The Aggrieved Little Sun

"Hmph, I'll let you Uchiha strut around for a little longer. You evil clan—I'll uproot you completely one day!"

Danzo vented the resentment in his heart, then ordered the person behind him:

"Go. Demand one jōnin each from the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi clans to join Root."

Although Root had not suffered devastating losses this time, one of his right-hand men, Yamanaka Fu, had fallen at the hands of that brat Uchiha Genya.

But this was also an excellent opportunity to demand more manpower from the major clans and expand Root.

Sooner or later, Shimura Danzō would settle this debt with the Uchiha clan!

After receiving the order, Aburame Torune immediately headed for the three major clans.

Root's people did not recognize the concept of nighttime. They brazenly knocked on doors and demanded people.

But before long, Aburame Torune returned with bad news.

"What did you say?"

"Root asked Ino-Shika-Cho for people, and they refused?"

After delivering his report, Aburame Torune stood quietly to one side.

It was not as though he had never considered forcibly taking away a jōnin to complete Lord Danzo's mission.

But he could not possibly accomplish something like that alone. His Kikaichū were more suited for killing than capturing people.

He was not reckless enough to openly cause trouble inside someone else's clan grounds.

Left with no choice, Aburame Torune could only return first and report to Lord Danzo.

A vicious glint appeared in Danzo's eyes.

"Fine. I'll go to their doors myself tomorrow."

"I refuse to believe they'll still withhold people when I visit personally!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's daily life had barely changed. Every morning, he rose and went to work at the Hokage Building, supervising Namikaze Minato as he handled official duties.

As for himself, he lit his pipe and puffed away at it from the side.

The entire Hokage Office was filled with the choking smell of tobacco.

Namikaze Minato was not fond of the habit. Being surrounded by thick secondhand smoke every day left him reeking of it when he returned home.

Kushina had even started finding him a little unpleasant lately.

But there was nothing he could do. In terms of seniority, Sarutobi Hiruzen was his teacher's teacher, and Namikaze Minato was the sort of person who respected his elders and teachers. As a result, even as the Fourth Hokage, he sometimes could not bring himself to voice a protest.

Bang!

Another familiar sound of someone kicking open the door rang out. Namikaze Minato did not even need to look to know who had arrived.

"Hiruzen!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen helplessly set down his pipe and looked at Shimura Danzō.

"What happened this time? Did you stir up trouble again by targeting the Uchiha clan?"

The Uchiha had been acting up fiercely lately, and it seemed that the entire Konoha Security Division had already completely handed authority over to that young man.

He had no idea what Fugaku was thinking. Did he really trust that young man so much?

And that Uchiha Genya as well—he truly could not understand the way the younger generation fought. He did not follow any conventions at all.

Day after day, none of them gave him any peace of mind.

Could they not be like Namikaze Minato and obediently let him squeeze them dry?

Danzo choked on his words and, quite unusually, shook his head.

"This time, it has nothing to do with the Uchiha. It's the three Ino-Shika-Cho clans!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Shimura Danzō strangely.

Well, that was new. Instead of targeting the Uchiha, he was going after Ino-Shika-Cho?

Those three clans had never offended him, had they? They were steadfast members of the Hokage Faction, yet he still wanted to target them?

Sometimes, Sarutobi Hiruzen truly wanted to crack open Shimura Danzō's head and see whether it was filled with mush.

"Tell me the whole story from beginning to end. Don't play those framing and scheming tricks of yours with me."

Shimura Danzō had grounds to speak this time, so he was thoroughly self-righteous.

"Didn't I send people yesterday to eliminate that thorn in our side, Uchiha Genya? But the mission failed in the end. The Uchiha must have been prepared long ago. Not a single person I sent returned."

Namikaze Minato could not hold back any longer and stepped forward.

"Elder Danzo, how could you attack ninjas from the village for no reason?"

Unlike these older people, Little Sun had never witnessed the terror of Uchiha Madara. Naturally, he had no clear understanding of the Uchiha clan's true strength.

He knew that the Konoha Hokage Faction had always had a tradition of suppressing the Uchiha, but openly assassinating ninjas from their own village—was that not going too far?

What village leader would do something that weakened his own forces?

The one exposed eye of Shimura Danzō glared fiercely at Namikaze Minato.

"When we elders are speaking, what right do juniors like you have to interrupt?"

Even though Namikaze Minato was the Fourth Hokage in name, and even though he could kill Danzo in an instant if he wished—

Danzo remained just as arrogant.

He had seen that Namikaze Minato was respectful toward his teachers and elders at heart and would not lay hands on old predecessors like them. That was why he acted with such impunity.

This absurd scene illustrated one truth perfectly.

Good people were meant to have guns pointed at them.

If the hot-tempered Tsunade had taken office instead, would Danzo have dared to utter a single word of nonsense?

When Tsunade got angry, she would actually hit him. And if she landed a Strength of a Hundred Fist, even if he did not die, he would lose half his life.

That was why Danzo did not dare raise his voice at Tsunade.

Just as Danzo had expected, Namikaze Minato rubbed his aching head and sat back down amid the piles of documents, continuing to work.

Why did he still feel so stifled after becoming Hokage?

Had he become Hokage for nothing, then?

If he had known the position would be such a hot potato, he might as well have given it to Senior Orochimaru back then.

After hearing Shimura Danzō's account, Sarutobi Hiruzen did not immediately condemn Danzo's actions. Instead, he asked curiously:

"What does this have to do with the three Ino-Shika-Cho clans?"

That troublemaker Danzo had not clashed with Ino-Shika-Cho again, had he?

At that, Shimura Danzō grew even angrier.

"One of my most important subordinates, Yamanaka Fu, died. I had originally intended to select one jōnin from each of the three Ino-Shika-Cho clans to join Root."

"But even when I went to their doors personally, those three clans refused!"

Danzo simply could not accept such a thing. A few clans attached to Konoha actually dared refuse his demands!?

Shimura Danzō even slammed his cane hard against the floor, displaying his fury as though the dignity of the Hokage Assistant and the Darkness of the Shinobi had been cast to the ground.

But Sarutobi Hiruzen let out a sigh of relief.

Good. As long as it had nothing to do with the Uchiha clan.

"Danzo, behave yourself for a while. The three Ino-Shika-Cho clans have always been allies of the Hokage Faction. Do you want to alienate even your own allies completely?"

Shimura Danzō seemed unconcerned by those words.

So what if he offended them? Could they turn the heavens upside down?