"How dare you!"
"You dare defy Lord Hokage's orders!"
Danzo slammed the desk and sprang to his feet, glaring at Zhou Cheng.
Zhou Cheng rolled his eyes at him and dropped the act. You're the ones who wanted to burn bridges.
"Oh, please, Danzo. You call him 'Lord' now, but who knows what you call him behind his back!"
"Drop the act. Aren't you tired of it?"
At Zhou Cheng's words, Danzo's chest heaved with rage. Even the finger he pointed at Zhou Cheng trembled.
"And you, Third Hokage."
"Can you honestly say you had no selfish motives for taking me as your student, that it was all for Konoha?"
"You just saw my talent and wanted to turn me into your tool!"
"You could've said so outright instead of making such a production of it!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi did not fly into a rage as expected.
But his eyes burned with anger as he looked at Zhou Cheng.
His fingers had turned white around the stem of his pipe, betraying how hard he was struggling to control his emotions.
"Zhou Cheng, have you lost your mind?"
"Are you planning to betray the village?"
Danzo's gaze turned cold as he tried to bait Zhou Cheng with his words.
They did not have sufficient grounds to punish Zhou Cheng as things stood.
Zhou Cheng sneered. Trying to dig a pit for me to fall into? Not a chance.
"Now, Lord Danzo, you can eat whatever you like, but you can't just say whatever you please!"
"I never said I wanted to betray the village!"
"Don't think you can trap me with false accusations!"
Danzo visibly froze, not expecting Zhou Cheng to react so quickly.
The Third Hokage exhaled deeply, releasing a thick cloud of smoke.
"Don't you want to become Hokage?"
"As