"Mm, Orochimaru will deal with the Third Hokage. I'll deal with Danzo. As for the other two advisers, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura... forget it. They're only two elite jonin. At their age, it's debatable whether they even still have the strength of elite jonin."
Cao Ya rubbed his chin and pondered, With the Third Hokage and Danzo gone, those two old fossils won't be able to stir up much of a wave.
He suddenly frowned.
"One of Body Flicker Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan is in Danzo's hands. Can I withstand that thing?"
Cao Ya shook his head. Not one of those seven Cao Yas was proficient in illusion techniques. Against Kotoamatsukami, they would pretty much all be groping in the dark.
"Hmm, Kotoamatsukami is a tough problem."
Cao Ya wasn't worried about the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal. Upon entering the System Space, that thing had been washed away outright.
He hadn't even needed to do anything.
Now, he possessed the Outer Scenery Seventh Heaven cultivation of the Cao Ya from The Masters of This World and the Sixth-Rank Power of the Cao Ya from Global Martial Arts, along with his own jonin strength. Leaving Kotoamatsukami out of the equation, he was confident he could kill Danzo in a head-on fight.
The problem lay in Kotoamatsukami!
That thing was far too broken.
It forcibly altered another person's will: "The eye that dominates the will, turning anyone the caster sees into his puppet!"
"With an ability that broken, Shisui still managed to get ambushed and seriously injured by Danzo?" Cao Ya was too exasperated to comment. The Uchiha Clan's extermination had truly been inevitable, unless a second Madara Uchiha emerged and beat every ninja in Konoha to a pulp with outrageously overwhelming power.
After all, there was no Hashirama Senju around anymore.
Unfortunately, neither Shisui Uchiha nor Uchiha Itachi sided with the Uchiha.
Otherwise, with the three Mangekyo Sharingan wielders-Shisui, Itachi, and Fugaku-and the support of powerful clans such as the Hyuga, the Third Hokage and Danzo might not have been able to beat the Uchiha.
After all, over the matter of Hizashi Hyuga, most of the Hyuga Clan had actually harbored dissatisfaction with the Third Hokage.
Well, except for the Main Family.
"I wonder if I can use some of the secret arts from The Masters of This World?" Cao Ya mused. He had come up with a few ideas for dealing with Kotoamatsukami.
By then, various sounds gradually rose from the streets outside. Konoha had regained the vitality of the foremost ninja village.
"After the Chunin Ninja Exams, should I try... competing for the position of Hokage?"
The thought crossed Cao Ya's mind, but he immediately broke into an involuntary chuckle.
That was a flight of fancy!
He was a jonin and had indeed contributed a great deal to Konoha, but he belonged to Root, after all. Most of what he did could not bear the light of day.
He really couldn't speak openly about all his contributions.
Besides, the various factions in Konoha would not accept a member of Danzo's Root as Hokage.
They wouldn't even accept Danzo himself!
Tsunade or Jiraiya would better serve their interests.
They were also the people's choice.
Unless Cao Ya had power like Nagato's!
He could crush every dissenting voice through violence!
But... Super Kage Level was not so easy to reach.
In the present Shinobi World, perhaps Nagato was the only one at Super Kage Level.
In terms of raw strength, Obito, Itachi, Ōnoki, Jiraiya, and the others certainly could not compare with Nagato and his Rinnegan.
Cao Ya got dressed and went out. He needed to report to Root.
After the Uchiha Clan Massacre, Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi had ordered Shimura Danzō removed from his position as Assistant to the Hokage and told him to disband the organization called Root.
But clearly, this was merely an order meant to hoodwink Konoha's various factions, as well as a warning from the Third Hokage to Danzo.
And the Third Hokage clearly would not give up a proxy for dirty work like Root.
Even though the Third Hokage had the Anbu, there were many matters in which even the Anbu could not conveniently act. Those still had to fall to the Pot Kage, Danzo, and his Root.
