Danzo's Admiration

"Damn it, they came so quickly." The Second Elder cursed inwardly, but he had no choice but to go meet them.

However, he did not give them a friendly look.

After all, their purpose was to stop the clan from rescuing his granddaughter. It would have been strange if the Second Elder had treated them kindly.

Of course, the Third Hokage and the others understood this perfectly and did not blame him for his rudeness.

After some pointless wrangling, neither side managed to convince the other.

But the Rescue Team's departure was delayed because of it.

Left with no other choice, Kyosuke stepped forward and faced the Third Hokage and the others directly.

Ordinarily, Kyosuke's current strength and status did not qualify him to speak, but he bore the title of the Third Hokage's disciple's grandson.

Thus, when they saw him step forward, everyone stopped arguing and waited to see what this little genius had to say.

"While I was on patrol earlier, I saw two children fighting."

Kyosuke began speaking of something that seemed entirely unrelated, yet no one interrupted him. They continued listening quietly.

"The cause was simple. One of the children wanted the candy in the other child's hand, so he tried to take it."

"Out of fear, the other child could only hand over the candy and run away, because he thought, I gave him the candy, so he probably won't bully me again, right?"

"But that was not what happened. Not only did the child who hit others not restrain himself, he became even worse. In the end, he even stole all the money from the other child's pocket."

As Kyosuke spoke, the scene fell silent.

"Until one day, the child being beaten finally could not endure it anymore and fought back. He knocked one of the other child's teeth out, then swaggered away while the other child cried in pain."

"Afterward, I noticed that the child who used to beat others secretly followed him several times. But whenever he wanted to steal something, the wound in his mouth reminded him of one thing: pain."

"In the end, he never dared bully that child again."

"Because whenever he thought of that child, he felt it."

"Pain!!!"

After finishing his story, Kyosuke raised his head and stared straight into the Third Hokage's eyes. "Doesn't Konoha right now resemble that bullied child?"

"If we retreat now, will the Sand Shinobi truly stop there?" Kyosuke silently shook his head, his tone firm. "No. Having already tasted the sweetness, they will only become more and more excessive."

"In the end, it may not only be them who come to attack us. The Cloud Ninja watching us like tigers, the Rock Ninja, and even the Mist Ninja isolated overseas—they will all pounce like rabid dogs upon food, tearing away every piece of flesh from our bodies."

As Kyosuke spoke, he could not help closing his eyes. Then he suddenly opened them again, the eerie Sharingan in his pupils slowly spinning. "There is only one way to prevent that from happening: make them understand what pain is!!!"

After hearing Kyosuke's words, everyone stared at him with astonished expressions.

Until a loud roar completely shattered the silence.

"Well said!!!"

The one praising him was neither an Uchiha Elder nor Fugaku and the others, much less the Third Hokage.

It was Danzo, who had remained silent all this time!!!

At that moment, his exposed single eye gleamed as he watched Kyosuke, as though he had found a kindred spirit.

Kyosuke's remarks were precisely the policy Danzo had always advocated and upheld.

Unfortunately, such ideas were not accepted by the peace-minded Third Hokage and the others, leaving him with much pent-up frustration and nowhere to voice it.

Under the influence of the Will of Fire, the vast majority of Konoha ninjas could not accept Danzo's radical views.

Yet today, here, a five-year-old child had voiced the same insight as him. For a moment, Danzo's emotions surged violently.

"Hiruzen, have you spent all these years living like a dog? You can't even see things as clearly as a child!" The more Danzo thought about it, the more agitated he became, and that was why the praise slipped out.

But then, seeing everyone's strange looks, even his old face—thick enough that Kunai could not pierce it—could not help flushing slightly.

After an awkward moment, he finally calmed himself down.

Danzo slammed his cane against the ground and spoke firmly. "I agree to send out a Rescue Team, but it cannot be in Konoha's name. Do you understand?"

The Uchiha members all nodded, inwardly thinking, We never counted on you in the first place.

Seeing this, the Third Hokage, who had been silent for a long time, finally nodded slowly and agreed to the matter.

Afterward, they took their leave.

However, before departing, Danzo carefully studied Kyosuke with his one eye again before turning and walking away.

The Second Elder and the others watched the Hokage leave. Then he excitedly stepped forward, intending to ruffle Kyosuke's hair, but when he raised his hand, he unexpectedly paused before changing it to a pat on the shoulder.

Kyosuke nodded to him, and the Rescue Team finally set out.

"Second Brother, that child... is very good. Truly very good." The Great Elder watched Kyosuke and the others' departing backs and quietly spoke to his younger brother.

The Second Elder smiled smugly at that, but said nothing.

"If they can successfully bring Nagisa back this time, then let Fugaku become the Uchiha Clan Head." Before turning to leave, the Great Elder left those words hanging in the air.

And he made no effort to avoid the other clan members hearing them.

Outside Konoha, within that vast forest.

Kyosuke, who had seemed so imposing earlier, was now being carried on the back of a jonin from the clan as they rushed forward.

This was hardly strange. If Kyosuke had been made to run himself, he likely would have been too exhausted to move before even leaving Konoha's central district.

And even if he could run, with his speed, by the time he reached the border, those Sand Shinobi would already be home drinking tea.

So, although it was not very dignified, Kyosuke lay there with complete peace of mind.

He had even decided that, after being woken in the middle of the night, he should sleep first.

"I'm still growing. I have to make sure I get enough sleep." Having successfully convinced himself, Kyosuke lay sprawled across the ninja's broad back and fell asleep.

Perhaps because he was anxious, or because his emotions had been too stirred up earlier, he did not merely fall asleep—he even began to snore softly.

Though the snoring was faint, every ninja present was highly skilled, and they noticed immediately that he had secretly fallen asleep.

The ninjas exchanged glances and smiled faintly, then tacitly stopped talking.

Without slowing their pace, they began leaping as lightly as possible and landing just as softly.

So as not to disturb Kyosuke's sleep.