Chapter 603: Danzo in Action

After leaving Danzo Shimura’s subordinate waiting for over a day, and only after the other party had repeatedly requested an audience, did Hanzou finally have a Rain Ninja bring him into the office.

“I hope what you have to say is worth wasting my time.” Hanzou sat in his office chair, coldly watching the Root Ninja before him.

If it hadn’t been for the Root Ninja constantly emphasizing that the matter was extremely important and that only Hanzou, as the leader of Amegakure, could make the decision, Hanzou wouldn’t even have bothered to meet him himself.

Amegakure didn’t have only him as a Ninja; Hanzou had subordinates too.

Feeling Hanzou’s icy gaze, the Root Ninja’s breath hitched.

“Lord Hanzo, this is a matter concerning the life and death of Amegakure; there is no possibility that it is a waste of your time.” The Root Ninja quickly adjusted his state and said seriously.

“Concerning the life and death of Amegakure?” Hanzou’s eyes became sharp and unfriendly.

His Amegakure was operating just fine, and they hadn’t even participated in the Shinobi World War, so where would such a huge crisis come from?

The Root Ninja felt uncomfortable being stared at by Hanzou, but as a specially trained Ninja, he bit the bullet and continued: “That’s right.”

“However, this is also an opportunity for you and Amegakure—an opportunity to eliminate an opponent.”

“An opponent?” Hanzou frowned and looked at the Root Ninja.

“Don’t you want to eliminate the Shinobi Sect, to kill that Sōsuke who ruined your reputation?” the Root Ninja said in a seductive tone.

Before the failed attempt to surround and kill Sōsuke, Hanzou’s impression in the Ninja World was that of a top-tier powerhouse with extraordinary bearing.

But after losing to Sōsuke, Hanzou’s attempt to lure and kill the Shinobi Sect under the guise of cooperation had nearly destroyed the good image he had built up in the first half of his life.

Now, when people spoke of Hanzou, they no longer thought of the demigod Hanzou who dominated the Ninja World, but of the Ninja Master Sōsuke who could suppress Water Release with Fire Release.

The Root Ninja couldn’t think of a reason why Hanzou wouldn’t hate Sōsuke.

However, what the Root Ninja received was not a negative answer from Hanzou, but a merciless gaze like he was looking at a dead man, followed immediately by an overwhelming aura.

Whoosh!! Hanzou’s Chakra exploded, and a terrifying killing intent enveloped the Root Ninja.

The Root Ninja’s body stiffened instantly, his face turned pale, and he only felt a chill that penetrated deep into his marrow rushing from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.

At this moment, the Root Ninja knew with absolute clarity who the Ninja in front of him was.

This was the demigod Hanzou, who could make a name for himself in the Ninja World as a Ninja from a small country and make the Five Great Ninja Villages somewhat wary, not just some random nobody.

Hanzou looked at the Root Ninja with a cold gaze; he couldn’t deal with Sōsuke, but he couldn’t handle a mere Konoha Ninja?

Hanzou really couldn’t hold it in anymore; it was Danzo Shimura again, talking about eliminating the Shinobi Sect and killing Sōsuke—what did Danzo Shimura take him for?

The simultaneous existence of Amegakure and the Shinobi Sect would indeed cause some conflict, but if Amegakure were to go and fight the Shinobi Sect now, that would truly be the moment of life and death.

Hanzou didn’t know if Sōsuke’s Water Release was stronger than his, but Sōsuke’s overall strength was definitely a cut above his.

Furthermore, the Shinobi Sect had Nagato and Kakuzu, and Amegakure had no powerhouses to match them.

With an imbalance in high-end combat power and Amegakure lacking the rich mid-tier combat power of the Five Great Ninja Villages, if the Shinobi Sect and Amegakure were to go to war, the one to lose would definitely be Amegakure.

One could even say the loser would be the Land of Rain, because even if Amegakure were defeated, the Shinobi Sect wouldn’t be able to win easily.

Going to war with Amegakure would deal a heavy blow to the Shinobi Sect’s already scarce mid-to-low-tier combat power, leaving them unable to defend the Land of Rain.

“My grudge with Sōsuke, and the grudge between Amegakure and the Shinobi Sect, are all internal affairs of the Land of Rain; there is no need to trouble Konoha.” Seeing the Root Ninja sweating profusely, Hanzou withdrew his aura and said indifferently.

