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JST Chapter 112: Root Causes and Rotten Excuses
🕑 Added 2024-11-25 02:17:06 +0000 UTCKonoha, Hokage Residence.
Shimura Danzo's eyes flashed with excitement, and he said with saliva flying: "A ninja who fails such an important mission brings shame to the Land of Fire and our village, Hiruzen! Do you understand the magnitude of this disaster?"
Hiruzen, frowning, listened silently as Danzo continued: "Look at the messages of condemnation we've received from the other shinobi villages. They're about to form an alliance to attack us! Hatake Sakumo has revealed our stance on the war, and this is something extremely serious."
Danzō took a step forward, raising his voice with emotion: "I propose that Hatake Sakumo be imprisoned immediately, that he be stripped of all his titles, and that we call a high-level meeting to decide his punishment."
Inside, Danzo was enjoying his moment. He had meticulously planned this attack on Hatake Sakumo.
Shimura Danzo knows the Konoha shinobi very well, especially Sarutobi Hiruzen and Hatake Sakumo.
To Danzo, Sakumo was nothing more than a naive idealist, incapable of using his strength to secure his position.
As for Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzo predicted his reaction in advance.
Sarutobi Hiruzen would certainly not be happy with the failure of Hatake Sakumo's mission. Nor would he react as he did when he protected his disciples, suppressing the public opinion of the people in time, much less embellishing it.
Perhaps, when opinions reached a boiling point, Sarutobi Hiruzen would choose to intervene to calm the waters.
But during the period in which Sarutobi Hiruzen remained silent, Shimura Danzo would have plenty of time to fan the flames even further. After all, he was in absolute control of his personal military force: the Root Division.
In Konoha, Danzo could act according to his own interests without needing to ask permission from Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned as he looked at the proud Shimura Danzo.
The truth was that Sarutobi Hiruzen's inner thoughts on the matter of Hatake Sakumo almost completely coincided with what Danzo had deduced.
No matter what the truth was, the fact remained that Hatake Sakumo, as a Konoha ninja, had caused losses to the village. That meant that the mission had failed, and therefore some form of punishment was inevitable.
At least, that's how Sarutobi Hiruzen saw it.
Especially the Hatake Sakumo incident ignited the village's discussion on the Shinobi Code and the Will of Fire, which gave him an unusual headache.
But for Sarutobi Hiruzen, the biggest problem remained the accusations from the other shinobi villages and the implications for future wars.
Although facing the others he firmly said: "If the other villages want to fight, we will fight..."
In reality, that was just a facade. Even if Kazuki existed, the development of their Jinchuriki by other shinobi villages still frightened Sarutobi Hiruzen. Konoha currently had no good means to deal with the terrifying power of the tailed beasts on the battlefield.
Kushina's performance at the funeral of Uzumaki Mito also made Sarutobi Hiruzen realize that she could not be used as a weapon, at least it would take time to sharpen, which made him feel even more unsure.
If the war broke out, then Konoha would be the only village among the several shinobi villages without a Jinchuriki participating in the war.
Sarutobi Hiruzen could not even imagine the consequences of losing the war. If Konoha fell under his leadership, how could he possibly face the previous Hokage?
These fears fueled his harshness towards Hatake Sakumo. And, while Sarutobi Hiruzen struggled with his doubts, Shimura Danzo's resolute decision had allowed him to gain the upper hand and execute his plan with precision.
Sarutobi Hiruzen had a gloomy face. "Danzo, Hatake Sakumo's punishment will be decided once we have understood all the details of this mission. I, as Hokage, will make the final decision."
"Now I want to ask you: What about the rumors going around the village? What about the two shinobi who committed suicide? They were also from the Root, right?!"
"Are you behind all this!"
Shimura Danzo sneered disdainfully, disdainful of his old friend's hesitation.
People are dead, and when he was arguing, the bodies had been dealt with, and all the evidence had disappeared!
