Danzo Takes the Blame · The Hatake Debate

The dismissal bell rang. After assigning homework, Daisuke Nakano watched the students file out. He did not leave immediately, instead lingering in the classroom for a moment.

After glancing once more at the two empty seats, he straightened his collar and headed for the Hokage Building.

The Hokage's office was filled with smoke.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was bent over a pile of documents, not looking into any crystal ball.

After all, no woman would go to a bathhouse first thing in the morning.

Hearing a knock, he responded without looking up. "Come in."

"Lord Hokage." Daisuke Nakano bowed respectfully.

"Daisuke, is something the matter?" Sarutobi Hiruzen set down his pen and rubbed his brow.

"It is regarding a student in my class, Kiryu Daiki. He was absent without cause today, and his family did not request leave either," Daisuke Nakano reported.

Sarutobi Hiruzen merely waved a hand dismissively, his tone calm. "Mm, I understand. I'll handle this matter."

"Yes." Daisuke Nakano lowered his head, feeling somewhat ashamed. The Hokage was so busy every day and already so exhausted early in the morning, yet I can't even keep track of one student. I still have to trouble the Hokage with it.

Little did he know that Sarutobi Hiruzen's exhaustion might not have come from official affairs, but from Biwako Sarutobi at home, who was forty-six this year. Sarutobi Hiruzen himself was forty-seven.

"How have things been in class lately? Have you found any particularly outstanding talents?" Sarutobi Hiruzen changed the subject, his usual gentleness returning.

At that, Daisuke Nakano perked up. "Yes, Lord Hokage. Kakashi Hatake is exceptionally talented. He grasps theory lessons immediately and can draw inferences from one example. In practical classes, his Shuriken Throwing and Kunai Throwing are even more precise and consistent than those of many graduates!"

"Oh? As expected of the White Fang of Konoha's son." A smile appeared on Sarutobi Hiruzen's face, though beneath it lay a faint, inscrutable meaning.

"And how are those two Uchiha doing?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked.

"The two Uchiha have been rather average. Uchiha Hara's stamina is around the middle, while Uchiha Obito's is near the bottom. As for Shuriken Throwing and Kunai Throwing, both of them are utterly dreadful!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned. He knew the Uchiha Clan had sent over two bottom-rankers this year, but he had not expected them to perform this badly.

The teacher's assessment was indeed precise. Truly evil Uchiha by nature.

He waved his hand. "All right, go attend to your work."

"Yes." Daisuke Nakano bowed again and withdrew from the office.

Once the door closed, the smile on Sarutobi Hiruzen's face slowly faded.

He picked up his pipe and took a deep drag, smoke obscuring the complex look in his eyes.

The Uchiha issue was not yet an issue.

The main problem now was Sakumo Hatake.

Sakumo Hatake... powerful, with a one-hundred-percent mission completion rate. He had saved countless comrades on the battlefield and slain major figures from enemy villages.

Within the village, he cared for his subordinates and possessed tremendous prestige. He was practically the perfect model of a shinobi.

But of all things, he should not have accepted that "Hokage Half-Sleeve" privately bestowed by the Daimyo!

What did that mean? Was the Daimyo trying to interfere with Konoha's internal Hokage succession through this? Or was it meant to imply something?

And Sakumo Hatake had actually accepted it? Did he not possess even the slightest political awareness?

Did he not know how much suspicion and trouble such a small gesture would invite?

Just as he was deep in thought, a detailed report concerning Kiryu Daiki's disappearance was delivered by ANBU.

Before Daisuke Nakano had arrived, Kiryu Daiki's father, a mere Chunin, had already come to plead tearfully. Thus, Sarutobi Hiruzen had dispatched ANBU to investigate.

If ANBU had members of the Inuzuka Clan and brought along a dog, they might actually have uncovered something. Unfortunately, ANBU required its members' identities to remain secret, so the Inuzuka Clan could not join at all.

The lack of scent-tracking ability would have been one thing, but the ANBU agents did not even investigate seriously.

After all, children occasionally disappeared in the Hidden Leaf Village. If they had to thoroughly investigate every case, would they ever get anything else done?

Besides, who dared investigate too seriously? What if they actually found something?

The report ANBU handed Sarutobi Hiruzen at this moment was no different from the reports on previous missing children.

Combining the report with the father's account—his son had not returned after school yesterday, and all the places he usually went had been searched—Sarutobi Hiruzen already had a guess.

He gave an order to the empty air. "Go. Invite Elder Danzo here."

Not long after, Shimura Danzo entered with his cane, his expression blank.

