Chapter 60: Taking Notes and Snitching

"Young man, do you understand what it means to refuse Danzo-sama's invitation?"

The Root ninja began to threaten him.

"Do you know what it means to poach from the Hokage's ranks?"

Habara immediately retorted.

Mere words wouldn't intimidate anyone. When Habara had just emerged from the dungeon, he would have certainly feared Danzo like a tiger, but times had changed.

Habara dared to directly refuse Danzo because he knew that joining Root would bring no good. According to the organizational hierarchy, Root was an organization that provided talent for the Anbu; on what grounds did it have to poach from the Anbu's ranks?

And the fundamental reason he dared to directly reject this invitation wasn't his status as an Anbu ninja. Anbu status wasn't enough, and being a Hokage's close attendant wasn't sufficient; the only reliable thing was…

The mercury sword in his hand.

Was Habara's current strength great? Not really.

But was he weak?

Logically speaking, the Hokage was the political center of Konoha. What role did Danzo play? "Root" was just a secondary organization. Moreover, they were all ninjas from the same village. There was no reason for someone to kill you just because you didn't join their organization. If that were the case, Danzo had no "Akatsuki" strength, but he had the "Akatsuki" disease… Huh, describing it that way didn't seem to be a problem.

"Watch your attitude. Otherwise, depending on the situation, I have the right to eliminate you here."

Habara's retort might have been too stimulating, so this time it was the Root ninja's turn to say something about fighting to the death.

"Then please, by all means, try."

Habara had a full attack ready, but this attack wasn't launched. He especially couldn't use that kind of attack against Danzo's subordinates.

But Habara certainly wasn't the type to just make empty threats.

Those who are good swimmers drown in water. (Meaning: Overconfidence in one's abilities can lead to downfall.)

In a fight, strike first.

Having this strength, he therefore took the risk.

The Root ninja was just about to join his hands together, when in the next instant, the lightning on Habara's body had already illuminated the narrow space here. Although taijutsu wasn't Habara's forte, in this cramped and narrow alley, there was no need for any sophisticated taijutsu.

He only needed to charge forward; the opponent had no way to avoid it.

In an instant, Habara's figure disappeared from its original spot. The Root ninja didn't even see his movements clearly. In a flash, he was struck heavily, a huge force slamming into his chest, causing him to stop breathing and his mouth and nose to feel hot.

Habara, with exaggerated piercing speed, rushed in front of the opponent, then swung his arm like a mace, his right arm, encased in metal, fiercely smashing into the opponent's chest.

The intense pain and impact made the Root ninja instinctively retreat. However, at this moment, a surging black tide suddenly surged out in the equally deep darkness of the night. Then, this wide-ranging technique, with a determined momentum, directly slammed the opponent against the wall, leaving him suspended in the air, completely bound.

Have you heard of Sand Waterfall Funeral and Sand Binding Coffin?

Well, this person definitely hadn't.

Habara again used a "borrowed" and "slightly innovated" technique. Mainly, under the premise of not being able to use mercury attacks, he had to demonstrate other "Magnet Release" characteristics.

He knew what this ninja was here for, so he was happy to cooperate.

As the iron sand tightened bit by bit, the ninja's bones and muscles groaned in agony.

"Isn't it that incompetent subordinates obey incompetent leaders?"

Looking at Habara's emotionless eyes, the Root ninja felt that he was really going to die here.

"Alright, I'm just kidding. People like you and me can only obey a stronger power… What's wrong with that? So, why should us working stiffs make things difficult for each other?"

However, as Habara said this, the tightening speed of the iron sand plastered on the wall became even faster, as if he really was going to efficiently make a ball of dumpling filling.

"But… I think you should fully understand my answer, right?"

The Root ninja wasn't sure if the other party really dared to commit murder in the village, but he knew that if he answered "I don't understand" or remained silent at this moment, then he might never have the chance to understand.

So, he could only tremble as he said, "Under…stood."

As he spoke, blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.

If he were being interrogated about Root or Danzo's information, such a ninja might grit his teeth and remain silent, but to be crushed to death for refusing to submit… that was a losing proposition no matter how you looked at it.

"As expected of a working stiff."

Habara couldn't actually kill the other party. He then loosened the ball of iron sand, letting it flow back behind him and return to its original "sword case" shape.

He let the Root ninja slump weakly against the wall and then walked away.

Honestly, Habara wasn't surprised that Danzo had discovered the little bad thing he had done, because the Anbu's intelligence system was probably defenseless against Danzo. But he didn't expect Danzo to discover it so quickly.

It seemed that the Fourth Hokage's position was still unstable, so his control over the entire Konoha was really limited.

But Danzo was also too arrogant. He felt like he could disregard the Fourth Hokage.

Habara wasn't very afraid of Danzo's overt attacks, but he was a little worried about Root's covert actions. No matter what, he had one more reason to increase his strength as soon as possible.

However, this time Habara again made the mistake of overestimating himself. He subconsciously felt that Danzo would continue to trouble him, because he had killed that captain Takajo. However… would Danzo really care about that captain?

Being sent out to carry out the task of capturing an Uchiha, in a sense, Captain Takajo was already considered half an expendable pawn.

......

Underground in Konoha, Root's base.

The ninja who had gone to recruit Habara sat in a corner, taking a long time to recover his mobility. Then, he endured the pain in his body and returned here as quickly as possible.

Then he saw Danzo.

"The recruitment failed?"

Danzo was sitting in a chair, his head lowered, not knowing what he was thinking about. When he realized someone had come before him, he just raised his eyelids slightly and then resumed his lowered-head posture.

Seeing his subordinate's appearance, he knew that the recruitment had failed.

"Yes, Danzo-sama. The other party refused our recruitment on the grounds of being an Anbu ninja."

"Then at least you were able to probe his abilities, right?"

"As stated in the previous intelligence, he is a Magnet Release ninja," the ninja explained in detail the abilities Habara had shown in the previous battle. Finally, he said, "Unfortunately, I didn't see the rumored high-level Wind Release ninjutsu he used during the Chunin exams."

"That's enough."

Danzo slowly stood up. Through his subordinate's narration, he believed he understood the full extent of Habara's strength.

"Then next…"

"Leave him be for now, don't bother him… We can't make things too difficult for Hiruzen."

Konoha decided to conceal the news of the Uchiha's disappearance, because the village was "unaware." The missing Uchiha ninja was ultimately not found.

But Danzo had just received a severe reprimand from the Third Hokage, and the turmoil of the Uchiha disappearance hadn't ended… Or rather, the turmoil hadn't begun yet. The Uchiha hadn't yet realized that someone from their clan had disappeared, so Danzo also had to lie low for a while.

Although he had always been at odds with the Third Hokage, they were able to maintain a state of conflict without breaking, indicating that when necessary, Danzo did understand a little bit of propriety.

"That Magnet Release ninja… We'll talk about him later."

Shimura Danzo took out a notepad and recorded Habara's name.

This showed that although Orochimaru and Danzo were currently in a cooperative relationship, there was still a big difference between them… Orochimaru was a researcher, while Danzo was just a scavenger. Therefore, Danzo wanted everything Orochimaru didn't want.

Huh, is this insulting someone?

......

Early the next morning, when the Fourth Hokage arrived at the office, he found a report on his desk. The Fourth Hokage opened it and found that it described, in a first-person narrative, the poaching attempt someone had encountered yesterday.

"…"

Thus, one person took notes, and one person wrote a report, a perfect match. Although the previous matter had come to an end, both were saying the same thing in their own way:

This matter is definitely not over.