Yamanaka Chujiu's Tea Skills

Yamanaka Chujiu's voice shifted through three different tones, each one carefully chosen to convey the boundless grievance and fear in his heart.

Combined with the face he shared with the future Ino, Yamanaka Chujiu instantly had Hiruzen Sarutobi wrapped around his little finger, stirring up the man's protective instincts toward children.

"Danzō, Lord Danzō is so scary! He wants us to be his slaves, and says he'll wipe out the whole family of anyone who refuses... Boohoo!"

Shimura Danzō: "!"

Yamanaka Chujiu's crying was spot-on. Not only was his voice piercing, but the tears came on command, and in an instant he was weeping as if his heart would break.

"He said this was Lord Hokage's order. Any ninja who disobeys him is disobeying the Hokage and betraying the village—they're traitors!"

Shimura Danzō panicked. "I didn't!"

Yamanaka Chujiu wailed even louder, "He also said we'd be brainwashed and made to obey only him. Even if the Hokage gives us an order, we can't listen..."

"He also said the Hokage will die young, and only Root is eternal!"

Shimura Danzō's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "I..."

Damn it! The old man might think that, but he'd never actually said it out loud!

Yamanaka Chujiu's three statements perfectly described Shimura Danzō's image in everyone's minds. They instinctively believed he really had said those things.

Even among the ninjas present, only Yamanaka Inoichi and Shibi Aburame came to their senses—and that was a full half-minute later.

The two of them were clan heads, not upright, straightforward people like Might Guy. Not only did they refrain from exposing Yamanaka Chujiu's lie, they even used their own methods to signal their clansmen to play along.

The Yamanaka and Aburame ninjas chimed in with their agreement. Those with decent acting skills even cried along with Chujiu, driving home the sorrowful atmosphere of being bullied.

They cried as if they were entirely in the right.

Yamanaka Chujiu couldn't exactly be called a liar. At most, he was voicing what Danzō truly thought.

That's right, those were exactly his thoughts!

Shimura Danzō glared furiously at Yamanaka Chujiu. The killing intent in his eyes was almost tangible, surging like flames that would engulf Chujiu.

In Konoha, he was the one who framed and slandered others.

Whether it was the Uchiha Clan, whose reputation was already tarnished, or Hatake Sakumo, a man of noble character, he had tormented them with rumors and other methods until they were ready to crawl out of their skin.

Hatake Sakumo had even been driven to suicide by slanderous rumors, proving his innocence with his life.

This was truly the world turned upside down. Someone had actually framed Shimura Danzō!

A mere fourteen-year-old Special Jōnin, no less. Unbelievable.

But after frantically thinking through how to get out of this, Shimura Danzō realized the androgynous boy's accusations were flawless!

The boy had framed him to his face, yet he couldn't refute a word!

Because every last thing the brat had said was Shimura Danzō's own thoughts!

When someone voiced your innermost thoughts, you naturally felt they were right. Your face would unconsciously show subtle signs of agreement, along with the guilty expression of someone who knew Hiruzen Sarutobi had seen through him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the "Professor of Ninjutsu," could certainly pick up on Danzō's microexpressions.

Shimura Danzō's own microexpressions were naturally more convincing than his excuses.

Yamanaka Chujiu was using Danzō to pin him in an impossible position, where he couldn't defend himself.

The more Shimura Danzō thought about it, the angrier he got. When had he ever been made to swallow such an insult?

If it had been a powerful enemy from outside Konoha, such as Hanzo of Amegakure, Nagato of the Akatsuki, the Fourth Raikage of Kumogakure, or the Third Tsuchikage of Iwagakure, then Shimura Danzō could certainly have swallowed his anger.

But Yamanaka Chujiu was a Konoha Ninja!

Even if he was the younger brother of the Yamanaka Clan head and Orochimaru's student, he was still just a ninja from Konoha!

How could Shimura Danzō tolerate being insulted by a Konoha Ninja?

Being framed by a Konoha Ninja he considered an insect left Shimura Danzō so enraged and humiliated that he lost control. For the second time, Yamanaka Chujiu read his emotions perfectly.

A second thread of thought wrapped around Shimura Danzō, disturbing his anger as much as possible until he completely lost his reason.

"You damn little brat! I'll kill you!"

Shimura Danzō rapidly formed Hand Seals and shouted, "Wind Style: Vacuum Great Sphere!"

A ball of compressed air appeared between his hands. With a piercing shriek, he hurled it straight at Yamanaka Chujiu.

"Stop!"

Yamanaka Inoichi, Shikaku Nara, Choza Akimichi, and Shibi Aburame were horrified.

They had never imagined that even with the Third Hokage personally present, Danzō would dare attack right in front of him, trying to kill a Konoha Ninja in full view of everyone.

Caught off guard, they couldn't react in time. Besides, the clan heads were slightly weaker than Danzō and had no chance of stopping him.

Torifu Akimichi had reacted in time, but his grievously injured body held him back. He couldn't use the Multi-Size Technique in time to intercept the Vacuum Great Sphere.

As the one secretly manipulating Danzō's emotions, Yamanaka Chujiu had naturally anticipated his madness.

But he trusted the Third Hokage's strength. He trusted Hiruzen Sarutobi's love for Konoha. He believed Hiruzen would surely step in to stop Shimura Danzō.

So Yamanaka Chujiu gritted his teeth and didn't dodge. He put on an expression of utter terror, making Shimura Danzō's reckless disregard for the rules undeniable.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was timid, indecisive, and pathologically devoted to peace, but his love for Konoha was real.

His love for Shimura Danzō was real, too. But Danzō was trying to kill someone right in front of him.

That was absolutely impossible!

Earlier, Yamanaka Chujiu had told Orochimaru that Hiruzen Sarutobi had no choice but to step down and nominate Namikaze Minato as the Fourth Hokage. The root cause was that he had grown old and weak.

But Yamanaka Chujiu also knew that Hiruzen Sarutobi's lack of strength was relative.

It was the kind of weakness that left him unable to stand tall when compared to the numbers monster that was the First or the mechanics monster that was the Second Hokage.

But among the Kage Level ninjas of the present day, Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't weak.

Especially when facing Shimura Danzō, he wasn't the least bit intimidated by this Kage Level ninja who was barely qualified to be one.

When Hiruzen Sarutobi saw Shimura Danzō use a jutsu to launch a lethal attack at Yamanaka Chujiu, a child, his expression instantly darkened.

Suppressing his anger, he calmly formed Hand Seals, simultaneously using the Body Flicker Jutsu and Wind Style: Wind Return.

The Body Flicker Jutsu required the fewest hand seals, so it activated first.

Hiruzen Sarutobi instantly appeared in front of Yamanaka Chujiu, spread his arms with his back to Chujiu, and formed a great shield with Wind Style: Wind Return, reflecting the Vacuum Great Sphere back.

Shimura Danzō had never imagined that Hiruzen Sarutobi would attack him. So when his own Vacuum Great Sphere was reflected back, his own jutsu struck him head-on.

The shattered wind blades tore through his clothes and bandages. Danzō spun through the air, soaring high before landing far away amid Konoha's many buildings.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had struck Danzō first to teach him a lesson, punishing him for usurping the Hokage's authority and endangering Konoha's ninjas.

Second, Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to get Danzō out of there.

Only with Danzō gone could Hiruzen Sarutobi help him make excuses and protect him as much as possible.