Why had things ended up like this?
After listening to that speech, Danzo returned to Root in a daze. He seemed as though all the color had been drained from him as he sat silently behind his newly replaced desk.
Shimura Danzō recalled how confident he had felt before yesterday.
Even the Uchiha and Hyuga, the largest ninja clans, had begun bowing their heads to him over industrial matters.
But in just one day—
The situation had reversed.
Why, exactly, had all this happened?
For the first time, he had a chance to surpass Hiruzen, and even the possibility of stepping out of the shadows and into the sunlight. Those two joys had overlapped, and that double joy had brought him still more joy.
He should have already attained that dreamlike time.
Yet why had it turned out like this?!
It was me! I was here first! I was clearly the one who came first!
Whether it was his dream of becoming Hokage, his resolve to devote everything to Konoha, or the necessary darkness he had been forced to shoulder for the sake of that hope—
At this very moment, Shimura Danzō felt nothing but unbearable pain.
"Damn it!"
"How did things end up like this?!"
He panted harshly, his lone eye sweeping viciously over every confidant in the office, as if seeking their advice and as if trying to find the source of the problem in them.
At last, his gaze stopped on a figure who seemed somewhat unfamiliar compared with the others.
Hiruko.
If not for this guy, he would still be Root of Konoha, and would never have caused such a huge uproar in the village.
Now, if he were Hiruzen, he would definitely drag this good brother of his out to be made an example of.
The longer Sarutobi Hiruzen remained silent, the less Shimura Danzō could predict his own fate.
"..."
At the same time, Hiruko, under Shimura Danzō's gaze, had never expected their actions to provoke such a fierce reaction throughout the village.
The scheme he had plotted for so long had not only failed to make him shine before Danzo—it had exposed his ass, and it had even started doing handstands and spinning during unpaid overtime, flinging out every kind of hemorrhoid imaginable.
It felt like shit was pouring down on his head!
Guys, who understood this feeling?
Hiruko suddenly began to seriously doubt his own intelligence.
But the current situation did not allow him to let that doubt continue spreading. On the contrary, he had to come up with a way for Danzo to escape as quickly as possible.
Otherwise, Shimura Danzō would definitely kill his dog-headed strategist before he died himself.
Hiruko's mind raced as he recalled every scene that had taken place over the past few days.
"Thud."
The next moment, amid that nearly suffocating silence, he suddenly dropped to one knee.
"Hiruko, is there anything else you have to say?"
Though it was clearly a question, the declarative tone somehow gave everyone the strange impression that this man was about to die.
Yet Hiruko's voice was unexpectedly firm as he abruptly raised it.
"Lord Danzo, your death is at hand, yet you still do not realize it?!"
"Bang."
Shimura Danzō glared with his lone eye and slammed his palm onto the desk, leaving a large dent in it.
I fucking know I am about to die! That is why I am taking you bastards who got me killed down with me!
Still, he had heard of the world-shaking wisdom unique to strategists. For the sake of his dream of becoming Hokage and his insignificant little life, Shimura Danzō had no choice but to suppress his temper and coldly say,
"Speak!"
Hiruko could practically feel cold sweat sliding down his forehead, but his expression remained firm.
"Rallying civilian ninja as the backbone, and gathering civilians as support—such a move has never existed since ancient times."
"Yet it has proven remarkably effective against the Hokage faction, which considers protecting the people its duty—"
Shimura Danzō had only heard half of it when his world-shaking wisdom activated. His eyes lit up. "You mean we can also gather a group of civilians and have them give speeches in front of the Hokage Building?"
"No, no, no, no, no!! Lord Danzo!"
That sentence scared Hiruko so badly that cold sweat broke out all over his body.
Given Shimura Danzō's way of thinking, he could practically picture the terrifying scene: the villagers driven by Root through all manner of forceful means, gathering resentfully and unwillingly before the Hokage Building, only to suddenly turn against them at Lord Third Hokage's command.
