"Wait—why did I turn my head away?!" Hyuga Arin widened his eyes and glared at Danzo.
There was nothing wrong with his thinking.
The one with the problem was Danzo!!
"You're the one who wants to kill the Hokage!?" Arin snapped.
Danzo snorted coldly.
"Didn't you say kill a Kage? I was just following your logic."
Arin snorted.
"I meant the Kage of the other four great villages—not the Hokage."
"Then you should've been clearer."
"And you shouldn't jump straight to killing the Hokage! Aren't you two practically wearing the same pants?!"
"Hmph."
"What are you 'hmph'-ing for? Can't explain yourself now?"
"Why do you suddenly want to kill a Kage?"
"Don't try to change the subject!!"
The two locked eyes, neither willing to back down.
So Danzo had started getting ideas.
He was eyeing the Hokage's position now.
After a long silence, Danzo finally spoke:
"If I become Hokage, you'll be the head of Root."
Trying to sell him a dream.
Arin curled his lips.
He had a much better path to becoming Root's leader.
"Let's just talk about killing the other Kage," Arin said dismissively.
Danzo becoming Hokage?
That possibility had already been cut off the moment Root was formed.
Unless every top-tier ninja in Konoha died—
It would never be his turn.
Even without Hiruzen, there was Hatake Sakumo.
If Sakumo fell, there were still the Sannin.
If they fell, there were rising talents like Nawaki and Namikaze Minato.
Only after all of them were gone…
Would Danzo even have a chance.
As for Arin—
He actually had a better shot than Danzo.
After all, everything he had done could be blamed on Danzo.
If Danzo didn't clean up his own record, becoming Hokage was impossible.
Killing fellow villagers alone—
That disqualified him entirely.
Any ninja who knew of Danzo would never support him.
Danzo pondered for a moment.
"Why do you suddenly have such a ridiculous idea? Killing a Kage would trigger the Third Great Ninja War. Konoha isn't ready."
The Second Great Ninja War had cost Konoha too much.
They couldn't sustain another war.
Right now, both Danzo and Hiruzen were placing their hopes on Wood Release.
But progress had been poor.
Instead, more ninja had died in the process.
Konoha's strength had only weakened further.
"I just don't like them. So I want them dead," Arin said matter-of-factly.
Alone, he couldn't kill a Kage.
But with help—
That was a different story.
Very Arin-like.
Danzo sighed.
"This isn't the time to start a war."
Compared to Arin—
Danzo suddenly felt like the conservative one.
For once, he understood Hiruzen.
Having a war hawk constantly whispering in your ear—
Trying to start fights every day—
Without considering the village's condition…
Fight with what?
Their heads?
"So I'm the conservative one now…" Danzo thought silently.
"Then let's just wipe out the Uchiha."
"GET LOST!!!"
"Tch. No professional standards at all for a Root leader," Arin muttered as he walked out.
Danzo was getting soft.
Treating the Uchiha this gently—
You'd think he had given up targeting them.
…
"Big bro, you seem troubled."
As the sun set—
Nawaki spoke up.
Arin was hanging upside down from a horizontal bar.
"I'm thinking about how to convince the Third to attack Sunagakure," Arin said with a troubled expression.
He had evaluated the Kage of the four great villages.
Tsuchikage Ōnoki could fly—hard to catch.
Even though Arin could fly too, he wasn't as fast.
Raikage A was incredibly fast and durable.
Catching him would be extremely difficult.
The Mizukage…
Too risky.
Behind him lurked Uchiha Madara.
If Arin went after him and Madara showed up—
He'd be finished.
That left—
The Third Kazekage.
Known as the strongest Kazekage in history.
(Though later forcibly nerfed by Sasori…)
His mobility wasn't as strong.
He could fly—but not as fast as Ōnoki.
And no hidden boss lurking behind him.
Conclusion:
Best target—Third Kazekage.
High cost-performance ratio.
Though…
Being called the strongest Kazekage meant he was definitely no pushover.
"You think my chances of assassinating the Third are high?" Arin asked.
Nawaki silently took two steps back.
"Big bro… next year, I'll bring flowers to your grave."
"Hey!! Don't make it sound that terrifying!!" Arin jumped down, stroking his chin.
"It's not like there's no chance…"
Hiruzen was basically a turret—
Strong at range, but also solid in close combat.
Hard to deal with either way.
Arin might not match him in long-range firepower—
But in close combat?
That wasn't so certain.
"So what exactly stimulated you, big bro?" Nawaki asked, reaching out to touch Arin's forehead.
Normally, Arin wouldn't jump straight to assassinating a Kage.
"Oh, Danzo wants to become Hokage. Makes the Third look annoying," Arin casually shifted the blame.
"I see…" Nawaki nodded seriously.
That did sound like Danzo.
Thank you, "Shadow Hokage."
You really deserve the title.
"Why are you two so free?" Arin asked, looking at Nawaki and Namikaze Minato, who was practicing with kunai nearby.
Minato scratched his head.
"Jiraiya-sensei went traveling again. Told us to train on our own."
Nawaki and Arin spoke at the same time:
"Same here. Orochimaru-sensei is nowhere to be found."
(Whose fault is that…?)
Arin wisely chose not to say.
Somewhere in Root—
Orochimaru sneezed mid-experiment.
"So how's your training going?" Arin asked curiously.
The two had been training together recently.
"I've completed my new jutsu!!" Nawaki said excitedly.
"Big bro, today I'm challenging you again!!!"
How many times has it been already…
Arin covered his face and raised a hand.
"I refuse."
"Eh?!!!" Nawaki was stunned.
"The gap between us is too big right now. Challenge me again when you reach jōnin level," Arin shrugged.
Otherwise, he'd have to hold back too much.
Hard to control.
He turned to Minato.
"You two should spar instead."
Nawaki looked at Minato thoughtfully.
Minato's eyes lit up.
"Nawaki-nii, I challenge you!!"
…Are these two actually brothers?
Even their lines were the same.
Arin looked between them, then raised his hand.
"I'll be the referee."
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