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Check out Chapter illustrations on Pixiv at unhinged_uchiha
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While Hiruzen read through the mission report with a tense expression, Kanzou suddenly spoke again. "By the way... Hokage-sama..." he said casually.
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed. "Is there something more?"
"Of course," nodded Kanzou. "I must express my dissatisfaction with you."
The atmosphere, which had only just begun to stabilize, instantly became tense again. This time, however, Hiruzen remained far more vigilant. After what had happened moments ago, there was no chance he would allow himself to be caught off guard again.
Maintaining a confused expression, he looked up from the scroll. "What do you mean?"
Kanzou let out a long, disappointed sigh. "I mean..." He shook his head sadly. "I'm such a loyal guy."
Hiruzen nearly choked. 'You? A loyal guy?'
He wanted to refute that statement immediately. Every instinct in his body screamed that the claim was absurd. Unfortunately, Kanzou showed no intention of giving him a chance to speak.
"Not only me," Kanzou continued, "but my subordinates are extremely loyal as well."
Hiruzen's expression remained unchanged, but inwardly he dismissed the statement as complete nonsense.
Loyal?
The Uchiha Patriarch who had just held a sword to the Hokage's throat inside the Hokage's own office was calling himself loyal?
The irony was almost insulting.
Meanwhile, Kanzou carried on as though he were speaking an undeniable truth.
"Despite us Uchihas being so loyal to the village that we're willing to risk our lives for it..." His voice became increasingly aggrieved. "Despite us accepting difficult missions, maintaining the security, law and order of the village, and working tirelessly for Konoha's benefit... I have learned of something that left me deeply disappointed."
He looked directly at Hiruzen. "I can't believe my subordinates encountered assassination attempts from their own village."
The words struck the room like a thunderclap.
The ANBU immediately became alert, 'Is it finally coming?'
Hazuki narrowed her eyes, looking at Hiruzen, waiting to see what the old creep had to say.
Hiruzen's fingers tightened around the scroll. "Assassination attempts from the village?" he asked, keeping his voice as steady as possible despite the tension creeping into it. "What exactly do you mean?"
Outwardly, he appeared confused; inwardly, however, his heart sank. 'Did the operation really fail in the sense I was least hoping for?' he wondered.
He had been hoping for a different kind of failure, one where Fugaku never encountered the Uchihas at all. Unfortunately, that clearly wasn't the case.
Even so, Hiruzen kept up the act and feigned confusion.
"These assassinations you mentioned in your report..." he said slowly, as if trying to make sense of it. "They were probably shinobi hired by your target. They weren't Konoha ninjas. Why would Konoha shinobi attempt to assassinate fellow shinobi from their own village?"
"Is that what Hokage-sama thinks?" Kanzou asked calmly.
Before Hiruzen could elaborate, Kanzou turned his head slightly and ordered, "Bring them out, Hazuki."
Hiruzen's expression immediately stiffened.
'Don't tell me...' A troubling possibility surfaced in his mind and he felt a faint sense of unease.
"Understood, Kanzou-sama," Hazuki replied with a nod.
She reached into her pocket, pulled out another scroll, and laid it on the floor under the watchful eyes of everyone present.
Completely unconcerned by the setting or the audience around her, Hazuki calmly formed a series of hand seals. The moment she finished, she slammed her palm onto the scroll.
Several poofs of white smoke erupted throughout the office...
Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!
"These are..."
The ANBU operatives stared at what had emerged from the storage scroll. Their voices were low, but the shock was obvious.
Corpses.
Several corpses lay neatly lined up across the floor of the Hokage's office.
The sight instantly changed everyone's expression. It wasn't merely the bodies themselves that shocked them; it was the fact that Uchiha Kanzou had the audacity to summon them inside the Hokage's office. The sheer disrespect of the act made the atmosphere grow even heavier.
The ANBU's anger immediately flared.
"Uchiha Kanzou... what the hell are you doing?"
"Yeah... this is going too far!"
