Danzo hurriedly took the copy of Ninja World Weekly from the man's hand.
With a single glance, his eyes immediately widened.
They widened tremendously.
"Rasa, you brat!"
"How dare you?"
There, on the headline, several large characters were printed with shocking clarity.
—Shimura Danzo Leads Team to Attack Mechanical Sand Ship and Fails; Abandons Companions and Flees Alone in Pathetic Panic Like a Stray Dog!
"Pathetic? How was this old man pathetic? I merely withdrew in time after noticing Sunagakure's trap. Is that not what a qualified shinobi should do?"
"When your Sunagakure shinobi encounter a similar situation, do they not retreat? Do they all charge forward to their deaths?"
"Your people did not even see this old man's shadow."
"They did not even touch my sleeve."
"How is that pathetic?"
"And they say this old man was like a stray dog? If you do not know how to use adjectives, then do not use them recklessly!"
"Is this Sunagakure's level?"
The phrasing was indeed not entirely appropriate here, but the effect had been achieved.
When people saw those two descriptors, they could immediately imagine the scene at the time.
Danzo forcefully suppressed his anger and continued reading.
Afterward, he saw that Sunagakure had described the incident as—
Shimura Danzo had led a team to attack that very special mechanical sand ship, very likely intending to frame Iwagakure.
However, because their strength was too weak, they failed directly.
Danzo, the team leader, did not even dare make a move. He turned around and fled, abandoning every team member he had brought.
He escaped alone.
They portrayed Danzo as an incompetent mission commander, an irresponsible captain who abandoned his companions, and a coward afraid of death.
In addition, they deliberately emphasized the Hyuga branch family shinobi Danzo had left behind.
They did not mention the other Konoha shinobi Danzo had abandoned.
Danzo saw Sunagakure's purpose at a glance.
Clearly, they wanted to use this incident to further intensify the conflict between the Hyuga and Konoha.
"Sunagakure's intentions are vicious!"
"Not only are they insulting and humiliating me personally, they are also slandering me, claiming that I wanted to frame Iwagakure…"
In truth, Danzo had indeed had such an idea.
Attack Sunagakure's mechanical sand ship and frame Iwagakure.
That would worsen the already severe conflict between Sunagakure and Iwagakure.
Once Sunagakure and Iwagakure erupted into war because of this, Sunagakure would not have much strength left to deal with Konoha.
Konoha would be able to catch its breath.
"And they also want to use me to drive a wedge between the Hyuga branch family and Konoha."
"Such intentions deserve death!"
Danzo saw that beneath the headline, another article had deliberately been attached.
—On the Life of a Hyuga Branch Family Member.
Danzo did not actually care much about what the Hyuga branch members thought.
What Danzo cared about was whether Hiruzen Sarutobi would think he had deliberately acted with such intentions.
"Hiruzen will definitely think that."
"He will definitely believe I did this on purpose to make the village's situation even worse and make it even harder for him to remain in the Hokage position."
Danzo's face became terribly gloomy.
The moment he imagined Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression when seeing this issue of Ninja World Weekly—and the scene of Hiruzen Sarutobi summoning him to the Hokage's office to reprimand him—Danzo's mood worsened to the extreme.
"That brat Rasa is deliberately harming me!"
"On the surface, he is driving a wedge between the Hyuga branch family and Konoha. But in reality, he is driving a wedge between me and Hiruzen."
"Shameless brat!"
"Treacherous villain!"
Just as Danzo had predicted—
After Hiruzen Sarutobi saw the headline in Ninja World Weekly, he flew into a rage.
"Danzo!"
"What have you done this time?"
"You did this on purpose, didn't you?"
"Have Danzo come here at once!"
An ANBU shinobi arrived before Danzo.
"Danzo-sama, Hokage-sama orders you to go to the Hokage Building immediately!"
Danzo came to the Hokage's office.
The moment Danzo entered, Hiruzen Sarutobi viciously threw the newspaper in his hand at Danzo's feet.
"Danzo! I am too disappointed in you!"
"I allowed you to leave so you could obtain intelligence on the Sun Disk. What exactly did you do?"
"You took Hyuga people to attack a mechanical sand ship?"
"And failed?"
"Then you abandoned the Hyuga clan's shinobi and ran away yourself?"
"Do you not know what rumors have appeared in the village recently? The relationship between the village and the Hyuga clan was already extremely poor. By doing this, you are adding fuel to the fire. Was it deliberate?"
Danzo hurriedly explained.
"It was an accident, Hiruzen. Believe me. The matter is not like this at all. This is Rasa's scheme to sow discord."
"My operation was carried out precisely to obtain intelligence on the Sun Disk."
"That mechanical sand ship was not ordinary. It was the mechanical sand ship Sunagakure used to conduct transactions with Iwagakure. By attacking that sand ship, we could frame Iwagakure."
"That would intensify the conflict between Sunagakure and Iwagakure and reduce Konoha's pressure."
"Additionally…"
"Among the shinobi I led, there was only one Hyuga branch family shinobi. The rest were other shinobi. Sunagakure deliberately mentioned only that Hyuga shinobi. Is their purpose not obvious?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi glared angrily at Danzo.
"But even if that is the case, does that mean you could not have done it deliberately?"
"Did I need you to drive a wedge between Sunagakure and Iwagakure?"
"Why is it that all these years, you insist on making decisions on your own?"
"When I tell you to do something, you do that thing. Do you understand?"
"I am the Hokage!"
Danzo's chest rose and fell repeatedly, but he endured it in the end.
"Hiruzen, I understand."
The situation was different from before.
Now, he did not even have the confidence to say—Hiruzen, you will regret this!
Danzo knew that Hiruzen Sarutobi's situation was not good.
And when Hiruzen Sarutobi's situation was poor, his tolerance for Danzo would decrease drastically.
Danzo had to endure.
Only by doing so could he wait until Hiruzen Sarutobi's situation became even worse—and until his own opportunity to strike appeared.
"Danzo, whether you did this deliberately or accidentally, the consequences have already been caused. I hope you can properly bear those consequences."
"Take gifts and go to the Hyuga clan to apologize."
"This is the final chance I will give you."
"If you do not handle this properly, then do not come back. Spend the rest of your life in the Shimura clan."
Danzo's expression turned somewhat ugly.
He was a dignified village elder, the Darkness of Konoha, and he was supposed to take gifts to the Hyuga clan to apologize?
To the members of the Hyuga branch family, no less?
Were those people even worthy?
"I understand, Hiruzen. Rest assured. I will handle it properly."
Danzo went downstairs.
Outside, people were discussing the headline in Ninja World Weekly everywhere.
One strange gaze after another fell on Danzo.
"That's Shimura Danzo from the headline!"
Join my Patreon to read public release chapters and get 1 chapter ahead for free. Paid members can read more advanced chapters.
Continue reading here
patreon.com/Inkveil_