Konoha Drunkard

"Cough cough......."

The space rippled, and Obito appeared in Danzo's room. Seeing Danzo lost in a dream, drooling—utterly unseemly—Obito coughed twice as a friendly gesture, intending to remind him.

"Huh...huh...Xiaochun..."

Instead of waking Danzo, Obito's cough only made Danzo snore louder and start talking in his sleep.

Obito understood. This guy was really having a wet dream. The rumors were true. Konoha's Root really did have improper thoughts about his friend Koharu Utatane. But... this is too much! Danzo, you are a man who does great things. How can you think about such personal matters, especially with an old woman? Is this how a rebellious friend like Konoha's Root should behave?

"Cough cough...!"

Obito couldn't take it anymore, so he turned up the volume and coughed twice more.

"That bastard's staying up so late at night, damn it, he has late-stage lung cancer! If you're sick, you should see a doctor..."

Danzo was finally woken up by Obito's cough, but his sweet dream was shattered, and Danzo's temper flared up. Damn it, in his dream he had returned to decades ago, when he was still that dashing young man of Konoha, and Koharu was the most popular flower of Konoha. After he punched Uchiha Kagami and kicked Sarutobi Hiruzen, he successfully rose to power and married Koharu. On their wedding night, just as he was about to reach the pinnacle of his life, two coughs shattered his beautiful dream. Even a Buddha would be angry, let alone Danzo with his explosive temper. He wanted to see which blind underling with terminal lung cancer dared to skip going to the doctor and come to keep watch for him. Was he the kind of person who didn't care about his underlings?

705. Yamanaka Hiroshi set a record.

"Fine, I wasn't going to look for you, but you've come out on your own! Someone come here..."

Danzo opened his eyes and saw the mask he had despised, Mo Xiang, standing before him. This bastard! Betrayed, ungrateful, and now dared to appear before him! Danzo roared angrily at the door.

"Advisor Danzo, don't be in such a hurry to call for help. Don't you want to hear why I've come to see you? I admit that what I did before was not very ethical. However, Advisor Danzo, you are a person who does great things. It would be a great loss for both of us if those small things affected our cooperation."

If it weren't for needing his help, Obito would have loved to grab his weapon and beat this bastard to a pulp. Not only would he call him a bastard, but he would also say he was sick. Obito decided that after this incident, he would make sure the entire ninja world knew that the Root of Konoha was old but not young at heart, and that he dreamed every night about an old girl... He couldn't let this go unpunished.

"Damn it! A trivial matter? Those are my people, a big deal to me. And now you want to come and cooperate with me?"

Danzo unleashed a torrent of abuse at Obito, calling him a bastard who disregarded brotherhood and betrayed his friends. He claimed that Danzo was always the one cheating others, never the one being cheated. Damaging his clan was a minor issue, but disturbing his peaceful sleep in the middle of the night was a major problem. He had finally managed to have a dream, and the most exciting moment was about to arrive, when this bastard woke him up. That was the real issue.

"Hey, hey, that's enough. A few words are enough. I thought Danzo of Konoha's Root was a man of great things, but I didn't expect him to be so petty. No wonder you can't beat Hiruzen Sarutobi."

Even Buddha would be furious after being insulted like that by Danzo, let alone Obito, the destroyer of this world. If it weren't for the need to cooperate with him, he would have taken him down. But even if you want to cooperate with him, you can't let him insult you like that.

"...Hmph! Speak, how do you want to cooperate with me this time?"

Although Obito's words struck a nerve with Danzo, another of his remarks reminded him: "Yes! He's a man destined for great things. How could he let such a trivial matter affect his emotions? Or perhaps he's been too low-key and too comfortable lately, almost forgetting his childhood dream..."

"Bringing up the past, although the Nine-Tails' attack on the village back then didn't kill the Fourth Hokage, I don't think it was bad for him. If it happened again, do you think the Fourth Hokage would be criticized? With your current status back then, Danzo, becoming Hokage shouldn't have been difficult, right? I just want to know who the current Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is. Danzo, you should know, right?"

