Hiruzen and Danzo

So Keiichi became even more covert and ruthless, silently slipping an Explosive Tag into the lining of his opponent's clothes.

This time, Kabuto Yakushi finally changed expression. He hurriedly took off his outer clothes, but in the next instant, flames engulfed him completely.

Yet before the smoke had even cleared, a figure shot out at incredible speed, fingers pressed together like a blade. A glow of highly concentrated chakra shimmered faintly across his skin.

Keiichi quickly retreated to put some distance between them, but Kabuto Yakushi was much faster. In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of him.

How could he be this fast?!

I can't dodge!

Then the hand blade, radiating a deadly aura, gently came to rest on his shoulder. The chakra surrounding it had somehow already faded.

"Whoa, whoa, I almost got carried away..." Kabuto Yakushi bared his teeth and gave a self-mocking laugh.

But there was still a trace of crazed bloodlust in that smile.

Keiichi broke into a cold sweat. He realized he had almost gone too far.

Was this the true strength of a full-fledged Jonin?

"I might've hit you a little hard just now. Are you all right?" Keiichi asked with feigned concern.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. My clothes just got scorched." Kabuto Yakushi waved a hand and lied through his teeth. Anyone could see that large patches of his skin were badly burned and blistered. There was no way he looked fine.

"That's good. Seeing you still full of life puts my mind at ease." Keiichi acted as though he had just breathed a sigh of relief.

"I was outmatched." Kabuto Yakushi gave a self-mocking smile and stepped aside, making it clear he wouldn't stop him again.

"Since you've admitted defeat, shouldn't you hand over your scroll?"

"..."

Kabuto Yakushi gritted his teeth in anger. He had never met anyone so shameless!

I'll endure it...

Then Keiichi set off, thoroughly satisfied, carrying both the Heaven and Earth Scrolls as he strolled into the tower.

Kabuto Yakushi watched his retreating figure in silence, his thoughts unreadable.

By this point, all the teams that had passed the second exam had reached the tower. Seven teams had made it through, with Keiichi alone, a one-man team.

Nineteen people in total had advanced to the third exam, most of them from Leaf Village.

Of course, Leaf Village had entered the most candidates, so nobody found that strange.

What truly surprised everyone was that among the nineteen candidates, Kabuto Yakushi was the only one Keiichi had ranked SSR who failed to advance—and the person who eliminated him just happened to be Keiichi.

Nearly all of the remaining ten were SR-Rank Cards. Only Keiichi, an N-Rank Card, stood out like a sore thumb.

Before the second exam began, everyone had thought Keiichi would be the first to be eliminated. After all, he didn't even have teammates.

How could one person lose to three?

But once he entered the Forest of Death, he seemed to vanish from the face of the earth. No team ran into him, and nobody knew where he was hiding.

He only showed up at the last minute, just before time ran out, and ran into Kabuto Yakushi, that complete pushover. He looted him clean and advanced to the next round.

Talk about incredible luck!

Of course, his intel had also been a huge help to many people. The practical trial in the second exam had repeatedly confirmed its accuracy.

As a result, everyone took the information on the Ninja Star Cards even more seriously. They brought them out and read them over and over, scrutinizing every single word for clues to uncover more hidden information.

Seeing how seriously everyone took his intel, Keiichi wore a faint smile, his sense of accomplishment through the roof.

Now that's what you call an information monopolist! (leans back tactically)

Following the announcement, everyone quickly gathered at the venue. Gekko Hayate, the chief examiner for the third exam, began explaining the rules.

Before that, however, he stressed repeatedly that this was no ordinary exam. It was a small-scale war between nations, fought to maintain the balance of power. Everyone had to give it their all and risk their lives to win glory for their village. Even dying in the arena was commonplace.

Anyone who felt they weren't strong enough or had been injured too badly could withdraw now. Otherwise, they wouldn't get the chance to regret it later.

Many people turned their eyes toward Keiichi, hoping for a good show. After all, he was probably the weakest person there.

