The Root Jonin exchanged glances. Their masks hid their faces, but not the shock in their eyes.
After all, there was no way someone like Jiraiya would go out of his way to contact the Uchiha just to write smutty romance novels... right?!
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
So...
Everyone lowered their heads, sensing that the seemingly filthy report in their hands concealed a deeper meaning.
This wasn't a discussion about writing smutty romance novels. It was a coded conversation between the Third Hokage and the Uchiha.
A conversation meant to hide from Danzo and evade Root's eyes!
Perhaps even this completely undisguised approach was meant to let their guard down!
" Hiruzen... You're a sly one!"
Danzo sighed and slowly sat back down, looking at the report on the table.
All he saw between the lines was ambition!
The Third Hokage's ambition to bring the Uchiha to heel!
It was a great feat even Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, his former teacher, had never accomplished!
If Hiruzen really managed it...
"Bring the Uchiha completely under his control!"
Danzo held his breath. A rare, deeply moved expression appeared on his aged face.
"Hiruzen already holds the Hokage Position. If he uses this chance to seize control of the Uchiha, where will that leave me?!"
"I can't let him succeed!"
"If anyone is going to bring the Uchiha to heel, it'll be me!"
With that thought, Danzo could no longer wait.
After all, he had no idea how deep the ties between the Third Hokage and the Uchiha had grown.
If they had already...
There would be no turning back!
He left skilled ninja behind to decipher the conversation between Uchiha Shingen and Jiraiya, then immediately led his men to storm the Hokage Building.
Bang!
The Hokage's office door was flung open with force.
The Third Hokage, who had been bent over his desk using a crystal ball to spy on people, stiffened. He swiftly tucked the crystal ball away, then frowned at Danzo.
"What's got you so worked up?!"
Danzo sneered.
"Drop the act!"
"Tell me the truth. How far have you taken your cooperation with the Uchiha?!"
The Third Hokage looked baffled. His hand froze around his pipe, and he had no idea what was going on.
What he didn't know was that, to Danzo, his expression looked exactly like the panic of someone whose secret had been exposed!
"He sees through me?!"
"Hiruzen!"
A flicker of triumph passed through Danzo's eyes. He even felt a little giddy.
How many years had it been?!
How many years had he served under the Third Hokage?!
Every time, the Third Hokage had shut him down with just a few words. When had he ever seen him wear an expression like this?!
I finally outplayed you!
Hiruzen!
"What are you even talking about?!"
"I don't know!"
Realizing something was wrong, the Third Hokage quickly denied it.
"Still pretending!"
"You gave Jiraiya private orders to meet with Uchiha Shingen, didn't you? Maybe you even got Fugaku Uchiha involved!"
"For the past two years, everyone in Konoha has known that you both want to ease the tension between Konoha and the Uchiha!"
"Take my advice: you can't handle the Uchiha!"
Danzo gave a cold laugh, then softened his tone and adopted the familiar soothing manner the Third Hokage often used with him.
"How far has your cooperation with the Uchiha gone?"
"I'm trying to help you!"
The Third Hokage looked at Danzo without giving anything away.
He said nothing for a long while.
Once he had pieced together what Danzo meant, he was astonished.
Jiraiya had secretly contacted the Uchiha?!
What was that kid up to?!
Was he defecting?!
No, that kid was set on writing a few lousy books or searching for the so-called Child of Prophecy.
He didn't even want to be Hokage. There was no way he'd team up with the Uchiha.
Still, this was an opportunity—a chance for the village to truly communicate with the Uchiha.
Having made up his mind, the Third Hokage's expression turned cold.
"No comment!"
Danzo's face stiffened. Seeing how resolute the Third Hokage was, he knew there was no chance of changing his mind.
"Hiruzen, you'll regret this!"
"Danzo..."
"I'm the Hokage!"
Bang!
Danzo slammed the door behind him as he left.
After waiting for quite some time, the Third Hokage watched Danzo disappear through the window of his office, then clapped his hands softly.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several Jonin from the Hokage Direct Anbu appeared and knelt before the Third Hokage, waiting for orders.
"Investigate!"
"Find out exactly what Jiraiya's been doing lately, and who this Uchiha Shingen Danzo mentioned is."
"I want the results before dawn!"
"Yes!"
The Hokage Direct Anbu members answered respectfully, then vanished from the office in an instant.
Left alone, the Third Hokage turned toward the Uchiha Clan's district, intermittently puffing on his pipe.
His gaze grew increasingly distant.
"The Uchiha..."
As Konoha's greatest headache, but also its sharpest blade, the Third Hokage had deeply mixed feelings about the Uchiha.
On one hand, to prepare for the approaching Ninja World War, he had no choice but to rely on the Uchiha's strength.
On the other, he worried that the blade might one day turn toward Konoha's heart.
If the village could truly resolve its conflict with the Uchiha, Konoha would have more confidence going into the coming war.
Meanwhile.
After leaving the Hokage Building, Danzo sent orders to Root.
He told them to assign more people to watch Uchiha Shingen and notify him as soon as Shingen was alone.
He would personally recruit him!
After all, who wouldn't want the achievement of bringing the Uchiha completely under control—a feat that could put someone on the Hokage Position?
Even if he failed...
He couldn't let the Third Hokage get his way!
Over the next few days...
Uchiha Shingen continued to go to work as usual.
The only unusual thing was that he could clearly tell more people had started following and watching him.
But Konoha's surveillance of the Uchiha had long been an open secret.
After watching them for two days and confirming they had no intention of making a move, Uchiha Shingen stopped paying attention to them and focused on clocking in for work.
Early one morning.
The sun was bright, and dew still clung to the weeds along the street.
Uchiha Shingen arrived at the entrance to the Konoha Military Police Force early to clock in for the day.
The familiar notification window appeared again:
[Daily check-in complete!] [7 cumulative check-ins: Attribute Point +1!] [180 consecutive days of check-ins: Bonus Attribute Points +3!]
"So this is the reward for consecutive daily check-ins?!"
The three bonus Attribute Points made Uchiha Shingen's eyes light up.
With the four new Attribute Points, he now had seven points in reserve. That should be enough to level up either his Sharingan or Chakra.
Uchiha Xixunuan hurriedly opened his status panel.
Sure enough, a conspicuous "+" had appeared beside both his Chakra and Sharingan abilities. That meant he could upgrade them!
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