Shinju noticed something—just like Kakashi-sensei, Danzo also possessed an Uchiha eye!
And the eye hidden beneath those bandages gave off an incredibly unsettling feeling.
There was a strange, indescribable power lurking within it!
Danzo caught Shinju's gaze on him, lowered his head, and asked in a hoarse, commanding voice:
"What is it?"
Shinju withdrew his gaze, face calm and unreadable.
"Nothing."
"I was just thinking, this whole ransom deal with Kumogakure… we could handle it under my name."
"As long as all the money comes directly to me. ❛‿˂̵✧"
Shinju said this cheerfully.
The Third Hokage immediately laughed and scolded:
"You little rascal, always scheming."
"You brought these Kumogakure assassination-nin back here because you wanted to use the village's prison, didn't you?"
"Using the prison costs rent too. We'll split it fifty-fifty."
The Third Hokage directly cut Shinju's profit in half.
"Fine!"
Shinju agreed readily. After all, his original estimate was fifty thousand ryo per head.
Now the village had bumped the ransom up to one hundred thousand. Even if half was taken, Shinju still got his fifty thousand per prisoner.
As Shinju prepared to leave after confirming the price, the Third Hokage casually asked:
"By the way, you've been training with Jiraiya. Any progress?"
Shinju nodded:
"Yep! Jiraiya-sensei taught me a lot. For example—when gathering intel, always go to places with lots of women. Also, minors aren't allowed to drink…"
The two Konoha senior advisors beside them immediately exploded in anger.
"That Jiraiya! Outrageous!"
The Third Hokage raised his palm, motioning for them to calm down.
"I trust Jiraiya. Besides… can either of you name a teacher more suited for Shinju than him?"
The two advisors fell silent.
Within all of Konoha, the "Legendary Sannin" held a position of unmatched authority.
If even Jiraiya couldn't teach Shinju well, the only one left would be the Hokage himself.
"Alright, Shinju, you can head back."
The Hokage waved him off.
But Shinju suddenly seemed to remember something and asked curiously:
"Hokage-sama, is there an organization in Konoha called 'Root'?"
The Hokage nodded, discreetly glancing at Danzo beside him.
"There is indeed such an organization. Why? Did they threaten you?!"
As he spoke, the old man's killing intent surged forth, undisguised!
Shinju shook his hand:
"No, nothing like that. They just invited me to join once. I'd never heard of them before, so I was curious."
"…Alright. I understand."
The Hokage nodded.
After giving a brief report on other matters, Shinju vanished with the Flying Thunder God Technique, returning to Jiraiya's side.
The Hokage then signaled the ANBU to drag the captured Kumogakure assassination-nin down into Konoha's prison.
Inside the Hokage's office, all eyes turned toward Danzo.
"Danzo, are you really that desperate to control Konoha?"
The Third Hokage's voice was heavy with anger.
Danzo put on a look of indifference, like a dead pig not fearing boiling water.
"Hiruzen, everything I do is for Konoha. A genius like Shinju should enter Root. Root can temper his heart and ensure his absolute loyalty to the village for life!"
"Is that truly for Konoha, or for yourself?!"
The Hokage's voice rose.
"Don't think I don't know about all your little schemes in the shadows!"
"Danzo, stay away from every single ninja in this village!"
"Root should never have existed in the first place!"
After a heated argument, the Third Hokage and the two advisors stormed out of the office in anger.
In the now-empty Hokage's office, Shimura Danzo stared at the Hokage's desk, his lone exposed eye glinting with ferocity.
Upon learning that Shinju had refused to join Root, Danzo had already dispatched assassins.
Thankfully, those assassins hadn't made a move yet. Otherwise, the ones dragged in today wouldn't just have been Kumogakure's assassins!
"Looks like some matters… I'll have to handle myself."
Danzo muttered coldly, his voice firm with resolve.
...
Somewhere in a small town in the Land of Fire.
At this moment, Jiraiya and Naruto had returned to their inn.
Naruto reported everything he had seen and experienced with Shinju during the day to the lecherous sage.
After hearing about Shinju's actions, Jiraiya nodded.
That kid was pretty sharp.
He'd even used Wood Clone decoys to bait the assassins and probe their strength.
"Then with a single Nativity of a World of Trees, he instantly restrained all the assassination-nin… Shinju's mastery of Wood Release has grown a lot."
Jiraiya sat on the bed, satisfied.
"There's one more thing," Naruto added. "When we passed a casino today, Shinju made a really strange face."
"Oh?"
Jiraiya's interest piqued immediately.
"What kind of face? Don't tell me… he saw a pretty woman??"
Naruto thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Yeah, actually there was a beautiful woman. Shinju stared at her for quite a while."
Jiraiya instantly perked up.
That kid Shinju had never shown interest in any woman before.
He had to know—what kind of goddess could make Shinju pause like that?
"What kind of woman? Describe her for me."
Jiraiya was practically impatient.
Naruto thought carefully:
"She had blonde hair, looked about twenty, very pretty. She wore two braids. And there was someone following her—holding a pig."
"Hiss—"
Jiraiya sucked in a breath. The description of those two plus the pig sounded extremely familiar!
After a moment, he rummaged through his pack, pulled out a photo, and showed it to Naruto.
"Was it this woman?"
Naruto looked, eyes widening in shock.
"Why the heck do you have her picture, pervy sage?!"
"Don't tell me… you peeked on her while she was bathing too?!"
Jiraiya: "…"
"How can you think that about your own teacher?! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻"
"She's the one we're looking for—Tsunade."
After Jiraiya explained, Naruto's eyes went wide with disbelief.
"She's Tsunade? But… isn't Tsunade supposed to be some fifty-year-old granny?!"
While they were talking, Shinju suddenly warped into the room with Flying Thunder God.
"What granny?"
He appeared with a puzzled expression.
"Pervy sage said that blonde woman we saw at the casino today was Tsunade," Naruto explained when he saw Shinju arrive.
Hearing that, Shinju's eyes flashed with realization.
No wonder that woman's chakra felt so dense—it was one of the Legendary Sannin!
"Aren't we going after her?" Shinju turned to Jiraiya, who was already lying down, clearly ready to sleep.
Jiraiya waved it off with a confident grin.
"What's the rush? Tsunade might love gambling, but even she has to sleep at night."
"We'll check the casinos tomorrow."
"By the way—"
Jiraiya suddenly remembered something, his expression shifting as he rubbed his hands together, face glowing with greedy excitement.
"I heard you caught a bunch of Kumogakure jōnin, and they're going to ransom them back at fifty thousand ryo each…"
"Come on, kid. You know your master's been wandering the world for years. You wouldn't let your poor teacher starve, would you…?"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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