Chapter 72: "Danzo, You've Gone Soft!"
"Explain the situation," Hiruzen commanded, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous register.
"The intelligence extracted from those Grass infiltrators is specific," Sakumo Hatake reported, his face grim. "They captured a woman of the Uzumaki Clan during the chaos of the Second Great Ninja War as she was fleeing the ruins of the Whirlpool."
"This woman possesses an extraordinary talent. Her chakra has an innate regenerative property—she can heal almost any wound through a direct transfer of her life force."
"Because of this, the Hidden Grass has kept her in a black site, treating her not as a citizen, but as a living medical apparatus. A blood-battery for their elite."
Sakumo's expression soured.
The Hidden Grass was a minor power, but they were survivors. They lived in the cracks between the Great Nations, and their espionage networks were surprisingly sophisticated—rivaling even the Five Great Nations.
If it weren't for Konoha's recently upgraded Multi-Layered Detection Net—integrating the eyes of the Hyūga and Uchiha with the hounds of the Inuzuka and the insects of the Aburame—these spies likely would have slipped through the perimeter undetected.
Hiruzen took a long drag from his pipe, his eyes narrowing as he signaled Sakumo to continue.
"It's not just the Uzumaki," Sakumo added. "They're holding shinobi from several villages. Many are suspected of having minor bloodline traits. However, the Grass spies didn't have detailed files on the others—most are treated as low-level research material or labor."
In the Ninja World, belonging to a Great Clan didn't guarantee genius; it only raised the probability. Uchiha without the Sharingan or Hyūga with low chakra density were common. To the "Hyenas" of the Grass, if a captive didn't show immediate S-rank potential, they were just another tool to be used until they broke.
"How are they operating?" Hiruzen asked, exhaling a plume of smoke.
"They stalk the borders. They target lone travelers and mid-tier squads. They never engage the legends," Sakumo explained.
"The reports show they are patient predators. If they target a Chunin, they'll track them for weeks, sometimes even setting up fake 'bounty contracts' to lure the target into a curated ambush."
"During the wars, they were even bolder. They'd wait for an elite master to be crippled in a major battle, then swarm in like scavengers to finish the job and steal the body. They're looking for scrolls, for DNA, for anything they can sell or reverse-engineer."
Hiruzen nodded, his eyes closed in thought.
The Hidden Grass were truly the Battlefield Hyenas of the era. They were cunning, treacherous, and far more ambitious than their size suggested. Their core survival strategy was acting as a "Buffer Zone" between the Leaf, the Cloud, and the Stone. Because every major village used them as cheap, expendable mercenaries and spies, they managed to play all sides against each other.
Konoha cannot ignore an Uzumaki being treated like cattle, Arata thought. I just gave my word to Lady Mito. Saving this survivor is a mandatory PR move for the Will of Fire.
But more importantly... the Grass Village is the perfect origin story for Master Tobirama.
If Hiruzen revived the Second Hokage in the Izuna-clone, he needed a reason for this "Uchiha Genius" to appear now. A victim of a Grass Village kidnapping ring? A child of a stolen Uchiha mother, rescued from a black site? It was a narrative that was impossible to disprove.
Even the Uchiha elders would accept a "Lost Brother" if the Hokage personally rescued him from a den of monsters.
"Hiruzen," Danzo Shimura spoke up, his tone unexpectedly cautious. "Before we launch a full-scale invasion of the Grass, we should consider the timing. Our current strategy of 'Quiet Growth' is working. We've just secured a massive revenue stream from the capital. If we provoke a war now, we might jeopardize our economic momentum."
"Perhaps a small, elite Anbu extraction team would be better? We get the girl, we stay invisible, and we keep making money."
Sakumo stared at Danzo as if the man had just sprouted a second head.
The Sage help us... is this really Danzo? Sakumo wondered. The ultimate War-Hawk is advocating for 'cautious diplomacy'? Did the world flip upside down while I was on patrol?