"Hiruzen, what do you want with me?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen did not beat around the bush. He asked directly, "Danzo, did Root capture a Ninja Academy student named Kiryu Daiki?"

Danzo narrowed his single eye and immediately retorted, "Absurd! Since when would Root need to lay hands on a Ninja Academy student?"

"Hmph!" Sarutobi Hiruzen snorted coldly. "I remember that child. He comes from a civilian family, but he was born with a strong physique. His physical abilities far surpass those of his peers. He is clearly... a very good prospect."

He deliberately stressed the words "good prospect." "Other than you, who else would be interested in him?"

Danzo frowned deeply, his tone still forceful. "No means no! I am not so despicable as that!"

Yet deep down, he felt a trace of uncertainty.

Although he controlled Root, the specific capture lists were drafted jointly by his subordinates and Orochimaru. He merely set broad criteria, such as war orphans, refugees, or people with certain special constitutions.

As Root's deputy leader, Orochimaru likewise had the authority to mobilize part of Root's forces for his "research."

He truly could not guarantee that Orochimaru or some subordinate squad had not privately taken action after taking an interest in Kiryu Daiki's physique.

After all, Root's methods had always skirted the edge of darkness.

Seeing the fleeting hesitation deep in Danzo's eyes, Sarutobi Hiruzen became even more convinced of his judgment.

He said in a deep voice, "I don't care whether you personally gave the order! Investigate immediately! If he is still alive, erase the relevant memories and release him at once! Ninja Academy students cannot be touched casually. It could easily cause unnecessary panic!"

Danzo was silent for a moment before asking, "And if... he is already dead?"

"Dead?" Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice abruptly rose. "How could he die after only one night?!"

"You and I both understand the corrosive nature of that thing." Danzo's tone was calm, as though he were discussing something insignificant. "Some test subjects can hold on for one or two months. Others... suffer cellular collapse and die in an instant."

Hearing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen helplessly held his forehead. In the end, he wearily waved a hand. "...Investigate immediately! If he is alive, I want to see him. If he is dead... make sure the loose ends are dealt with and his family is properly placated."

"Mm." Danzo answered blandly, though inwardly he did not care.

Once someone entered Root, how could they be released so easily?

As for Kiryu Daiki's father... he was merely a Chunin without any notable backing. Since his son might already be gone, he might as well be dragged into Root too. At least he would make decent cannon fodder.

With the matter of "Kiryu Daiki" settled for the moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen's thoughts returned to Sakumo Hatake.

"Danzo, what do you think of Sakumo?" He exhaled a smoke ring and asked slowly.

A glint flashed through Danzo's single eye. "His prestige in the village is too high. Some people have even begun calling him the 'Fourth' in private."

"Sigh..." Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed. "That is understandable. During the Second Shinobi World War, the situation in the Land of Rain that you and I handled, and the postwar affairs in the Land of Wind... were indeed not handled as well as they could have been."

He glanced at Danzo, the implication obvious: your command errors had turned an advantageous battle into a stalemate.

And though I won in the Land of Wind, I abandoned massive reparations. To some villagers and shinobi, that too looked like weakness.

"It is only natural for the villagers to hope for a stronger leader."

Then his tone shifted and turned stern. "But the position of Hokage must never be handed to someone with excessively close ties to the Daimyo!"

Danzo sneered inwardly. He knew Sarutobi Hiruzen was merely using this as an excuse.

Other than that Hokage Half-Sleeve, Sakumo Hatake had no deeper connections to the Daimyo's Court.

Yet that single point had become the only excuse they could use to attack him.

It was because Sakumo Hatake was simply too perfect in every other respect, nearly without a flaw.

"I understand what you mean." Danzo's grip on his cane tightened. "Leave this matter to me. I will make him 'voluntarily' give up his bid for the Hokage position."

"Do not act too hastily," Sarutobi Hiruzen warned. "He has just earned the Daimyo's favor. If something happens immediately, would that not be a slap in the Daimyo's face? Wait a while and find a suitable opportunity."

"Hmph, the Daimyo..." Danzo let out an almost inaudible snort through his nose, and that mad thought surged within him once more. One day, if I can unify the Ninja World, all those damned Daimyo and nobles will be buried in the ground!

That was right. It was not only transmigrators who dreamed of unifying the world. Some natives of the Ninja World possessed the same ambition.

Danzo was one of them!

He had ambitions for the whole world, yet his aspirations exceeded his abilities. He had lofty goals but insufficient talent, all ambition and no matching courage or vision.

His dream of sweeping across the Ninja World was destined to die before it could begin.