25 Shocking Secret

The sudden appearance of a kunai bearing a Flying Thunder God Mark meant there was no need to guess who was nearby.

But this time, the Flying Thunder God technique had failed. With Oboro at his side, the Magic-Sealing Domain was no mere decoration.

Kei kicked the kunai away and sighed inwardly.

They said the Yellow Flash, renowned throughout the Shinobi World for his speed, was always late at the crucial moment. But Kei thought that saying was wrong.

If you asked Kei, Minato Namikaze coasted on his looks and had no sense of timing. He never showed up when he was supposed to, only appearing out of nowhere when he wasn't wanted.

If Minato had arrived just a little earlier, while Danzo and Kei were facing off, he could have given them both a way to back down. They would have been grateful to him, and fewer innocent people would have died.

But Minato had come just a little too late.

Looking at the loathsome kunai, Kei thought, Sooner or later, I'll make sure your whole family dies a horrible death, Minato Namikaze. Who do you think you are, getting involved in something that's going to make me look bad?

Some people were born with every reason to die. The murky world had no room for the pure-hearted.

Besides, their timing was always so bad.

Kei ignored the kunai, as if nothing had happened. He'd already killed a whole field of people; now it was time to reap the rewards. What business did Minato have getting involved?

He'd have to be a complete fool to let Minato step in now.

Ignoring the Minato who might appear at any moment, Kei continued addressing Danzo.

"Now then, Mr. Danzo. I'll give you only three sentences. Give me one reason not to kill you."

Watching the kunai get kicked away, Danzo's hope wavered between rising and crumbling.

If the kunai had been thrown this far, Minato couldn't be very far away.

But seeing the technique on the kunai fail with his own eyes, Danzo understood that Kei wouldn't spare him just because Minato had arrived.

There was truly no way to settle this peacefully.

What Danzo didn't know was that Kei had never intended to kill him in the first place.

It wasn't that Danzo couldn't die. It was that if he died now, his assets would all go to the Hokage, and not a bit of Root's years of accumulated resources would end up in Kei's hands.

Sarutobi, who knew Root fairly well, would take over its headquarters at once. That would be like giving his enemy a weapon.

Kei wouldn't do anything that brought him no benefit, especially if it hurt others without helping him.

Kei planned to keep Danzo alive so he could threaten and manipulate him for favors, while also getting hold of his leverage and making it easier to milk him in the future.

A living Danzo was a good Danzo.

If Danzo stayed alive, who else could constantly bleed Sarutobi and drag him down?

Was he supposed to count on Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu?

The two were Konoha's hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Those two geniuses needed a central figure to bring out their talents. Without Danzo, their little tricks would do nothing but annoy people.

Danzo was their Wang Duoyu.

Thinking about it, what opponent could be more dependable than Danzo?

So Danzo had to stay alive.

Of course, that depended on Danzo handing over enough to satisfy Kei.

And so the extortion began.

Silence. A deathly silence, created by the dead.

From the moment Kei had taken control of the situation, Danzo had finally shed his arrogance.

He knew he had never been a clever man. His greatest strength, and the main reason he'd survived this long, was his willingness to use what little intelligence he had to think things through over and over when something mattered.

But years of smooth sailing had made Danzo increasingly arrogant. Now, with death staring him in the face, he cast off that arrogance and rediscovered his greatest strength.

He began thinking in silence, trying to account for every possibility.

If things weren't going as he expected, then he had to consider whether they were going as his opponent expected.

Time passed, but Kei showed no sign of impatience.

Danzo understood. Uchiha Kei didn't care whether he was stalling. So Minato Namikaze, who seemed far away yet was right around the corner, posed no threat to Kei at all.

That made sense. People said Minato was a candidate for Hokage, but there had been no official confirmation. It was just what everyone said, and the Third hadn't denied it.

In the end, it was only something everyone had tacitly agreed on in private—a rule of thumb, not anything official.

Set aside that title, and Minato was just a Konoha jonin. There were hundreds, perhaps even a thousand, men with the same rank in Konoha. Minato was merely one of the outstanding ones. Nothing special.

Since Uchiha Kei was confident enough to disregard Minato, continuing to stall would only make Danzo look undignified.

Danzo finally decided which card to play. It was his turn now.

His first card: a test.

"Killing someone important will bring you unexpected trouble, young Kei."

Danzo didn't expect one empty threat to make Kei abandon his intent to kill. But in a game of strategy, you didn't start by sending your king charging into battle.

He began with a familiar line, just to test the waters.

Kei was a little disappointed—not that Danzo wasn't afraid, but that he wasn't making the most of his chance. Kei was genuinely worried Danzo wouldn't understand the situation and fail to give him even one reason not to kill him.

That would leave Kei in a terrible bind. Would he have to come up with an excuse to let Danzo go himself?

That would be far too embarrassing. Kei absolutely couldn't do that.

Maybe some people really were born to die.

Kei kept a stern expression and continued to pressure Danzo.

"That's the first sentence!"

His voice was grim, like a countdown to death.

Danzo played along, speaking in a panic. "I'll hand over all of Root's ninjutsu, its ninja records, and all the intelligence Root has gathered over the years!"

Kei was pleased to see Danzo panicking. So Danzo really was afraid to die. A little threatening was all it took to get him to spill everything. Kei congratulated himself.

But it wasn't enough. Danzo had already offered enough to meet Kei's original expectations.

Yet he had handed over so many benefits by the second sentence. That clearly wasn't all he had. Kei could squeeze him a little more—maybe even extort something extra.

"That's the second sentence!"

Kei was already delighted inside, but he kept up the pressure, acting as if nothing had changed.

Who would have thought Danzo would make a move? Dragging his injured body along, he struck—but not at Kei. He suddenly attacked his own subordinates.

The few remaining ninjas, all gravely wounded and bound by Danzo's Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal, couldn't fight back against him at all.

They stood motionless like lambs awaiting slaughter as Danzo killed them.

Kei froze for a moment, but he didn't tell his subordinates to attack Danzo. He wanted to see what Danzo was up to.

After killing his subordinates, Danzo made no further move. Instead, he silently activated the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal, ensuring that the Root members who had died there couldn't be examined with ninjutsu after death.

Only then did he grin and say,

"Then I'll tell you my biggest secret, Kei. Back then, the Second Hokage didn't stay behind to cover our escape. We abandoned him, and that's how we got away."

"...What!"