The Hyuga were discussing important matters.
The Konoha F4 were not sitting idle either.
Danzo was the first to lose patience. "Hiruzen, we must get our hands on the Hyuga Clan's inherited secret. With this medicine, we can make even greater contributions to the village."
His urgency and heavy breathing were palpable as he spoke, revealing his feverish impatience.
"Secret medicine?! What secret medicine?"
"Yes, Hiruzen, what is Danzo talking about? What has gotten him so worked up?"
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura had only just arrived and had yet to learn what was happening. Hearing Danzo shout left them utterly confused.
"Koharu, Homura, here's what happened..." Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, recounted everything he had seen and heard that day, then silently watched them.
He had always been this way: he raised a subject first, let everyone else discuss it, then reluctantly voiced his agreement at the end. After all, it was a decision everyone had reached together and had nothing to do with him. He was insidious and hypocritical to the extreme.
"What?! Are you serious?"
Upon hearing Sarutobi Hiruzen's account, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura sprang to their feet in shock.
Scrape—bang!
Their chairs toppled to the floor from the force, landing with sharp crashes. That alone showed how deeply the news had shaken them.
"Danzo, is what Hiruzen said true? Is there really a Secret Recipe that can restore someone's youth?"
"Is it true or not, Danzo?! Tell me already! The suspense is killing me..." Utatane Koharu was on the verge of losing her mind. She rushed straight up to Shimura Danzō, seized his shoulders, and relentlessly demanded an answer. Even Shimura Danzō felt unnerved by the blazing intensity in her eyes.
"Well..."
Then something unexpected happened—the great Danzo, known as the Darkness of the Ninja World, actually froze! Utatane Koharu's frantic behavior had caught him completely off guard. He clearly had never expected anything like this.
"Say something, Danzo." Utatane Koharu shook his shoulders and stared intently at him, her eyes full of longing and anticipation, as though she wanted to see straight through him.
They were stunned.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's pipe even clattered onto his desk.
Mitokado Homura swallowed. Koharu, have you lost your mind? That's Danzo. Interrogating him like this... that bastard will bite anyone when he goes mad.
With that thought,
he started forward to pull her away.
"Hm?!" Danzo tried to free himself from Utatane Koharu's grip, only to discover, to his astonishment, that her seemingly frail hands now clamped onto him like iron pincers. He could not budge. Of course, he could not simply shove her away.
That would be a slap in the face.
Danzo had no intention of falling out with them over this.
It was not worth it.
"Danzo, you still haven't answered me." Utatane Koharu stared at him with bloodshot eyes, looking ready to devour someone. "Tell me whether the Youth-Restoring Secret Medicine is real."
Danzo gulped despite himself. Is this really the same proud, conceited, overbearing Utatane Koharu? She's practically a different person!
Koharu was frighteningly bold today.
Anyone who had dared treat Danzo like this in the past would probably have been dead for years. Even he had been intimidated.
Thank goodness she didn't come after me.
Sarutobi Hiruzen and Mitokado Homura were both relieved that Utatane Koharu was not treating them this way, and silently mourned for Danzo.
"Uh... it's real." Danzo had seen enough of the world to regain his composure quickly. His voice turned icy. "Koharu, can you let go of me now?" He was getting angry.
"Oh, oh... right."
"Mm, haha... it's real. Really real... as long as it's real... There really is medicine that restores youth... It really exists..."
Having received the answer she wanted, Utatane Koharu unconsciously released Danzo and began mumbling foolishly to herself.
Watching his companion behave so deranged,
Danzo regarded her with contempt. Hmph. As expected, she's just a woman. She can't handle anything important.
But Danzo did not understand a woman's heart. He had underestimated the immense temptation that regaining youth held for women.
Especially for elderly women like Utatane Koharu, how could ordinary people understand the pain and helplessness they felt as their youth slipped away? Perhaps they had long since fallen into self-pity, helpless against the cruelty of time.
Now that the hope of regaining their youth lay before them, how could they not go mad? Even if they had to risk everything, they had to learn this precious news!
Apart from Utatane Koharu's muttering,
Sarutobi Hiruzen's office fell into an eerie silence. No one wanted to speak first and stick their neck out.
"Hiruzen, why don't we wipe out the Hyuga?!" Utatane Koharu suddenly blurted out something shocking.
A flicker of amusement crossed Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes. There it is.
This was precisely why he had sent for Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura. He wanted the medicine, but he could not be the one to suggest it, nor would he do the dirty work himself. And so...
The crafty old bastard.
"Koharu, watch your words!"
Outwardly, Sarutobi Hiruzen remained perfectly stern.
"Don't talk nonsense, Koharu." Mitokado Homura immediately understood Sarutobi Hiruzen's intentions, but still wanted to help Koharu out. "Have you lost your mind?! Stop running your mouth and sit down."
"I'm not talking nonsense. The Uchiha were so powerful, and we still schemed our way into wiping them out. Are the Hyuga stronger than the Uchiha?" Greed had gone completely to Utatane Koharu's head. The woman dared say anything now, and the others' faces darkened.
