A ninja dog appeared outside Konoha Village, carrying a scroll in its mouth.
The scroll bore a unique seal pattern, one that belonged to 'Root', a secretive division within the ANBU.
The Root ninjas assigned to watch over Konoha knew that something serious must have happened upon seeing this. One of them quickly retrieved the scroll from the ninja dog's mouth.
"It's a message from Bat!"
Seeing the mark on the scroll, he prepared to deliver it to Danzo.
Just then, a figure appeared, focusing on the scroll before speaking in a deep voice: "Shinji, what's going on?"
"Ryoma-sama?"
Shinji hesitated, then respectfully answered, "It's from Bat. It could be urgent news from the Land of Rain, and I need to deliver it to Danzo-sama."
"The Land of Rain," Ryoma muttered to himself, his eyes narrowing with a cold gleam.
"Forgive me, Ryoma-sama, but I need to deliver this urgently," Shinji said, carefully tucking the scroll away and stepping past Ryoma to reach Danzo.
But after just two steps, he felt a searing pain in his chest.
Thump!
Shinji looked down to see a hand piercing through his heart.
"Ryoma-sama?" Shinji gasped, eyes widening in disbelief as he turned to face Ryoma, "Why would you betray Danzo-sama?"
"You don't need to know," Ryoma replied coldly as he pulled his hand back, his gaze then shifting to the ninja dog.
Betrayal?
No, he had simply been momentarily blinded. Now, he had found the true light.
"Woo, woof!"
The ninja dog sensed danger and tried to escape, but it was too late. A swarm of insects burst forth and tore it apart until nothing was left but bones.
Ryoma casually wiped the blood from his hands and retrieved a scroll from Shinji's body. He opened it and glanced at its contents, a cold smirk curling at the corner of his lips.
"Just as Lord Sogetsu told me," he muttered, "these rats from the sewers always use the same tricks."
Although he wasn't sure about the status of the Uchiha girl, Ryoma knew he had to tie up any loose ends for Lord Sogetsu.
He tossed the scroll to his insects, and they consumed it instantly.
"Lord Sogetsu, as long as I'm here, no one will harm you!" Ryoma declared with a steely resolve.
He cleaned up the scene, erasing any traces of his presence, then vanished as if he had never been there.
Meanwhile, at the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage was busy dealing with a mountain of paperwork. The aftermath of White Fang's death, along with the recent maneuvers by other ninja villages, had left him feeling both physically and mentally drained.
Just then, a critical message from Tsunade arrived, delivered by the ANBU. After scanning the scroll, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt his blood pressure spike and almost fainted from shock.
"DANZO!!!"
The veins in Sarutobi Hiruzen's forehead bulged as he slammed his hand on the desk. His eyes blazed with anger as he shouted, "Find Danzo! Bring him here, now!"
"Yes, Hokage-sama!" The ANBU outside the door exchanged uneasy glances. They fell silent, listening to the Third Hokage's rage echo through the corridors.
The Third Hokage, usually gentle and composed, became frighteningly angry.
Soon, Danzo entered the Hokage's office, his face filled with confusion and uncertainty.
*Smack!*
As soon as he stepped in, before he could say a word, a scroll was thrown at his face.
"Hiruzen, are you out of your mind?!" Danzo's eyes were dark with rage, and the muscles on his face twisted in anger.
He yanked the scroll off his face and snapped, "What's your problem?!"
"My problem?" Sarutobi Hiruzen gave a cold smile and snorted, "Take a look at what you've done, Danzo!"
Danzo felt a twinge of unease as he bent down to pick up the scroll from the floor. As he skimmed through its contents, he almost choked on his rage.
"You're bold, Danzo!" Sarutobi Hiruzen seethed with anger, glaring at him.
"You conspired with Hanzo to assassinate one of my Konoha ninjas, and then you used your Root ninjas to ally with the rogue Akatsuki organization to assassinate Hanzo, the leader of the Hidden Rain Village. You've outdone yourself, Danzo!"
"Slander! This is complete slander!" Danzo felt his face flush with indignation, the veins in his forehead bulging. "You're talking nonsense, Hiruzen! Slandering me like this!"
"Am I slandering you?" Sarutobi Hiruzen slammed his hand on the table, standing up with fire in his eyes.
"Check the facts yourself! Did I make anything up? Does any part of that scroll misrepresent what you did?"
Danzo's mouth twitched, but he kept his defiance.
"Fine! I admit I asked Hanzo to kill that Uchiha kid, but I never intended to kill Hanzo!"
"Oh, you didn't kill Hanzo? Then who did?" Sarutobi Hiruzen folded his arms, giving him a hard stare. "Was it Tsunade? Uchiha Sogetsu? Or maybe those Akatsuki kids?"
"I…" Danzo was choked with frustration, finding it hard to respond.
He wanted to defend himself, but the truth was, he'd been up to shady business from the start.
He originally just wanted to take out the Uchiha kid and get his Sharingan, to study its genjutsu abilities. But things had spiraled out of control.
Hanzo was dead, and the blame somehow landed squarely on Danzo's shoulders.
"It's like getting yellow mud smeared on your crotch; no matter what you do, it looks like something nasty!" he muttered to himself.
"Anyway, I didn't do it," he said, denying any involvement. "I'm just trying to do what's best for Konoha. Hiruzen, your methods are too soft!"
"Danzo!" Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his hand on the table, his voice rising in anger.
"I'm the Hokage! Who gave you the right to meddle in the affairs of the Hidden Rain Village? Are you trying to start a war? Do you even respect my authority as a Hokage?"
Danzo took a deep breath, realizing that he needed to calm down. "Hiruzen, it's not as simple as you think," he said, his voice steadying.
"Give me some time, and I'll investigate. I'll find out who's really responsible."
Hiruzen was having none of it. "You don't need to give me an explanation," he said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "You should think about how you're going to explain this to Tsunade."
"To Tsunade?" Danzo's brow furrowed; he didn't see why she mattered in this situation.
"Why do I need to explain anything to her?"
Hiruzen sat back in his chair and lit his smoking pipe. Taking a deep drag, he exhaled slowly and replied, "Because, just half an hour ago, Tsunade notified Konoha Hospital and all the medical ninjas that they are no longer allowed to treat anyone from the ROOT. If they do, they'll lose their medical licenses."
Danzo, who hadn't initially cared about the threat, suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. "Hiruzen, she can't just do that! She's openly undermining Konoha's ANBU!"
Konoha could afford to lose some ANBU members, but not its medical ninjas. More than 90% of the village's medical professionals had been trained by Tsunade.
While there were some ninjas with medical skills who weren't in her group, they were a small minority, barely enough to meet the village's needs.
Seeing the worried look on Danzo's face, Hiruzen couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction.
Arrogance Gone Just Like That!
"Hiruzen, are you just going to sit back and watch?" Danzo grumbled through clenched teeth, trying to salvage what little remained of his plans.
"This is all for Konoha! Tsunade's actions are weakening our strength!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi calmly exhaled a puff of smoke and replied, "Now you come to me? I can't do much about it. Tsunade established and improved Konoha's entire medical system. If she's reluctant to lend her support, you have only yourself to blame for angering her. Even I am not as influential in the eyes of many as she is."
Perhaps my relaxed approach made many people, subconsciously, overlook Tsunade's latent political power. Just like Danzo did. He forgot a key rule: Never offend the doctor, or you'll regret it.
Danzo broke out in a cold sweat. He finally realized how enormous and terrifying the force he'd previously underestimated could be when fully mobilized!
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