The Old Man Has Fallen for It?

At the Kumogakure camp, the Third Raikage was guiding Dada and Yotsuki Ki in their training when a Konohagakure messenger arrived with an invitation from Danzo.

A opened the scroll, a playful smile appearing on his face.

It said that Shimura Danzō should not have agreed to Kumogakure's unreasonable demands, but for the sake of the village and peace in the Shinobi World, he was willing to agree to one condition from Kumogakure in a personal capacity, thereby fostering friendly relations between the two villages. He could provide certain things that could not be brought into the open, but since their origins were questionable, they could only discuss them in private. As it happened, there were towering mountains and magnificent scenery to the west, so he sincerely invited the Third Raikage to tea, and so on.

A closed the scroll and sneered. "Dada, just as you said, they took the bait."

Dada felt relieved upon reading the contents of the scroll. "I thought they really weren't in a hurry. It took them so many days to bite."

"The higher-ups of Konohagakure are just like that—all indecisive people. I concluded that over a decade ago," A said.

"Father, tomorrow is up to you."

"Don't worry. My son has given me such a perfect plan; naturally, nothing will go wrong. But since we're fishing, we need some bait."

Thus, Danzo received the Third Raikage's reply. Its words dripped with disdain, stating that Danzo was not even a Kage, so what right did he have to drink tea with him? If there was a deal, he should stop beating around the bush and bring out the goods so everyone could be straightforward about it. Kumogakure was not unreasonable, and there was still room to negotiate. But if he could not produce anything and merely wanted to invite him to chat, then A had plenty to do and no time to listen to his nonsense.

Shimura Danzō's hand gripping the scroll turned pale with anger. He, Danzo, stood above tens of thousands in Konohagakure, second only to one. When had he ever...

Calm down! Calm down!

"My lord, why is the Raikage's tone so forceful? Could he have noticed something?" a ninja asked.

Danzo swept his sleeve. "No. Those Kumogakure people are simply like that—uncouth brutes with no manners. I concluded that over a decade ago. The more impatient he is, the more it proves that he has already fallen into our scheme."

It seemed he would have to produce something. Otherwise, if he invited the Third Raikage out only to arrive empty-handed, that brute might not treat him kindly.

Danzo imagined going to the meeting empty-handed and being beaten by the Third Raikage. He felt that was highly possible.

Fortunately, Danzo was cautious by nature and carried most important things with him. Otherwise, he really would not have been able to produce anything that could tempt the Raikage on such short notice.

But this item would have to be discarded. He could not truly allow Kumogakure to obtain it; he had to tamper with it first.

So Danzo swallowed his humiliation and wrote another sincere reply, saying that what he was offering was extremely valuable. Konohagakure had a clan called Uchiha, whose eyes were incredibly powerful. What a coincidence—he, Danzo, happened to carry a pair with him, ready to present to the esteemed Raikage, and so on.

Danzo thought, Look at this. I went through so much trouble to obtain these Sharingan through shady means, and before I've even finished studying them, I'm using them up for the village again. I, Danzo, am truly exhausting myself for public duty while neglecting private concerns.

Next, Danzo and Hatake Sakumo checked the plan once more. Danzo would meet the Third Raikage, confirm that he had come in person, then find an opportunity to send Hatake Sakumo a signal to begin the rescue operation.

After ensuring nothing could go wrong, Danzo carefully took a pair of Three-Tomoe Sharingan from his Sealing Scroll, his eyes filled with regret.

But there was no other way at the moment. He was losing these Sharingan for the village, so when he returned, he would have to find a way to make Monkey compensate him for them.

Shimura Danzō then made a small alteration to the Sharingan: a subtle technique that would gradually damage the Sharingan over time.

Danzo was quite skilled at such tricks, which were often used to destroy evidence and conceal the truth.

That night, beneath the full moon, Shimura Danzō stood on a cliff west of the Kumogakure camp, hooded and with his hands behind his back.

Before long, the burly Third Raikage arrived with his guards.

By moonlight, Danzo carefully examined the Third Raikage to confirm whether he had come in person, then secretly exchanged glances with an Aburame ninja beside him.

The insects gave an affirmative answer as well.

Once he confirmed that the man before him was the real one, Danzo relaxed slightly. At that point, the plan had already succeeded halfway.

"Lord Raikage, the scenery here is quite distinctive. It is a suitable place to admire the moon," Danzo said with a smile.

"I have no time to admire the moon. Even if I did, I would not do it with you. Did you bring the item mentioned in the letter?" The Third Raikage clearly did not appreciate the sentiment and got straight to the point.

Danzo cursed inwardly. What a brute! It seems things will end here sooner than expected. I won't be able to hold the Raikage for long.

To keep the Third Raikage steady, Danzo pulled a small glass jar from his sleeve. Inside were two scarlet eyes, with three tomoe evenly distributed around each pupil, looking strange and evil.

The Third Raikage showed interest and reached for the glass jar, but Danzo dodged away.

"What does this mean?" A's expression changed slightly, seemingly displeased.

"This represents my sincerity. But if I hand it over to you, can you promise..."

As he spoke, Danzo removed his hood, revealing his spiky hair. This was the signal he had arranged with his Aburame subordinate. Once he removed his hood, the other man would use insects to send a signal to Hatake Sakumo.

Hatake Sakumo, who was lying in wait outside the Kumogakure camp, received the signal carried by the insects. As agreed, he waited roughly ten more minutes to give Shimura Danzō enough time to retreat, then led his subordinates to infiltrate the Kumogakure camp.

They had long since figured out the camp's defensive layout through various means over the past few days, and Tsunade Senju's location had also been confirmed. Since their primary objective was a covert rescue rather than a direct assault, Sakumo and the others avoided the defenses as much as possible to minimize conflict.

Everything went smoothly along the way—so smoothly that Hatake Sakumo felt somewhat uneasy. But after carefully reviewing the entire incident, he still decided to proceed with the rescue according to plan.

After knocking out several guarding ninjas, Hatake Sakumo finally found Tsunade Senju in a small house and untied her.

"Sakumo, how did you get in here?" Tsunade had naturally heard of Hatake Sakumo's reputation. He was somewhat older than the three of them and had already made quite a name for himself.

"Can you still move?" Sakumo asked.

"No. My Chakra has been sealed." Sakumo was just about to check Tsunade's condition when a burst of light flashed outside the house. Towering walls of light appeared, trapping Sakumo and the others inside.

The ground writhed as four ninjas emerged from beneath it, standing at the four corners of the barrier and maintaining the barrier technique.

Hatake Sakumo's face darkened. This barrier seemed familiar. If it was that technique...

He tentatively touched it lightly, and a powerful electric shock struck his body.

"A formation similar to the Four Violet Flames Formation, but with lightning nature... We've fallen for it," Hatake Sakumo sighed inwardly.

A small figure emerged from the side. It was Dada.

Dada looked at the people within the wall of light, excitement written across his face.

Look what I caught—Konoha's White Fang!

Meanwhile, Danzo, who had been painstakingly telling the Third Raikage how difficult things had been for him, sensed that the time was ripe.

He handed the Sharingan to the Third Raikage, then said that since the matter was settled, he needed to return to the village and report back.

Unexpectedly, a large hand landed on his shoulder. The Third Raikage pressed down on Danzo, who had been about to leave, then poked his large face over Danzo's shoulder and said, "Don't be in such a hurry to leave. Didn't you say you wanted to treat this old man to tea? You've talked for so long—where's the tea?"