Danzo, the 5.5th Hokage? What a Joke!

He had little respect for Danzo. Everything he did was only for the village.

Especially after seeing what Kitahara Kaede had revealed about Danzo's actions, he could not help but frown. They were far worse than he had imagined.

When he returned to Konoha, the person he wanted to intimidate was none other than Shimura Danzō.

But when he saw Shimura Danzō had transplanted Hashirama Cells and implanted an entire arm full of Sharingan, he could no longer hold himself back.

Uchiha Itachi had been praised by the Third Hokage as someone who possessed the mindset of a Hokage at a young age. In other words, compared to those who were more naïve, Uchiha Itachi was better at viewing matters from a ruler's perspective. He did not believe there was no darkness at all within the village.

After all, this was a massive violent institution. No matter how much a militarized organization like Konoha emphasized the Will of Fire on the surface, some things would still go against it.

Everything for the village.

That was the core of the Will of Fire, and what Uchiha Itachi believed it should be.

Yet Danzo's actions had already touched Uchiha Itachi's reverse scale. Hashirama Cells and Sharingan involved the two great clans that had founded Konoha.

To put it bluntly, Konoha had been founded through the efforts of those two clans. But where were those two clans now?

The Senju Clan had vanished without a sound, while the Uchiha Clan had been slaughtered overnight.

Danzo's actions filled Uchiha Itachi with towering rage, but he quickly calmed down. He knew anger was useless. It could not solve anything.

But the information revealed in the Diary was extremely dangerous. Why would Konoha let Danzo serve as the acting 5.5th Hokage? It made no sense.

The Fourth Hokage had already been the Third Hokage's grand-disciple, let alone the Fifth Hokage. It was even less likely to have been Shimura Danzō. And did 5.5th mean the original successor was supposed to be the Sixth Hokage?

If that was the case, then just how badly had Konoha's talent pool withered by then for such an old fossil to still receive everyone's recommendation when it came time to decide on the Sixth Hokage?

For a moment, Uchiha Itachi felt a sense of dread.

Could this have something to do with Pain of the Akatsuki invading Konoha?

He had seen the scene of Pain using Shinra Tensei to destroy all of Konoha, and he nearly could not remain seated.

The village he had sacrificed his entire clan to protect had just been wiped out like that?

Could Danzo becoming the 5.5th Hokage have something to do with this?

He did not know much about the leader of the Akatsuki. He only knew that he was called Pain and possessed a pair of Rinnegan said to belong only to the Sage of Six Paths.

But he knew nothing at all about the Rinnegan's abilities. That brief video had not shown much, only proving that Pain could fly.

And there was that ninjutsu—Shinra Tensei.

What nature transformation was that? It looked like Wind Release because it had no color, but it did not seem like Wind Release either.

Wind Release attacks were characterized by cutting and storms.

But the ninjutsu Pain had released lacked those traits. It seemed more like some kind of force centered on his body.

The video was too short to analyze any further information.

But if that was truly the case, it could explain many things. For example, why the title had suddenly jumped to 5.5th. The Fifth Hokage had likely died in that battle as well.

Uchiha Itachi was anxious, but he did not act rashly.

Though he had never fought Pain, he knew he was absolutely no match for him. The Akatsuki had so many S-rank Rogue Ninja, each one at least Kage Level.

Any one of them would have been a proud, unruly super expert outside, yet all of them were obedient within the Akatsuki. That alone said everything.

If he acted recklessly, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Especially since the Akatsuki's leader did not trust him much, he had to be careful in everything.

After all, everyone in Shippuden still had to conserve their chakra. It was nothing like later, when they were Piloting Gundam and fighting aliens, where chakra was not even a concern.

But before they had fully developed, it was better to lie low. After all, Danzo would become the 5.5th Hokage in the future. Though he only briefly acted as Hokage before fleeing the Five Kage Summit like a sewer rat, while the other four Kage were busy pursuing Sasuke, he alone ran away. What a joke.

None of the previous Hokage had ever fled all over the place like that.

So back then, before the Second, he had been one step slower than the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen. That one step left him behind forever. Why should someone who could only stir up trouble in a sinister hell his whole life become Hokage?

After crawling through the darkness underground for so long, he must have forgotten his fighting instincts. That was why there could be such an iconic scene as using a kunai to stab Susanoo. Dying at Second Pillar's hands was already the most dignified ending you could have hoped for.

Hatake Kakashi read the contents of the Diary. It was still full of resentment toward Danzo, but the amount of information contained in this passage was explosive.

Just as he had guessed before, the reason Danzo could be called the 5.5th Hokage was because he had once served as Hokage, even if only briefly.

And the reason he was only 5.5th was likely because he had died at Second Pillar's hands not long after ascending to the position of Hokage.

But normally, even if someone had been Hokage for only one day, he was still Hokage. What was this half-generation supposed to mean?

There was only one possibility: he had been stripped of the Hokage title afterward.

As for why, it was probably easy enough to guess. The Hokage, Konoha's representative, had actually fled from the Five Kage Summit?

Since the Shinobi World had recorded history, the previous Five Kage Summit had basically been held when Konoha had just been founded, when the God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama, established the order of the Shinobi World and distributed the nine Tailed Beasts.

For five villages that had fought each other bloody to sit down and talk this time, either an even greater crisis had emerged, or, as Kitahara Kaede mentioned, they had grown exhausted from the Fourth Shinobi World War and sat down to negotiate.

Either way, for the Hokage to flee the Five Kage Summit was an extremely disgraceful act.

He must have done something terribly inappropriate at the Five Kage Summit. If it had been someone else, it might not have come to this, but based on Hatake Kakashi's understanding of Danzo, it was entirely possible.

That was the Darkness of the Ninja World.

"Died at my hands?" Second Pillar saw that the Diary mentioned Shimura Danzō dying at his hands.

Although he had already resolved to kill Danzo and avenge his clansmen for the Sharingan Danzo had taken from them, he had not expected to be told that he would succeed in the future.

In the future, he would personally avenge his clansmen.