I Want Him Dead!

"Ah! Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to—cough, cough, cough..." Tsunade, who had sprayed Li Tong's face with water, fumbled to wipe it off with her sleeve, but she'd choked while spitting the water and couldn't stop coughing.

"I'm fine!" Li Tong shifted aside again, dodging Tsunade, and vigorously wiped his cheek.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression had turned dark. He even glared at Tsunade.

She was just making trouble here!

"Carry on!" Noticing Hiruzen Sarutobi's glare, Tsunade decisively turned her back and walked away with her cup, looking like she was saying, "Don't look at me. I don't know anything. I didn't do anything."

She didn't leave, though. Instead, she walked over to a nearby sofa and sat down, pretending to be invisible while clearly straining to listen.

Hiruzen Sarutobi paid her no further attention. He looked back at Li Tong and unconsciously tapped his fingers on the desk.

"He choked on water?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked in a low voice.

"Exactly! He choked, and I seized my chance," Li Tong replied with absolute certainty.

There was no flaw in that answer!

Anyone could choke while diving underwater, no matter how strong they were. There was nothing logically wrong with it. It was a pretty ridiculous excuse, but it was impossible to refute.

"Do you think I should believe you?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, his brows knitted and his gaze cold.

"Lord Hokage, this isn't a matter of whether you believe me. It's simply what happened. Your assassin was an elite Jonin. At the time, I didn't know that; I only found out when Lord White Fang told me. He never showed me strength befitting an elite Jonin. And choking has nothing to do with strength. Anyone can choke underwater if they're careless... Just like Lady Tsunade a moment ago. She was only drinking water, and she choked. Lady Tsunade is stronger than an ordinary elite Jonin, isn't she?"

Li Tong realized he really was a genius! When he finished speaking, he was almost impressed with himself.

Hiruzen Sarutobi narrowed his eyes and turned to Tsunade.

Tsunade immediately looked up at the ceiling, as though there were some fascinating patterns up there.

"Since you insist that's what happened, I'll take it as the truth," Hiruzen Sarutobi said, turning back to Li Tong. His words were clever: he made it clear that he didn't believe Li Tong, but didn't want to press the matter any further.

Li Tong understood, and pretended he didn't.

"It seems you're now capable of protecting yourself," Hiruzen Sarutobi said. He paused, then continued, "I've decided! Starting today, the Anbu will no longer protect you. You're free to move around the village as a Konoha Genin, and you may take on missions. I hope you'll work hard and contribute more to Konoha!"

"Yes, Lord Hokage!" Li Tong accepted the order, already overjoyed.

At last, he'd gotten rid of those useless Anbu. Over the past half month, he'd faced several life-and-death crises, and handled every one of them himself. The Anbu had never done a thing to protect him. They'd only kept an eye on him.

"You're dismissed. Go," Hiruzen Sarutobi said, tapping the desk.

"Yes!" Li Tong replied, then turned and strode toward the door.

Just as Li Tong reached the doorway and opened it, before he could step outside, Tsunade sprang up from the sofa and hurried after him.

"Tsunade, don't cause trouble!" Hiruzen Sarutobi scolded.

"Yes, yes, I know!" Tsunade said with a cheeky grin. She still followed Li Tong out of the office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed helplessly.

"That boy is hiding something. Given his own strength, the chances of him killing an elite Jonin are very low," Danzo said hoarsely. He had been silent ever since entering the room. "But from another perspective, he may well be a genius with extraordinary talent. Killing an elite Jonin would be extremely difficult for him, but he might have a chance against an ordinary Jonin."

"Killing a Jonin?" Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Danzo.

"Exactly!" Danzo nodded. "On the way here, I tested his abilities. He can not only use B-rank ninjutsu, but also a close-combat ninjutsu. It's an A-rank technique, and he claimed he invented it himself. That's hard to believe, but even if he didn't create it, mastering an A-rank technique at his age is extraordinary."

"An A-rank technique? Has he recovered his memories?" Hiruzen Sarutobi guessed with a frown.

Li Tong came from Amegakure, so the techniques he knew should have been ones he learned there. But he'd lost his memories. Even if he'd mastered an A-rank technique before, he would have to regain his memories to know how to use it.

"Lord Hokage," White Fang interjected. "I still think it's highly likely that someone is protecting him in secret. If such a person exists, they must have been in contact with him. That would be the only way he could relearn those techniques despite his amnesia."

"Hmm..." Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered.

"He's a threat. If he were only a Genin, that would be one thing, but now..." A cold glint flashed in Danzo's eyes. "I think we should eliminate him as soon as possible, before he causes trouble later."

White Fang glanced at Danzo but said nothing.

Hiruzen Sarutobi continued thinking.

The office fell silent for quite a while.

"White Fang!" Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly called.

"Here!"

