Chapter 600: Destroying the Ninja Clan

“Ninja can actually write such books.” Roshi’s reaction after reading half of it was this.

Roshi himself was a Ninja, so of course he wouldn’t look down on Ninja. Rather, he knew that the unique nature of Ninja made it difficult for them to delve into various theories like ordinary people.

When Ninja are young, they must undergo various trainings to improve their strength. While they do have more time in middle and old age than when they were young, most Ninja still choose to study Ninja knowledge, not peace, philosophy, or history.

Because research into Ninja knowledge can genuinely enhance one’s strength, as for philosophy and history, one can’t possibly expect to kill or convert enemies by talking during a fight.

Thinking of Sōsuke’s appearance, Roshi grew even more curious.

Even if Sōsuke looked younger, he would be at most thirty years old now. He must have allocated his time to become the Sōsuke he is today, both profoundly learned and extraordinarily powerful.

“His strength is alright, but I estimate he and Six Paths Sage should have a lot in common,” Four-Tails said.

Hagoromo was a person who strived for peace his entire life. He believed Hagoromo would be very happy to see this book.

As for strength, Four-Tails had seen more powerful individuals than Roshi, so he didn’t find Sōsuke’s power exaggerated to an absurd degree.

Roshi continued reading, and when he finished the entire content, he fell into deep thought.

Roshi’s knowledge wasn’t extensive, and many things in the book were vague to him.

Even so, Roshi felt the uniqueness of the Shinobi Sect’s philosophy. He had never seen or heard of a similar Ninja Organization.

There were many Ninja Organizations that publicly proclaimed to pursue peace, even among the Five Great Ninja Villages, but very few truly put it into action.

Given the Shinobi Sect’s current strength, intervening in the Shinobi World War was unrealistic. However, Roshi could feel the Shinobi Sect’s determination from the book.

Developing an ordinary Ninja Organization doesn’t require these things. If Sōsuke simply wanted a powerful Ninja force, he could have expanded indefinitely by leveraging his strength and teaching ability.

Roshi closed the book and walked forward, asking the Ninja Sect Ninja who had given him the book:

“Can I buy this book?”

He had many questions about its contents. If he weren’t going to meet Sōsuke later, he would definitely have sought a Ninja Sect Ninja to explain it.

But since he could meet Sōsuke, there was no need for other Ninja Sect Ninja to explain. No one should understand this book better than Sōsuke, its author.

“No need to buy it. Just take it if you want,” the Ninja Sect Ninja said with a smile.

Roshi nodded and walked back to the inn with the book.

At this moment, he already wished he could fast-forward to after the lecture concluded. Sōsuke’s appeal to him had surpassed that of Sōsuke’s lessons.

…

Konoha, Root Base.

Bang!

In Konoha Village, looking at the intelligence transmitted by the Root members from the Land of Rain, Danzo Shimura couldn’t help but slam his fist on the desk.

“A bunch of useless people, they can’t even investigate this!” Danzo Shimura couldn’t help but curse under his breath.

Root had indeed collected some intelligence, but there was no content related to the sage art inheritance, which did not meet Danzo Shimura’s expectations.

The intelligence that “Uchiha Madara” could uncover, his Root could not. How could Danzo Shimura feel at ease cooperating with “Uchiha Madara”?

“The Shinobi Sect is getting stronger and stronger, and they are repairing their relationship with Amegakure and getting close to Iwagakure. Their threat to Konoha is too great,” Danzo Shimura frowned deeply.

There was no information on the sage art inheritance, but Root had still collected information about the unrestricted lectures.

This caused Danzo Shimura to feel a deep sense of unease.

Amegakure was already among the strongest of the smaller Ninja Villages below the Five Great Ninja Villages. If the Shinobi Sect were added, it would truly be the strongest Ninja force below the Five Great Ninja Villages, with overall strength significantly surpassing Amegakure at its peak during the Second Shinobi World War.

Now, even if it wasn’t for the Rinnegan and the sage art inheritance, Danzo Shimura wanted to destroy the Shinobi Sect.

Danzo Shimura got up, intending to go to the Hokage Office to find Hiruzen Sarutobi, but quickly sat back down.

He understood Hiruzen Sarutobi too well. Given Hiruzen Sarutobi’s nature, he would never act against the current Shinobi Sect unless the Shinobi Sect and Iwagakure reached an agreement to advance and retreat together.

Danzo Shimura couldn’t help but sigh. It was pitiful that his heart was so devoted to Konoha, yet now he was in a situation where he couldn’t protect the Village.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was indecisive and wouldn’t agree to attack the Shinobi Sect, and his Root lacked the power to deal with the Shinobi Sect. Could he only watch helplessly as the Shinobi Sect gradually grew into a major threat to Konoha?

“No, absolutely not!” Danzo Shimura immediately denied it in his heart.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, who stood in the light, could choose to do nothing, but he, as the darkness of Konoha, could not remain indifferent.

Just as Danzo Shimura was worrying about how to deal with the Shinobi Sect, the door to his office opened.

Danzo Shimura immediately wanted to scold them for entering his office without knocking.

However, when Danzo Shimura clearly saw who it was, he closed his mouth.

“Danzo, you are truly disappointing. So much time has passed, and you’ve done almost nothing,” the black-robed Masked Man said unceremoniously.

Danzo Shimura’s face instantly darkened. He hadn’t even brought up “Uchiha Madara”’s issues, and the other party was already criticizing him.

