"Since Hidden Rock is avoiding battle anyway, we can just have Jiraiya lead part of our forces into the Land of Rain and strangle the danger in its cradle." Danzo had already written the script in his head.
With Sosuke's strength, plus Kakuzu and Nagato, as long as Jiraiya doesn't bring the entire Ninja Squad over, the Ninja Sect won't be easily defeated.
At that point, his Root would take advantage of the chaos to snatch the Rinnegan and the Ninja Sect's inheritance, and the Ninja Sect crisis would be perfectly resolved.
Sarutobi Hiruzen took the pipe from his mouth, exhaled a puff of white smoke, and revealed a helpless expression. "The Ninja Sect hasn't provoked Konoha. What reason does Konoha have to strike at them?"
Konoha had finally managed to catch its breath in the middle of the war, and Danzo already wanted to find Konoha a new opponent. Hiruzen was speechless.
"The Ninja Sect is hiding inhumane, high-destruction Ninjutsu." Danzo answered immediately.
"If you really think the Ninja Sect is a threat, then have your Root Organization keep a close eye on them. In Konoha's current state, we can't make enemies for no reason." Hiruzen did not accept Danzo's justification.
He wasn't about to send troops against the Ninja Sect just because Danzo thought they were a threat. Sosuke was no pushover, and attacking the Ninja Sect wouldn't bring Konoha any benefit; it would only worsen their reputation.
"We can't just let the Ninja Sect keep developing like this. With the educational ability Sosuke has displayed, the Ninja Sect won't just have top-tier combat power—their mid- and lower-level forces won't be weak either." Danzo raised the Ninja Sect threat argument again.
"Personally, I think Mokgetsu is even better at teaching than Sosuke." Hiruzen said with a grin.
Although Sosuke's reputation for giving unrestricted lectures was excellent, and after reading the intel Hiruzen also felt that Sosuke was indeed remarkable, he still believed Mokgetsu's teaching ability surpassed Sosuke's.
Hiruzen had witnessed many educational miracles from Mokgetsu: the classes Mokgetsu led, the holiday training and Anbu training he organized, and Asuma after being taught by Mokgetsu.
There were far too many cases proving Mokgetsu's teaching ability—from special training sessions with hundreds of people, down to mentoring individual disciples—Mokgetsu had consistently shown extraordinary teaching skills.
All of this had happened right before Hiruzen's eyes, so of course he felt that Mokgetsu was the strongest teacher when it came to teaching ability.
"This isn't a question of whose teaching ability is stronger. We can have Mokgetsu, and at the same time ensure the Land of Rain no longer has Sosuke." Danzo didn't refute Hiruzen, but shifted to another angle.
Because Danzo likewise believed Mokgetsu's teaching ability was unmatched in the world; otherwise he wouldn't have entrusted Yamato to Mokgetsu.
"Compared to your overly radical idea, I'd rather we discuss Sosuke's upcoming youth Martial Arts Tournament. This matter has stirred up quite a wave in the Ninja World lately." Hiruzen still maintained his veto.
Provoking a top-tier powerhouse for no reason was truly unwise. Hiruzen was, however, interested in Sosuke's tournament and the rewards.
Konoha didn't lack powerful Ninjutsu, but Hiruzen specialized in Fire Release, and he was very curious about what the rumored, almost supernatural Fire Dragon Dance actually was.
"Everything now is built on speculation, and Konoha already has plenty of enemies at the moment. It really isn't suitable for us to make too many more." Mitokado Homura chose to stand on Hiruzen's side.
Utatane Koharu also chose not to support the Danzo who had just refuted her, and likewise began to speak up for Hiruzen.
Danzo felt extremely stifled inside. He devoted himself wholly to Konoha, yet he still had to be constrained by these two Ninja posing as Konoha's top brass.
But even though he was furious, Danzo didn't let anger cloud his judgment. Even without support, he would still use his own power to get it done.
As long as he could cooperate with Hanzo, he still had a chance to crush the Ninja Sect.
Danzo's subordinates followed orders and went to Rain Village to find Hanzo.
When he learned that Danzo's people had come to visit, Hanzo's face immediately darkened.
For the miserable state he'd fallen to today, Danzo had to shoulder a huge share of the blame.
If Danzo hadn't shown up that day with the Hidden Rock corpses, then Hanzo wouldn't have gone up against the Ninja Sect, and he wouldn't have lost to Sosuke.
