Chapter 603: Danzo in Action
After leaving Danzo Shimura's subordinate waiting for more than a day, and only after the other party repeatedly requested an audience, Hanzō finally had a Rain Ninja bring him into the office.
"I hope what you have to say is worth wasting my time."
Hanzō sat in his office chair, coldly watching the Root Ninja before him.
If the Root Ninja had not kept emphasizing that the matter was extremely important, and that only Hanzō, as the leader of Amegakure, could make the decision, Hanzō would not even have bothered to meet him personally.
Amegakure did not consist of Hanzō alone. He had subordinates too.
Feeling Hanzō's icy gaze, the Root Ninja's breath caught.
"Lord Hanzō, this is a matter concerning the life and death of Amegakure. There is no possibility that it is a waste of your time," the Root Ninja quickly adjusted himself and said seriously.
"Concerning the life and death of Amegakure?"
Hanzō's eyes became sharp and unfriendly.
His Amegakure was operating perfectly well, and they had not even participated in the Shinobi World War. Where could such a massive crisis have come from?
The Root Ninja felt uncomfortable under Hanzō's stare, but as a specially trained Ninja, he could only brace himself and continue.
"That is correct."
"However, this is also an opportunity for you and Amegakure. An opportunity to eliminate an opponent."
"An opponent?" Hanzō frowned and looked at the Root Ninja.
"Do you not want to eliminate the Shinobi Sect? To kill that Sōsuke who ruined your reputation?" the Root Ninja asked in a coaxing tone.
Before the failed attempt to surround and kill Sōsuke, Hanzō's image in the Ninja World had been that of a top-tier powerhouse with extraordinary bearing.
But after losing to Sōsuke, Hanzō's attempt to lure the Shinobi Sect into a trap under the guise of cooperation had nearly destroyed the good image he had built throughout the first half of his life.
Now, when people mentioned Hanzō, they no longer thought first of Hanzō the Half-God, who once dominated the Ninja World. Instead, they thought of Ninja Master Sōsuke, who could suppress Water Release with Fire Release.
The Root Ninja could not think of a single reason why Hanzō would not hate Sōsuke.
However, what the Root Ninja received was not a negative answer from Hanzō.
It was a merciless gaze, as if Hanzō were looking at a dead man.
Immediately after, an overwhelming aura erupted.
Whoosh!
Hanzō's Chakra exploded outward, and terrifying killing intent enveloped the Root Ninja.
The Root Ninja's body stiffened instantly. His face turned pale, and a chill that seemed to pierce straight into his bones surged from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
At that moment, the Root Ninja understood with absolute clarity just who the Ninja standing before him was.
This was Hanzō the Half-God, a Ninja from a small country who had carved his name into the Ninja World and made even the Five Great Ninja Villages wary. He was not some random nobody.
Hanzō looked at the Root Ninja with cold eyes.
He could not deal with Sōsuke, but did that mean he could not handle a mere Konoha Ninja?
Hanzō truly could not endure it anymore. It was Danzo Shimura again, speaking of eliminating the Shinobi Sect and killing Sōsuke. What exactly did Danzo Shimura take him for?
The simultaneous existence of Amegakure and the Shinobi Sect would indeed cause some conflict.
But if Amegakure went to war with the Shinobi Sect now, that would truly become a matter of life and death.
Hanzō did not know whether Sōsuke's Water Release was stronger than his own, but Sōsuke's overall strength was definitely above his.
Furthermore, the Shinobi Sect had Nagato and Kakuzu, while Amegakure had no powerhouses who could match them.
With such an imbalance in high-end combat power, and with Amegakure lacking the rich mid-tier combat strength of the Five Great Ninja Villages, if the Shinobi Sect and Amegakure went to war, Amegakure would definitely be the one to lose.
One could even say that the true loser would be the Land of Rain.
Because even if Amegakure were defeated, the Shinobi Sect would not be able to win easily.
A war against Amegakure would deal a heavy blow to the Shinobi Sect's already limited low and mid-level combat power, leaving them unable to protect the Land of Rain.
"My grudge with Sōsuke, as well as the grudge between Amegakure and the Shinobi Sect, are internal affairs of the Land of Rain. There is no need to trouble Konoha."
