Danzo heard Li Chuan's words and his eyes immediately lit up, his gaze towards Li Chuan suddenly filled with much more favor.
Because from Li Chuan's words, he heard some hidden meanings, which was that in the Daimyo's eyes, he, Danzo, was the most suitable person to become Hokage besides the Third Hokage.
Didn't this mean that once the Hokage died, the Daimyo would support him in becoming Hokage?
"Prince Your Highness is too kind, but if this old man were to stand in the Hokage's position, I would certainly dedicate myself to the entire Land of Fire and Konoha, leaving no effort spared."
On Danzo's old and sinister face, he tried his best to show a smile that looked very kind and sincere.
However, in Li Chuan's eyes, that smile truly looked more sinister than not smiling at all; one could only say that if a person's psychology was too dark, it really affected their demeanor.
"I think so too."
Li Chuan nodded in agreement.
Danzo's smile grew wider:
"Prince Your Highness, if there is anything you need in Konoha, you can also feel free to come find this old man."
After speaking, he looked at Tenzō next to Li Chuan:
"Yamato, Prince Your Highness's status is noble, do not neglect your work."
"Danzo, I am no longer called Yamato, but Tenzō. Tenzō will not neglect the work assigned by the Hokage."
Tenzō replied to Danzo with an expressionless face.
His meaning was that he no longer belonged to root and was no longer under Danzo's control. He was diligently completing the mission not because of Danzo's orders, but because of the Hokage's instructions.
"Whether it's Yamato or Tenzō, you are both Konoha Ninja."
Danzo gave Tenzō a meaningful look, then smiled at Li Chuan:
"Prince, please continue your tour. This old man has matters to attend to and will take his leave first."
Once the Third Hokage died, he, Danzo, would become Hokage, and at that time, Tenzō would still become a Ninja under him. This was the hidden meaning he wanted to convey.
It was just that Tenzō couldn't grasp this hidden meaning, but Li Chuan heard it loud and clear in his heart.
However, Li Chuan secretly laughed at how wishful Danzo was thinking, because even if the Third Hokage died, Konoha's higher-ups and the Daimyo's side wouldn't choose him, but Jiraiya. If Jiraiya didn't take it, they would choose Tsunade.
Danzo was a staunch hawk; once he became Hokage, he would inevitably start a war. The Daimyo and Konoha's other higher-ups were all doves, like the Third Hokage; they preferred the current stable and peaceful situation.
"Chuan, does the Daimyo really appreciate Danzo?"
After Danzo walked away, Tenzō asked with a frown.
After spending this time together, with Li Chuan intentionally making friends and Kakashi and Naruto also getting involved, the relationship between Li Chuan and Tenzō could already be considered good friends.
Therefore, Tenzō no longer used honorifics, calling him by name directly in private settings, just like Kakashi.
"How could that be? My uncle dislikes him the most. He always advocates for starting wars and disrupting the current peaceful days."
Li Chuan waved his hand and replied without hesitation.
Tenzō was stunned upon hearing this:
"Then just now?"
"Just now, of course, I was lying to him. My uncle said that when I come to Konoha, I shouldn't offend any of your higher-ups, so of course, I said what he liked to hear. Isn't this also a kind lie?"
Li Chuan laughed heartily.
Tenzō nodded. He wasn't good at politics, but he roughly understood Li Chuan's actions.
"Right, today seems to be the written test for the Chunin Selection Exams, let's go see if Naruto and the others passed."
Leaving the vicinity of the training ground, Li Chuan and Tenzō went together to the Ninja Academy, which served as the venue for the first written test.
Actually, in his opinion, neither Danzo nor the Third Hokage were particularly good people.
Danzo was completely bad, while the Third Hokage was slightly better than Danzo; only when he had to make sacrifices for the Village's benefit would he abandon his bottom line and make some cruel choices.
Didn't the Third Hokage know about the bad things Danzo did?
He certainly knew about most of them and had the ability to stop them, but chose to tacitly allow them.
However, it was also normal. In a World like this, for Konoha, which occupied the best resources in the entire World, if the Hokage leading it was a purely good person, then it would likely have been devoured by other Villages long ago.
Standing in different positions, the choices made are naturally different.
Unless you were an existence like the First Hokage who could crush the entire Ninja World with their own strength, only then did you have the right to choose kindness.
"It seems they've finished the exam."
When Li Chuan and Tenzō arrived at the school, they just happened to see Naruto and a group of Ninja walking out of the school.
They went up and chatted briefly. As expected, Naruto and the other two passed the first written test. Tomorrow, they would undergo the second survival test at Training Ground 44, a place known as the Forest of Death.
The second round was a team cooperation death survival test. Each team would receive a scroll, half of which were Heaven Scrolls and half Earth Scrolls.
Teams had to steal other teams' scrolls, possess both a Heaven Scroll and an Earth Scroll, and pass through the Forest of Death within five days to reach the tower in the center of the forest to qualify for the preliminary selection matches.
Therefore, at least half of the participants would be eliminated in this round.
However, none of this concerned Li Chuan. The only one he was somewhat interested in was Orochimaru, who was disguised as a Grass Ninja.
Because he had to find Orochimaru before the Hidden Leaf Village Destruction Plan occurred to figure out where Konoha's forbidden jutsu scrolls were hidden.
He had already scouted the entire Konoha. Basically, as long as he knew the location of the forbidden jutsu scrolls, he could take advantage of the chaos during the Hidden Leaf Village Destruction Plan, directly use Apparition to get nearby, forcibly break in, and take them away.
And after the incident where Naruto stole the forbidden jutsu scroll, Konoha must have moved the scrolls to another location for safekeeping. The specific location was probably only known to a few higher-ups.
He had thought about finding Danzo, but it wasn't reliable. Danzo was bad, but he might not give the Village's forbidden jutsu to a stranger.
But Orochimaru was different. As an S-Rank rogue Ninja, he was about to destroy Konoha himself, so why would he care about forbidden jutsu scrolls? As long as the conditions were suitable, they could naturally reach an agreement.
However, the prerequisite was that you had to have the strength to negotiate with him at the negotiation table.
So, early the next morning, Li Chuan brought Tenzō to Training Ground 44.
"Prince Your Highness, why have you come?"
The examiner for the second round, Anko Mitarashi, was explaining the rules of the competition when she suddenly saw Li Chuan and Tenzō approaching. She immediately paused her explanation and quickly came over to greet them first.
Prince Li Chuan had been touring the Village conspicuously for several days, so everyone naturally recognized him.
It was just that Red Bean hadn't expected Li Chuan to come over now, because according to the schedule, Li Chuan would only be invited to the tower to observe the preliminary selections after the fifth day.
"Red Bean Jonin, please carry on. I just came over to cheer on Naruto and the others!"
Li Chuan smiled and waved towards Naruto and the other two, but as he withdrew his gaze, it lingered for two extra seconds on a Ninja wearing a Grass Ninja uniform in the crowd.
Hello, Orochimaru!
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