109. Betrayal

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"Danzo, what exactly are you trying to do?" Homura Mitokado asked, holding his high-ranking position. Although he could be somewhat self-serving, he would never betray the village's intelligence.

"Everything I do is for Konoha." Even when cornered, Danzo didn't waver in his conviction.

Koharu Utatane also couldn't accept Danzo's actions and retorted sarcastically, "For Konoha? Is colluding with rogue ninjas for Konoha too? Is selling the village's secrets part of that plan?"

Danzo, holding a cane in one hand and keeping the other behind his back, made a few subtle gestures and said calmly, "It seems I'll have to give you a proper explanation today."

"Of course, I..." Homura started, but suddenly his eyes widened as he felt a kunai pierce his chest. In shock, he stammered, "Koharu, why?"

Koharu didn't respond, her cold gaze fixed on him.

"That's my explanation," Danzo said as he approached Homura, looking him in the eye. "You're too weak, just like Hiruzen. You allowed the Fourth Hokage to make so many reckless decisions. Konoha will fall under your leadership. Only by making me Hokage can we truly uphold Lord Tobirama's legacy."

"You... How could you..." Homura hadn't expected Danzo's ambition to replace Minato and become Hokage—and that he'd go so far as to kill him.

Judging by Koharu's behaviour, had she succumbed to a mind control jutsu? If so, then perhaps…

"During the Chunin Exams, the village was invaded, two of its advisors were assassinated, and even the Third Hokage was gravely injured. All this was the result of the Fourth Hokage's negligence!" Danzo thought bitterly. "If I was Hokage, none of this would have happened!"

"You'll never succeed," Homura gasped, his eyes losing their light as he collapsed to the ground. His lips moved faintly, his voice barely audible, "Even in death, I didn't expect to trouble Konoha like this... I've truly failed the village..."

...

About 300 meters outside the Shimura residence, Naruto observed the three red dots marking Danzo's house on his mini-map and noticed two green dots that had just disappeared. He frowned in thought.

Initially, he sensed something malicious and assumed enemies had arrived to capture people, but it seemed Danzo and his subordinates had just killed two people.

Naruto looked at the gate of Danzo's home and briefly considered blasting it with a Tailed Beast Bomb, but he knew that doing so would label him a rogue ninja.

As for sneaking in to investigate, Naruto wasn't too confident in his stealth abilities. It'd be risky if Danzo had prepared for him.

Better consult Dad first.

...

After seeing the situation on various battlefields had been resolved, Minato returned to the office. He'd been busy for some time, but after hearing Naruto's report, his expression grew serious.

"You're saying Danzo might have killed two of his comrades?"

"Yeah, but I don't have concrete evidence," Naruto admitted before an idea struck him. "Wait, the four from Sai's group and the Sound Four are still alive, right? We can interrogate them first."

"Ibiki already questioned Sai, but he's under Danzo's Binding Tongue Curse Seal. It seems Danzo is involved, but we couldn't get much out of him," Minato replied thoughtfully. "As for the other four, they're likely Orochimaru's loyalists and have refused to talk. They even insist that Orochimaru isn't dead."

The Binding Tongue Curse Seal is a jutsu Danzo uses to control his subordinates. It's placed on the tongue and paralyzes the entire body if they attempt to reveal any information about Danzo.

Naruto had a bold idea: "Maybe Mom can try breaking the seal. Or we could have someone from the Yamanaka Clan try probing his mind."

Minato chuckled slightly, "That's not exactly what we meant by 'breaking into his mind'… but no matter. I've already started looking into that, and we should have some results soon."

Ignoring his humour, Naruto continued, "There's something else. I have a feeling Orochimaru isn't entirely dead."

"Why's that?" Minato asked, puzzled. "Both Jiraiya and Tsunade confirmed his body; it wasn't a fake death."

Naruto thought for a moment before responding, "It's just a gut feeling, but that guy has too much mastery of forbidden jutsu. Even if his body was destroyed or his soul sealed, I can't shake the feeling that he might come back through some other means. Don't the Sound Four and Anko still bear his Curse Marks? They could be a way for him to return."

Minato nodded thoughtfully. "I've examined Anko's Curse Mark. It's essentially a combination of sealing techniques and natural energy."

"I've sealed it off to prevent it from drawing energy from her or the environment, so it's harmless for now. As for the Sound Four, we'll deal with their Curse Marks later."

"If Inoichi can extract useful information about Orochimaru from their minds, I'll send a team to eliminate his remaining strongholds."

As the father and son discussed further, the office door swung open abruptly, and Kushina stormed in, dragging someone behind her with chains.

Minato blinked. "Kushina? Who's this?"

Clenching her fists, Kushina's red hair seemed to lift with her anger. "I'm not sure, but I know for a fact Danzo sent him. I'm going to throttle that old man!"

Minato quickly intervened, "Don't act impulsively. Tell me what happened first."

Taking a deep breath, Kushina explained, "I was trying to break the Binding Tongue Seal on Sai when he was suddenly poisoned. That's when I sensed this guy sneaking around and caught him. After one punch, though, I started showing symptoms of poisoning myself."

Minato's concern deepened. "Poison? How are you now?"

Kushina raised her hand and smiled slightly, "I'm fine now, not even a scar. Tsunade got to me in time and cleared out the poison."

Minato inspected her hand with concern, and only after confirming she was truly fine did he relax.

Feeling slightly flustered, Kushina muttered, "Naruto's watching."

Naruto, seeing his parents' affection, felt a tinge of longing for Hinata. "Should I take my leave?"

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