Yet Keiichi's expression didn't change. He had no intention of withdrawing.

Even his teacher, Gekko Hayate, was trying to signal him with his eyes. The message was clear: if you don't think you're up to it, withdraw already. Transparent Style from the Moonlight Sect really wasn't suited for combat.

Wouldn't it be better to save your life and enjoy the beauty of art with your teacher?

But even at the very end, Keiichi didn't withdraw.

When time ran out, Keiichi noticed quite a few people grinning as they cracked their knuckles at him. Their provocation was obvious.

Dosu Kinata from Sound Village even came over and whispered threats into his ear, saying he would leave Keiichi sprawled in the arena, blood spraying three feet high.

Keiichi merely smiled, not taking him seriously at all.

While you're still thinking about how to pass the Chunin Ninja Exams, I'm already planning how to turn up the pressure on Leaf Village. We're not even in the same league!

At least in my previous life, I was a Special Jonin. Among all these Genin, who could possibly make me feel threatened?

Of course, Gaara, the one who had cheats enabled, was an exception!

While everyone was discussing the candidates in the third round, someone had already delivered the results to the Hokage's office.

But Hiruzen only nodded absentmindedly, as though he had suddenly lost interest in the Chunin Ninja Exams.

The reason was simple: he had something more important to worry about now.

Chapter 43: Hiruzen and Danzo

After all these years, Orochimaru had actually returned to Konoha. And judging from the fact that he had infiltrated the exam venue by impersonating a participant, it was clear he had come to cause trouble.

If it had only been Orochimaru, sending Anbu to step up surveillance and inspections would have been enough. Even if they couldn't capture him, they could force him into hiding and prevent him from acting recklessly.

But the news from Anbu had shocked him: Danzo had also appeared at the exam venue and had been in contact with Orochimaru.

The two seemed to have fought fiercely, which was how Orochimaru's whereabouts had been exposed.

Yet for some reason, everything within a hundred meters had been left in ruins, and all traces of the battle had been erased. Even the specialists in forensic analysis admitted they could do nothing.

This gave Hiruzen a terrible feeling. He couldn't shake the suspicion that there was some secret between Orochimaru and Danzo.

Otherwise, why erase the traces of the battle?

Were they afraid someone would discover something?

Hiruzen wanted to drag Danzo in and demand an explanation: what exactly was he scheming, and why had Orochimaru infiltrated Konoha? He wanted every last detail.

But he couldn't.

Ever since he had stripped Danzo of his position as the Hokage's deputy and disbanded Root, Danzo had disappeared from public view and moved entirely into the shadows.

Danzo was always the one to seek him out. Hiruzen had no idea where Danzo was.

So all he could do was guess on his own, and the more he guessed, the more anxious he became.

He had once trusted both of them, especially Danzo. He couldn't believe his old friend would do anything to harm Konoha.

As for Orochimaru, he had trusted him once too. If he couldn't trust his own student, who could he trust?

That was why he had assigned Orochimaru to work alongside Danzo. In truth, it had been a way to keep an eye on him. No matter how much he trusted Danzo, he had given him far too much authority.

But when it came time to choose the next Hokage, Danzo had refused to stand with him. Instead, he had put Orochimaru forward and spared no effort in bolstering his political support, revealing his ambition to claim the Hokage Position.

More importantly, it proved that Orochimaru had completely thrown in his lot with Danzo.

Orochimaru had never mentioned any of this to him. In the end, Hiruzen had been the only one left in the dark, and it had cut him deeply.

He knew exactly what kind of person Danzo was. But Orochimaru was different. He was Hiruzen's own student, whom he had personally raised. How could he betray him?

From then on, Hiruzen stopped trusting Orochimaru. A man that ambitious, colluding with Danzo—if he became the Fourth Hokage, he would only put Konoha on the gambling table, and sooner or later lose everything!

Later, through his polished political maneuvering, Hiruzen successfully put Minato Namikaze forward as the next Hokage and secured his own political standing.