One incident after another, Kanzou kept pushing Hiruzen's limits. Every action seemed designed to trample over the sanctity of the Hokage's office while openly disrespecting the Sandaime Hokage.
First, he disrespectfully sat on the table that the Hokage uses for work.
Then, he pressed the edge of his katana against the Hokage's neck in his own office.
And now he had filled the office with corpses.
It was almost as though Kanzou was deliberately provoking Hiruzen, repeatedly pressing every possible button in the hope that the old Hokage would finally lose his composure and lash out.
As the Hokage's personal ANBU, they weren't responsible only for protecting his life. They were also responsible for protecting his dignity, authority, and reputation.
How much longer were they supposed to tolerate this blatant disrespect?
Kanzou, however, paid them no attention whatsoever.
Ignoring the furious ANBU as if they didn't even exist, he looked directly at Hiruzen and said, "Putting aside the barking of your pet dogs for a moment, I'd like to ask Hokage-sama something."
His gaze briefly shifted toward the corpses on the floor before returning to the Hokage.
"I wonder what these shinobi were doing attacking my men while they were carrying out the mission you assigned them?" he asked casually. "I mean, these ninjas were nothing but a bunch of trash who couldn't accomplish much anyway. That's not the issue."
Kanzou's eyes narrowed slightly. "The issue is that they attacked my ninjas during an active mission that the village had assigned."
His voice remained calm, but the pressure behind his words became unmistakable. "So I sincerely hope Hokage-sama has a very good explanation for that..."
"These ninjas..." Hiruzen muttered as his gaze swept across the corpses spread out on the floor.
His heart sank.
More than a dozen bodies lay before him, and he recognized many of them immediately. These weren't ordinary shinobi. They were elite operatives from the ANBU and Danzō's Root. Some of them had served under him for years. Some had carried out countless dangerous missions for the village.
And now they were dead.
What made it even worse was that the Uchihas had actually brought the bodies back.
For a brief moment, Hiruzen had clung to the hope that things hadn't gone quite as badly as he feared. Perhaps the mission had failed before contact was made. Perhaps Fugaku never found them. Perhaps something else had happened.
Now those hopes were thoroughly crushed.
The truth was laid out right in front of him.
The assassination squad he had sent after the Uchihas had encountered them, they had fought, and every single one of them had died.
The result left Hiruzen deeply shaken.
More than a dozen elite ANBU operatives had failed to eliminate three Jōnin of the Uchiha Clan and a Genin.
It was absurd, no matter how he looked at it, it was absurd!
'Are the subordinates supporting Uchiha Kanzou really this strong?' The thought made him increasingly uneasy.
After all, Souta, Satoru, and Kurumi weren't even the entirety of Kanzou's loyalist faction. There were still people like Shin, Mikoto, and Kanzou himself among the radicals, not to mention other capable members from the moderate and neutral factions.
The more Hiruzen thought about it, the more alarming the situation became.
It was honestly a little terrifying.
As his eyes moved across the corpses, he quickly noticed another detail: 'Fugaku isn't among them.'
The realization immediately caught his attention, but he kept it to himself. There was no benefit in mentioning it right now. Instead, he focused on formulating a response to Kanzou's accusation.
Fortunately, there was still one thing working in his favor.
None of the dead operatives were dressed like Konoha shinobi or ANBU ninjas.
The assassination squad had gone out of its way to disguise itself as shinobi from various other nations. Their clothing, equipment, and appearances had all been altered specifically to mislead the Uchihas and conceal Konoha's involvement.
And judging from what lay before him, those disguises were still intact.
Good.
Very good.
Hiruzen silently steadied himself and decided to continue the act. Nodding slightly, he looked toward Kanzou and asked with feigned confusion, "What exactly do you mean by saying I owe you an explanation?"
"Oh? Hokage-sama doesn't think he owes me an explanation?" Kanzou asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You tell me," Hiruzen replied evenly. "What exactly am I supposed to explain? These people attacked your men during a mission, yes, but it's not as though they're Konoha shinobi. They're most likely mercenaries or hired ninjas brought in by the target for protection."
