"If only you had obeyed me a bit more, perhaps I could have entrusted you with leading Root. But you're from the Uzumaki clan—and such a rebellious one at that. Still..."
Danzo's voice trailed off here, turning into a sigh.
It had been a long time since he'd encountered someone like Shiki Uzumaki—or rather, someone resembling himself.
A person willing to sacrifice everything to achieve his goal—how perfectly aligned with his own principles was that?
If that impostor posing as Shiki Uzumaki and staging an escape from Konoha hadn't already been captured by Hyūga Tanaka, then he was likely already dead.
He'd stop at nothing to get what he wanted—that kind of thinking was just like his own.
Unfortunately, that boy was still too defiant.
Thinking, walking, and before he knew it, Danzo had already reached the door of the Hokage Office.
Beside him walked Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane.
Unlike Danzo, who had rushed over hastily from the Root headquarters as soon as news came about Shiki Uzumaki defecting from Konoha,
Homura and Koharu both had their own offices within the Hokage Office itself.
After all, Konoha's true decision-makers were only Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane.
Sometimes even decisions made by the other three couldn't be opposed by Hiruzen Sarutobi.
And this time was no different.
Danzo pushed open the door, only to find Hiruzen already standing there.
"The three of you getting together like this—this must be important," said the Third, his voice sounding somehow tired.
If it had been only one of them coming alone, maybe it wouldn't have meant much.
But when these three gathered together, it meant he would have to compromise and agree to something.
"Hiruzen, Shiki Uzumaki has defected from Konoha. And he killed one of Root's Jonin."
Danzo spoke in a mild tone. Somehow, he always became hesitant whenever he stood before Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Not at all the usual harsh, authoritarian man he was.
"Impossible! Shiki Uzumaki is just a child who hasn't even graduated from the Ninja Academy yet!" the Third immediately retorted.
"Hiruzen, don't be too naive! The geniuses of the Uzumaki, Senju, and Uchiha clans already had such strength at his age. Especially if it was an ambush!"
Just as the Third was about to speak again, Koharu Utatane suddenly cut in.
"Third Hokage, I've observed Danzo's chakra fluctuations. He isn't lying. At the very least, Shiki Uzumaki is definitely connected to that Root Jonin's death."
This...
The Third didn't know what to say anymore. He knew Koharu Utatane never took Danzo's side lightly in serious cases like this.
Therefore, Shiki Uzumaki really did have something to do with the death of that Root Jonin. He fell silent, gazing through the window at the falling snowflakes.
His eyes darkened with reluctant sorrow.
Then Danzo stepped forward and continued, "Understood? Then, Third Hokage, please permit my Root to eliminate Shiki Uzumaki!"
The Third turned around, replying in a heavy tone, "No! At least let me see Shiki Uzumaki in person first!"
"Let me ask him the reason myself!"
Danzo answered slowly, "Fine. But facing someone like that, I must also ensure the safety of my Root operatives. They'll give it everything they've got. As for whether Shiki Uzumaki will be captured alive..."
Boom!!!
Suddenly, a tremendous rumbling noise erupted, interrupting Danzo.
The Third fixed his gaze on the direction of the noise. However, the distance was too far to spot anything at all.
Yet almost without thinking, he already understood what had happened. At this critical moment, only Shiki Uzumaki could cause such chaos.
"Danzo! That must be Shiki Uzumaki over there, right? If so, then let's go together and ask him the reason!"
For a split second, shock crossed Danzo's face, but he quickly masked it with a practiced excuse—just like someone used to operating in the shadows.
"No way! You are the Hokage. It's too dangerous letting you approach such a threat. Wait until my Root members capture Shiki Uzumaki first, then you can question him yourself."
Capture?
Chances are, none of Root's personnel were ever given such orders in the first place.
The Third turned around, holding his pipe without acknowledging Danzo further, opened the window, and prepared to leave.
"If you still insist on neglecting the village's safety like this," Danzo said coldly, "don't blame me for taking forceful measures to keep you here." His eyes burned with battle intent.
The Third turned his head again, staring straight back at Danzo.
P.S. For those who feel the strength of the Third's Anbu seems unreasonable in this chapter, please refer to the relevant section of the work.
Regarding Chapter 42: Why didn't the Third's Anbu detect him
Originally wanted to reply directly in the comments section, but kept getting flagged for forbidden words and couldn't post it. Even after deleting terms like 'Root,' 'Yamato,' and 'disturbance,' it still wouldn't go through.
So I ended up explaining it in the related content section.
Although at first glance, it may seem unreasonable that the Hokage's direct Anbu failed to detect him by now,
But we have to distinguish between proactive surveillance and passive detection.
Danzo's Anbu operates under an authoritarian structure, especially when specifically targeting Shiki Uzumaki. Once ordered by Danzo, they could abandon all other tasks completely.
The Third's Anbu, however, cannot operate that way. Besides carrying out Konoha's basic security duties, they also handle various missions constantly. Plus, their attention wasn't particularly focused on Shiki Uzumaki either.
This huge gap in intelligence regarding Shiki himself is like how a hacker might struggle to breach a government system but find it easy to access a personal laptop—it all comes down to targeted vs general monitoring.
As for ninja under the Third's command, like Kakashi (not referring to Kakashi himself specifically, just using him as an example of power level), naturally aren't assigned to Konoha's routine security work.
Shiki had planned the whole operation to last about an hour, starting with the initial commotion caused by Kabuto just outside the village.
It's perfectly reasonable that the Anbu responsible for Konoha's security under the Third couldn't detect it at that early stage.
And how long did the protagonist really cause chaos within the village?
The protagonist had been faking a slow advance the whole time.
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