Danzo's Killing Intent Toward Sarutobi Hiruzen

Orochimaru probably thought Uchiha Genya had come to discuss competing for the Hokage position and that the Uchiha wanted his support.

Though Orochimaru seemed to have lost the competition for the Fourth Hokage, that was only because Sarutobi Hiruzen had played favorites.

During the Third Great Ninja War, Orochimaru had also commanded large-scale forces as a commander. His achievements were certainly no less than Namikaze Minato's.

After all, the fact that he had been able to run for Fourth Hokage already proved that Orochimaru was far superior to Fugaku, who was not even fit to sit at the table.

Orochimaru was no longer particularly interested in the Hokage position, which was why he ignored Genya's invitation.

But it did not matter. Before long, Orochimaru would surely come knocking on his own.

Only on this point was Uchiha Genya absolutely certain.

On the other hand, although Shimura Danzō had suffered a silent loss at Sarutobi Hiruzen's hands, his ambitions had not faded completely.

But for some reason, every notable ninja clan in Konoha had rejected his demands.

Forget about assigning jonin to Root; they would not even hand over talented young children.

Only a few minor Ninja Clans, unable to withstand Shimura Danzō's pressure, had reluctantly sent a few worthless recruits to Root.

Given that those minor Ninja Clans had fallen to such a state, the strength of the ninja within them was easy to imagine.

They were probably only slightly better than ordinary cannon fodder.

Shimura Danzō flew into a rage over this and swore that once he became Hokage, he would make those families that had once shown him such disrespect pay!

Especially Ino-Shika-Cho. Did they really think they could rest easy just because they claimed to belong to the Hokage Faction?

Once he became Hokage, he would send every one of them to the battlefield as expendable reinforcements!

After all, Root's elimination rate was extremely high. To cultivate outstanding tools, it needed a constant influx of fresh blood.

Shimura Danzō had originally intended to target war orphans, but the Uchiha Security Force was currently in the spotlight, and their patrols always moved in teams of three.

Danzo had sent people to Konoha Orphanage more than once, but for some reason, the Uchiha always managed to catch wind of it and show up, stopping Root's operations.

He might claim that everything he did was for the village, but abducting the children of heroes who had died for Konoha and taking them to a notorious place like Root could only be done in secret.

If this ever came to light, it would certainly stir up public outrage. By then, even Sarutobi Hiruzen might not be able to protect him.

Who could possibly accept something like that? They fought desperately for the village, only for their children to be sent to Root's laboratories for human experimentation after they died in battle.

Konoha's very prestige could be shaken by it.

Now that the Uchiha occupied the moral high ground, Shimura Danzō had no choice but to retreat for the time being.

But Danzo absolutely could not accept having no subordinates to use.

After thinking it over, he surprisingly had the clever idea of setting his sights on the main families of Mitokado and Utatane.

He did not yet dare target the Sarutobi Clan, but he showed no mercy toward his other old comrades and went directly to their homes demanding people.

The matter even reached Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Seeing Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu rush into the Hokage office building, faces flushed as they lodged their complaint, Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately felt a headache coming on and summoned Shimura Danzō back at once.

"What exactly are you trying to do? Didn't I tell you to behave yourself for a while?"

"Today, you dare to demand people from the Mitokado and Utatane families. Tomorrow, are you going to come to my, Sarutobi Hiruzen's, clan grounds and demand people too?!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen slammed the desk and roared, nearly spraying spit in Shimura Danzō's face.

What a joke. The Uchiha were too tough to bite into, so he was planning to squeeze the soft persimmons first.

He had already offended Ino-Shika-Cho and the other Ninja Clans, and now he would not even spare the families of his old comrades!

Sarutobi Hiruzen knew better than Danzo, the leader of Root himself, what kind of place Root was.

Its elimination rate was terrifyingly high. Getting one qualified Root ninja out of ten recruits was already considered decent.

The fate of the rest went without saying. Even if they barely survived the brutal elimination trials, they would likely end up as subjects for human experimentation.

Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu's intentions were obvious.

We followed you because we wanted to live well. We tolerated some of Danzo's excessive actions, but now you, Sarutobi Hiruzen, were allowing him to treat even his own people as tools, giving them the same treatment as the other Ninja Clans.

If that was the case, why should we continue following you?

Danzo's actions amounted to indiscriminately seizing the experts and geniuses of every ninja clan in Konoha.

No one could tolerate such a thing.

His old comrades had brought their complaints directly to him. How could he possibly continue to stand by and do nothing?

Danzo was also suppressing a bellyful of anger. "Then what do you want me to do? I can't recruit anyone from the major families, and the Uchiha are obstructing us at the orphanage. You can't expect me to go outside the village and abduct people, can you?"

Danzo was certainly unwilling to go outside the village, or even to other minor ninja villages, to seize recruits.

How could those worthless stragglers possibly possess the same caliber as ninja from a major ninja village?

If he invested enormous resources and time only to gain no outstanding tools in return, Danzo would be furious too.

As for using conventional methods to train subordinates, Danzo had never even considered it.

Root's defining trait was its cold-blooded ruthlessness. Completing the mission came first, while even the lives of comrades could be cast aside.

Without that training method, Root would truly become a weakened version of the Anbu. With Shimura Danzō's ambition, he could never tolerate that.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was almost angry enough to laugh. Pointing at Shimura Danzō's nose, he said:

"Put away your little schemes. Let me warn you: Namikaze Minato is the current Hokage!"

"Given Minato's age and strength, he can sit in the Hokage's seat for at least twenty years, perhaps even thirty!"

"I'll make this clear today: as long as I'm alive, you will never become Hokage!!"

Those words were a killing blow. Danzo's lips trembled with rage, and the hand gripping his cane clenched with all its strength.

Yet none of it could suppress the fury, coldness, and... killing intent in Danzo's eyes.

You said I can't become Hokage while you're alive?

Then all I need to do is kill you, isn't it?

Namikaze Minato sensed Shimura Danzō's killing intent. Without drawing attention to himself, he took out an unusually shaped Tri-Pronged Kunai, ready to stop Danzo the moment he lost his reason.

Namikaze Minato was quite confident in this. With the Flying Thunder God and Rasengan, his speed and attack power were guaranteed.

In the entire Ninja World, it was now difficult to find anyone who could defeat him with certainty.

Even if he could not win, he could still flee. With the Flying Thunder God, no one could catch him.