Then he drove Orochimaru out under the pretext of human experimentation. After that, he used the Uchiha Clan Massacre to suppress Danzo's faction, kicking both men out of Konoha's political landscape for good. That was how Konoha came to enjoy centralized rule—no, a time of prosperity and flourishing.

But now the two of them had joined forces again right under his nose. What were they planning? Did they really think he was senile?

Hiruzen could face either of them alone, make light conversation, and resolve the problem with a casual word.

But if the two of them joined forces, even he felt a sense of dread.

He was already older than he had been ten years ago, while Orochimaru was in his prime—more dangerous to deal with than ever.

Since Orochimaru had gone into hiding, he had to find Danzo, no matter what, and demand an explanation.

He could hardly bear to believe that his old friend would harm Konoha, yet he had a premonition that something serious was about to happen in Konoha.

He had always trusted his instincts.

It looked like it was time to call Jiraiya back...

"Fu Yamanaka!"

"This subordinate is here." A man with orange hair knelt before Hiruzen, showing the utmost respect.

The Ino-Shika-Cho Clans had close ties with the Sarutobi Clan, so Hiruzen trusted the shinobi who had distinguished themselves among those three clans more than anyone.

"Find Shimura Danzo and tell him to come see me. Be discreet. Don't let anyone else find out."

"Yes!"

"Suzaku Nara!"

"This subordinate is here!"

"Have the Nara Clan's Shadow Squad report to me."

"Yes!"

No one noticed that when Fu Yamanaka left the Hokage's office, he lifted his mask in an empty corner and silently mouthed something toward the darkness.

It was just barely possible to see what looked like a Cursed Seal on his tongue...

Deep beneath Konoha, the real Danzo sat in his office, speaking to an informant through a crystal ball.

Why was Hiruzen in such a hurry to summon me? Danzo wondered.

He didn't give it much thought. If Hiruzen wanted to see him, there had to be a reason. He could just go and find out.

Just as he was about to leave, something suddenly struck him as odd.

"Did he really say that?" Danzo asked, double-checking through the crystal ball.

"That's right. It was the Nara Clan's Shadow Squad."

Danzo fell silent, then ended the call.

The Nara Clan excelled at nothing more than Shadow Control Technique. The Shadow Squad was a special unit established around that secret technique, since there were times when they needed to capture an enemy alive.

Of course, most enemies weren't difficult to capture alive. But when the target was an Elite Jonin or even Kage Level, that was when the Shadow Squad came into play.

Who could Hiruzen be making such a fuss over that he had even called in the Shadow Squad?

In fact, Danzo had no idea that Orochimaru had infiltrated Konoha.

He did have informants in the Forest of Death, but they had run into the 'fake Danzo' and assumed that Danzo already knew about it.

More importantly, their leader was Aburame Tatsuma, who had long since been hypnotized by the 'fake Danzo'. He now believed that the real Danzo hidden deep underground was an impostor, so there was no way he would tell him about Orochimaru.

The more Danzo thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed. From a rational perspective, Hiruzen might well be trying to lure him to the Hokage's office, then give the signal by dropping a cup and have the Shadow Squad capture him alive.

But from an emotional perspective, Hiruzen would never treat his old friend so ruthlessly. Besides, Danzo hadn't done anything lately to provoke him.

In the end, he chose to trust reason over emotion. He sat back down, folded his hands in front of him, and let his gaze grow heavy.

No one could be a machine, not even someone as cold-hearted as him.

If Hiruzen hadn't repeatedly defended him back then, the mere act of excavating the First's grave would have been enough to plunge him into an abyss, leaving death as his only atonement.

Just as Hiruzen had done everything he could for him, Danzo would repay him in kind.

He had his own bottom line: as long as Hiruzen remained in office, he would never do anything to hurt his old friend, no matter how desperately he coveted that position.

Even when he ran for Fourth Hokage, he had competed by the most honorable means, rather than resorting to underhanded tactics.

But if one day Hiruzen decided to move against him, was he really supposed to just sit there and wait to die?