After listening to Hiruzen's words,
the originally self-righteous Danzo completely froze on the spot.
Sure, in the past, he had indeed done plenty of shady things for Konoha, and he had taken on more than his fair share of blame for Hiruzen, the Third Hokage.
But…
"Using the Sharingan to provoke the entire Shinobi World"…?!
Something like that—
forget doing it,
Danzo hadn't even thought of such a thing!
And this can still be pinned on him?!
Danzo's pupil tightened as he stared at Hiruzen, his old face stiff with shock.
However,
Hiruzen, seeing Danzo like this, remained grim and unchanged.
In truth,
Hiruzen had already known back when Danzo used Root to issue a bounty across the Shinobi World.
But as always, he didn't interfere.
Because no matter how much he questioned Danzo, that man would only respond like a broken record with the same line—
"Everything is for Konoha!"
So Hiruzen hadn't planned to dig deeper.
After all, ninety million ryo wasn't a small amount, but for Konoha's economy, it was still manageable.
But this time… it was different.
Because the intelligence the reconnaissance unit brought back clearly stated—
The person being hunted was carrying the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan!
And Danzo had just admitted he was the one who started the bounty!
If these two things weren't connected somehow, Hiruzen absolutely refused to believe it.
More importantly…
Everyone knew this:
Danzo had always been an extreme hardliner.
During the past Shinobi World Wars, he had proposed more than once to stir conflict between other nations in order to strengthen Konoha.
But every single time, Hiruzen had vetoed it.
Because he wasn't like Danzo.
At least for now, he only wanted to be a stable Hokage, giving Konoha simple peace and security.
"…"
At this moment,
after a long silence,
Danzo forcibly suppressed the anger boiling inside him. He stared at Hiruzen and said heavily:
"Hiruzen… what do you mean?!"
"You actually suspect that I ordered that mysterious Kitsune Ogre to do something like this…?!"
"Do you really not know why I issued the bounty!?"
As he spoke, Danzo gritted his teeth, his gaze flashing sharply as he snarled:
"Wasn't it because that bastard… stole every single Sharingan from the Uchiha Clan that night?!"
"—?!"
The moment those words fell, Hiruzen's breathing stopped, his pupils shrinking violently.
"You said… what…?"
"The Uchiha Clan's Sharingan… were all stolen—?!"
"All… all of them?!"
Hiruzen's face turned a sickly shade of green, his eyes nearly bulging out as he stared at Danzo in disbelief.
Danzo's expression wasn't any better. He let out a low, cold snort before speaking:
"Hmph. This matter…"
"I originally didn't want to tell you. I planned to resolve it directly through the bounty in the shadows."
"But I never expected you'd shove such a blame onto my head!"
"…"
Hiruzen was stunned.
Only now did he finally understand… why Danzo had coughed blood and collapsed the day after the Uchiha Clan massacre.
'So that was the blow he suffered…'
At this moment,
not only Danzo—
even Hiruzen himself felt like coughing blood.
His face darkened to the extreme.
Speechless with misery.
That was… the Sharingan!
Konoha's unquestionable strongest Kekkei Genkai!
And now…
Not only had an outsider stolen them all…
He was even using them as trophies to provoke bounty Shinobi into fighting him?!
"Cough cough cough cough cough!!"
Thinking of that, Hiruzen felt old blood surge up in his chest, and he couldn't stop coughing.
At first, when he heard the scouts mention the Sharingan,
he thought it was only one.
But now…
He finally realized that person held all of them…!!
Hiruzen's old face twisted as if it had been punched into dough.
Since taking the Hokage's seat, he had experienced countless humiliations…
But this one felt even worse.
At that moment, Danzo's eye was cold as he glanced at Hiruzen and said flatly:
"Tell me the details of the intel."
"So we can quickly determine a countermeasure."
"Since he didn't choose to stay hidden forever, then we still have hope of reclaiming the Sharingan."
Danzo spoke calmly.
The past ten-plus days of simmering had made his thoughts clearer.
