Shimura Danzō's Invitation

Minamoto Takuya watched as Minato Namikaze continued considering candidates. Although he could not recommend anyone, Minato Namikaze's side was not entirely united either. If word got out, he would offend people.

He was not afraid of offending people, but considering what he had done, it was better for him to keep as low a profile as possible.

Still, he could say something without offending anyone else, such as...

"Hokage Lord, there's no need to be so anxious. In a few years, once your disciple Kakashi Hatake matures, he'll surely become your right-hand man."

"Kakashi... he still needs a few more years of experience." At the mention of Kakashi Hatake, Minato Namikaze smiled as well. Clearly, he was quite satisfied with this disciple.

Minamoto Takuya nodded too. As long as Minato Namikaze did not die, Kakashi Hatake would not completely sink into the darkness within the Anbu, only gradually emerging from the shadows after Might Guy pulled him out.

With Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki around, he would still be able to recover little by little.

Later supplemental daily-life content showed that Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki truly treated their three disciples very well. Naturally, that only further highlighted what a beast Obito Uchiha was.

In truth, aside from Kakashi Hatake, Minato Namikaze had quite a few people he could use.

Although the Third Hokage had stepped down, his experience managing the village's miscellaneous affairs—especially mediating disputes—could help Minato Namikaze. Of course, when it came to politics, it was best not to ask the Third Hokage.

Besides the Third Hokage, the two elder advisors were not unusable either. Compared to Shimura Danzō, they were relatively neutral. They were indeed stubborn, but they could still handle some logistical work.

After all, though the two of them did not directly fight during the war, the manga showed that they were responsible for logistics, and they did a decent job of it. At the very least, they did not hold back the front lines.

Moreover, although the two appeared to support Shimura Danzō at every turn, the day after the Third Hokage died, once they learned that Shimura Danzō wanted to become Hokage, they finished their meeting with the Daimyo and directly recommended Jiraiya for the position. That was worth pondering.

They were also fundamentally different from Shimura Danzō, as seen during the Nine-Tails Incident.

The two advisors had personally gone onto the battlefield and stood on the front lines with the Third Hokage. If Minato Namikaze had not arrived in time and taken away the Nine-Tails as it prepared to use a Tailed Beast Bomb, the two advisors would have perished alongside the Third Hokage.

So where was Shimura Danzō at that time? He was not seen making a move throughout the entire incident. Even the Root ninja under his command never appeared. They did not even do something as simple as evacuating civilians.

This showed that while those two old fossils had outdated thinking, they were still loyal to Konoha.

They also possessed a great deal of experience. All that was needed was to take the essence and discard the dross.

Even setting aside the two advisors, people of Nara Shikaku's generation had already fully matured.

Therefore, Minato Namikaze actually had many people available to him. Compared to him, the Third Hokage who succeeded him later had it far worse.

By then, the Nine-Tails Incident had killed a huge number of Konoha's ninja. Minato Namikaze was dead, Orochimaru had defected, and the Nine-Tails had been placed inside an infant's body, which meant the nuclear weapon had been sealed away and could not be used.

The Third Hokage during that period was the one truly under the most pressure. Outside, the Nine-Tails Incident and Minato Namikaze's death prompted the Cloud Ninja and Earth Ninja to wage war against Konoha once more.

At that time, Tsunade had already developed hemophobia, making it difficult for her to wield her full strength.

Internally, the Hyuga Clan was growing ever stronger and increasingly disregarded the Hokage. Later, they even skipped Konoha's important peace talks just to celebrate a daughter's birthday...

It could be said that at that time, Jiraiya was perhaps the only useful one.

Even so, Konoha still managed to endure in relative stability. One could only say that a dying camel was still bigger than a horse.

Later, after Minato Namikaze gathered all the advisors in the conference room to discuss matters.

As the first speaker, Minamoto Takuya lifelessly explained his issue concerning the Konoha Great Barrier to all the advisors once again.

After he finished, the advisors exchanged glances and raised no objections.

This neither affected their interests nor failed to benefit Konoha, so naturally, they would not oppose it.

"Very well. The Sealing Team will take full responsibility for this matter." Minato Namikaze then looked at Minamoto Takuya and said, "Minamoto Takuya, make sure you handle it quickly."

"Yes!"

Minamoto Takuya nodded. At last, in such a serious meeting, the other party had stopped calling him senior.

His gaze was somewhat unreadable. At last, he could openly tamper with the Konoha Great Barrier.

Then he slumped back in his chair with a lifeless expression. Having attended this meeting, he had no right to leave early...

At last, the long meeting came to an end.

Minamoto Takuya walked out of the conference room, rolling his eyes. Honestly, in his previous life, all kinds of meetings had ruled his working days.

He was an "introverted" person, after all, and truly disliked dealing with this sort of thing.

Now, even if they asked him to become Hokage, he would not want the job. It was troublesome as hell and left no time for training. What was the point?

After returning to the Sealing Team, he briefly explained the task he had taken on for them before distributing the work.

As a minor leader, he could not possibly handle every matter personally, could he?

He only needed to inspect the results afterward, and while he was at it, leave himself a secret entrance so he could freely enter and exit with the Summoning Technique without being discovered by the records.

After arranging the tasks, Minamoto Takuya once again immersed himself in the world of Sealing Jutsu, continuing to research and experiment with that sealing technique.

However, what he did not expect was that in the afternoon...

A ninja wearing a mask patterned with gray stripes passed through the office and arrived before him.

"You are?"

Minamoto Takuya frowned. Naturally, he recognized the man's identity—a Root ninja.

Most Anbu masks were white and generally took the form of animals, making them quite easy to distinguish from Root masks.

"Minamoto Takuya, our Leader wishes to see you." The Root ninja spoke without emotion.

"So, who is your Leader?" Minamoto Takuya narrowed his eyes and asked.

"Our Leader is Root's leader, Lord Shimura Danzō!" The Root ninja introduced him with reverence in his voice.

"Hm? What could a big shot like him possibly want with me?" Minamoto Takuya found it somewhat strange.

"You'll know when you get there," the Root ninja replied.

"Fine, wait a moment." Minamoto Takuya did not refuse. After putting away the scrolls in the laboratory, he followed the Root ninja through layer after layer of hidden doors, arriving at a secluded place untouched by sunlight.

There stood an old man leaning on a cane, his head and right eye wrapped in bandages. He wore a gray-black kimono, with one arm completely concealed within it.

It was Shimura Danzō.