"Of course, no one can stop me!" said Danzo with a determined expression.
Hearing Danzo's answer, Orochimaru smiled slightly, he wasn't surprised at all.
If there is anyone in this Shinobi World who knows Danzo better than Danzo himself, then it is undoubtedly Orochimaru who has witnessed the entire process of Danzo turning from an Elder who maintained Konoha's stability from the Shadows to a slave of power who wants only one thing––become Konoha's light… that is, the so-called Hokage.
As such, Orochimaru fully understands for Danzo who has become a slave and lost himself in pursuit of power, this sudden opportunity is too rare to be missed.
This extent of destruction was a first for Konoha, more than ninety per cent of the Village was destroyed and there were more than two thousand casualties.
Such a disaster, no matter what the cause and no matter during which Hokage's leadership did it happen, once it happened will inevitably cause the Hokage to fall into a whirlpool of negative public opinion.
It must be known that the previous three great shinobi world wars, no matter how cruel or painful they were, never once reached the gate of Konoha Village, let alone razed the village overnight like what happened a few nights ago.
And even if it was the betrayal of Uchiha Madara or the attack of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, the village never once suffered such an extent of damage…
In the hearts of the vast majority of Konoha ninjas and civilians, the inherent concept that Konoha Village is the strongest power in the ninja world, and the Hokage is the strongest ninja in the entire Shinobi world still exists. The people of Konoha may be willing to understand the difficulties of Sandaime Hokage, given the feats of the Akatsuki and Amatsukami, but they are willing to agree that the enemy this time is just too powerful, too powerful that even Hokage, who is supposed to be the strongest ninja in the Shinobi World is not able to defeat them for whatever reason… but emotionally, they are unable to accept such a reality, the destruction of their homes and loved ones still makes them subconsciously blame Sandaime Hokage for his inability to protect the Village and the villagers.
After all, the name and position 'Hokage' represents responsibility… No matter how many valid reasons or excuses there are, the 'fact' that the Village was destroyed is unchangeable, so the incumbent Hokage also cannot shirt the responsibility for his failure…
When a similar situation happened during the last stages of the third great shinobi war, Sandaime Hokage took the responsibility and stepped down as the Hokage and gave the position to the Yondaime, that time, that move may have been his political manoeuvre, but he did so nonetheless… So, this time too… he will have to step down as the Hokage, this is a fact that almost all the intellectual and experienced people understand…
And with how active Shimura Danzo has become these days, without a doubt, he wants to use this opportunity… because he too realizes that this is not only his best chance but also his only chance… If this opportunity were to be missed, then he will never be able to become Konoha's light.
After seeing through Danzo's thought process, Orochimaru licked his lips and asked suggestively, "If Amatsukami really falls on the old man's side, your next plan will be greatly affected…"
Danzo shook his head, and said with a confident tone, "It won't happen… As I said earlier, I know Sarutobi better than anyone else, he can't offer a price higher than I am offering them, so Amatsukami will not choose to cooperate with him.
I suspect that the reason Amatsukami sent Homusubi to meet Sarutobi is just to borrow him in order to force me to make more concessions… I knew about it and offered the entire Land of Water, but it appears that just the Land of Water doesn't satisfy them… their appetite is bigger, so they want more…"
"I suppose this might indeed be the case." Orochimaru nodded as if he agreed with this possibility, but his eyes that were looking at Danzo's back were clearly emphasizing that he is looking at an idiot, and there was only one thought going on in his mind which is, 'This guy… is utterly hopeless…'
According to Orochimaru, the reason why Amatsukami sent Homusubi in place of Fujin could be just about anything, and he is not sure what it is, but what he is definitely sure of is that it wouldn't have anything to do with increasing concessions or bigger appetite…
After all, the leader of that organization can drop freaking meteors from outer space!
Knowing this fact, will there still exist a foolish Daimyo or country in this shinobi world that would oppose Amatsukami if that organization tried to take over it through brute force?
