I Really Never Wanted to Become Hokage

"Danzo!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze was like a razor-sharp blade. If he had mastered some sort of glare-based technique, Danzo would probably have died hundreds of times by now.

"I need an explanation."

His voice was calm, but everyone present could feel the Killing Intent within it.

"There's nothing to explain. Konoha was the victim to begin with. We absolutely cannot hand over a boy from the Hyuga Clan." Danzo replied sternly.

"But Konoha cannot withstand the flames of war right now!"

"When our teacher died, we couldn't withstand the flames of war then either!"

Faced with Sarutobi Hiruzen's challenge, Danzo did not yield in the slightest. He swept his gaze over everyone seated there, fury in his voice. "When the Second Hokage died in battle, our situation was far worse than it is now."

"Yet back then, we had no intention of backing down in the slightest."

His words stunned everyone.

"You've all grown old!"

Danzo's voice suddenly rose. His handsome face was filled with severity. "You've all grown old. Sarutobi, Koharu, everyone else—you've all grown old."

"But I haven't!"

Neither Sarutobi nor anyone else stopped Danzo or interrupted him.

They looked at Danzo without refuting him.

They had indeed grown old, though it could also be said that they had become more experienced.

When they were young, they had not seen as far ahead as they did now. Things were different now—not only for Sarutobi, but for the Clan Heads of every clan.

Behind them rested a mountain called responsibility.

They could not maintain Danzo's unyielding, hot-blooded attitude. There were simply too many things they had to consider.

"This time, I request permission to lead the troops into battle. If I lose, I will end my life on the battlefield!" Danzo looked coldly at everyone and made his declaration.

His back stood straight, and his handsome, youthful face was icy.

Yet as he stood by the window, sunlight falling over him, he somehow gave off an extremely approachable impression.

Th-this was Danzo?

That dark, scheming Danzo?

Everyone stared at him in disbelief. Even the Root Ninjas carrying the sedan outside the window looked somewhat dumbfounded.

"Do you think this will be so easy? You want to lead the troops—who exactly do you plan to take?" Koharu snapped out of it and shouted, showing Danzo no courtesy whatsoever.

"Konoha doesn't have many forces left to send to their deaths with you. The other villages are eyeing us greedily. Starting a war with Kumogakure at a time like this would be a mistake!"

Danzo did not look at Utatane Koharu. Instead, he looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen. "This isn't like before. The conflicts among those villages are no less severe either."

"What was our situation after the Second Hokage died?"

"Our village's combat strength was severely lacking—but so what?"

"Back then, if anyone dared to humiliate Konoha, when had we ever not fought with our flesh and blood to make them pay?"

Danzo's words carried an inexplicable power to move people.

The people present were no longer young, and each of them had experienced a time when they disregarded life and death.

Every word Danzo spoke seemed to bring them back to those days, back to that era when they had spilled their blood without hesitation.

"Sarutobi, you've grown old, but I haven't!"

Danzo stared directly at Sarutobi Hiruzen. Blazing flames burned in those black eyes.

"Stretch out the battle lines and buy time. The Konoha White Fang, the Konoha Three Ninjas, and the rest—which one of them was not painstakingly nurtured by us?"

"And which one of them cannot become a powerhouse capable of standing on their own?"

"Kakashi Hatake, Might Guy, Genma, Asuma—which one of them lacks talent? Give them enough opportunities and pressure, and they can carve out names for themselves like White Fang and Orochimaru, bringing sunlight to Konoha's great tree!"

"And besides, isn't what you're thinking the same as what I'm thinking?"

"I did what you wanted to do. You'll support me, won't you?"

With that impassioned speech, Danzo fully slipped into the fervor expected of a capitalist, using dreams and hot-blooded passion to infect everyone present.

Perfect.

Danzo silently gave his performance a perfect score.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression became somewhat complicated, and he did not answer.

He looked confused and unable to speak. Weren't all those people's deaths related to you? How did you have the nerve to say something like that?

But honestly, Danzo had persuaded him.

If Danzo had said these things to him last night, then today, he absolutely would not have entered this meeting with an attitude of compromise and concession.

Although he agreed in his heart, Sarutobi also understood that Danzo should not be the one leading this matter.

Danzo's methods were too extreme. Whether in the past or this time, when he had sent people to assassinate the Land of Lightning Delegation, he had completely disregarded the bigger picture.

Danzo wanted to step out from the shadows into the open, but Sarutobi would not give him that chance.

"Lord Danzo, this matter isn't as simple as you think." Wisdom gleamed in Shikaku's eyes. Though he had no idea why Danzo had changed so drastically, this was not the time to act on impulse.

"The village lacks the troops, food, and weapons needed to support another war."

"Besides, the Feudal Lord's Mansion is strongly opposed to this. Without its financial backing, we have no chance at all."

"I'll handle the feudal lord's side." Danzo glanced at Shikaku before turning to Sarutobi. "The question now is whether you're willing to support me, or whether you intend to swallow this insult."

Danzo looked at Sarutobi.

Everyone else looked at him as well.

Though the final decision would be made by a vote at the meeting, Sarutobi was the Hokage. His decision often represented at least half the voices in the village.

And Sarutobi was currently unable to voice his grievances.

Danzo had set him up. While stirring up the fighting spirit in everyone's hearts, he had also dumped the problem onto him.

If he took the overall situation into account and chose stability by swallowing this insult, he would undoubtedly leave an impression of weakness in these people's minds, making them harder to manage in the future.

But if he agreed with Danzo's decision...

"How do you plan to persuade the feudal lord?" Sarutobi asked.

"If I persuade the feudal lord, will you support me?" Danzo did not answer his question, instead responding with one of his own.

The atmosphere fell silent.

No one else spoke. They simply watched the two men stare each other down.

Old bastard.

Old fox.

Danzo stared directly at Sarutobi, and Sarutobi stared back just as intently. Both cursed the other inwardly, yet neither showed the slightest emotion on the surface.

Danzo was becoming harder and harder to read.

Sarutobi muttered to himself. With a sigh, he finally said, "If you can persuade the feudal lord, I won't oppose your proposal. But neither will I interfere with anyone else's choice."

"I can make the decisions regarding weapons and provisions, but you'll need to persuade the people who will take the field yourself."

Fuck.

Danzo cursed inwardly. He knew perfectly well just how unpopular his former self had been in the village. With his reputation, aside from the Root Ninjas, probably no one else would be willing to follow him into battle.

Even with things already settled, that old fox Sarutobi still had to pull this move. Just how wary was he of him?

I really have no intention of stealing the position of Hokage from you!