Sowing Discord

In the Hokage's Office, with only Hiruzen and Danzo remaining, the two sat facing each other across the desk. Hiruzen instinctively took out his pipe and took a couple of puffs before recounting the contents of their earlier meeting to Danzo.

Danzo sneered inwardly after hearing it. Just as he had expected, Uzumaki Mito had been the one to ruin his plan. Naturally, he would not say such things to Hiruzen. He merely furrowed his brow slightly and put on a deeply disappointed expression.

Rather than continuing to discuss the war, he immediately shifted his fire toward Mito. "Tobirama-sensei already passed the title of Hokage on to you, so why do you still listen to that old—Lady Mito at every turn? If you keep acting like this, people will definitely say behind your back that you have no backbone, that you're nothing but a rubber stamp."

Hiruzen chuckled. "They won't. Lady Mito herself said she had no interest in the position of Hokage. Her only wish is for little Tsunade to grow up capable enough to protect the village.

"Besides, Lady Mito's approach makes a lot of sense. The villagers all respect her greatly, so how could people gossip just because I take her advice?"

Seeing Hiruzen like that left Danzo thoroughly frustrated. Where was even a shred of a Hokage's authority or decisiveness? Did such a weak manner really qualify him to be Hokage? Danzo cursed inwardly, yet his face still wore an expression of deep concern as he said to Hiruzen:

"You believe her just because she says so? I think she's just fooling you. She says she has no interest in being Hokage, but what about in practice? How much say do you even have in major affairs?"

Hiruzen shook his head helplessly. "Danzo, after all these years, why are you still so suspicious of others? Think about it—Lady Mito is the First Hokage's wife. With her reputation and strength, if she wanted to become Hokage, who would oppose her?

"Not to mention anyone else—if Lady Mito truly told me she wanted to be Hokage, I'd gladly give the position to her. Whether in ability or strength, Lady Mito surpasses me. Sometimes, sitting in this position myself makes me feel undeserving."

Danzo cursed Hiruzen as an utter idiot in his heart, but he continued explaining with painstaking sincerity on his face.

"What do you mean, I'm suspicious of others? You're the one being too muddleheaded. Think about it. How old are you and I? With Uzumaki Mito in the village, why did sensei pass the position of Hokage to you?

"You said it yourself—Uzumaki Mito surpasses you in both ability and strength. If there weren't something wrong with her, why wouldn't Tobirama-sensei simply appoint her Hokage?"

"Th-then... what could possibly be wrong with Lady Mito?" Hiruzen did not know what to say now.

Danzo sneered inwardly and silently channeled Chakra into the eye wrapped in bandages. Beneath them, the Three-Tomoe Sharingan slowly began to turn. Feeling the terrifying drain on his Chakra, Danzo continued:

"You simply don't think enough in your everyday life. Don't forget, no matter what, Uzumaki Mito bears the Uzumaki name, and her maternal family is in the Land of Whirlpools.

"She already surpasses you and me in strength, and her methods are more sophisticated than ours. She also possesses the Nine-Tails' power, while the Senju Clan has all but scattered apart. If she truly became Hokage and wanted to turn Konoha into some Hidden Eddy Village, who in all of Konoha could stop her?"

"Ah... this..." Although Hiruzen vaguely felt that something was wrong with those words, he could not stop himself from thinking along the lines Danzo had laid out.

He had always been indecisive by nature. Otherwise, he would not later have let Danzo commit all those terrible acts after being persuaded by just a few words.

Combined with Danzo's little trick, Lady Mito—the elegant and wise figure in his mind—suddenly seemed to blur, as though her true face could no longer be seen clearly.

Seeing this, Danzo hurriedly struck while the iron was hot.

"Sensei must have discovered these intentions in Mito long ago. That was why he entrusted the village to us before he died: so that we could become a force capable of restraining Uzumaki Mito and prevent her from dominating everything alone.

"But if you obediently listen to Mito like this, wouldn't all of sensei's arrangements before his death have been for nothing?"

Danzo's words were like a demon's whisper, constantly battering Hiruzen's mental defenses. For one brief moment, he nearly believed Danzo's lies.

At that crucial moment, Danzo suddenly felt a sharp pain in his eye. He instinctively covered his Sharingan and let out a cry of pain.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been hesitating moments before, suddenly felt much lighter all over. In an instant, his thoughts became clear. He rose abruptly to his feet and cut Danzo off with righteous conviction. "Enough, Danzo. These are all nothing but your own speculations, without a shred of evidence. It's one thing to say them here, but if these words got out, I'm afraid there would be no place left for you anywhere in Konoha.

"I don't believe Lady Mito harbors such malicious thoughts. The Uzumaki and Senju families have been close relatives for generations; they could never commit such an unjust and heartless act.

"Besides, with her current abilities, if she did not want me to be Hokage, all she would need to do was say a few words to the Daimyo. Why would she need to scheme as much as you claim? Not only that, she entrusted little Tsunade to me as my student. If Lady Mito truly had such disgraceful thoughts, why would she send Tsunade to be taught under me? Even if she really intended to carry out the Konoha Crush, I would stake my life on protecting this village. And not just me—Koharu, Torikaze, and you would all help me, wouldn't you?

"Hm? What's wrong with you?"

Danzo had already been suffering terribly from the backlash after underestimating the Sharingan's Chakra consumption. Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's speech nearly made him cough up a mouthful of blood from anger.

Afraid that Hiruzen would notice something wrong with his eye, he forcibly suppressed the urge to vomit blood, lifted his head, and gave Hiruzen a smile uglier than crying as he changed the subject.

"It's nothing, an old problem. Maybe it wasn't cleaned out properly when it was treated back then, and it got a little inflamed. I'll just change the bandages when I get back and take some anti-inflammatory medicine.

"What I said earlier was indeed rash. Still, one must always be wary of others. You should be more careful, and don't always go to that person for advice.

"By the way, what did you mean when you said she entrusted Tsunade to become your student? If I remember correctly, that child is only seven years old. How did she become your student already?"

Hiruzen relaxed considerably upon hearing that Danzo was fine. Smiling again, he said:

"It's good that you're all right, but you should still remember to get yourself checked when you have time. This sort of thing can't be taken lightly.

"We were busy with the ceasefire before, so I forgot to tell you. Tsunade's class is truly full of talent.

"They've only been enrolled for half a year, yet five children have already reached Genin level and passed the assessment set by their teacher, graduating early."

Danzo, who had still been covering his eye, suddenly widened his eyes at those words. Looking at Hiruzen, he pressed, "That talented? Aside from Tsunade, which families are the others from? Have teachers been arranged for all of them?"

I finally reached 1,000 bookmarks today. It really wasn't easy. Thank you all for your support, and I hope you'll continue supporting Ye Zhi in the future. Please keep bookmarking and recommending Ye Zhi! Ye Zhi offers all you great readers a 720-degree midair spin, a forward roll upon landing, and kneels in thanks!

(Tomorrow is Friday. Will humble Ye Zhi receive some love from the mighty editor and get another recommendation slot? This week's recommendations have been absolutely miserable, 5555.)