Whether it was wisdom or not could wait. The question was whether it would be world-shaking.
At that point, not only he, but all of Root—including Shimura Danzō—would die without a burial place.
Hiruko hurriedly sped up his speech. "What I mean is, an opponent capable of such scheming, so calculating and as cunning as a fox, must have already taken us into account when proposing this despicable plan."
"If I am not mistaken, the net surrounding Lord Danzo will likely take shape very soon."
"We must find a way to break out before their plan is fully formed!"
"..."
Hearing this, Shimura Danzō realized that this boy's thoughts coincided with his own.
"Then tell me, who gave Tsunade that woman's these strategies?"
Hiruko lowered his head and nodded, concealing his slightly guilty expression.
"Lord Danzo, we need only investigate the unfamiliar faces who have suddenly appeared around Princess Tsunade."
"Neither Tsunade nor Hatake Sakumo possesses such strategic ability."
"The one who proposed this plan must be a genius blessed by heaven!"
As he spoke, he subtly directed the spearhead, both openly and covertly, toward a certain fifteen-year-old boy of unknown background.
In Hiruko's actual estimation, the person capable of devising such a plan was most likely Hatake Sakumo—the old man who often remained silent during Jonin Council meetings, watching everything coldly as though he had endured endless vicissitudes.
He had never teamed up with Hatake Sakumo, and did not know that old man's habit of pretending to be an aloof master by staying silent. Nor did he know the man had invented a lewd Taijutsu aimed directly at the lower body.
So it was only natural that he would think this way.
But what good would it do to accuse someone strong in both power and intellect?
Hiruko could even imagine the famous scene of Danzo pointing at him and saying, Go. Kill Hatake Sakumo for me.
To have a chance to redeem himself and make up for his mistakes, he naturally had to pick a soft persimmon he could squeeze!
And then—aha!
Hiruko raised a finger in his heart.
When Tsunade had given her speech, there seemed to have been an unfamiliar face standing beside her—a fifteen-year-old boy who had only recently become a Jonin...
Yes, you!
Come out and fight me one-on-one! He had found that little brat irritating for a long time!
"Sahara Mizu?"
Yet Shimura Danzō was somewhat hesitant.
For a mere youth to temper his strength to its current level was already extraordinarily impressive. Could he also possess strategy beyond his years? Did people truly exist who were born knowing everything?
"I think Hatake—"
Before he could finish, Hiruko interrupted him at once, speaking rapidly.
"Absolutely impossible!"
"Hatake Sakumo is nothing more than a useful blade!"
"If he possessed such strategic talent, why would Lord Third Hokage have once placed him in the position of Anbu commander, then released him from it?"
"..."
Thinking about it that way, it did seem to make sense.
Shimura Danzō frowned deeply and nodded slightly.
Seeing this reaction, not only Hiruko, but also Aburame Ryoma and the other Root members around Danzo, all breathed a small sigh of relief and cast approving looks toward Hiruko.
Please do not mention that god of death before Lord Danzo. You people only have to move your mouths; the ones who have to fight are us brothers.
"Then..."
Shimura Danzō turned to Hiruko. Apparently feeling that it would be a waste not to try, he asked, "Do you have any good countermeasure, Hiruko?"
"When it comes to strategy and schemes, this subordinate has already lost one round to the enemy. I even failed to see through their arrangement while they were laying it."
Hiruko took a deep breath and lowered his head. His voice carried an unprecedented sincerity, but his expression was incomparably ruthless.
"At present..."
"There is only one way: kill!"
His tone was utterly resolute.
"By killing, we sever one of Tsunade's arms. Only then can the situation between us and the enemy return to how it was at the beginning."
"Lord Danzo, please grant this subordinate the chance to atone for his mistakes through merit!"
(This picture was inexplicably fucking hilarious, so I posted it ↑)
The next chapter will be after midnight.
Before you continue