While Obito's persuasive skills didn't have as many buffs as Naruto's, he was still the mastermind behind the scenes at this time, so convincing Danzo wouldn't be a problem. Besides, the Hokage position, like Koharu Utatane, had become Danzo's inner demons. Convincing Danzo was easier than convincing a pig, since pigs don't understand human language...

"...I need some time to investigate. When the Nine-Tails was sealed, the Uzumaki clan had already set up a barrier, and only a few people knew about it. I wasn't there at the time, so I don't know who the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is now."

Of course he knew who the Jinchuriki was, but he wasn't that stupid. If he gave him the answer so easily, it would be like he was treating him like a little brother. Sometimes, it's better to stall and tell his brother when it's most advantageous for him. Besides, he felt that his brother's intentions this time weren't as simple as summoning the Nine-Tails. That wouldn't benefit him at all. If he just wanted to cause trouble, there were many ways to do it. Why did he have to summon the Nine-Tails? Last time, when the Nine-Tails was summoned, there wasn't much loss. Only Kurenai Yuhi and a bunch of minor characters died. Although Kurenai Yuhi was the head instructor of the Chunin team, Konoha had plenty of people like that. It was insignificant. What good was that? The Tailed Beasts had existed for hundreds of years. Perhaps there were secrets that his brother knew that he didn't. Otherwise, why would he, with his Mangekyou Sharingan, care so much about the Tailed Beasts? Before he figured out what his brother was up to, he would stall for time.

"In that case, I'll await good news. Advisor Danzo can continue his sweet dream."

Seeing Danzo's words, Obito couldn't tell if they were true or false, but he had no better option than to wait. After teasing Danzo, he disappeared from Danzo's room. The thought of an old man thinking about an old woman made Obito feel nauseous...

"boom!"

"........asshole!"

Upon hearing Obito's teasing, Danzo grabbed a teacup from the table and threw it at the spot where Obito had just been. Damn it, his aloof image, maintained for so many years, was gone just like that, and he'd even been teased. Danzo was furious just thinking about it.

"Lord Danzo, what happened? Did you have a nightmare?"

The Root underlings on night watch outside Danzo's house heard the commotion, but they assumed their boss was having a nightmare and was in a bad mood, so they didn't dare to go in and disturb him. Instead, they sent someone to the Red Bronze District to fetch the big boss, Yamanaka Hinano.

Because he got up in a hurry, Yamanaka Hiro was shirtless, wearing only one shoe with the other barefoot, his hair was disheveled, and his face had lipstick marks that looked like bloodstains that he hadn't wiped off.

"You bumped your lip."

Danzo, who was still furious, felt a sense of relief when he saw his underling in such a disheveled state. He thought he had been spoiling his underling for so many years, and that he was worried about him so much that he had even forgotten to put on his clothes and shoes. He thought it would be great if all his underlings were like him. He looked at the underlings outside, who were so close to him, and he had made such a commotion in his room, yet not a single one of them came in to check on him.

"Oh, it's nothing. I was in such a rush when I left, and the lights were dim, so I accidentally bumped into the door."

Yamanaka Hiroshi wiped his mouth with his hand, making up a story with wide eyes, reminding himself that he should wash his face next time he came. Luckily, he had wiped his face before coming in...

"I'm fine, Ri-nan, how many years have you been with me?"

Danzo was so moved by Yamanaka Hinata that he couldn't sleep at all. This was a true brother! Look, he didn't even care that he bumped into the door and his mouth bled.

"It's been over thirty years. After my parents passed away when I was a child, I was fortunate enough to be chosen by Lord Danzo to join the Root, and I've been here ever since."

Yamanaka Hinao thought about it carefully. He had never really calculated it before. He only thought about flattering the big boss to make himself live a better life. He had never calculated the days. Now that he did, he was surprised to find that he had unknowingly set a record. Apart from the big boss, the founder of the Root, no one in the Root had lasted as long as him. Many of the people who were in the same batch as him back then had already gone down the drain, but he was still holding on.

