Everyone was busy stirring up trouble

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo, and the others were all busy pursuing their own little schemes.

Meanwhile, the Senju Clan had been plunged into grief. The wife of the man they revered as a god had passed away that day.

After returning to the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi first ordered everyone who had witnessed him kill Utatane Koharu to keep their mouths shut. No one was permitted to spread the news. Of course, he also gave them some benefits: everyone present could collect the reward for an S-rank mission from the Anbu!

He then began deploying personnel to keep constant watch over developments in the village. Hiruzen Sarutobi knew what his old friend was scheming. There was no way Danzo would pass up such a perfect opportunity to undermine his prestige!

Sure enough, shortly after Hiruzen Sarutobi issued his orders, someone reported that people in the village were spreading the news that his own mistake had enraged Lord Sword God, and that he had personally killed Hokage Advisor Utatane Koharu to escape Lord Sword God's wrath!

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression darkened at the report. He told an Anbu ninja, "Go! Bring Elder Danzo here!"

Not long after Hiruzen Sarutobi gave the order, Danzo walked in with his cane.

Seeing Danzo enter, Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his hand on the desk and roared, "Danzo, what are you trying to do?"

Danzo remained utterly unfazed. He sat in a chair off to the side and said leisurely, "What have I done? I only just got back from the Senju Clan. Has something happened in the village?"

Watching Danzo sit there so calmly, Hiruzen Sarutobi's chest heaved with anger. After taking a moment to compose himself, he sat down and said, "Out with it! What are your terms?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi knew that Danzo would never let this go unless he made major concessions!

Still pretending to know nothing, Danzo said, "What are you talking about? Did Lord Ziyan's actions shock you so badly that something went wrong with your head?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared coldly at Danzo and said through gritted teeth, "Danzo, don't forget that I'm the Hokage! Don't push this too far! Even if I lose my position, I still have the power to make sure you never become Hokage!"

Danzo stiffened when Hiruzen Sarutobi said he was the Hokage. He had heard those words far too many times over the years. What he hated most was Hiruzen Sarutobi using his position as Hokage to lord it over him!

That was precisely why Danzo's desire for the Hokage position had only grown stronger!

"Oh? So you do know you're the Hokage? Strange. When you killed Koharu, I thought you'd forgotten!" Danzo said sarcastically.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stared coldly at Danzo and said, "Aren't you afraid Lord Ziyan will get angry if you spread this around the village? Forget becoming Hokage-I'm afraid you might not even survive. After all, you played quite a big part in what happened to Sakumo!"

Danzo frowned at Hiruzen Sarutobi's words. He had been so focused on undermining Hiruzen Sarutobi that he had forgotten Hatake Ziyan was involved in this as well.

Three days later, at Konoha Cemetery!

Mito Uzumaki's immediate family, led by Tsunade, and the heads of several of Konoha's ninja clans had gathered before Hashirama's grave, preparing to bury Mito Uzumaki alongside Hashirama Senju!

Naturally, Konoha High Command, led by Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo, was also present for such an important occasion.

They opened Hashirama's grave, preparing to place Mito Uzumaki's coffin beside his.

Yet when Hashirama Senju's grave was opened, Danzo's expression was noticeably unnatural. Everyone's attention was on the grave, however, and no one noticed him.

Once they had settled Mito Uzumaki's coffin into place and begun filling in the grave, Danzo let out a breath of relief. After all, this is the First Hokage's coffin. Who would dare open it without solid proof? I've just been scaring myself! he reassured himself.

Just then, Hatake Ziyan suddenly appeared beside Hashirama's coffin, stopping everyone from filling in the grave as he rested one hand on it.

"Grandpa Ziyan! What are you doing?" Seeing Hatake Ziyan place his hand on Hashirama Senju's coffin, Tsunade hurried to stop him.

Danzo's heart leaped into his throat when Hatake Ziyan placed his hand directly on the coffin. Seeing Tsunade intervene eased his worries a little!

"Lord Ziyan, although you and Lord First were good friends, he is the person we respect most in Konoha. Please don't do anything disrespectful!" Danzo immediately seized the opportunity to speak up as well.

Hatake Ziyan rubbed his nose and told everyone present, "I wasn't planning to do anything. It's just been many years since I last saw Hashirama, and I missed him, so I wanted to say hello! What's wrong? Do you have a problem with that, Danzo?"

The instant Hatake Ziyan placed his hand on Hashirama's coffin, he discovered that someone had tampered with Hashirama's body. Although he knew Danzo would research Hashirama cells, he hadn't expected him to start so early.

Hearing Hatake Ziyan's words, Danzo feared genuinely offending him, but feared him opening Hashirama's coffin even more. He hurriedly said, "No problem at all. But even if you miss an old friend, surely there's no need to open Lord First's coffin?"

Hatake Ziyan was amused by Danzo's words. When had he ever said he intended to open the coffin? Danzo was so afraid of him opening it that he had revealed his own motive: stopping him from opening the First Hokage's coffin.

Still, that made sense. Of everyone present, he was the only one who dared open it! Even if the others wanted to, they wouldn't dare risk being reviled by everyone in Konoha. Besides, they didn't know Hashirama's body had been tampered with, so they wouldn't open it anyway!

Hatake Ziyan weighed whether he should open the coffin and finish Danzo off for good!

Ding! Congratulations, host. You have triggered a choice.

Option one: Open the coffin, prove that Danzo desecrated Hashirama's remains and secretly cultivated Hashirama cells, and kill Danzo. Reward: increase the sword god template's level by one!

Option two: Leave the coffin closed and torment Danzo slowly, making him live in fear every day. Reward: reduce the experience required to level up the sword god template by 50%!

Before the choices appeared, he had intended to seize this opportunity to kill Danzo outright. Now, toying with him slowly seemed more interesting!

After making his choice, Hatake Ziyan grinned at Danzo, who was putting on such a righteous front, and said, "When did I ever say I was going to open Hashirama's coffin? Could it be that someone has done something shameful and is afraid I'll open it?"

At those words, Danzo immediately shouted in a show of bravado, "Lord Ziyan, you can't make careless accusations like that! Otherwise, even at the risk of being killed by you and reviled by the people of Konoha, I'll have to prove my innocence!"

Hatake Ziyan looked at Danzo, smacked his lips, and teased, "Don't get so worked up! You're a member of Konoha High Command, a Hokage advisor. I have no right to kill you on a whim. After all, I'm not the Hokage!"