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

Chapter 235 Shimura Danzo: Let Konoha be great again!

Although the initial contact between the four ninja villages was conducted in secrecy, Konoha quickly discovered it.

There's no way around it; in this era, it's perfectly normal for ninja villages to plant spies among themselves.

Although the four ninja villages did not intend to make a fuss before the alliance was formed, the unusual exchanges between their messengers were eventually noticed by the Root ninjas under Danzo Shimura.

Moreover, at this critical moment when these ninja villages are just recovering from the damage of the Second Shinobi World War, launching a war against Konoha would undoubtedly be unwise.

Therefore, the Third Raikage's idea was to follow the previous story of alliances and counter-alliances, and after forming this anti-Konoha alliance, first call on various countries to launch an economic blockade and use all available non-war means to suppress Konoha's development.

When Konoha's development gradually slows down under the relentless encirclement and suppression by various ninja villages, that will be the time for the Four Nations Alliance to officially launch an attack.

However, these preliminary preparations could not be kept secret for long. After Root paid a huge price, Danzo Shimura finally learned of the betrayal by Kumogakure and Iwagakure, as well as the formation of this anti-Konoha alliance.

"Betrayal, dishonesty... these barbarians from the plateau are truly a bunch of savages!"

In the Hokage's office at the Hokage Building in Konoha, Danzo Shimura looked at the intelligence report in his hand and couldn't help but snort coldly.

Clearly, Shimura Danzo selectively ignored his previous actions towards Hiruzen Sarutobi at this moment, and his words were full of disdain for Kumogakure and the Third Raikage.

"My lord, the current situation is that not only have the Hidden Stone Village and the Hidden Cloud Village broken their alliance with us, but they have also joined forces with the Hidden Mist Village and the Hidden Sand Village to form an anti-Konoha alliance in an attempt to annihilate us in the Land of Fire."

Aburame Azuhiko, who succeeded Aburame Ryoma as Danzo's bodyguard after his death, said this.

"During the last Shinobi World War, we struggled to resist the combined attack of the three ninja villages. This time, we should find a way to break up the four-nation alliance first!"

"Destruction? It should be destroyed, but is it that easy to break their alliance?"

Danzo Shimura snorted coldly; he naturally knew the purpose of this four-nation alliance.

To be honest, upon learning of the Four Nations Alliance, Danzo Shimura felt not only anger but also a slight sense of pride.

After all, besides Konoha, which other ninja village in the world could get the other four great ninja villages to unite against it?

Doesn't this precisely reflect Konoha's current strength and its status in the ninja world?

For Shimura Danzo, who adhered to militarism, this was practically the greatest compliment.

The only drawback is that the current state of Konoha wasn't developed under his leadership...

"But it doesn't matter anymore. The past is the past. From now on, Konoha officially enters the era of Shimura Danzo. All the traces left by our predecessors in Konoha will vanish with my actions."

"History will prove that I am the only hero capable of saving Konoha!"

Danzo Shimura thought smugly, but then he began to think about how to resolve the current thorny international situation.

"However, this alliance needs to be taken seriously. With Konoha's current strength, it's certainly not enough to withstand attacks from four countries at the same time."

boom!

Just as Shimura Danzo was deep in thought, considering how to destroy the anti-Konoha alliance that was extremely detrimental to Konoha, the door to the Hokage's office was suddenly pushed open.

Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived here hurriedly, accompanied by Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado.

"Danzo! Have you heard about the Shikoku Alliance?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi cut straight to the point, explaining the reason for their hurried departure.

Upon hearing this, Shimura Danzo's eyes narrowed instantly.

"They got the news so quickly. Looks like that old guy still has quite a few people in the Anbu! I've been so busy negotiating with the various ninja clans lately that I've overlooked this. It really is time to purge the ranks!"

Despite his determination to purge the Anbu, Shimura Danzo remained outwardly calm, nodding in agreement with Hiruzen Sarutobi's words.

"I just heard about it too."

"We struggled to deal with the three countries in the previous Shinobi World War. In the end, we had to ask Kirigakure for help as a peacemaker after suffering heavy losses on all sides, which brought the last Shinobi World War to an end."

Hiruzen Sarutobi, of course, had no idea what Danzo Shimura was thinking. He took a deep drag of his cigarette and said with a serious expression.

"If these four countries were to unite and launch an attack on us now, the village would undoubtedly be defeated!"

