Chapter 44

"Don't forget someone else. Hatake Xuanzhe is standing beside her."

Utatane Koharu's gaze turned cold as she continued:

"Has that brat not caused enough trouble already?"

"I'm not dead yet."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

Although he was already past fifty, he knew his strength had been declining over the past two years.

But he still held the position of Hokage.

As long as he was alive, how much trouble could those youngsters possibly stir up?

"He dared to lay hands on your son. As for you, his father... I doubt he'd show you any mercy either, would he?"

Shimura Danzō sneered.

Indeed, Shinnosuke having died at Xuan Zhe's hands was already an unspoken understanding among the higher-ups.

There were too many suspicious points, and the timing and circumstances of his death were far too convenient.

Only their lack of solid evidence and wariness of Xuan Zhe's strength had kept them from openly falling out with him.

But everyone knew the truth-Xuan Zhe had killed Shinnosuke.

If he dared to kill the son, why wouldn't he dare to kill the father?

Besides, it wasn't as though Xuan Zhe had never killed a Kage before.

They only had to think of the Second Kazekage's fate.

"Members of the Elders Council, the heads of the village's major shinobi clans have all arrived in the meeting room."

Footsteps came from the doorway. The guard shinobi had arrived.

"What do you have in mind?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi led the other three toward the meeting room, talking as they walked.

"That brat wants to claim credit so he can build prestige in the village and back Tsunade. We just have to deny him the chance."

Danzo's voice was as cold as a stone in winter. "Tsunade may have gone to the front, but as long as you remain in office, she won't dare use force. The Senju Clan's princess has to preserve some dignity."

He paused, then added, "Still... if we get a chance to crush them for good, that would save us even more trouble."

When they reached the large meeting room, the atmosphere immediately grew heavy.

"You've all probably heard. The Third Raikage's son, A, and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Killer B, are leading a vanguard of five thousand Kumogakure shinobi toward the northern part of our Land of Fire."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat at the head of the table, his voice heavy. "Clearly, the Third Raikage's earlier attack on the Land of Wind was just a feint. Their target is still our Land of Fire."

"If the esteemed members of the Elders Council had realized that sooner, things wouldn't have come to this, would they?"

The speaker was Nawaki. His strength was only at the Chunin level, but as the head of the Senju Clan, he spoke with biting sarcasm.

The corners of Hiruzen Sarutobi's mouth twitched, as did those of the other three.

But Nawaki was sitting right beside Xuan Zhe, making it difficult for them to say anything.

Ultimately, they were the ones in the wrong here.

"The daimyo's orders have arrived. We must send an army to stop them immediately."

Utatane Koharu hurriedly stood to change the subject, pulling a list from inside her clothes and reading it aloud. "Five thousand shinobi will march north to intercept them. Commander-in-chief, Shimura Danzō. Deputy commander-in-chief, Na-"

"Pfft!"

Xuan Zhe had just raised his cup and taken a sip of tea. Hearing Utatane Koharu read the list, he couldn't hold it in and sprayed it straight out.

In an instant, everyone in the room shifted their gaze from Utatane Koharu to Xuan Zhe's face.

"Sorry."

Xuan Zhe tried to hold back his laughter.

But it was so ridiculous that he simply couldn't suppress the smile on his face.

Beside him, the quick-tongued Nawaki had already voiced his thoughts for him, his tone full of mockery. "Lord Danzo as commander-in-chief? Is that a mistake?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Danzo's gaze was as cold as a blade.

If you weren't Teacher Tobirama's grandson, would a mere Chunin like you have any right to sit here?

"No, no, no. I just think you're an absolute expert at dirty tricks and scheming, Lord Danzo, but facing the enemy head-on on the battlefield? I'm not so sure. Besides, have you ever fought in a Shinobi World War?"

Nawaki grinned, his words barbed.

"Nonsense! During the First Shinobi World War, I-"

"During the First Shinobi World War, weren't you all just running errands behind Grandpa Tobirama? And you never fought on an actual front line during the Second Shinobi World War either, did you?"

