Danzo: For Konoha

Chapter 16: Danzō: For the Sake of Konoha (⊙o⊙)

Konoha, within a dark underground chamber.

"Hah, another meaningless Will of Fire!" An old man with bandages wrapped around half his body sneered coldly as he looked at the documents in his hand.

"Tsk, tsk, what a truly astonishing talent! A Civilian Ninja who's only been enrolled for half a month has actually managed to defeat the teacher's son!" The ninja standing behind the bandaged old man had snake-like pupils that flickered with a faint light.

"If it were you, you should be able to do the same, I imagine." The bandaged old man turned his head, his tone indifferent as he asked, "Orochimaru?"

"Hehe." Orochimaru chuckled noncommittally, then met the other's gaze and asked, "Elder Danzō thinks highly of him? Wanting to make him a member of Root?"

"Think highly of him?" Danzō sneered with a tsundere air. "Hmph, I wouldn't think highly of anyone that Sarutobi thinks highly of!"

"Someone who can't harden their heart can never become a qualified ninja, no matter how great their talent. And... hmph, hmph..."

And? Actually, it's because of the Will of Fire, isn't it... Orochimaru's lips curled into a slight arc as he silently sneered in his heart.

He clearly remembered that when Danzō had reached out toward Jiraiya's disciple, their usually indecisive teacher had acted with swift decisiveness for once, ruthlessly cutting off all the branches Root had extended above ground, making someone so heartbroken he almost went to fight his teacher.

Otherwise, with the astonishing talent that Namikaze Minato had displayed, how could Elder Danzō have pretended not to see it!

But then again, even being able to overlook his own assassination attempts, yet refusing to yield on the single point of the "Will of Fire"... Orochimaru's eyes flickered with a shadow of gloom as he sighed inwardly. Teacher, in your eyes, what exactly is the village?

Two people with vastly different thoughts were each lost in their own musings, plunging the already silent underground chamber back into stillness.

After a long while, Danzō set the documents in his hand aside. "About the matter I mentioned to you last time, have you considered it?"

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed slightly. "I need to think it over carefully. After all, that's no easy opponent to deal with!"

"Indeed. Whether it's Namikaze Minato or that Shimizu Soseki, they're just small fry poisoned by that bastard Sarutobi. The one truly worth paying attention to is the man known as the White Fang of Konoha!"

"One weak-willed Hokage is already too many. If even the Fourth Hokage is allowed to be filled by that kind of soft waste, it will only drag Konoha down into the abyss." Danzō grew more agitated as he spoke, his entire being seemingly radiating a "holy" light. "For the sake of Konoha, we must eliminate him (ˊ〇ˋ*)!"

Even Orochimaru seemed startled by this "blinding" light, wondering inwardly, Does he actually believe he's doing this for Konoha?

As if he had vented all his dissatisfaction with the Third Hokage in one go, Danzō calmed down again. "Since you've come here, it means you've already made your decision. State your terms."

Orochimaru licked his lips, letting out a "hiss." "I want the First Hokage's cells."

Danzō whirled around, his cold, piercing gaze fixed on Orochimaru. "That experiment has already been halted. Surely you know that?"

Orochimaru smiled. "Elder Danzō, are you truly willing to give up the means to control the Nine-Tails just like that? For the sake of Konoha, a little cost and sacrifice are worth it!"

Danzō was silent for a moment, then gave a sardonic laugh. "I'd really like to know what expression would be on Sarutobi's face when he finds out his most favored disciple is the same kind of person as me."

Orochimaru paid no attention to Danzō's mockery, merely sighing. "Fate always leads people down different tributaries..."

Outside, the battle between Soseki and Asuma had surprised quite a few people, but that was all. The adults' attention wouldn't linger on children for long.

It seemed that peaceful life was back on track.

Ring, ring, ring.

"Finally, class is over. Theory lessons are super boring."

"Yeah, when are we having practical lessons?"

"Hey, hey, at least show Teacher Yagami some respect."

"I guess so. Then let's go play outside, let's play that Violent Football Soseki told us about last time."

"Great, great! I want to be on Soseki's side."

"Damn it, you were on the Class Leader's team yesterday. Today it's our turn."

