The following day at noon, in a secret underground base of Konoha.
Shimura Danzo was covering his nose; his brows furrowed as he looked at a Root ninja lying on a medical bed.
The entire infirmary was filled with a strong smell of stinky socks, making him ask:
"What's that smell?"
The Root ninja beside him respectfully reported:
"Natto, Lord Danzo, it's the smell of natto."
"When we found Rat mask near the garbage dump by Natsuhiko's house, he was covered in natto. We've washed him several times, but the smell still lingers."
"Probably... it's marinated into his skin."
Danzo's eye twitched slightly as he picked up Rat Mask's diagnosis report to examine it.
Although Rat mask didn't have many wounds on his body, he had overexerted his chakra, leaving him in a comatose state.
To exhaust his chakra to such a degree, Rat Mask must have gone through a tough battle.
Natsuhiko's strength is not to be underestimated.
Danzo made this judgement in his mind but was still puzzled as to why the Rat mask was covered in natto.
At this moment, the Root Ninja timely reported:
"Rat mask woke up briefly earlier. According to him, he was provoked by Natsuhiko's projection technique and impulsively broke into his house."
"But as soon as he entered the courtyard, he lost his sight and hearing and was then attacked by something, quickly falling unconscious."
"Hmph, foolish guy. How dare he break into a sealing jutsu ninja's house without any precautions."
Danzo snorted coldly.
Although few people knew, he was also a sealing jutsu expert, so he wasn't surprised by this outcome.
The Root ninja continued:
"After waking up, he was locked in a small dark room, forced to play Natsuhiko's invention, the Extreme Ninja Game Console. If he stopped playing or lost, the ceiling would pour natto…"
"In the end, he was overwhelmed by natto due to chakra depletion and fainted. He woke up again after some time had passed, but that was when we found him near the garbage can."
Danzo's mouth twitched a few times.
So, his chakra depletion was due to playing that Extreme Ninja Game Console...
Is this some kind of new torture?
Though Danzo was knowledgeable about hundreds of torture methods, he had never heard of this one.
He could only express that he couldn't understand the young people's thinking.
It is said that ninjas who delve into sealing jutsu tend to become a bit abnormal.
He never believed it before, as he didn't have any problems.
But now it seemed this saying wasn't entirely baseless.
Not knowing how to react, Danzo finally looked at the unconscious Rat mask ninja and said indifferently:
"What a disgraceful fool. It's his luck he didn't lose his life."
"Don't let this guy stink up the base; take him down and wash him until there's no smell left—use the Water Dragon Bullet technique."
After saying this, he turned and left, heading towards his office.
"Natsuhiko, is this your answer?"
Danzo's remaining left eye emitted a profound light.
He soon reached a room with a significant sign reading "Hokage" above the door.
In the lower right corner, there were two minor characters: "Assistant."
Indeed, this was the Hokage (Assistant) office.
After entering and sitting down, an Anbu officer handed him a file about Natsuhiko.
As he flipped through it, he pondered silently.
He initially thought sending his ace Root hunter to recruit Natsuhiko would be an easy task.
Unexpectedly, such complications arose.
The person he valued was indeed not easy to get.
However, what Danzo valued most was not Natsuhiko's sealing jutsu skills but his Ninja Tavern.
However, he couldn't understand why people would spend money on intangible virtual cards.
The fact that this tavern was raking in money daily deeply attracted his attention.
Since Sakumo's incident, Root not only had its personnel reduced but also had its funding cut significantly.
This made Danzo desperately look for new sources of income to continue protecting Konoha as before.
The Ninja Tavern was one of his targets.
Moreover, during his investigation, he discovered that the tavern had even established a partnership with the Ninja Academy.
This meant that if he could recruit Natsuhiko, he could extend his influence to the Ninja Academy.
An area Hiruzen had always kept off-limits to him.
Sakumo's incident had taught him a lesson.
If he was to protect Konoha in the shadows, he had to do it thoroughly and avoid revealing himself too quickly.
Simply hiding behind Hiruzen wasn't safe enough; he could easily be dragged out as a scapegoat.
In contrast, Natsuhiko had done well; he knew to keep a low profile despite his young age.
Through his partnership with the academy, he successfully hid behind Hiruzen's wife, Biwako.
Even Danzo had to commend him: "This boy is like me... he must not be allowed to live."
If he could recruit Natsuhiko, he could then hide behind Biwako, who was behind Hiruzen.
This way, he wouldn't have to worry about taking the blame.
However, recruiting Natsuhiko was somewhat tricky.
Danzo continued to read Natsuhiko's file and increasingly felt that this guy was like a hedgehog, hard to approach.
Through his partnership with the tavern and the academy, he had formed a close bond with Biwako, and the tavern also had shares belonging to Kushina Uzumaki.
This meant he had the support of two of Konoha's most powerful women.
It would be challenging to take action against him covertly, as he neither drank, smoked, visited brothels, nor gambled, and never left the village, leaving no openings.
Just as Danzo began considering whether to use that woman, he happened to see a recent intelligence report at the end of the file and paused.
"So Natsuhiko recently defeated Uchiha Setsuna's son…"
Ryoma obtained this information from his bugs, so it must be an accurate message.
Danzo soon showed a sinister smile.
"Natsuhiko is too modest; how can such achievements not be publicised?"
"Since I can't take action now, let the mad dogs of the Uchiha clan play with him."
No matter the outcome, it would be beneficial for him.
Shimura "Troublemaker" Danzo thought.
Before long, a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.
"Lord Danzo, lunch is here."
"It's already this late?"
Having just devised a two-birds-one-stone strategy, Danzo was in a good mood. He glanced at the clock on the wall and felt his stomach growl.
So he said, "Bring it in."
A Root ninja then entered, placing a tray on the desk.
Danzo, about to eat, suddenly noticed a bowl of natto among today's dishes.
His face stiffened.
The image of Rat mask being overwhelmed by natto in the dark room flashed through his mind.
He put down his chopsticks.
Suddenly, he lost his appetite.
(End of chapter)
Chapter 106 is up on Patreon.
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