They're promoting the "Konoha threat" theory, and spouting nonsense about the Hidden

Chapter 192 Resistance from Within Konoha (Part 2)

"How did things go?"

From the dark basement of the Root Base, a deep voice resounded.

"The aftermath has been cleaned up. Even within the Hyuga branch family, the deceased Hyuga ninja was among the lowest in status."

"Given Hyuga Mitsufumi's personality, he wouldn't be angered by the death of such a lowly clansman, so it's highly likely that the security forces will be responsible for the follow-up search for the murderer."

Despite the numerous concealed ventilation openings in the underground base, the air circulation is still incomparable to that at the surface.

Therefore, standing in Shimura Danzo's position, one could clearly smell the faint scent of blood on the body of his subordinates opposite him.

Therefore, it goes without saying what method this Root ninja used to handle the aftermath.

"What a pity about that caged bird, otherwise I could have gotten another pair of eye rolls tonight."

Under the dim light, Danzo Shimura, standing in the position of a Root ninja, had his face mostly hidden in shadow, with only his calm voice audible.

Due to the influence of the Caged Bird Seal, although Root has ninja clans from various major ninja clans, it has no ninjas from the Hyuga clan.

Logically speaking, Danzo Shimura would never have given up the Byakugan, a tool with such powerful functionality.

However, since the Hyuga main family rarely goes out, Root members who want to acquire the Byakugan can only choose from the Hyuga branch family ninjas.

However, the primary obligation for joining Root is loyalty to Shimura Danzo, and under the influence of the Caged Bird Seal, the Hyuga branch family could not possibly maintain absolute loyalty to him.

Therefore, among the Root ninjas, the Byakugan is truly the only one missing.

Even the Sharingan, through various battles, was something that Danzo Shimura secretly obtained in secret.

Only the white eye, due to the existence of the caged bird seal, has never had the opportunity to be touched.

"Hmm... The deceased are upgraded from civilians to ninjas. This is how we gradually create an atmosphere of crisis. When the time is right, that's when I will step forward to save Konoha."

Danzo Shimura's calm words revealed that he didn't care about the dead at all.

After all, even the ninjas of the Hyuga branch family were nothing to him. Moreover, these ninjas of the Hyuga branch family were called ninjas in name only, but in reality they were ninja slaves. Even their own main family didn't care about them, so why would he care?

All he ever cared about was the feasibility of his plans; to him, everyone else was merely a tool to accomplish them.

Danzo Shimura did not strictly follow the "Hozuki Shingetsu Plan" that Hozuki Shingetsu had originally devised.

After all, how could someone who has been scheming for years possibly trust others unconditionally and completely?

Moreover, given that Hozuki Shingetsu is such a wicked and despicable individual, how could he possibly follow Hozuki Shingetsu's plan step by step?

In Shimura Danzo's plan, the current goal is to use the teachings of the Miroku sect and take advantage of the relaxed atmosphere after the war to carry out mass murders, indiscriminately killing civilians and ninjas, making everyone in Konoha feel insecure.

Of course, in order to prevent the culprit from being caught in advance, each time the culprit commits a crime, a Root ninja will provide a one-on-one, comprehensive cleanup service.

Unless someone from Konoha can physically cross the Pure Land, the culprit will definitely not be found.

In this way, just when the public opinion crisis was about to erupt, Shimura Danzo stepped forward again, personally destroyed several strongholds of the Miroku sect, and arrested a group of Miroku sect members.

This was in addition to Hozuki Shingetsu's original plan to purchase a large amount of goods and supplies from Kirigakure at half the cost price.

Didn't Shimura Danzo's prestige and authority rise up in an instant?

The most intriguing thing is that this incident involving a village murder happened to fall within the jurisdiction of the garrison.

If the culprit is not caught soon, public opinion in the village will inevitably turn against the Uchiha clan.

After all, it's one thing for the Uchiha clan to look down on people on a daily basis, but at least at that time, there were no security problems in the village.

But if your police force can't catch such a rampant killer, then don't blame us for criticizing you.

For Shimura Danzo, what could be more wonderful than establishing his authority by stepping on the heads of the Uchiha clan?

As for the Miroku followers who sacrificed themselves in the process... Shimura Danzo controlled the Miroku sect, but he did not truly believe in the evil god that Hozuki Shingetsu had fabricated.

