Konoha: The Soul King from the Uchiha Clan

Chapter 214 Control

Danzo returned to his residence and went straight to the vault.

After a series of actions, Danzo opened the vault and stepped inside. Seeing the empty vault, Danzo was instantly dumbfounded.

"what……"

After a moment, Danzo regained consciousness and was bewildered. His face was contorted with rage, his single eye was bloodshot, and he roared loudly.

"Who did it?"

"Who did this?"

"I'm going to kill you!"

After a heart-wrenching outburst that brought tears to the eyes of all who heard it, Danzo frantically paced around the vault like a hamster whose winter food had been stolen, his bloodshot single eye searching for any possible clues.

Of course, it's impossible to find. Uchiha Gen left no trace whatsoever, demonstrating his clean and efficient work.

After a while, Danzo rushed out of the vault like a gust of wind and quickly arrived at a research base deep in the forest behind the mountain.

"Orochimaru, did you steal my money?"

After much thought, Danzo concluded that among all the people he had offended, only Orochimaru had the ability to steal the Root's treasury and his personal treasury.

"Danzo, although you are the Hokage's assistant, I am not someone you can accuse at will."

"You're talking nonsense, I have no idea what you're saying..."

Orochimaru, who was conducting an experiment while wearing gloves, glanced at Danzo, his face expressionless and his tone indifferent.

"Stop pretending, you definitely did it."

"Only you, the former deputy minister of the root, have the ability to steal the root's treasury."

Danzo walked up to Orochimaru and glared at him fiercely, his tone resolute.

"I'm busy, I don't have time to argue with you."

"If you really believe I did it, please provide evidence."

Orochimaru wasn't easily intimidated; he remained unfazed and spoke indifferently.

"you……"

Danzo was furious, but without evidence, he really couldn't do anything to Orochimaru...

Left with no other option, Danzo had to leave and then go to other members of the Shimura clan to borrow money.

As the Hokage's assistant, Danzo was naturally the head of the Shimura clan. It wouldn't be a problem for him to lower himself and make some money to deal with emergencies.

The Shimura clan was a prominent clan during the Sengoku period, skilled in Wind Release techniques; however, the clan's ninjas were generally quite aggressive.

After the three Shinobi World Wars, the Shimura clan suffered a decline in population and strength. Even with Danzo's support, they can only be considered a medium-sized clan at best.

After some maneuvering, Danzo finally managed to obtain enough money to last until the next funding round.

As for living expenses, Danzo wasn't worried. He had some money saved in his bedroom, and if he was frugal, it should be enough.

If it's really not enough, we can just save a little money. If it's still not enough, we can send Root ninjas out to make extra money.

Danzo brought the money back to the Root Vault and personally led the establishment of a strict defense system, firstly to prevent further theft, and secondly in the hope that thieves would walk right into his trap.

All the Root ninjas couldn't find a single clue, so Danzo had no choice but to resort to this clumsy method.

Danzo spent the entire morning dealing with the theft of the vault. He didn't even eat lunch because he was so angry that he was practically full from anger.

Danzo finally adjusted his mindset and handled the affairs in the afternoon.

When Danzo was about to go home for dinner after get off work, he was starving, but he received a summons from Hiruzen Sarutobi.

With no other option, Danzo could only buy something on the street to tide him over before heading to Hiruzen Sarutobi's mansion.

Splash...

Danzo opened the tea room door and then closed it again. He walked to the opposite side of Hiruzen Sarutobi, knelt down, took a sip of tea, and said in a deep voice, "Hiruzen, what do you want with me?"

"Was the vault at the base of the building robbed?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi, with a pipe dangling from his lips and a faint smile on his face, could easily be mistaken for gloating.

Danzo's eyes narrowed as he stared intently at Hiruzen Sarutobi: "Hiruzen, your information network is truly impressive."

Damn it, a traitor within the organization!

"Of course, I'm the Hokage, how could I be out of the loop?"

"Temporary," Danzo emphasized with a grim expression.

"You want to become Hokage?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked noncommittally.

"Which ninja in Konoha doesn't dream of becoming Hokage?"

"That's right, but you can't even manage the root of the problem, and the treasury was stolen. It's laughable!" Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression changed, and he said sternly.

"I suspect Orochimaru did it; only he has it..."

"Regardless of who did it, this is a serious dereliction of duty on your part!"

Danzo was furious and said coldly, "Hmph, clinging to such a small mistake, are you trying to refuse to leave?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head and said, "Danzo, your thinking is too radical."

"If Konoha is handed over to you, the peace that is about to arrive could be destroyed. Konoha can't afford any more trouble."

"If war breaks out again, even if Konoha wins, it will be weakened like never before."

"If a major incident occurs, Konoha might be destroyed."

"To be honest, I don't feel comfortable entrusting Konoha to you."

Danzo responded coldly, "Hmph, are you only at ease when you personally take charge?"

"I believe that if I became Hokage, Konoha would usher in an era of unprecedented glory!"

"Indeed, I can only feel at ease if I take charge myself."

"I will not hold the position of Hokage forever. During my term, I will look for a successor."

"If you can satisfy me in the future, I might support you."

Danzo was somewhat tempted by the idea, but quickly nipped it in the bud.

Hiruzen is just making empty promises to him. No matter how well he does, if Hiruzen says "I'm not satisfied," wouldn't all his efforts be in vain?

Moreover, he's not young anymore, so even if he becomes Hokage now, he won't be in that position for long.

He had waited so many years for this opportunity, and he didn't want to wait any longer.

Seeing Danzo remain silent, Hiruzen Sarutobi understood Danzo's intentions.

"Sigh, why won't you listen when I'm explaining things to you nicely?"

"Take a look at this."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed, then took a scroll from under the table and gently placed it on the table.

Danzo immediately had a bad feeling. He picked up the scroll, unfolded it, and his heart sank...

This scroll records that Danzo and Orochimaru secretly continued their research on Hashirama cell transplantation experiments and traded Hashirama cells.

Danzo secretly concealed a pair of three-tomoe Sharingan from the Uchiha clan during the Third Shinobi World War, and also engaged in various illegal activities and actions during the Nine-Tails Night.

It is worth mentioning that the Hashirama cell transplantation experiment was indeed not among the experiments approved by Hiruzen Sarutobi; it was Orochimaru and Danzo who restarted it on their own.

However, when Hiruzen Sarutobi learned of this and saw that Orochimaru and Danzo had not used his own villagers or countrymen for experiments, he did not immediately retaliate, choosing instead to hold back.

"Danzo, your selfishness is too strong, and the darkness in your heart is too deep."

"I also have selfish motives, and there is darkness in my heart, but I always put Konoha first."

"You put yourself first and Konoha second."

"If you don't change, you'll never become Hokage!"

Upon hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's reprimand and lecture, Danzo's anger flared.

It's easy to say, but if he weren't a root buried in darkness, but rather a leaf bathed in sunlight, he would still always put the leaf first.

Moreover, he didn't put himself first; rather, he ranked Konoha and himself equally first.

Everything he did was for himself, but it was also for Konoha!

Despite the anger, Danzo, now that his weakness had been exploited, dared not confront Hiruzen Sarutobi directly. Otherwise, Hiruzen could not only dismiss him but also deal with him.

Danzo had no choice but to back down, expressing his willingness to give up the position of Hokage and continue to support Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi then refrained from further investigation.

Back home, Danzo grew angrier the more he thought about it, and gradually, anger rose in his heart, and evil thoughts took hold...

(End of this chapter)