The first-year curriculum wasn't heavy, and there was plenty of time between adjacent classes for them to burn off their excess energy.

In the classroom, Soseki watched this scene with a smile.

Clearly, his small-group offensive was already showing results.

The herd mentality was universal, especially at the immature stage of childhood.

Once he had established an image of excellence, reliability, and friendliness, and perfectly branded himself, these elementary school students, still naive about interpersonal relationships, would naturally gather around him.

Of course, there were exceptions.

"Mizuki, aren't you coming to play?" Soseki smiled and invited someone in the corner.

Though filled with jealousy, Mizuki didn't dare openly defy Soseki's authority in the class, so he simply pretended not to hear.

But even that was enough to piss off a lot of people.

"What kind of attitude is that, you bastard? Soseki was talking to you!"

"What a smug jerk. I really want to punch you!"

Mizuki never expected that his subtle venting of dissatisfaction would be called out. For a moment, he stammered an apology, "S-sorry, I'm just not feeling well. I didn't mean to..."

Hearing the grievance and resentment in Mizuki's voice, Soseki played peacemaker. "Don't be like that. We're all classmates. Classmates should look out for and help each other."

As if he hadn't noticed Mizuki's discomfort, Soseki looked at him with "sincere" eyes and said, "Mizuki, I'm really sorry. I apologize to you on their behalf. But I can tell that you really want to join us, right? If there's something bothering you, please tell me. After all, for people like us, who else can we rely on but the friends around us?"

Mizuki's body trembled slightly, but he still didn't look up.

Soseki didn't mind. He finished speaking and led the way outside, but paused briefly as he passed by Yūhi Kurenai's seat, glancing in her direction.

"Red, want to come with us?"

"Huh? Me?" Yūhi Kurenai seemed tempted, but after glancing at the boys crowding around Soseki, she ultimately shook her head and said, "This is a guys' sport. I'll pass."

"Alright, then next time I'll design some games that suit you girls too." Soseki smiled as he walked out of the classroom, inwardly deliberating, "I've confirmed it—Senior Shinku returned to the village yesterday after completing his mission. These next few days are his days off. It's about time to set the plan in motion..."

"I just don't know how far the Psychological Suggestion has progressed. If it's not enough, I might need to step things up..."

"Soseki, what's wrong?" Noticing Soseki seemed distracted, Asuma asked from beside him.

"Nothing. I just noticed some... less-than-friendly stares." Soseki showed no sign of unease, casually turning to look behind him.

Asuma glanced back as well, following Soseki's gaze.

Up on the floor two levels above them, a few boys who looked like delinquents were sitting on the railing, pointing and whispering in their direction.

"Those guys are third-years. Trash who like to pick on newcomers." As the Hokage's son, his information channels were naturally far superior to those of freshmen like Soseki.

"Picking on newcomers?" Soseki rubbed his chin like a little adult, asking.

"A lot of second-years have been bullied by them before, but..." Asuma crossed his arms and snorted disdainfully, "With me, Asuma Sarutobi, around, those bastards better not try anything on us!"

The others around them weren't particularly scared either. Setting aside Asuma's status as the Hokage's son, the strength he and Soseki had shown in their earlier spar was far beyond what normal students could manage.

"School bullies, huh?" Soseki cast a meaningful glance at those delinquents, then smiled and waved everyone toward the training ground.

PS1: In the part of the story involving Yakushi Kabuto, the Third Shinobi World War was still ongoing, the Uchiha Clan hadn't been wiped out yet, and Danzo was already sporting his bandaged look.

PS2: Although in the anime, Danzo's assassination attempt happens after the Nine-Tails Rebellion, given how practiced he is at backing down, the author believes there's reason to think this wasn't his first time. Also, as the Hokage's longtime rival and close friend, Danzo couldn't have been ignorant of the Third Hokage's strength. Yet in the anime, Danzo "naively" thought he could assassinate the Third Hokage with just Yamato and his team. If we consider character logic in a novel context, there are two possibilities: one, Konoha was too strong before and constantly targeted, so the Third and Danzo deliberately feigned internal conflict to project an illusion of weakness; two, Danzo was continuously testing the Third's limits. Either way, it's plausible that Danzo had attempted assassinations before this point.