Daily Regret, A Ball of Fire!

Bang!

The desk in the Hokage office suffered yet another disaster.

Shimura Danzō slammed a file onto the table with a heavy thud and pulled out a chair to sit before Sarutobi Hiruzen without a hint of courtesy.

"Hiruzen, that Uchiha Chen cannot be allowed to remain!"

"Danzō, do not spout words that undermine our unity!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen tilted his head, pulled the battle report from Danzō's hand, and narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Konoha is a great collective. Every Konoha ninja is a comrade of the village, our own flesh and blood!

If you want to complain during our private chats, so be it, but if I hear this again, I will certainly discipline you!"

"It was my slip of the tongue!"

Danzō nodded, feeling stifled. He gestured for the Third Hokage to look at the latter half of the report and rephrased his words:

"I am here to report on the war situation! Hiruzen, I—"

"Use your official title while on duty!"

???

Shimura Danzō's eyes widened. He knew this was Sarutobi Hiruzen's way of punishing him for his earlier slip.

"Yes!"

Danzō clenched his fists, cast a look of grief and indignation at the Hokage Hat resting on the Third Hokage's head—a prize he could only dream of—and gritted his teeth.

"Lord Hokage!!!"

Hiruzen, has a pathetic, thick barrier already grown between us?

The jealousy and resentment in Danzō's heart grew stronger, but he had to follow the Third Hokage's lead and switch to a professional tone:

"The arrival of the thousand reinforcements on the Eastern Front has had a significant effect. Despite our numerical disadvantage, we have entered a strategic stalemate, and our casualty ratio is clearly superior to that of Kirigakure."

Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded, unsurprised, and continued flipping through the report.

The Uchiha are arrogant, yes, but their skill is undeniable. Otherwise, they wouldn't hold the title of the number one clan in the ninja world. As expected, the results were immediate.

"In particular, Jonin Uchiha Chen has shown exceptional ability. He has achieved great success on the battlefield, to the point where Kirigakure has dubbed him the 'Flame Ghost,' praising the bizarre and overwhelming power of his Fire Style!"

Danzō's voice was flat and straightforward, devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

Sarutobi Hiruzen could no longer force a smile. He flipped through the documents quickly until he found the page recording Uchiha Chen's achievements.

In half a month, Uchiha Chen had killed over a hundred Mist Ninja, seventeen of whom were Special Jonin or higher—the highest count among all Jonin on the Eastern Front!

What an overbearing display of power!

Shimura Danzō added at the perfect moment: "Jonin Chen is only sixteen. I fear there are few ninjas left in the village who could surpass him now!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression darkened visibly.

The record itself was not the issue; the key was that the person who achieved it was only sixteen.

"Chen is a promising youth. It is truly a blessing for the Uchiha, and a blessing for Konoha!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's words tasted like wax; anyone could hear the insincerity behind them.

Shimura Danzō felt a secret thrill, but he remembered the purpose of his visit:

"Root has uncovered some very important intelligence!

The Sunagakure ninjas stationed in the Land of Whirlpools have been acting strangely lately; they seem to be in contact with the Mist Ninja. If Sunagakure breaks the alliance and allows Kirigakure to land and advance west from the Land of Whirlpools, Konoha will be in danger!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned, seriously contemplating this possibility.

It was the middle of the Third Shinobi World War.

Sunagakure had gambled its national destiny and launched the 'Battle of Mount Kikyo,' the largest and most brutal conflict of the war, where blood had soaked nearly every inch of soil on Mount Kikyo.

In the end, Konoha, under the leadership of Orochimaru, won a pyrrhic victory and forced Sunagakure to sign a new alliance treaty.

As a condition of the alliance, Sunagakure was forced to send a detachment of eight hundred men across half the continent to guard the gateway of the Land of Whirlpools for Konoha, resisting Kirigakure and forming a pincer formation.

After a long silence, Sarutobi Hiruzen's brow slowly relaxed. "Rasa is not a man so devoid of wisdom."

"Sunagakure is cunning; we must be on our guard!"

Shimura Danzō seemed truly concerned for Konoha at this moment, saying with a great sense of responsibility:

"I intend to send Aburame Tatsuma to monitor the Sunagakure base and their commander, Pakura.

However, while Tatsuma is excellent at reconnaissance, he lacks sufficient combat power. I believe we should send someone with great martial prowess to accompany him. I think Uchiha Chen would be a fine choice!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen rested his hand on his forehead, looking at the sincere, 'I am doing this for the village' look in Danzō's eyes, feeling quite troubled.

Master Danzō is a master of playing the fool!

You went through such a long-winded circle, and in the end, you still want to pull that same dirty trick?

Despicable!

Yet, Sarutobi Hiruzen also knew that the contact between Sunagakure and Kirigakure was likely true.

Even if they were fine on their own, Shimura Danzō, that troublemaker, would stir them into a frenzy regardless.

Kakashi is fourteen, Asuma is fifteen, and Uchiha Chen is sixteen; the three of them are essentially in the same age bracket and will all reach the peak of their ninja careers in about fourteen or fifteen years.

By then, I'll be seventy.

Thinking of this, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt a tremor in his heart.

His expression shifted constantly as he pondered for a long time, then he said coldly:

"Since there is something fishy between Sunagakure and Kirigakure, it must be investigated.

But I won't trouble your Root; I will send word to the eastern front commander, Hizashi Hyuga, and have him order Uchiha Chen to go to the Land of Whirlpools to investigate."

Sarutobi Hiruzen ultimately chose the path of the 'middle ground,' assigning the mission to Uchiha Chen without planting Ryoma, that 'landmine,' by his side.

This way, no matter what happened, he, as the Hokage, would remain oblivious—the 'benevolent sovereign' kept in the dark—while any bad deeds would be blamed on the treacherous minister Danzō for deceiving his superiors and concealing the truth from his subordinates.

Danzō was already far too familiar with this 'the Hokage takes the credit, I take the blame' routine, and he had guessed that Sarutobi Hiruzen would likely handle the matter this way.

This was exactly what he wanted.

However, the 'process' still had to be completed.

"Hiruzen, have you forgotten the teachings of Master Tobirama?"

Danzō slammed his hand hard against the table and rose indignantly.

"Enough! Danzō!" Sarutobi Hiruzen reflexively opposed Danzō, shouting sternly:

"I have said it before, in the Hokage's office, you must address me by my title!

Know your place; you are merely the assistant to the Hokage!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen slumped back into his chair, took a deep drag from his pipe, and looked at his old comrade, saying gloomily:

"Danzō, I am the Hokage!"

Danzō had heard this sentence countless times, yet every time he heard it again, it still dealt a critical blow to him.

His mouth twitched with rage; he wanted to retort but feared the Third Hokage would continue to stab at his heart with 'titles,' so he could only stand up and roughly pull open the door to the Hokage's office.

Now, he was outside the Hokage's office!

"Hiruzen, you will regret this!"

After the 'bang' of the slamming door, Danzō strode away from the Hokage building, his face full of fury as he vanished into the shadows cast by the Hokage Rock.

"Terai!"

Upon returning to the sunless underground base of Root, Danzō summoned one of his elite operatives and asked:

"Is that line with Kirigakure operating normally?"

"Normal!" the masked Root member replied, his voice as stiff and emotionless as a machine.

"Good, activate it!"

Back at the base, the scapegoat of the Shinobi World merged his entire being into the shadows, his single eye gazing toward the east:

"Tell Suikazan Fuguki that I want to eat fish!"