It was also because Konoha was powerful now and not someone Amegakure could afford to provoke, otherwise Hanzou would have wanted to kill this Root Ninja.

He started off by saying Amegakure was in a life-or-death crisis, and then talked about killing Sōsuke and destroying the Shinobi Sect.

“Huff.” The Root Ninja breathed rapidly; the pressure Hanzou had just brought him was truly immense.

“Lord Hanzo, this matter is not as simple as you think.” The Root Ninja did not give up.

Danzo Shimura had given a death order: no matter what, he had to persuade Hanzou to join Root in surrounding and killing Sōsuke.

“This time, we in Konoha will also send forces to help you kill…”

Before the Root Ninja could finish, Hanzou interrupted: “I have recently caught a cold and need to get more rest; let’s discuss this another day.”

The Root Ninja looked at Hanzou speechlessly; with that full-bodied voice, he didn’t look like he had a cold at all.

But before the Root Ninja could think of how to persuade Hanzou, the Rain Ninja Anbu suddenly appeared and brought him out of the office.

To complete the act, Hanzou also left the office afterward and returned home.

“Danzo Shimura, what exactly are you trying to do?” Hanzou entered his study to read, but his mind couldn’t help but recall what had just happened, and he couldn’t focus at all.

He couldn’t understand why Danzo Shimura wanted to drag him along again to surround and kill Sōsuke and eliminate the Shinobi Sect.

Previously, Danzo Shimura’s reason was that he wanted to ask him to act as a mediator for the dispute between Iwagakure and Konoha, and then he just happened to see the Shinobi Sect committing an offense, so he helped out.

Because Danzo Shimura had been well-prepared, even as Hanzou recalled it now, he couldn’t find too much fault with Danzo Shimura.

But Danzo Shimura’s previous reasoning didn’t hold up now, because Konoha didn’t need him to mediate anymore; Konoha was the dominant side in the war with Iwagakure, and not long ago, Konoha had wiped out a large number of Iwagakure Ninjas.

Furthermore, Hanzou now knew that the Shinobi Sect was an organization that truly pursued peace, not a Ninja organization causing trouble under the banner of peace.

Therefore, Hanzou couldn’t figure out what Danzo Shimura’s motive was; did doing this benefit Danzo Shimura in any way?

“Sōsuke, Shinobi Sect.” Hanzou, who couldn’t focus on his book, put it down and sighed slightly.

He didn’t know what Danzo Shimura’s motive was, but Amegakure did indeed have a reason to take action against the Shinobi Sect.

Because Amegakure and the Shinobi Sect could not coexist; currently, there was no country in the Ninja World with two Villages in one country.

Although the Shinobi Sect didn’t claim to be a Ninja Village, in Hanzou’s eyes, it was a Ninja Village.

Amegakure was currently cooperating with the Shinobi Sect because the current situation was chaotic, and they had a common interest in defending the Land of Rain.

With this common interest, many problems between them could be covered up.

Once the Shinobi World War ended and those covered-up problems were exposed, then confrontation would be a matter of time.

“Even if only one of either the Shinobi Sect or Amegakure can remain, that is a matter for the Land of Rain.” Hanzou said softly, as if speaking to himself.

Perhaps the Shinobi Sect and Amegakure would eventually have a battle, but not now.

After waking up, Roshi did not go to find Sōsuke immediately; he waited until after two in the afternoon to go to the Shinobi Sect.

Because he felt that Sōsuke had his own time and probably wasn’t free around the clock, just not busy all day long.

Roshi was worried about disturbing Sōsuke’s work, so he went to look for Sōsuke in the afternoon.

The facts were indeed as Roshi had thought; as the leader of an emerging Ninja force, Muzuki rarely had days where he had nothing to do.

When Roshi arrived at the Shinobi Sect, Muzuki was still discussing school matters with Kakuzu.

“I feel like the Ninja Academy can be put on hold; there are still too few Ninjas in the Shinobi Sect. Even counting the newly absorbed Ninjas, there are just two hundred and eight people.

To open a Ninja Academy, we would have to pull out dozens of Ninjas, which would slow down work in other areas. Furthermore, the Ninja Academy takes too much time to train Ninjas, which is not conducive to early development.” Kakuzu shook his head and said.