"Are they really not Konoha shinobi?" Kanzou asked with a faint half-smile.
The expression on his face made it obvious that he could see right through Hiruzen's act. The old man was pretending, and both of them knew it.
Still, Hiruzen remained completely unfazed. "No," he said firmly. "They are not." His face didn't change in the slightest.
In Hiruzen's opinion, there was no way for Kanzou to verify the identities of the dead operatives anyway. The ANBU and Root agents carried countless protective seals within their brains. Even the Yamanaka Clan would struggle to extract anything meaningful using Mind Transfer techniques. Extracting anything useful from them after death would be nearly impossible.
Their true affiliations were practically impossible to uncover.
As far as Hiruzen was concerned, the truth had died with them.
It was unfortunate to lose so many capable subordinates, but that was simply the fate of ANBU.
They existed to serve the village, to complete missions, to protect the Hokage, and when necessary, they existed to die for the benefit of the village.
That was the reality they had accepted the moment they joined.
So while Hiruzen regretted the loss of valuable manpower, he wasn't about to expose the village's involvement for the sake of a group of dead operatives.
"I see..." Kanzou nodded slowly, seemingly accepting the explanation despite clearly understanding exactly what Hiruzen was doing.
A faint mocking smile appeared on his face.
"Well, that's honestly a huge relief," he said casually. "I'm really glad these idiots weren't your subordinates. For a moment there, I was genuinely worried."
Kanzou leaned back slightly as though finally relaxing.
"You know, I was sitting here wondering why Hokage-sama would suddenly send people to assassinate members of my clan." He chuckled lightly before shaking his head. "Fortunately, that wasn't the case after all."
The sarcasm in his voice was so blatant that even the ANBU present could hear it clearly.
Hazuki also looked coldly at Hiruzen as if the creepy old man really thinks that they'd buy his nonsense.
But Hiruzen didn't care, he kept with the act, "Yeah, I didn't. In the first place, why would I do something that would undermine the village's integrity?"
"Exactly," Kanzou nodded. "Only some two-faced shit-eating monkey who is a complete coward at heart would do something like that."
Hiruzen's lips twitched ever so slightly.
The insult was so blatant that everyone in the room understood exactly who Kanzou was referring to, yet the old Hokage forced himself not to react.
Kanzou continued as if nothing had happened. "I mean, whoever sent these idiots after my subordinates must have their brains sitting in their knees." He shook his head in mock disbelief. "Seriously, don't they know that offending Uchiha Kanzou is a bad idea?"
A dangerous smile spread across his face. "After all, if you try to offend Uchiha Kanzou... Uchiha Kanzou really gets offended, you know. And when Uchiha Kanzou gets offended, the people who offended him usually don't have an easy time afterward."
Hiruzen felt his heart tighten slightly.
The words sounded casual, almost playful, but the threat beneath them was impossible to miss.
Fortunately for him, Kanzou merely waved his hand dismissively. "But you don't have to worry about any of that, Hokage-sama," he said. "After all, it wasn't you who sent these people after my subordinates."
The emphasis he placed on certain words made Hiruzen's chest tighten even further.
"I fully trust you," Kanzou continued with a smile. "So naturally, I won't make things difficult for you."
Hiruzen's heartbeat quickened.
The more politely Kanzou spoke, the more dangerous he sounded.
Kanzou then leaned forward slightly.
"However, I would like Hokage-sama to investigate this matter. Since the incident took place outside Konoha, it's technically outside my jurisdiction."
His smile widened. "So, I'd be very grateful if Hokage-sama assigned this investigation to his reliable ANBU. Considering they're the elite ANBU, I'm sure they'll thoroughly investigate the matter and won't allow a threat capable of endangering the village to go unchecked. Right?"
Hiruzen's lips twitched again, but continuing to maintain a calm expression, he nodded, "I'll issue an investigation."
"Good." Kanzou appeared satisfied with the answer. "I certainly hope so."
