Danzo is Banished, Goodbye Sasuke

In the Hokage's office, Jiraiya sat upright in the Hokage's seat, surrounded by the elder council and Konoha's core personnel.

Jiraiya braced both hands on the desk, his eyes bloodshot, his voice steady and forceful.

"Publicly designate Aoike as an S-rank missing-nin. Elder Danzo will be responsible for the capture operation."

"Until he is caught, the rest of your duties will be divided among everyone present."

Danzo's face darkened. Having his power divided was undoubtedly touching upon his taboo.

Yet there was nothing he could say.

It was a fact that he had hidden away and offered no support. It was a fact that Aoike had come from his Root.

His shadowy excuses were useless before Jiraiya, the legitimate successor to the Hokage position who possessed both reputation and strength.

To be honest, he somewhat missed the days when Sarutobi was still in office.

At the very least, Sarutobi had secretly protected him for the sake of their past relationship and mutual interests. Powerless—he felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

"Fine, I understand." Danzo rose to his feet, his voice carrying an imperceptible weariness and gloom.

The other members of the elder council did not care either. Hadn't the Fifth said they would be taking on more of Danzo's pow... responsibilities?

They were more than happy to do so.

Jiraiya glanced at Danzo's desolate retreating figure before continuing to arrange the reconstruction and cleanup efforts.

"Send Sunagakure a diplomatic notice demanding reparations. Use harsher wording."

"The Sound Ninja are likely Orochimaru's forces. Wipe them out completely."

Orders were issued one after another in an orderly manner.

In the future, he would gradually reclaim all the Hokage's authority. One Anbu was enough to shoulder the darkness!

And the rest of the elder council—if they insisted on clinging to their high positions, then they could not blame him for refusing to spare their dignity.

Among the Konoha Sannin, if one seriously considered who was the most levelheaded and best suited to become Hokage, it was undoubtedly Jiraiya.

It was only because of his free-spirited nature, as well as his obsession with finding the Child of Prophecy, that he had been unwilling to become Hokage.

But under his mentor's final orders, he could only take office.

Still, he intended to clean up Konoha as quickly as possible, then pass the position to someone else and continue pursuing his dream.

Inside the Root base, Danzo vented furiously in a secret chamber.

"Damn Aoike! Even after running away, he still had to drag this old man down with him!"

"Damn Jiraiya, ruining my grand plans at such a critical moment."

"And Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, those idiotic insects... Without me, Danzo, how will Konoha dominate the Ninja World?!"

After that meaningless outburst, Danzo leaned back in his chair, his fingers trembling slightly.

Though the situation had already begun to fall apart for him.

He could still keep going!

So what if he had to leave Konoha's decision-making circle for the time being?

As long as Root remained in his hands, he still had the capital to return to the table.

His immediate priority was to kill Aoike, the accomplice, and silence the masses.

Then he would find a way to seize the Hokage position.

Over the years, repeated failures had forged in him a mindset that would never give up.

Within the dark chamber, the faint candlelight cast his figure in shifting light and shadow.

He stood before a mirror, staring into the eyes of his aged reflection. At that very moment, memories of the past surfaced one after another, finally freezing on the moment Tobirama Senju passed the position on to Sarutobi.

"Teacher, all these years, I've only been waiting for an opportunity." His hoarse voice sounded like two rough stones grinding against each other. "I'm not fighting for this position to prove how great I am! I'm doing it to tell everyone that I will reclaim what I have lost!!"

He braced one hand against the wall and gasped heavily for a long while.

Then, as though nothing had happened, he straightened his clothes and walked out of the secret chamber.

"Yamanaka Fu."

Danzo called for his named high-ranking subordinate and trusted lieutenant.

"Your orders, my lord." Yamanaka Fu emerged from the shadows and dropped to one knee to await Danzo's command.

"You and Aburame Torune will lead an elite squad and stand by. Send out every other ninja and spy under Root to find Aoike's whereabouts. The moment there is news, capture him at any cost and bring me his head."

At the end, he added one more sentence.

"Make it quick!"

"Yes, Lord Danzo."

At a training ground, Sasuke sat on the ground in utter exhaustion, surrounded by traces of intense training.

Just as he sank once more into those painful memories, endlessly criticizing himself, a clear ringing sound reached his ears.

"Who's there?!"

He hooked a kunai from his ninja tool pouch and remained on guard.

Out of the darkness, a figure clad in a black robe patterned with red clouds slowly emerged.

He raised his bewitching crimson eyes.

"Long time no see, my foolish little brother, Sasuke."

"Ahhh! Itachi!"

Sasuke charged forward with a roar, the kunai spinning through his hand as he changed grips, trying to wound Uchiha Itachi.

Upward slashes, horizontal cuts, diagonal strikes—he unleashed every move at him without restraint.

Itachi effortlessly dodged every attack, a faint, almost imperceptible mockery lingering at the corner of his lips. Already in a low mood and overly provoked, Sasuke seemed to go mad, forming hand seals right in front of Itachi and unleashing a ninjutsu.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball!"

When his fireball struck its target, his first reaction was not joy, but vigilance.

Someone with the Mangekyō Sharingan could not possibly fail to dodge that ninjutsu.

Sure enough, the person engulfed in flames was not Itachi, but... his mother.

"Sasuke, why would you do this..." Her shrill wail pierced his ears.

I'm under a genjutsu!

Sasuke realized it at once.

He mobilized his chaotic chakra and broke free from the genjutsu.

The moment his vision shifted, a fist had already landed on his lower abdomen.

Bang!

A dull thud rang out.

Sasuke clutched his stomach and staggered back several steps, frowning in confusion. Wasn't that blow a little too light?

Itachi removed his conical hat and looked at him with a half-smile. The coldness had completely vanished from his face.

After standing there in a daze for a while, Sasuke felt as though his head were about to start smoking.

Finally, recognizing the familiar stance and that punchable expression, Sasuke asked in disbelief.

"Aoike?"

The "Itachi" snapped his fingers. The white smoke dispersed, revealing Aoike in his original form, smiling smugly.

"Correct."

Rather than relaxing at the sight of someone familiar, Sasuke's face grew redder and redder after receiving the answer. Just as he could no longer hold back the steam about to rise from his head, a scroll was tossed over and landed steadily in his hands.

Sasuke hesitantly opened the scroll. It contained numerous C- and B-rank ninjutsu, along with cultivation notes.

In an instant, his face was no longer red, and the corners of his mouth turned upward.

"I forgive you."

Aoike's Shadow Clone glanced disdainfully at the excited Sasuke, feeling that teasing him was only so-so.

It was nowhere near as enjoyable as being with Konan and Hinata.

Putting away his amused expression, Aoike instructed, "You're still too weak. Konoha has already been taken over by Jiraiya."

"If you keep training here step by step, your goal will remain far out of reach."

"Go find Orochimaru. The Third Hokage has already weakened him, so he won't be able to take your body for the time being."

"Use this window to grow stronger! I look forward to the day when you repay me."