Chapter 20

Third Hokage and Danzo came to their senses. Their first thought was to track down the person spreading the news behind the scenes. But that person had already stopped, leaving no trace behind.

"**! Who the hell did this?" Danzo was so furious that he stomped around, his voice cracking.

Just then, a Root ninja led an Anbu member over and reported in a low voice, "Lord Danzo, the Hokage requests your presence."

Danzo's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. He answered through clenched teeth, "Got it." Then he turned and walked out. As he passed a Root ninja, he ordered harshly, "Owl, I want to know who's behind this by the end of today. Send people to investigate immediately."

"Yes!" Owl accepted the order at once.

At Ninja Hospital, inside Tsunade's office.

"Bang!"

After reading the report, Tsunade smashed her desk to pieces with one punch. Papers flew all over the floor as she roared furiously, "Danzo, you bastard!"

Then she stormed out, heading straight for the Hokage Building. Everyone she passed along the way shrank their necks and hurried to the side, not daring to say a word to her.

Halfway there, Tsunade ran into Orochimaru. She had never liked this increasingly sinister and strange former teammate, and in recent years, Orochimaru had grown very close to Danzo. Given his research-crazed nature, Tsunade had every reason to suspect that he had a hand in this too.

She clenched her fist and demanded of Orochimaru, "Orochimaru, were you involved in this too?"

"Hahaha... How could I be?" Orochimaru glanced at Tsunade's fist and laughed somewhat nervously, waving his hands as he explained, "It has nothing to do with me. I just heard about this myself. If you're looking for someone, go find the real culprit, Danzo."

With that, he slipped away. After all, if furious Tsunade found out that he had taken part in this too, he wouldn't be able to withstand a punch from her. Her Monster Strength Fist was better left for that idiot Jiraiya to endure. He had no intention of stealing the spotlight.

"Achoo—"

At that moment, in a small town somewhere in the Land of Tea, Jiraiya was boasting, chatting, and flirting with some bar girls at an izakaya when he suddenly let out a huge sneeze.

Yan wiped his nose and muttered in bewilderment, "Who's cursing me? It must be that persistent bastard Orochimaru. When I get back, I'm definitely going to settle the score with him!"

Then he turned back to the girls and called out, "Come on, come on, let's keep drinking—"

"Oh my, my lord, are you all right? Could you have caught a cold?"

"How could I? It's probably some beautiful girl thinking about me."

"My lord, you're so mean. You already have us keeping you company, yet you're still thinking about someone else. You're breaking our hearts~"

"Haha, my fault, my fault. Enough talk—drink, drink..."

Tsunade kicked Danzo over and shouted coldly, "You dare lay a hand on my people?"

The Third Hokage stood to the side, his expression so grim it seemed water might drip from it. "Danzo, stop."

As for Orochimaru, after walking a long way, he stuck out his long tongue and licked his lips. A playful smile curled at the corners of his mouth as he muttered, "Who exactly did this?"

"Interesting. Very interesting. It seems Danzo has recently provoked someone he shouldn't have."

But the next moment, he tossed the thought aside.

At present, he had no interest in such matters.

The Wood Release experiment was stuck at a critical juncture.

He was only a step away, yet he simply couldn't pierce that final layer.

The more he thought about it, the more irritable he became.

"If Tsunade were willing to help, the success rate would probably increase considerably."

"Unfortunately, I absolutely can't let her know about this, much less let her get involved. Otherwise, she'd definitely turn against me."

"Still, I heard Tsunade recently took on a disciple with terrifying talent. He picked up Medical Ninjutsu at an absurd speed. I wonder if he could be of use?"

The key point was that the boy was actually a member of the Uchiha clan.

That sparked some curiosity in Orochimaru.

But after thinking about it, Uchiha Yan was Tsunade's disciple. If Orochimaru recruited him, there was no way to hide it from Tsunade.

"Forget it. I'll think of another way."