Then, as if he had suddenly remembered something, Kanzou casually added, "By the way, Hokage-sama... I have one more thing I'd like to discuss." He paused briefly before smiling. "Or rather, it's a request."
"Something else?" Hiruzen asked.
His heart immediately sank.
The moment he heard Kanzou making a 'request', a sense of dread rose within him.
The last time Uchiha Kanzou had made a 'request,' it had cost Konoha ten billion ryō from its annual budget. Even now, remembering the money he had promised Kanzou gave him a headache. He didn't even want to imagine what sort of outrageous demand Kanzou had prepared this time.
And if there was one thing Hiruzen was certain of, it was that Kanzou's requests never came cheap.
At that moment, Hiruzen's patience was already hanging by a thread.
Throughout the entire meeting, he had been forced to endure one humiliation after another. Kanzou had openly disrespected him, mocked him to his face, filled his office with corpses, and repeatedly trampled over the authority and dignity of the Hokage's position.
On top of that, more than a dozen elite ANBU operatives had been killed.
Their bodies were still lying on the floor of his office.
Every time Hiruzen glanced at them, he felt his anger rising another notch.
The only reason he had managed to maintain his composure was that he desperately wanted to avoid internal conflict within Konoha.
But even he had limits.
Right now, he genuinely felt as though he was standing on the edge of a cliff.
If Kanzou made another absurd demand, Hiruzen wasn't entirely sure he would be able to keep suppressing his temper.
For that reason alone, he wanted to avoid the subject altogether. "Perhaps we can discuss it another time," Hiruzen said. "Let's focus on settling this matter first. The investigation should take priority."
But Kanzou immediately shook his head. "No," he said. "This is actually more important than the investigation." His smile widened slightly. "In fact, depending on how this request is handled, I don't think an investigation will even be necessary."
Hiruzen frowned. "What exactly do you mean by that?" he asked.
Kanzou nodded thoughtfully and said, "You know... You might actually be right. These people might not have been Konoha shinobi after all. I remember one of my subordinates mentioning that Fugaku was leading the group. Since Fugaku was leading them, perhaps they were simply mercenaries hired by him."
He paused for a moment before continuing, "Although there is one thing that bothers me. How exactly did Fugaku know that my subordinates would be traveling to the Land of That in the first place? After all, everyone assigned to that mission is completely loyal to me. None of them would ever leak information to Fugaku. Which means someone else must have informed him, and I really do wonder who that someone might be..."
As he spoke, Kanzou stared directly into Hiruzen's eyes. He did not openly voice the accusation, but the meaning behind that gaze was unmistakable. It was as if he were telling Hiruzen, 'I know it was you.' The old Hokage felt distinctly uncomfortable under that stare. Fortunately, Kanzou never pushed the matter further and instead shifted to the topic he actually wanted to discuss.
"But that's not what's important right now. Even if someone secretly supports, I don't care because they are really only biting themselves in the back by supporting that incompetent guy," Kanzou said with a dismissive wave. "What's important is that that damn, incompetent Fugaku dared to attack Konoha shinobi and interfere with an active mission. I took mercy on him, and despite his actions that demanded execution, I only exiled him... and yet look at what he is doing? He tried to kill my subordinates! His actions also could have caused the mission to fail completely, and that would have been a serious loss for the village. Fortunately, my subordinates were competent enough to beat the living shit out of him and his little group. Unfortunately, that damn pariah is still breathing."
A cold smile appeared on Kanzou's face as he delivered his real request. "So I think, considering his actions, Fugaku should be declared a traitor."
Hiruzen's expression immediately changed. This was not the request he had expected to hear. In truth, compared to many of Kanzou's previous demands, it wasn't even particularly outrageous. Under normal circumstances, he might have considered approving it without even thinking too much. However, the current situation was anything but normal. The moment he realized where Kanzou was heading, he knew he couldn't simply agree.
Maintaining a calm expression, Hiruzen asked, "Do you have any proof that Fugaku was leading these men and deliberately interfering with your subordinates?"