The Ninja Academy had to be established, but Kakuzu felt it wasn’t a good idea to do it now.

Because the Shinobi Sect was currently in a period of urgent development; if those dozens of Ninjas were not pulled out to be teachers but instead went to perform other work, the development they would bring to the Shinobi Sect within three years would definitely be greater than teaching.

“If the number of Ninjas is small, then hire ordinary people to serve as teachers and handle some miscellaneous tasks. We can also limit the number of students and raise the standards to select the best.” Muzuki stated his solution.

Although in his past life Muzuki was just a normal student and never really became a teacher, in the Naruto world, Muzuki had truly been a teacher for quite some time and knew the Ninja Academy very well.

In Muzuki’s view, the work of some Ninja teachers at the Ninja Academy could be completely replaced by ordinary people.

For example, subjects like literature, mathematics, history, etc.—these theoretical classes had zero requirements for Ninja knowledge, and ordinary people could teach them just the same.

There were also some administrative jobs that were positions that ordinary people could handle.

“That seems like it would work.” Upon thinking about it, Kakuzu realized that according to Sōsuke’s line of thinking, it really wouldn’t take many people.

Kakuzu had never been a teacher; his understanding of schools only came from investigating them after Sōsuke said he wanted to open a school.

Because the teachers at the Ninja Academy in all Ninja Villages were Ninjas, Kakuzu subconsciously thought that the teachers at the Ninja Academy had to be Ninjas.

But thinking about it carefully, this was actually quite a waste of Ninja resources.

However, ordinary Ninja Villages weren’t lacking the few Ninjas that the Ninja Academy would take, anyway.

“Not only must there be a Ninja Academy, but ordinary schools must also start to be planned.” Muzuki continued.

Muzuki knew the importance of education deep down; no matter how poor, one cannot be poor in education. If one wants to truly change the world, one person is not enough.

Just as the two were finishing their discussion, the office door was knocked.

“Come in.” Muzuki paused for a moment before saying.

“Teacher Sōsuke, Shirakawa is looking for you.” The Shinobi Sect Ninja who walked into the office said.

“Let him come over.” Muzuki nodded and replied.

Shirakawa was actually Roshi; in the Land of Rain, Roshi certainly couldn’t openly use his real name.

To make it convenient for Roshi to move around the Shinobi Sect, Muzuki had greeted the Shinobi Sect Ninjas and let Roshi move freely in non-important locations.

After Roshi walked into the office, he saw Kakuzu, who was still drinking tea and hadn’t left.

“If you have other matters, you can handle them first; I’m not in a rush here.” Roshi said quickly.

“The matter has already been discussed. Let me introduce you; this is Kakuzu, the Minister of our Shinobi Sect’s Military Department and Finance Department.” Muzuki smiled and introduced Kakuzu.

Roshi looked at Kakuzu; he hadn’t met Kakuzu before, but he was not unfamiliar with Kakuzu’s name. After all, Kakuzu could be considered the number two figure in the Shinobi Sect.

“He is Shirakawa, from the Land of Earth…”

Just as Muzuki was introducing Roshi’s fake identity, Roshi shook his head and said: “I am Roshi, a former Iwagakure Ninja; currently, I suppose I am a wandering Ninja.”

Roshi felt that there was no need to hide his identity from the high-level members of the Shinobi Sect, because Sōsuke and Nagato already knew his identity. If the Shinobi Sect had any intention of harming him, the Iwagakure Ninjas would have already taken him away in the night.

“Four-Tails Jinchuriki?” Kakuzu raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

The fewer people who knew Roshi’s identity, the better, so Muzuki had not specifically told Kakuzu about Roshi’s identity.

“You defected?” Kakuzu couldn’t help but ask.

Ninja Villages only have rogue Ninjas; there is no such thing as a Ninja who retires.

“It depends on how you define a rogue Ninja. If it refers to a Ninja defined as a rogue Ninja by the Ninja Village, then I don’t think I count yet.” Roshi replied.

Roshi reckoned he wouldn’t become a rogue Ninja for the time being.

