"You will regret this…"
Upon hearing those words, Koharu and Homura both felt the corners of their mouths twitch slightly.
Hiruzen had changed a great deal recently—changed to the point of feeling both familiar and unfamiliar to them.
But Danzō was still exactly the same as ever…
The moment Hiruzen said anything at all—even if it only differed ever so slightly from what Danzō had in mind—those words would immediately slip out of his mouth!
It was almost like some kind of pre-programmed ninjutsu… always triggering with uncanny precision.
"Will I regret it?
To everyone's surprise, Hiruzen did not rush to refute Danzō. Instead, he gave a slight nod and said with a rather earnest expression: "Alright. Then tell me why I would regret it. If what you say makes sense, I'll listen to you."
"Huh?"
Danzō froze, his combo abruptly interrupted.
No—this isn't how the Konoha Hokage mini-game is supposed to be played!
Why are you actually listening to my opinion?!
You're supposed to shout that you are the Hokage, then refuse to hear anything I say. The two of us glare angrily at each other, I slam the door and storm out, then go back to Root and curse you out in private…
And in the end, through some mysterious incident, I seize the Hokage position, put on my divine robe, and show you who's boss!
Oh.
Right.
Root is about to be dismantled—so that whole thing doesn't exist anymore…
Wait, hold on.
Is this monkey really that trustworthy?!
After yesterday's training ground incident—where he had been publicly criticized and forced to issue a military pledge—Danzō, though he had managed to get some face in front of everyone at the time, found himself pondering it carefully once he returned home.
Something still felt off!
If it were him—if he were Sarutobi Hiruzen—then by riding this wave of momentum, he would absolutely pin me down for good!
That earlier promise? Saying he'd give him fair competition for the Hokage position, and so on…
Who would remember that kind of talk?!
Because in front of everyone, Root's very real problems had been exposed, and Hiruzen had essentially confirmed that Root was going to be disbanded.
Even if he wanted to play some tricks, he was powerless to do anything about it.
Neither Koharu nor Homura would speak up for him. If you were wrong, you had to be punished—shinobi were like that.
The reason Danzō had started huffing again today was, to a certain extent, also a struggle against his own future.
But the problem was…
'Hiruzen, are you really that good at keeping your word?' A trace of inexplicable guilt flashed through Danzō's mind. He quickly organized his thoughts and replied seriously: "If you carve out twenty core jōnin—so-called 'Konoha committee members'—then the Hokage's authority will inevitably be split among those people. How are you going to guarantee the authority of the Hokage Building?"
"Hiruzen, maybe you think that really is good, but there's no doubt this is irresponsible toward the Hokage's power! All jōnin must take orders directly from the Hokage!"
Danzō voiced what he truly thought.
Hiruzen silently watched Danzō. After a moment, he shook his head with a look of disappointment, as if lamenting that Danzō could not live up to expectations.
"I thought you had some high-minded argument…"
"I understand your logic. More people equals power being divided equals power being out of control, right?"
Danzō nodded righteously. "That's right. What about it? Isn't that the case?"
"The essence of dispersed power is the crossing of authority and responsibility, and blurred attribution…"
Hiruzen picked up his pipe and, unhurriedly, began packing tobacco into it as he spoke.
"Put it in terms you understand best—the Root you once controlled was exactly like that… It overlapped heavily with Anbu, and it even operated under the banner of my Hokage authority. Over time, your orders, in the eyes of some people, would outweigh mine."
Danzō's expression remained unchanged. "I did that for—"
Koharu and Homura gave slight nods.
That really was how it was…
Hiruzen waved a hand, signaling him to be quiet.
"The 'Konoha committee members' I intend to establish are not a decision-making layer. They are a higher-level executive layer, with only so-called advisory authority."
"Good suggestions, I will listen to. Bad suggestions, I will veto."
"The final decision-making authority, the core personnel authority, the authority over resource allocation, and the authority for emergency handling—on these matters, I alone will have the final say."
"By clearly defining each committee member's professional domain, and by confirming power boundaries and accountability and oversight mechanisms, Konoha's operation will only become more efficient and smoother."
"Would you worry about a squad leader in your Root betraying you?"
Danzō frowned.
"That's different. My control over them is absolute! Hiruzen, I won't beat around the bush anymore—can you place curse seals on these so-called 'Konoha committee members'?"
Hiruzen laughed as he listened.
"Danzō, you've been steeped in darkness for far too long. If others heard you, they'd think Konoha was some kind of slave plantation…"
Danzō lifted his chin, showing no sense of shame at all.
He believed in this set of bodily control to the extreme.
"I talk to you about the Will of Fire, and right now you probably can't understand it."
"What you do, in essence, is cultivate private troops. All it does is turn one talented ninja after another into expendable death soldiers with little value. But Konoha needs its ninja to bloom—to realize themselves and produce value."
"When people live in fear and under control, they become walking corpses."
"Talents turn into mediocrities, mediocrities turn into dead objects. As for geniuses whose brilliance can't be erased—what you do only makes them accumulate hatred, and in the end they become an even greater danger to Konoha."
Hiruzen gave an analogy: "Even if you placed a curse seal on Orochimaru, would he obey you without question?"
Danzō frowned. He wanted to refute Hiruzen.
But deep down, he vaguely felt that… it seemed to make sense?
The angle from which Hiruzen viewed the problem did appear to be just a little higher than his own…
"The cruel world of ninja has made far too many people suffer."
"So long as we show even a tiny bit of light, countless moths will fly toward us…"
"Under extreme conditions, a person's craving for 'hope' will surpass morality, family ties, and even the instinct for survival—especially for ninja who are spiritually empty and treat themselves as mere tools."
Hiruzen said with a sigh of emotion: "The Will of Fire is Konoha's core value. It is also a tool far better than curse seals. That is something I hope you will truly come to experience, Danzō."
Koharu and Homura exchanged a glance.
There was nothing wrong with what he said—but somehow, the way it sounded made one feel a bit cold…
"You've stayed in Root, that small organization, for far too long. Your subordinates go around in circles and don't even reach twenty people. But to be Hokage is to govern an entire village."
"That kind of way of thinking won't do."
Those words sounded like criticism.
Yet Danzō listened, utterly absorbed.
Although he still couldn't deeply understand it, he could feel it…
This old monkey seemed to be genuinely treating him as a Hokage successor in training?
He was really bringing out the real stuff…
Old thing—hurry up and hand over your Hokage-forbidden techniques!
But Hiruzen did not continue speaking. He held the pipe in his mouth and rummaged through his pockets.
It seemed he was looking for a lighter…
Danzō clenched his teeth.
Just when he was getting into it, how could it cut off like this?
Taking large strides, he walked up beside Hiruzen and lit it for him.
"Hmph! The older you get, the more you go backward—can't even remember to bring your things anymore? I think you need some self-reflection too!"
Hiruzen burst out laughing.
"Sorry, sorry!"
At the side, Koharu and Homura exchanged another look, both seeing astonishment in each other's eyes.
No way…
Danzō actually lit a cigarette for Hiruzen?!
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