Two Choices

"Did you hear that, Lord Advisor? He said he was acting under the orders of Lord Danzo." Ye Ning wore a smile, showing no surprise at this outcome.

Since he had chosen to drag Danzo down from his pedestal, he had made all the necessary preparations.

How could he possibly fight a battle he wasn't prepared to win?

Beside them, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura looked on in shock.

Danzo actually...

He really sent his subordinates to assassinate the Daimyo's Son, to assassinate the heir to the Land of Fire!

Had he lost his mind?

As for the veracity of the Root ninja's words, they had no doubts whatsoever; the thought didn't even cross their minds.

After all, Root ninjas were notoriously loyal to Danzo; even the Third Hokage couldn't command them.

Sarutobi Hiruzen rubbed his temples and sank back into his seat, feeling powerless and lost.

He knew it was over.

It was all over!

This move by Danzo was undoubtedly lifting a rock only to drop it on his own feet!

He had personally nailed his own coffin shut! And he'd hammered the nails in himself!

Danzo was equally incredulous.

He had never doubted the loyalty of his Root ninjas.

After all, most Root ninjas were trained to be emotionless weapons, and with the Cursed Seal of Root in place, he could take their lives the moment they leaked information or betrayed him. Naturally, he never questioned their loyalty.

But he never imagined that his own subordinate would turn against him at such a critical moment, dealing him a devastating blow!

"You're spouting nonsense! Fujiyama Nakakage, do you even know what you're saying!"

Danzo's explosive rage did not frighten the Root ninja; instead, a look of sorrow washed over the man's face.

"Lord Hokage, Lord Daimyo, every word I have spoken is the truth!"

"You bastard!"

Danzo had never expected things to reach this point. He stumbled back two steps, his body swaying as if he were about to collapse.

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura hesitated for a moment, but they did not reach out to support him, leaving Danzo to steady himself against the wall.

"Lord Advisor, what else do you have to say for yourself now?"

The Root ninja's betrayal was, of course, not a sudden change of heart. Ye Ning lacked the protagonist's ability to talk someone into submission with a few words.

This matter was the result of his efforts over the past few days.

Admittedly, Root ninjas were absolutely loyal and obedient to Danzo, who also held their lives in his hands.

But some things are far more terrifying than death.

Between death and the Eighteen Levels of Hell, which is more frightening?

He had simply cast a minor genjutsu on the Root ninja.

Although the development of the Eighteen Levels of Hell was still ongoing and not yet perfected—with only the Tongue-Ripping Hell developed so far—it was more than enough to torture someone.

The Tsukuyomi cast by Uchiha Itachi merely dragged a person's spirit into a genjutsu space, binding them to a cross and stabbing them with kunai for seventy-two hours. How could that compare to the agony of the Tongue-Ripping Hell?

Therefore, although the Root ninja appeared normal, his mind had long since collapsed.

Having been unconscious for three days and then revived by Tsunade, his temporary defection was a logical progression.

"It seems, Sarutobi Hiruzen, that the matter is settled."

The Daimyo gave a cold laugh, once again pressuring the Third Hokage.

Glancing at the devastated Danzo, the Third Hokage sighed inwardly and conceded, "Lord Daimyo, I will certainly give you an explanation for this."

"To hell with your explanations! I can't trust you."

The Daimyo retorted bluntly, "Don't think I don't know that Danzo is your close friend, Sarutobi Hiruzen; you grew up together. If I wait for your explanations, I fear it will just end up being swept under the rug again."

"Sarutobi Hiruzen, I won't make things difficult for your Konoha."

Hearing this, the Third Hokage's eyes lit up, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief, but the Daimyo's next sentence sent his heart plummeting to the bottom of a valley.

"I will give you two choices now."

"The first choice: you continue to shield him, and all funding for Konoha for the next few years will be canceled. The second choice: strip Danzo of all his positions, throw him into Konoha Prison, keep him under strict guard, and never release him for the rest of his life!"

Hiss...

That was truly ruthless!

Ye Ning clicked his tongue, his expression meaningful.

This was forcing the Third Hokage to choose between Danzo and Konoha!

Either protect Danzo and figure out how to handle the finances for the next few years yourself, Third Hokage.

Either revoke all of Danzo's positions and throw him into the dungeon!

However...

There was no need to think twice about what choice the Third Hokage would make.

Cutting off funding to Konoha for several consecutive years was, for both the village and the Third Hokage, a fate worse than death.

Konoha had just emerged from years of continuous warfare, and it was a time when money was needed everywhere. If there were truly no funding for several years, let alone whether Konoha could survive, it would undoubtedly be overtaken by the other major hidden villages.

Therefore, the Third Hokage's choice was already a foregone conclusion.

Moreover, from the perspective of the Daimyo, this matter was by no means an overreaction.

Ever since the Land of Fire was founded and this cooperative model with Konoha was established, the relationship between the two had always been excellent, with a layer of kinship even existing between them in the past. Over these many years, the Daimyo Mansion had never been vague in its support for Konoha, nor in its various forms of funding.

Otherwise, Konoha would never have been able to maintain its position as the hegemon of the Shinobi World in the post-Hashirama era.

It was precisely because of the continuous support from the Daimyo Mansion that Konoha could develop steadily and afford to sustain so many ninjas.

But today, the Daimyo's only son had been assassinated.

For the Daimyo, this was absolutely unacceptable.

I give Konoha so much money every year, and this is how that money is used?

You raise a bunch of ninjas just to come and assassinate my son.

What exactly are you trying to do?

I give you money, you take that money to raise ninjas, and then you use them to threaten me—isn't this just bullying an honest man?

"Third Hokage, I have already laid out the choices for you. There are only these two paths to take; I do not wish to hear any further explanations."

The Daimyo sneered and threatened, "My son and I cannot feel safe here in your Konoha; we have to be on guard against you at all times. I might as well hand this money over to other hidden villages. I believe major villages like Iwagakure and Sunagakure would be very happy to provide protection for me and my son!"

The Third Hokage clenched his fists, only to helplessly loosen them again.

His heart was shattered.

Danzo's actions had always put him at ease, but he never expected things to evolve into this current situation!

The fact that the Daimyo brought up hostile hidden villages showed just how furious he truly was.

At this moment, he had no heart to consider whether the Daimyo really wanted to meddle in Konoha's affairs; his only thought now was to quickly appease the Daimyo's rage!

Konoha was waiting on that money for a long time to come!