You Want Me to Take the Blame

By the time he returned to the Root base, it was nearly dawn.

After a brief rest, and with his body improved through Body Amplification, Danzo was full of energy.

He found a lounge chair and set it down in an open area nearby. Danzo sprawled carelessly across it, gazing at the stars overhead.

He had not felt this kind of peaceful life in a long time.

It felt wonderful. Danzo liked it and enjoyed it.

Yume Ryoma watched Danzo from afar with a complicated expression. He was the Root Ninja who had been secretly protecting Danzo, and also the person Danzo trusted most within Root.

More than ten days ago, the cold and ruthless Danzo had regained the face of his youth overnight. Even his way of doing things had changed considerably.

If Danzo had not still known how to control the curse marks on them, they would have suspected that this young Danzo was actually a spy sent by an enemy village.

Rustle, rustle—

Slow footsteps caught Ryoma's attention. He flashed forward vigilantly, ready to intercept the intruder, but the owner of those footsteps had already reached his side.

"It's me."

A familiar voice sounded.

"Hokage." Yume Ryoma respectfully addressed Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Their movements also caught Danzo's attention. Tilting his head toward Sarutobi, his previously calm heart stirred slightly. "Are you ever going to stop bothering me? Didn't I say I wasn't attending the meeting?"

"Whatever you want to do from now on, I don't want to interfere."

This old man was seriously annoying.

Sarutobi looked at Danzo with a complicated gaze. "You seem rather carefree."

"Leave us, Ryoma." Danzo ignored him and gave Ryoma an order.

Danzo could more or less guess Sarutobi's purpose. The old Danzo and Sarutobi had been close friends and bitter rivals, each protecting Konoha in his own way.

"You didn't bring it up at today's meeting, but I know you would never swallow this humiliation. You want to secretly persuade the Clan Heads to sabotage tomorrow's meeting, don't you?" Sarutobi Hiruzen said as he walked up beside Danzo and looked down at him, his tone full of certainty.

Danzo curled his lip and continued lying there without speaking.

You think I'm on the second level, but I'm actually still on the first.

He truly had not thought that much about it, nor did he feel much attachment to Konoha. It was enough to enjoy a peaceful life steadily and quietly. Danzo was no longer the Danzo of old.

After waiting for a long time without receiving an answer, Sarutobi Hiruzen could not help asking again, "What exactly are you trying to do?"

He had thought he had already guessed Danzo's intentions, but now he felt that he had not guessed them at all.

Their favorite thing to do had always been to probe each other's thoughts, then think farther ahead than the other and slap the other across the face.

"I'm old," Danzo said helplessly, figuring that if he kept ignoring him, this fellow probably would not leave.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's old face darkened. He had barely slept these past few days and felt as though he had aged considerably.

Yet this fellow, who had recovered his youthful appearance, was actually claiming to be old.

Sarutobi felt that this old bastard was trying to provoke him.

"One who belongs to 'Root' has no name, nor emotions...

No past, and no future.

There is only the mission in their heart...

Silently supporting the great tree of Konoha from behind."

Danzo continued, reciting the thoughts he had about Danzo as though he were memorizing a text.

He sat upright and turned to look at Sarutobi's complicated expression. Danzo took a deep breath and gathered his emotions before speaking in a somewhat hoarse voice. "I'm old. This time, after becoming young again, I was deeply affected."

"I don't want to silently give everything beneath the shadow of that great tree. I want to step out of the shadows and bathe in the sunlight."

"I don't want my name to be carved on a hero's tombstone after I grow old, only for no one to remember what the old man named Shimura Danzō devoted his entire life to."

"Let me step down. I'm going to become a teacher at the Ninja School."

His hoarse voice was calm, and Danzo handled this sort of thing with ease.

There had been no such thing as the Transformation Technique in his previous life. When carrying out certain missions in his early years, he had needed to play a role that matched the identity he was assuming.

If he entered the entertainment industry, his command of dialogue would definitely be beyond comparison with those young idols who recited their lines as "one, two, three, four, five, six."

"Ah."

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed. His old face seemed to age several more years as he said, "This is all for Konoha."

"Where the leaves dance, the fire burns on. Its light shall continue to illuminate the village and cause new leaves to sprout."

"Danzo, have you forgotten what our teacher told us?"

"Our sacrifices all have meaning. Everything is for Konoha, for this home!"

By the end, Sarutobi Hiruzen's tone carried both pleading and resolve.

He did not know what Danzo was truly trying to do.

But there were not many people in the village now who could shoulder great responsibility. If Danzo retired at this time, Konoha would lose at least a third of its strength.

Danzo worked in the shadows while Sarutobi stood in the light. It was no joke that the two of them had pushed Konoha into its most prosperous era together.

Although in terms of individual strength, Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo were far inferior to Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.

In terms of overall strength, however, countless rising stars had emerged in Konoha since the Third Hokage took office. Not to mention the Three Sannin, the Fourth Generation, and the Konoha White Fang.

Even the Uchiha Clan, the Hyuga Clan, and clans like Ino-Shika-Cho had repeatedly produced geniuses.

Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo's greatest strength was not their personal power, but their ability to cultivate and employ talented people.

If those figures had not died and had all been gathered into one era, perhaps Konoha could now recreate the glorious feat of the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha, who had once shaken the entire shinobi world.

What a pity.

Seeing Sarutobi Hiruzen's pleading eyes and hearing his highly stirring words, Danzo honestly almost got swept up in that rhythm.

The village chief was the village chief. Just a few casual words could be so moving.

"If all you want is stability, then even without me, you can still do it well, right?" Danzo composed himself and looked at Sarutobi calmly.

He was not wrong.

From Danzo's memories, the authority he currently held was not actually that great.

At most, he was an intelligence chief, responsible for reconnaissance, gathering information on enemy nations, and arranging spies and informants.

Within Konoha, he had very little real power.

Whether this task was handed to Utatane Koharu or Mitokado Homura, as long as either of them was ruthless and hard-hearted enough, they would be capable of doing it well.

"You really are still blaming me." Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes dimmed slightly. Without sitting in Danzo's position, he simply could not understand Danzo's pressure.

As the Hokage, he had to consider the safety of the entire village.

Danzo silently watched the self-pitying Sarutobi, his gaze utterly calm.

He had considered stepping down to become a teacher.

Not only would it allow him to build connections within the village, but the Good Person System required him to be admired and acknowledged by others. These children at the Ninja School would undoubtedly be more easily persuaded to recognize him than adults.

"Danzo, do you remember what we said before our teacher?" Sarutobi continued. "For Konoha, everything is worth it."

"You just want to hear what you want to hear from me, don't you?" Danzo said as he looked at the unrelenting Sarutobi. He had understood Sarutobi's purpose from the very beginning.

"Since Konoha was founded, it has never yielded."

"Whenever someone provoked Konoha, they suffered our retaliation."

"This humiliation is the first in Konoha's history. Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, are you willing to bear this humiliation?"

Danzo finally voiced the words he had always wanted to say.

Words that both he from his previous life and Danzo in this life had wanted to say.

"But Konoha no longer has the strength to wage another war," Sarutobi said. Having finally heard what he wanted to hear, he felt both delighted and heavy-hearted.

"You know very well what's in your heart," Danzo said, looking at him. "You don't want to bear this surrender. Or rather, you don't want to be the one who bears it."

"You want me to take the blame."