I Could Do It Too

Shaziyi froze completely.

"Although your performance just now was indeed quite heart-stirring."

"However..."

At this point, Akimichi Timon extended a finger, his face filled with the certainty of someone who had "seen through everything."

"I have already seen through your objective!"

Shaziyi's heart gave a violent jolt.

This fatty...

Could he have actually seen through her plan to use a honey trap to escape?

For a moment, a sense of absurdity welled up in Shaziyi's heart.

Could it be that this guy, who looked the most foolish and dull, was actually the deepest hidden member of the Ino-Shika-Cho team?

Just as her thoughts raced, she heard Akimichi Timon state his answer with a straight face: "You must have heard me say just now that we should treat prisoners a bit better, so you wanted to trick me into sharing my limited-edition potato chips with you, right?!"

"..."

The air suddenly went quiet.

Shaziyi stood frozen in place, her eyes turning blank.

She even doubted whether she had heard him correctly.

No way...

I went through all this trouble, batting my eyelashes at you, using a honey trap, and enduring the humiliation of acting for so long.

The conclusion you finally reached is that I wanted to trick you out of your potato chips?!

And they're limited-edition potato chips at that?!

At this moment, the look Shaziyi gave Akimichi Timon was no longer filled with anger, humiliation, or killing intent for the first time.

It was speechless.

She finally understood.

Where the most terrifying part of Konoha really lay.

It wasn't the ninjutsu, the genjutsu, or the Kekkei Genkai.

It was... the fact that the brain circuits of these people were simply not normal!

Timon, meanwhile, clutched his bag of potato chips tightly and scooted backward with a wary expression.

"Give it up, this flavor has been discontinued; I can't even bear to eat many of them myself." As he spoke, he thought for a moment and added, "Besides, that look you gave earlier was too obvious. I knew at a glance that you weren't eyeing me, but my potato chips."

Shaziyi: "..."

She slowly closed her eyes.

Konoha should just hurry up and be destroyed.

"Let's go, Timon."

Yamanaka Santian poked his head in from outside the door, his expression strange as he swept his gaze over Shaziyi and the chip-clutching Timon.

"The captain told us to take these two outside the village to wait for him; he'll set off back to the village after reporting to His Highness."

"Oh, oh..."

Akimichi Timon hurriedly stuffed the last few chips into his mouth, opened the cage, grabbed one person in each hand, and strode out of the room.

As soon as the two of them brought the prisoners out of the inn and reached the outskirts of the village, they saw Hyuga Qinglan already waiting there quietly.

"Captain, aren't you...?"

Yamanaka Santian was stunned, looking back at the inn and then at Hyuga Qinglan.

This speed, wasn't it a bit too fast?

"I sent a Shadow Clone."

Hyuga Qinglan rubbed his shoulder and looked at the two people being carried by Timon: "Timon, can you still handle it?"

"Hehe, no problem."

Akimichi Timon held one in each hand, smiling honestly.

"Then full speed back to the village."

Hyuga Qinglan nodded and took the lead, dashing toward the Land of Fire.

Two days later, the group finally arrived at Konoha.

"The side effects of Divine Extermination... do they really last this long?"

"Are the side effects of using Divine Extermination really this severe..."

Hyuga Qinglan carried Shaziyi in his right hand, feeling the dull ache and fatigue radiating from every part of his body.

He had assumed two days would be enough for his body to adapt, but every time he exerted force, his muscles and meridians still protested in silent agony.

"Your name is Hyuga Qinglan... right?"

Shaziyi spoke in a voice incredibly weak; she hadn't touched a single grain of rice in the past two days. She had intended to protest with a hunger strike, only to have her mouth forced open and water poured down her throat.

Now that they had entered Konoha, the tape over her mouth had finally been removed.

"Only just realized my name?"

Hyuga Qinglan walked into the village without changing his expression, ignoring the surprised gazes of the crowd at the gates. He told Yamanaka Santian and Akimichi Timon to go rest, while he himself carried the two captives straight toward the Hokage Building.