From beginning to end, everything he did was for one goal—to be able to openly and legitimately wear the Hokage's robe!

Maitreya religion?

He was nothing more than a expendable tool in his quest to become Hokage!

He was willing to sacrifice the Shimura clan in order to have his image engraved on the Hokage Rock, so what would be a mere Miroku sect?

This is what truly means to "raise an enemy to enhance one's own prestige."

"Lord Danzo, Hiruzen Sarutobi requests your presence in the Hokage's office."

Just then, a Root ninja appeared and knelt on one knee in front of him to report.

The stark contrast in their names reveals the extent of Shimura Danzo's education of the Root.

"Calling me at this time must be to get Root to investigate the killer's identity..."

Danzo Shimura had anticipated Hiruzen Sarutobi's summons. He picked up his cane and slowly strolled toward the Hokage's office.

-

When Shimura Danzo arrived at the Hokage's office, he found it already packed with people.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado, Homura Uchiha, Tofumi Hyuga, and Hideki Sarutobi, the son of the current head of the Anbu, Hiruzen Sarutobi, all appeared here.

With Danzo Shimura also present, the entire Hokage's office was packed with people.

"Danzo, you've arrived."

After a brief greeting, Hiruzen Sarutobi got straight to the point and stated the purpose of his visit.

As expected, they asked the Root organization to assist in apprehending the murderers in these recent murder cases.

The previous victims were all commoners, or at most, wealthy merchants. Their deaths were insignificant to the village, so no one had paid any attention to the matter before.

But this time it was different. The one who died was a member of the Hyuga clan, although he was from the Hyuga branch family, and even Hyuga Tomoyuki didn't say anything.

However, out of respect for the Hyuga clan, Hiruzen Sarutobi showed the utmost respect, calling on the Root and Anbu to solve the case as quickly as possible and give Hyuga Mitsufumi an explanation.

"Cooperating with the investigation is fine... the key issue is, aren't these kinds of cases usually handled by the security forces?"

Danzo Shimura looked at Homura Uchiha and asked, feigning curiosity, "What? Could it be that this killer is so cunning that even the Sharingan couldn't catch him?"

"Then I'll have the Root ninjas put all their effort into tracking them down. After all, I'm also very curious about what kind of culprit could escape the Sharingan's search in Konoha."

Faced with Shimura Danzo's sarcastic remarks, Uchiha Homura showed no mercy and retorted sharply:

"Objectively speaking, under normal circumstances, the murderer should have been caught in less than three hours. The strange thing is that we have been investigating for three days without any results."

"However, the lack of a result is itself a result. The fact that they were able to hide perfectly for three days despite the Sharingan's investigation is enough to prove one thing—there must be someone covering for this murderer."

As he spoke, Uchiha Homura's gaze was fixed on Shimura Danzo.

It is obvious who he is referring to as the "one who covered up for the murderer."

Uchiha Homura was well aware of Shimura Danzo's hostility towards his clan.

In fact, he did suspect that it was Danzo Shimura who did it, but he couldn't understand Danzo Shimura's intention in doing so.

To say that it's solely to target the Uchiha clan is an overreaction, isn't it? Besides, using this method to target the Uchiha clan would at most punish them for incompetence.

Such charges are of no consequence to the Uchiha clan; they are completely meaningless.

Therefore, Homura Uchiha had no idea who the culprit was, but that didn't stop him from confronting Danzo Shimura.

"Even so, it would be easy for our Uchiha clan to capture him. As long as the Hokage allows us to search any part of the village, we guarantee to bring the culprit to justice within a day."

Although Uchiha Homura's words were directed at Hiruzen Sarutobi, his eyes remained fixed on Danzo Shimura.

If Hiruzen Sarutobi dares to give this order, regardless of any other reasons, the entire Uchiha clan will be able to assemble and search the Root base.

Even if it means bearing the crime of being late, we will still bring Shimura Danzo down from his horse!

He simply didn't believe that, given Danzo Shimura's nature, anything from this root base could be exposed to the light!

Faced with Uchiha Homura's aggressive behavior, Shimura Danzo lowered his eyes, appearing not to care about him.

Just kidding. Putting everything else aside, the Wood Release experiment was right there at the Root base. How could anyone else possibly see it?