The answer is an obvious big fat NO!
In fact, if you think about it, there would be countless countries in this Shinobi world who would even welcome Amatsukami and offer their entire land to them, just for the sake of the sense of security that Amatsukami might be able to provide them with.
Therefore, what Danzo thinks is bound to be impossible, but Orochimaru did not bother to correct Danzo, because the bigger idiot Danzo remains, the easier it will be for Orochimaru to manipulate him.
Danzo obviously didn't know what Orochimaru was thinking, he looked at Orochimaru, and said in an unquestionable tone, "The progress of the improvement of the Chimera Jutsu must be accelerated."
Orochimaru smiled slightly, and said, "Recently I have made a major breakthrough on my part, and now the part that was supposed to be completed by Fujin is what's constraining further progress, so that's up to Homusubi… I just hope that Homusubi who is replacing Fujin is as good as him and wouldn't let us down… otherwise, it might take months, or even years to complete the improvement of Chimera Jutsu…"
Hearing Orochimaru's words, Danzo nodded in appreciation, 'When it comes to his talent as a researcher, Orochimaru does have a capital to be prided upon.' At the same time, he couldn't help but frown at the mention of Homusubi… Danzo feels that it is inappropriate to let an Uchiha intervene in his core plan…
But he doesn't really have a choice… Homusubi is the person Amatsukami sent… so, he will have to make do with Homusubi, which made him sigh endlessly.
Orochimaru didn't care about Danzo's sigh, he was thinking something else, and after a while of thinking, he said tentatively, "It's about time you start selecting the targets… Have you considered which Kekkei Genkai you want to swallow?"
Danzo shook his head indifferently, "I haven't decided yet."
Orochimaru knew that Danzo won't reveal such important intelligence to him, so he didn't bother to ask anymore, just turned around and started walking into the darkness while licking his lips in excitement.
…
On Humusubi's side.
She read the report handed over to her by an assistant, and after reading it, Tsukihi's pupils under the Homusubi mask shrank slightly.
Judging from the data recorded in this report, in the days when Kuroto was absent, the progress of the part Orochimaru was in charge of making a major breakthrough, and even many other technical difficulties that the entire project was facing were also solved one by one.
From this report alone, Homusubi could guess that it was all done by Orochimaru, almost none of Danzo's researchers are capable of such advancement in such a short period of time, so she couldn't help but think, 'It seems Danzo and Orochimaru are still maintaining their cooperative relationship…'
Thinking of this, Homusubi suddenly realized something…
Orochimaru kidnapped the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki from the village, even if Orochimaru and Danzo did not have a conflict over it, Danzo should have at least terminated his cooperative relationship with Orochimaru for the time being… But this didn't happen… Not only did Danzo not terminate his cooperation with Orochimaru, but he didn't even bother to ask Orohchimaru to immediately return the Jinchuriki and the Hyuga Heiress!
This shows that Danzo and Orochimaru might have reached some kind of agreement in private. And thinking so, Homusubi felt more strongly that it has something to do with Danzo's recent secret moves.
Danzo is actively seeking the position of Hokage this is not hidden from Homusubi, and now she has finally realized that the support from Amatsukami may not be his only source of confidence. Homusubi thinks that the two kids, Naruto and Hinata who are in Orochimaru's hands are also the bargaining chips Danzo intends to use to his advantage at the time of the Hokage elections.
Imagine what would happen if Danzo reached an agreement with Orochimaru, and enacted a scene of the rescue of Hinata and Naruto… such an act of 'bravery' will suddenly shoot up Danzo's reputation in the village. In such a scenario, the support of the Hyuga Clan will undoubtedly tilt towards Danzo.
When that happens, as long as Danzo manages to woo a few other major Shinobi Clans, and get support from the Daimyo, it wouldn't be impossible for him to replace Sarutobi Hiruzen as Konoha's next Hokage.
But this all depends on one question, and that is, "Will Orochimaru hand over Naruto and Hinata to Danzo?"
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