From the very beginning of Konoha's ANBU, Danzo was a direct participant.
After all, ANBU was initially created by Danzo and the teacher of the current Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju to strengthen the Hokage's power and enhance the Hokage's control over the village.
At that time, Konoha was plagued by internal and external threats, and danger was immense.
In truth, for Tobirama Senju, external powerful enemies were actually secondary.
What he truly worried about were "certain" clans within Konoha. For example... the evil Uchiha clan.
Danzo quite specifically inherited some characteristics of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.
For example, his style was somewhat dark and insidious, he was often suspicious of others, and he placed great importance on the power in his own hands...
One particular point was that he was almost as antagonistic as his teacher, or even more so, towards... the Uchiha clan.
Of course, externally, he would say that all this was for the good and future development of the village. After all, Danzo was absolutely the type who would never admit to displaying overly rigid personality traits.
He dismissed the surrounding ANBU ninja. He truly looked like an old, overbearing leader.
To be honest, Konoha's ANBU should have been directly under the Hokage's command. Otherwise, there would have been no reason for Danzo to establish the ANBU.
It was truly because this guy, Danzo, relied on his seniority and experience, relied on being the Second Hokage's disciple and the Third Hokage's comrade-in-arms, that he acted brazenly within the ANBU.
He even additionally established an organization called "Root."
This so-called "Root," though nominally "ANBU Special Training," was actually entirely about cultivating his own influence.
Moreover, those who were actually ANBU ninja within Root were placed under forbidden genjutsu. They simply couldn't say anything about what Danzo did within Root and could only unconditionally obey this guy's orders.
Decades passed, and now a considerable portion of ANBU members were specially trained by Root.
In other words, Danzo's control over Konoha's ANBU, in a sense, even surpassed that of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage, who was supposed to be ANBU's direct superior!
With ANBU ninja as his eyes and ears, Danzo was practically an emperor in the shadows within Konoha Village, a Hokage without a name.
Something worth him personally going out for hadn't been seen in decades.
It was truly because this "descendant from the heavens" fellow was simply too ancient and strange.
The intelligence gathered by the ANBU ninja, Danzo's records of the entire ninja world, didn't match up.
Danzo, who was cunning and deep, unwilling to let anything exceed his plans, naturally didn't want to see a full-fledged, living "accident" appear in Konoha.
Weighing his options, this guy who came from nowhere and spouted nonsense, calling himself "Luffy," he also decided to probe him out and gauge his strength.
After all, this was something that hadn't happened in the ninja world for many years. To actually hand it over to someone else, with Danzo's personality, he truly wouldn't be at ease...
Ichiraku Ramen. It was the most famous restaurant in Konoha Village. Naruto had been eating here since he was a child, like a cafeteria.
If Naruto wanted to invite someone to eat, then 100% of the time, it would be at Ichiraku Ramen.
"Slurp, slurp—whew!"
Luffy let out a long, satisfied breath of hot air! This bowl of ramen was truly too refreshing!
"How about it, how about it! I told you Ichiraku Ramen was the way to go, right? No mistake!" Naruto was like someone who had made the ramen himself and had just been praised for it, happily patting his chest.
"Hahaha... I also have to thank Naruto-kun for always bringing me new customers!" The Ichiraku Ramen shop owner, Teuchi, said, rubbing his eyes and smiling, then walked over to the three individuals.
"This is a new face, huh, the 'Fifth Raikage'?"
Luffy seemed to come back to his senses at this point. He put down the giant bowl of ramen specially prepared for him, and gave two thumbs up.
"Amazing, Boss! Your ramen tastes truly fantastic! And... it's quite a generous portion!"
For Luffy, enjoying delicious food was the happiest time!
"Mr. Luffy! My recommended ramen was good, right?! You have to teach me what we talked about before..."
Naruto was always straightforward. He had something to say, and he'd say it. He didn't understand how to be subtle at all.
Luffy's personality was quite similar to his. The two hit it off, and Luffy was about to agree.
The door to Ichiraku Ramen opened just then. A person shrouded in a black shadow, their face unclear, walked in from the sunlight outside.
"Thump!" The person propped the cane in their hand against the counter.
"Boss, one bowl of ramen!"
This person was, of course, Danzo, who had actively sought them out.
When that person entered the shop, Naruto and Sasuke only clearly saw him. This person's right eye was inexplicably bandaged, and even his forehead was wrapped up, as if he couldn't see.
But this wasn't important. What was important was that these two had never seen this person before!
"Tsk! Who are you?"
Luffy, being straightforward, directly asked. In fact, he had just been about to agree to teach Naruto some partial body technique skills.
But this guy who suddenly entered emitted an intimidating and probing aura that was truly sickening.
Luffy's Observation Haki ability was incredibly strong. If there was even a slight abnormality in the surrounding environment or people, he would be as sensitive as if pricked by a needle.
Konoha Village was only so big. Naruto and Sasuke had grown up here since they were children and had almost no experience of leaving the village for long periods.
Logically, they should have seen most of the ninja in the village.
Even figures like the Hyuga clan head, they would occasionally see once or twice.
But what was the deal with this old man who had a cane and one blind eye, who just walked in?
"Yeah? Who are you? Why haven't I seen you before?" Compared to Naruto, Luffy's tone was somewhat disgusted.
Naruto's question was much softer.
Firstly, he couldn't sense any ill will from the person opposite him.
Secondly, Naruto also knew this was in his own village and didn't want to leave a bad impression on his future teacher.
"Hmph!" Danzo ignored the two children and stared at Luffy almost indifferently.
On the other hand, Teuchi, the Ichiraku Ramen shop owner, gently tugged on Sasuke's and Naruto's sleeves.
"You two little ones, be careful... Yu..."
"Where's my ramen?" Danzo clearly didn't want Teuchi to say anything more. Teuchi himself wasn't a ninja, just an ordinary person living in Konoha Village, so he naturally didn't have the guts to interfere in such matters.
Although he also didn't know Danzo's exact identity there were probably very few people in all of Konoha Village who knew Danzo's identity he remembered vaguely seeing Danzo train with the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, many times when he was young... or were they missions?
He still remembered, the Second Hokage, Lord Tobirama Senju, was still alive at that time...
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