On that point, the Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had the Pot Kage, Danzo, firmly under his thumb.
No wonder that, after decades, Danzo had only managed to snag an Acting Hokage position to briefly satisfy his craving.
Root still existed; it simply no longer appeared in public.
Cao Ya, for instance, was a Root member. Before the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal was removed,
he had no choice but to keep obeying Danzo. Yet his official position was actually that of an Anbu member.
Could Hiruzen Sarutobi possibly not know that he was one of Danzo's men?
He had merely tacitly permitted some of Danzo's little maneuvers.
After making Danzo take the blame for so much, the Third Hokage had to give him a few benefits.
Thus, although Cao Ya appeared to be an Anbu member, the Third Hokage rarely gave him orders, and under normal circumstances, Danzo would not deploy him either.
But Cao Ya knew that whenever he received an order, whether it came from the Third Hokage or Danzo, it would mean an extremely dangerous mission.
With the Chunin Ninja Exams imminent and participating teams from the various ninja villages arriving in Konoha, the pressure on public security was immense.
Especially since the Uchiha, who currently ran the Konoha Military Police Force, had been wiped out.
The Anbu members had heavy workloads.
"Fuck, everyone's working nine to nine, six days a week. Just like capitalists!" Cao Ya grumbled.
After the Uchiha Clan Massacre, the Konoha Military Police Force had never been rebuilt. According to the timeline, it would not be rebuilt until Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.
Although Cao Ya was a jonin and had some standing, within Root, he certainly did not receive the same attention from Danzo as Torune Aburame and Yamanaka Fū.
There was one benefit to that: Danzo did not know him well enough.
In Danzo's eyes, he had placed the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal on every Root member. What was there to fear?
Cao Ya made a circuit of the Root Base without seeing Danzo. He had no idea what Danzo had gone off to do.
In the original story, when Orochimaru launched the Konoha Crush, Danzo had also stayed hidden in the shadows and never appeared at all.
Cao Ya left the Root Base.
With the participating teams from the various villages entering Konoha, Orochimaru probably had not yet assassinated the Fourth Kazekage, but had instead slipped into Konoha disguised as a candidate from Kusagakure.
He had no intention of dealing with Orochimaru, either.
At least, there was no need right now.
Later... he would see. Orochimaru's scientific research abilities were still top-notch.
As he passed the bathhouse, Cao Ya instinctively glanced over, and his gaze immediately sharpened.
A tall man with long white hair was crouched outside the women's bathhouse, lecherously peeping inside.
"Jiraiya!"
Cao Ya was not surprised to see Jiraiya, one of the Sannin.
In the original timeline, Jiraiya had also returned to Konoha at this point.
"I wonder who would be stronger if I fought Jiraiya as I am now?" Cao Ya suddenly felt an itch to try. He had gained the power of those seven Cao Yas, especially his counterparts from The Masters of This World and Global Martial Arts.
In the world of Naruto, Cao Ya's combat strength had shot straight up to Kage Level.
He restrained the impulse.
Revealing his strength now would be far too poor a bargain.
From beginning to end, his target should be Danzo!
"Kotoamatsukami..."
Cao Ya knitted his brows and walked away.
Outside the women's bathhouse, Jiraiya glanced back but paid him no attention. He had been away from Konoha for quite a few years.
"Hehe, young girls are too unripe, older women are too ripe. These young married women are the best! Those figures... oh, oh." Jiraiya felt he could barely take it anymore. He touched his nose; it was a little wet.
He was a seasoned veteran of countless battles!
The power of young married women... truly was extraordinary!
Ichiraku Ramen.
"Boss, one tonkotsu ramen. Make it a large serving."
Cao Ya had come for breakfast, and the moment he arrived, he spotted several familiar figures.
Kakashi, Might Guy, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Tenten, Rock Lee, and Neji.
Both Team 7 and Team Guy were there.
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