"Proof? Isn't my word, or the word of my subordinates, enough?" Kanzou asked, tilting his head slightly as though he genuinely found the question strange.
"How could something like this be done without proof?" Hiruzen replied calmly. "Your word is certainly credible as the Patriarch of the Uchiha Clan, but as Hokage, I have to remain impartial. I cannot ignore the hostility that exists between you and Fugaku. Declaring someone a traitor is not a minor matter. Without solid evidence, I simply cannot make such a decision."
"Is that so?" Kanzou asked. A faint smile slowly spread across his face. It wasn't a pleasant smile. There was something cold and unsettling about it that immediately made Hiruzen uncomfortable. After a moment, Kanzou simply nodded. "I see..."
Hiruzen naturally noticed the smile, but it did nothing to change his decision. There was no way he intended to declare Fugaku a traitor. Doing so would effectively destroy whatever credibility Fugaku still possessed and eliminate any chance of him ever reclaiming the position of Uchiha Patriarch. Not only would Fugaku lose all standing within the clan, but he would also become a wanted criminal and be hunted down by Konoha. Hiruzen could not allow that to happen.
If Kanzou had been unquestionably loyal to the Hokage and the village, Hiruzen might not have cared nearly as much. In that scenario, sacrificing Fugaku in exchange for securing the complete support of the Uchiha Clan would have been an easy decision. The problem was that Kanzou was becoming more troublesome with every passing day. His influence continued to expand, his authority within the clan continued to grow, and his actions were becoming increasingly difficult to predict. Under such circumstances, Hiruzen did not dare remove one of the few remaining figures capable of opposing him.
In fact, Hiruzen's hopes rested on the exact opposite outcome. He wanted Fugaku to challenge Kanzou. He wanted Fugaku to become a counterweight against him. If possible, he wanted Fugaku to eventually bring Kanzou down altogether. With thoughts like these in mind, there was absolutely no chance he would agree to this request.
"Without concrete proof, my hands are tied," Hiruzen said, putting on an apologetic expression. "So unfortunately, I can only refuse."
To his surprise, Kanzou merely waved his hand dismissively, as though the answer did not bother him in the slightest. "It's fine, Hokage-sama. I understand that you have your difficulties." A pleasant smile remained on his face, making him look perfectly reasonable. However, that only made Hiruzen even more uneasy. Kanzou was not the type of person who accepted rejection so easily.
"I just hope," Kanzou continued casually, "that you won't regret refusing to declare Fugaku a traitor later. When this decision eventually comes back to bite you in the ass, I hope you remember today's conversation."
The smile never left his face, but the look in his eyes made Hiruzen's heart sink. The words sounded almost friendly on the surface, yet they carried a clear warning underneath. It was as though Kanzou was already anticipating some future disaster and was making sure Hiruzen would have nobody to blame but himself when it arrived.
Even so, Hiruzen had no intention of backing down. No matter how ominous Kanzou's warning sounded, declaring Fugaku a traitor would be equivalent to cutting off his own arm. It would hand Kanzou even greater control over the Uchiha Clan and remove one of the obstacles standing in his path. Whatever consequences might come in the future, Hiruzen was convinced they would be far less dangerous than willingly helping Kanzou consolidate even more power today.
And with that, Kanzou had nothing more to discuss with Hiruzen. "By the way, Hokage-sama," he said casually, "if you have any more missions that need my clansmen to handle, make sure to send them to my office. My subordinates seem to have had quite a bit of fun recently, and I hope Hokage-sama will continue entertaining them in the future."
The corner of Hiruzen's eye twitched.
With that said, Kanzou didn't wait for Hiruzen's response and simply jumped off the Hokage's desk, intending to leave. Placing both hands behind his head, he started walking toward the exit. "Come on, Hazuki. Hokage-sama is stupid. It's best not to spend too much time around stupid people."
"I see, Kanzou-sama," Hazuki replied as she followed after him. "Is it because it lowers your IQ?"
"That's right. It really does lower your IQ," nodded Kanzou, and praised her, "Hazuki, you're smart."