Seeing the atmosphere reach a stalemate, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately stepped in to smooth things over:

"Danzo, the world is full of wonders. That murderer may have mastered a strange ninjutsu that can erase his tracks. It's normal that the Sharingan can't detect him for a while."

After speaking to Shimura Danzo, he immediately turned to Uchiha Homura and said, "Just to capture one criminal, you've turned the whole village upside down. If outsiders find out, they might think Konoha is invincible! Don't mention searching the entire village again!"

After finishing his charade, he declared directly in front of everyone, "That's it! With the security forces in the lead, and the secret service and the root forces cooperating, we must capture this thief and restore peace to the village!"

After Hiruzen Sarutobi set the tone, the others had no objections.

After all, the impact of this matter is not that bad at the moment. If it weren't for giving Hyuga Tofu some face, it wouldn't be a problem if the culprit couldn't be caught.

However, it was only because a branch family ninja of the Hyuga clan died that such a large-scale operation was taking place.

"Danzo, stay behind for a moment."

Just when everyone thought the matter was over, and Danzo Shimura wanted to return to Root to check on the progress of Orochimaru's Wood Release experiment, Hiruzen Sarutobi told him to stay.

Danzo Shimura's heart tightened, thinking that he had somehow given himself away and that his old teammate had seen through his disguise.

But when he heard that Hiruzen Sarutobi had asked Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado to stay as well, he immediately felt relieved.

This time, at least it has nothing to do with the Maitreya sect anymore.

"This is what Tsunade just sent me: the detailed rules for the implementation of the Kirigakure reform. Please take a look."

Hiruzen Sarutobi tapped a few documents on the table with the bottom of his pipe, slowly exhaling a puff of smoke as he spoke.

Upon hearing that the information about Kirigakure was sent back by Tsunade and that it involved such a major matter as reform, the three immediately became interested and stepped forward to take the documents and examine them.

"Contribution point system... everything related to ninjas requires contribution points to exchange... and you can exchange them for ninjutsu? Isn't that ridiculous?!"

Mitomon Homura, after reading half of it, couldn't help but throw the document on the table and angrily rebuked.

"Hozuki Shingetsu is digging up Kirigakure's foundation by doing this! Isn't he afraid that those ninjutsu will be leaked? Are the ninja clans of Kirigakure just going to let him run wild like this?"

To the conservative Mitokado Homura, commoner ninjas were merely tools, expendable resources.

This tool is like autumn weeds; even if you burn it, you can't burn it all off, and a new crop will grow back the following year.

Therefore, for such consumables, only three years of ninja academy education are needed to teach them how to throw ninja tools and the basic Three Body Techniques.

Those advanced ninjutsu techniques are only for those ninja clan members who have received elite education since childhood.

They were also given the right to purchase advanced ninjutsu. But even if they were given such advanced ninjutsu, with their meager knowledge, would they be able to understand it?

His anger stemmed from this: he was furious that the glory belonging solely to the ninja clan had been tarnished by a bunch of cannon fodder.

Despite living in a different ninja village, he was still furious that his identity as a member of the Hidden Mist Clan had been tainted by these peasants.

"That being said, once this document is issued, it is foreseeable that the civilian ninjas of Kirigakure will go crazy and fight desperately for the village in order to purchase those advanced ninjutsu."

Hiruzen Sarutobi disagreed with Homura Mitokado's words and added, "Moreover, there are geniuses among the common people. Although the probability is very small, it is still possible for Shingetsu Hozuki to find gold in the sand."

"Ha, so what if he's a genius among the commoners? So what if he learned powerful ninjutsu without the training of a ninja clan? Today he might risk his life for the village because of advanced ninjutsu, but who knows if one day he might switch sides and betray the village for other reasons?"

Koharu Utatane put down the documents in her hand, looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, and said, "Take your commoner disciple, Jiraiya, for example."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was immediately rendered speechless and could only silently puff on his pipe.

Since discovering the traces of Wood Release and the Mangekyou Sharingan on the battlefield in the Land of Rain, Jiraiya has never returned to Konoha's combat formation.

According to his message, he had found the "Child of Prophecy" who was prophesied by the Great Toad Sage to change the ninja world.

In order to concentrate on nurturing the "Child of Prophecy," he even deliberately severed ties with the village.

For the next three years, no matter how great the crisis the village faced, Jiraiya never appeared on the battlefield in the Land of Rain.