Of course, this was not because Ōnoki was kind, but just because he wanted to play a game of “Empty Fort Strategy” so that other Ninja Villages couldn’t accurately estimate Iwagakure’s strength.

“Rogue Ninja still needs interpretation? Isn’t everyone who leaves the Ninja Village one? The fact that you haven’t been defined as one just means they have some reservations, or that what you have done hasn’t reached the point of making them desperate.” Kakuzu smiled.

Kakuzu knew a lot about rogue Ninjas; after all, when he became a rogue Ninja, it was hard to say if Roshi had even been born yet.

“That’s how it is.” Roshi nodded in agreement.

Although he had run away, he had only run away.

After chatting with Roshi for a few sentences, Kakuzu glanced at Sōsuke.

As the leader of the Shinobi Sect, Sōsuke was not someone anyone could see. The fact that Roshi could directly have a Shinobi Sect Ninja find Sōsuke meant that Sōsuke had obviously greeted them in advance.

Muzuki just replied with a faint smile and didn’t speak.

Kakuzu withdrew his gaze, picked up his teacup, took a sip of tea, and then said:

“Speaking of which, Iwagakure seems to have just experienced a major defeat not long ago. Did they blame you for the defeat?”

There are many rogue Ninjas in the Ninja World. Not every rogue Ninja was screwed over by their own Village; there are also many rogue Ninjas who violated the law themselves.

Kakuzu felt that Roshi should be the type who was screwed over by his Village, because if it were someone who defected because they were lawless, Sōsuke would generally help clean up the house along the way.

“To some extent.” Thinking of his experience after returning to the Village, Roshi couldn’t help but sigh.

“Only to some extent? Then it seems the high-level officials of Iwagakure just wanted to discipline you, not treat you as an abandoned pawn. That’s much better than what I experienced back then.” Kakuzu said after hearing this.

“You?” Roshi looked at Kakuzu, puzzled.

He knew of this person Kakuzu, but he didn’t understand Kakuzu’s past experiences.

“I am also a rogue Ninja; I am a rogue Ninja from the Hidden Waterfall Village.” Kakuzu generously spoke about his own experience.

“That was a long time ago. The Village made me go alone to the Land of Fire to assassinate the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama.”

The look in Roshi’s eyes as he looked at Kakuzu changed slightly. Assassinating the First Hokage, and alone at that—this wasn’t a mission, this was pure suicide.

What kind of figure was Senju Hashirama? That was the terrifying existence known as the God of Shinobi, the recognized strongest Ninja since the era of Ninja Villages.

“I went, but Senju Hashirama was very strong. My assassination failed, and I had to use all my strength to escape back to the Hidden Waterfall Village.”

Kakuzu’s strength became unfathomable in Roshi’s heart. To be able to survive after assassinating the God of Shinobi was simply incredible.

“Later, the Village imprisoned and severely punished me on the grounds of failing a major mission, and then I became a rogue Ninja.”

Although he had guessed the outcome long ago, hearing the ending of the Hidden Waterfall Ninja Kakuzu, Roshi was still stunned for a moment.

Faced with a nearly suicidal mission, Kakuzu chose to bet his life to complete it, but the Hidden Waterfall Village took advantage of Kakuzu’s weakness to directly sentence him to imprisonment.

This was indeed much more miserable than his situation. That Kakuzu could live well until now, Roshi felt was quite impressive.

“There’s no need to look at me with that kind of gaze. I have already made those people pay the price they deserved, and now my life is better than it was before.” Kakuzu put down his teacup and said leisurely.

Unlike Roshi who left quietly, Kakuzu had directly killed all the relevant high-level officials, venting his anger fiercely.

“You should think more about yourself; you are very important to Iwagakure.”

Kakuzu’s presence in the Shinobi Sect was not a secret, but the Hidden Waterfall Village had never come to the Land of Rain to cause trouble for the Shinobi Sect.

Was it because the current high-level officials of the Hidden Waterfall Village understood Kakuzu’s suffering? Of course not. It was because there was no benefit to killing Kakuzu, and the Shinobi Sect was not an easy nut to crack for the Hidden Waterfall Village.

“How did Kakuzu join the Shinobi Sect?” Roshi couldn’t help but become curious.

If it were him who had experienced something like what Kakuzu went through, he might never trust others again in his life, nor would he join a Ninja organization.