With Kurama Hidechi persuaded to take on intelligence work, the Rising Sun Organization's defensive system was basically complete. It could operate on its own without Yamanaka Chujiu's direct leadership.
But Chujiu still felt there were countless details he needed to remind them about. Fortunately, he managed to hold himself back.
Since he had decided to entrust the Rising Sun Organization to the children, he had to let go cleanly and avoid interfering too much.
Chujiu finally told the five squad leaders, "I'm counting on you all from here on."
"I hope that by the end of the war, the Rising Sun will have grown strong enough to influence every aspect of Konoha and make our dream of peace come true!"
The five children stood up and placed their right fists over their chests. "You can count on us, Chief!"
After saying goodbye to the children, Yamanaka Chujiu still felt uneasy.
After turning it over in his mind, he decided the problem lay with that bastard, Shimura Danzō.
After probing Danzō's mind several times, Chujiu had seen just how evil the man was—and how chaotic and disordered his reasoning could be.
He could attack the Akatsuki for no reason, and abandon Yakushi Nonō without any justification.
Maybe he wanted to turn the children into Root shinobi. Maybe his mind simply couldn't keep up, and he saw them as a threat to Konoha. Nobody could say for sure whether Shimura Danzō might suddenly lose it and attack the Rising Sun Organization.
Yamanaka Chujiu thought for a while, then sneered. "I can't be sure Danzō won't lose it, but I can make sure he has no time to."
Thanks to his old buddy Danzō, he had recently acquired quite a few living puppets.
Using the living puppets, he had gained control of some of Root's secret bases and figured out Shimura Danzō's routine.
After spending two days checking seven or eight underground bases, Yamanaka Chujiu had pinpointed Shimura Danzō. He waited quietly for the right moment.
On the fourth day, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura went to see Shimura Danzō, catching Yamanaka Chujiu's attention.
He soon realized that after the three of them found Danzō, they had chewed him out.
Interesting. Then let's make things even more interesting!
Yamanaka Chujiu's threadlike thoughts seeped into the underground chamber, wrapped around Shimura Danzō with practiced ease, and expertly stirred his emotions.
Danzō's emotions gradually rose. His pride in standing guard in the dark made him increasingly contemptuous of his old classmates' questions.
Mitokado Homura: "Danzō, Root's accounts don't add up at all. Where did you spend the money?"
Shimura Danzō: "That's classified."
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "Classified? Even I'm not allowed to know?"
Shimura Danzō: "Hiruzen, you're a retired Hokage, not the current Hokage. You have no right to know either."
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "You!"
Shimura Danzō: "Don't waste your time. I won't tell you, because I'm protecting Konoha!"
Utatane Koharu frowned. "You're keeping it secret even from us? Danzō, what's gotten into you?"
Shimura Danzō: "I haven't changed. You're the ones who have!"
"Hiruzen, twenty years ago, when the Second Raikage and our teacher both died, you and the Third Raikage took office at the same time. He didn't even have the courage to challenge you."
"Who would've thought that today, you'd be planning to bow your head to the Fourth Raikage?"
"Have you ever considered that it was your groveling that gave Fourth Raikage A the nerve to attack Konoha?"
"Homura, how long has it been since you last fought on the battlefield?"
"You found your courage on the Night of the Nine-Tails and attacked the Nine-Tails, but did you even knock off a single hair?"
"And you, Koharu! You didn't even dare to fight on the Night of the Nine-Tails!"
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura were furious. Almost in unison, they shouted, "Danzō, you weren't there that night either!"
Shimura Danzō lifted his chin. "I was fighting the Uchiha Clan, who were controlling the Nine-Tails. The danger I faced was beyond anything a mere Nine-Tails could pose!"
Driven by his heightened emotions, Danzō had genuinely convinced himself that what he said was true, and proclaimed his achievements with utter confidence.
He was spouting complete nonsense, yet his forceful manner threw his three old classmates off balance, leaving their thoughts in disarray.
System failure. Restarting. Reading original data...
Hiruzen Sarutobi was the first to react. He slammed the table and shouted, "That's utter nonsense!"
"If the Uchiha really were controlling the Nine-Tails, and those three hundred Uchiha shinobi had been hostile, you'd already be dead!"
Shimura Danzō refused to back down. "Hiruzen, you actually think the Uchiha are loyal to Konoha? They're the inherently evil Uchiha!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi grew even angrier. "You have the nerve to repeat our teacher's words? Have you forgotten that Kagami Uchiha was your classmate?"
Shimura Danzō faltered. Even with Yamanaka Chujiu doing his utmost to stir things up, he couldn't shake the image of absolute kindness and goodwill that Kagami Uchiha had left behind.
Danzō struggled for a long time before managing to squeeze out, "Kagami was an exception."
A brief silence eased the tension between the two sides. Hiruzen Sarutobi lowered his voice as well. "Kagami was an exception. Was Obito, who died at Kannabi Bridge, an exception too? And was Kagami's grandson, Shisui, also an exception?"
"When so many Uchiha are exceptions, that proves the Uchiha aren't beyond saving."
"Danzō, your hostility toward the Uchiha isn't absolutely right. So how can you be sure your secrets elsewhere are?"
"Think about it carefully."
With that, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood up, and Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura followed him out.
Even after the Third Hokage had stepped outside, he turned back to add, "Danzō, the three of us are waiting for your answer!"
Yamanaka Chujiu silently admired him. Hiruzen Sarutobi truly deserved his twenty years as Hokage. He was a skilled speaker and knew exactly how to manage the atmosphere.
Danzō's emotions had risen until he was ready to break with them, yet Hiruzen had managed to salvage the situation, using the deceased Kagami Uchiha to calm him down.
By taking a step back, he gave Danzō room to breathe and somehow managed to mend the rift between them.
The Konoha F4 were still at odds, but not broken apart.
But Yamanaka Chujiu wasn't disappointed. The fact that he had heard the Konoha F4 fall out once today proved that his earlier efforts had worked.
Without the thorn he had left in their hearts a few days ago, no matter how much he stirred Danzō's emotions today, Danzō wouldn't have broken with them.
Besides, a broken mirror could never be made whole again. A rift could never be perfectly repaired.
Breaking with someone was just like domestic violence: it happened either zero times or countless times!
As long as Yamanaka Chujiu seized every chance he could and kept stirring Danzō up, the Konoha F4 would surely fall apart.
The only pity was that he was about to head to the battlefield, so he wouldn't be able to keep provoking Danzō as often.
He could only do the opposite and give Danzō an encouragement buff.
Yamanaka Chujiu snorted. "He got off easy."
After the three old classmates left, Shimura Danzō sat motionless in his chair, Hiruzen Sarutobi's final words circling through his mind.
After years as classmates and decades fighting side by side, both Danzō and Hiruzen prided themselves on having devoted everything to Konoha, yet their views diverged sharply.
The bonds between them couldn't be severed, yet they were impossible to untangle.
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