Seeing the Root Ninja sweating profusely, Hanzō withdrew his aura and spoke indifferently.
It was only because Konoha was currently powerful and not an opponent Amegakure could afford to provoke that Hanzō held back. Otherwise, he would have wanted to kill this Root Ninja on the spot.
The man had started by claiming Amegakure was facing a life-or-death crisis, only to follow up by talking about killing Sōsuke and destroying the Shinobi Sect.
"Huff."
The Root Ninja breathed rapidly. The pressure Hanzō had just placed on him had truly been immense.
"Lord Hanzō, this matter is not as simple as you think."
The Root Ninja did not give up.
Danzo Shimura had given him a strict order. No matter what, he had to persuade Hanzō to join Root in surrounding and killing Sōsuke.
"This time, we in Konoha will also send forces to help you kill…"
Before the Root Ninja could finish, Hanzō interrupted him.
"I have recently caught a cold and need more rest. Let us discuss this another day."
The Root Ninja looked at Hanzō speechlessly.
With that full and powerful voice, Hanzō did not look like he had a cold at all.
But before the Root Ninja could think of how to persuade him further, a Rain Ninja Anbu suddenly appeared and escorted him out of the office.
To complete the act, Hanzō also left the office afterward and returned home.
"Danzo Shimura, what exactly are you trying to do?"
Hanzō entered his study to read, but his mind could not help returning to what had just happened. He could not focus at all.
He could not understand why Danzo Shimura wanted to drag him along again to surround and kill Sōsuke and eliminate the Shinobi Sect.
Previously, Danzo Shimura's reason had been that he wanted to ask Hanzō to act as a mediator for the dispute between Iwagakure and Konoha. Then, as if by coincidence, he had happened to see the Shinobi Sect committing an offense and helped deal with it.
Because Danzo Shimura had prepared thoroughly, even when Hanzō recalled it now, he could not find too many flaws in Danzo Shimura's explanation.
But Danzo Shimura's previous reasoning no longer held up.
Konoha no longer needed him to mediate. In the war against Iwagakure, Konoha held the upper hand, and not long ago, Konoha had wiped out a large number of Iwagakure Ninja.
Furthermore, Hanzō now knew that the Shinobi Sect was an organization that truly pursued peace, not a Ninja organization causing trouble under the banner of peace.
Because of that, Hanzō could not figure out Danzo Shimura's motive.
What benefit did Danzo Shimura gain from doing this?
"Sōsuke. Shinobi Sect."
Unable to focus on his book, Hanzō put it down and sighed softly.
He did not know Danzo Shimura's motive, but Amegakure did indeed have a reason to take action against the Shinobi Sect.
Because Amegakure and the Shinobi Sect could not coexist forever. At present, there was no country in the Ninja World with two villages within one nation.
Although the Shinobi Sect did not claim to be a Ninja Village, in Hanzō's eyes, it was one.
Amegakure was currently cooperating with the Shinobi Sect because the present situation was chaotic, and they had a shared interest in defending the Land of Rain.
With that shared interest, many problems between them could be temporarily covered up.
Once the Shinobi World War ended and those covered-up problems were exposed, confrontation would only be a matter of time.
"Even if only one of the Shinobi Sect or Amegakure can remain, that is still a matter for the Land of Rain," Hanzō said softly, as if speaking to himself.
Perhaps the Shinobi Sect and Amegakure would eventually have a battle.
But not now.
After waking up, Roshi did not immediately go to find Sōsuke. He waited until after two in the afternoon before heading to the Shinobi Sect.
Because he felt that Sōsuke had his own schedule and was probably not free at every moment, even if he was not busy for the entire day.
Roshi was worried about disturbing Sōsuke's work, so he chose to look for him in the afternoon.
The truth was indeed as Roshi had thought. As the leader of an emerging Ninja force, Mugetsu rarely had days where he had nothing to do.
When Roshi arrived at the Shinobi Sect, Mugetsu was still discussing school matters with Kakuzu.
"I feel the Ninja Academy can be put on hold for now. There are still too few Ninja in the Shinobi Sect. Even including the newly recruited Ninja, we only have two hundred and eight people."