Fuck, even if it's true,
you can't fucking say it that loudly!
Shit.
At a glance from Sarutobi Hiruzen, Danzo and Mitokado Homura acted simultaneously, disposing of the ninja guards outside the door. One dragged the bodies inside and sealed them into a Scroll, while the other cleaned up the traces.
Their coordination was remarkably smooth.
"Koharu, don't make baseless claims. The Uchiha Clan was destroyed by the missing-nin Itachi Uchiha. It had nothing to do with us."
"Do you understand?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke coldly. This idiot will blurt out anything. If you weren't still useful, I'd really want to kill you.
Do you understand?
Do you understand?
Do you understand?
The killing intent that flashed through those final words instantly brought Utatane Koharu to her senses, sending a chill down her back.
She lowered her head and said hoarsely, "I'm sorry. I... I... understand, Sarutobi. I won't speak out of turn again."
She was truly frightened.
The killing intent in that instant had been intense.
Sarutobi had genuinely considered killing her.
"Sarutobi, Koharu only misspoke because she was impatient. She's already apologized, so please forgive her." Mitokado Homura hurried to smooth things over and help Utatane Koharu out.
"Hiruzen, let it go." Unwilling to disrupt the balance among the village's High Command, Danzo made a rare effort to put in a good word. Sarutobi Hiruzen, you're the true Darkness of Konoha.
Utatane Koharu looked gratefully at the two of them, then hurriedly stood and apologized again. "Sarutobi, I was wrong. I was just too impatient to get the medicine and said the wrong thing. I was wrong..."
"Homura, Danzo, Koharu, what are you doing? We're teammates. Do you really think I'd be angry with Koharu?
"I was merely reminding her that we must be careful with our words and actions. If what she just said got out, it would cause trouble."
Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke with a genial smile, acting like the perfect Konoha teammate, as though he had not just erupted with killing intent.
Hypocrite.
Danzo sneered inwardly.
He no longer even wanted to speak.
"Heh, I always said you were the most generous of us, Sarutobi." Mitokado Homura hurried to flatter him. "I knew all those years ago that you were the most reliable. Who else could have become Hokage?"
Damn it, if I hadn't just seen that with my own eyes,
I might actually have believed you.
"Yes, yes, Sarutobi, thank you for the reminder. I'll remember it from now on and be cautious."
"You've always been the steadiest of us, considering everything. No wonder our Teacher chose you. He truly had a good eye." Utatane Koharu also showered him with flattery. He had truly terrified her just now.
Just now,
Hiruzen really wanted to kill me.
He's changed.
With the Uchiha gone,
he's become someone I no longer recognize.
Perhaps
this is who he's always been.
It looks like I'll have to follow Homura's example and go along with him from now on.
The balance among the four clans has finally
been broken.
Alas...
"Hahaha! You're too kind. We're all on the same side, so there's no need to flatter one another..."
"I don't like that sort of thing. Hahaha!"
Despite his protests, Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression betrayed him. He was thoroughly enjoying his teammates' extravagant praise.
Pah!
Danzo was almost sick with disgust. Damn it, who said our teacher had a good eye? If he'd picked me as the boss... the Hokage, Konoha would be much stronger now. You were all wrong.
Back then,
he should have chosen me.
Me!
Danzo roared inwardly, but his expression remained blank. "Ahem... Hiruzen, let's get back to the Hyuga."
"Oh, yes, of course. Look at me, I nearly forgot." Sarutobi Hiruzen pretended he had only just remembered.
"The Hyuga Clan's secret medicine."
"Homura, Koharu, Danzo, what do you think?"
Then he fell silent again.
Damn it. Just as expected, he's doing it again.
Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, and Shimura Danzō were all thoroughly disgusted by Sarutobi Hiruzen's hypocrisy.
But
he was the Hokage, after all,
with all the power in his hands.
Besides, once they got the medicine,
they would get their share too,
so they did not mind taking the blame.
It was hardly the first time.
"Sarutobi, I think..."
"..."
The F4 then launched into a heated discussion. Wiping out the clan was out of the question. They could not pull it off.
The Uchiha had only just been exterminated, and everyone was already on edge.
If it happened again, Konoha might fall apart.
Besides,
who dared underestimate Hyuga Hoze now that he had regained his youth? Who could claim they could finish him off without losing at least one or two fighters of his caliber? The Hyuga were so mysterious now. Who knew whether they had a trump card?
The Uchiha had only fallen because traitors betrayed them. Of their top fighters, Shisui Uchiha had been killed, Itachi Uchiha had been brainwashed, and Fugaku Uchiha had refused to resist, willingly accepting death.
The attack had also come suddenly at night, with the traitor Itachi Uchiha breaking through from within. The clan's barrier had been fucking useless.
Otherwise, there was no telling who would have won.
Even Danzo knew Izanagi. There was no reason the Uchiha's powerful fighters would not know it. In that case, Konoha would have lost plenty of people at the very least.
Half the village might even have been destroyed.
This time, they could only resort to coercion... and inducements...
Before you continue