Chapter 123: The Counterattack Bugle of the Hokage Faction
"Danzo-sama, the first wave of interception missions failed. Moreover, the Third Squad of the First Division suffered heavy casualties, with barely more than half the personnel escaping back."
Danzo Shimura was busy destroying evidence of his past crimes. Whether it was documents or people who were no longer trustworthy, they all fell within the scope of Danzo Shimura's disposal.
However, Danzo Shimura still overlooked much, especially regarding his misjudgment of Naruto's Clone, Uzumaki Kenshin, which caused him to miss several potentially fatal blind spots.
"Have the Root members who had contact with Kenshin been dealt with?"
"They have all been dealt with," Aburame Torunereplied dutifully, "but according to Fu Yamanaka's report, nothing unusual was found in their brains."
"At this point, it is better to kill by mistake than to let one slip through." Danzo Shimura was very cautious, but then his eyes narrowed, staring fixedly at Aburame Torune, "However, I still cannot understand why you would think of betraying me?!"
"My lord, I have always..."
"Commit suicide," Danzo Shimura said coldly, "This is the only way you can express your loyalty to me!"
"But..."
"Do you want to die knowing why, or will you not shed tears until you see the coffin?!" Danzo Shimura slammed his hand on the armrest of the leader's chair, "Do you think I only have Fu Yamanaka investigate the brains of suspicious people?! The most trusted people are the ones most worth investigating!"
"Clatter..."
A stack of reports was thrown by Danzo Shimuratoward Aburame Torune. During the flight, they scattered into individual sheets of paper, flying everywhere. By the time they landed, they were scattered all over the ground, bearing no resemblance to their previous neat appearance.
These papers were all reports from Fu Yamanakaregarding various Root Ninja. Aburame Toruneoccupied the majority of the pages, and the words "Suspected Betrayal" in the conclusion column were particularly striking.
"Explain yourself." Danzo Shimura's anger dissipated, turning into a sense of dejection, "Why did you betray me? After all, you have followed me since you were a child... I gave you, who were disregarded, the opportunity to showcase yourself, and I even gave you power second only to mine!"
"Tell me why!" Danzo Shimura was hysterical. What he could least accept was the betrayal of Aburame Torune or Fu Yamanaka; after all, even the most vicious old conspirator has a few confidants.
"I did not!"
Aburame Torune was a rigid person by nature, or rather, all members of the Aburame clan were like this. Being inarticulate and skilled at stealth, they had no great advantage in explaining things. In any case, it was just the same few sentences repeated over and over, with absolutely nothing new.
"Fu, tell me your judgment."
"Reporting to Danzo-sama, when using the Mind Transfer Jutsu to investigate Aburame Torune, he resisted, and not just once." Fu Yamanaka was much more articulate, "Not only that, when I entered his brain, I found many interesting things, including traces of his brain having been modified by genjutsu, and even some abnormal thoughts being implanted."
"Torune, tell me, when exactly did this happen!" Danzo Shimura certainly could not completely trust anyone, but Fu Yamanaka had a control-type Sealing Jutsu that he had personally cast on him. Although it could not guarantee the authenticity of the report 100%, Fu Yamanaka could not lie in front of Danzo Shimura.
Similarly, Aburame Torune also had a Sealing Jutsu cast by Danzo Shimura on him, and naturally, he could not speak lies in front of Danzo Shimuraeither, but where exactly was the problem?
Since neither could tell a lie, what was going on with Aburame Torune's denial and Fu Yamanaka's report? This left Danzo Shimura in a difficult dilemma.
To believe or not to believe, who should he believe, or should he believe neither?
"I do not know when my body was tampered with, but I can guarantee that I have not done a single thing to betray Danzo-sama or the Root!"
Aburame Torune's sworn response made Danzo Shimura waver again, and he turned his gaze toward Fu Yamanaka.
"Danzo-sama, I have not falsified or hidden anything in the report. What I saw through the Secret Technique is what I wrote in the report, completely truthful!"
This is how a crisis of trust is born. When the most trusted people point fingers at each other, how to choose becomes a personal matter for Danzo Shimura. But no matter the choice, it would force Danzo Shimura into a corner—a corner where he was left alone, constantly suspicious of everyone.
"Someone come..." After a long while, Danzo Shimura finally made a decision, "Take Aburame Torune and Fu Yamanaka away and keep them under strict guard for the time being."
"Yes! Danzo-sama!"
...
"Jiraiya-sama, these... these..."
Asuma Sarutobi's hands trembled. He simply could not imagine that Root, hidden in the shadows of Konoha, had actually kept it from almost everyone in Konoha and committed so many unforgivable crimes!
Colluding with outsiders, secret human experimentation, framing Ninjas loyal to Konoha, and all other charges—any single one of these, if taken out separately, would not be tolerated by Konoha, let alone all these numerous charges combined!
"And Father, he... he actually indulged Danzo Shimura so much!" What Asuma Sarutobi could least understand was the late Hiruzen Sarutobi. He could not fathom what Hiruzen Sarutobi was thinking, choosing to tolerate Danzo Shimura's actions again and again.
"These are no longer important..."
Jiraiya had undoubtedly become the backbone of the group, which was inseparable from his character and his past achievements. He stood up and patted Asuma Sarutobi's shoulder, signaling that the dead should be respected and that everything should wait for a conclusion later.
"The most critical thing now is Danzo Shimura's side, and how much power he actually holds in his hands." Jiraiya was, after all, one of the commanders who had led during the Third War, and his sense of the big picture was not weak, "The currently known intelligence only covers those Root Ninja, but we do not have a clear concept of how many Root Ninja there are or what their average strength is."
After Jiraiya said this, the silent Kakashi Hatakesuddenly spoke, "When I served in the Anbu in my early years, I once received orders from the Third Hokage to secretly monitor the Root for a period of time. I have some rough impressions of them; although not accurate, it can allow everyone to have a general idea."
"On the surface, the Root oversees three medium-sized Ninja divisions. Each division oversees four squads, and each squad has seven people, so their base headcount should be 84."
Kakashi Hatake had no intention of defending Hiruzen Sarutobi; he was just stating facts, "The Third Hokage had placed restrictions on Danzo Shimura's power, so the number of Root Ninjashould not differ much from what I said. However, Danzo Shimura would absolutely not accept the restrictions so honestly. Even if he could not increase the numbers, he would correspondingly strengthen the skill of the Root Ninja."
Listening to Kakashi Hatake's analysis, Jiraiyanodded, "Kakashi is absolutely right. Moreover, with the Root's cruel selection and training methods for Ninjas, the minimum strength of those who can survive and serve in it should have reached the level of a Special Jounin."
"Minimum strength of Special Jounin?" Asuma Sarutobi was shocked. He naturally knew what a Special Jounin represented.
Special Jounin, although a title, is also linked to the Ninja's own strength. That is to say, the strength of a Special Jounin is higher than a Chunin, equal to a Jonin in a certain ability, but weaker than a Jonin in comprehensive quality; they are Ninjas above the elite Chunin level.
"This is truly tricky!"
Jiraiya had a splitting headache. To remove Danzo Shimura, this tumor of Konoha, the Root Ninjawere an obstacle that could not be bypassed. But given the number and strength of the Root Ninja, if they were to truly fight, it would definitely be another huge blow to Konoha's foundation.
"However, the interior of the Root is not monolithic." Jiraiya thought of something, "The one who gave me this evidence and information was a Root Ninja. It's just that if we want them to stand completely on our side, we still need to help them remove the Tongue Binding Seal!"