Old Friends and the Monkey

Konohagakure.

Hokage Office.

"I disagree! We must withdraw our troops!" Danzo slammed his hand onto the table.

"Danzo, you were the one who insisted on this war in the first place. Now that Orochimaru and the others have finally managed to break through, you want them to pull out?" Hiruzen Sarutobi's tone was flat, as if he were merely stating the most mundane of facts.

Danzo let out a cold snort.

"This war cannot continue, Monkey! As the Hokage, are you unaware of where our funds and supplies come from? The Daimyo of the Land of Fire has already ordered an end to the hostilities. How much longer do you intend to remain so obstinate?" Danzo's voice was booming.

Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly rose to his feet.

"You weren't like this a few days ago, old friend. I said we would fight, and we would see it through to the end. I had planned to deal with Sunagakure first and send White Fang as reinforcements, but the breakthrough at Amegakure has been delayed."

"Now that Orochimaru and his team are on the verge of reaching the sea outside Amegakure, you use the Daimyo to pressure me... Old friend, do not forget that I am still the Hokage, and I am still the disciple of our teacher." Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice was not loud, but every word struck deep into Danzo's heart.

I am still the Hokage...

I am still the Hokage...

I am the Hokage...

I, Hiruzen Sarutobi, am the Hokage...

Danzo Shimura stood up, turned his back to Hiruzen Sarutobi, and spoke: "Hmph... Monkey, do not forget what you promised our teacher—to protect Konoha. If something happens to this village, see if our teacher doesn't return from the underworld to rebuke you!"

"I have never forgotten."

"Hmph!"

Thud!!!

Danzo Shimura left the Hokage Office.

"Old friend, I have always known you wanted to be Hokage, but do not dare lay a hand on my disciples... Someone, come in." Hiruzen Sarutobi looked out the window toward the direction of the Land of Rain.

Whoosh!

An Anbu operative appeared suddenly.

"Go to the Land of Rain. Secretly inform Orochimaru and the other two to be wary of intelligence coming from within the village. Trust nothing except what I provide directly." Hiruzen Sarutobi took a puff of his pipe, the mist swirling around him, and then fell into silence.

The Anbu nodded.

"Yes, Third Hokage..."

The Anbu ninja vanished in an instant.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took another drag from his pipe; the embers in the bowl glowed, and wisps of smoke drifted up, obscuring his face.

Two hours after the Third Hokage sent his message.

Root.

Underground meeting room.

"Hannya is dead... A Kage-level Root ninja, and he couldn't even retrieve a single map. I am extremely displeased." Danzo Shimura's face was dark, his tone icy—a rare moment of genuine anger.

"My Lord..."

A Root ninja attempted to speak, but he had barely uttered two words when—

"Wind Style: Vortex Wind Blade!"

A verdant, semi-circular wind blade instantly flew from Danzo's hand. In the blink of an eye, the Root ninja was decapitated.

Blood splattered.

The eleven Root members gathered around the round table were all stained with blood to varying degrees.

Yet, not one of them dared to move.

Their master was a cold-blooded machine who could kill them at a whim. Danzo had placed several techniques upon every Root ninja.

The Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal was a technique used secretly by Root, unknown even to the Anbu or the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Typically, Danzo carved the seal under the tongue to restrict the subject's speech. Anyone attempting to speak about specific forbidden matters would be paralyzed, unable to speak or move.

The Mind-Body Existence Technique was used by Danzo to control everyone. He would imprint it into the eyeballs of his Root ninjas through special means; should any thought or act of betrayal arise in their minds or actions, they would be killed by a force that caused their hearts to wither. (As for the Root ninja from the previous chapters, he did not die from this technique because he had gouged out the eye containing the seal, thus avoiding the heart-wither.)

Thud!!!!!

Danzo Shimura narrowed his eyes. He showed no signs of losing his composure; he simply scanned the surrounding Root members and continued.

The remaining eleven Root members knelt in unison.

"Lord Danzo, we are willing to head to the Land of Rain immediately to carry out your orders." The eleven members kept their heads bowed. They had clearly felt Danzo silently trigger the Mind-Body Existence Technique; otherwise, their hearts would not have stopped beating for that brief, terrifying moment.

"You are all going? Don't you think that's overkill?" Danzo Shimura asked dismissively.

"It is our honor to serve you, My Lord," the Root ninjas replied in unison.

"You have three days. I want the map, and I want you to secretly eliminate a portion of the Konoha forces. At the very least, ensure this war cannot continue; Konoha no longer has the funds or food to sustain two wars... Also, send a warning to Hanzo the Salamander. I provided him with intelligence, yet he fails to do my bidding." Danzo Shimura spoke coldly. At this time, he had not yet transplanted the Sharingan, so he still wore the attire of a conventional ninja.

"Yes!" they shouted in unison.

Perspective shifts back to Amegakure.

Frontline Command Post.

"Lord Hanzo, this is the seventh letter from Konoha's Root in the past three months. Please, take a look." Hanzo's Right Hand held out an envelope. His injuries had healed two months ago, and upon returning to the front lines, he had found his good brother, Hanzo's Left Hand, worn thin from exhaustion, prompting him to tearfully take over the workload.

"Take it away. I don't even need to read it to know what Danzo wants. It's nothing more than demanding the map in Chiba's possession and insisting I defeat Konoha on the front lines to force their retreat, so that fellow Danzo can logically petition the Daimyo of the Land of Fire to impeach the current Hokage... It seems that even with the Land of Rain exhausting its entire treasury, we only managed to disrupt the Land of Fire's economy and food supply for a mere three months. That dangerous man, Danzo, has already found time on his hands..." Hanzo the Salamander flipped through the books on his desk and shook his head indifferently.

"Then... Lord Hanzo, what should we do?" Hanzo's Right Hand asked.

"Right Hand, with your intelligence, could you really not know what I am thinking? Don't forget, we are all survivors of the salamander experiments in Amegakure." Hanzo the Salamander looked at his own scarred palms and spoke slowly.

Hanzo's Right Hand spoke, enunciating each word: "Do nothing. Let Konoha continue its internal strife; they won't have the time to send anyone after Lord Chiba."

Hanzo the Salamander narrowed his eyes, his finger resting on the map.

Here.

This was the largest sea in the Land of Rain.

It was also the inevitable path for the Konoha forces.

"Given that fellow Danzo's thirst for the position of Hokage, he won't send anyone to Amegakure for a map under these circumstances. Katsuzuki is also an elite jonin, and Chiba is no longer a mere chunin. Together, they can handle the enemy—though the fellow who came last time might have been a bit troublesome," Hanzo the Salamander said.