However, Hanzo didn't drive away the Root Ninja. After all, Konoha stood behind Root.
But Hanzo also didn't personally meet with the Root Ninja; this time Danzo hadn't come in person.
Hanzo had his subordinates talk with the Root Ninja and ask what their purpose was.
When he learned Danzo wanted to continue cooperating with him to deal with Sosuke, Hanzo's blood pressure shot up on the spot.
Previously, Hanzo hadn't been sure whether Hidden Rock or Danzo had harmed him more, but now he was certain—Danzo definitely had bad intentions.
Given the Ninja Sect's current power, even if Rain Village cooperated with Danzo and they managed to wipe the Ninja Sect out, Rain Village would be left gravely weakened.
Hanzo was even certain that there was absolutely no way he'd survive Sosuke's hands.
As long as he and the Rain Ninja went onto the battlefield, Sosuke would definitely kill him.
But if he didn't go onto the battlefield with the Rain Ninja, then without him, Rain Ninja would never be able to defeat the Ninja Sect.
"Refuse him. The internal affairs of the Land of Rain don't require Konoha's meddling." Hanzo rejected them without hesitation.
Even though Konoha was a Great Ninja Village, if Danzo wanted to use that to force Rain Village's hand, Konoha wasn't the only Great Ninja Village in the Ninja World.
When Hanzo's reply was sent back to Konoha, Danzo slapped the table in confusion.
He couldn't understand why Hanzo would refuse his proposal. With the Ninja Sect being such a big threat, wasn't Hanzo worried that Rain Village would be replaced by the Ninja Sect?
"Could it be that the Ninja Sect and Rain Village are actually one and the same?" Danzo couldn't help recalling Koharu's conspiracy theory.
And honestly, judging from how things currently looked, that conspiracy theory really did seem plausible.
Of course, Danzo knew this was only surface-level. The Ninja Sect and Rain Village couldn't possibly be one entity—after all, it was he who formulated the plan to encircle and kill the Ninja Sect. What, was he, Danzo, also a Rain Village Ninja?
"How degenerate. After one defeat he's already terrified of Sosuke." Danzo scoffed inwardly.
Discarding all other possibilities, there was only one reason left for Hanzo's refusal—Hanzo had already been scared stiff by Sosuke. Even if Rain Village were destroyed by the Ninja Sect in the future, he wouldn't dare launch one last attack.
Danzo held such a Hanzo in contempt. If it were him, even facing certain death, he would still act without fear for the sake of his village's continuation.
"Since we can't eradicate the Ninja Sect for now, we'll first investigate their inheritance." Danzo decided to temporarily change strategies.
Although Danzo always wanted to obtain the Ninja Sect inheritance in Sosuke's hands, at this point no one in the Ninja World knew what exactly Sosuke's Ninja Sect inheritance was—whether it was the Six Paths Sage's Ninja Tools, Secret Techniques left by the Ninja Sect, or something else entirely.
"A pity that A still needs quite a bit more time to grow. Otherwise, against a mere Ninja Sect, who would need a Ninja Squad." Danzo thought of the Wood Release Ninja he'd pinned his hopes on.
Unlike the Rinnegan and the Ninja Sect inheritance, which he had yet to obtain, the Wood Release Ninja was a subordinate he had personally trained. Given enough time, he could become an all-crushing trump card.
Meanwhile, Danzo's future trump card was currently staring enviously as his students discussed Ninja Beast training.
"I think we have to let them fight more. If they just do cultivation and never get into real combat, there might be problems in an actual battle." Obito excitedly proposed his own training plan.
Kakashi nodded in agreement. On that point, he was right—combat ability had a considerable impact on overall strength.
"We're way stronger than they are. If we can't control ourselves well, we could easily hurt them. Better to let them fight each other; they might even get more eager to cultivate because of their desire to win." Obito finally revealed his true intentions as he spelled out his goal.
Although he currently couldn't beat Kakashi himself, if his Summoning Beast defeated Kakashi's Summoning Beast, he figured that more or less counted as him beating Kakashi.
Right now his Charmeleon was the only Ninja Beast that had evolved; this was its peak period, just like when Might Guy first opened the Breath of Rock Chakra Mode. If he didn't enjoy himself while he could, who knew if he'd get another chance later.
PS: This chapter is 4k; there'll be another chapter afterward.