"You two are absolutely disgusting!"
Utatane Koharu gripped the book in her hands so tightly that her pretty face flushed with anger and her chest heaved. The strength of her grip turned her long fingers deathly pale as she crushed the pages into a ball.
"Especially you, Danzo! I never thought you'd read this sort of thing!"
Utatane Koharu scolded Shimura Danzō.
She never imagined that one day she'd be stabbed in the back by a book. And the person who'd betrayed her was none other than her closest comrade-in-arms—especially since this comrade seemed to harbor certain other feelings for her in real life.
"And you, Hiruzen!" Utatane Koharu turned and glared at the deeply embarrassed Sarutobi Hiruzen. "I'm telling Biwako everything that happened today, without leaving out a single word. I'll have a serious talk with her about how she's been disciplining you!"
Though Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō had tried every trick to cover things up, Koharu had already sensed something was wrong. She wasn't so easy to fool. She'd spotted the book on Hiruzen's desk from the way his eyes kept darting around.
And that was how the scene above had unfolded.
"Ahem, Koharu, calm down. This must all be part of a scheme by that naturally evil brat from the Hozuki Clan. It has nothing to do with us. I was just discussing its deeper meaning with Hiruzen."
Shimura Danzō's mind raced, and in his panic he came up with what he thought was a brilliant excuse.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes lit up. He quickly nodded along.
"Oh? Is that so? Then why don't you tell me what this deeper meaning is?"
Utatane Koharu wasn't buying it. The naked look in Shimura Danzō's eyes just now had felt especially unfamiliar. She'd never seen that expression in her