A late spring rain suddenly fell.
Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi carried a black stick and walked slowly to a river.
Naka River is a large river surrounding Konoha.
Sarutobi Clan and Shimura Clan were living in the same place. They moved into Konoha, and it was here that Sarutobi Hiruzen met Shimura Danzo for the first time.
From then on, the two formed a lifelong bond, which lasted for decades through ups and downs until today.
But... this kind of friendship may come to an end today.
Sarutobi Hiruzen has never doubted that Danzo can escape from Root. Root is the lair that Danzo has been running for twenty years. As long as he is in Root, he will definitely be able to escape.
But where will Danzo go after escaping?
This is the only place!
Danzo will be here waiting for Sarutobi Hiruzen.
And Sarutobi Hiruzen also needs Danzo to give him an explanation.
It's just that too many things have happened recently. Since the end of Third Great Ninja War, Konoha has been in turmoil.
So Sarutobi Hiruzen's mood is not very good, or very bad.
He was holding Enma in his hand, which turned into Adamantine Staff, with a murderous look on his face. No matter how you look at it, this conversation will not be too gentle.
Sure enough... Danzo was sitting alone by the river, looking at the Naka River's turbulent water, silent.
His condition looked extremely bad. He was dressed in bright red and the original color of his clothes could no longer be seen clearly.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart suddenly trembled. This was the first time he saw Danzo in such a miserable state.
His hand holding Black Receiver also began to turn white.
Danzo In this state, of course it is just pretending.
He had been sitting on the ground recovering his chakra. He seemed to be covered in blood, but in fact he had no injuries at all.
You know, Izanagi can restore the state to the initial stage recorded by Sharingan.
Every time I die, it is really miserable.
But Danzo was restored with Izanagi.
The only weakness he had was that he had used too much chakra and the soles of his feet were weak, but he was definitely not injured to this extent.
Danzo did this on purpose.
Transplanting Sharingan and Wood Release is already a heinous crime, but Sarutobi Hiruzen is Third Hokage after all. If Danzo wants to stay in the village, he must impress the other party.
Even if he died openly afterwards and was active in Konoha in a behind-the-scenes capacity, that was still Konoha!
The fundamental power of Danzo is Root. As long as he still controls Root, then he is just pretending to die, so what does it matter?
Seeing his old friend walk in, Danzo wiped the blood on his face and said "weakly": "You're here, Hiruzen."
"Do you remember this river?" Danzo began to play the emotional card.
"Of course I remember, this is the place where we first met." Sarutobi Hiruzen replied.
Many years ago, at this time, a careless young man unbuttoned his pants and drank water... ahem, it was a squirt gun.
He turned to a boy who was staring at him with a playful smile and said, "Danzo, you can't pee as far as I can."
"Fart!" Danzo blurted out subconsciously, and then unbuttoned his pants to create an arc.
But the arc was not too far away and landed directly on his feet.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was in a daze for a moment, and the memory of that year was still so clear.
However, after being lost for a moment, he raised his stick and hit Danzo.
Danzo just resisted for a moment, then Enma stretched out a hand from the stick and grabbed his neck fiercely.
"Are you going to... kill me...?" "Danzo asked intermittently.
"How dare you mention that when you were a kid, tell me if the mirror's eyes were in your hands!
The mirror has saved you so many times, how dare you..." Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice became louder and faster.
"Say it!"
"Hurry up and say it!!"
Enma's hand became stronger and stronger, leaving Danzo speechless at all.
But Sarutobi Hiruzen still asked, "Say it!"
"Speak quickly!"
"..." Danzo felt a little blurry and almost out of breath.
If he hadn't been speechless, he would have wanted to curse, "Made, you're mentally retarded!"
You grabbed my neck, what do you want me to say?
Just when Danzo was hesitating whether to use Izanagi to escape his life first, Sarutobi Hiruzen reacted and quickly asked Enma to let go.
"Cough cough cough..." Danzo collapsed on the ground and coughed violently.
"Hurry up and explain, otherwise I don't guarantee that I will kill you with my own hands!" Third Hokage said coldly.
Danzo explained, "When something happened to the mirror, I was the first to arrive. Uchiha Clan was about to arrive, so I had no choice but to remove his eyes. Don't you understand why?"
"At that time, Uchiha Yama was going to become Uchiha Clan Leader. If the mirror's eyes fell into his hands again, how would Uchiha Clan contend? I'm all for Konoha."
Danzo immediately threw the pot to the dead.
"King's death has absolutely nothing to do with me!"
"What about Sharingan?"
"I secretly saved these after those Uchiha Clan ninjas died in battle. I have never killed a ninja in a village. Am I that kind of person?" Danzo said in a deep voice.
"Then why do you want a transplant?" Third Hokage asked.
Danzo sighed.
"Remember when Fugaku attacked the village? After that, I investigated him and found out that he had joined an organization called Akatsuki.
This is not the point. The point is that the leader of Akatsuki owns Rinnegan. "
Sarutobi Hiruzen stared into Danzo's eyes and asked after a while; "How many other things are you hiding from me?!"
"That's all I know." Danzo said quickly.
"The reason why I did so much is to resist that Akatsuki Organization.
Rinnegan Those are the eyes that only Sage of Six Paths has. Since they launched an attack on the village, I must protect the village. "
Sarutobi Hiruzen was silent again.
His intuition told him that Danzo was not telling the truth, but at this time Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't want to tell the truth, nor did he want to pursue it.
He just wanted a reason, a reason that could convince him to let Danzo go.
Now, he's found it.
"Danzo, after all, you have transplanted Wood Release Sharingan, and you still have mirror eyes.
I should kill you both emotionally and rationally... but after so many years, I won't kill you, but I will declare you...Rogue Ninja. "
"Hiruzen, I can fake death..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen waved his hand to stop his words.
"Go and join Akatsuki Organization. From today on, you are the village's spy and the village's eyes in Akatsuki."
Danzo: "..."
"As long as you complete your mission, I will ensure that you can come back safely and restore your reputation."
Third Hokage turned around and left after finishing speaking.
Danzo's face was uncertain until Sarutobi Hiruzen's figure disappeared. He laughed loudly and said, "As expected of Hiruzen! As expected of Third Hokage! As expected of the teacher's most proud disciple!"
Three times in a row, this middle-aged man who is the senior executive of Konoha and will also become "Rogue Ninja", his laughter is crazy and desolate, extremely tragic.
The sky was covered with dark clouds and it was pouring rain.