Chapter 473: Jiraiya Lacks Wisdom, Tsunade Lacks Strategy, Only Orochimaru
"As long as I can earn another major merit on the Kumogakure battlefield, I will have the most military achievements. When that happens, I only need to keep moving forward steadily, and the odds of becoming the Fourth Hokage will be extremely high."
"Once I become the Fourth Hokage, Root will no longer be a subordinate branch of ANBU. Root will stand on equal footing with ANBU."
Inside the Root base, Orochimaru painted a glorious future for Danzo.
Danzo was pushing Orochimaru so enthusiastically not because he liked him. It was a transaction.
Danzo would help Orochimaru reach the top, and after Orochimaru became Hokage, Orochimaru would support Danzo in return.
Danzo nodded. "Mm. Jiraiya has no grand ambition. He will never compete with you. As for Tsunade, she has sunk into decadence and does not deserve attention."
In truth, drawing a bright future was one of Danzo's greatest talents. Otherwise, he would not have been able to lure so many Root members into throwing their lives away for him. Danzo did not control his subordinates with Ninjutsu. The Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal existed only to prevent leaks.
But what Orochimaru said was not empty talk, at least for now. In Danzo's analysis, Orochimaru's chances of becoming Hokage far exceeded Jiraiya and Tsunade.
Although Hiruzen leaned toward Jiraiya, Jiraiya himself had no such desire. Hiruzen tried several times to hand Jiraiya opportunities for merit, and Jiraiya refused every one of them.
Orochimaru seized the opening when Danzo showed approval.
"To gain great merit faster, I hope you can send Lord Mugetsu to assist me again," Orochimaru said smoothly. "With him, we can surely recreate the great victory on the East Bank battlefield."
This was Orochimaru's real goal.
He wanted Mugetsu on the battlefield with him.
To avoid exposing his intentions, Orochimaru had not investigated deeply. He only asked Danzo a few casual questions, with a perfectly reasonable excuse.
Danzo was too cautious. Orochimaru could not obtain anything useful, so he could not tell whether Mugetsu's refusal that night was Mugetsu's own will or Danzo's order.
So Orochimaru changed his approach.
Because no matter the reason, he believed that as long as he could bring Mugetsu to the battlefield, everything would be settled in the end.
If he could replace Danzo's position in Mugetsu's heart, every problem would dissolve.
Danzo remained calm on the surface, but inside he felt Orochimaru's ill intent was still there.
"I can send other elites to support you, but Mugetsu cannot go," Danzo refused. "I have other very important arrangements for him."
Danzo could send Mugetsu proactively to help Orochimaru gain merit, if it served Danzo's interests.
But if Orochimaru tried to take Mugetsu away on his own initiative, absolutely not.
They were partners, so Danzo did not speak too harshly. He simply used "other arrangements" as an excuse.
"Is that so?" Orochimaru's expression did not change. "What a pity."
Outwardly, he looked unbothered. Inwardly, his mind raced, piecing everything together.
"It must be that Danzo noticed something, so he does not want Lord Mugetsu to have too much contact with me," Orochimaru concluded.
What arrangement could possibly be more important than gaining merit on the battlefield, especially when this involved the position of Hokage?
And it was not arrogance. Based on Orochimaru's performance on the East Bank battlefield, he was confident he had been an excellent superior in Mugetsu's eyes. There was no reason Mugetsu should have rejected him so cleanly.
Orochimaru had shown strategy and strength, praised Mugetsu's disciples in front of the higher ups, and held many heart to heart conversations with Mugetsu. Mugetsu's impression of him should have been good, not bad.
No matter how Orochimaru turned it over, he felt Danzo had interfered.
After that, Orochimaru did not mention Mugetsu again. He continued discussing their plan for the Fourth Hokage.
Orochimaru trusted his own ability. He believed he would influence Mugetsu sooner or later.
And with Mugetsu's current strength, Danzo could not keep him bound forever. There would be many chances in the future. There was no need to get stuck on this tonight.
Still, Orochimaru remembered it.
He would settle accounts with Danzo after he became Hokage.
After Orochimaru left the Root base, Danzo's expression turned thoughtful.
He was a cautious man. Since he had claimed he had arrangements for Mugetsu, he needed to give Mugetsu something to do, in case Orochimaru discovered the truth by accident.