“How could you know my actions?” Danzo Shimura suppressed his displeasure and snorted coldly.

“Didn’t you just send some people to investigate intelligence? Actually, you could have just told me. I can give you any intelligence you want about the Shinobi Sect,” the Masked Man said with an indifferent smile.

Danzo Shimura frowned deeply. He was deliberately trying to elicit information, and he had already guessed the outcome.

But hearing that Root’s actions were completely within “Uchiha Madara”’s sight, Danzo Shimura still couldn’t help but feel somewhat disappointed.

His Root, which he had spent so much effort building, was completely defeated in terms of intelligence by someone who hid their identity.

“If Hiruzen hadn’t always restricted Root, it definitely wouldn’t have turned out this way,” Danzo Shimura believed this was Hiruzen Sarutobi’s fault.

If Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn’t placed so many restrictions on his Root, his Root would definitely be three or four times stronger than it was now, instead of being completely overwhelmed by “Uchiha Madara” in terms of intelligence.

“I didn’t just send people to Six Paths City to collect a little intelligence,” Danzo Shimura said lightly.

Even if he truly lost miserably in terms of intelligence, he couldn’t let “Uchiha Madara” see it.

“I don’t care what you want to do, but if you want to continue our cooperation and obtain Wood Release, then you must act according to my plan next,” the Masked Man said forcefully.

Immediately after, the Masked Man threw a scroll to Danzo Shimura.

Just as Danzo Shimura was about to say something, the Masked Man directly interrupted: “Act according to the plan on it, and I will assist you.”

“If you want to refuse, you can, then our cooperation ends here.”

With that, without giving Danzo Shimura a chance to speak, the Masked Man directly left Danzo Shimura’s office.

Danzo Shimura watched “Uchiha Madara”’s departing back with a livid face. Even Hiruzen Sarutobi wouldn’t dare to treat him with such an attitude.

“Don’t let me find out your identity,” he thought, then turned his gaze to the scroll.

Since it was a scroll given by “Uchiha Madara,” the cautious Danzo Shimura created a Shadow Clone and had the Shadow Clone open it.

After confirming there were no issues, Danzo Shimura began to read it carefully.

“Jointly encircle and kill Sōsuke with Amegakure,” Danzo Shimura was somewhat speechless after reading the plan.

He had thought “Uchiha Madara” had some brilliant strategy, but this was not much different from his previous plan.

The only difference was that “Uchiha Madara”’s plan required Root to fully participate, while Danzo Shimura’s own plan was to use Amegakure as the vanguard.

“Moreover, threatening Hanzo with the Village, if the news leaks, Hiruzen will probably disband Root, and my assistant position will also be revoked,” Danzo Shimura interlaced his fingers, showing a thoughtful expression.

“Uchiha Madara”’s method of breaking the alliance between Amegakure and the Shinobi Sect was to have Danzo Shimura represent Konoha in pressuring Amegakure and threatening Hanzo with war.

This was no small matter; politically, it was even worse than conducting human experiments.

The Hokage had to hold meetings to declare war on a certain country. For him to unilaterally threaten Amegakure with war without a word, this was an extraordinary overstepping of authority.

Danzo Shimura understood the seriousness of the matter, but when he saw that line of text on the scroll, he couldn’t help but be tempted.

“Complete the alliance with Amegakure, and before the encirclement and killing of Sōsuke, Wood Release will be given in advance.”

Undoubtedly, this was the assistance “Uchiha Madara” spoke of.

As long as Danzo Shimura completed the plan up to the alliance with Amegakure, “Uchiha Madara” would give him the previously agreed-upon benefits in advance.

Given Danzo Shimura’s suspicious nature, he certainly wouldn’t believe it immediately.

He was the kind of person who would suspect even a strong individual who voluntarily joined Root of trying to assassinate him.

However, Danzo Shimura thought carefully and found that “Uchiha Madara” was actually quite sincere.

Because this Wood Release was given before the encirclement and killing of Sōsuke.

If it were given after the successful encirclement and killing, Danzo Shimura certainly wouldn’t agree to this plan, as he would be taking such a huge risk without any benefit.

Giving it before the encirclement proves that “Uchiha Madara” truly wanted to kill Sōsuke, even willing to give Danzo Shimura Wood Release in advance to increase the probability of killing Sōsuke.

“We cannot let the Land of Rain continue to grow stronger,” Danzo Shimura looked at the intelligence report sent by the Root Ninja on his desk and finally made up his mind.

For the safety of Konoha, he was duty-bound.

If the plan succeeded, the Ninja forces of the Land of Rain would fall into an unprecedented decline, and he would also possess the sage art inheritance and Wood Release, gaining stronger power to protect his Konoha. It could be said to be a win-win for Konoha.

As for failure, Danzo Shimura thought it was unlikely.

This plan would either stop at the alliance with Hanzo, or it would succeed.

With Root and Amegakure working together, and “Uchiha Madara” secretly exerting power, how could they not be able to eliminate the Shinobi Sect?

If you disregard Sōsuke, Kakuzu, and Nagato, the Shinobi Sect is just an ordinary Ninja Organization.

It’s just that Danzo Shimura was no longer the Hokage. If he were the Hokage, he wouldn’t need to go through so much trouble; he could easily sweep away the Shinobi Sect by sending Jiraiya and Orochimaru with a thousand-man unit.