Naruto: Starting as the Third Hokage with Tears in His Eyes

Chapter 10 Danzo, I am the true Hokage

The Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned slightly as he looked at the report in his hand.

This is a report that Uchiha Kagami just submitted regarding the preparations for "Root". All personnel from the Ino-Shika-Cho clans and the Sarutobi main family are in place and undergoing the first phase of screening and basic training.

And the ten young Uchiha men he personally selected as the "Hokage's Direct Guard" reserves—recruited from the police force—demonstrated astonishing enthusiasm and talent. Under Kagami's personal guidance and with ample resources, their strength improved by leaps and bounds, and they remained fiercely loyal to him who had given them new life and glory.

Everything is going in a good direction.

There was one person in particular who made him feel uneasy.

Danzo Shimura.

Since being rendered powerless by his own combination of open and covert tactics last time, Danzo has appeared much more docile. He comes to give his work report on time every week and strictly follows Hiruzen's arrangements, looking like a tamed beast.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi knew that Danzo's inherent ambition and obsession wouldn't change easily. He was simply lying low, waiting for an opportunity to prove the necessity of his "dark methods."

"I hope you don't do anything stupid," Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed inwardly.

He has too many things to do right now and simply doesn't have the energy to keep an eye on Danzo every day. As long as he doesn't overstep his bounds, Hiruzen is willing to give him, the leader of "Root," some face.

However, what you fear most is what happens.

Just as this thought flashed through his mind, a cold, mechanical voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

[Warning! The actions of key figure Danzo Shimura have been detected and will have a serious negative impact on the future of Konoha!]

[Should we start the future simulation?]

Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart sank.

"Holy shit! This guy!" he cursed inwardly, his face instantly turning ugly.

"simulation!"

[Start the future simulation...]

[Simulated Scenario: Danzo Shimura acts on his own.]

The scene before my eyes changed rapidly.

[Scene 1: In a dark underground base, Danzo looks at a secret intelligence report, a cold smile playing on his lips. The report indicates that a group of rogue Iwagakure ninjas recently defeated by Sarutobi's team on the Land of Fire's border have connections to a high-ranking elder of Iwagakure, and they seem to be planning a larger-scale border uprising.]

[Scene 2: Danzo believes this is a golden opportunity to prove the value of "Root" and that his personal abilities far surpass Hiruzen's. He decides to bypass the Hokage and, without any prior notification, secretly dispatch several of his newly trained confidants to infiltrate the border of the Land of Earth, attempting to capture the liaison between the rogue ninja and the Iwagakure leadership, and obtain direct evidence.]

[Scene 3: Half a month later, bad news arrived. Danzo's men had fallen into a trap meticulously set by Iwagakure. Two members of "Root" were captured alive on the spot.]

[Scene 4: Onoki, the Third Tsuchikage of Iwagakure, holding captured Konoha ninja and the "Root" organization's tokens they carried, directly confronts the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. He accuses Konoha of betraying its promise by sending spies to gather intelligence on another country during peacetime, intending to instigate war.]

Scene 5: The Daimyo of the Land of Fire is furious and exerts immense diplomatic pressure on Hiruzen Sarutobi. Konoha finds itself in an extremely passive position before the entire ninja world, and its prestige plummets.

Danzo, the instigator, not only failed to achieve any merit but also became a sinner against Konoha, losing all his prestige. The legitimacy of his establishment of "Root" was also questioned by all the high-ranking officials.

The simulation has ended.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in the Hokage's seat, his fingers gripping the edge of the table tightly, veins bulging on the back of his hands.

"Danzo! You good-for-nothing idiot who's more likely to ruin everything!"

He simply couldn't believe that Danzo could be so foolish.

In their eagerness to claim credit and prove themselves, they even forgot the most basic ninja principles.

Acting without authorization or giving orders outside one's authority is a cardinal sin that no organization can tolerate.

This must not be allowed to happen.

Hiruzen Sarutobi forced himself to calm down. Getting angry now would be useless; he had to take immediate action to plug this huge hole.

His brain was working at lightning speed.

Now that Danzo has obtained the intelligence, his operation should take place within the next two days.

A cold glint flashed in Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes.

"Someone come here."

"Hokage-sama!"

A member of the secret service suddenly appeared in the center of the office and knelt on one knee.

"Summon Uchiha Kagami to see me immediately!"

"yes!"

The figures from the shadows disappeared.

In less than five minutes, Uchiha Kagami appeared in the office.

"Lord Hokage, you wanted to see me?"

"Kagami, I have an urgent mission for you." Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was extremely serious.

He spread a map on the table and pointed to a valley on the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth.