Ultimately, Orochimaru still didn't believe that a child barely over three years old, after studying under Tsunade for only a few months, could help with something like this.

The threshold for Medical Ninjutsu couldn't possibly be that low.

Although the hospital was making him sound almost mythical and praising Uchiha Yan to the heavens, Orochimaru remained only half-convinced.

He had seen plenty of geniuses. Wasn't he a genius himself?

But even geniuses had to follow the basic rules.

No matter how monstrous Uchiha Yan's talent was, if he wanted to interfere in an experiment of this level, it would be at least several years, perhaps even over a decade, before he could do so.

That was assuming he lived that long.

Orochimaru knew very well that Danzo was watching the boy closely.

Thinking of Uchiha Yan naturally reminded him of that disciple of Nawaki.

Orochimaru tilted his head slightly and gazed at the distant sky. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he murmured hoarsely, "Tsunade, I hope you can protect the people around you this time."

Inside the Hokage Office, Danzo pushed open the door and entered, then casually closed it behind him.

Before the Third Hokage could speak, Danzo struck first. "Hiruzen, it's time to clean out the rats in the village."

"They're openly spreading rumors now, smearing my name, and trying to throw the village into chaos. This is utterly lawless."

The Third Hokage's mouth twitched.

Do you take me for an idiot?

You actually have the nerve to say something like that?

He had just been about to speak—

"Bang!"

There was an explosive crash.

The Third Hokage watched helplessly as the office's wooden door shattered into dozens of pieces. A foot wrapped in splintered wood slammed viciously into Danzo's back.

"Pfft!!"

Danzo went flying, spitting out a large mouthful of blood in midair.

"Which bastard—"

He forcibly twisted his head around, trying to see who had launched the attack.

Instead, he met Tsunade's icy, murderous eyes.

Danzo swallowed the curse that had reached his lips.

Of course he knew why this woman had come.

He also knew that if he dared to curse at her now, this madwoman would absolutely use the opportunity to kill him.

All he could do was swallow his anger, keep his mouth shut, accept his fate, and continue flying forward.

He thought the Third Hokage would catch him.

Who could have expected that the old fox, pipe clenched between his teeth, would use the Body Flicker Technique to flash to the side?

Not only did he avoid the blood Danzo spat out, but he avoided Danzo himself as well.

"Phew—what a close call, what a close call."

The Third Hokage secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then looked up and met Danzo's resentful gaze.

He answered with his eyes: Danzo, I'm doing this entirely for your own good.

Look at Tsunade right now. If I don't let her beat you up and vent her anger, I'm afraid she'll really kill you outright.

For the sake of your old life, just endure it.

What?

You say you're innocent?

You didn't conduct the Wood Release experiment? You didn't tamper with the First Hokage's cells?

Whether you did or not, don't you know in your own heart?

Don't forget—we were the ones who dug up the First Hokage's remains together back then.

Later, after the experiment failed, we put them back together.

But I never expected you to secretly tamper with them again behind my back.

At that thought, the Third Hokage also felt a surge of anger toward Danzo.

His decision to dodge just now might not have been entirely without the intention of giving Danzo a warning.

Who told this fellow to cross the line behind his back?

Danzo read that meaning in the Third Hokage's eyes, and his chest felt as though a stone had been lodged inside it.

He felt betrayed.

Hiruzen is always like this—stabbing me in the back and making me shoulder all the dirty work. What a piece of work.

That was precisely why his desire to become Hokage had grown even stronger.

Once I sit in that position, I'll make the Third Hokage taste what it's like to be the scapegoat. I'll dump all his problems and dirty deeds on him and let that old bastard experience what frustration feels like.

"Bang!!"

The moment the thought flashed through his mind, Danzo smashed through the wall in front of him and nearly fell from the third floor.

"Cough... cough!"

After taking a long while to recover, he spat blood while fixing Tsunade with a dark stare. "You can insult me if you want, but I have to make this clear—I never disrespected the First Hokage. Those are all rumors."