"Danzo, as Hokage, you must come up with a solution now!"

Come up with a solution?

You expect me to solve this problem with my head?!

Danzo Shimura felt a surge of anger as he watched Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was only emphasizing the urgency of the situation but couldn't come up with any solutions.

"So, Hiruzen, do you have any good ideas?"

"method?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi was taken aback, looking at Danzo Shimura with a puzzled expression, and said, "You're the Hokage now, I'm not, how could I possibly come up with a solution?"

"As the Hokage, shouldn't you be the one making the decision in this situation? Why do you always think about seeking help from others?"

Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's smooth transformation, showing no trace of the speechless demeanor he had previously displayed when confronted by him, Danzo Shimura felt a tightness in his chest.

Why, why are you so adept at shifting the blame?

He had initially thought that since Hiruzen Sarutobi's accusations against him were so forceful, there must be a solution.

When Hiruzen Sarutobi finally says it, he will forcefully point out a few mistakes and end with "Hiruzen, I am the Hokage." Then, that old bastard Hiruzen Sarutobi will surely be humiliated and flee.

But why is he so adept at adapting to his new identity?

How did they grasp the essence of the opposition party so quickly?

Seeing Shimura Danzo's speechless expression and noticing the unspoken atmosphere between the two, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu couldn't help but change the subject.

"The current situation is indeed extremely critical for Konoha; it could even be said to be the biggest crisis Konoha has faced since its founding."

Mitokado pushed up his glasses with his right middle finger and calmly explained the situation.

"According to intelligence, the four nations of Wind, Earth, Thunder, and Water have already reached a private alliance agreement, but it has not been made public yet."

"The best news for us right now is that their current plan is to weaken our strength first by using non-war means such as undermining Konoha's diplomacy, economic blockade, sowing discord within the village, and manipulating public opinion, rather than launching an immediate war."

"Otherwise, if the four nations were to launch an attack on us right now, then Konoha's demise would probably not be far off."

"Launching an attack now? They dare to do that!"

Upon hearing this, Shimura Danzo immediately snorted coldly. As a follower of militarism, he was the most stubborn among those present. No matter how critical the situation was, he was certain that he would not lose in a war of words.

"Although Konoha has only just recovered from the last Shinobi World War, haven't the other villages also recovered?"

"The Hidden Mist Village didn't participate in the war, but their strength... ha! It's not that I look down on the Hidden Mist Village, but apart from Hozuki Shingetsu, they're trash!"

"With their strength, even if they could destroy Konoha now, Konoha, fighting to the death, could easily take down any two of them!"

With a heavy tap of his cane, Shimura Danzo directly pointed out why the ninjas of the four countries dared to use non-military means to slowly cut away flesh, rather than launching an immediate war.

"I really don't believe that such a loose alliance would dare to step forward at this time. I'm betting that Konoha won't drag them down with them!"

The other three also wore proud smiles when they heard this.

That's right, this is the deterrent power of Konoha, the number one ninja village in the world!

To defeat them, not only would the other four major ninja villages need to unite, but they would also need to be weakened by using all sorts of underhanded methods before these ninja villages would dare to make a move!

"But we have to do something. If we let them use these methods, the gap between the village and them will inevitably widen. When the gap becomes large enough for them to bear the losses, Konoha will have no hope of turning the tide."

After a brief moment of pride, the three advisors present returned to reality.

"Yes! And even disregarding everything else, just looking at the number of tailed beasts, the other four ninja villages combined have six tailed beasts. If Hozuki Shingetsu were to return the Five-Tails to Iwagakure, that would be seven tailed beasts."

"The Nine-Tails is indeed powerful, but fighting seven against one, its chances of victory are certainly slim! Moreover, the current Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is not Lady Mito, so it's uncertain whether it can perfectly control that power like Lady Mito!"

Upon hearing Koharu Utatane's complaints, Danzo Shimura suddenly had a flash of inspiration and remembered a key to breaking the deadlock.

"If I remember correctly, apart from Kirigakure, the seals on the Jinchuriki of the other ninja villages aren't very secure right now, are they?"

Although the topic of Danzo Shimura's transfer was strange, Homura Mito thought for a while and then gave an answer.

"That's right. Apart from us and Kirigakure having sealing techniques from the Uzumaki clan that can powerfully seal the tailed beasts, the tailed beast jinchūriki of the other three great ninja villages cause trouble from time to time."

