26Danzo: Who is plotting against me?AI Model: gemini-2.5-flashChapter 26 Danzo: Who is plotting against me?
Naruto sneered, "I'm just playing myself."
As Hiruzen Sarutobi finished speaking, Naruto, still groggy, looked up, munching on his rice, and mumbled, "Yeah, what about it?"
"Nothing, I just feel you have a good talent for drawing."
"Right, right!"
Naruto grinned brightly, full of self-satisfaction, "See, I told you, I can totally be a painter and make money in the future."
"Isn't your goal to be Hokage?"
"Being a painter doesn't stop me from being Hokage, does it? Didn't Grandpa Third also draw often?"
Naruto tilted his head, looking utterly confused.
Hiruzen Sarutobi coughed, quickly changed the subject, and after a moment of consideration, continued to ask, "What did you draw?"
"Oh, I just drew what I saw outside the window. Sometimes, when I saw something strange, I'd draw it too."
Strange things?
Hiruzen Sarutobi thought of that painting; honestly, while it wasn't beautiful, it conveyed its meaning clearly.
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't ask any further.
He had already gotten the answer he wanted.
"Danzo, sigh!"
After eating his fill and chatting with Naruto for a while, seeing Naruto yawn, he finally got up to leave.
Walking outside the door, he turned to look at the dimly lit house, smiled, and then turned to leave.
...
"Danzo, you're here!"
In the Hokage Office, the dim light made Hiruzen Sarutobi appear somewhat gloomy and terrifying.
Danzo walked over, leaning on his cane, looking at Hiruzen Sarutobi in confusion, not understanding why this old man had called him over so late.
"Here, take a look!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi handed over a scroll.
Danzo took it, his pupils constricting sharply; it was a drawing of the masked man.
"This is?"
Danzo suddenly had a bad premonition.
Could he have been set up?
This sense of being framed was something only he and his enemies knew how wronged he truly was.
He used to frame others, but now he was being framed.
"Where did this drawing come from?"
Danzo's face darkened, feeling as if he had eaten dirt.
"Let's not talk about this drawing for now, let's talk about this masked man. Why did he go to your place? What exactly did you two do? I'm really curious, old friend."
Danzo's mouth twitched.
Darn it,
it seems like he couldn't clear his name even if he jumped into the Yellow River.
Damn it, who is scheming against me?
"Not speaking?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi sneered, "Since you won't speak, then you won't be the Root leader anymore. Go back and raise pigs."
Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand, directly stripping Danzo of his position.
Danzo: '...'
He no longer trusted Danzo.
From the intelligence Nara Shikaku provided to the Uchiha Clan's battle, he hadn't suspected Danzo.
But one painting by Naruto directly connected everything.
It brought these two unrelated things together.
Suspecting Naruto?
Naruto had always been under his surveillance, and besides, would a five-year-old child, without anyone approaching him, scheme so meticulously?
He had watched him grow up since he was a child.
If he had such intentions, they would have shown themselves long ago.
Even now, he was much quieter, just preferring to stay at home, never causing trouble, and his will was firm; he trained every day.
What was it for?
It was for the Hokage he spoke of, for the Fire Willhe spoke of.
And Danzo?
He had a record. Did he really not know about his ambition?
Just based on his silence just now, Hiruzen Sarutobi knew that even if he was truly being wronged, he must have been involved with this masked man in some unclear, ambiguous way.
This alone was enough for Hiruzen Sarutobi to take action and suppress him.
...
Konoha Village was in an uproar.
Konoha Village's second-in-command, Danzo, had gone home to raise pigs.
Naruto almost laughed like a pig.
He had been framed, he had been schemed against.
After thinking carefully, Naruto knew who it was; it must have been those Uchiha people shifting the blame, and his painting must have been a contributing factor.
"This kind of scheming, it has to be Nara Shikaku."
Because only he had seen the Nine-Tailed's painting when he came.
"What a terrifying person. With just a slight move, he sent Danzo to raise pigs."
"I'm in a good mood today, I'll have a bowl of hot and sour cabbage."
Blech ~
Nine-Tailed gagged, "I told you, can't you make something else? Carrots and cabbage all day, I'm sick of them."
"To each their own."
Naruto spread his hands; he wanted to too, but he only had these few seeds.
Then he glared at Nine-Tailed in disgust, muttering, 'Hinata eats it so deliciously, why are you sick of it?'
Nine-Tailed was too weak to retort.
Who knew why that little girl had such a good appetite, never getting tired of anything she ate.
...
"It succeeded so easily?"
Uchiha Fugaku at this moment had an unreal feeling, like being hit by a 100 million lottery.
They had only intended to plant a seed of doubt in Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart, never thinking it could succeed on the first try.
When it came to scheming, they certainly couldn't compare to people like Hiruzen Sarutobi.
But this time, it succeeded so smoothly, it was incredible.
"Could it be that the person behind it exerted effort?"
Uchiha Itachi was very calm.
He knew that their clumsy act alone could not have achieved this; there must have been a third party involved.
And the only third party he could think of was that person who secretly caused trouble.
"Very likely!"
Uchiha Shisui snapped out of his joy, nodding heavily, "I think so too."
"Forget it, never mind all this."
Uchiha Fugaku smiled.
He hadn't felt this relieved in a long time. Even if Danzo was stripped of his position for a few days and then reinstated, he still felt good.
"This is just the beginning."
Uchiha Fugaku was full of vigor.
He seemed to have found that fearless feeling he had when he was young, which was intoxicating.
...
"What's going on? How did the situation suddenly take such a drastic turn?"
Uchiha Obito was also bewildered.
He had only slept, and the next day he woke up to this bombshell.
Danzo had been stripped of his position.
Zetsu, with half his body exposed, tilted his head, recalling the intelligence he had gathered these past few days, always feeling that a clue was missing, unable to connect.
"What do you say?"
Hearing Obito's question, Zetsu snapped out of his thoughts and casually said, "This Uzumaki Narutohas a big problem."
"Uzumaki Naruto?"
Obito was stunned, then fell silent.
If he were to say who he occasionally felt most sorry for in his midnight dreams, it would be Uzumaki Naruto.
Because of him, this child, who should have been happy, became an orphan. However, when he thought of the future he envisioned, which surely included his teacher and his wife, he felt relieved.
Anyway, in the future, they would all return, so what did he have to feel guilty about?
What did he have to be sorry for?
Now, hearing Zetsu's words, Obito didn't believe it at first.
What could this five-year-old brat do? Did you think he was Kakashi?
Even Kakashi wasn't that monstrous at five years old.
"He drew a picture, depicting you going to Root."
"Hahaha, impossible!"
Obito denied, "I was very careful when I went to Root. I didn't even use my abilities; I just went in silently. How could anyone have discovered me and drawn it?"
"Look, this is what I reconstructed based on Uzumaki Naruto's drawing."
Obito took it, looked at it, and fell into endless silence...