As for Tsunade and Orochimaru, whether they were bewitched by Jiraiya's nonsense or out of loyalty to their comrades, they stubbornly refused to reveal Jiraiya's whereabouts.

As a result, the Konoha leadership was furious about Jiraiya's actions and even demanded that Hiruzen Sarutobi deal with Jiraiya as a rogue ninja on several occasions, but Hiruzen Sarutobi rejected their demands each time.

Now, Koharu Utatane, using Jiraiya as an example, challenged Hiruzen Sarutobi, effectively thwarting his plan to pilot some of the Kirigakure ninja system reforms in Konoha.

After all, Jiraiya was indeed of commoner origin and learned advanced ninjutsu from Hiruzen Sarutobi. However, his current behavior, which is no different from that of a rogue ninja, leaves Hiruzen Sarutobi with no confidence to refute him.

"And this so-called economic monopoly... Kirigakure is located overseas, and its economy is weak, so it has to come up with these crooked ideas to make money. We, Konoha, are located in the ninja world, with a large and prosperous population and abundant resources. We only need to develop steadily and peacefully to overcome everything. Why do we need to use these petty tricks to compete with the people for profit?"

Mitokado pushed up his glasses and added.

Just kidding. As advisors to Konoha, how could they possibly not get involved in such lucrative fields as ninja tools, salt, steel, alcohol, tobacco, and construction?

It could even be said that the ability to venture into these fields can be used as a criterion to judge whether a ninja clan is a top-tier ninja clan in Konoha.

In this situation, how could they possibly turn the knife inward and cut their own flesh?

After all, they weren't like Hozuki Shingetsu, who dreamed of turning the village into a "family-run empire."

For them, a village could belong to a ninja clan, but a ninja clan could never belong to a village.

Therefore, the reforms that Hozuki Shingetsu carried out in Kirigakure were seen as utterly treasonous by them, and they would even consider these papers dirty if they were used to wipe their butts.

Faced with the joint rebuttal from the two advisors, even Hiruzen Sarutobi had to put aside some of his own ideas.

"What a bunch of short-sighted fools... When I become Hokage, the first thing I'll do is kick these two incompetent bastards out of the advisory ranks!"

As Shimura Danzo looked at the documents in his hand, he inwardly scoffed at the words of Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu.

Of the four people currently in the Hokage's office, Danzo Shimura is the one who has the least sense of honor of the ninja clan and the least sense of class distinction between the ninja clan and ordinary people.

Besides him, even Hiruzen Sarutobi secretly gave his own clansmen preferential treatment. With the Senju clan gone, if it came to competing for the title of Konoha's strongest ninja clan, the Sarutobi clan might even be more competitive than the Hyuga and Uchiha!

After all, in Shimura Danzo's eyes, ninja clans and commoner ninjas were nothing more than tools.

It's just that one tool is fewer in number and easier to use, while the other tool is more numerous and more durable, but in the end they are both tools, so what's the difference?

The state of the Shimura clan after he became Hokage's assistant shows that this is indeed what he thought.

If one were a normal person, even disregarding blood ties and even if it were for the purpose of cultivating trusted confidants, one would still provide strong support to one's relatives.

But when it came to Shimura Danzo, things were different. Forget about supporting them, Shimura Danzo treated the Shimura clan's ninjas like dirt in order to achieve his own goals.

Since he became the Hokage and assisted him, the Shimura clan has not only failed to develop significantly, but its strength has even declined noticeably compared to before.

Excluding Shimura Danzo, the Shimura clan's strength has almost fallen to the level of a second-rate ninja clan!

Therefore, under these circumstances, Danzo Shimura actually praised Shingetsu Hozuki's reform measures in Kirigakure.

In his view, this was the only way to quickly strengthen the village.

However, he wouldn't say it out loud at this moment. After all, now that the village's strength has increased, the credit should be attributed to Hiruzen Sarutobi, and it has nothing to do with him, the leader of Root.

Once Shimura Danzo becomes Hokage, he can reintroduce these measures in a different guise, and that would be considered Shimura Danzo's achievement.

For example, changing "contribution points" to "merit points" and changing the level nine ninja system to level ten, then who would dare to say that this is a reform measure of Kirigakure?

This is clearly the strategy for strengthening Konoha that Lord Shimura Danzo had been racking his brains over!

(End of this chapter)