Hazuki smiled. "After all, I spend most of my time around you, Kanzou-sama, so my IQ remains high." Hazuki subtly glanced toward the ANBU, "Unlike certain people whose IQ might be dropping by the minute."
The faces of Hiruzen and several ANBU operatives immediately darkened. The mockery was so blatant that it barely qualified as an insult hidden behind polite words. Unfortunately, there was no point responding. Everyone present knew that Kanzou was deliberately looking for a reaction. Arguing with him would only encourage him further, so they watched in silence as he and Hazuki left the office, leaving behind more than a dozen corpses scattered across the floor.
Once the door closed behind them, the atmosphere inside the room became noticeably heavier. Hiruzen stared at the bodies with a weary expression. The old Hokage suddenly felt years older than he had at the beginning of the meeting. After rubbing his forehead for several seconds, he finally spoke.
"Send them for autopsy and attempt to extract whatever memories you can. I want to know exactly what happened during their encounter with the Uchihas and whether anything useful can still be recovered."
The ANBU immediately moved into action, sealing the corpses into storage scrolls as Hiruzen continued issuing orders. "Also, summon Danzō. Some of these operatives belonged to Root, and there are matters that need to be discussed with him." An ANBU acknowledged the command and disappeared to relay the summons.
After a brief pause, Hiruzen gave one final order. "Find Fugaku. Based on what Uchiha Kanzou said, he's still alive. I want to know where he is, what condition he's in, and what exactly he's been doing."
The remaining ANBU immediately acknowledged the command and departed. Left alone with his thoughts, Hiruzen found his mind returning to Kanzou's final warning.
...
Meanwhile, after walking out of the Hokage Building, Kanzou turned to Hazuki and said, "You head back to the Police Station."
Hazuki blinked. "Are you going somewhere else?"
"Yeah," Kanzou replied with a nod. "I need to check on Natsuhi's condition and reward her for the work she did."
Hazuki was quick to guess what sort of 'reward' he'd give Natsuhi, and immediately pouted. "I want to come too..."
"What exactly are you planning to do if you come with me?" Kanzou asked with a shrug.
"Isn't she staying at a hot spring inn?" Hazuki asked. Then, after hesitating for a moment, she lowered her voice slightly. "I-I could wash your back... just like Okaa-sama used to."
The moment she finished speaking, Kanzou flicked her forehead. "Itai!"
Hazuki immediately covered the reddening spot and glared at him. "What was that for?" she demanded with a huff.
Instead of answering directly, Kanzou looked her up and down before his gaze stopped on her chest. "What exactly are you planning to wash my back with?" he asked dryly. "There's barely anything there."
"Kanzou-sama!" Hazuki's face instantly turned red. "Y-you... you... that's sexual harassment!"
She looked genuinely offended. "How can you even say something like that? Don't you know women hate hearing those kinds of comments?" Then she crossed her arms defensively and added, "A-and besides, I'm still young! I only started developing recently! Give it a few years and I'll be just as big as Okaa-sama. No, I'll be even bigger than her!"
"Sure you'll be," Kanzou replied dryly. He then patted her head and added, "We'll have this conversation again in a few years. For now, be a good girl and head back to the Police Station."
"Humph! Fine..." Hazuki snorted unhappily. Even so, she turned around, stomping off toward the Police Station.
Kanzou watched her leave before disappearing in a Body Flicker Technique. His destination was naturally the hot spring inn where Natsuhi was staying. After everything that had happened, it was time to see how she was doing and reward her efforts properly.
And to go to that place, he didn't leave from the front door of Konoha, but rather secretly left through a secret route.
...
While Kanzou was heading toward a certain hot spring inn, Danzō was standing inside the Hokage's office, staring at the corpses scattered across the floor. The moment his eyes landed on the dead Root operatives, his expression darkened. Gripping his crutch tightly, he slammed it against the floor with a loud thud and demanded coldly, "Hiruzen... what is the meaning of this?"
