When Danzō Shimura finally intercepted Uchiha Kei and his group, he was anxious—but not without confidence.
A battle involving three or four hundred shinobi was no small affair.
In the shinobi world, that was enough to determine the fate of an entire minor nation.
Take the Land of Waves or the Land of Birds, for example.
Could either country even gather three hundred shinobi if they mobilized everything they had?
If a battle of that scale erupted right outside Konoha’s gates…
Between Konoha’s own forces…
Then Hiruzen Sarutobi would no longer be fit to remain Hokage.
His only honorable option would be to resign in disgrace.
That was why, despite knowing his own forces were weaker than Kei’s, Danzō still stood his ground.
For the first time, the masked operatives of Root appeared openly beneath the sun.
Surrounded by the Uchiha, they showed no fear.
Because behind them…
Was Konoha itself.
Justice was on their side.
Everything…
For Konoha.
In Danzō’s eyes, Uchiha Kei was nothing more than an immature child who had stumbled into power.
A dangerous child.
One who didn’t understand the consequences of his own actions.
Surely, once someone explained exactly what he was doing…
The boy would be terrified.
Attacking one of Konoha’s governing institutions?
That was outright rebellion.
The first step…
Was to place that enormous accusation squarely upon Kei’s shoulders.
Hands clasped behind his back, Danzō declared righteously, “Uchiha Kei…
are you attempting to rebel against Konoha?” Openly surrounding one of Konoha’s official organizations…
What else could it be called?
Danzō was now certain.
Kei had somehow learned about the assassination plot.
Today’s full mobilization was clearly intended to wage war against Root.
As for how the information had leaked…
That could wait.
Right now, with inferior military strength, Danzō’s only option was intimidation.
If he could frighten Kei into backing down…
Then later he could join forces with Hiruzen, accuse the Uchiha of deploying a private army, and finally justify crushing the entire clan.
This time…
Surely Hiruzen would have no excuse to remain neutral.
And Danzō was convinced of one thing.
Kei would never dare accept the label of traitor.
Even when Madara Uchiha had attempted to rebel, the Uchiha Clan had immediately distanced itself from him.
If even Madara couldn’t carry that burden…
How could this boy?
No matter how reckless Kei might be…
Danzō refused to believe his followers would risk everything alongside him.
As long as he could shake Kei’s support…
He had already won.
With complete confidence, Danzō imagined the panic that would soon appear on Kei’s face.
Just another hot-blooded child.
Too immature to understand what his actions truly meant.
Instead…
Nothing happened.
Kei didn’t panic.
Not even slightly.
For the first time…
Danzō began to lose confidence.
…Are children these days really this ignorant?
Just what kind of upbringing did this brat have?
Once this is over…
I’m demanding an explanation from the Uchiha Clan Head.
Kei, meanwhile, was equally speechless.
I’m just moving house.
I simply wanted to make the relocation a fait accompli before either Konoha or the Uchiha elders had time to interfere.
How did I end up running into Danzō halfway there?
And his attempt at pinning a crime on me is embarrassingly clumsy.
There’s no way I’m accepting the charge of rebellion.
I’m certainly not going to leave behind a history that reads: “Attempted rebellion—frightened off by Danzō Shimura.” Since Danzō had already chosen such dramatic words…
He couldn’t blame Kei for responding in kind.
A faint look of contempt crossed Kei’s face.
“Danzō Shimura…” “Are those your last words?” Danzō froze.
…Wait.
That wasn’t how this was supposed to go.
Why aren’t you following the script?
He genuinely couldn’t understand.
What had he done…
To make Kei determined to kill him?
Yes.
He had planned to assassinate Kei.
But the attempt hadn’t even happened yet.
Was it really worth gambling everything?
Accepting the charge of rebellion…
Just to kill him?
What would Kei gain?
Even if Danzō died…
It would only hand Hiruzen the perfect excuse to unite all of Konoha against the Uchiha.
This was happening near the very heart of the village.
Did this boy truly never consider the consequences?
For the first time…
Danzō wasn’t so sure.
He forced himself to ask, “Uchiha Kei…
do you even realize what you’re doing?” Kei looked at him as though he had heard something ridiculous.
You came charging over here yourself.
Shouldn’t you know exactly what I’m doing?
You deliberately provoked me with accusations of rebellion.
Didn’t you already prepare for whatever happened next?
At this point…
What’s the point of asking questions?
Kei smiled coldly.
“Danzō Shimura.” “You brought a handful of people here to stand in front of me…” “Do you really think you’re that tough?” From Kei’s perspective…
Danzō’s goal was obvious.
He intended to provoke a conflict.
Sacrifice himself if necessary.
Then use that sacrifice to secure the moral high ground for Konoha.
Otherwise…
Why had Danzō brought exactly this many men?
Enough that Kei could annihilate them completely…
Yet also enough to delay him until Konoha’s reinforcements arrived.
Of course…
That logic assumed a conventional shinobi battle.
Watching Danzō’s fearless behavior…
Kei suddenly realized he had underestimated Konoha.
He had handed them an opportunity.
The moment large numbers of Root agents died…
Both ANBU and Root’s elite forces would inevitably descend upon them.
Originally…
Kei had believed his sudden move would leave Konoha too little time to react.
Instead…
The village had been watching him far more closely than he had imagined.
The instant he stepped beyond the Uchiha district…
They had moved.
So…
Eliminating him had already become the consensus among Konoha’s leadership.
For the first time that day…
Kei felt a trace of regret.
But regret solved nothing.
At this moment…
He had to remain uncompromising.
He couldn’t afford to give Danzō any excuse.
Since Danzō wanted to brand him a rebel…
Then Kei would first see just how far Danzō was willing to go.
Would the man truly sacrifice his own life for Konoha?
Kei had no doubt that Danzō was willing to sacrifice anyone for the village.
Anyone.
Except himself.
In that regard…
The two of them were remarkably alike.
If anything…
Kei considered himself even better at it.
For now…
He would stall.
Wait for the Uchiha Clan to react.
Wait for Konoha to respond.
See what kind of game was truly being played today.
And if the worst happened…
If Konoha truly intended to wipe him out…
Then dragging the entire Uchiha Clan into the conflict would become his only chance of survival.
Seeing Kei’s disdain…
Danzō could no longer maintain his righteous facade.
How could anyone stop a young warrior determined to throw away his life?
Once a sword had been drawn…
Only the defeated would have the chance to cry out.
Young people simply couldn’t tolerate humiliation.
So it really was true.
The assassination plan had enraged Kei.
This reckless youth genuinely intended to stake everything against him.
I knew it…
People like this should never be entrusted with authority.
Young men who let passion guide every decision…
They simply don’t understand how adults play the game.
I’m not afraid.
I’m only trying to prevent unnecessary bloodshed for Konoha’s sake.
Hiruzen…
Surely you’ll understand my sacrifice.
Please hurry and send reinforcements.
I only need to hold on…
Until Konoha arrives…
Then this dangerous threat can be erased once and for all.
Everything…
For Konoha.
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