Danzo did not delay for long.
Right now, Danzo still did not want to offend Hiruzen Sarutobi. He intended to follow Hiruzen's wishes on the surface while secretly developing Root in the shadows. Once the opportunity arrived, he would seize the Hokage position directly.
"Hiruzen, you called for me?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi put down the document in his hand.
"Danzo, what do you think of the Hyuga clan?"
A trace of disgust appeared in Danzo's eyes.
"A pack of beasts who betrayed the village! Last time, because Hyuga shinobi died during a mission, I even went to the Hyuga clan to apologize. And what happened? They turned around and defected from the village."
"My apology was turned into a complete joke."
"Shameless beyond measure!"
"Hiruzen, a ninja clan like that must be severely punished."
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded.
"Indeed. By the way, Danzo, last time I asked you to apologize to the Hyuga clan. Tell me the detailed process."
Danzo's expression stiffened.
When he had gone to apologize to the Hyuga clan, his attitude had not looked like an apology at all.
It had been extremely perfunctory.
He had simply handed the items to Hyuga Hiashi directly.
And in a very impolite, commanding tone at that.
But now that the Hyuga clan had already defected and could not be confronted, he did not need to tell the truth.
Danzo fabricated some details.
He made himself seem extremely sincere.
He embellished the entire process of his visit to the Hyuga clan.
Danzo originally thought Hiruzen Sarutobi would be satisfied with his answer.
But what Danzo did not expect was that Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice would sink as he began reprimanding him.
"Danzo, you disappoint me too much."
"I sent you to apologize. With that attitude, your sincerity was far too lacking. The Hyuga clan's defection is partly your fault as well. You gave them the final provocation."
Danzo: "???"
His actual apology had indeed lacked sincerity.
But the problem was that the version he had just described had already been beautified.
That still was not sincere?
Danzo felt that the version he had embellished was already sincere enough.
He frowned, feeling that Hiruzen Sarutobi was deliberately finding fault with him, both to suppress him and to shift part of the blame for the Hyuga clan's defection onto him.
Danzo wanted to retort.
But when he thought of his plan and his current situation, he endured it.
Hiruzen Sarutobi continued, "Danzo, as one of the village's elders, I originally did not want to say this to you."
"But the village has indeed suffered many losses because of your recklessness. Now the village's situation is extremely poor. All of us must give everything we have in order to protect it."
"To be honest, I once had high hopes for you. But time and time again, you have disappointed me."
"Now, I no longer know what you can do well."
"But at the very least, you are still a shinobi."
"I have an extremely important mission to entrust to you."
Danzo answered subconsciously.
"Is it to hunt down the Hyuga clan? No problem! Leave those Hyuga clan bastards to me. There will absolutely be no issue. I will clean them all out."
"I will show the entire shinobi world the price of betraying Konoha."
Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head.
"As for the Hyuga clan, I already have another candidate. The Hyuga clan is not the most important matter right now."
"What I am entrusting to you is something even more important."
"Lead an elite squad to the Land of Lightning. Infiltrate Kumogakure and assassinate the Fourth Raikage."
"Once the Fourth Raikage dies, Kumogakure's offensive will be greatly weakened."
"Konoha's situation will improve considerably."
Danzo's eyes widened.
"What?"
"You want me to assassinate the Fourth Raikage? Hiruzen, have you gone mad? I am already this old, and you want me to do that?"
"Kumogakure's defenses are extremely strict. The Fourth Raikage's strength is not weak."
"I cannot do it."
Danzo refused directly.
If Hiruzen's earlier words had made Danzo feel that the other party was trying to shift blame onto him, then now, with this arrangement, Danzo had to wonder whether Hiruzen was trying to get him killed.
This was too much.
He had worked hard and rendered great service for Konoha, yet now Hiruzen wanted him to go die?
"I did not require you to succeed. As long as you can create some trouble for Kumogakure, that will be enough."
Danzo still shook his head.
"Hiruzen, I am not competent for this mission. Send someone else."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression turned cold.
"Danzo, you keep saying that you are willing to give everything for the village. Yet now, this is your attitude. Does the village still exist in your heart?"
"You committed so many mistakes before. Now I ask you to make up for them a little, and even that is impossible?"
Danzo could no longer hold back.
"Hiruzen, I wanted to say this before. You think my operation in the Land of Wind failed because of what? Because there was a problem with that spy I planted in Sunagakure?"
"But originally, I had a better choice—Kabuto Yakushi."
"And yet you cut off my contact with Kabuto Yakushi and even granted Nonō Yakushi freedom, allowing her to go to the Land of Wind to contact Kabuto Yakushi."
"What could she accomplish?"
"If the spy I used had been Kabuto Yakushi, there would not have been any problem at all."
"This was actually your fault!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face turned even colder.
"Danzo, you made a mistake, and instead of admitting it, you are trying to push the responsibility onto me?"
"I think you should continue staying within the Shimura clan and reflect properly."
"If the village cannot rely on you, then so be it."
Danzo turned and left.
But he did not return to the Shimura clan. Instead, he went to Root's base.
"Hiruzen, Konoha is no longer a village where you alone can decide everything. I simply did not want to tear away all pretenses with you. I never imagined you would actually want me to die."
"Since that is the case, there is nothing more to say."
"I would like to see just how far you can go in targeting me."
"This Konoha does not belong to the Sarutobi clan."
"It is time for a change of generations!"
"Konoha's sky is about to change."
"Look at what you have turned Konoha into during your years as Hokage."
"Only I can lead Konoha to greatness!"
…
…
While the four nations of Fire, Earth, Lightning, and Wind were all fiercely discussing the rumor about Onoki and Kitsuchi, the Land of Water had no intention of participating.
Because an even more important piece of news had appeared in the Land of Water.
A small sailing group had discovered a giant silver vein inside a certain sea trench.
Its reserves were enormous.
Far greater than the total amount of silver mines currently possessed by all Five Great Nations combined.
It could be said that whoever controlled this silver mine would immediately become the wealthiest force in the shinobi world.
The daimyo of the Land of Water revealed an excited expression.
"This is the Great Age of Sailing."
"As expected, my Land of Water is the richest in resources!"
But suddenly, the daimyo of the Land of Water realized a problem and looked at the person in front of him.
"How deep did you say that trench was?"
"More than two hundred meters."
The daimyo of the Land of Water's expression stiffened.
The joy on his face instantly turned ugly.
That depth meant the Land of Water basically had no ability to mine it.
Only shinobi could dive into such depths in large numbers.
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