"Do I really need to explain it?" Hiruzen replied. His tone was weary and irritated. The situation was obvious enough that he didn't believe any explanation was necessary. The corpses lying on the floor already answered Danzō's question better than words ever could.
Danzō fell silent. His gaze swept across the bodies one after another as disbelief slowly appeared on his face. After several moments, he finally asked, "Did they fail?"
"How else would they be lying here dead?" Hiruzen shot back. His expression remained tense as he continued, "The Uchihas brought back these corpses. The very Uchihas they were meant to..." He didn't finish, but the meaning was obvious.
Danzō's eyes narrowed immediately. He understood the implication behind those words. Uchiha Kanzou knew exactly what they had attempted. More importantly, he had deliberately dragged the bodies into the Hokage's office and dumped them on the floor in front of Hiruzen as a form of mockery. It was a blatant message. Their assassination attempt had failed. Their operatives had died. The Uchihas had not only survived but also killed the assassins in return. Kanzou hadn't come merely to report the incident; he had come to rub their failure directly in their faces.
The memory made Hiruzen's expression darken further. He felt both anger and vigilance. The loss of so many elite ANBU and Root operatives was bad enough, but what truly bothered him was Kanzou's behavior throughout the meeting. The young Uchiha had not only mocked him repeatedly, but he had also casually placed the edge of his blade against the Hokage's throat in his very office as though demonstrating exactly what he would do if he ever chose to act openly. Even now, Hiruzen couldn't forget that moment. Nor could he forget the threat Kanzou had left behind before departing. The words had been hidden beneath smiles and sarcasm, but the warning itself had been unmistakable.
'Dammit... why did they fail? How could they fail? There were over a dozen elite ANBU and Root operatives, not to mention Fugaku himself... It makes no sense!'
Hiruzen frowned deeply as he stared at the corpses. The entire situation felt wrong. He didn't believe that even one of his own disciples, Jiraiya, Tsunade, or Orochimaru, would walk away completely unscathed when facing so many elite shinobi. Yet somehow, Kanzou's side had not only survived but wiped them out.
Could it be that Kanzou's subordinates are even superior to the Sannin?
'No, that's not possible,' he shook his head immediately, finding the thought absurd.
Yet, the result is in front of him.
Then another possibility surfaced in his mind.
'Wait... there's also that Genin, Might Duy. Could this have something to do with him?'
Hiruzen didn't want to believe it. After all, Might Duy had remained a Genin for nearly two decades. If he truly possessed extraordinary abilities, why had he hidden them for so long? Why would he continue living as the village's laughingstock instead of proving himself years ago? Yet at the same time, other things didn't make sense either. Why would Uchiha Kanzou imprison Duy, then release him, and later send that very same Genin on such an important mission? The more he thought about it, the more suspicious it became.
'There's definitely something strange about Might Duy,' Hiruzen concluded silently. 'He needs to be investigated.'
He decided to deploy an ANBU to keep watch over Might Duy later on.
Meanwhile, Danzō looked at the corpses and spoke in a cold, unwavering tone. "I'm telling you again, Hiruzen... the Uchiha are a cancer. If we continue allowing them to exist, they'll eventually consume the entire village. We should do what needs to be done."
The loss of six of his Root ninjas also made Danzō angry. He didn't care that they were dead; he cared that they died for nothing, which is a loss for his organization. After all, raising ninjas isn't cheap. It takes time and effort, so if they are going to die, their death should mean something... but these ones died for nothing. How could he tolerate that?
However, Hiruzen immediately rejected the suggestion.
"No... that can't be done."
His answer came without hesitation. If they moved against the entire Uchiha Clan, people like Seiji and the other moderates or neutrals who have yet to completely align with Kanzou would be caught up in it as well. More importantly, the moment the clan faced the threat of annihilation, every internal division would disappear overnight. The moderates would unite with the radicals. The neutrals would choose a side. The entire clan would rally behind Uchiha Kanzou, and a united Uchiha Clan led by someone like him was not a threat Hiruzen believed Konoha could suppress without suffering devastating losses. And if those losses occurred, the other great villages certainly wouldn't remain silent. They would seize the opportunity immediately.
