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Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu stared at Danzo in astonishment, their eyes filled with deep confusion.
Contacting Hanzo of the Salamander?!
They had no knowledge of this matter at all!
For a long time, the Village Hidden in the Rain had been at odds with the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Their hands were stained with each other's blood, and most of the time, the two villages were in opposition.
Under these circumstances, the leader of the Anbu from the Hidden Leaf Village contacting the leader of the Hidden Rain Village...
And it was done in secret.
No matter how Danzo tried to explain it, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu both sensed a conspiracy. They could vaguely feel that Danzo played an important role in it.
Moreover, the person asking these questions was none other than the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama.
This added another layer of credibility and weight to their perception.
In an instant, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu began to have their own thoughts and doubts about Danzo.
"Preemptive strike, excellent, excellent. I really like this reasoning," Hashirama said, giving Danzo a thumbs-up as if he was praising him, his tone highly approving of Danzo's actions.
???
In an instant, question marks appeared above the heads of all three.
They completely failed to understand what the First Hokage was trying to express.
Was this an endorsement of Danzo's actions?
It seemed that way from his tone!
However...
It still felt strange!
"First Hokage-sama, for many years, I have taken the protection of the Hidden Leaf Village as my duty, always maintaining the village's safety and stability," Danzo said, his exposed left eye shining with determination.
"Hmm." Hashirama nodded slightly, no longer looking at Danzo.
From Danzo's statement, Hashirama felt something different than what he had perceived when watching the anime.
Protecting the Hidden Leaf!
For Danzo, this was just a slogan.
Before he had traveled to this world, he hadn't felt this so strongly while watching the Naruto anime.
Now, the feeling was very clear.
The Hidden Leaf Village was merely a stepping stone and a tool for Danzo to realize his ambitions, serving as his foundation.
Protecting the Hidden Leaf was just about protecting his foundation.
Just like when Nagato came to sell rice in the Hidden Leaf Village and kept all his power underground.
Danzo wanted to accumulate his own power and become the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, turning it into a tool to realize his ideals, and through it, achieve domination over the ninja world.
He was very ambitious.
But lacked some skills.
So he resorted to many underhanded and shady tactics!
For a moment, Hashirama fell silent.
He did not speak.
The entire Hokage office fell into silence, with no one daring to speak, and the atmosphere became very oppressive.
"I have returned this time to bring an ultimate answer to the ninja world," Hashirama suddenly broke the silence, each word clearly reaching the ears of the three, leaving them all deeply shocked.
What ultimate answer?
The three of them began to breathe heavily, their thoughts racing, considering many possibilities, but none dared to be certain.
"And that is to achieve the unification of the entire ninja world!"
Hashirama declared without any reservation.
Describing it as a slogan is accurate because, for now, it is just that—a slogan. There hasn't been any action taken yet.
In his heart, he wasn't at that point yet. There were still many things he could do before that. If this slogan were part of the system's tasks, it would at least be an S-rank mission.
"Whew!"
All three in the Hokage's office gasped. Based on their understanding of the First Hokage, these didn't seem like words he would say.
At least, in Danzo's mind, it wasn't like that.
Danzo was a disciple of the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama. He admired the Second Hokage's iron-fist policies more than the First Hokage's conciliatory approach.
In his view, if the First Hokage had truly wanted to unify the ninja world back then, it wouldn't have been difficult at all. Such a feat could have been accomplished during the Five Kage Summit.
But the First Hokage only wanted to establish the Hidden Leaf Village to protect various clans. He was pleased to see other villages emulate the Leaf, even distributing tailed beasts to them to maintain balance.
To Danzo, those decisions were a complete deviation from the goal.
He wanted to use Wood Release and Sharingan to control the tailed beasts, to gather and centralize their power.
"Are you serious?" Danzo swallowed hard. He hadn't expected the First Hokage to suddenly come to his senses. Could one really learn new things in the Pure Land?
"Of course!" Hashirama nodded, his lips curving into a smile as he looked at Danzo with shining eyes.
"But…"
"Before that."
"I need to reclaim your arm!"
Hashirama's eyes were fixed on Danzo. He couldn't sense Hashirama cells from Danzo, as if he were standing outside a sealed vault.
It must have something to do with the seal on Danzo's arm.
Danzo's arm was covered in a multitude of Sharingan. To stabilize them, he had used many Hashirama cells.
Hashirama didn't know how many there were, but he guessed they weren't less than the cells in White Zetsu!
After all, White Zetsu was a product of the Infinite Tsukuyomi and the Gedo Statue, cultivated from Hashirama's flesh. Only a few of them had Hashirama cells.
Not every White Zetsu naturally had Hashirama cells.
But the Hashirama cells in Danzo's arm were certainly not few. It was Orochimaru's prized experiment!
"What... What?!"
Danzo's pupils contracted, his eyes filled with panic. He hadn't expected the First Hokage to reclaim his arm.
Even when he was initially questioned, he hadn't considered this possibility.
You're an Edo Tensei body!
Why would this arm bother you?
Danzo's heart was anything but calm. At that moment, the ground beneath him shook violently. Vines sprouted up, rapidly entangling him, binding him tightly.
The vines grew at an astonishing speed, completing their task in an instant, far faster than his Wood Release user, Yamato.
"First Hokage-sama, I…" Danzo began to speak but saw the First Hokage raise his right index finger to his lips, signaling for silence.
"Shimura Danzo."
"I know you feel wronged."
"But…"
"You are too powerful!"
"I must take preemptive action against you!"
Hashirama spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness, his expression genuinely fearful of Danzo, echoing Danzo's earlier reasoning right back at him.
(End of chapter)