"Send more people to monitor the Hyuga Clan and the Uchiha Clan. Record any unusual behavior by either clan! This mission is top secret!"

"Yes!"

"Go make the arrangements."

White Fang saluted Hiruzen Sarutobi, then vanished in a flash.

"Do you really want to use that boy as your way in?" Danzo took off his mask and set it on the desk. Tilting his head toward Hiruzen Sarutobi, he said, "Hiruzen, you're playing with fire! If the Uchiha and Hyuga Clans find out you planned all this, you know what the consequences will be!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood and walked to the window with his hands behind his back, gazing out over bustling Konoha.

"A catastrophe is coming! If we don't resolve our internal troubles, how can we win the Shinobi World War?" Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed.

"Compared to the Hyuga Clan, the Uchiha Clan is the real source of trouble. If we deal with them..." Danzo walked up beside Hiruzen Sarutobi and looked out the window too. "If you agree, Root can handle it. I can guarantee we'll resolve every problem before this full-scale war breaks out!"

"And what happens afterward?" Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at Danzo. "If the Uchiha Clan declines, the Hyuga Clan will become dominant. Their power could eventually surpass mine as Hokage."

Danzo fell silent. Hiruzen Sarutobi was right. As long as both great clans remained strong, they could keep each other in check. But if one declined and the other gained sole dominance, not only would it be difficult to control, it might even threaten the Hokage's rule!

This was especially true of the Hyuga Clan, an ancient and prestigious family with strict internal rules. The head of the Main Family could speak for the entire clan. In many cases, even Konoha's laws couldn't reach into the Hyuga Clan's affairs. The clan head could decide whether its members lived or died—a power unthinkable in other clans.

"But that boy is unpredictable," Danzo said hoarsely. "He deceived us with an obvious lie. If we can't control him completely, he could make the situation spiral out of control."

"Don't overestimate him," Hiruzen Sarutobi replied at once. "Word that he killed an elite Jonin has already spread. Now that the Anbu are no longer protecting him, the Uchiha Clan will surely step in and try to recruit him, using him as leverage against the Hyuga Clan. Meanwhile, the Hyuga Clan will launch another assassination attempt. Caught between the two great clans, he's doomed. Since he'll die anyway... it doesn't matter."

Danzo fell silent again.

Hiruzen Sarutobi shot him a sidelong glance. He knew that Danzo didn't particularly care about Li Tong. He simply disagreed with Hiruzen Sarutobi's plan.

Danzo was deeply hostile toward the Uchiha Clan. He believed the way to resolve Konoha's internal conflicts before the war was to strike directly at the Uchiha Clan, not to engineer a direct clash between the Uchiha and Hyuga Clans and give the Hokage an excuse to suppress and punish them.

That was why Danzo wanted Li Tong dead. If Li Tong died, Hiruzen Sarutobi's plan would be forced to end, and he'd have no choice but to adopt Danzo's plan.

"But I'm worried..." Hiruzen Sarutobi began again.

"Worried about what?" Danzo asked immediately.

"I'm worried there really is someone behind that boy. That would make things far too unpredictable."

"We can test him! I'll arrange an assassination attempt and see if it draws out whoever's protecting him."

"And if no one appears?"

"Then we'll knock him unconscious and take him back to the Anbu. The Anbu can 'rescue' him after he's passed out."

"Hmm..." Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered for a moment, then nodded. "All right. Make the arrangements."

Not long afterward, at a Root base somewhere in Konoha.

Inside a gloomy stone cavern, dimly lit, Danzo appeared before a stone wall, dressed in black robes and wearing a mask. A huge brazier burned nearby, its flames leaping and twisting, stretching his shadow long across the cave wall. It swayed like the shadow of a demon.

"Gui Qi! Shanjia!" Danzo called grimly.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two mysterious figures appeared out of thin air. Both knelt on one knee, heads bowed, and said coldly, "At your service!"

"By order of Lord Hokage, Gui Qi will pretend to assassinate Li Tong, a rogue Rain Ninja recently brought into the village, and attempt to draw out the ninja secretly protecting him. Shanjia will follow discreetly and keep watch. If no one appears to protect Li Tong, knock him unconscious and take him back to the Anbu. If his secret protector shows up, Gui Qi will fight to the death, while Shanjia returns to report to me!"

"Yes!" The two Root Ninjas accepted the order.

"Wait!" Danzo called out as the two were about to leave. "Here's my order! If no one else appears to protect Li Tong, kill him! Make it look like the assassination failed! I want him dead! Understand?!"

"Yes!" The two Root Ninjas accepted Danzo's order again.

Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't have the authority to directly command Root. Although he could give Danzo a mission and Danzo could then assign Root to carry it out, in the eyes of the Root Ninja, only Danzo's orders were true orders! When Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders conflicted with Danzo's, they would follow Danzo's.

"Go. You have one month. You must succeed. Make the most of this opportunity!"