"According to reliable intelligence, the group of rogue Iwagakure ninja I defeated some time ago still has remnants operating here. Their contact will appear in this valley at midnight three days from now for a secret rendezvous."

"I order you to immediately lead your Uchiha Special Response Team to this location."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice was cold and unquestionable.

"There are two objectives for the mission."

"First, intercept the contact, obtain all the information on him, and then make him disappear forever."

"Secondly, and most importantly," Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up, staring directly into Kagami's eyes, "we'll stage the scene to make it look like rogue ninjas killed each other over a dispute about the spoils. We'll erase all traces of our Konoha ninjas ever appearing."

"I want to ensure that this matter has absolutely nothing to do with Konoha from beginning to end."

Uchiha Kagami was startled.

He instantly understood the gravity of this mission. This was no longer a simple pursuit of rogue ninjas; it involved a higher-level power struggle.

The fact that the Hokage chose to entrust such an important mission to him and his team is itself an unparalleled act of trust.

"Yes, Lord Hokage! I guarantee I will complete the mission!" Kagami's eyes became incredibly determined.

"Go, and remember, be quick and discreet." Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand.

Watching Kagami's departing figure, Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly sat back down in his chair.

He knew that Jing could absolutely complete this task perfectly.

Now, we're just waiting for Danzo to have his comeuppance.

……

A week later.

A small-scale high-level meeting was held at the Hokage Building.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado, and Danzo Shimura sat together in a room.

The atmosphere at the meeting was somewhat somber.

"...That's how it is." Shimura Danzo's voice was low as he placed a piece of intelligence on the table, a hint of barely perceptible smugness on his face.

"According to my Root's investigation, Ishigawa, an elder of Iwagakure, is colluding with former rogue ninja, and they are attempting to create chaos on our border. I was prepared to send people to investigate thoroughly and obtain evidence in one fell swoop, but unfortunately..."

Before he could finish speaking, Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted him.

"Unfortunately, it's too late." Hiruzen Sarutobi's face showed a regretful expression.

He pushed another report to the center of the table.

"Just three days ago, Uchiha Kagami's team, while on a pursuit mission at the border, unexpectedly discovered the trail of this group of rogue ninja. A fierce battle ensued, and the remaining rogue ninja were completely annihilated."

"According to Kagami's report, signs of infighting among the rogue ninja were found at the scene, seemingly due to a dispute over the spoils. We found this on one of the leaders."

Hiruzen Sarutobi pushed a bag of evidence over, inside which was a secret letter addressed to Elder Ishigawa of Iwagakure.

Koharu and Homura picked up the report and physical evidence, examined them carefully, and both breathed a sigh of relief.

"So that's how it is. Luckily, Kagami dealt with it in time, otherwise Iwagakure's conspiracy would have succeeded," Koharu said.

"Yes, although we didn't manage to capture them alive, getting this letter is enough for us to give Iwagakure a diplomatic warning." Menyan pushed up his glasses.

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled at Danzo and patted him on the shoulder.

"Danzo, although Kagami beat you to the punch in this operation, your insight and Root's intelligence-gathering capabilities are a treasure to Konoha! You deserve praise!"

In front of Koharu and Menyan, he praised Danzo highly.

A look of surprise and resentment flashed across Danzo's face.

He couldn't understand why it was such a coincidence. He had just been about to make his move when Hiruzen's men had already taken care of it first.

Is it a coincidence? Or... does Hiruzen... know something?

A sense of unease spread through his heart.

Seeing Danzo's expression, as if he'd swallowed a fly, Hiruzen Sarutobi was secretly overjoyed.

Trying to outmaneuver me? You're still too green.

After the meeting, Hiruzen Sarutobi kept Danzo behind.

"Hiruzen, you..."

Just as Danzo was about to ask something, Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed the detailed on-site report about the "infighting among rogue ninjas," which had been forged by Kagami Uchiha, hard into his face.

Papers were scattered all over the floor.

The atmosphere in the office instantly plummeted to freezing point.

Danzo's expression froze.

Danzo.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood up, walked step by step to him, and looked down at him.

The warm smile from before was gone from his face.

"Danzo, I am the Hokage!"

"The root is a knife, not your own toy!"

"If you act on your own again..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice wasn't loud, but every word struck Danzo's heart.

Danzo's face turned from white to blue, then from blue to red.

He wanted to refute, to argue, but looking into Hiruzen Sarutobi's all-knowing eyes, he couldn't utter a single word.

Hiruzen knows everything.

Frustration overwhelmed him completely.

After a long while, he managed to squeeze out a few words through gritted teeth.

"...Yes, I understand."

After saying that, he didn't even dare to look Hiruzen in the eye again, and turned to leave the office.

Watching Danzo's dejected figure, Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly sat down.