Danzo Was Far Too Cautious!

Danzo Was Far Too Cautious!

When these uninvited guests entered Ichiraku Ramen, Ichiraku's expression changed slightly.

Xu Fan frowned, as if realizing something. He turned around and glanced toward the entrance.

The arrivals wore identical uniforms and masks with different patterns.

They were Danzo's Root.

Although Anbu and Root dressed similarly, Xu Fan still recognized them.

The Anbu under the Hokage wore masks that were not all identical, but they were characterized by animal-inspired designs.

Root was different. As long as one knew that, distinguishing them was easy.

"Anbu?"

Naruto also turned around instinctively. Although his grades at the Ninja Academy had always been poor, he had met privately with the Third Hokage many times.

He had seen people dressed like this a few times.

The Third Hokage had explained that they were Anbu who answered directly to him.

And Naruto's instincts told him they were not here for ramen.

"Lord Danzo wishes to see you." The Root member at the front spoke in a low voice, ordering Xu Fan to leave with them.

"Who's Danzo?" Naruto could not help asking.

"He's a special advisor among the Konoha leadership," Xu Fan answered without thinking.

Danzo was hardly unknown in the Hokage world.

The renowned Pot Kage.

It was like this: if you knew some forbidden technique existed but did not know who had created it, you could blindly guess Tobirama Senju and be right.

If there was a pot and you did not know who to pin it on, shouting Danzo would also be right.

But...

Since Danzo could send Root here to find him,

there were only three possibilities.

The first was that the Third Hokage knew about it and had tacitly permitted Danzo's actions.

But that was unlikely.

The second was that Danzo was not afraid of the Third Hokage finding out. He was openly inviting Xu Fan over because he wanted to win him over.

That was somewhat possible.

As for the last possibility, perhaps Danzo was keeping the Third Hokage occupied, leaving him unable to use the Telescope Technique to observe Xu Fan and Naruto, while having Root members find a way to deal with Xu Fan.

It was not impossible.

Xu Fan's gaze narrowed slightly. He did not think he was particularly smart, and his skill at mental battles was only at an ordinary person's level.

But he was not stupid either. He could lay out all the possibilities in advance and prepare countermeasures.

That much, he could do.

If it was one of the first two, there was naturally nothing to worry about. He could go with them, have a chat with Danzo, then go straight home and sleep.

All would be well.

As for the last possibility, even if it was the least likely, it was precisely the one that needed special attention.

The reason Xu Fan had this thought was mainly because... after Minato Namikaze died sealing the Nine-Tails and Hiruzen Sarutobi resumed his position as Hokage,

Root had formed a ten-man squad under Danzo's orders and carried out an assassination mission against the reinstated Hiruzen Sarutobi.

It failed midway due to Kakashi's defection.

Afterward, pressured by various factors, Hiruzen Sarutobi could only pretend the incident had never happened.

So, if Danzo dared to kill even Hiruzen Sarutobi, why would he hesitate over Xu Fan?

Merely because he was from the Senju Clan?

Hiruzen Sarutobi also led the Sarutobi Clan and was the Third Hokage.

Still, Xu Fan felt he could understand Danzo.

Judging from Xu Fan's actions, he clearly stood with the Third Hokage's interest group and intended to become the Third Hokage's successor.

In other words, he would be Danzo's greatest obstacle in competing for the position of next Hokage.

If their roles were reversed, Xu Fan would also choose to strike at this moment.

Before the enemy had grown!

Following that line of thought, this Danzo was far too cautious!

But as for the trigger...

Xu Fan instinctively looked at Naruto, who happened to be looking at him at that moment.

"Uh..."

Naruto froze. His little face instantly flushed red, and he hurriedly turned his head aside. "W-what... why are you looking at me like that...?"

"Lord Danzo wishes to see you." Seeing that Xu Fan had not reacted at all, the Root member had no choice but to repeat himself.

However, there was no impatience in his voice.

No... more precisely, there was no tone at all.

Those of Root had no names and no emotions.

"Tell him to wait. Can't he see I'm eating ramen?" Xu Fan glanced at the man, speaking without the slightest politeness.

"Xu Fan." Naruto's eyes immediately lit up. He had never expected Xu Fan to be so domineering.

He did not know who Danzo was, but the title of Hokage advisor sounded incredibly impressive.

"Is that really okay?" Ichiraku crossed his arms, unable to hide his concern. Unlike Naruto, as an adult, he knew very well what a Hokage advisor represented.

"This is the first time I've treated Naruto to ramen. Danzo or whoever, what does he have to do with me?"

Xu Fan had no intention of backing down. He even pulled out five hundred ryo and slapped it onto the table. "Two more bowls of ramen."

"Naruto, you only have one mission today: eat as much as you can, got it?"

"Xu Fan..."

Naruto's eyes widened, and his eye sockets gradually grew moist. In all his life, let alone someone ignoring a Hokage advisor for his sake,

he had never even had someone treat him to ramen like this.

For a moment, Naruto was overwhelmed with emotion.

But in truth, Xu Fan was merely testing Root's attitude.

The result was exactly as he had expected. After Xu Fan had obviously delayed for time, the Root member walked over and reached for his arm.

Root members had no emotions, but precisely because of that, Danzo's orders were absolute.

But if Danzo truly wanted to win Xu Fan over, he would never allow Root to treat him so roughly and forcibly take him away.

He was in a hurry.

Smack!

Xu Fan sidestepped, avoiding the Root member's grab.

Their eyes met, and the tension in the air rose, becoming taut as a drawn blade.

Naruto had no choice but to stop eating, looking worried.

"Naruto, it seems we'll have to stop here for today." Xu Fan took a deep breath, knowing there was no way he could finish this meal properly.

Still, he had confirmed one thing.

Danzo was courting death.

"Xu Fan." Naruto sprang up from his chair.

Before Naruto could say anything, Xu Fan had already walked over to him. Then he smiled and pressed two fingers against Naruto's forehead.

"Naruto, I'll keep you company next time."

Thump!

"Alright, let's go." After saying that, Xu Fan ignored Naruto's reaction and strode out of Ichiraku Ramen.

"Just as I thought..."

Xu Fan quickly stepped onto the street and looked around, yet did not see a single pedestrian.

It looked as though someone had deliberately cleared the area.