Kakuzu shook his head and continued, "If we open a Ninja Academy, we will have to pull out dozens of Ninja, which will slow down work in other areas. Furthermore, the Ninja Academy takes too long to train Ninja, which is not beneficial to early development."
The Ninja Academy had to be established eventually, but Kakuzu felt that now was not the right time.
The Shinobi Sect was currently in a period where it urgently needed to develop. If those dozens of Ninja were not pulled away to serve as teachers and were instead assigned to other work, the contribution they could bring to the Shinobi Sect's development within three years would definitely be greater than teaching.
"If the number of Ninja is insufficient, then hire ordinary people to serve as teachers and handle some miscellaneous work. We can also limit the number of students and raise admission standards to select only the best," Mugetsu explained his solution.
Although in his previous life Mugetsu had only been an ordinary student and had never truly become a teacher, in the Naruto world, Mugetsu had genuinely worked as a teacher for quite some time and understood the Ninja Academy very well.
In Mugetsu's view, the work of some Ninja teachers at the Ninja Academy could be completely replaced by ordinary people.
For example, subjects like literature, mathematics, and history had no real requirements for Ninja knowledge. Ordinary people could teach them just as well.
There were also administrative positions that ordinary people could handle.
"That does seem workable."
After thinking about it, Kakuzu realized that according to Sōsuke's approach, they really would not need too many Ninja.
Kakuzu had never been a teacher. His understanding of schools only came from investigations after Sōsuke mentioned wanting to open one.
Because the teachers at the Ninja Academies of every Ninja Village were all Ninja, Kakuzu had subconsciously assumed that teachers at a Ninja Academy had to be Ninja.
But after thinking about it carefully, that was actually quite a waste of Ninja resources.
However, ordinary Ninja Villages were not lacking the few Ninja required by their Ninja Academies anyway.
"Not only must there be a Ninja Academy, ordinary schools must also begin planning," Mugetsu continued.
Deep down, Mugetsu understood the importance of education. No matter how poor one was, one could not be poor in education. If one wanted to truly change the world, one person alone was not enough.
Just as the two were about to finish their discussion, someone knocked on the office door.
"Come in," Mugetsu said after a brief pause.
"Teacher Sōsuke, Shirakawa is looking for you," the Shinobi Sect Ninja who entered said.
"Let him come over," Mugetsu nodded and replied.
Shirakawa was actually Roshi. In the Land of Rain, Roshi naturally could not openly use his real name.
To make it easier for Roshi to move around the Shinobi Sect, Mugetsu had already informed the Shinobi Sect Ninja and allowed Roshi to move freely through non-critical areas.
After Roshi walked into the office, he saw Kakuzu still sitting there, drinking tea without any intention of leaving.
"If you have other matters, you can handle them first. I'm not in a hurry," Roshi quickly said.
"We've already finished discussing the matter. Let me introduce you. This is Kakuzu, the Minister of our Shinobi Sect's Military Department and Finance Department," Mugetsu said with a smile.
Roshi looked at Kakuzu.
He had never met Kakuzu before, but he was not unfamiliar with the name. After all, Kakuzu could be considered the number two figure in the Shinobi Sect.
"He is Shirakawa, from the Land of Earth…"
Just as Mugetsu was introducing Roshi's false identity, Roshi shook his head and said, "I am Roshi, a former Iwagakure Ninja. Currently, I suppose I'm a wandering Ninja."
Roshi felt there was no need to hide his identity from the Shinobi Sect's higher-ups.
Sōsuke and Nagato already knew his identity. If the Shinobi Sect had any intention of harming him, the Iwagakure Ninja would have taken him away in the night long ago.
"The Four-Tails Jinchuriki?" Kakuzu raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.
The fewer people who knew Roshi's identity, the better, so Mugetsu had not specifically told Kakuzu about it.
"You defected?" Kakuzu could not help asking.
Ninja Villages only had rogue Ninja. There was no such thing as a Ninja who simply retired and left freely.
"It depends on how you define a rogue Ninja. If it refers to a Ninja defined as a rogue Ninja by their village, then I don't think I count yet," Roshi replied.
Roshi estimated that he would not become a rogue Ninja for the time being.
