When Danzo heard the Third Monkey dismiss the plan he had spent all night considering without a second thought,
the real Danzo immediately exploded in anger:
"Hiruzen! You're too weak! Konoha will sooner or later fall in your hands..."
"Shut up, Danzo. Don't forget, I'm the Hokage!"
"Hmph, you'll regret this!"
Bang!
Shimura Danzō, overcome with anger, got up and slammed the door behind him as he left, his movements smooth and practiced.
He looked as though he had done it countless times before.
The two advisors, Koharu and Homura, were utterly unfazed. They looked at their noses, then into their hearts, pretending not to see anything.
After all, this was hardly the Nth time. If they butted in and said too much, they might end up becoming part of their play.
If Uchiha Ran had been there to hear their plan, then no matter how much he hated Danzo, that shit-stirrer, he probably would have agreed with Danzo's proposal.
Sunagakure was clearly preparing to make a move against you. The whole world could see it, so what were you still hemming and hawing about?
As for infiltrating Sunagakure to release the One-Tail being difficult?
Actually, it was not difficult for Konoha at all. They only needed to send out Aunt Snake.
After the Second Shinobi World War, to prevent Kumogakure from causing trouble for Konoha, Aunt Snake had conspired with Danzo to incite civil unrest in Kumogakure.
She had directly infiltrated Kumogakure, subdued Blue B with genjutsu, and successfully released the Eight-Tails.
Although the damage to Kumogakure had ultimately been minor, they had successfully obtained a cell sample from the Eight-Tails.
While Aunt Snake's main purpose in that incident might have been to acquire the Eight-Tails' cell sample, Konoha or Root had definitely supported it as well.
After all, Aunt Snake had completed 16 D-rank missions, 332 C-rank missions, 521 B-rank missions, 491 A-rank missions, and 108 S-rank missions in Konoha. She was a truly ruthless powerhouse.
To say she had caused destruction purely for research would be denying Aunt Snake's contributions to Konoha.
Back then, she had even been the strongest candidate for Fourth Hokage. She had not yet thought about defecting.
Besides, Kishimoto was just an artist. What the hell did he know about Hokage?
The sound of Danzo slamming the door echoed through the office, but it also carried away some of the already tense atmosphere.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed. A trace of helplessness flashed through his eyes, but he quickly regained his calm.
He turned toward Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, who had remained silent the entire time, took a drag from his pipe, and slowly said:
"You'll get used to it. Danzo has always been this impatient."
Mitokado Homura adjusted his glasses and replied evenly:
"Hiruzen, Danzo may be impatient, but his intentions are for the village's sake. It's just that his methods can indeed be overly radical at times."
Going after a tailed beast openly from the start—wasn't that practically forcing Sunagakure into a corner?
Had anyone ever seen a war begin with someone bombing the other side's nuclear arsenal?
Even when Orochimaru had gone to Kumogakure to release the Eight-Tails and cause havoc, he had not revealed his identity.
(It was only during the Fourth Shinobi World War, when the two Eight-Tails jinchūriki faced off, that they learned Orochimaru had been behind the destruction. Aunt Snake really was a talent in that regard.)
If they went after the One-Tail now and then launched an attack from within and without, even a blind man would know Konoha had done it.
Utatane Koharu nodded as well and added:
"Yes. Konoha has always advocated peace. Starting a war lightly is not our style. Besides, the situation is still unclear. We cannot make a decision so rashly."
Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled faintly, his heart filled with gratitude toward his two old comrades.
They were always able to stay calm at crucial moments and give him support and understanding.
Danzo: Damn it, two fence-sitters!
He stood and walked to the window, looking out over Konoha as countless thoughts ran through his mind.
Then he turned around and said resolutely:
"Homura, make the arrangements. Strengthen our border defenses, and have the reconnaissance teams closely monitor the movements of Sunagakure and Iwagakure."
"Koharu, you'll be responsible for coordinating the village's ninja clans. Make sure that if war breaks out, we have enough combat personnel and material reserves."
"Understood."
The two answered in unison.
They knew that at a time like this, it was best to be prepared for anything.
They could not possibly wait until the enemy came knocking before making preparations.
Once the Hidden Leaf Hokage Building made its decision, it was like a massive stone crashing into the small lake that was Konoha.
Before long, after receiving the news, the various ninja clans shut their doors and began holding their own small meetings.
Konoha's Naka River Shrine was, in truth, just a house beside a ditch.
Many Uchiha Clan ninja had gathered there, waiting for the meeting to begin. The youngest among them was fourteen-year-old Uchiha Ran.
Because the Uchiha Clan worshipped strength, clan members who possessed the Three-Tomoe Sharingan automatically earned the right to attend clan meetings.
And the Three-Tomoe Sharingan represented the strength of a jōnin.
Otherwise, did they think the Uchiha Clan would let some snot-nosed brat attend a clan meeting?
As for how Uchiha Ran had risen from an ordinary Uchiha clansman to a ninja respected by everyone in the clan—
it was naturally not because of the talent granted by two lifetimes, nor because of hard work and struggle. It was simply because he had cheats.
The very instant he had been reborn into this world, a voice had suddenly sounded in his mind. It seemed to come from the depths of the universe, carrying a mysterious and solemn aura.
"Detected extremely high compatibility between host and King System—matching host..." "Match successful. Congratulations, host, you have obtained four skills and will possess them for life—" As the voice fell silent, a dazzling light suddenly flashed before his eyes. Immediately afterward, a powerful torrent of information flooded his mind. This torrent contained detailed introductions and methods of use for these five skills. His brain felt as though a supercomputer had instantly filled it to the brim, with all kinds of information rushing in and leaving him overwhelmed. 1. Diving: Dive into water or earth to escape. Cooldown: one day. Duration: one minute. Range: one kilometer. 2. Wave Break: The first attack made upon emerging from water gains 200% power. 3. Harvest: Within fifty meters of the host, when an enemy's mana bar falls below 20%, the host can teleport to their side and Harvest them. 4. Otherworldly Mouth: As long as what is said is reasonable, others' degree of conviction automatically increases by 10%. 5. Superior Ninjutsu Talent: Talent as high as three or four stories. Lastly, ten Resurrection Potions are granted. (After taking one, when on the verge of death or in a state of pure soul possession, the user enters a state of feigned death before finally emerging from the cocoon transformed like a butterfly.) System mission complete. Automatic destruction program initiated— **Boom!**
That was right. The system had arrived, and then the system had left again.
It was both reasonable and unexpected.
Wasn't it perfectly normal for a transmigrator to be paired with a system?
But the system had fucking left again. That was a little too abnormal, wasn't it?
Could it have been given to me just to meet a sales quota, and now it was running off to its next customer?
System: How else do you think I earned the title of top salesperson?
Before you continue