Root Also Has Clever Plans

Orochimaru stood to one side, watching Shimura Danzō's impotent rage with some amusement.

Danzo was ambitious but incompetent, yet prideful and arrogant.

Aside from having some talent in combat, he basically relied on nothing but ruthlessness and greed in every other regard. Thanks to his relationship with Teacher Sarutobi, he possessed an enormous network of connections and resources, and he was utterly unscrupulous when it came to gathering intelligence.

After decades of this, he had finally earned himself the title of Shinobi of Darkness in the Ninja World.

Yet he remained completely unaware of it. He also failed to realize just how much convenience his relationship with his teacher had brought him, often crediting every success Root achieved entirely to himself.

As time passed, he naturally grew ever more arrogant, even treating Root as his personal property and refusing to allow anyone else to covet it.

Unfortunately, Teacher Sarutobi only needed to issue a single transfer order for the fragility of his so-called "deeply entrenched Root" to become painfully obvious.

Never mind cutting half of your personnel with a word—even if Root were abolished entirely, what could you, Shimura Danzō, do about it?

Orochimaru stood in the corner, his softened, slender tongue sliding over the corner of his lips as those golden snake eyes watched the scene before him coldly.

He had no intention of helping right away.

Over the past few years, Shimura Danzō had become increasingly unable to recognize his own place. He had even started treating Orochimaru like a subordinate, completely forgetting how they had once huddled together for warmth at the beginning.

Orochimaru hoped Danzo would become a little more clear-headed through this incident.

However, Shimura Danzō was clearly not someone who surrendered easily.

"Bastard!"

He paced circles around the overturned desk, his brows tightly furrowed and his expression incomparably grave.

This incident is so troublesome because it is an internal inquiry jointly raised by Tsunade and Hatake Sakumo. They suspect there is a mole among the higher-ups.

Cutting half of Root's personnel is merely a minor matter in the inquiry.

The greatest problem is that Tsunade has demanded a comprehensive audit and verification of the account books of every major department.

If an investigation is launched, it won't matter whether this mess was done by Homura or Koharu. As the prime suspect, this old man definitely won't escape scrutiny.

When that time comes...

The more Shimura Danzō thought about it, the more he felt that he had been struck right in the vital spot.

Although all the money he had embezzled had been for the better construction of Konoha, not a single cent had been spent on himself or his family. It had all gone toward Root's funding.

But the amount he had embezzled had reached a single-digit percentage of Konoha's total fiscal expenditure.

It truly would not be easy to overlook.

As for Root's accounts, an audit alone would have been fine. At worst, he would have had to fabricate a few books.

But how could he withstand a joint cross-check with the other departments?

Damn it!

This old man only wants Konoha to prosper. Why is it so difficult to accomplish anything practical?

Since there is no way to solve the problem, the current plan is to find a way to deal with the people who raised it.

Tsunade is the teacher's granddaughter, so she cannot be touched lightly. But Hatake Sakumo comes from Immigrants from Land of Iron, nothing more than a commoner faction with no foundation, nor does he possess any Kekkei Genkai worth noting.

Most importantly, we absolutely cannot allow the Senju Clan represented by Tsunade to entertain thoughts of joining forces with commoner-faction shinobi like the Hatake!

To the Hokage faction, that is the greatest threat.

Shimura Danzō's line of thought was very simple.

With that in mind, he immediately turned toward Aburame Ryoma beside him and said coldly:

"Ryoma!"

"Your subordinate is here." The loyal Aburame Ryoma knelt on one knee.

"Find a way to take out Hatake Sakumo for me!"

"..."

The moment those words were spoken, the entire Root office fell into deathly silence.

Everyone quietly looked toward Aburame Ryoma, who stood at the front.

Aburame Ryoma was dumbfounded as well. His expression stiffened beneath his mask, and he instinctively pointed at himself.

Huh, me?

When Shimura Danzō received no response, he did not immediately realize what the issue was. His gaze swept irritably toward Aburame Ryoma.

Why was even his most loyal subordinate so incapable of following the rules?

Just as he was about to open his mouth and berate him, an icy voice sounded from a shadowed corner.

"That is asking rather too much."

"Lord Danzo."

"I fear that even if every shinobi in Root were gathered together, they still would not be enough for Hatake Sakumo to kill alone."

At those words, everyone present turned toward the source of the voice.

Shimura Danzō raised his brow and looked over with his single eye.

