A ninja hound carrying a scroll in its mouth appeared outside Konoha.
The seal pattern on the scroll in its mouth was unmistakably the special insignia belonging exclusively to Root Division, one of the Anbu branches.
A Root member stationed on Konoha's outskirts spotted it and immediately knew that something major must have happened. He hurriedly removed the scroll from the ninja hound's mouth.
"It's a message from Lord Terai!"
Seeing the mark on the scroll, he prepared to deliver the intelligence to Danzo.
Just then, a figure suddenly appeared. After inspecting the scroll, he asked in a low voice, "Shikyuu, what happened?"
"Lord Ryoma?"
Shikyuu froze for a moment, then respectfully said, "It's an urgent message from Lord Terai. Something may have happened in the Land of Rain. I was just about to deliver it to Lord Danzo."
"The Land of Rain..."
Ryoma murmured, a cold glint flashing through his eyes.
"The situation is urgent. Please forgive my rudeness, Lord Ryoma."
Shikyuu hid the scroll away, stepped past Ryoma, and headed for Danzo.
However, after taking only two steps, he felt a sharp pain stab through his heart.
Splat!
Shikyuu lowered his head and saw a hand piercing straight through his heart.
"Lord Ryoma...?"
His pupils dilated. Shikyuu, whose heart had been punched through, slowly turned around with an incredulous look. "Wh-why... betray... Lord Danzo?"
"You don't need to know."
Ryoma smoothly withdrew his hand, coldly tossed out those words, and then turned his gaze toward the ninja hound.
Betrayal?
No. His vision had merely been clouded for a time. Only now had he discovered true light.
"Whine... Woof!"
Sensing danger, the ninja hound tried to flee.
Unfortunately, a massive swarm of Kikaichū pounced out and gnawed it down to bare bones.
After dealing with everything, Ryoma calmly wiped the blood from his hand. He retrieved the scroll from Shikyuu's corpse, opened it, and skimmed through it. A cold smile tugged at the corner of the lips. "Hmph, just as Lord Sōgetsu said. Rats in the sewers only know these little tricks."
Though he did not know what had happened to that Uchiha girl, for Lord Sōgetsu, he would clean up every loose end.
The next instant, the Kikaichū devoured the scroll completely.
"Lord Sōgetsu, as long as I, Ryoma, am here, no one can hurt you!"
Ryoma silently cleaned up the scene. After erasing every trace, he vanished as though he had never been there.
Hokage Building.
At that moment, the Third Hokage was buried under a mountain of paperwork.
The political problems left behind by White Fang's death, along with the probing moves of the various Hidden Villages in recent days, left him physically and mentally exhausted.
But just then, urgent intelligence from Tsunade was delivered to the office by an Anbu operative.
The moment he opened the scroll and glanced at it, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt his blood pressure spike. He nearly blacked out and fainted.
"Danzo!!!"
Veins bulged across Hiruzen Sarutobi's forehead as he slammed his palm onto the desk. His eyes were bloodshot as he roared, "Go! Bring Danzo here! Now!"
"Yes, Lord Hokage!"
Hearing the furious roar coming from inside, the Anbu outside exchanged glances and fell silent in terror.
The Third Generation, usually so mild-mannered, was actually this terrifying when enraged!
Before long, Danzo entered the Hokage's Office with a face full of confusion.
Smack!
The instant he entered, before Danzo could even speak, a scroll was hurled into his face.
"Hiruzen, have you lost your mind?!" Danzo's eyes darkened viciously. The muscles in his face twisted as he tore the scroll off and snarled, "What are you doing?!"
"What am I doing?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi gave a cold, humorless snort. "Take a look at what you've done, Danzo!"
Danzo's eyelid twitched violently. A bad feeling welled up in his heart as he bent down, picked up the scroll from the floor, and quickly scanned it.
Before he had even read several lines, he nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"You've got some nerve, Danzo!" Still seething, Hiruzen Sarutobi glared at him fiercely. "You secretly joined forces with Hanzo to assassinate a jonin of my village. Then, afterward, you used Root Division's power to join with the rebel Akatsuki and assassinate Hanzo, leader of Amegakure. What impressive methods, Danzo!"