Then,
Hiruzen finally raised his head and began explaining.
…
Three minutes later.
After hearing the full report, Danzo's face sank completely.
A trace of anger burned in his eyes as he snapped:
"That brat is clearly provoking Konoha!"
"To display our Kekkei Genkai on the Land of Fire's turf as the reward for defeating him?!"
"This is… arrogance beyond measure!"
"…"
Hiruzen frowned slightly, then suddenly shook his head and said in a low voice:
"Perhaps… his goal isn't that simple."
"Just as the scouts said, in a complicated place like Kikyo Castle, there must be spies from other villages present."
"And Kitsune Ogre's declaration of war will undoubtedly reach their ears."
"That means…"
Hiruzen lifted his gaze and stared at Danzo, speaking heavily:
"This time, the ones who want the Sharingan… won't be only Konoha."
"—?!"
Danzo's expression shifted slightly.
After a moment of thought, he clicked his tongue and bit down again:
"Tch…"
"Your analysis is correct."
"Even if we can't confirm Sunagakure and Kirigakure yet, judging by Iwagakure and Kumogakure's usual style, they will definitely stick their hands in!!"
Bang!
Danzo slammed his hand on the desk, his voice sharp:
"Hiruzen, we can't hesitate anymore!"
"We must act immediately. Before they reach Kikyo Castle, we must defeat Kitsune Ogre first and retrieve the Sharingan!"
"…"
Hiruzen raised his pipe, his expression heavy, and took a deep drag.
Then he slowly exhaled.
His eyes hardened with resolve as he looked at Danzo and nodded:
"Fine."
"This matter… will be entrusted to you in full."
"It is of great importance. We must be cautious."
"Whether manpower or funds, for this operation, you may temporarily mobilize them freely."
Hiruzen paused slightly, forcing out his signature Hokage smile, strained and bitter:
"Danzo… do not let Konoha down."
"…Hmph."
Danzo gave a cold snort, said nothing more, and turned to leave.
Before exiting, he spoke without looking back:
"Leave it to me, Hiruzen."
Before the words even faded, he was already gone.
And at that moment,
in the distance,
the Anbu hidden in the shadows witnessed the scene…
and couldn't help but feel moved.
'The two of them, though once at odds, were still comrades who had fought side by side in life and death back in the day.'
'As fellow disciples of the Second Hokage, they once again chose to stand together in the face of Konoha's crisis.'
'Perhaps…'
'This was the Will of Fire.'
…
After leaving the Hokage's office, Danzo immediately began considering manpower for Kikyo Castle.
'That Kitsune Ogre's strength would not be weak.'
'Otherwise, he wouldn't have made the masked man "Uchiha Madara" suffer a loss.'
'Then, to defeat him, we needed Shinobi strong enough to match.'
'And even if individual strength wasn't enough, sheer numbers would have to make up for it.'
Root's Shinobi were strong enough…
but as Konoha's darkness, they weren't suited to appear too openly outside.
Meaning, it was better to select from Anbu and Jonin.
Danzo might not have Hokage-level authority over Anbu…
but in reality, he had always used Root to gather information throughout the village.
So he knew every Shinobi inside out.
After only brief consideration, he quickly decided on a six-man squad.
First,
four special Anbu's members.
In the past, they had executed several flawless assassination missions.
And this time,
Danzo chose them for one reason—
he intended to play dirty.
He would have these assassination experts strike the moment Kitsune Ogre let his guard down, launching a surprise ambush.
After all, Danzo wasn't some honorable gentleman.
There was no need to pretend to fight fair.
As long as he won and reclaimed the Sharingan, anything was acceptable.
Because only the victor had the right to speak.
'Then, for the two main frontline powerhouses of this battle…'
Danzo barely hesitated.
He immediately chose two famous second-generation Shinobi from Konoha—
also the two most representative and strongest young Shinobi of the village.
The Copy Shinobi, Sharingan · Hatake Kakashi.
The Taijutsu Master, Eight Gates · Might Guy.