Kushina suddenly raised her head, her eyes now transformed into vertical tail pupils. Her long red hair floated faintly in the air behind her. Even without the Byakugan, one could see the overflowing chakra of the Tailed Beast radiating from her.
"What do you want to do, Anbu?" Danzo's voice was cold and sharp.
Danzo shouted angrily, and in an instant, a team of Anbu appeared, dividing into four and surrounding Kushina in the middle. However, Kushina ignored them, her gaze fixed solely on Danzo, the annoying man.
If not for her rational control, she would have already activated the Tailed Beast Chakra, entering the second stage of the Tailed Beast's cloak.
Danzo, anger rising in his chest, coldly said, "Do you think you can ignore Konoha's orders with the power of the Tailed Beast? Today, I will..."
"Alright!" Sarutobi Hiruzen shouted, his face dark with frustration. He quickly made a decisive decision, "Anbu, stand down. Kushina, since you don't want to help, we will arrange for someone else to assist Minato."
Hearing Sarutobi Hiruzen's words, Kushina slowly withdrew the Tailed Beast Chakra, her eyes returning to their normal state, no longer the vertical pupils.
She left the Hokage's office without a word, but not before glaring at Danzo and Namikaze Minato.
The outburst of Tailed Beast Chakra was not out of control—strictly speaking, it was still under Kushina's control—but it had made both Danzo and Sarutobi Hiruzen uncomfortable. It would have been one thing if they couldn't control the Tailed Beast Jinchūriki, but now they were facing resistance from her?
Sarutobi Hiruzen turned to Namikaze Minato, a reluctant smile on his face. "Minato, it seems it's impossible to have Kushina help you. I'll give you my approval. Go to the sealing class and ask someone else for assistance."
"Yes, I understand. Thank you very much, Hokage-sama." Namikaze Minato saluted quickly, then left in a hurry.
As soon as Minato left, Danzo turned to Sarutobi Hiruzen, speaking in a stern tone, "Hiruzen, this is the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki who hasn't been trained properly. She refuses to accept the mission. The next step may be betrayal of the village. Before she can fully control the Nine-Tails' power, it would be best for the Root to train her into a Jinchūriki who will obey orders without question."
Sarutobi Hiruzen hesitated. "Let me think about it some more. We'll discuss this matter another day."
"What else is there to think about?" Danzo pressed. "She refuses to accept the mission and even uses the Tailed Beast Chakra to resist you and me. After she fully controls the power of the Nine-Tails, do you think Uzumaki Kushina will not use it to rebel against the village or try to pull you down from the Hokage position?"
Danzo stepped closer, his voice cold. "It's because of your indecision that the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki has become like this. If Kushina had been sent to the Root for proper training after she became the Jinchūriki, Konoha would already have a powerful weapon on their side. We wouldn't be so worried about the provocations from other ninja villages."
Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't make a decision right away. He was also very angry with Kushina, and nearly agreed to Danzo's suggestion just now. However, if the Root were to gain control over the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, the power would expand too much, which was something he absolutely didn't want to see.
He also had to consider Tsunade's attitude. Tsunade and Kushina had been living together for a long time, and they were very close, like family. There was also Tsunade's younger brother, Nawaki, and Nawaki's teacher, Orochimaru. It was a complicated situation.
Seeing that Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't make a decision quickly, Danzo shifted the conversation to Root funding. Before the war, it was vital that the anti-Root funding cuts be reversed.
But Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't do anything about it. Not only was Root's funding cut, but all departments except for Anbu had their budgets slashed, with the Guards taking the largest cut.
The Uchiha clan leader had come to him three times, but Uchiha Fugaku, who had recently taken office, had been fooled by Sarutobi Hiruzen's excuses each time.
Danzo didn't get what he wanted, but he settled for asking Sarutobi Hiruzen for a batch of ninja school graduates to supplement Anbu. With the funding cuts, Danzo no longer had the money to train his own staff.
Graduates with a ninja foundation from the academy were the best candidates to fill the gaps in Root. Danzo was able to get Sarutobi Hiruzen's approval to recruit from the ninja school to join Root.
This also required Sarutobi Hiruzen's approval. When Root was first established, Sarutobi Hiruzen had placed many restrictions on it.
Not long after Danzo left, another problem arose in Hokage's office: Tsunade suddenly kicked the door open and stormed in. After Kushina left, she hadn't gone directly back to the sealing class, but instead had gone to Konoha Hospital to complain to Tsunade.
If Kahn hadn't left Konoha, Kushina would have gone to Kahn's home for comfort, feeling wronged.
Uzumaki Mito had trained Kushina the most. She had also learned the sealing techniques of the Uzumaki clan, and after completing her studies, she worked hard to use those techniques to repay Konoha. She had perfected and strengthened the village's barriers, completing most of the work herself.
After hearing Kushina's words, Tsunade rushed straight from Konoha Hospital to Hokage's office and had a big argument with Sarutobi Hiruzen in front of the other ninjas.
Due to Tsunade's status, regardless of whether Sarutobi Hiruzen won or lost the quarrel, he would ultimately lose face. So, he quickly calmed Tsunade down, and the matter was eventually settled.
However, Sarutobi Hiruzen, as Hokage, could tolerate Tsunade's rudeness to him, but he could not tolerate the power of the village being uncontrollable.
….
patreon.com/Vks_sh