Slander! He was slandering me!
Danzo felt utterly aggrieved. His old face flushed red, and veins bulged on his forehead. "Bullshit! Stop fucking framing me, Hiruzen!"
"I'm framing you?" Hiruzen Sarutobi became even angrier. He shot to his feet with a slam of his desk and glared at him. "Look for yourself! Is there even one thing written there that wrongs you?"
Danzo's mouth twitched, but he still forced himself to argue, "I admit it. I had Hanzo kill that Uchiha brat, but I never intended to kill Hanzo!"
"You didn't kill Hanzo? Fine, fine, fine. Then tell me, who killed him?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi crossed his arms, looking as though he was waiting to see how Danzo would talk his way out of it. "Tsunade? Uchiha Sōgetsu? Or those few brats from Akatsuki?"
"I..."
Danzo choked on the breath stuck in his chest and nearly suffocated himself.
He wanted to defend himself, but the problem was that he was dirty from the very root of this affair.
He had only wanted to kill that Uchiha brat, take his Sharingan, and study that so-called Genjutsu.
But now? Hanzo was dead, and somehow the blame had landed squarely on his head.
This was like smearing mud on his pants—whether it was shit or not, everyone would think it was!
"Anyway, I didn't do it."
At this point, Danzo could only put on a shameless front and stubbornly refuse to admit it. "I did this for Konoha's sake. Your methods are too soft, Hiruzen!"
"Danzo, don't forget that I am the Hokage!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed the desk again, his voice suddenly rising several octaves. Spittle nearly flew onto Danzo's face as he shouted, "Look at what you've done! You actually dared to reach into Amegakure. Are you trying to start a war? Do you still have any respect for me, the Hokage?!"
"Hiruzen, this matter isn't so simple."
Danzo took a deep breath. Knowing this was not the time to argue, he calmed down and said, "Give me some time. I'll get to the bottom of this and give you an explanation."
"You don't need to explain anything to me!"
Still furious, Hiruzen Sarutobi sneered repeatedly. "You should think about how you're going to explain yourself to Tsunade."
"Tsunade?"
Danzo frowned, not particularly concerned. "What do I need to explain to her?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat back down, lit his pipe, took a deep drag, and slowly exhaled. "Half an hour ago, Tsunade officially notified Konoha Hospital and every ninja in the medical system that from now on, no one is permitted to treat any Root Division member. Anyone who does will have their medical qualifications revoked."
Danzo, who had not cared about the threat before, immediately broke out in beads of cold sweat. "Hiruzen... you—she's openly targeting Konoha's Anbu!"
Konoha could do without Anbu, but it absolutely could not do without Medical Ninja.
And in present-day Konoha, more than ninety percent of its Medical Ninja had benefited from Tsunade's teachings.
Although there were people outside Tsunade's faction who knew Medical Ninjutsu, they were ultimately few in number. They were nothing more than a drop in the bucket!
Watching Danzo suffer, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.
Served you right for being so arrogant!
"Hiruzen, are you just going to stand by and watch?"
Danzo gritted his teeth, trying to salvage the situation. "No matter what, Root Division exists for Konoha. What Tsunade is doing is weakening our own strength!"
"Heh, now you know to ask me?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled smoke and said mildly, "I can't interfere in this matter. Tsunade alone created and perfected Konoha's entire medical system. Before, she simply did not wish to use that power, but now you've thoroughly enraged her. Even I am far less important than she is in those people's eyes."
Perhaps because of her usually carefree behavior, many people had subconsciously overlooked the political power Tsunade had hidden away.
Just like Danzo, he had forgotten one of the most important principles.
That was: no matter whom you offend, never offend a doctor. Otherwise, you will suffer badly!
Cold sweat streamed down Danzo's face. He had finally realized just how immense and terrifying this force he had always overlooked would become once mobilized.
December 20, Sunny
A one-round trip on the recommendation list. Miserable, truly miserable, absolutely miserable... too miserable to bear looking at. Please support me, dear readers~ I have nothing to offer in return, so I'll give you a scratch-off ticket instead. If it wins, I'll treat you all to something good~
Before you continue