"Did you deliver it? And how much?"
According to what the Third Hokage knew, Orochimaru hadn't crafted any chakra weapons for Nawaki.
This meant that the materials never made it to Orochimaru.
"Hiruzen, everything I did was for the village!"
Having been repeatedly mocked and questioned by the Third Hokage, Danzo finally snapped, yelling, "Isn't it right to reward the village's heroes and contributors?"
"Yes, of course it's right."
The Third Hokage let out a bitter laugh.
Koharu, standing to the side, kept signaling Danzō with her eyes, trying to get him to stop talking.
But Danzō paid her no mind.
Koharu rolled her eyes and gave up on him completely. If you won't listen to me, then you can deal with this mess yourself.
"Bang!"
The Third Hokage slammed his hands on the table and stood up.
"Danzō, let me ask you: who gave you the authority to pull resources from the logistics department?"
"It's my responsibility to decide who gets what rewards. I am the Hokage of this village!"
At a time like this, you're still trying to cover your tracks? As the Hokage's advisor, do you have the right to make such decisions? What do you take me for?!
"You..."
Danzō wanted to argue back, but he couldn't.
He wasn't the Hokage.
Everything the Third Hokage said was true. Every word felt like a sharp blade stabbing into Danzō's chest.
His face twitched, but eventually, he held his tongue, his expression dark and rigid.
Danzō finally lowered his head. The Third Hokage took a deep breath before asking, "Where's the rest of it?"
"Don't tell me you gave all of the chakra metal to Orochimaru. As far as I know, he hasn't crafted any chakra weapons for Nawaki."
The amount of chakra metal Danzō had taken wasn't small. It was enough to craft several weapons.
Even a piece of metal the size of a fist was worth millions of ryō. The chakra metal Danzō took was worth several billion!
"It's gone."
After being pressured repeatedly, Danzō decided to just give up and admit it.
"I ordered Root members to deliver it to Orochimaru, but they were ambushed and killed as soon as they left the village."
Cough! Cough!
The Third Hokage suddenly remembered the recent attack on Root members outside the village. The thought hit him like a punch to the gut, and he began coughing violently.
No wonder Danzō had been so angry and anxious back then. He hadn't cared about the deaths of Root members or the village's reputation. What had really upset him was losing the chakra metal he had secretly taken.
"And what about the other batch of chakra metal?"