Chapter 9 Danzo, I Am The Hokage!

"Danzo-sama! Hokage-sama requests your immediate presence at an emergency meeting!" Inside the Root's base, an Anbu's Ninja under the Hokage's command bowed respectfully to Danzo, who sat behind his desk.

"Understood. I will head there now." Danzo, with half his face wrapped in bandages, replied calmly.

After the Anbu's Ninja left, Danzo immediately summoned his trusted subordinate, Aburame Tatsuma.

"Have you investigated last night's incident?" Danzo lightly tapped the armrest with his right hand, which was fully bandaged.

This was the arm that had been transplanted with Hashirama's cells, and it ached faintly.

"Reporting to Danzo-sama," Tatsuma reported solemnly: "Last night, a masked man attacked the Hyuga Clan's compound. Hyuga Hizashi was severely injured and taken to Konoha Hospital, while Hyuga Hiashi sustained minor injuries. Additionally, the Kumogakure's envoy has gone missing."

"Hyuga Clan?" Hearing about the masked man, Danzo's left eye narrowed slightly, and his brow furrowed.

He couldn't help but recall that within the current Akatsuki, there was also a mysterious masked individual.

However, after the battle four years ago, Akatsuki had gone into hiding and stopped recruiting new members, so Danzo's men had no further intelligence on them.

He could only obtain some sporadic intelligence about the Akatsuki indirectly through his spies lurking in Amegakure.

"Was it someone from Akatsuki?" Danzo's eye flashed with a trace of malice. The regret of failing to seize the Rinnegan still gnawed at him.

"Unlikely." Tatsuma analyzed, "Our spies in Amegakure haven't reported anything. If Akatsuki sought revenge, their first target would likely be Hanzo the Salamander. Moreover, there's no reason for them to attack the Hyuga Clan."

Four years ago, during that ambush, Danzo had allied with Hanzo and mobilized most of Root's forces, forcing Yahiko to his death and triggering Nagato's Rinnegan awakening.

Now, Akatsuki was reduced to a few remnants hiding in Amegakure, gathering strength for revenge.

If Akatsuki were to strike, their first target would undoubtedly be the closer Hanzo.

"Let's go. We shouldn't keep the Hokage waiting too long." Danzo slowly stood up, concealing his bandaged right arm within his wide sleeve.

Tatsuma followed closely behind.

…

Inside the meeting room at the Hokage Building, the atmosphere was tense, thick with smoke.

When Danzo entered the room with a grim expression, all the high-ranking people of Konoha were already assembled.

The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, sat at the head of the table in his Hokage robe.

To his left were the two elder advisors, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu.

To his right sat the injured Hiashi.

An Anbu's Ninja wearing a white cat mask stood silently behind the Hokage.

"Danzo, you're a bit late." Homura adjusted his glasses with his right index finger, his gaze scrutinizing his old friend through the lenses.

"Root's affairs are complex." Danzo replied curtly before taking his seat beside Hiashi.

"Now that everyone is here," Hiruzen set down the documents in his hand and took a puff from his pipe before addressing the Anbu behind him, "Kakashi, show Advisor Danzo this report."

"Yes!" The silver-haired Anbu bowed slightly, picked up the file from Hiruzen's desk, and handed it to Danzo.

As Danzo read through the Anbu's summary report, his left eye narrowed further.

Hiruzen continued, "Last night, the masked intruder killed the Kumogakure's envoy and left the body in the Hyuga Clan's compound, attempting to frame the Hyuga Clan. Fortunately, Hiashi detected the anomaly in time and took action, preventing further escalation."

"However, the enemy was formidable. Hizashi was severely injured, and Hiashi also sustained minor injuries."

"I dispatched Anbu to pursue, but they lost track of the assailant. The enemy seemed highly familiar with Konoha's barrier system. This is no trivial matter… I've already ordered the Barrier Team and Anbu to conduct a full investigation."