Unless Sarutobi Hiruzen overturned the root, but with Shimura Danzo's understanding of him, Sarutobi Hiruzen would not do such a thing. They both knew it: Hiruzen needed the existence of the Root as his hidden tool.
He will not turn against himself.
After decades of tug-of-war, in this game, under the pressure of Kazuki, the decisive Shimura Danzo finally gained the upper hand!
"What about the Root?" Shimura Danzo waved his hand and stared at Sarutobi Hiruzen closely. "Hiruzen, when has the Root not participated in the village's secret missions? I only want the missions to be successful!"
"If it weren't for Hatake Sakumo's problem, my Root members would definitely defend the village with their lives and would not be exposed!"
"Don't put this blame on me. As a Hokage, you have to make a fair judgment!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen panted heavily.
By now, how could he not realize that it was all a conspiracy by Shimura Danzo against Sakumo Hatake?
Sarutobi Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. Although the public opinion in the village was extremely unfriendly to Hatake Sakumo, the biggest problem was that it would be difficult for him, the Hokage, to quell the conflict between the Will of Fire and the Shinobi Code, as well as the condemnation of other shinobi villages...
That mix of emotions kept him trapped, and he had barely had time to consider how Sakumo really felt in the midst of this storm.
'Perhaps...' Hiruzen thought. 'These controversies will strengthen his spirit. If he ever faces a similar situation, he might then see things from the mindset of a Hokage.'
Danzo slammed the table hard, his words filled with urgency. "Hiruzen! If you continue to hesitate, you'll regret it!"
Hiruzen replied, also banging the table: "Danzo! I am the Hokage!"
The two men exchanged heated shouts, pushing each other deeper into conflict.
At this moment, both of them seemed to have completely forgotten the real protagonist of this matter...
...
"Wow, this is livelier than I expected, isn't it, Tobirama?" Kazuki slowly walked to the door of the Hokage's office and said with a smile. "It seems that these two people have a conflict..."
Along the way, no ANBU came to stop Kazuki.
No matter what Sarutobi Hiruzen thought, his attitude towards Kazuki on the surface was extremely preferential, to a degree that left Shimura Danzo, and the others perplexed.
As long as Kazuki comes to see him, there is no need to inform him, just come in directly.
"Conflict?" Senju Tobirama sneered. "It's nothing more than arguing about whose responsibility is, this is all boring drama!"
Kazuki pushed open the door and saw a funny scene.
Sarutobi Hiruzen took off his bamboo hat, pointed at Shimura Danzo and scolded him loudly.
Shimura Danzo did not show any weakness, waving the crutches in his hand, and his momentum was even stronger than Sarutobi Hiruzen.
They were both so excited that their faces were red, their screams filling the space as if they were two monkeys fighting over a piece of fruit.
At no point did they mention the Will of Fire; instead, they used the crudest and most vulgar arguments to blame each other, exposing the worst in each other.
"Hiruzen, you are getting more and more lax as a Hokage. How did this kid get here!" Shimura Danzo turned around and saw that it was Kazuki who came in, and a trace of viciousness flashed in his eyes.
In his plan, the first obstacle to be eliminated was Hatake Sakumo, then he would use Kazuki's secret to detonate the human experiments with the Hokage's remains, so that he would be the only one qualified to be the Hokage.
"A mere Uchiha, not only was he accepted into the Hokage's master-apprentice circle by you, but he also entered the Hokage's office without even reporting..." Shimura Danzo sneered. "What else are you hiding from the village? Even though you are the Hokage, I, as your advisor, am here to supervise you!"
When Sarutobi Hiruzen saw Kazuki coming, his face tightened unnaturally.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had a deep understanding of his sensei's moral line and was deceived by Uzumaki Mito's analysis, always felt that Kazuki would be possessed by Senju Tobirama one day.
After the possession, it was hard to say if Senju Tobirama would still retain Kazuki's memories.
Therefore, after seeing Kazuki, Sarutobi Hiruzen always felt that Senju Tobirama was watching him, so he asked the ANBU that when he came to see him, they did not need to announce it or stop him.