Of course, this was not because Ōnoki was kind. It was simply because Ōnoki wanted to use an Empty Fort Strategy so that other Ninja Villages could not accurately estimate Iwagakure's strength.
"A rogue Ninja still needs interpretation? Isn't anyone who leaves their Ninja Village one?" Kakuzu smiled. "The fact that you haven't been officially defined as one only means they still have reservations, or that what you've done hasn't pushed them to the point of desperation."
Kakuzu understood rogue Ninja very well. After all, when he became a rogue Ninja, it was hard to say whether Roshi had even been born yet.
"That's how it is," Roshi nodded in agreement.
Although he had run away, that was all he had done.
After chatting with Roshi for a few sentences, Kakuzu glanced at Sōsuke.
As the leader of the Shinobi Sect, Sōsuke was not someone anyone could see whenever they wished. The fact that Roshi could directly have a Shinobi Sect Ninja notify Sōsuke meant that Sōsuke had obviously given prior instructions.
Mugetsu simply responded with a faint smile and did not speak.
Kakuzu withdrew his gaze, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said, "Speaking of which, Iwagakure seems to have suffered a major defeat not long ago. Did they blame you for the defeat?"
There were many rogue Ninja in the Ninja World. Not every rogue Ninja had been betrayed by their own village. There were also plenty of rogue Ninja who had violated the law themselves.
Kakuzu felt Roshi should belong to the type who had been wronged by his village. If Roshi had defected because he was lawless, then Sōsuke would generally have helped clean up the mess along the way.
"To some extent." Thinking of what he had experienced after returning to the village, Roshi could not help sighing.
"Only to some extent? Then it seems Iwagakure's higher-ups only wanted to discipline you, not treat you as an abandoned pawn. That's much better than what I experienced back then," Kakuzu said after hearing this.
"You?" Roshi looked at Kakuzu in confusion.
He knew of Kakuzu, but he did not know Kakuzu's past.
"I am also a rogue Ninja. A rogue Ninja from the Hidden Waterfall Village," Kakuzu said generously, speaking of his own experience.
"That was a very long time ago. The village ordered me to go alone to the Land of Fire to assassinate the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama."
The look in Roshi's eyes changed slightly as he looked at Kakuzu.
Assassinating the First Hokage, and alone at that. That was not a mission. That was pure suicide.
What kind of figure was Senju Hashirama? He was the terrifying existence known as the God of Shinobi, the recognized strongest Ninja since the founding of the Ninja Villages.
"I went, but Senju Hashirama was very strong. My assassination failed, and I had to use everything I had to escape back to the Hidden Waterfall Village."
Kakuzu's strength instantly became unfathomable in Roshi's heart.
To survive after assassinating the God of Shinobi was simply incredible.
"Later, the village imprisoned and severely punished me on the grounds that I had failed an important mission. After that, I became a rogue Ninja."
Although he had already guessed the outcome, hearing the end of Kakuzu's story still left Roshi stunned for a moment.
Faced with a nearly suicidal mission, Kakuzu had chosen to gamble his life to complete it. Yet the Hidden Waterfall Village had taken advantage of his weakened state and directly sentenced him to imprisonment.
This was indeed far more miserable than Roshi's situation.
The fact that Kakuzu could still live well until now made Roshi feel somewhat impressed.
"There's no need to look at me like that. I already made those people pay the price they deserved, and now my life is better than before," Kakuzu said leisurely, putting down his teacup.
Unlike Roshi, who had left quietly, Kakuzu had directly killed all the relevant higher-ups, venting his anger thoroughly.
"You should think more about yourself. You are very important to Iwagakure."
Kakuzu's presence in the Shinobi Sect was not a secret, but the Hidden Waterfall Village had never come to the Land of Rain to cause trouble for the Shinobi Sect.
Was it because the current higher-ups of the Hidden Waterfall Village understood Kakuzu's suffering?
Of course not.
It was because there was no benefit in killing Kakuzu, and the Shinobi Sect was not an easy target for the Hidden Waterfall Village.
"How did Kakuzu join the Shinobi Sect?" Roshi could not help growing curious.
If he had experienced what Kakuzu had experienced, he might never trust others again in his life, let alone join another Ninja organization.
.....
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