You Want Me to Take the Blame

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

After a brief rest, Danzō, revitalized by his Body Amplification, was full of energy.

He found a lounge chair, set it down in an open space nearby, and sprawled out lazily, gazing at the stars in the sky.

It had been a long time since he'd felt this kind of peace.

The sensation was pleasant—Danzō liked it and savored it.

Yume Ryoma watched Danzō from a short distance away, his expression complicated. He was the Root Ninja who had been secretly protecting Danzō all along, and also the one Danzō trusted most within Root.

A dozen days ago, the cold and ruthless Danzō had suddenly reverted to a youthful appearance overnight, and even his way of doing things had changed considerably.

If not for the fact that Danzō still controlled their curse seals, they would have thought this young-looking Danzō was actually a spy sent by an enemy village.

Rustle, rustle—

The sound of slow footsteps caught Ryoma's attention. Alert, he moved to intercept with a flicker, but the owner of the footsteps had already reached his side.

"It's me."

A familiar voice rang out.

"Hokage-sama." Yume Ryoma addressed Sarutobi Hiruzen respectfully.

Their commotion also drew Danzō's notice. He tilted his head to look at Sarutobi, a ripple stirring in his otherwise calm heart. "Are you annoying or what? Didn't I say I'm not attending the meeting?"

"I don't want to meddle in whatever you do from now on."

This old geezer was really getting on his nerves.

Sarutobi looked at Danzō with a complicated gaze. "You seem pretty relaxed."

"Ryoma, you may leave first." Danzō ignored him and gave the order to Ryoma.

He could roughly guess Sarutobi's purpose. The old Danzō and Sarutobi had been a pair of bitter rivals and close friends, each guarding Konoha in their own way.

"You didn't bring it up at today's meeting, but I know you wouldn't swallow that insult. You're planning to secretly persuade the clan heads to sabotage tomorrow's meeting, aren't you?" Sarutobi Hiruzen walked over to Danzō's side, looking down at him, his tone full of certainty.

Danzō curled his lip and kept lying there without speaking.

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

He really hadn't thought that far ahead. He had little sense of belonging to Konoha, and just wanted to enjoy a peaceful life smoothly. Danzō was no longer the Danzō of before.

After waiting a long time for no reply, Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help speaking again. "What exactly do you want to do?"

He had thought he'd figured out Danzō's intentions, but now he felt he hadn't.

The thing they both loved most was trying to read each other's minds, then outthink the other and slap them down.

"I'm old," Danzō said helplessly, figuring that if he kept ignoring him, the guy probably wouldn't leave.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's old face darkened. He hadn't slept well for days, and he felt he'd aged quite a bit.

And now this guy, who had regained his youthful looks, was saying he was old.

Sarutobi felt the old man was just provoking him.

"Those called 'Root' have no name, no feelings...

No past, and no future.

Only the mission in their hearts...

Silently supporting the great tree of Konoha from the shadows."

Danzō continued, reciting the thoughts of the old Danzō like he was reading a textbook.

He sat up straight, turned to look at Sarutobi with his complicated expression, took a deep breath to muster his emotions, and spoke in a hoarse, calm voice: "I'm old. This time, becoming young again has given me deep insight."

"I don't want to keep silently giving in the shadow of the great tree. I want to step out of the shadows and bask in the sunlight."

"I don't want to be carved on a hero's tombstone when I'm old, with no one remembering what this old man named Shimura Danzō contributed in his life."

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

His voice was hoarse yet calm. Danzō handled this kind of thing with ease.

In his past life, there was no such thing as the Transformation Technique. When carrying out certain missions early on, he'd had to play a role that fit his identity.

If he'd joined the entertainment industry, his line delivery would be far beyond those young stars who just shout "123456" for their lines.

"Sigh."

Sarutobi Hiruzen let out a sigh, his old face seeming to age a few more years. "This is all for Konoha."

"Where leaves dance, fire burns on. The firelight will continue to illuminate the village, and let new leaves sprout."

"Danzō, have you forgotten the words the teacher spoke?"

"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 didn't know what Danzō was really trying to do.

But right now, there were few in the village who could bear great responsibility. If Danzō retired at this time, Konoha would lose at least a third of its strength.

Danzo lurked in the shadows while Sarutobi stood in the light; the saying that the two of them together pushed Konoha to its most prosperous era was no joke.

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

But looking at overall strength, ever since the Third took office, countless new stars had risen in Konoha—not to mention the Sannin, the Fourth Hokage, and the Konoha White Fang.

Even the Uchiha Clan, the Hyuga, and the Ino-Shika-Cho families saw geniuses emerging one after another.

Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo's greatest strength wasn't their individual power, but their ability to cultivate and deploy talent.

If none of those figures had been sacrificed and they were all gathered in one era, perhaps Konoha could now recreate the feat of the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha shaking the ninja world back in the day.

What a pity.

Watching Sarutobi Hiruzen's pleading eyes and his highly infectious words, honestly, Danzo almost got swept up in that rhythm without realizing it.

The village chief was the village chief—just a few words and it was already this moving.

"If you only want stability, even without me, you could do it well, couldn't you?" Danzo composed himself and looked at Sarutobi calmly.

He wasn't wrong about that.

From Danzo's memories, the power he currently held wasn't much.

At best, he was now an intelligence chief, responsible for reconnaissance and gathering intel on enemy nations, and for placing spies and informants.

Within Konoha, he had almost no real authority.

Whether this task was handed to Utatane Koharu or Mitokado Homura, as long as they were ruthless and hard-hearted enough, either of them could do it well.

"So you really do blame me." Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes dimmed. Danzo hadn't sat in this seat, so he couldn't possibly understand the pressure he felt.

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

Staring quietly at the self-pitying Sarutobi, Danzo's gaze was very calm.

Stepping down to become a teacher was something he had considered.

Not only would it let him build connections within the village, but the Good Person System required the respect and recognition of others—and the children at the Ninja School would undoubtedly accept him more easily than adults.

"Danzo, do you still remember what we said in front of our teacher back then?" Sarutobi continued. "For the sake of Konoha, everything is worth it."

"You just want to hear what you want to hear from me, don't you?" Danzo looked at the persistent Sarutobi, fully aware of his goal—he had been from the very start.

"Since the founding of Konoha, there has never been submission."

"Whenever someone provoked Konoha, we struck back."

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

Danzo finally said what had been on his mind all along.

Both the him from his past life and the Danzo of this life wanted to say it.

"But Konoha doesn't have the strength to wage another war right now," Sarutobi said. Finally hearing what he wanted to hear, his heart was both joyful and heavy.

"You know it yourself, don't you?" Danzo looked at him. "Your heart doesn't want to accept this submission, or rather, you don't want to bear it yourself."

"You want me to take the fall."