I Want You Torn to Pieces!

"Hiruzen, the Daimyo went too far today!"

After the Daimyo left, Danzo complained as usual.

After all these years, he had long since made a habit of it and still hadn't adjusted to the change in their positions.

There was even a hint of resentment in his voice.

Just as always, he was blaming the Third for being weak.

"Bam!!!"

The desk in the office shook as the Third slammed his hand down and roared, "Danzo, shut up!"

The sudden outburst startled Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, who were standing nearby.

Danzo was also stunned.

The Third hadn't been this angry in a long time. They had almost forgotten when he had last lost his temper like this.

"Danzo! This whole mess today was caused by you! How dare you blame me? Then tell me, what should I have done when the Daimyo was pressuring us like that?"

After a brief moment of shock, Danzo's expression darkened. "Hiruzen, don't forget that you knew about the operation! If you hadn't given me the go-ahead, why would I have gone after Ye Ning?"

"I didn't tell you to be stupid enough to try to assassinate him!"

The Third laughed in anger. "I used to trust you so much. Turns out this is how you handle things!"

???

So it was true that they had gone after Ye Ning?

And the Third himself had approved it?

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura exchanged a glance, both completely dumbfounded.

Usually, the village leadership made decisions after all four of them had discussed them together. But this time, the Third and Danzo had made the call on their own.

Utatane Koharu was deeply displeased.

"Why wasn't such an important matter discussed together?"

If they had discussed it with her, how could things have come to this?

"There were extenuating circumstances that day. There wasn't time to call you in and discuss it!"

"Even so, you shouldn't have gone over my head and Homura's to decide this between the two of you!" Utatane Koharu's old fiery temper flared up. "And you handled it so badly! The ninja you sent out openly admitted what happened! Do you realize you've put us completely on the back foot?"

Mitokado Homura looked displeased as well. "It would have been bad enough for you two to make the decision in private, but you even managed to botch it!"

Seeing his own people about to start arguing, with all of them pointing their fingers at him, Danzo gasped so hard he nearly passed out.

So it was all his fault, then?

Hadn't he done it all for Konoha?

Should they really have just let that brat do as he pleased, allowing him to steadily erode Konoha from within?

A threat like that should have been eliminated as soon as possible!

Though anger still weighed heavily on his chest, Danzo had no choice but to explain. "My order was to bring Ye Ning in, not to assassinate him."

"Go tell that to the Daimyo. Do you think he'll believe you?"

The Third gave a bitter smile. "You've always been domineering in the way you do things, and now someone's caught you out. The matter's already been decided. It's too late to say anything now."

"Danzo, why did one of your subordinates come forward and identify you?" Utatane Koharu suddenly spotted the obvious question.

Everyone knew Danzo's subordinates were loyal. Something like this shouldn't have happened.

But Danzo was just as baffled.

How was he supposed to know?

The Root ninja were elite, carefully selected and trained through multiple rounds.

How was he supposed to know something like this would happen?

For a moment, silence fell over the Hokage's office.

After a long pause, Mitokado Homura furrowed his brow and asked a question that seemed pointless. "So what do we do now?"

What do we do?

You're asking me what to do?

The Third stared, utterly numb.

He'd already dropped his pants and taken a dump, and now he'd realized there was no toilet paper. And you were asking him what to do?

They could all deal with the mess they'd made themselves!

Seeing the Third's dark expression, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura didn't know what else to say.

The matter had clearly been settled. The Daimyo was convinced that Danzo had tried to arrange an assassination, and had even threatened to contact the enemy villages.

They couldn't afford to dismiss that as an empty threat.

If the Daimyo was pushed too far, he might really do it!

Danzo let his arm fall limply to his side. With a calmness that sounded almost resigned, he said, "So I'm being sacrificed. All my positions will be stripped away, and Root will be disbanded?"

"The disbandment is only temporary."

After all, they had been friends for years. The Third's anger had come quickly, but it passed just as quickly.

Now he was even trying to comfort Danzo.

"The most important thing right now is to keep the Daimyo calm. It's still better than having you locked up in Konoha Prison. Once we've calmed him down and he's gradually forgotten about this, you'll have a chance to rise again someday. But Danzo, I'm warning you: don't go after Ye Ning again!"

The Third felt he had to make that point clear.

The war had ended, and Konoha had only just settled down. The priority was to keep the Daimyo calm and secure funding for the village's development.

If they provoked Ye Ning again and caused more trouble, setting off the Daimyo once more, things might truly become impossible to resolve.

Besides, the Third had personally vouched for Danzo.

If Danzo made any moves in secret, then he, the Third, would have to step down too!

"I understand."

Danzo calmly accepted the Third's arrangements.

His uncharacteristic response made the Third look at him twice, and he couldn't help offering a few more words of comfort.

"You may lose your position as my aide and Root, but the Anbu won't impose any restrictions on you. As long as you don't do anything foolish, they'll turn a blind eye. And I'll let you keep two trusted subordinates to go home with you while you reflect in seclusion."

Danzo nodded silently, then turned and left without a word.

Back in his dark underground base, Danzo could no longer keep his expression calm. His face turned completely grim.

At some point, the teacup in his hand had been crushed into powder, and the veins on his body stood out.

"Ye Ning... You damned brat!"

Danzo let out a couple of furious, unwilling roars.

He had spent years painstakingly building up Root, only to finally make it a force nearly on par with the Anbu—and now it was gone!

He had also lost his position as the Hokage's aide!

Now, forget about his long-cherished dream of becoming Hokage—even his freedom had been restricted.

All of it was Ye Ning's doing!

"Ye Ning... I'll have you torn to pieces! You'll die a horrible death!"

The cold words squeezed through Danzo's teeth like the voice of a vengeful spirit, making one's blood run cold.

Danzo sat alone in the darkness for a long while before slowly getting to his feet.

"Come!"

At his call, two figures appeared before him.

"One of you, go tell Orochimaru to hurry up with the human experiments. I'll provide everyone who takes part. I want to see the results of the Hashirama Cells experiments as soon as possible!"

"The other will come with me out of the village!"

In the darkness, a sinister smile curled Danzo's lips.

He couldn't go after Ye Ning himself, but that didn't mean no one else could!

There were plenty of rogue ninja in the world. Surely some of them cared only about money and nothing else!

And besides those bounty hunters, there was someone else who didn't care about such things!

The Land of Rain. Hanzo!

Danzo was sure that for Hanzo, who had just been defeated and lost everything, there was nothing he wouldn't do for the right price!