"Let him continue training Root for a while," Danzo decided, finding a suitable solution.
Danzo valued Mugetsu's strength most, but he had not forgotten Mugetsu's unique teaching talent.
The more Danzo thought about it, the more satisfied he became. This would both block Orochimaru and strengthen Root's overall ability.
Then Danzo went to see Hiruzen.
Orochimaru wanted to take Mugetsu to the battlefield, but he would have to go through Danzo, because Mugetsu carried the identity of a Root member.
At the same time, Danzo still had to follow procedures to deploy Mugetsu. He needed Hiruzen's approval, because on the surface, Mugetsu had long since stopped being part of Root.
Danzo walked toward the Hokage Building with a gloomy expression.
Part of it was the familiar irritation. He needed permission to use his own subordinate, and that alone was enough to sour his mood.
But Danzo also felt Hiruzen would not agree easily this time. There would be bargaining, because Danzo had directly challenged Hiruzen at the last high level meeting.
Danzo understood Hiruzen well.
Hiruzen was not magnanimous. He would definitely look for payback.
Danzo's prediction made him even more annoyed, and his expression showed it.
The shinobi who passed by did not find it strange.
It was Danzo, the advisor. Gloom was his natural state. If he ever smiled as brightly as Mugetsu or Minato, they would think Danzo had cracked under pressure.
When Danzo reached the wooden door of the Hokage's office, he moved to push it open out of habit.
Then he paused, thinking of something.
He pulled the half opened door back, withdrew the foot he had already extended, and lifted a finger to knock.
Whether it was imagination or not, as the knocking echoed, Danzo seemed to hear a faintly regretful sigh from inside.
"Enter," Hiruzen's voice came.
Danzo pushed the door open and stepped into the office.
"Danzo, do you need something?" Hiruzen asked.
"Hiru…" Danzo started to say his name, then memories flashed and he cut himself off. "Sandaime."
Hiruzen sighed inwardly, frustrated.
Danzo was too cautious today.
Hiruzen had deliberately called Danzo by name, trying to bait Danzo into calling him by name as well. If Danzo slipped, Hiruzen would have had the perfect opening to vent the emotions he had been holding since the last high level meeting.
But Danzo gave him nothing.
"I want to transfer Mugetsu back to Root," Danzo said carefully, making sure there was no flaw. "His teaching ability will be used best there. Then the quality of both Root shinobi and ANBU shinobi will improve."
When Root was first established, Danzo's excuse had been training ANBU. So what he said sounded perfectly reasonable.
A talented instructor like Mugetsu returning to Root would only strengthen the foundation.
Of course, Danzo already knew Hiruzen would refuse.
He said it anyway to preserve his usual image.
Danzo always sought to expand Root's power, so it was natural for him to try reclaiming a talent taken from Root. That way, Hiruzen would not suspect the connection between Danzo and Mugetsu.
Hiruzen rejected it flatly. "How many shinobi exist in Root and ANBU combined? How many are in the Academy? How many are in all of Konoha? Mugetsu cannot return to Root."
Hiruzen could not allow it.
Root's darkness ran too deep. It was not suitable for someone like Mugetsu.
Then Hiruzen added bluntly, "Danzo, if you put the effort you spend strengthening Root into other matters, perhaps Konoha would be better off."
Danzo bristled. "Why do I strengthen Root? Isn't it for Konoha?"
Hiruzen set his pipe down and exhaled a stream of white smoke. "If I did not know that, do you think Root would still exist today?"
If Danzo truly worked against Konoha, Hiruzen would have destroyed Root long ago. Their old camaraderie was not enough to justify allowing it, not when Konoha was at stake.
After becoming Hokage, Konoha was Hiruzen's first priority. Everything else had to move aside.
"Since you know that," Danzo asked in a low voice, "then why do you keep obstructing me?"
"Some things you do go too far," Hiruzen replied. "And some things you should not do."
He picked up his pipe again.
Hiruzen could not claim Danzo was pure hearted.
But Danzo was genuinely working for Konoha.
The problem was that Danzo had no sense of restraint. His bottom line was almost nonexistent.
"Training Root is fine," Hiruzen said, ending it cleanly. "I will arrange that. But do not even think about anything else."
