Muddy Waters

Hiruzen Sarutobi rummaged through his entire desk for a long time before confirming that Sakura's copy of "Haruno Sakura's Will of Fire" had been taken by that bastard Danzō.

But even if he went to find Danzō now, it would be pointless.

Since he had taken it, it meant he had already read it.

Whether it was submitted or not no longer mattered.

Damn it...

Hiruzen Sarutobi furrowed his brow deeply. He knew Shimura Danzō's personality all too well.

Letting him see such a strategic deployment—saying he wouldn't be tempted was like saying pigs would line up to jump into a river.

Shimura Danzō's actions had truly caught him off guard.

He hadn't expected that bastard to be idle enough to go through a freshly graduated Genin's exam paper.

But now, what should he do?

Stop Shimura Danzō?

Prevent him from starting to implement the plans within?

There's only ever the thief who strikes every day, not the guard who watches every night.

Or perhaps fabricate a charge and confine him to his home?

Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi thought of Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura.

These two, individually, couldn't contend with him or Danzō, but together, they were a different matter.

They would never sit idly by while Shimura Danzō was inexplicably imprisoned by him.

What should he do?

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in the Hokage's seat, his somewhat withered, aged fingers tapping on the desk.

Right now, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't want to do anything else. He just wanted to raise Sakura to grow up, and he couldn't be bothered with the rest.

He had devoted his entire life to Konoha. He was truly tired and wanted to rest.

He never expected such a troublesome thing to happen at this juncture.

"Someone."

As Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke, an Anbu member knelt before him.

"Bring Sakura here."

Even if he didn't want to implement Sakura's 'Will of Fire,' he couldn't deny her extraordinary intelligence.

He had once said that Uchiha Itachi had the mindset of a Hokage at age seven.

Looking back now, it seemed he had been deceived by Itachi's calm exterior.

After all, a normal person wouldn't do what he did—unable to see the essence of things.

Wiping out the entire clan in one fell swoop had sharply reduced Konoha's strength.

But Sakura was different. Relying solely on Konoha's war history recorded in the academy, she could keenly identify the weaknesses of each nation and use her own advantages to scheme across the entire shinobi world.

This breadth of vision, this scope—even if Hiruzen Sarutobi was reluctant to admit it, the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, couldn't match Sakura in this regard.

Not long after, Sakura, who had been about to pick up Ino from school, once again arrived at the Hokage's Office.

"Master?"

Sakura looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi in confusion.

Was there something else?

"Sakura, about your exam paper..."

At this point, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't hide anything and explained everything directly.

He even told Sakura everything about Shimura Danzō's existence and his conflict with him.

"..."

Sakura's emerald-green eyes widened slightly.

Wait...

That bastard Shimura Danzō took my paper?

At this moment, Sakura was inwardly a bit shattered.

The reason was simple—that paper had a problem!

From start to finish, Sakura had deliberately ignored one existence.

The Akatsuki Organization.

This underground organization, composed of rogue ninjas, was dedicated to achieving 'peace.'

It wasn't that the Akatsuki wasn't strong. Sakura believed that if the entire Akatsuki mobilized, taking down any one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages wouldn't be a problem.

They could even take down two of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

If Shimura Danzō really followed the exam paper's contents, the first step of inflating grain prices might pass smoothly, but the problem would appear in the second step.

By then, the Land of Wind, Land of Earth, and Land of Lightning would all aim their spears at Konoha, and at that point, they'd need to ally with the Land of Earth to form a pincer formation.

Between the Land of Earth and the Land of Fire, besides the Land of Grass, there's also the Land of Rain!

With such a big commotion, it's impossible to hide it from White Zetsu of the Akatsuki Organization.

At that time, what Uchiha Obito or Nagato Uzumaki would do is an unknown variable.

They'd very likely stir the waters to fish in troubled times.

Although that bastard Uchiha Obito is also an ungrateful wolf, you can't deny his fists are big.

If White Zetsu acted as a liaison between the Land of Wind and the Land of Lightning, then the entire Land of Fire would be dragged directly into the quagmire of war.

The threat posed by just one White Zetsu is already this great, let alone the entire Akatsuki Organization.

Keep in mind that Rasa of the Land of Wind isn't dead yet, plus Gaara's Shukaku, Granny Chiyo, the Raikage of the Land of Lightning, and two Perfect Jinchuriki—that adds up to six Kage-level fighters.

And the Eight-Tails is the strongest tailed beast besides the Nine-Tails; without two Kage-level fighters holding back Killer B, winning is simply impossible!

Even if Iwagakure of the Land of Earth allied with Konoha, so what?

They'd still fall into the quagmire of war.

Just adding one White Zetsu could plunge Konoha into complete passivity.

Back then, the reason Sakura came up with this "Haruno Sakura's Will of Fire" was because she knew Hiruzen Sarutobi's personality wouldn't execute this plan.

She never expected it to fall into Shimura Danzō's hands now.

With his temper, you could know with your ass that he'd definitely do it!

"Master means my plan has fallen into the hands of a very stubborn and quite powerful elder in the village?"

Calm down, calm down.

Panicking won't help; Sakura only felt that right now she was way too damn calm!

"Yes, Sakura, do you have any good ideas?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the young girl before him with some anticipation.

From the moment he saw that plan, he had already acknowledged Sakura's intelligence, which was why he specially called her over to ask if she had any good advice.

Sakura sat on the sofa to the side, constantly thinking of a way to break the deadlock.

Actually, the simplest solution was to take down Shimura Danzō.

But that was clearly impossible.

Shimura Danzō had been able to bounce around safely for so many years precisely because he had his own set of skills.

Besides, with no charges at all right now, trying to take him down—if they actually did that, with a little manipulation, Hiruzen Sarutobi's reputation would be ruined.

Moreover, the early stage of the plan involved tampering with grain prices; even if discovered, it wouldn't prove anything.

And the early stage of the plan lasted as long as five years, making it even harder to pin anything down.

If only there was someone on the inside in the Akatsuki Organization...

Sakura subconsciously thought this.

If there was someone on the inside in the Akatsuki Organization, they could immediately make targeted arrangements...

Someone on the inside...

Eh?

Sakura's eyes lit up slightly.

Uchiha Itachi!

In a sense, he was someone on the inside!

Ass determines head; since he was on Konoha's boat, there was no reason not to use this Weasel!

Thinking this, Sakura felt a little more at ease.

Then she looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi and spoke:

"Since the matter can't be stopped."

"Then don't stop it."

???

Hiruzen Sarutobi rubbed his forehead with some headache. The originator of this plan was right in front of him, and he'd still come to consult her.

He was afraid he really was getting old...