As long as Danzo agreed, they could keep playing at this card table.
Seeing the anticipation in their eyes, Danzo nodded and revealed a mocking smile.
That smile sent a chill down their spines.
But knowing Danzo's naturally sinister temperament, they merely assumed he had come up with a good idea.
Yet Danzo still did not answer them.
He simply watched them in silence.
That look made them shudder.
Because Danzo only wore that expression when looking at people who needed to be purged.
Tap.
His cane struck the floor heavily, producing a dull thud.
"Recommending me as the Fifth Hokage?"
"Danzo" slowly opened his mouth. His hoarse, low voice echoed through the living room, carrying undisguised mockery and contempt. "Koharu, Homura, you two old fools—have you sat so long in your lofty positions in the Hokage Office that your brains have degenerated into livestock fed by the Ino-Shika-Cho?"
"...What did you say?!" The smile on Utatane Koharu's face instantly froze, and a chill shot straight to the top of her head.
Mitokado Homura also sensed that something was wrong. His expression darkened slightly as he instinctively took half a step back, staring at Danzo warily. "Danzo, what do you mean by this? We're tied to the same rope now. Without the legitimate appointment of us senior officials, you have no rightful claim at all..."
"Rightful claim? Status is for the living to see. The dead have no need for status."
As his words fell, Danzo slowly removed the bandages that had always covered half his face, right before Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu's astonished eyes.
"Fine. I'm a rather merciful person, so I'll let you die knowing the truth."
Danzo's voice suddenly became younger.
The aged, wrinkled skin became smooth.
"Y-your hand?! Your face?!"
Utatane Koharu screamed, then her