Hiruzen did not want Mugetsu to return to Root, but having Mugetsu train Root shinobi was acceptable.
It would be like Mugetsu training ANBU and Root at the same time.
Danzo's face tightened in visible dissatisfaction.
Without another word, he turned and walked toward the door, expression dark.
"Hiru… Sandaime," Danzo corrected himself again, voice heavy. "You will regret this!"
Bang!
The wooden door slammed shut with a dull thud.
Hiruzen could not help smiling.
He had been holding it in earlier.
Danzo's stiff caution was simply too funny. Hiruzen had never seen Danzo act like that before.
Outside, Danzo was even more irritated.
"If only I had reacted a little faster back then, things would never have turned out like this," he thought bitterly.
He had avoided every mistake today. He had given Hiruzen no opening.
And yet he still felt angry.
Why did he have to be this careful?
If he had been the one to step forward and offer to cover their retreat back then, then today it would be Hiruzen who spoke cautiously in front of him.
…
Bang!
Obito imagined invisible armor forming over his fist, then threw a hard punch.
A crack spread across the trunk of the large tree in front of him, but it did not fall.
"Damn it," Obito muttered, scratching his head when he saw the tree still standing. "The Armament Haki Secret Technique is too hard."
He could have broken the tree if he used Breathing Technique and gathered more chakra.
But he was training, not chopping lumber.
Just now, he had only tried to use Armament Haki, without relying on any other abilities.
"The internal competition is in another week," Obito said under his breath, anxiety creeping in. "What am I supposed to do?"
The internal competition was meant to happen once every three months, but the war delayed it for a long time.
Obito thought he could use the extra time to overtake everyone.
Instead, everyone else grew faster.
Guy had mastered Rock Breathing Chakra Mode.
Shisui had mastered Flame Breathing Chakra Mode.
Obito never expected to beat Guy. Rock Breathing Chakra Mode stacked with the Fifth and Sixth Gates was ridiculous. It was the kind of thing that did not care about logic.
Obito's goal was simpler.
He wanted to win consistently against Kakashi and Shisui, so he could enter the second round with a high chance and avoid punishment.
And now the problem was obvious.
Obito had Flame Breathing Chakra Mode, and Shisui had it too.
Obito had the Three Tomoe Sharingan, and Shisui had it too.
But Shisui had mastered the Armament Haki Secret Technique, and Obito had not.
If Obito tried to calculate his win rate against Shisui, the conclusion made his head hurt.
Yes, Obito's Flame Breathing was stronger than Shisui's.
But he did not believe that small difference could outweigh the Armament Haki Secret Technique.
"It looks like I only have a better chance against Kakashi," Obito decided, clinging to hope. "Please let me draw Kakashi."
Kakashi had the Transparent World.
Obito had Flame Breathing Chakra Mode.
Kakashi had the Armament Haki Secret Technique.
Obito had the Three Tomoe Sharingan.
They were almost perfectly matched.
Crack!
A flash of lightning ripped through the air.
Every tree in front of Kakashi fell at once.
Kakashi sheathed his sword and shook his head, remembering Mugetsu's lightning blade that cut through everything.
"This isn't it," Kakashi murmured. "It still feels far away."
Mugetsu's Lightning Release sword technique was more difficult than Kakashi expected.
Kakashi estimated he would not be able to use it in the next internal competition. He could only hope to master it before the one after that.
"In that case," Kakashi thought, briefly reviewing the strength of Mugetsu's four disciples, "my best chance is against Obito."
After the East Bank battlefield, all of them had improved.
Guy improved the most.
Shisui came next.
Kakashi and Obito were in the same tier.
"Great Flame Ring: Flame Emperor!"
Shisui, already in Flame Breathing Chakra Mode, unleashed Fire Release wildly across the river's surface.
With the internal competition drawing close, Shisui had no choice but to pause his plan to build even more prestige.
He returned to high intensity training.
He needed to become more proficient with Flame Breathing Chakra Mode before the competition began.
Guy trained like a madman with weights, giving everything he had.
Even though he was the strongest among them, he did not slack off for a moment.
He still had to keep pushing until he became the strongest taijutsu user in Konoha, and then the strongest taijutsu user in the entire shinobi world.
Seeing Guy overflowing with passion, Riolu could not resist joining in the training too.
.....
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