"Sakumo, that look tells me you don't understand the scale of Konoha's future," Danzo sneered, misinterpreting the silence.
"Do you have any idea how much gold Hiruzen and I just brought back from the Daimyo?" Danzo held up three fingers.
Sakumo frowned. "Three hundred million Ryo?"
"No. Three Billion Ryo. And that's just the down payment for the first batch. This is the dawn of a new era, Sakumo."
Sakumo's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Three Billion?!"
To a shinobi, even an elite like the White Fang, that was a mythological number.
"Hmph. You think that's a lot?" Danzo asked, expertly channeling Hiruzen's own lecture from the previous night. "Divided among the village, it's a pittance. Barely enough to fund a fraction of the Hokage's new initiatives. It's not enough to be soft, Sakumo. We need more."
Danzo was secretly enjoying himself. He had a little notebook tucked in his sleeve where he recorded Hiruzen's most profound "Boss Quotes." Seeing the shock on Sakumo's face made Danzo feel like he was finally the "Senior Partner."
SLAM!
Hiruzen suddenly slammed his hand onto the desk. The room went dead silent.
"Enough!"
The Hokage's face was twisted in a rare display of genuine fury. "Danzo! You're being too conservative! What the hell has gotten into you? We didn't build this treasury so the village could become weak!"
Danzo froze.
The roar of the "Old Monkey" hit him like a physical shock. It felt just like the old days—except the roles were completely reversed. Usually, Danzo was the one screaming about "Softness" and "Weakness" while Hiruzen preached "Patience."
Now, he was being called out for being a "Peacenik" by the man he used to call a coward.
"Hiruzen, I—" Danzo stammered, but the word "coward" died in his throat. He couldn't argue. If he argued for peace, he'd be betraying his own identity.
"The production lines for the Sage Pills are set. The next payout isn't for another year!" Hiruzen barked, standing up to loom over the desk.
"The cosmetics and tobacco lines won't be fully operational for three to five years. Do you honestly think Konoha should spend those years rolling over for every minor village that tries to bite us?"
Hiruzen's eyes flashed with a lethal, predatory hunger.
"I wanted a stage to display our new authority, and these Grass-born scavengers just delivered it to my front door."
"Military hegemony is the only currency that backs a trade empire, Danzo! If the world thinks we've grown fat and lazy on noble gold, they'll stop respecting our 'will.' We don't hide. We don't sneak."
"We strike the Hidden Grass with everything we have. We hit them so hard that the Raikage and the Tsuchikage feel the ground shake in their own offices."
Hiruzen leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper that carried more weight than a scream. "I want this punch to be heavy. I want it to be beautiful. I want the world to see what happens when you touch an ally of the Leaf."
"If we move with 'restraint,' as you suggest, we invite every other scavenger to test our fences. We aren't doing an 'extraction,' Danzo. We're doing a Sanitization."
Sakumo's heart hammered against his ribs. Who said the Third was a Dove? This man is a hawk made of cold steel!
Danzo stared at Hiruzen for a long moment. Then, he gave a heavy, slow nod. His eyes began to burn with a reflected fire.
"Hiruzen... you're right. My apologies. I let the gold cloud my judgment. I support your vision."
He was back in his element. The "Dovish" Danzo was dead; the "Shadow" was ready for blood. Hiruzen had given him exactly what he needed—a reason to be the monster the village required.
"Commander Danzo. Vice-Commander Sakumo," Hiruzen ordered, his voice echoing with absolute authority.
"Mobilize the Anbu. Map every inch of the Grass Village. I want their patrol rotations, their fortification weaknesses, and the location of every captive."
"From this moment forward, Konoha is on a war footing."
Danzo and Sakumo snapped to attention, their backs straight as spears.
"YES, LORD HOKAGE!"
"Dovish/Hawkish": Standard Western political terms to describe the shifting dynamic between the two leaders.
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