Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato? Danzo is the first to disagree!

Inside the Hokage's office, the atmosphere was as stifling as a stagnant swamp.

Sarutobi Hiruzen stood up abruptly, his chair toppling over and hitting the floor with a dull thud, though he didn't even notice.

"What did you say? Danzo... has returned?"

His voice was filled with disbelief, bordering on the absurd.

That old man had taken the most elite forces of Root and lost all contact weeks ago. Sarutobi Hiruzen had already prepared for the worst—that Danzo might have died in some unknown corner, along with all his unspeakable secrets.

And now, he was back?

"Yes, Lord Third," the Anbu ninja kneeling on one knee replied, his head bowed low. "More than one Anbu member has confirmed seeing Lord Danzo return to the Root base alone."

The two advisors, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, exchanged glances, both seeing deep suspicion in the other's eyes.

"This is impossible!" Koharu was the first to speak, her tone sharp. "He's been missing for so long without a single report, and now he suddenly appears? There must be something fishy going on!"

"Hiruzen, we must go and confirm immediately whether he is truly Danzo!" Homura said in a low voice, his cane striking the floor heavily.

Sarutobi Hiruzen did not answer immediately. He picked up his pipe from the desk and took a deep drag, the swirling smoke obscuring the expression on his face.

He was back.

At a time when Uchiha Madara had surfaced and Konoha needed stability the most.

At this critical juncture, when he himself was about to step down and Minato was set to succeed him.

He had to come back now, of all times.

This was no coincidence.

"Let's go." Sarutobi Hiruzen exhaled a cloud of thick smoke, slammed his pipe onto the desk, and his eyes turned sharp. "I want to see exactly what kind of medicine this old man is brewing in his gourd!"

Deep beneath Konoha lay the Root base.

The air was cold and damp, smelling of rust and dust; this was a place of darkness that sunlight could never reach.

When Sarutobi Hiruzen arrived with his two advisors and several trusted Anbu, they were greeted by rows of silent Root ninjas.

Wearing masks devoid of individual features, they stood like lifeless statues on both sides of the corridor, offering a silent, watchful salute.

The atmosphere was oppressive to the extreme.

Sarutobi Hiruzen stopped before the iron door that symbolized the highest authority.

"Danzo." He didn't knock; his voice pierced straight through the heavy door.

Inside, there was no response.

Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned, and the Anbu behind him prepared to step forward.

Creeeak—

A teeth-gritting friction sound echoed as the iron door slowly swung inward.

In the dim room, a figure sat with his back to them in the large leader's chair.

"Hiruzen, after all these years, you are still so impatient."

The hoarse, cold voice was one Sarutobi Hiruzen knew all too well.

Shimura Danzo.

He slowly turned the chair. The bandaged face and the sinister, single eye were exactly as he remembered.

Yet, he seemed somewhat exhausted, his complexion paler than usual.

"Danzo, where on earth have you been?" Sarutobi Hiruzen went straight to the point, his tone stern. "And the elite Root members you took with you?"

"Hmph." Danzo let out a cold snort and tapped his cane lightly on the floor. "What? Hiruzen, as the leader of Root, do I need to report to you, the 'Hokage,' about what missions I execute?"

"You!" Koharu stepped forward, shouting angrily, "Danzo! Do not forget your position! You left the village with a team without authorization while serving as the Hokage's advisor, and you have been missing ever since. This is a serious act of treason!"

"Treason?" Danzo's single eye slowly shifted toward her, the chill in his gaze making Koharu instinctively shut her mouth. "I have been eliminating potential threats to Konoha. You people who live in the sunlight—do you still not understand?"

He adopted an attitude of "this matter is classified and cannot be disclosed."

Sarutobi Hiruzen stared at him intently, trying to find even the slightest flaw in his face or his chakra fluctuations.

However, there was nothing.

The texture of his chakra, the tone of his voice, and that deep-seated, bone-level sinister paranoia were identical to the Danzo of the past.

"Your mission this time must have been a heavy loss," Sarutobi Hiruzen changed his question, his tone softening slightly. "Not a single one of the people who went with you returned."

Danzo's body stiffened imperceptibly, and a flash of "helplessness" and "hatred" crossed his single eye.

"They... were all heroes who sacrificed themselves for Konoha," his voice became even deeper and hoarser. "This debt, I will settle sooner or later."

The performance was perfect.

He had explained the disappearance of his men, attributed it to a tragic secret mission, and displayed "grief" for his subordinates—it was entirely consistent with his established persona.

Sarutobi Hiruzen fell silent.

He could find no evidence, yet the unease in his heart grew stronger with every passing moment.

