!"
"Danzō—don't forget that I am the Hokage!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his fist on the table once more in righteous fury, his voice suddenly rising several octaves until spittle was practically flying. "Look at what you've done! You dared to extend Root's influence into Amegakure! Are you trying to start another war?! Do you have ANY respect for me as Hokage?!"
The Real Threat
"Hiruzen... this matter isn't as simple as it appears."
Danzō took a deep breath, recognizing that now was not the time to be aggressive. He spoke more calmly: "Give me some time. I will investigate this matter thoroughly and provide you with a proper explanation."
"You don't need to give ME an explanation!"
Still seething with anger, Hiruzen Sarutobi sneered repeatedly. "You should be thinking about how to give Tsunade an explanation instead."
"Tsunade?"
Danzō frowned, not particularly concerned by the mention of her name. "What explanation could I possibly need to give her?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat back down in his chair, lit his pipe with practiced ease, took a deep drag, and slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke.
"Just half an hour ago, Tsunade officially notified Konoha Hospital and every shinobi within our medical system that they are no longer permitted to treat ANY member of Root. Any medical-nin who violates this order will be immediately stripped of their medical qualifications and expelled from the system."
Danzō—who hadn't been particularly worried by the threat before—immediately broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing this.
"Hiruzen... you—she's openly targeting a Konoha ANBU division!"
Konoha could theoretically survive without the ANBU.
But it absolutely could not survive without its medical-nin.
And currently, over ninety percent of the medical-nin in Konoha had received personal training and guidance from Tsunade herself.
While there were others who could perform medical ninjutsu besides Tsunade's disciples, they were a tiny minority—a mere drop in the ocean!
Seeing Danzō's visible discomfort, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a strange sense of satisfaction wash over him.
Let him be arrogant now!
"Hiruzen... are you just going to stand by and watch this happen?"
Danzō gritted his teeth, attempting to salvage the dire situation. "No matter what, Root exists for Konoha's benefit. By doing this, Tsunade is weakening our village's own power!"
"Heh. Now you know to ask for my help?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled another puff of smoke, speaking with deliberate calm. "I cannot interfere in this matter. After all, it was Tsunade who personally created and perfected our entire medical system from the ground up. Previously, she was unwilling to leverage this power politically. But now you've completely enraged her. Even I—in the eyes of the medical corps—am far less important than she is."
Perhaps it was Tsunade's usual carefree, easygoing attitude that made many people subconsciously overlook the immense political power she actually possessed.
Just like Danzō—he had forgotten the most fundamental principle of survival:
Never make an enemy of your doctor, or you'll suffer the consequences when you need them most.
Cold sweat dripped down Danzō's spine as realization finally dawned. He understood at last just how vast and terrifying this power—which he had previously dismissed as irrelevant—truly was once it had been fully mobilized against him!
[End of Chapter 40]
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