A battle of wits and nerve: when Danzo smiles, life and death hang in the balance (third update)

Danzo watched Hongle with amusement and mockery in his eyes.

In truth, he had recognized him the moment Hongle entered the office.

After all, the Root ninja under his command had reported every detail of the competition this man had organized with all the ramen chefs in the village.

The instant Danzo spoke, the entire room fell silent.

Hongle reacted quickly enough, bursting straight into laughter.

He laughed so hard he nearly doubled over.

Danzo frowned slightly at the sight.

"Impossible! That's absolutely impossible!"

Hongle waved a hand and declared with complete conviction, "With our respected Lord Hokage leading the village, and a pillar of strength like you standing guard, how would spies from other nations dare infiltrate the village?"

"And I'm merely a poor commoner. Even if I wanted to become a spy, I wouldn't have the ability. Besides, at my age, cooking is all I want out of life."

When heartfelt wishes and helplessness were put into words, they always carried a compelling sincerity.

Danzo was only making things difficult for Hongle out of professional habit.

After receiving firsthand information about Hongle, he had never considered him worth his attention.

How could a useless man without even a trace of chakra ever gain access to Konoha High Command's secrets?

The only reason he had staged this little performance was that the Uchiha Orphan and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki had been getting far too close to Hongle Ichiraku lately.

This was merely one of his habitual probes, but after careful observation, he had found not a flicker of panic in the man's eyes.

"Middle-aged, and quite the smooth talker. Tell me what you want."

Hongle had just made a round trip through death's door. A moment ago, the underworld's little demons had practically pinned his soul down and forced forgetfulness