Danzo, That Old Bastard

None of them objected to Moriyue's idea. After running around all day, what could be more relaxing than a good meal after soaking in a hot spring?

Moriyue also wanted to see if he could gather any intelligence during dinner. The third exam would not begin until tomorrow, so he planned to start collecting information tonight.

Although he already had a rough understanding of each village's strength, he still had to keep up appearances. Otherwise, it would be hard to explain himself to Darui once he returned to Kumogakure.

Though he called it a treat, Hot Spring Village already had a cafeteria specifically for examinees. Moriyue merely led everyone to a quieter restaurant.

"Order whatever you want. It's not my money anyway. Konoha, as the host, has really gone all out with its hospitality."

"Hmph, of course. We of Konoha are very humane. We'll make you feel the warmth of home." Tenten crossed her arms over her chest. Hearing Moriyue praise Konoha naturally made her happy. Having her village recognized was something to be proud of.

"Truly 'humane.'" Moriyue nodded. Whenever humanity came up, he could not help thinking of that old Konoha bastard, the failed Hokage candidate and eternal scapegoat, Shimura Danzō—the man who stabbed Susanoo with a tiny kunai and used Izanagi like a damn idiot.

He had colluded with the Third Hokage and Obito to slaughter the Uchiha Clan, joined hands with Orochimaru for forbidden human experiments, and would stop at nothing to achieve his goals. He constantly claimed that every crime he committed was for Konoha, yet whenever Konoha faced a crisis, he ran faster than anyone else. What a pioneer of humanitarianism.

"Cough, cough..."

Danzo, who had been peacefully sitting in his Root Organization office, suddenly sneezed for no reason. He rubbed the bandages over his eye, flipped through the mountainlike stack of documents before him, then massaged his temples.

There were quite a lot of participants in this exam. He could barely finish reading the intelligence files on the examinees alone. Even so, Danzo had selected a stack of files from among them, and Moriyue's name was prominently included.

"That brat from Kumogakure, the noisy girl from Takigakure, and the summoning ninja from Amegakure. Keep an eye on those three..."

At Danzo's command, several masked figures sprang out from the darkness. They knelt on one knee, glanced at the information in the files, and vanished from where they stood like phantoms.

"We cannot allow the Orochimaru incident to happen again. Anyone who threatens Konoha's stability must be eliminated."

Meanwhile, Moriyue, who had been chatting merrily with Tenten and the others, glanced out the window. Something seemed to be leaping back and forth through the night. He could only make out fleeting afterimages and could not hear a thing.

"Captain, what's wrong?" Ando was closest to Moriyue and immediately noticed that something was off about his expression.

"Nothing. I was moved by everyone's enthusiasm." Moriyue stretched, doing his best to conceal the anomaly from earlier. This meal had not been for nothing. At the very least, he had obtained quite a bit of intelligence from it.

First was Ajisai. Moriyue knew Konan had sent him to search for a tailed beast Jinchuriki, and that person was Kaede. He had assumed Ajisai had already determined that Kaede was the Seven-Tails' Jinchuriki, but from the way he repeatedly glanced at Kazeki during dinner, sometimes openly and sometimes covertly, it seemed he had misunderstood something.

As for Tenten, Moriyue could not tell that she had any other objective. She seemed to have come purely to discuss sealing techniques and the Summoning Technique with Ajisai. As for Kaede, there was even less to say. Her mind was far too simple. Claiming she had some hidden agenda would be like saying the stone golem Malphite had grown a brain. Not very realistic.

"Burp~ I'm so full, I can't eat another bite~" Kaede patted her already round belly. Like a well-fed orange tabby, she floated on her back in the air, kicking her limbs contentedly.

"I'm full too. So... see you tomorrow?" Kazeki did not really know what else to say. She kept feeling that Ajisai looked at her strangely, and being watched like that made her skin crawl.

"Mm-hmm, when we meet tomorrow, we'll be opponents. I won't go easy on you then~" Tenten adjusted her twin buns. It was her first time having such an enjoyable conversation with people from other villages.

Although Ajisai wanted to stay by Kazeki's side and learn more, forcing himself upon her now would only make others notice something was wrong. Left with no choice, he waved goodbye to everyone and departed separately.

"Captain, that Ajisai..." Kazeki immediately approached Moriyue. There was definitely something wrong with Ajisai!

"No need to say it. I know. His motives are indeed impure, but it seems he has gotten a few things wrong." Moriyue suddenly grabbed Kazeki's smooth wrist, startling her into jerking.

"The Chakra flowing in reverse is still inside her. Did that guy... mistake this Chakra for tailed beast Chakra? I see... so Ajisai really did get it wrong..."

Moriyue sensed the Chakra within Kazeki's body. He could clearly feel the Chakra he had assimilated within her responding to him.

Releasing her wrist, Moriyue walked ahead by himself. Since Ajisai's motives were impure, he could hardly blame Moriyue for setting a trap for him.

Ando sneaked over beside Kazeki and asked her something in an incredibly tactless tone.

"Did you do something wrong? When the captain grabbed your hand just now, I thought he was going to electrocute you. Hey, wait, why are you hitting me?"

Such blunt words naturally earned Ando a heavy blow from Kazeki. The two followed behind Moriyue, completely unaware of the Root Organization ninja observing them in secret.

Root Organization, office. Danzo sat with his eyes closed while a Root Organization ninja knelt on one knee below the stone steps, faithfully reporting every piece of intelligence he had just observed.

"Those brats gathered together, huh? I understand. Is there any news from Gaara's side?"

"According to Sunagakure's confidential reports, Gaara set out for Konoha on the second day of the exam. At his speed, he is expected to arrive tomorrow..."

Danzo opened his sharp, wolverine-like eyes. The newly appointed Kazekage was coming to Konoha. There was no way he could allow that.

"Tsunade is far too foolish. She actually wants to help other ninja villages grow stronger, nurturing a tiger that will one day threaten her. Utterly stupid."

"Gaara is not only the Kazekage, but also the One-Tail Jinchuriki. He has previously gone berserk in Konoha..."

Danzo stroked the cross-shaped scar on his chin, his gaze gradually turning cold and sinister.

"Notify the forces in Sunagakure opposed to Gaara. Prepare to act."

That was right. The forces that had been constantly opposing Gaara in Sunagakure had been fostered by Danzo himself. Not only did he provide those people with strategy and funding, he also supplied them with a certain degree of weapon support. That old bastard Danzo was truly skilled at stirring up division.