A tall figure with pure white hair and a white robe draped over his entire body slowly stepped out.

The man's voice was hoarse, but his handsome face possessed an almost feminine softness. A red mole sat between his brows.

Orochimaru looked over as well, somewhat surprised.

"Hiruko?"

Seeing this fairly capable laboratory supervisor, Shimura Danzō paused before his expression returned to cold indifference. "This is not a place you should be entering."

Hiruko ignored him and casually bent down to place the documents in his hand beside the overturned desk. "This is the investigation report on battlefield traces collected by a Root squad."

"Based on calculations from those traces, the Third Raikage's movement speed was at least three times the speed of sound. He was also capable of smashing head-on through obstacles in his path, such as rocks and trees, at that speed."

"My modeled estimates of his physical strength and Chakra Armor are all written in there as well."

"Furthermore, according to reports from our covert operatives, he once withstood an Eight-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb head-on."

"Hatake Sakumo was capable of fighting such a monster head-on, and his speed was even somewhat faster."

"At the same time, according to reports from our informants in the Cloud Village, that muscle monster, the Third Raikage, returned to his village with several additional wounds on his body."

"This has never happened before."

"Lord Danzo, do you know what this means?"

Shimura Danzō froze, then turned to Aburame Ryoma beside him.

Aburame Ryoma nodded solemnly in confirmation.

"Hiss..."

He immediately sucked in a breath.

Shimura Danzō was nearly fifty this year and had been away from the front lines for quite some time. He only knew that Hatake Sakumo was very strong.

But he had never expected him to be this strong?!

Then this...

This truly could not be faced by force.

Shimura Danzō was arrogant, but he was not stupid.

Did he not know better than anyone what Root's scattered handful of people were capable of?

But if that was the case, how was he supposed to solve the remaining problem?

Could it be that he really had to obediently wait for that bastard Hiruzen to carve a huge chunk out of him?

Just as Danzo was thinking this, the corner of his eye finally caught Hiruko's confident expression.

"Ahem."

Only then did Shimura Danzō clear his throat for show, sit back in his original seat, and say calmly, "Hiruko, since you already have a plan, tell us about it."

A smile slowly appeared on Hiruko's face.

"Lord Danzo."

"Since Lord Tsunade and Hatake Sakumo mentioned an inquiry into Konoha's higher-ups in their report, why should we stop them?"

"On the contrary, for Konoha's future, we should help them investigate thoroughly and carefully."

"The heads of each shinobi clan, the leaders of various organizations, the department heads of the Hokage Building, the commanders of every front-line unit... Are only Konoha's advisors considered higher-ups, while these people are not 'higher-ups'?"

"For Konoha's sake, we should investigate this matter to the very end."

In short, there were only two words—double it.

For a village currently in the midst of war, Hiruko's proposal could not have been more vicious. Yet he continued without pause:

"At the same time, we must not only raise the stakes, but place our bets as well."

"Apply pressure through public opinion, conduct comprehensive investigations on the economic front, dismantle the internal forces of each shinobi clan on the military front, and push Konoha's purge into full force on the political front."

Even someone as audacious as Shimura Danzō felt his heart pound upon hearing those words.

With only a little imagination, he could picture the disastrous outcome:

"Aren't you afraid something will go wrong?"

Hiruko smiled gently. "These are all disasters caused by Lord Tsunade."

"What do they have to do with you?"

"Lord Danzo, you merely expanded the scope of the investigation somewhat under Lord Third Hokage's instructions."

Shimura Danzō's eyes grew brighter as he listened, and his gaze toward Hiruko became increasingly appreciative.

He had never expected this mediocre laboratory supervisor, neither outstanding nor useless, to possess such talent in this area.

He had truly underestimated him before.

"Ah, very good!"

"I never expected that among so many people in Root, it would be you, Hiruko, who guessed this old man's intentions in advance."

"Excellent. It is decided, then!"

The corner of Hiruko's eye twitched violently, but in the end, he still bowed in respect.

His experiments still required Danzo's support.

At least for the next few years, his source of funding absolutely could not be reduced.

For that, he could only resort to this measure.

As he thought this, he secretly glanced from the corner of his eye toward a certain man standing in the shadows of the corner, his expression tense.

No matter what price he had to pay, he would prove himself.

Even a mere mortal could surpass geniuses like you.

Just wait, Orochimaru.

(Hiruko ↑)

It was a little late. My sincerest apologies.