Chapter 9

Chapter 9 — Danzō, I Am the Hokage!

“Lord Danzō! The Hokage requests your immediate presence at an emergency meeting!”

Inside the Root headquarters, an ANBU ninja assigned to the Hokage respectfully bowed toward Danzō, who sat behind his desk.

“I understand. I’ll depart at once,” Danzō replied calmly, half of his face wrapped in bandages.

After the ANBU operative left, Danzō immediately summoned his trusted subordinate, Aburame Ryōma.

“Have last night’s events been investigated?” Danzō lightly tapped the armrest with his bandage-wrapped right hand.

The arm implanted with Hashirama’s cells throbbed faintly with pain.

“Reporting to Lord Danzō,” Aburame Ryōma said in a low voice. “Last night, a masked mysterious ninja attacked the Hyūga clan compound. Hyūga Hizashi was severely injured and sent to Konoha Hospital. Hyūga Hiashi suffered minor injuries. The Kumogakure envoy has also gone missing.”

“The Hyūga clan?” Hearing about a masked ninja, Danzō’s left eye narrowed slightly.

He could not help recalling that the Akatsuki organization also had a mysterious masked member.

However, after the battle four years ago, Akatsuki had gone into hiding and stopped recruiting openly. Even Danzō’s network possessed little intelligence about them now.

Only scattered information reached him through spies hidden in Amegakure.

“Someone from Akatsuki?” A dark glint flashed through Danzō’s eye. His failure to obtain the Rinnegan still lingered as a deep regret.

“Unlikely,” Aburame Ryōma analyzed. “Our infiltrators in Amegakure have reported nothing unusual. If Akatsuki sought revenge, their first target would be Hanzō of the Salamander. There’s no reason for them to attack the Hyūga clan.”

Four years earlier, during the suppression operation, Danzō had allied with Hanzō, deploying most of Root’s forces. That campaign drove Yahiko to his death and triggered NaGatō’s awakening of the Rinnegan.

Now only remnants of Akatsuki remained, hiding in Amegakure and quietly gathering strength for revenge.

If revenge were their goal, Hanzō would be the closest and most logical target.

“Let’s go. We shouldn’t keep the Hokage waiting,” Danzō said as he slowly stood, concealing his bandaged arm within his wide robe.

Aburame Ryōma followed behind him.

Inside the Hokage Tower conference room, the atmosphere was heavy, smoke hanging thick in the air.

When Shimura Danzō entered with a stern expression, Konoha’s leadership was already assembled.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sat at the head of the table wearing the Hokage ceremonial robes.

To his left sat the senior advisors, Homura MitoGatō and Koharu Utatane.

On the right sat the injured Hyūga Hiashi.

An ANBU ninja wearing a white cat mask stood silently behind the Hokage.

“Danzō, you’re somewhat late,” Homura MitoGatō remarked, adjusting his glasses as he examined his old friend.

“Root affairs are complicated,” Danzō answered briefly before sitting beside Hiashi.

“Good. Everyone is here.” Hiruzen Sarutobi set down the document in his hand, took a puff from his pipe, and said to the ANBU behind him, “Kakashi, give this report to Advisor Danzō.”

“Yes.” The silver-haired ANBU bowed slightly, picked up the file, and handed it to Danzō.

As Danzō read the ANBU report, his left eye narrowed.

Hiruzen continued, “The mysterious attacker killed the Kumogakure envoy and left the body inside the Hyūga compound, intending to frame the Hyūga clan. Fortunately, Hiashi detected the anomaly in time and took action, preventing worse consequences.”

“However, the enemy was extremely powerful. Hizashi was gravely injured, and Hiashi also sustained minor wounds.”

“I dispatched ANBU units to pursue him, but they lost track. The enemy appears highly familiar with Konoha’s barrier system. This matter is extremely serious. I have already ordered the Barrier Team and ANBU to conduct a full investigation.”

Hiruzen set down his pipe and exhaled smoke.

Naturally, Hiashi could not truthfully report that he himself had killed the Kumogakure envoy.

He placed all responsibility on the mysterious attacker. With one brother severely injured and the other lightly wounded, the Hyūga clan had already paid enough to satisfy Konoha.

Even if Kumogakure raised doubts, the village leadership could not openly blame the Hyūga clan—doing so would unsettle every other noble clan.

“Lord Third,” Hiashi added, “when I returned to the compound this morning, I discovered that someone had infiltrated my study.”

Hiruzen’s brows tightened.

“In that case, he escaped the ANBU pursuit and returned for another strike.”

“The enemy is extremely familiar with our village’s layout…”

The first suspects that came to Hiruzen’s mind were missing-nin who had defected in recent years.

Yet none he could recall possessed the strength to fight both Hyūga clan heads alone. A shinobi of such caliber could not remain unknown.

At this time, neither Orochimaru nor Uchiha Itachi had defected. Among the hundreds of recorded missing-nin, the strongest should have been Hiruko.

“Did his techniques have any distinctive traits?” Danzō asked after finishing the report, turning toward Hiashi.

Could this be an enemy who had formed a grudge with the Hyūga during the last war?

Hiashi carefully chose his words.

“The enemy demonstrated extremely high-level taijutsu and appeared quite familiar with the Hyūga Gentle Fist. However, the exact martial style remains unknown.”

He could hardly admit that the two brothers had been defeated within a dozen exchanges, so he embellished the description.

“He also used a ninjutsu we’ve never seen before,” Hiashi continued. “It involved condensing chakra into a sphere with tremendous destructive power.”

“Chakra condensed into a sphere…” Hiruzen immediately thought of the Rasengan invented by the Fourth Hokage.

But Hiashi added, “It resembled the Fourth Hokage’s Rasengan somewhat, but the technique was far larger. Unlike the Rasengan’s brightness, this sphere was dark in color, and its destructive power was astonishing. Hizashi was nearly killed after being struck by it.”

“What could his objective be?” Koharu Utatane asked. “To provoke war between Kumogakure and Konoha?”

The Kumogakure envoy dying within the Hyūga compound would have framed the clan if the mysterious attacker had not been delayed long enough for ANBU reinforcements to arrive.

“Perhaps,” Hiashi replied calmly.

In truth, he did not know the attacker’s purpose either. After discovering the envoy attempting to kidnap Hinata, he had killed the man on the spot. Without the mysterious figure’s appearance, this meeting might have turned into an interrogation of the Hyūga clan instead.

“I will contact Jiraiya and other shinobi traveling abroad to gather intelligence,” Hiruzen concluded when no clear answer emerged.

He ordered heightened security and external information gathering.

The meeting adjourned. Only Danzō remained behind.

“Hiruzen.” Danzō’s single eye turned cold as it fixed on the Hokage. “It has been only three years since the Nine-Tails disaster, and now the village is attacked again. Is this the achievement you offer after reclaiming the Hokage’s seat?”

“Our high-level combat strength is scarce. It would be better to hand Naruto over to Root—”

Hiruzen interrupted sharply.

“That is Minato’s child!”

“Precisely because he is Minato’s child, he should receive intensive training!”

The Third Hokage spoke decisively:

“Enough. Danzō—I am the Hokage!”

“Hiruzen! You will regret this!” Shimura Danzō left those words behind and slammed the door as he exited.

Bang!