Danzo: He's Not a Good Person, Just Like Me

Hokage Office.

Sarutobi Hiruzen puffed on his pipe, his gaze shifting between Kaminazuki and the documents in his hand.

After a long silence, he set the papers down.

"I have already processed your appointment as a ninja, and I can arrange for you to go to the front lines if you wish... but what is this?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen pulled a single page from the file.

It was a comprehensive list, ranging from senbon to Explosive Tags.

Kaminazuki leaned back casually on the sofa and said indifferently, "If you can't even understand this, how are you still the Hokage? It's a supply list."

"I know it's a supply list. What I'm asking is... why are you giving this list to me!"

"That's a strange thing to say..."

Kaminazuki frowned slightly: "Old man, you're a very odd person."

"I'm going to fight for you. It's one thing to employ child labor, but are you really not even going to provide me with equipment?"

A vein throbbed on Sarutobi Hiruzen's forehead as he bit down on his pipe: "The village does have an obligation to provide reasonable ninja tools to those on the battlefield, but..."

BANG!!

He slammed the paper onto the desk: "Three hundred steel kunai! Eight hundred shuriken... I could overlook that!"

"Ten thousand Explosive Tags!!"

"Who calculates Explosive Tags by the ten thousand!!"

Even a small-scale battle wouldn't require that many!

"Speak properly, you're spraying spit everywhere."

Kaminazuki covered his face in disgust and rolled his eyes at Sarutobi Hiruzen: "Look at the rest of the list before you talk. You're acting like I'm trying to take advantage of you."

Suppressing the urge to kick the brat out, Sarutobi Hiruzen continued reading the document.

His expression turned solemn.

After another bout of silence, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked up at Kaminazuki.

"Are you certain... you want to hand that technique over to the village?"

"To be precise, I am handing over the principles used to synthesize this technique."

Kaminazuki rested his hands on his knees, his posture that of someone negotiating a business deal rather than reporting to the Hokage: "As the supreme secret technique of Takigakure, its value is equivalent to an S-rank mission. It isn't unreasonable to exchange this for the supplies I've listed, is it?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen was, of course, aware that Kaminazuki had obtained Earth Grudge Fear; Orochimaru had hired Sakumo through official channels at the time.

"Earth Grudge Fear... it is a very ancient technique. During the Warring States period, they used it to occupy the land behind the waterfall and establish Takigakure."

Sarutobi Hiruzen took a puff of his pipe and said in a deep voice: "Creating Earth Grudge Fear requires experiments on a large number of living people. After the Warring States period, the Five Great Nations explicitly forbade Takigakure from possessing it."

"Little Kaminazuki, this is a forbidden technique that touches upon ethics and the plundering of human life. It should not be used as..."

Kaminazuki interrupted Sarutobi Hiruzen's well-prepared lecture: "The Second Hokage dedicated his life to the development of ninjutsu, and most of them ended up in the Scroll of Sealing. Are you saying those techniques shouldn't exist either?"

"Cough, cough..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen coughed sharply twice: "Th... that is not what I meant! How can the Second Hokage's techniques be compared to this!"

Kaminazuki smiled without a word: "Techniques have no inherent good or evil; it depends on who uses them."

"If the function of stitching limbs together could be extracted from Earth Grudge Fear, it would be a top-tier medical ninjutsu."

"Compared to other techniques that require massive amounts of Chakra or delicate manipulation, the Suture Technique is simple, brutal, and highly effective."

"Using the lives of a few enemies to increase the survival rate of Konoha's ninjas—don't you think that's a good thing?"

Seeing Sarutobi Hiruzen hesitate, Kaminazuki stoked the fire.

"Back in the day, the Second Hokage used enemies as sacrifices for the Reani..."

"Enough!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen quickly raised a hand to stop him, not wanting Kaminazuki to bring up his teacher's dark history: "You make a fair point. Techniques have no good or evil; if used for the right path, they are good!"

Exhaling a long breath, Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head helplessly and smiled: "I can see that you truly identify with the Second Hokage's philosophy. Not bad!"

This line of reasoning made him feel that Kaminazuki shared an inexplicable connection with his teacher, Tobirama.

It was truly rare for an Uchiha to go out of their way to understand and approve of the Second Hokage's ideals.

"In that case..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen tapped his desk, frowning: "Actually, you could use this technique to exchange for a completed S-rank mission record."

"Accumulating three S-rank missions would allow you to exchange for a technique from the Scroll of Sealing. That would be far more cost-effective than a few ninja tools."

Originally, as Lord Tobirama said, the techniques on the Scroll of Sealing should be taught to civilian ninja first, and avoided for ninja clans, especially the Uchiha.

He specifically gave that hint because he saw that Kaminazuki had a broad perspective, or perhaps because he was Orochimaru's disciple.

Kaminazuki shook his head.

"I want it in hand."

Not to mention that he couldn't use other techniques for the time being, and it would be simple enough for Orochimaru to steal a copy of the Scroll of Sealing later.

If Orochimaru didn't defect as in the original timeline, getting the Scroll of Sealing would be even easier.

Did they think everyone was as stingy about keeping knowledge secret as you and your master, the Second Hokage?

Accustomed to the respectful attitude of most ninja, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt a bit unaccustomed to being contradicted multiple times by Kaminazuki.

It wasn't that he developed ill feelings towards Kaminazuki, he just felt the kid had too much personality.

"May I ask, what do you need so many Explosive Tags for?"

"I don't want to say."

An expected answer.

"Compared to Earth Grudge Fear, you should be more curious about what that special secret technique is."

After Kaminazuki took the document stamped by the Hokage to collect the munitions, Shimura Danzō emerged from the shadows.

He was becoming more accustomed to this method of concealment, hiding in the shadows of the sun.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's lips curved slightly: "That... I actually have some idea."

"You figured it out?!"

Danzō's pupils contracted.

He had been like this since he was young; techniques he couldn't understand, Hiruzen could see through at a glance, his talent so high that Lord Tobirama took him as a personal disciple.

Truly...

"Based on your description..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen pondered for a moment and slowly said, "Kaminazuki cannot release Chakra from his own body to use ninjutsu, so he must be using some method to mobilize the Chakra within Earth Grudge Fear."

"Speaking is one step, and more importantly, it should be the Sharingan."

"Don't even think about it, that's not something that can be popularized."

Saying that, Sarutobi Hiruzen shot Danzō a look: "You really are something, arguing with a child, aren't you afraid of being laughed at if this gets out?"

"A child?"

Danzō snorted coldly: "With that kid's strength and cunning, I can't treat him as an ordinary child."

"No, where did you see that he has cunning?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen propped his head up, his expression a little speechless: "No matter how you look at it, this child seems to be the type who speaks his mind directly, right?"

"Hmph! Arrogance and speaking your mind are two different things!"

"Alright, this child is quite good, he immediately handed over the information about Earth Grudge Fear's potential help to the village."

Sarutobi Hiruzen handed the scroll to Danzō, saying solemnly: "I'll leave this matter to you, don't do anything superfluous. I hope this technique will only be used for medical purposes."

Danzō took the scroll, still feeling uneasy.

His intuition told him that the brat definitely had no good intentions. This feeling of being manipulated was too familiar.

Just like what he did to others.