Danzō was not afraid of death.
But after devoting half his life to Konoha, how could he allow himself to be nailed to a pillar of sha?
If he were to die, it had to be as a hero, as soone who had contributed to Konoha.
If he died under Konoha's judgnt, bearing the na of a traitor to the village, then even in death he would never find peace.
"The only one capable of cutting off Root and the Shimura clan from contacting … is Hiruzen."
"And the fact that the Mist front hasn't received any news at all… that must also be Hiruzen's doing."
A tearing pain suddenly surged through the right half of Danzō's body—injuries that had only recently healed.
He carefully reread the intelligence sent from the Shimura clan.
"He didn't imdiately recall from the Mist front. Instead, he handed everything over to himself alone."
"Hiruzen must have paid so kind of price… made compromises with those clans."
Only when he reached the end of the report did Danzō finally let out a breath of relief.
But soon his expression hardened again.
"No wonder the reinforcents and supplies recently dropped by half—and most of them were civilian shinobi."
"So that's what's going on!"
"Those damned clans! Do they have any idea how brutal this battlefield is?"
"And Hiruzen… it's obvious why he left here."
At that mont, Danzō felt a deep ache in his chest.
The position of Hokage… was forever out of his reach.
"Damn Uzumaki Mito! I should have wiped out the entire Senju clan before leaving Konoha."
"I thought that woman would live at most another two years, so I ignored her. Who knew she'd still be so powerful—even Hiruzen can't defeat her."
Suddenly, his expression changed.
He looked toward his two subordinates.
"What about the Nine-Tails? Do we have any intelligence on the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki?"
"Where did Uzumaki Mito go after leaving Konoha?"
Both subordinates shook their heads.
"Apologies, Lord Danzō. There's no information at all."
"Our last report said that Uzumaki Mito summoned a giant bird and left Konoha that way. No one knows where she went."
Danzō lowered his head in thought for a mont before speaking again.
"Imdiately send people to the ruins of Uzushiogakure."
"If Uzumaki Mito is discovered, eliminate her imdiately."
"Whether it's traps, poison, or anything else—I don't care. She absolutely cannot be allowed to live."
"My lord… we don't have the manpower," one Root operative said.
"So of our personnel on the battlefield have already been killed or wounded, and there aren't many left."
"As for those in Konoha, they're all under house arrest. We can't mobilize them."
Root…
had no one left.
"Damn it!"
Danzō clenched his teeth in anger.
Then suddenly, he thought of soone.
"Kō. You've been to Agakure before, haven't you?" Danzō said.
"Go there again."
"Hire him to assassinate Uzumaki Mito."
"Leave imdiately."
"Yes."
The Root shinobi imdiately set off toward Agakure.
"Hiruzen must have chosen to protect . Otherwise, rumors about Kumogakure's invasion wouldn't have spread."
"He wants to stay on the Mist battlefield and redeem my cris with rit."
Danzō narrowed his eyes.
"This ti it's not just about military rit or personal strength."
"I must make the people in the village realize just how important I am to the Mist front."
At that mont he rembered the incident when Hanzo had impersonated him.
An idea quickly ford in his mind.
"B. Tomorrow, announce to the entire army that my battlefield movents were discovered by the Mist."
"I fell into their trap and am now severely injured and unconscious."
"The position of commander will temporarily be transferred to the sa person as before."
"Then you will remain by his side and secretly leak our future battle plans to the Mist."
"Understood?"
"Yes."
Root never questioned orders.
No matter the reason.
Absolute obedience.
"Right now, I must retreat in order to advance."
When Konoha reached the brink of collapse, he would rise up again—take command, lead the counterattack, and establish unrivaled prestige.
At that ti, even if he returned to Konoha and faced punishnt, the shinobi of the Mist front would speak in his defense.
His battlefield achievents would beco his shield against death.
But his dream of becoming Hokage…
was over.
---
Agakure.
Kan and Rikuto interrogated the two A shinobi again and confird that their testimony matched the report.
At the sa ti, several Suna shinobi corpses had been recovered.
Their bodies were riddled with dense clusters of small puncture wounds made by kunai. So still carried faint traces of Wind Release chakra.
Rikuto turned to the A shinobi behind him.
"Has the reconnaissance team returned from that area?"
"Yes, sir. The investigation has been completed."
The shinobi handed him a folder.
Inside were photographs of the battlefield—the ninja world's technology might have developed unevenly, but caras did exist.
Half-buried kunai and shuriken under yellow sand.
Faint footprints that had not yet been fully erased.
And in the intelligence reports—records of the large Sand force.
"It's confird. It was the Suna," Rikuto said, turning toward Kan.
"What do we do now?"
Kan nodded.
"When Lord Hanzo left, he entrusted Agakure to us. We cannot disappoint him."
"Deploy troops to the border with the Land of Wind."
"Then send an envoy to Sunagakure… no. I'll go personally."
"Four days."
"If I don't return within four days—or if the Suna truly attacked, then you launch an assault on the Land of Wind."
"You're going yourself? That's too dangerous. I'll go instead," Rikuto said in shock.
"Rikuto, you're still young—and you have the talent Lord Hanzo calls 'the future,'" Kan said.
"This kind of task should fall to soone like ."
"If Sunagakure really did this, it could very well be a trap. If they launch an attack while I'm away, the village will be in your hands."
"I understand."
Rikuto took a deep breath.
"Let's start organizing the army. Our forces suffered heavy losses in the previous wars."
"And this ti we don't have Lord Hanzo. Fighting Sunagakure… the pressure on our troops will be imnse."
"Deploy everything," Kan replied.
"The village's defensive barrier has already been partially completed. And Jōnin Hattori and the shrine maidens are still in the village."
"That's enough ti for us to return if necessary."
"We must show Sunagakure our resolve."
After the two left, Hanzo's Shadow Clone erged from the shadows.
Clearly, Hanzo was satisfied with their performance.
"Looks like I'll have to make a trip to Sunagakure myself."
"They're not fools. Sothing must have happened over there."
He left another Shadow Clone behind to guard Agakure.
Then the real Hanzo set off ahead of everyone—heading straight for Sunagakure.
-------------------------------------///
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