Both Sides Make Concessions

Both sides made concessions

Having escaped from the Land of Water and passed through the Land of Hot Water, they endured countless hardships before finally returning to the Land of Fire. (ΔΔ"Small"Ω ┡Novel)

However, instead of being met by Konoha Ninja, Shunren was warmly received by the Anbu.

"Huh? What do you mean by setting up this formation?" Shunren looked at the eight Anbu surrounding him in an octagonal shape with a puzzled expression.

"Uchiha Shunren! You are suspected of Mist Ninja Village. Please lay down your weapons and do not resist." Dressed in black, wearing a mask with various animal patterns, and spouting this kind of rhetoric, he was clearly an Anbu of the Hokage's lineage.

Faced with the other party's righteous command, Shunren's expression remained unchanged; he simply shrugged and said, "What weapon do I have on hand right now?"

"Then what's that big thing on your back?" an Anbu questioned. The intelligence files on the Shunren recorded that they were skilled in using all sorts of weapons.

Upon hearing this, Shunren's face revealed a strange expression, and he chuckled, "Are you sure you want me to put this thing down?"

At this moment, the large thing on Shunren's back is the Heavy Black Iron Ruler, which can be used for weight training and to suppress Shunren's Chakra. Once the Heavy Black Iron Ruler is put down, it means that his mobility will be unrestricted and that Shunren Chakra will surge in a short period of time.

"Enough with the nonsense! This is the Lord Hokage's order. Do you intend to disobey?" an Anbu shouted angrily.

Shunren scratched his head, a hint of impatience appearing on his face. "Fine, I'm too lazy to waste time with you. I'll go talk to the Third myself."

"Clang!" The members of the Anbu drew their Ninja Blade. "Stop! Or don't blame us for being impolite!"

Shunren ignored the warnings from the Anbu and walked right past them as if no one else was there.

Seeing this, the Anbu members were also annoyed. As the Hokage's direct subordinates, they were usually wary of them. However, this Uchiha brat, who was only ten years old, dared to look down on them so much.

Neither the official nor the secret Anbu spoke any more words and launched an attack on Shunren.

Konoha, Hokage Building.

"Smack~"

The gate was violently forced open; in the entire Danzo Konoha Village, only Danzo could do such a thing.

"Hiruzen! You should have received the message by now, right?"

"Yes." Hiruzen was holding the report at that moment. "Pakura left the Land of Water alive, Yuki Clan naturally refused to cooperate. The alliance plan between the Sand Ninja and the Mist Ninja has been successfully disrupted."

"This is indeed quite good." A sinister glint flashed in Danzo's eyes as he coldly said, "But those who should have been sacrificed have returned alive!"

"Yes, that child is an unexpected genius." Compared to Danzo's outburst, Hiruzen's attitude was much more peaceful.

"But he's from the Uchiha Clan!" Danzo frowned.

Hiruzen didn't respond to Danzo's words, but instead kept his eyes on the report in his hand, slowly recounting, "They used a diversionary tactic, breaking out from the north of the Land of Water, detouring through the Cloud Ninja and the Land of Hot Water, and finally successfully returning to the Land of Fire. Even Minato at that age didn't possess such courage."

"Hmph! So cunning at such a young age, isn't that the mark of a wolf in sheep's clothing?" Danzo's expression flashed with a hint of apprehension, then he said in a deep voice, "This child is growing far too fast; he will surely become a powerful henchman of the Uchiha Clan in the future! Also, didn't you send the Anbu to ambush him at the border? What happened?"

"If he returns wounded, we can capture him. If he returns unharmed, then we have failed," Hiruzen calmly, a sharp glint flashing in his aged eyes. "If it's the latter, I'd like to see what he does."

Danzo shook his head, expressing his disappointment, "Our calculations were all wrong. We thought that after escaping the pursuit of the Mist Ninja, he would definitely return to the Land of Fire from Land of Water west, taking the fastest route, and we could catch him while he was weakened. But now, we didn't expect him to break through from the north and even detour through the Land of Hot Water, which gives him a chance to catch his breath. Ordinary Anbu will probably just be throwing their lives away..."

"That's hard to say, let's wait and see." Hiruzen gave a meaningful smile.

"Hiruzen, what exactly are you planning?" Danzo couldn't quite figure out what the other was thinking.

About half an hour had passed, and just as Danzo was getting a little impatient, the Anbu finally came in with a report.

"Reporting to the Lord Hokage! The capture mission has failed."

"Yes, I understand." Hiruzen had anticipated this outcome, but that wasn't what he wanted to know. "How many people survived?"

"..." The Anbu gave the report paused slightly at Hiruzen's question. It sounded as if their mission was doomed to fail, and the statement that they didn't care about casualties but only how many survived was worth considering.

The cunning Danzo seemed to understand immediately, and his expression turned somewhat grim.

"All eight people... survived. They only suffered minor injuries."

"Alright, I understand. You may leave." While this outcome confirmed Hiruzen's inner thoughts, the specific answer still surprised him.

Danzo sneered, "He's deliberately feigning weakness to hide a much greater ambition!"

"Of course I know that," Hiruzen said, his eyes flickering slightly. "Not only did he not hold it against us for causing him trouble, but he also showed mercy to the Anbu I sent out. Uchiha Shunren has a very good heart."

"What do you mean 'not caring'? He only coveted our 'White Fang Blade Technique'!" Danzo voice. "After being stabbed in the back by us, he still dared to swagger back to Konoha and didn't even kill the Anbu who ambushed him to vent his anger... Don't you think such forbearance is too terrifying, Hiruzen?"

"Indeed." Hiruzen completely agreed with Danzo's conclusion this time, but he still said, "No matter what, we still have to abide by the rules of the game. They've already made such concessions, so we must respond accordingly. We must give them the 'White Fang Blade Technique,' we have no choice but to give it to them."

"What a joke! With this technique, wouldn't that kid be even more powerful?" Danzo retorted.

"There's nothing we can do about it!" Hiruzen said coldly. "He's a core disciple of the Uchiha Clan now. If he tells the higher- Uchiha about this, that would be a huge problem!"

Danzo startled and immediately said, "Without any evidence, what right does the Uchiha have...?"

"I know what you're thinking, but we absolutely need the Uchiha's strength for the upcoming war. We'll talk about everything else after the war. Hmph! He's just a kid with a bit of talent. Give him a couple more years, and he's not going to cause any trouble, is he?"

"But..." Danzo hesitated, wanting to say something like, "Given Uchiha Shunren's astonishing growth rate, who knows how far he'll go in two years? What if he really does turn the world upside down?"