"Especially in Sunagakure, ever since that old monk Bunpoku died, no Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast has ever lived for more than three years."

"Since Iwagakure and Kumogakure destroyed the Land of Whirlpools a few years ago in an attempt to seize the Whirlpool Sealing Technique, their villages have experienced a Tailed Beast rampage every few years."

Upon hearing this, Danzo Shimura's eyes flashed with a hint of interest.

"In that case... what do you think about us giving them the Tailed Beast Sealing Technique?"

"Give it to them?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other two were taken aback and carefully considered Danzo Shimura's suggestion.

"That's right, we'll hand it over to them! But not to the Wind, Earth, and Thunder families, but only to the Wind and Earth families!"

After sorting out his thoughts, Shimura Danzo became more and more excited as he spoke.

"The Hidden Cloud Village is already weaker than us, so giving them this Tailed Beast Sealing Technique would be aiding the enemy. But the Hidden Sand Village and the Hidden Stone Village are different; even if they were to strengthen themselves, we could handle them."

"We could use the Tailed Beast Sealing Technique to persuade these two villages to abandon their evil ways... No, it would be better to let them continue to infiltrate the alliance, and then betray it at a crucial moment to deliver a decisive blow to Kumogakure and Kirigakure. That way, they can be used to their fullest potential!"

Danzo Shimura clenched his fist and suddenly stood up.

"With such a calculated attack, both Kumogakure and Kirigakure are bound to suffer heavy losses!"

After some thought, the three advisors realized that this was indeed a solution, but Hiruzen Sarutobi still had some doubts.

"But what if Iwagakure and Sunagakure abandon their duties after using the sealing technique?"

If you want someone to infiltrate the alliance and betray you at a crucial moment, you must pay them in advance. But the Tailed Beast Sealing Technique is a one-off deal. What if the other party takes the money and then denies it? Wouldn't that be the end of it?

After all, it would be too naive to think that a contract could bind a ninja.

"To prevent people from breaking contracts, you naturally need both benefits and threats."

Danzo Shimura smiled faintly, "When you teach them the Tailed Beast Sealing Technique, you can be straightforward and say that if they dare to break the contract, then when war breaks out, Konoha will disregard everything and only pursue and attack the Sand and Iwagakure ninjas!"

"We might even send the Nine-Tails directly to the headquarters of two ninja villages for a desperate, all-or-nothing attack!"

Danzo Shimura gripped his cane tightly with both hands, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

"If they break their promises, Konoha is doomed anyway. If they're not afraid of Konoha dragging them down with them, they'll just take the money and do nothing!"

"Danzo, this method works!"

Upon hearing these murderous words, the other three were filled with a sense of urgency.

Danzo Shimura's plan is highly feasible. If it is implemented, it might actually turn the tide and catch Kumogakure and Kirigakure off guard.

Danzo Shimura's ambitions were not limited to crushing the alliance's attack; he also wanted to take this opportunity to severely damage Kumogakure and Kirigakure, and if possible, he even wanted to destroy these two villages!

After all, if Konoha continues to be the strongest ninja in the world, then it is foreseeable that this kind of four-nation alliance will definitely happen again.

Therefore, it would be better to end it all at once and simply destroy both Kumogakure and Kirigakure, so that there would be no worries about the future.

However, this is not the safest option. The safest option, of course, would be for Konoha to produce another ninja similar to Hashirama Senju or Madara Uchiha, in order to ensure Konoha's long-term peace and stability.

In other words, as long as Wood Release or the Mangekyou Sharingan reappears, Konoha can rest easy.

Fortunately, Orochimaru's Wood Release experiment has already yielded results.

The Uzumaki clan member named Uzumaki Yamagata, who came to Konoha with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Michiko Uzumaki, has successfully awakened Wood Release during Orochimaru's experiments.

If a feasible method is found for awakening Wood Release, Danzo Shimura might also be able to awaken the first bloodline limit of Konoha!

"With Wood Release and Mangekyou Sharingan, combining the power of two top-tier ninjas in the ninja world, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, I estimate I'll be able to surpass both of them and become a powerful ninja comparable to the Sage of Six Paths, right?"

Danzo Shimura couldn't help but touch his right eye, feeling the kaleidoscope hidden beneath the bandages, his emotions rising even higher.

"If I possess that strength, then I, Shimura Danzo, will surely lead Konoha back to greatness!"

(End of this chapter)