706. Tomorrow will be better.

Surviving in Root is far more difficult than in the Anbu. Root has always adhered to the law of survival of the fittest; those eliminated face only death. With a cursed seal on his tongue, escape is impossible. Moreover, Danzo is the kind of person who stirs up trouble, always clashing with formidable figures like the Third and Fourth Raikage. His underlings have died in droves. Now, besides him, the longest-serving member in Root is Aburame Torune, who has only been there for a little over twenty years. Looking back, Yamanaka Hio truly feels he's had a tough time. He once again thanks Shanks for that book; if he hadn't stumbled upon it by chance, he'd probably be like those other fallen underlings, far from his current glory. The Third Raikage is even trying to tempt him to switch sides...

"Yes, more than thirty years have passed in the blink of an eye. For the sake of the root, I still haven't settled down... How about this, I have a niece who is a bit younger than you and is still unmarried. I'll have her come over to meet you tomorrow. If you think it's a good match, you two can get married. I'm getting old, and I'll be passing this root down to you in the future."

Danzo felt ashamed. His younger brother had followed him for decades, and only now did he realize that his brother was still unmarried. He had an older niece who was also unmarried, so he suggested that they be paired up. This way, they would become even closer, and no one would complain if he took better care of his younger brother.

"Thank you for your kindness, Lord Danzo. However, with your health, Lord Danzo, you could live for another fifty or sixty years without any problem. I will continue to assist you in completing your great cause and dare not have any personal feelings for you."

Yamanaka Hiroshi was truly in tears. The Shimura clan girls were notoriously ugly, especially that niece he mentioned. He couldn't understand how her parents could have given birth to such a person. "I've been loyal to you for decades, how could you betray me like this? Let whoever wants to be the Root heir be it..."

"It's settled then. I'll have her come over tomorrow..."

However, the more Yamanaka Hiroo said this, the more ashamed Danzo felt. There were not many loyal followers like him anymore, and he could not betray his follower's sincere heart.

.......

"Lord Danzo, the Third Hokage has arrived."

Unbeknownst to them, Yamanaka Hiroo and his group had been chatting about the mountains all night in the house. Just as dawn broke, his underlings outside the door reported to him.

After retiring, Hiruzen Sarutobi would come to Root every morning at the crack of dawn to chat with his best friend and listen to his friend's underlings brag.

"Lord Danzo, I'll head back now."

Yamanaka was filled with grief and indignation. What kind of situation was this? A powerful figure introduced him to an uglier-looking girl, and he had to thank him with tears in his eyes. He just wanted to find a secluded place to have a good cry; he had no mood to praise Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Alright, you haven't slept all night either, go back and get some rest. I'll have my niece come over later."

Danzo looked at Yamanaka Hiro, whose eyes were a little red, and assumed that he was tired from not sleeping all night.

"......"

Yamanaka Hino silently bowed and walked out. "You brought up your niece again, can you please stop?"

"Hey, Hinata, what happened to you! Danzo, he..."

Yamanaka Hiroo hadn't gone far when he encountered Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was walking towards him. Sarutobi Hiruzen looked disheveled, shirtless, wearing only one shoe, and with tears welling in his eyes. He pointed at Danzo's house but didn't continue speaking.

At this point, there's no need to say anything more; anyone with eyes can tell what's going on.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's Kikube also tensed up!

Unexpectedly!

I never expected Danzo to be this kind of person. After all these years, Danzo has finally shown his true colors. I knew it! Danzo, as a man, has never started a family. He and Menyan both had a crush on Koharu, but now they're both married. I never believed that Danzo's long-term unmarried status was entirely for Koharu; I just couldn't find the reason. Now I finally know that Danzo has this kind of hobby.

For so many years,

Danzo was hidden too well!

Today, all he discovered was Yamanaka Hirio. Heaven knows how many promising young men Danzo has ruined over the years. No wonder Danzo was so eager to recruit Mizuki Haku into his Root organization back then. No wonder Konoha has been facing a talent shortage of young men these past few years—Danzo has ruined them all. No wonder Danzo refused to give him Yamanaka Hirio when he asked for him; he had such wicked intentions.

"...Lord Third Hokage, Lord Danzo is inside. I'll head back now."

