"We'll suppress the matter and deal with him privately."
"The three of us advisors will step forward together. Even Danzō will have no choice but to accept the punishment, and I will personally take responsibility for supervising him afterward."
This time, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't smoke at all. He placed his pipe directly on the table.
He was very clear about what Danzō had done—after all, many of those actions had his tacit approval. Still, he chose to spare Danzō's life.
They were shinobi who had come up in the same era, comrades-in-arms. He didn't want Danzō to be pursued by the village over these matters.
Seeing his words and attitude, Minato Namikaze and Nara Shikaku both understood—this former hero of the shinobi world had grown old. If this were in the past, he might have made a completely different decision.
But now that he was no longer Hokage, his ambition had faded considerably. What remained was probably just a hope for peace.
The talks between the two sides fell into a stalemate, and it was at that moment that the doors to the conference room were pushed open.
Gekko Chizan and Uchiha Fugaku walked in with iron-dark expressions.
Especially the former—his very first sentence upon entering made everyone's expression change.
"Danzō has run. He took Root with him. There isn't even a single person left in the Root base now."
"Damn it—he must've known the team sent to assassinate me failed, so he ran in advance."
"I asked the ANBU guarding the gates, and they actually told me they didn't see anyone leave the village. Those ANBU—seriously. Starting tomorrow, double their training!"
Ran?
Danzō ran?
Whether it was Minato Namikaze and Nara Shikaku, or the three advisors, none of them had expected things to develop in this direction.
Especially the three advisors. They knew very well that although Danzō's actions were utterly without bottom lines, his original intentions had always been for the village. How could he abandon the Konoha he swore to protect and just leave?
Gekko Chizan: Right! For the village—weren't all the people he got killed villagers too???
"What do we do? Should we issue a wanted notice?"
"Minato, as long as you give the word, I'll head to the underground organizations immediately and have the intel network post a bounty on Danzō."
Gekko Chizan was in a terrible mood right now. They had been just one step away from throwing Danzō straight into the eighteenth layer of hell—and then what?
He ran???
It infuriated him beyond measure. All these years, in his mind, wasn't this kind of running and hiding supposed to be his specialty?
And now someone had used the same method to escape right under his nose. That made him extremely unhappy.
"No. Danzō is, after all, a three-generation elder of Konoha. If we issue a bounty like this and let the other villages find out, how will they look at us?"
"My suggestion is to secretly dispatch ANBU to track down Danzō's whereabouts."
Koharu Utatane was the first to step forward and refuse. For the village, if something like this got out, the repercussions would be terrible.
This was absolutely not something they could do.
Back then, one of the Three Sannin—Orochimaru—defecting had already pushed Konoha into the eye of the storm once.
If even a Hokage advisor defected and was publicly wanted now, what would Konoha become?
Her words were correct, and Minato Namikaze thought the same.
"Chizan, a public manhunt is definitely not an option."
"Danzō's identity is even more sensitive than Orochimaru's. Right now, we can only hand this task over to ANBU."
"Find him. Bring him back. Then put him on trial."
"Before that, this news must absolutely not be spread."
After saying the last sentence, Minato Namikaze's gaze swept across everyone in the conference room.
The meaning was clear—only those present here, plus the ANBU involved, were allowed to know about this. No one else was to be informed.
Hearing this, the three advisors all let out a sigh of relief. They were genuinely afraid that Minato Namikaze might agree to Gekko Chizan's suggestion on impulse.
If that happened, Konoha's reputation would be completely ruined.
"Tch. Got it."
"I'll coordinate with Shinnosuke on the ANBU side. Every squad dispatched on missions will also be searching for Danzō."
"Still, I doubt Danzō will leave the Land of Fire."
"Danzō has more than one Root base left within the Land of Fire."
Gekko Chizan understood Danzō very well—after all, he held grudges.
...
While they were discussing Danzō, the man himself had already arrived at the Daimyō's residence in the Land of Fire and had met Kazuma, the person in charge of the Guardian Ninja organization.
After many years apart, Kazuma looked far more sharp and hardened than before.
"The Hokage advisor of Konoha, Shimura Danzō—why have you come to the Daimyō's residence?"
"I have already left Konoha. I am now preparing to join the Daimyō's residence."
Hearing this, Kazuma was shocked. Danzō had left Konoha?
This was a major matter. After all, Danzō's identity was well known—he was a Hokage advisor.
"A great many things happened. The current Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and I do not share the same ideals. To prevent being targeted by him, I had no choice but to make a change."
"The people behind me are all my own subordinates—elite among the ANBU, and absolutely loyal to me."
"Kazuma, your goal is to have the Guardian Ninja replace Konoha, isn't it? Let me tell you—judging by your current quality, you simply can't do it."
"How about cooperating with me?"
"Konoha absolutely cannot be destroyed. But if I can become Hokage, then Konoha and the Daimyō's residence will effectively become one and the same."
Danzō's goal was very clear—to use the power of the Daimyō's residence to climb back to that position.
For that, he knew exactly what he needed. Cooperating with Kazuma, the commander of the Daimyō's Guardian Ninja, was the first step.
"Hehehe. This matter, I'll need to report it to the Daimyō-sama. After all, the staffing of the Guardian Ninja is entirely decided by the Daimyō."
"However, Danzō-sama, I am quite curious. As the so-called darkness of the shinobi world, did you really leave Konoha merely because of a clash of ideals?"
Kazuma was no simple man either—otherwise, he wouldn't have been capable of pulling off something that big.
Looking at Danzō, he understood that this was an opportunity, but also a double-edged sword.
Use it well, and both sides win. Use it poorly, and it might cut himself instead.
"Still, the Daimyō's residence welcomes all of you."
"Please, allow me to take you to an inn."
Danzō's group wasn't large—counting everything, there were fewer than thirty people.
But just as he had said, these were the last remaining elites of Root. Among them were even secret-technique shinobi from the Yamanaka clan. This was Danzō's final strength.
Before long, Kazuma informed the Daimyō of Danzō's arrival.
After hearing the news, the Daimyō was quite pleased. After all, the stronger the Guardian Ninja became, the stronger his own residence would be.
As for Danzō? He wasn't worried at all. With Kazuma there to keep him in check, what was there to fear?
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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