"Coward!" Danzō snorted.
He understood Hiruzen's reasoning and, if he were being honest, even found parts of it reasonable. That didn't stop him from despising it. In Danzō's eyes, Hiruzen had always been too soft, too hesitant, and too unwilling to make the difficult decisions.
"You'll keep refusing me," Danzō said mockingly. "Again and again. You'll keep doing it until the day you regret it. By then, it'll already be too late. Humph... when that day comes, I'll make sure to laugh in your face for refusing my proposal."
Hiruzen stared at him coldly for several seconds before finally speaking.
"Are you done?"
He was already exhausted from dealing with Kanzou. The last thing he wanted right now was to listen to Danzō's endless taunts and self-righteous lectures.
Danzō snorted, "Humph! You can only be tough on me, not on Uchiha Kanzou!"
Hiruzen's expression twisted with anger.
"Danzō...!!!"
Danzō immediately realized that Hiruzen was genuinely furious. After everything that had happened today, the old Hokage was already hanging by a thread. Continuing to provoke him would likely result in Hiruzen unloading all of that anger directly onto him. For once, Danzō chose not to push further and instead changed the subject. "What do you want me to do? Deploy more shinobi to hunt down the Uchihas?"
Hiruzen fell silent. The image of Kanzou pressing the sharp edge of his Katana against his neck resurfaced in his mind. The warning had been obvious enough that even now he couldn't ignore it. Whether Kanzou had truly intended anything by it was irrelevant. The message had been delivered. Continuing the operation at this moment would almost certainly create even more trouble. "Let's put that on hold for now," Hiruzen finally said.
Danzō's eyes narrowed slightly. The answer only reinforced his belief that Hiruzen was a coward, but he kept that opinion to himself. "Then what?"
"Take these corpses and see if any intelligence can be extracted from them," Hiruzen instructed while glancing toward the bodies on the floor. "Also, there's another matter. Might Duy need to be investigated."
"You think that eternal Genin has something to do with this failure?" Danzō frowned.
"I think his involvement is suspicious," Hiruzen replied. "Too many things about this situation don't add up. A Genin who remained a Genin for nearly twenty years suddenly appears on a mission that wipes out more than a dozen elite ANBU and Root operatives? Whether he's involved or not, he needs to be investigated."
Danzō considered the matter for a moment before nodding. "Fine. I'll assign a Root operative to look into him. However..." His tone changed slightly. "I want something in return."
Hiruzen's lips twitched. The look he gave Danzō practically said, 'What? You think you're Uchiha Kanzou now? Since when did you start negotiating with me?'
Danzō ignored the look completely and continued, "Many of my subordinates died during this operation. I need permission to expand Root's numbers."
Hiruzen hesitated. Under normal circumstances, he would have rejected the request outright. However, after everything that had happened today and considering the growing threat posed by Kanzou and the Uchiha Clan, he eventually relented. "Alright."
A satisfied smile immediately appeared on Danzō's face. Although six of his operatives had died, he didn't consider the loss particularly significant. Dead operatives could always be replaced. Permission to expand Root was far more valuable. In his eyes, losing six shinobi in exchange for the opportunity to recruit dozens more was an excellent trade. "If there's nothing else," Danzō said as he turned toward the exit, "I'll take my leave," and left with the corpses of Root ninjas.
Hiruzen watched him leave in silence. His eyes flickered slightly, but he said nothing. Once Danzō was gone, he leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh. Looking around the office, the reports, and the endless problems piling up around him, he felt an overwhelming sense of exhaustion.
'Why does it always have to be me dealing with these troublesome situations?' he thought bitterly. 'Just what did I do wrong to deserve all of this? All I want is for Konoha to flourish! Is it really wrong to want that?'
.
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Gimme Powaaahh Shtoness!!!
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Check out Chapter illustrations on Pixiv: unhinged_uchiha
If you like this story, then you might also like my other story: One Piece: The Incubus' Adventure. Give it a try.