To Repay My Debts, I'll Become Hokage!

The Root ninja saw this and felt a jolt in his heart, a sense of foreboding rising within him.

"Retreat, quickly!"

He hurriedly shouted to notify his companions.

"Isn't that a bit too late?"

Uchiha Chonhua sneered. The next moment, his body erupted with a radiance that flooded the surroundings.

Clone Great Explosion.

Without careful observation, even a Three-Tomoe Sharingan could not see through it, and it required no hand seals to trigger the detonation.

This was an A-rank ninjutsu belonging to Uchiha Itachi, and now, it belonged to Uchiha Chonhua.

It was truly an essential technique for backstabbing people!

Bang!

A massive explosion rang out, sending the Root ninjas tumbling and flying backward in disarray.

This deafening sound brought the Passerby Face, who had been caught in a genjutsu, and the Root ninja carrying the Anbu equipment back to their senses, leaving them bewildered by the current situation.

When their gazes shifted to the rising smoke and their companions scattered about, covered in blood and hovering between life and death, their expressions changed drastically, and they rushed to check on their comrades' injuries.

Bang!

The Root ninja stopped in his tracks, looking at the Passerby Face in horror.

As if struck by something invisible, the Passerby Face had no time to react before a powerful pulling force surged before him, churning his internal organs.

"Wah!"

Unable to withstand it, the Passerby Face immediately spat out a mouthful of blood. His figure staggered, and he was sent spinning away by that pulling force, crashing into a large tree before his head lolled to the side and he lost consciousness.

"What... what on earth just happened!?"

The Root ninja swallowed hard, cold sweat streaming down his face. He hurriedly created two shadow clones, while his main body drew a short sword and scanned the surroundings vigilantly.

He didn't know what had happened; his companions lay on the ground, their fates unknown, and just as he and the Passerby Face rushed to investigate, they were suddenly struck and sent spinning away...

This had to be Uchiha Chonhua's doing, but he had no idea how it was achieved.

Only now did he realize that their intelligence on Uchiha Chonhua was insufficient.

That loud explosion, that invisible attack—none of it had appeared in the reports on Uchiha Chonhua.

Uchiha Chonhua had been hiding many things!

For a ninja to conceal their own intelligence was standard practice, but in the eyes of these subordinates of Shimura Danzō, the fact that Uchiha Chonhua had hidden so much meant he had ulterior motives and harbored great ambitions detrimental to Konoha!

To deal with this last Root ninja, Uchiha Chonhua did not hide, walking out of the dense forest with a swagger.

The Root ninja's shadow clones rushed forward, attempting to probe the opponent's hidden cards.

Uchiha Chonhua strolled leisurely, calm and composed, walking toward the Root ninja step by step, completely ignoring the two murderous shadow clones.

"You are the one among these people with the lowest resistance to genjutsu."

Uchiha Chonhua's lips curled into a smile, and as this light remark reached the Root ninja's ears, his body stiffened, and he stood frozen, staring blankly ahead.

Bang, bang!

The two shadow clones immediately burst into smoke.

Uchiha Chonhua arrived before the Root ninja and knocked him unconscious with a heavy palm strike.

He clapped his hands, pressed his palms together, and created five shadow clones to scout the surrounding area.

He himself raised his right hand to cover his eyes, and a flash of red light flickered and vanished.

"It seems these were all of them."

Uchiha Chonhua scanned the area with his Sharingan, and after waiting a moment, his shadow clones reported that they had found nothing unusual.

Uchiha Chonhua counted them—six Root ninjas in total, in teams of three. Shimura Danzō had sent two teams of Root ninjas to deal with him.

Was this a sign that he was valued, or that he was not?

These six Root ninjas hadn't put any pressure on Uchiha Chonhua at all; he had dealt with them easily.

Uchiha Chonhua rubbed his chin; perhaps he was just too underhanded.

A single Clone Great Explosion had taken out four Root ninjas, though he had used more than half of his chakra on that.

The Passerby Face who had been suddenly struck was another underhanded trick: the stealthy and silent Lightning Style: Rasengan.

As for the last Root ninja... his resistance to genjutsu was too poor, and since his own abilities happened to come from a master of genjutsu, what else could he say but that he had been taken out instantly?

Uchiha Chonhua observed the state of the six men; two were severely injured and barely clinging to life.

Uchiha Chonhua kindly treated these two, emerald chakra surging as he pulled them back from the clutches of death.

He couldn't let them die here, or Shimura Danzō would surely stir up trouble.

A conflict had occurred, and a battle had been fought, but as long as no one died, there was room for maneuver, making things easier for Sarutobi Hiruzen.

If things were easy for Sarutobi Hiruzen, then he himself would be safe and worry-free.

He was no longer the small fry he once was; he had gathered a group of people around him. While not everyone was completely devoted to him, they were at least capable of passing on messages.

He did not intend to force a rupture between Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō—that was unrealistic—but he could demonstrate his strength and influence to Shimura Danzō as a warning.

As for deepening the conflict with Shimura Danzō? The conflict was already deep enough; there was no such thing as deepening it further.

There was still a long road ahead, and there would eventually come a day to settle the score with Shimura Danzō!

Knock, knock.

The sound of knocking echoed. Ono, a Jonin who had been frowning while lost in thought, called out for them to enter.

