Before Danzo could remain furious for long.
"Get out of the way!"
A woman's sharp shout suddenly rang out in his ears.
Before Danzo could even understand what was happening.
BOOM!
With a deafening explosion, the entrance to Danzo's underground office was violently blasted open.
Under Danzo's somewhat stunned and confused gaze Tsunade walked in while radiating an overwhelmingly domineering aura, accompanied by Shizune and the ANBU members directly under her command.
Seeing this Danzo's expression immediately darkened, and a bad feeling rose in his heart.
"Danzo, good. You're here."
A pair of beautiful eyes naturally carrying the oppressive pressure of a Kage-level powerhouse fixed themselves on Danzo as Tsunade spoke coldly,
"That saves me the trouble of having to search for you."
Her tone was completely impolite.
Instantly, a blaze of anger erupted within Danzo's chest.
After all just moments ago, he had already been enraged over Sousuke's matter, and the resentment and fury in his heart had not yet subsided.
Bang!
Danzo slammed his cane heavily against the floor, his expression icy to the extreme as he glared at Tsunade.
"Tsunade…"
"What exactly are you trying to do?"
"This is Root!"
Tsunade frowned.
Looking at Danzo, her voice also turned cold, with traces of killing intent flowing through it.
"Root?"
She sneered coldly at him.
"Don't joke around."
"This is Konoha."
"And I am Konoha's Fifth Hokage!"
Danzo was instantly choked speechless.
At the same time, he could tell that Tsunade had come with ill intentions.
Judging from her attitude she seemed fully prepared to make a move against him if necessary.
Unconsciously, Danzo frowned deeply, unease rising in his heart.
Because Tsunade was not the Third Hokage.
She was not someone easy to manipulate.
Even the phrase Danzo had always used most effectively against Hiruzen.
"This is for Konoha" would only become a joke in front of Tsunade.
Tsunade was someone who inherited the true will of the First and Second Hokage.
She would never compromise.
On the contrary she was an extremely forceful and iron-blooded powerhouse.
And the forces standing behind Tsunade were enough to make Danzo extremely wary.
First Jiraiya.
Although that man was a shameless pervert, his strength was undeniably terrifying.
Second Sousuke.
Even before awakening Wood Release, Sousuke's power had already been horrifying.
Now that he possessed the Wood Release Bloodline Limit his combat power had likely skyrocketed several times over.
Lastly there was one more potential ally:
Orochimaru.
Although Orochimaru was currently a missing-nin, Danzo knew very well that the Three Legendary Sannin were estranged in appearance but still emotionally connected beneath the surface.
If he truly pushed Tsunade too far Orochimaru absolutely would not mind killing him.
Otherwise Why did Danzo think he had never once dared to openly confront Tsunade face-to-face?
The main problem was he simply couldn't beat them!
After thinking through countless possibilities Danzo soon calmed the worries in his heart.
Although Tsunade was difficult to deal with, Danzo also understood one thing very clearly she absolutely was not the type of person who would casually kill him on a whim.
As long as he, Danzo, had not betrayed the village or harmed Konoha's collective interests Tsunade would, to a certain extent, turn a blind eye to him.
And in truth Danzo's judgment was correct.
Tsunade indeed was not someone who casually wanted others dead.
"So then…"
"The Fifth Hokage herself comes to my place for what purpose exactly?"
After thinking through many things, Danzo finally asked Tsunade.
At this moment the anger in Danzo's heart had already been suppressed.
He had never been the type to completely lose rationality over a single matter.
The greatest characteristic of Konoha's "Shadow Hokage" was precisely his ability to endure and retreat when necessary.
And because of that Danzo had already regained his calm and begun speculating about Tsunade's true purpose for coming here.
Tsunade glanced at him.
Seeing that this old bastard was not acting as stubbornly as she had expected, she also had no intention of beating around the bush.
Looking directly at Danzo, she straightforwardly stated her purpose,
"I came to take back something that belongs to me."
"The Wood Release scrolls."
"Hand them back."
"Konoha now finally has a junior capable of inheriting them."
"There's no point keeping them with you any longer."
"And originally, those scrolls were a gift my grandfather left to me."
As expected!
Danzo inwardly muttered,
"So it really is because of the First Hokage's Wood Release scrolls…"
"It seems Sousuke Yagyu truly has awakened the power of Wood Release."
After remaining silent for a long while Danzo neither agreed nor refused.
Seeing this, Tsunade impatiently spoke again,
"Danzo, I don't think you have the right to refuse."
"And you shouldn't refuse either."
"To tell you the truth, Sousuke has already awakened true Wood Release."
"Giving those Wood Release scrolls to him is the most appropriate choice."
"Perhaps in just a few more years…"
"Sousuke will grow into a powerhouse comparable to Grandfather himself."
"A new God of the Ninja World."
"And under his leadership, Konoha will only become stronger and better!"
As for the fact that Sousuke had awakened Wood Release Tsunade had never intended to keep it secret from the start.
Not only did she not plan to hide it she even intended to publicly promote Sousuke when the timing was right.
So she naturally had no fear telling Danzo directly.
Besides Tsunade believed that for Danzo to learn of this matter would be extremely easy anyway.
After speaking frankly, Tsunade fixed Danzo with a deep gaze and said,
"Return the Wood Release scrolls to me so I can hand them to Sousuke."
"This is for the good of the village."
"Danzo…"
"You agree with that too, don't you?"
Hearing Tsunade's reasoning Danzo's face instantly stiffened.
Damn it!
Wasn't this the exact same thing he used to say to the Third Hokage all the time?!
How had it suddenly become Tsunade using it against him instead?
This wasn't logical at all!
But honestly speaking Danzo truly did not want to hand the Wood Release scrolls over to Tsunade.
After all the power backing Tsunade was already terrifyingly strong enough as it was.
And now he was supposed to hand the Wood Release scrolls over to Sousuke, making him even stronger and further strengthening Tsunade's faction?
Yeah right!
Danzo would never do something as foolish as empowering his enemies.
"Tsunade… Sousuke is still too young."
After thinking for a moment, Danzo immediately began throwing accusations around, trying to pin suspicion onto Sousuke.
"Who knows what Sousuke Yagyu will become in the future?"
"What if he betrays the village someday?"
After a slight pause a plan suddenly appeared in Danzo's mind, one that made his eyes light up with excitement.
With a somewhat expectant expression, he continued:
"I can hand the Wood Release scrolls over to Sousuke Yagyu."
"After all, he is also Konoha's future."
"However, he's still too young."
"His Will of Fire may not be firm enough yet."
"Perhaps someday, because of certain events, he could even become a rogue ninja."
His gaze fixed onto Tsunade as he continued,
"So…"
"Hand Sousuke Yagyu over to me."
"Allow me to guide him personally for a period of time."
"I will ensure that he becomes completely loyal to Konoha and incapable of betrayal."
"That is the best possible solution."
Hearing Danzo's words both Tsunade and Shizune looked at him as though they were staring at a complete idiot.
Did this old bastard seriously think they were fools?
Did they not know exactly what kind of place Root was?
Did they not know exactly what kind of person Danzo himself was?
And now he actually wanted Sousuke to receive "loyalty training" under him?
What a joke.
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