Hiroo Yamanaka was unaware of Hiruzen Sarutobi's thoughts. He assumed Hiruzen was asking if Danzo was inside. Thinking of Danzo's dinosaur-like niece, he lost interest in talking to Hiruzen and left with a tone of despair.

"Japanese man, you have to hang in there, tomorrow will be better."

Hearing Yamanaka Hiroo's desperate and sorrowful tone, Hiruzen Sarutobi patted him on the shoulder. Even he, who was the best at comforting people, didn't know how to comfort Yamanaka Hiroo at this moment.

No!

Hiruzen Sarutobi vowed to rescue Yamanaka Hiruzen from his misery, determined to stop letting someone as talented as Hiruzen be harmed by Danzo.

"Thank you for your concern, Third Generation Lord. I'll be going now."

Yamanaka Hiroo thought that Sarutobi Hiruzen was just concerned about him because he hadn't slept all night.

...........

With mixed feelings, Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived at Danzo's door and saw Danzo tidying his clothes with a spirited expression. Compared to the despairing look on Hiroya Yamanaka's face earlier, Hiruzen felt even more that his best friend was a terrible person. He stared at Danzo intently, wanting to see if his conscience would hurt.

"...What do you mean by that?"

Danzo, whose mood had just improved, noticed that his best friend had been staring at him the moment he entered the room. He had been keeping a low profile lately. Did he know that his brother had come to see him last night?

impossible!

If he had known, he would have come knocking on the door long ago. How could he have only come now? If it wasn't this matter, what else could it be?

Or did he find out that I was the one who spoke ill of him to Xiaochun back then?

That's impossible; even Xiaochun probably hasn't forgotten those things from her childhood.

Danzo thought about it for a long time but still couldn't figure it out.

“...Starting tomorrow, let Yamanaka Hino go to the Dark Division. He's not suited to stay in the Root, which is in the shadows.”

After staring at Danzo for a long time, Hiruzen Sarutobi said in a deep voice.

"No way! I've painstakingly trained Higanbana since he was a child, and I can't give him to you no matter what, especially since you're no longer the Hokage."

Danzo's good mood vanished instantly at the mention of this topic; that bastard really wouldn't give up.

707. Every time I see it, it's one less time I'll see it.

"...The Root was originally a preparation for the Dark Division, that's what you told me back then."

Hiruzen Sarutobi had anticipated Danzo's reaction, but regardless, he could no longer allow Yamanaka Hiroo to remain by Danzo's side and be bullied by him. This applied not only to Yamanaka Hiroo but also to other talented young men.

"We must tell Koharu about Danzo's despicable behavior. Do you really think I don't know how you belittled me back then? Otherwise, how could Kagami possibly be my match!"

Looking at the furious Danzo, Hiruzen Sarutobi thought to himself that he was much more famous than Kagami in the village back then. Although Kagami was excellent and his looks were comparable to his, the Uchiha clan's reputation had never been good. He was no less handsome or famous than Kagami. He didn't believe there was anything fishy about Koharu choosing Kagami in the end. Among all the friends, Torifu was honest, Homura was meticulous, and Kagami was kind. Only someone like Danzo, who was outwardly loyal but inwardly treacherous, would do such a thing. Who else could it be but him?

"In short, no one will do. You can pick anyone else from Root, but Rihanna is no good. I've already been grooming him as my successor."

Danzo glared angrily at Hiruzen Sarutobi. Had this guy taken the wrong medicine today? Although he had asked him for people before, Hiruzen had refused and never brought it up again. But today, it seemed like he was determined to fight him to the death. However, no matter what, Danzo would never hand over his loyal subordinate who had followed him for many years. Moreover, Yamanaka Hiroo's role was far more important than those thugs. There was no other loyal and obedient subordinate in the entire ninja world. He had finally found one, so how could he possibly give him to Hiruzen Sarutobi? This was no joke.

The more intense Danzo's emotions became, the more convinced Hiruzen Sarutobi became that this guy definitely didn't want to let Yamanaka Hio go, and naturally he was determined to fight him to the death.

...........