Sarutobi Hiruzen Backs Down, Danzo Gets What He Wants!

Danzo remained calm and composed about this.

What a joke!

Every force contained countless minor factions. The Uchiha had moderates, centrists, and radicals; naturally, Konoha was no different.

Utatane Koharu had her own ideas, Mitokado Homura had his, Sarutobi Hiruzen had his, and Danzo had his as well.

Even among the major ninja clans below them, the major clans and minor ninja clans had different thoughts. The civilian faction and the shinobi clans did not think alike either.

That was precisely the case now!

To Danzo, was getting rid of the Uchiha important, but smearing Sarutobi Hiruzen was not?

One had to know—

To someone who wanted to ascend to the position of Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen was a mountain standing in his way.

Now that he had a chance to sling mud at Sarutobi Hiruzen, it was already generous of Danzo not to add fuel to the fire. And they expected him to think of a solution for Sarutobi Hiruzen?

Bullshit!

As for the fact that this also splashed mud on himself?

Heh.

Danzo himself was already a big latrine. Would he care about this little bit of filth?

They were seriously overthinking it!

As for whether Sarutobi Hiruzen could withstand these "rumors," Danzo had boundless confidence in him. This little matter might fluster Sarutobi Hiruzen and even damage some of his reputation...

But nail down Sarutobi Hiruzen? That possibility was extremely small!

The reason was even simpler!

Konoha was far too weak now. If they really forced Sarutobi Hiruzen from office, who would take over as the Fifth Hokage?

Therefore—

Even though many shinobi clans were gnashing their teeth in hatred toward Sarutobi Hiruzen, they still had to grit their teeth and support him at a time like this. Otherwise, were they really going to let the Uchiha ascend to the position of Fifth Hokage?

It was precisely because he understood this that Danzo was not worried at all.

"Sorry, Hiruzen!"

"Public opinion cannot be stopped. The more you try to stop it, the stronger the backlash becomes."

"Leave it to time. We must trust the villagers!"

After saying that—

Danzo rose to his feet, preparing to leave directly.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was dumbfounded.

Still, he instantly understood Danzo's intentions. His face ashen, he spoke through gnashing teeth. "I authorize you to take five slots from every shinobi clan."

"Can you talk now?"

At that moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen chose to take a step back.

He had no choice!

Danzo was an expert at public opinion wars. Sarutobi Hiruzen truly could not handle this sort of thing.

More accurately, Sarutobi Hiruzen did not want to involve himself in it. How could a flawless, noble and upright Hokage-sama like him touch such filthy methods?

If he personally handled this kind of crap, what was the point of having Danzo as his black gloves?

On the other side—

Danzo's eyes immediately lit up when he heard Sarutobi Hiruzen's offer.

"Ten slots from every shinobi clan!"

"Bullshit! Absolutely not!"

"I'll take a step back. Nine!"

"No. Five!"

"I'll take another step back. Eight, or I'm leaving right now!"

"Seven. Agree, or get lost!"

"Deal!"

Danzo sat back down in his seat, an unmistakable smile spreading across his face.

Seven was enough!

One had to know that Konoha's bloodline families might not compare to the Uchiha, but every single one of them was extremely powerful.

And among those shinobi clans, Danzo favored the Yamanaka and Aburame clans the most.

On the other side—

Compared to the satisfied Danzo, Sarutobi Hiruzen's face was utterly ashen, and his heart was bleeding.

Damn it.

His reputation was already terrible. Once this Hokage Order was issued, one could imagine just how deeply the shinobi clans would hate him.

But there was no other way!

Compared to the resentment the shinobi clans bore toward him, resolving the matter before him was more important.

After all, his reputation among the commoners was what Sarutobi Hiruzen cared about most.

"Fine, speak."

"I've given you what you wanted. This matter must be resolved quickly."

"Otherwise..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke coldly.

To resolve this matter, he had truly paid a considerable price. If Danzo could not resolve it, he would let Danzo know...

Why he was called the Shinobi Hero!

At that—

Danzo could not help shuddering. Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze was too horrifying.

After coughing lightly, he slowly spoke.

"If you want to resolve this matter, there is only one way."

"Spread more rumors—more outrageous ones. Do not care whether they are true or false. Spread them all at once."

"Do not look at me like that. I am not joking."

"The villagers are ignorant. Their channels of information are narrow, and they have no way to determine the truth behind rumors. As long as they are barely logical, it will do."

"Only by spreading rumors on such a massive scale can we possibly divert the attention of those ignorant villagers."

"I know this business. Trust me, and you'll be fine!"

Danzo slowly spoke, laying out his idea.

Of course—

Although Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others were half-believing, half-doubting, if Uchiha Jin were here, he would definitely give Danzo a thumbs-up.

That was damn impressive!

It was the same trick capital used in his previous life to bury trending topics. It had to be said that Danzo, the Darkness of the Shinobi World, had truly learned a thing or two from doing dirty work in secret all these years.

"Fine, I'll leave it to you!"

"But this must be done quickly. And do not forget about Uchiha Jin."

"I do not want to see that guy again. Find a way to make him completely disappear within a month!"

"How you do it? I do not care!"

"I only want results!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen gritted his teeth and delivered his final ultimatum.

Clearly—

His hatred for Uchiha Jin had exceeded his limit of endurance. All he wanted now was to see Uchiha Jin dead.

He did not care about the process or the methods at all!

"A month?"

Danzo pondered briefly before nodding. "Fine. No problem!"

After saying that—

He left directly, leaning on his cane. This time, he did not slam the door. Instead, he politely closed it behind him.

Inside the Hokage Office—

With Danzo gone, Mitokado Homura spoke with some concern. "Hiruzen, Danzo's power is growing greater and greater."

"Yes, Hiruzen." Utatane Koharu frowned slightly. "If Root keeps developing like this, are you not afraid it will become too powerful to be controlled?"

They had no choice.

They were comrades, after all, so they knew Danzo's temperament well.

Root had become this powerful. What if he truly became Hokage?

No, absolutely not!

That would become a disaster for all of Konoha. Danzo's temperament was even worse than the Uchiha's.

At that—

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed before speaking helplessly.

"Do you think I do not know what you are saying?"

"Neither of you objected just now. Only now you remember that Root is difficult to manage?"

"But forget it!"

"We have no choice now. When it comes to public opinion, we can only trust Danzo."

"And the one he has to face is Uchiha Jin. How could dealing with a powerhouse of that level be as simple as talking about it?"

"Even if he really kills Uchiha Jin, how many people will Root have left..."

"Hard to say."