"Since you have returned, there are some things you ought to know." Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep breath, deciding to drop the real bombshell. "Following the unanimous decision of the Daimyo and the village's high-ranking officials, I will be resigning from my position as the Third Hokage."

Danzo's single eye flashed sharply.

"And the successor is?"

"The successor," Sarutobi Hiruzen said, enunciating each word, "is Namikaze Minato."

The air froze completely at that moment.

Danzo did not speak, merely watching Sarutobi Hiruzen quietly with his lone eye.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop by several degrees.

Everyone knew that the position of Hokage was Danzo's lifelong obsession.

"Namikaze... Minato?"

After a long silence, Danzo finally spoke slowly, his voice betraying neither joy nor anger.

"A hero on the battlefield, a sharp blade for killing enemies." He slowly stood up from his chair, leaning on his cane, and walked step by step toward Sarutobi Hiruzen. "But, Hiruzen, do you truly believe that a sharp blade is enough to govern a village?"

"What Konoha needs is not just a hero, but a leader capable of handling intricate relationships, coordinating the power of various clans, and unleashing the full strength of Konoha."

"Minato certainly has a certain level of strength, but in the face of this current crisis, in the face of the threat from Uchiha Madara, does he have the capability to lead Konoha through it?"

His words were like poisonous thorns, piercing the hearts of everyone present.

"Minato has the qualifications, and he has the ability," Sarutobi Hiruzen replied in a low, firm voice.

"Is that so?" Danzo let out an ambiguous sneer. "Perhaps."

He did not continue the topic, turning instead to say, "I have just returned and my body is weary, so I will not keep you all any longer."

This was a blatant order to leave.

Sarutobi Hiruzen gave him a deep look, eventually nodding. "Take care of yourself."

With that, he turned and led the others away.

When the heavy iron door closed once more, sealing off everything outside, the "Danzo" inside the room slowly walked back to his seat and sat down. A strange, eerie curve—one that did not belong to Shimura Danzo—suddenly tugged at the corners of his cold, grim face.

In a distant cave.

Lin Feng watched everything happening in the water mirror and snapped his fingers in satisfaction.

"Not bad. As expected of an S-rank forbidden jutsu prop; this acting is so good that even the Oscars owe him a golden statue."

Beside him, Black Zetsu let out a sinister laugh. "Sarutobi and the others probably never dreamed that what they are facing is merely a puppet acting under your orders."

"This is just the appetizer." Lin Feng leaned back against the stone chair, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the armrest. "The real show is yet to come."

He watched in the water mirror as, after Sarutobi Hiruzen left, that "Danzo" immediately took a blank scroll from a hidden compartment.

This was the second instruction Lin Feng had given him.

The "Danzo" picked up a brush and began writing rapidly on the scroll.

The content was "first-hand intelligence" regarding the appearance of "Uchiha Madara" in Konoha, as well as a "deep concern" that Namikaze Minato's succession as Hokage might lead to instability within the village.

"Lord Madara, this is..." Black Zetsu was somewhat puzzled.

"This letter is not for Konoha to see." Lin Feng's smile was full of intrigue.

"It is for the Daimyo of the Land of Fire."

"I want the Daimyo to know that Konoha is currently facing a massive threat from the return of a legendary ninja, and that the soon-to-be Fourth Hokage is too young and lacks the prestige to stabilize the situation."

"I want him to... start hesitating."

"And hesitation is defeat!"

Three days later, at the Hokage succession meeting.

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire attended in person, and all of Konoha's Jonin and the heads of the major clans were gathered together.

The meeting proceeded smoothly; Sarutobi Hiruzen delivered his resignation speech and officially nominated Namikaze Minato as the sole candidate for the Fourth Hokage.

Thunderous applause erupted from the crowd.

Namikaze Minato, dressed in a white haori, his golden hair dazzling, wore a gentle and confident smile as he prepared to step forward to accept the appointment.

Everyone believed this was merely a formality.

However.

"I object."

A hoarse, cold voice rang out abruptly in the hall.

In an instant, the entire venue fell into deathly silence.

Everyone looked toward the source of the sound in astonishment.

In the corner of the advisor's seating area, the man who should not have been there leaned on his cane and slowly stood up.

Shimura Danzo!

His single eye, deep as an abyss, swept across the entire room.

Finally, his gaze settled on Namikaze Minato. His voice was not loud, yet it reached everyone's ears with perfect clarity.

"Namikaze Minato has achieved remarkable merits, but he is far too merciful. His heart lacks the necessary ruthlessness, making him unfit to hold the reins of Konoha during this moment of life-or-death crisis."

"He does not yet possess the capability to sit in the seat of the Hokage."