Chapter 469: Sharpening the Knives for Danzō
The events of the next few days were nothing short of earth-shattering.
Ino formally proposed her Nine-Rank System at a high-level village meeting. Jiraiya, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado expressed limited support, while Danzō voiced his vehement opposition. The meeting ended almost as soon as it began.
In such a meeting, Ino's voice carried far less weight than Danzō's.
She had to find another way. That very afternoon, she brought Shikaku with her to the capital, where they found the Daimyō's younger brother, Enchū. Afterward, through some unknown means of persuasion, they secured the Daimyō's support for the Nine-Rank System.
The official letter the Daimyō sent to Konoha was vague and roundabout, but its core message was clear: he hoped that after Konoha unified the ninja world, they would support him in unifying the five great nations.
If the five great nations were truly unified, it would indeed reduce warfare by more than ninety percent. The scales in Jiraiya's heart had already tipped in favor of the plan.
But no one could have expected what happened next. Less than two days later, shocking news spread from the capital of the Land of Fire to Konoha.
The Daimyō of the Land of Fire had been assassinated.
Along with him, more than a dozen of his young, handsome attendants were also killed.
The scene was a river of blood; the killer's methods were utterly ruthless.
The radical among the Guardian Shinobi Twelve, Kazuma, had already been eliminated by Ino. However, the Daimyō was still protected by a considerable number of ninja. Body doubles, escape tunnels, emergency communication talismans to contact Konoha—all of these were in place. Unfortunately, many of these protective measures were never used. The Daimyō was dead in his own chambers.
The Daimyō's brother, Enchū, immediately contacted Konoha to apprehend the culprit.
Konoha's higher-ups all glanced at Danzō out of the corners of their eyes. Ino, in particular, stared at him with an expression of disbelief, as if to say, How could you be so ruthless? Just because the Daimyō supported my proposal, you brazenly killed him over such a small matter?!
The Daimyō was such a kind and gentle person! How could you commit such a heinous act!
Danzō snorted coldly, though he was wondering to himself who had actually killed the Daimyō. He had been planning to use his Sharingan to have a "discussion" with the Daimyō in a couple of days. How did the man suddenly end up dead?
Jiraiya responded quickly, dispatching Tsunade and Ino to the capital overnight to investigate.
The killer had left no traces, clearly a professional. Tsunade was there to find clues from a medical ninja's perspective.
Ino was there to perform her "spirit communication."
In the presence of Enchū, the five elders of the Land of Fire, and the five chief magistrates, she communicated with the spirits. Then, in the memories of the deceased, they all saw the killer: an old man with his right eye and right arm wrapped in bandages, a stern face, and wearing traditional black robes.
"It really was Danzō!?" Tsunade was shocked by the result. She always knew Danzō was audacious, but she never imagined he could be this audacious.
But on second thought, it did fit Danzō's simple and brutal style. He had once sent Kakashi to assassinate the Third Hokage. Now, for the sake of his own claim to the Hokage title, it didn't seem so strange that he would lead a few men to kill the Daimyō.
Ninja wielded extraordinary power. Deep down, they looked down on the Daimyō. So what if he had money? It was nothing special.
"My poor brother! You died so tragically!" Enchū, who had a good relationship with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, burst into tears, hugging the Daimyō's stiff corpse and wailing. The elders and magistrates had grim faces and exchanged glances, but no one spoke.
Tsunade and Ino repeatedly assured them that Konoha would give the Land of Fire a proper explanation and that Danzō's actions did not represent the village. After calming the outwardly grieving but inwardly delighted Enchū, the two hurried back to the village.
Jiraiya was also taken aback by Danzō's madness.
However, this was a good opportunity to deal with Danzō. It would allow Tsunade to smoothly take a higher position and give Itachi and Sasuke a semblance of closure. It was the same old trick of shifting blame: Look, Danzō did all the bad things. Now that we've dealt with him, has the resentment in your hearts subsided a bit?
"Let's take people to arrest Danzō right now! We'll ask him why he did it!" Tsunade had long since grown tired of Danzō and spoke with determination.
Jiraiya gestured for her to wait. "I'm going to see one more person. Public and private grievances... let's settle them all at once."
Neither of them mentioned the Daimyō's death. As long as the new Daimyō wasn't hostile to Konoha, the village didn't care who held the title.
Jiraiya went to see Konan.
"Konan, Yahiko... how did Yahiko really die? Was it Danzō?" Jiraiya asked about the private matter that weighed heavily on his mind.
He had actually investigated and found the answer long ago, but he wanted to hear it from Konan herself.
A flicker of pain crossed Konan's face. Her voice was cold as she recounted the story: how Hanzō of the Salamander and Shimura Danzō had colluded, how Rain and Konoha's Root ninja had set up an ambush, how she was captured by Hanzō, and how Yahiko, in order to save her, had thrown himself onto the kunai in Nagato's hand, committing suicide.
"Danzō, that old dog!" Jiraiya was truly enraged. He slammed his fist on the table, his face contorted with pain.
Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan were all his students.
His initial motive might have been sympathy, thinking he would just teach them some basic ninjutsu so they could protect themselves. Later, when he saw Nagato's Rinnegan and believed it was connected to the Great Toad Sage's prophecy, he became much more invested, pouring a great deal of effort into the three of them, especially Nagato.
Jiraiya's initial motives weren't entirely pure, but after three years of living together, he had come to see them as his own children. Now, hearing that Yahiko had died because of Danzō, he decided to act swiftly.
No more interrogations. He would use this opportunity to get rid of him once and for all!
He went to find Ino again. "Little Ino, what about the Yamanaka clan's position?"
Ino's answer was crisp. "The Yamanaka clan has no problem. The Ino-Shika-Cho will always support the Hokage. Also, I can go talk to my cousin."
With Yahiko and Konan involved, Jiraiya was especially proactive this time. An unknowing observer might have thought he was the one who had the Daimyō killed and framed Danzō.
Things had to be done by the book. For the Hokage to take down an advisor, it had to be done flawlessly.
The Hokage couldn't be both the referee and a player on the field; there had to be a just cause.
Who would be the plaintiff?
To take down a decorated advisor based solely on suspicion of killing the Daimyō would make the village seem weak.
To accuse Danzō of killing Yahiko was even more absurd. Who was Yahiko? Was he a Konoha ninja?
They could only dig up old grievances.
The Aburame clan, which had harbored a deep hatred for Danzō since the Bug Valley incident, had long ago secretly sided with Jiraiya.
Now, Jiraiya asked the Aburame clan to be the aggrieved party. Would they do it?
Shibi Aburame nodded in agreement. We'll do it!
Soon, a report detailing Shimura Danzō's collusion with Iwagakure ninja to destroy a vital Aburame clan site landed in Jiraiya's hands.
Jiraiya donned his Hokage hat and robes, and leading his personal ANBU, he marched to the Root headquarters, demanding Danzō's cooperation in his investigation.
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