Danzo: I Should Be Under the Car, Not In It

As the title "Sick Man of the Hidden Cloud" spread throughout Konoha, the accompanying Hidden Cloud ninja never showed their faces again. Marui and Omoi had stayed hidden inside the inn for the past two days.

The moment the two of them stepped outside, everyone's eyes focused on them. Forget spitting—they did not even dare sneeze, afraid someone would call them "Sick Men of the Hidden Cloud."

"Big brother, when are we going back?" Omoi felt that this trip to Konoha had been a mistake from the start.

"We'll leave once the talks are over." Marui did not even dare imagine how they would face the people of the Hidden Cloud after returning. They had merely gone on a trip, yet the Hidden Cloud's reputation had been utterly ruined.

Black Rock was still wandering around Konoha. He had discovered that there was simply too much here worth learning from. Take the ninja clans, for instance. Though the Uchiha Clan was Konoha's foremost great clan and its members were generally quiet and reserved, whenever they encountered villagers in need of help, they would stop and lend a hand.

Yesterday, Black Rock had personally witnessed an Uchiha clansman carrying a sack of rice up to the third floor for an elderly person. He had rushed over to interview him and asked for his name, but the Uchiha clansman had said his name was "Wood Edge" before leaving. Black Rock had already heard quite a few Uchiha clansmen give that same name. It was clear that the Uchiha Clan truly was a ninja clan filled with great love—they did good deeds without leaving their names behind.

Shimura Danzo, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu were still serving as little tour guides in Konoha. For this Five Kage Summit, merchants from other countries had also come to Konoha. The prosperity of the ninja world depended on the Land of Fire, and the prosperity of the Land of Fire depended on Konoha. Now, with Konoha's population continuing to grow, the village was planning to expand.

Maeda Kawaoka was a merchant from the Land of Grass.

As one of the Land of Grass's leading merchants, he came to Konoha every month to purchase goods and bring them back for resale. Konoha's products were high-quality and affordable, and every shipment brought back to the Land of Grass was snapped up immediately. Today, he had come to Konoha to stock up as usual.

Ever since Konoha's Little Leaf Tea had made a name for itself, the daimyo and nobles of the Land of Grass had taken pride in drinking it. Aside from his usual purchases, he had pulled some strings to buy a jin of Little Leaf Tea—an opportunity he had barely secured through layer after layer of connections.

Maeda Kawaoka drove his carriage through Konoha's streets. A license plate bearing the number 9527 hung from the carriage. Konoha had strict regulations for carriages entering the village: every carriage had to display a plate. A temporary plate cost only ten ryo per day, but a permanent plate cost one hundred thousand ryo.

The benefit of a permanent plate was that as long as the carriage was transporting goods within the Land of Fire, if the goods were robbed, Konoha would compensate their original value.

It could be said that as long as your carriage bore a plate in the Land of Fire, bandits and robbers would not dare touch it, because Konoha cracked down with extreme force. Once, a group of mountain bandits robbed goods bearing a license plate, and Konoha dispatched jonin to wipe them out.

"Watch out! Move aside! My horse has gone mad!"

Maeda Kawaoka had no idea what was happening. The moment his carriage entered Konoha's streets today, the horse started running wild. He desperately tugged on the reins, but the horse would not obey him at all.

At that moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzo were performing the story of the Uchiha Three Heroes at a street corner, while Utatane Koharu explained from the side.

Just then, Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others heard someone shouting in the distance.

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked up and saw a carriage charging toward them. The cargo on it was tossed about in disarray, and it was about to crash into a roadside stall.

The stall owner was an elderly man selling dango. Frail with age, he had no time to react.

At the critical moment, a figure flashed past. A member of the Konoha Guard Department appeared in time, using the Body Flicker Technique to reach the stall and pull the old man to safety.

Boom—

The carriage crashed into the stall. Its wooden frame fell apart, and goods scattered across the ground.

"Help—!"

After smashing through the stall, the carriage did not stop. Instead, it swerved wildly from side to side, dragging its broken cabin as it rampaged down the street. Pedestrians along the road shouted as they scattered out of the way.

Rasengan!

Shimura Danzo was the first to charge forward. He slammed the side of the carriage hard, flipping the entire vehicle over. The carriage cabin was blasted apart and shattered across the ground.

Though the cabin had broken apart, the cargo inside was flung into the air. Several large wooden crates hurtled straight toward the nearby crowd.

Rasengan!

Sarutobi Hiruzen rushed forward as well, striking the flying crates. The crates shattered in midair, spilling their contents all over the ground.

The horse broke free of its reins and completely lost control, charging straight toward Utatane Koharu. Just as it was about to slam into her—

"Koharu!" Mitokado Homura shouted.

Utatane Koharu had been frightened stiff.

Rasengan! Mitokado Homura stepped in front of Utatane Koharu and slammed the Rasengan into the horse's head.

The horse was knocked sideways, while Mitokado Homura himself was sent flying back by the recoil.

Everything had happened too suddenly. From beginning to end, only a few breaths had passed.

Normally, each street should have had two Guard Department personnel assigned to it. But because of the Five Kage Summit, the entire Guard Department was short-handed. They could only assign one guard to each street and increase patrols. No one had expected something like this to happen.

"Are you all right?" Maeda Kawaoka had been thrown from the carriage the moment Shimura Danzo attacked. When he finally climbed back to his feet, he found that several stalls on the street had been reduced to a complete mess by him.

This trip to Konoha alone would cost him everything in compensation and fines.

The Guard Department member who had saved people immediately restrained Maeda Kawaoka. It was the middle of the Five Kage Summit, and the carriage had conveniently gone out of control at such a time. He had to take Maeda Kawaoka back for a thorough interrogation.

Maeda Kawaoka was led away by the Guard Department in a daze. He had recognized the little girl his horse had nearly hit. She was the treasured daughter of the people whose connections he had begged and pleaded through so many others to obtain. Yet he had nearly run over their precious daughter.

Maeda Kawaoka felt as though life was no longer worth living. Forget doing business in Konoha from now on—he was afraid he might not even be able to hold onto his business in the Land of Grass.

Evening.

As Sarutobi Hiruzen, Shimura Danzo, and Mitokado Homura escorted Utatane Koharu home, they arrived at the entrance to the Utatane Clan compound. Utatane Koharu said to Sarutobi Hiruzen:

"Hiruzen, could you close your eyes? Make sure you keep them tightly shut, okay? No peeking."

"Okay, they're shut tight."

Utatane Koharu then said to Mitokado Homura:

"Homura, thank you for saving me. You were so brave—I see you in a whole new light." After saying that, she stood on tiptoe and lightly kissed Mitokado Homura on the cheek.

"Hiruzen, you can open your eyes now." With that, Utatane Koharu turned and ran through the gates.

Watching his goddess Koharu kiss Mitokado Homura, Shimura Danzo felt as though life was no longer worth living. Music seemed to echo beside his ears.