"Lord Danzo?" One of the Root agents dared to ask.
Danzo gritted his teeth but forced himself to calm down. "Stand down!"
He smirked. He was smart enough to know when he had no cards left to play. For now, he was nothing but a paper tiger. He had no real bite, not until we were back in Konoha. Once there, he'd try to set traps for me in the shadows. That's how he operated.
He probably still hadn't forgiven me for taking out his little spies a while back. He knew he'd start piecing it together eventually.
Those missing agents? Yeah, that was me. he made sure they wouldn't be reporting back.
As he left the command center, I made a detour to the medical division, where Tsunade was finishing up. She looked up, raising an eyebrow as he entered.
"Finished cooking?"
"Cooking?"
Xin flopped down next to her, pushing her over a bit on the bench. "I just came back from dealing with Danzo. He tried to order me to hand over Thunderburst said if I didn't, I'd be disobeying orders. Scared the life out of me! Who's got the time to cook after that?"
Tsunade's teacup cracked in her hand, spilling tea onto the floor. Her face darkened.
"I'll deal with Danzo. You don't have to worry about him or anyone else-Danzo, the old man, the elders, all of them. Unless you want to exchange something of equal value, there's no reason for you to give them anything. The village has no rule that says you have to turn over your own jutsu."
"Right." Xin leaned back, relieved. "Good to know."
She nodded, her expression hardening. "Danzo's a snake, but he can't force you. Let's go grab something to eat, and we'll come back later."
"Sure."
For now, there wasn't much to do except wait. The other medical-nin could handle the patients, and unless something critical came up, Tsunade deserved a break.
Meanwhile, in the Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen read over the latest intelligence reports. The news of Amegakure's surrender brought him some much-needed relief. With that war over, Konoha could now focus its forces on dealing with Sunagakure.
The Kazekage had launched several attacks across the Fire Country, and Sarutobi's frustration grew with each new report. These guerrilla tactics were wearing down the village's defenses. He shook his head, turning back to the reports. One scroll, in particular, caught his eye.
"An S-rank lightning jutsu capable of countering Hanzo's attacks?"