"What's wrong? I'm perfectly fine."
Danzo glanced casually at the person who had arrived, and when he recognized who it was, he spat the tea he had just drunk directly onto the person's face.
His expression darkened, simply because the person before him was none other than his prized subordinate, Shimura Agou.
He had clearly sent him on a mission, but now only he had returned. As for what had happened, Danzo dared not even think about it.
Danzo coldly, his face grim.
"Tell me, how did the mission go?"
Tea was dripping down Shimura Agou's face, but he didn't dare wipe it or move, only stammering.
Lord Danzo...
"Alright, that's enough."
Upon hearing this, Danzo knew things had gone wrong. He looked at Shimura Agou speechlessly; he had entrusted him with such a simple task, and Shimura had still managed to mess it up.
" Agou, you've been with me for quite a while now, haven't you?"
Hearing this, Shimura Agou thought to himself, "This is bad. Is it coming for me?"
" Lord Danzo, I have been following you since my father passed away."
Upon hearing this, a hint of reminiscence flashed in Danzo's eyes, as if he remembered the spirited young man standing before him, only to have an accident while on a mission.
That day, he saw Shimura Agou, who was still a little boy, looking at him with tears in his eyes. He didn't want to see this little guy all alone, and since he was short of people, he brought Shimura Agou to his side.
After that, this noisy little guy was always around him. He couldn't say he liked it, but he didn't dislike it either.
But today, he actually messed up the task he was given. Leading so many people to capture Jinchūriki, how could he not succeed?
At this moment, Shimura Agou was in a difficult situation. What could he do? He simply couldn't defeat that Jinchūriki.
Danzo looked at Shimura Agou, who was kneeling on the ground, and felt quite angry, but then he remembered that Shimura was someone he had raised since he was a child, so he could only try his best to suppress his anger.
"Alright, you... sigh... be more careful next time."
Danzo was genuinely afraid that if he uttered a suggestion about the next life, he might be killed by Shimura Agou in a fit of anger. That wouldn't be worth it.
"Alright, if we didn't catch the Jinchūriki, so be it. What about the others?"
When Shimura Agou first heard that Danzo was willing to let him go, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. However, upon hearing the second half of Danzo's sentence, he, who had not yet stood up, suddenly knelt down again.
Shimura Agou Danzo by Shimura Agou's rapid change of expression, but he quickly realized that something seemed to have happened.
"Tell me, what exactly happened?"
Shimura Agou then trembled as he told Danzo what had happened in the Land of Waves.
After hearing Shimura Agou's words, Danzo was no longer calm. Jinchūriki were already this strong; how could he have taken down so many of his subordinates all by himself?
If these words hadn't come from Shimura Agou's mouth, he would have doubted the truth of the matter.
But now, things have gotten a bit serious. What if the Monkey finds out what he's done?
Danzo shook his head, dismissing these inappropriate thoughts from his mind.
"I did all this for Konoha. That Monkey will definitely understand me."
Hiruzen Sarutobi:??? Understand? I don't understand a single thing. Go find your Monkey to understand, don't come to me, Hiruzen Sarutobi, I can't understand.
In the Land of Waves, on the bridge, under the supervision of Team 7, construction was successfully completed. A bridge for people to travel on was thus built by this group of people. It must be admitted that the craftsmen of the Land of Waves are quite skilled.
Naruto marveled at the completed bridge; the speed was impressive, but compared to the infrastructure teams of his era, it still paled in comparison.
" Naruto, it's time to go."
Naruto responded and followed the group. Over the past few days, Naruto had transported Gato's money and valuables away. With the help of the Uchiha Clan's Ninja Cat, reversing the summoning of several sealing scrolls was still achievable.
Naruto and Sasuke are now considered wealthy, but Sasuke, the second young master of the Uchiha Clan, scoffs at Naruto's behavior.
Naruto seriously refuted Sasuke's statement:
You don't know the cost of firewood, rice, oil, and salt until you're in charge of the household.
Amidst the cheers of the people of the Land of Waves, the group departed together. Tazuna even considered carving Naruto's Naruto onto the bridge, but Naruto objected, saying that the idea of Great Naruto Bridge" sounded incredibly ridiculous.
In the end Tazuna could only pick a name at random and carve it on the side of the bridge, calling it the Wave Power Sea Bridge.
In Konoha, the group that returned to the village parted ways. Kakashi took the Root ninja, who was starving and barely recognizable, to find Hiruzen Sarutobi. None of the three wanted to follow Kakashi, so they each went back to their own homes.
Of course, Naruto returned to the Uchiha with Sasuke; this place had long become his second home.
When Kakashi appeared, he was already in the Hokage's office. After reporting the mission to the Land of Waves to Hiruzen Sarutobi, he pointed to the Root ninja beside him.
" Kakashi, who is this person?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi had noticed the person next to Kakashi long ago. Although he was dressed Anbu, the aura emanating from him was clearly not something Anbu could possess. It was more like the Root. He could smell Danzo's scent on this person.
"We were attacked by these people in the Land of Waves."
As Kakashi spoke, he was secretly observing Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression, but he couldn't detect anything amiss from Hiruzen Sarutobi.
When Hiruzen Sarutobi heard that Kakashi and the others had been attacked in the Land of Waves, he first showed a worried expression, and then quickly asked more questions.
" Kakashi, are you all alright?"
Kakashi shook his head. Although he hadn't found the answer he wanted, a seed of doubt had been planted, and he was now beginning to doubt him.
" Lord Hokage, this person is dressed in Anbu attire..."
Kakashi stopped there and continued, his dead fish eyes calmly fixed on Hiruzen Sarutobi, hoping he could give him and them an explanation.
"Sigh, Kakashi, you're right. This person is dressed in Anbu attire, but he's not one of my Anbu. You also served in the Anbu for a while, so I believe you know that this person isn't from the Anbu."
"However, I will give you an explanation. I will definitely find out who wanted to harm you."
" Lord Hokage, I know... but this person..."
"I know, Kakashi, please believe me. I will never let any bad person go unpunished, nor will I wrong any innocent person."
Hiruzen Sarutobi could only manage an awkward smile and said he would handle the matter. After confirming that no one was in the office, Hiruzen Sarutobi completely lost his temper.
"That damned Danzo, he's causing me trouble again! He's trying to Jinchūriki again. Didn't I tell him to behave himself? And yet he still managed to get something on me."
"Damn it, damn it!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi angrily slammed his fist on the table, making a loud "duang duang duang" sound, and the table was completely destroyed.
"Go, bring that Danzo guy here."