“Rustle, rustle…”
A gust of wind swept through the forest, making the trees sway and whisper.
Shihōin Naraku and Shimura Danzō stood where they were, silently staring each other down.
Neither leader spoke or moved.
Yamanaka Fūgetsu and the other ANBU members stood resolutely in front of ShihōinNaraku.
Since they had already made their choice, they had to follow that path without hesitation.
Even if the enemy shinobi standing opposite them was her own elder brother, she would not retreat.
At some point, the sun high above had been obscured by clouds.
Cold light filtered through the dark clouds and fell upon the earth, while a frigid atmosphere spread through the surroundings.
Shihōin Naraku and Shimura Danzō continued staring at each other.
Neither intended to back down.
Centered around the two of them, the atmosphere grew increasingly tense and dangerous.
Yamanaka Fūgetsu tightened her grip on her sword, ready to strike at any moment.
Yamanaka Kaze and Aburame Torune, standing beside Danzō , slightly lowered their bodies and prepared for battle as well.
“Kaze, stand down!”
Perhaps Danzō had no intention of falling out with Naraku just yet.
Or perhaps he lacked confidence.
Either way, Shimura Danzō ultimately took a step back.
As thoroughly brainwashed Root members, Yamanaka Kaze and Aburame Torune immediately stopped upon hearing Danzō ‘s order and retreated behind him.
Shihōin Naraku raised an eyebrow.
This was both within expectations and somewhat unexpected.
Perhaps Danzō had already realized that Naraku absolutely would not back down, so he had decided to give up.
Besides, Naraku was young.
A little more arrogance could be understood.
After all, if a young man wasn’t hot-blooded and aggressive, could he still be called young?
Since Shimura Danzō had backed down, Naraku had no intention of settling things with him here and now either.
He waved his hand, and Yamanaka Fūgetsu and the others retreated behind him.
“You’ve grown quickly.
I should have brought you under my command back then.”
Danzō ‘s expression remained unchanged as he looked at Naraku, lightly tapping his cane against the ground.
The hidden meaning behind his words was obvious.
He was saying that even if Naraku had wanted to join Root back then, Danzō hadn’t thought highly enough of him to accept him.
“That really is a shame.”
Naraku smiled.
“But I don’t like Root!”
“No, that’s not quite right.”
“I hate it!”
Naraku certainly wasn’t going to hold back verbally.
Where was Root now, anyway?
How could Danzō still talk to him like that?
He had no intention of continuing this pointless conversation with Danzō .
Their relationship was beyond repair anyway.
So they might as well see who would ultimately come out on top.
Just as Naraku was about to turn around and leave with his subordinates, he saw Shimura Danzō wave his hand.
Yamanaka Kaze and the other two immediately flashed away and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
What did that mean?
Did Danzō have something to say to him?
Naraku then instructed Yamanaka Fūgetsu and the others to return to the ANBU base and report the mission.
He stayed behind.
Naraku wasn’t worried that Shimura Danzō would suddenly attack him.
As a famous figure in Konoha who still technically held an official position, if Danzō openly tried to kill him, it would amount to treason.
If Danzō wanted to eliminate him, he could only do it indirectly, just as he had dealt with Sakumo Hatake.
“What do you want to say?”
ShihōinNaraku spoke directly.
There were only the two of them now, so he wanted Danzō to get straight to the point.
But suddenly—
The hairs all over Naraku’s body stood on end.
An alarm bell rang loudly in his mind, and his entire body instantly entered a combat state.
In an instant, violent killing intent was about to erupt.
Fortunately, Naraku regained his composure the next second.
Shimura Danzō looked at Naraku’s reaction in confusion and lowered the hand that had been touching his bandaged right eye.
What was that reaction?
Wait.
Could he know something?
Danzō ‘s expression darkened.
But no matter how he thought about it, he felt that Naraku shouldn’t know what was hidden beneath the bandages covering his right eye.
“You just…”
“I thought you were about to attack.”
Naraku casually waved his hand.
His reaction had indeed been somewhat excessive.
But there was no helping it.
Hidden beneath the bandages covering Shimura Danzō ‘s right eye was a Mangekyō Sharingan!
It was an eye Danzō had stolen from Uchiha Shisui.