Uchiha Chonhua walked in with a smile.

Ono was stunned for a moment, then immediately hurried over with delight: "Chonhua, you're safe and sound."

"After receiving Mikoto's message, we went to find you, but when we arrived at the location mentioned in the note, we found no one."

They had asked Hizashi Hyuga to track him with his Byakugan, but the result left them disappointed; they could not detect any trace of Uchiha Chonhua.

Uchiha Chonhua and Passerby Face had moved far away from the coastal city, well beyond the range of the Byakugan.

After searching everywhere to no avail, they had no choice but to return and wait.

They believed that with Chonhua's strength, he wouldn't have any problems, but one could never be too careful.

Staying in the inn, everyone had appeared distracted, their brows tightly furrowed.

Now, seeing Uchiha Chonhua appear before them safe and sound, they finally let out a long sigh of relief. Their worries dissipated, and smiles returned to their faces.

Ono patted Uchiha Chonhua on the shoulder and said: "You should have come back to discuss it with us first. In a situation like this, we should have gone to look together; it was too dangerous for you to go alone."

Mikoto Uchiha's face was dejected, lingering fear evident in her expression: "I shouldn't have let you go alone."

She had rushed back to deliver the news, only to realize in hindsight that she had seemingly left Uchiha Chonhua to face it all by himself.

This had terrified her. How could she have overlooked the danger? Was it because she had too much faith that Chonhua would be fine?

Even though he had nearly capsized back in the Land of Whirlpools...

Uchiha Chonhua shook his head and laughed: "Alright, everyone, am I not standing here safe and sound? This time it was my lack of consideration; I lacked team spirit."

"Enough about me, follow me."

Uchiha Chonhua led them to the inn's lobby.

Ono and the others followed Uchiha Chonhua, feeling puzzled. As soon as they entered the lobby, Ono's expression shifted.

His mouth hung slightly open as he stammered: "These... these people..."

He took a closer look at the images and patterns on the masks they wore.

Ono's eyelid twitched.

Root... Root ninjas?!

Chapter 43: Danzō: This Sealing Jutsu Must Go

Ono was naturally familiar with Root ninjas.

He had once had the experience of assisting Root ninjas, and their cold, ruthless nature had left a deep impression on him.

Ono suddenly looked at Uchiha Chonhua, his expression one of shock.

"...The people you wanted to meet were... them?"

Uchiha Chonhua nodded. Ono covered his face with his hand, feeling a massive headache coming on.

How could it be Root ninjas? If only they were Anbu ninjas.

The last people he wanted to deal with were Root ninjas; they were like machines, rigid and unyielding, with no emotional fluctuations.

Talking to Root was like talking to a rock in a latrine—stinking and hard.

As they drew closer, Ono observed them and suddenly realized something was wrong.

Why were these Root ninjas standing perfectly still?

The experienced Ono realized it after a moment of thought: the opponents were trapped in a genjutsu.

This made him let out a long sigh of relief; he wouldn't have to deal with the "rocks in the latrine" after all.

Immediately, Ono felt surprised again. Was this Uchiha Chonhua's doing?

These Root ninjas were elites, not weak in the slightest. How did Chonhua manage this?

Uchiha Chonhua replied: "It was my doing."

"Senior, we should get moving. We need to return to Konoha as soon as possible."

Uchiha Chonhua didn't need to say it; Ono understood the gravity of the situation.

He questioned Uchiha Chonhua in detail about what happened after meeting the Root ninjas. As he listened, Ono's brows furrowed tightly.

He looked at the mission scroll issued by the Hokage, and at a single glance, he instinctively determined that this was not the work of the Hokage.

Based on her interactions with the Hokage and her past experience with his recruitment drives, Jonin Ono dismissed this mission scroll.

Directly conscripting Uchiha Chonhua into the Anbu, then sending him to the northern front?

No, this was not the way of the Hokage.

If it were the Hokage, he would have gathered the recruits for a speech, followed by heartwarming words of encouragement for every single one of them.

When Jonin Ono had been forcibly conscripted in the past, that was exactly what the Hokage had done; that speech had made her blood boil with fervor, leaving her desperate to contribute to Konoha as soon as possible!

Even when receiving mission scrolls from the Hokage while outside the village, the contents were always filled with warmth, making one feel comforted just by reading them.

The Hokage is watching over me!

Yet, the mission scroll in her hands now was concise and strictly business.

This was the correct way to write a mission scroll... but Jonin Ono found it unsettling.

Where was the Hokage's signature "mini-drama" after the mission details? Where was the content that warmed the heart?

"This approach..." Jonin Ono gripped the scroll, lost in thought, "...is cold."

This could never be a mission scroll issued by Sarutobi Hiruzen.

There wasn't a shred of human touch to be found.

In Jonin Ono's view, Sarutobi Hiruzen was a man of great sentiment, and that warmth always manifested in his paperwork.

Furthermore, having Root ninjas conscript Uchiha Chonhua, a mere Genin...

This went against everything the Hokage had done up until now, Jonin Ono was certain of it.

There was definitely something wrong with this mission scroll.

"Notify the members of the Uzumaki Clan; we are returning to Konoha immediately!"

She had to file a report to the Hokage!