"Damn it all!"
In the Shimura clan compound, Danzo Shimura slammed his hand down, shattering the table before him.
The conversation with Hiruzen Sarutobi in the Hokage's office today had left him humiliated and enraged.
"Power… if I had greater power, how would Hiruzen, or those from the ninja clans, dare to treat me this way?"
In Danzo's mind, Hiruzen's decision to sideline him was certainly related to the significant loss of his strength.
True, the Stone Village front was the only one of Konoha's three battlefronts to suffer a setback in the early stages, but how much did that have to do with him?
The Stone Village had the Third Tsuchikage and two Jinchuriki—three Kage-level powerhouses in total.
And what did Konoha have on that front?
He himself was still a step away from Kage-level. If he fought with his life on the line, he could hold off one of the three for a short time.
The clan heads of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio could barely hold off another.
In terms of high-level combat power, Konoha's side was inherently weaker than the Stone's. The defeat was not his fault.
And yet, just because Hiruzen had led troops to turn the tide, all the ninjas blamed him for the unfavorable early stages of the war.
Had these ninjas forgotten that if he hadn't held back the Third Tsuchikage at the cost of an eye and an arm, how many more of them would have been killed?
Although, in terms of attack range and intensity, the Third Tsuchikage without using his Dust Release was weaker than the two Jinchuriki, he was still the Kage of a village.
Was it so strange to lose to the Kage of a village?
Even Hiruzen Sarutobi, as the Third Hokage, hadn't achieved any significant results in his battle against the Third Tsuchikage, had he?
Wasn't it only because that commoner ninja named Sakumo Hatake had a sudden burst of power, defeated the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, and forced the Stone Village to retreat?
Sakumo Hatake had come from the Land of Wind battlefield as reinforcement. Because of his connection to the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, Danzo had always been hostile to the ninjas who came with the Uchiha clan.
Therefore, Danzo had ordered them to fight on the most dangerous front lines, sometimes even demanding they use their lives to halt the advance of the Stone's powerhouses.
Regarding the rise of Sakumo Hatake, Danzo didn't consider that he had failed to place him in a suitable position. Instead, he was furious that Sakumo had hidden his strength while under his command, only to turn around and stab him in the back the moment Hiruzen arrived.
This was just like Li Anshi on the Land of Wind battlefield.
At that time, Li Anshi's strength was not much different from his strength on the Cloud battlefield.
But on the Sand front, the battles were merely skirmishes between small ninja units. Even though Li Anshi had single-handedly killed nearly a hundred Sand ninjas in a year, it had little impact on the overall war situation.
Therefore, on the Land of Wind battlefield, Li Anshi's name was not well-known.
But once he arrived on the Cloud front, a single battle involving thousands of ninjas allowed Li Anshi to fully display his terrifying deterrent power.
In just a few minutes, with over a hundred casualties, the instant kill of the rampaging Two-Tails Jinchuriki, and the severe wounding of the Third Raikage, he had completely broken the Cloud's ninja forces, sealing the victory on that front.
It was the same with Sakumo Hatake.
His White Fang sword style was an ultimate burst-type assassination art. With his current chakra, Sakumo couldn't support prolonged, explosive combat.
Therefore, he was not suited for large-scale warfare.
But after Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived on the Stone front, due to Kagami Uchiha's physical condition, more ninjas were needed to assist him. After Kagami lost his sight, they even had to take his place to resist the Stone's Tailed Beast Jinchuriki.
Among them, the ninjas who had performed well in the battles on the Stone front caught Hiruzen Sarutobi's eye.
Sakumo Hatake was one of them.
And this was the perfect opportunity for Sakumo Hatake to shine!
In one-on-one, or even many-on-one combat, Sakumo didn't need to worry about his own safety. He just had to unleash his White Fang sword style to its fullest.
Knowing one's subordinates and using them wisely—this was a necessary leadership quality for a Hokage.
Unfortunately, Danzo Shimura lacked such an ability.
For the failure on the Stone front, Danzo would never consider whether his own decisions were flawed. Instead, he blamed Sakumo Hatake for hiding his strength…
"Sakumo Hatake, Li Anshi…"
Danzo muttered their names.
To him, these two commoner ninjas were the main culprits who had landed him in his current predicament.
If not for Sakumo Hatake's sudden outburst, the situation on the Stone front wouldn't have changed so quickly.
In fact, after Kagami Uchiha lost his sight and his strength was greatly diminished, Konoha might have been at a disadvantage again in the fight against the Stone.
It was the same on the Cloud battlefield. Without Li Anshi, Konoha could not have achieved such a glorious victory in that battle.
In fact, after Sasuke Sarutobi, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Kagami Uchiha, three top-tier powerhouses, were tied down by the Cloud side, Konoha's ninja forces might have been defeated.
At that time, Hiruzen Sarutobi, as Hokage, even if he didn't resign due to the loss, would have suffered a great loss of prestige.
For the current Danzo Shimura, whether Konoha won or lost had little to do with him.
But the advantages on the other fronts made him look incredibly incompetent!
"Power, I need great power!"
This thought flashed through Danzo Shimura's mind.
The Shimura clan was not a major ninja clan during the Warring States period, just a very ordinary small clan surviving in the cracks.
When the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, established Konoha, the Shimura clan was one of the first to pledge allegiance and join, receiving considerable preferential treatment.
It was then that Danzo Shimura was taken in as a disciple by Tobirama Senju.
Over the past decade, the Shimura clan's life in Konoha had been dozens of times better than during the Warring States period, and the clan itself was several times stronger than before.
"The Shimura clan's foundation is not deep. My strongest ninjutsu were learned from Master Tobirama."
"The secret techniques of other ninja clans won't improve my strength much."
"Besides, my current body…"
Touching his crippled right arm and his missing right eye, the figures of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and Madara Uchiha flashed through Danzo's mind.
Suddenly, Danzo's movements paused.
"How could I forget, Sakumo Hatake and Li Anshi…"
"Those two are just commoner ninjas, with no clan support behind them."