And that Mangekyō Sharingan possessed the “strongest genjutsu in the shinobi world”—
Kotoamatsukami!
Kotoamatsukami could manipulate someone’s consciousness without them realizing it, completely controlling their thoughts while leaving them unaware that they had been manipulated.
That was why Naraku had overreacted.
He thought Shimura Danzō was preparing to use Kotoamatsukami on him and control his mind, so for an instant, he had prepared to kill Danzō on the spot.
There was nothing wrong with Naraku’s explanation.
Shimura Danzō reluctantly put aside his doubts.
However, someone as suspicious and cautious as him would never completely trust anyone.
It was easy to imagine that Danzō would secretly test Naraku in the future to determine exactly what he knew.
That attitude was understandable.
Kotoamatsukami was connected to many of Danzō ‘s plans and concealed numerous secrets of his.
He absolutely could not allow anyone to discover this trump card.
“A while ago, Hiruzen asked me…”
Shimura Danzō stopped wasting words and directly revealed everything that had happened when Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others had discussed candidates for the Fifth Hokage.
Huh?
ShihōinNaraku froze.
He genuinely hadn’t known about this!
Sarutobi Hiruzen actually intended to make him a candidate for Hokage?
Although he was only a candidate, Naraku was confident that Kakashi couldn’t beat him.
As long as he became a candidate, the position of Hokage would surely fall into his hands.
But…
The sudden news had also disrupted Naraku’s plans, catching him completely off guard.
After all, in his mind, Tsunade was destined to become the Fifth Hokage.
Based on that assumption, he had secretly made quite a few arrangements.
The restructuring of the Medical Emergency Unit was one of them.
He had done it so that when Tsunade returned, he could gain even greater benefits.
But now he was going to become the Fifth Hokage himself?
That was rather sudden…
Seeing the obvious turmoil on ShihōinNaraku’s face, Shimura Danzō smiled inwardly with satisfaction.
Just as he had expected.
And it was only natural.
Every shinobi in Konoha dreamed of becoming Hokage.
If one walked around the Ninja Academy, one would find that the vast majority of the students who hadn’t even grown up yet dreamed of becoming Hokage.
A dream established from childhood was an irresistible temptation for any Konoha shinobi.
Even Shimura Danzō himself was the same.
In fact, becoming Hokage had already become an unshakable obsession within him.
He didn’t care what he had to sacrifice for it.
Therefore, in Danzō ‘s eyes, ShihōinNaraku would certainly be no exception.
And Naraku’s current reaction proved him right.
“Heh…”
A smile appeared on Danzō ‘s face.
Leaning on his cane, Shimura Danzō slowly turned and walked away.
You were excited to hear the news, weren’t you?
But you still have another opponent—Hatake Kakashi.
Go fight him for that position
With those thoughts flashing through his mind, Shimura Danzō gradually disappeared into the distance.
“This guy…”
Watching Danzō ‘s figure disappear, ShihōinNaraku was speechless.
“He never stops playing his little schemes…”
Danzō ‘s intentions had been completely transparent.
He was plainly telling Naraku that he wanted him and Kakashi to fight each other for the position of Hokage.
This was an open plot.
Even if someone knew Danzō ‘s intentions, it was difficult to escape the trap.
The temptation of becoming Hokage was simply too great.
No one could honestly claim they wouldn’t be tempted.
Even ShihōinNaraku couldn’t say he had no interest in it.
But his reasons were different from everyone else’s.
He only wanted to become Hokage because doing so would give him more opportunities to draw rewards from his system, allowing him to break through his limits and become even stronger.
“This is troublesome.
I need to think about it carefully…”
Naraku frowned in thought.
But there was no way he could make a decision in the short term.
“Lord Naraku!”
Yamanaka Fūgetsu suddenly appeared, snapping Naraku out of his thoughts.
“Oh?
You guys haven’t gone back yet?”
“We’re leaving, we’re leaving.
Let’s head back together.”
Naraku knew that Yamanaka Fūgetsu and the others had been worried about his safety.
That was why they hadn’t actually left.
They had merely waited in the distance.
After seeing Danzō leave and noticing that Naraku had remained standing there for so long without moving, they had finally come over to check on him.
◇ THE STORY DOESN’T END HERE…
◇
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