"Your Lightning Release Armor... why is it purple?"

Shaziyi barely managed to lift her eyelids, finally asking the question she had been suppressing for so long.

A member of the Hyuga Branch Family knowing Rotation was one thing.

After all, according to their intelligence, the younger brother of the Hyuga clan head was also a member of the Branch Family and could use Rotation.

But the man before her had actually mastered the Cloud Village's Lightning Release Armor, and it even manifested in an eerie shade of purple...

The power was greater than the orthodox Lightning Release Armor, and the speed was even faster.

If she hadn't been distracted by the battle between Dekai and the others, she wouldn't have been captured so easily by the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.

"Heh heh heh..."

Hyuga Qinglan chuckled softly, offering no answer.

"As a captive, you should have the self-awareness of a captive."

"It would be best if you honestly confess everything from here on out."

"Otherwise... the days ahead won't be very pleasant for you."

With that, he quickened his pace, walking steadily toward the direction of the Hokage Building.

The bright sunlight pierced through the clouds, brushed over the majestic Hokage Rock, and slanted into the windows of the Hokage Building.

At this moment, the atmosphere inside the Hokage office was filled with a sense of delight.

Because the person sitting behind the desk, wearing the Hokage hat, was not Sarutobi Hiruzen, but...

Shimura Danzō.

"Heh heh heh... Hiruzen, it seems I was the one who had to step in after all..."

Shimura Danzō muttered to himself, his voice laced with irrepressible smugness.

He stroked the alliance agreement in his hand, which had come from the Land of Rain and bore the seal of Salamander Hanzo.

He had expected that traveling to the Land of Rain to persuade Hanzo to send troops and jointly resist the alliance of Iwagakure and its vassal states would be a grueling, drawn-out struggle.

He hadn't expected the process to go far more smoothly than he had anticipated.

"If things continue like this, then perhaps I won't even need to keep supporting that fellow Orochimaru..."

"The position of Fourth Hokage is something I might just be able to attain..."

Danzō thought to himself, feeling quite pleased.

For now, he was merely acting as Hokage alongside the other two advisors to guard the village.

But this was enough to make Danzō, who had craved this position for many years, beam with joy.

He firmly believed that as long as there was a first time acting in this capacity, there would be a second, and a third...

Until that position rightfully and legally belonged to him.

And when that time came, his goal would be achieved...

No...

Danzō's gaze gradually returned to a state of calm.

He still needed to wait for the right opportunity; he had to find the precise moment for a decisive, killing blow.

Besides, the side effects of the Hashirama Cells were still quite severe.

Danzō looked down at his right arm, which was brimming with vitality.

It seemed he would still have to rely on Orochimaru for some time.

"Terai, have there been any restless movements from the Uchiha or other clans in the village recently?"

The ninja named Terai knelt on one knee, bowing his head to report respectfully: "Lord Danzō, although the major clans in the village are worried about the war on the front lines, they are all continuing to dispatch personnel and supplies in accordance with the deployments made by the Hokage before his departure."

He paused for a moment, then added: "Even the Uchiha clan has shown no abnormal behavior; on the contrary, they have been very proactive."

"Hmm, that is good."

Danzō nodded slightly and leaned back, adjusting his posture after sitting for so long.

"Although the village is in a difficult situation right now, under my command and coordination, the scales of victory in the Third Shinobi World War will eventually tilt in favor of Konoha..."

"Hmm?"

Seeing that Terai remained kneeling after finishing his report, as if he still had something to say, he couldn't help but frown slightly.

"What else is there?"

Terai was silent for a moment, seemingly weighing his words, before finally reporting in a low voice.

"Lord Danzo, there is one more matter..."

"The Hyuga Clan has recently dispatched several of their own clan ninjas to the border front in the direction of Iwagakure."

"Furthermore, this deployment... was never officially reported to the Hokage Building."