After saying this, Hiruzen set down his pipe and exhaled a cloud of smoke.

Of course, it was impossible for Hiashi to truthfully report what happened last night, saying that he was the one who killed the Kumogakure's envoy.

Instead, he pinned everything on the mysterious masked man. The fact that both the Hyuga Clan's head and his brother had suffered severe and minor injuries respectively was enough to justify the incident to Konoha.

Even if Kumogakure questioned it, the Hokage and his Advisors would not blame the Hyuga Clan. After all, what would the other Ninja Clans think?

"Hokage-sama," Hiashi spoke up and added, "When I returned to the clan's compound this morning, I discovered that my study had been infiltrated."

'Hmm?'

Hiruzen's brow furrowed deeply, his expression grave as he said: "It seems the enemy evaded the Anbu's pursuit and circled back for another strike."

'The intruder is extremely familiar with our village's layout...' Hiruzen mused thoughtfully.

His first suspicion fell on Missing-nin who had defected in recent years.

But upon reflection, he couldn't think of any Missing-nin with such strength… capable of single-handedly fighting two of Hyuga Clan's top figures. A Ninja of that caliber couldn't possibly be unknown.

At this point in time, Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi had not yet defected. Among the hundreds of recorded Missing-nin, the strongest was likely Hiruko.

"Did the enemy's techniques have any distinguishing traits?" After reading the report document from the Anbu, Danzo asked Hiashi again.

'A Ninja of such power… could they have a grudge against the Hyuga Clan from the last war?'

Hiashi carefully chose his words: "The opponent's Taijutsu is extremely strong, and they seemed well-versed in the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist, but their fighting style was unfamiliar."

Hiashi couldn't bring himself to admit that the enemy had defeated both brothers in just a dozen exchanges, so he embellished slightly.

"The Ninjutsu they used was unlike anything I've seen… it seemed to condense Chakra into a spherical form with tremendous destructive power." Hiashi added.

"Chakra condensed into a sphere..." The first thing that Hiruzen thought of was the Rasengan, which was invented by the Fourth Hokage.

But Hiashi added: "It is somewhat similar to the Rasengan invented by the Fourth Hokage, but the size of the Ninjutsu is much larger. Compared with the bright Rasengan, the enemy's condensed spherical Ninjutsu is dark in color and has amazing destructive power. Hiashi was hit by this move and nearly died."

"Then what was their goal?" Koharu was a little confused: "Is it to provoke a war between Kumogakure and Konoha?"

Kumogakure's envoy had died on Hyuga Clan's territory. If not for the Hyuga Clan holding off the intruder until Anbu reinforcements arrived, the blame might have fallen squarely on them.

Hiashi said calmly, "Perhaps so."

In truth, he had no idea what the mysterious masked man truly wanted. Hiashi had killed Kumogakure's envoy on the spot after discovering the attempted kidnapping of Hinata. If not for the masked man's intervention, this meeting might have been the Hokage and his Advisors interrogating the Hyuga Clan about their motives.

"I will have someone notify Jiraiya and the other wandering Ninjas to investigate this mysterious man."

With no clear conclusion reached, Hiruzen could only order heightened vigilance and dispatch messengers to gather intelligence from Ninja like Jiraiya.

As the others dispersed, only Danzo remained in the meeting room.

"Huruzen." Danzo's lone eye turned cold as he stared at Hiruzen, who was wearing the Hokage robe: "It's only been three years since the last Nine-Tails Rampage, and the village has been attacked again. Is this the legacy of your return to power?"

"With the village lacking elite fighters, it would be best to hand the Jinchuriki over to Root..."

Hiruzen cut him off sharply: "That's Minato's child!"

"Precisely because he is the Fourth's child, he should be rigorously trained!"

Hiruzen said firmly: "Enough! Danzo, I am the Hokage!"

"Hiruzen! You will regret this!" Danzo spat out the words before slamming the door behind him.

Door: Bang!