Danzo's face twisted with rage, and he opened his mouth to retort.

But Nawaki had shut him down completely in just two sentences.

During the First Shinobi World War, they had barely amounted to anything. Tobirama Senju had done most of the work.

By the second war, talented shinobi had emerged in droves in Konoha. Those four could win while lying down, so why bother getting up to fight?

The heads of the Hyuga, Ino-Shika-Cho, and other clans present couldn't help exchanging glances.

Thinking it over carefully, those four on the Elders Council really did seem never to have gone to the front...

"Enough, Nawaki. Stop."

Just as the Elders Council's F4 were red-faced with fury yet had no idea how to respond.

Xuan Zhe spoke up and stopped Nawaki.

The Elders Council's F4 all froze.

This brat was actually taking their side?

"But Lord Danzo, you should stay in the rear. If you go to the battlefield, you might throw your back out."

At Xuan Zhe's words, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other three nearly coughed up blood.

They had thought the brat had changed his ways and was actually speaking up for them.

But the moment he opened his mouth, there it was-the same old attitude, the same old flavor.

Xuan Zhe thought it over. Plenty of people said the Elders Council's F4 had never taken part in the Shinobi World Wars at all, but that wasn't entirely accurate.

At the very least, in the original story, hadn't Danzo also had a hand in Yahiko's death and Nagato's descent into darkness?

Though those four really did seem to have been absent from the overt fighting.

Still, he had never imagined they would actually appoint Danzo commander-in-chief at the front.

Had the Elders Council gone mad?

"Lord Hokage, we also feel that Lord Danzo... isn't quite suitable, is he?"

Shikaku Nara hesitated for a long while before finally raising his hand in objection.

After all, they were the ones going to war.

An incompetent general could get an entire army killed.

In the second-to-last year of the Second Shinobi World War, hadn't the Senju Clan fallen into an enemy trap while under Danzo's command?

They were afraid of meeting the same fate as the Senju, too.

Danzo's face was as black as the bottom of a pot. He had never expected these clan heads to show him so little respect, one after another.

He silently held it against them...

"This decision was reached after careful deliberation by our Elders Council."

Mitokado Homura spoke:

"Rest assured, everything we do is in Konoha's interests."

They couldn't very well say they were appointing Danzo commander-in-chief to keep Xuan Zhe under control and prevent him from earning merit on the battlefield, could they?

"In that case, why doesn't Lord Hokage go to war himself? In terms of strength, Lord Hokage should be stronger, shouldn't he? Otherwise, why did Grandpa Tobirama choose him back then instead of Lord Danzo? Why? Why?"

Nawaki started adding fuel to the fire again.

Danzo's eyes immediately bulged like brass bells, as though they were about to spit fire. His hate-filled gaze now took in Hiruzen Sarutobi as well.

The moment Nawaki said that, Danzo's gaze stabbed toward him like a knife.

Hiruzen Sarutobi cursed Nawaki eight hundred times inwardly, but outwardly he had to maintain his composure. He gave a dry cough and said, "As the village's Kage, I cannot leave lightly unless the situation is critical. This is for Konoha's safety."

What a load of bullshit.

Wasn't the Third Raikage charging at the very front?

Nawaki was so angry he nearly jumped up. He opened his mouth to curse, but Xuan Zhe reached over and held him down.

"Some things are a waste of breath," Xuan Zhe said evenly.

As he saw it, what good did just talking do?

If you really hated someone, you were better off taking action.

"Continuing the list." Utatane Koharu finally seized a chance to speak. "Deputy commander-in-chief, Shikaku Nara. First Division captain, Hyuga Hiashi. Second Division..."

Before long, every position had been assigned.

Xuan Zhe hadn't landed any military post, but he didn't care.

As long as he could go to the battlefield, that was enough. Besides, command wasn't his strong suit anyway.