"We're in the middle of a war. Losing Orochimaru—a trusted general—hurts our strength. This kind of one-for-one exchange just isn't worth it. Honestly, we should've handed the Hokage seat and the Living Dead Project to Danzo from the start."
Koharu Utatane's tone was serious. Her use of "we" said a lot—among Konoha's high command, she was a classic advisor type. But at the end of the day, who do advisors actually advise? The Hokage, of course.
With Konoha in its current state, Koharu knew exactly where her loyalties needed to lie.
Danzo Shimura, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane had all come up together, classmates and comrades. They knew each other's strengths and flaws. For her part, Koharu still put her faith in Hiruzen's resilience.
"If that's how you see it, you're underestimating Danzo and oversimplifying Orochimaru," Hiruzen replied, voice steady.
"If we simply hand over the Hokage title and the Living Dead Project to Danzo, with his suspicious nature, he'll assume it's a trap. But if we set up Orochimaru as the target, he'll chase after it like a moth to a flame.
You remember how, back when we went on missions with Lord Tobirama, Danzo always fought for extra rations? If the food was already split up, he'd lose interest. That's just how he is."
"Ugh! You remember we were all in the same squad, right? How can you dump all that blame on him?"
Koharu shot back, irritation clear in her voice.
"Doesn't he deserve it?! Or have you forgotten who started this war? Wasn't it his failed iron ore scheme that kicked everything off?! When he was tossing blame my way, where were you?"
Hiruzen couldn't hold back his own anger anymore. The truth was, this war started because they had to clean up the mess from Danzo's so-called "economic warfare." Not only did they fail to clean it up, but they made things worse. Hiruzen's resentment toward Danzo had been simmering for ages.
"And there's something else that pisses me off every time I think about it."
He suddenly remembered every grievance at once.
"What now?" Koharu asked.
"It's something I only pieced together recently," Hiruzen said, his face darkening.
"Everyone knows I lost at Lishi, and Konoha's main force was wiped out. But Danzo's defeat at Moon Lake happened fifteen days before the Lishi battle! Sunagakure used nearly identical tactics in both fights. Doesn't that make you wonder?!"
Koharu's eyes widened in sudden realization.
"You're right! Fifteen days—even if a turtle was delivering the report, it should've arrived by then. If we'd known Sunagakure's strategy ahead of time, we could've—"
"He was dodging responsibility, plain and simple!"
Hiruzen slammed his fist against the bedside.
"Think about it: 'I, Danzo Shimura, lost four thousand at Moon Lake, but you, Hiruzen Sarutobi, lost eight thousand at Lishi! Your responsibility's way bigger. If you're not committing seppuku, then I sure don't need to slit my own throat. We're both in the same boat!' He never considered those eight thousand ninja were Konoha's backbone. That's a classic case of selling the family farm and not feeling the pain."
With that, Hiruzen closed his eyes, frustration boiling over.
"I've always known he resented Lord Tobirama picking me over him back in the day. Fine! He wants to be Hokage? Let him! Let him carry the weight that comes with the title."
Koharu's emotions churned. She'd spent years in the political trenches—she understood Danzo's motives the moment Hiruzen spelled it out.
After all, when Danzo took Hidden Rain Village and tried to carve out his own power base, Konoha's leadership noticed. But for the sake of the "Three-Pronged Sand Attack," Hiruzen swallowed his pride and sent only a tanto as a warning.
And how did Danzo repay that restraint?
He deliberately concealed the defeat at Moon Lake, indirectly causing eight thousand Konoha ninja to die on the battlefield.
Worse, to cover his retreat from Hidden Rain, he burned the village to the ground, turning Konoha into the symbol of cruelty across the nations—the villain everyone loved to hate.
With a character like that, with actions like those, just making him take the blame for a deadly scheme almost felt too easy.
Koharu tossed the last scraps of old camaraderie in the trash.
"But what about Orochimaru…"
"Orochimaru's got his own problems," Hiruzen cut her off.
"He's the most calculating of my students. Smart, capable, decisive. I really did intend to groom him as Konoha's successor. But over the years, I realized his obsession with power and jutsu has gone off the rails. He's become utterly fixated, and his disregard for life is horrifying. That tree's grown crooked."
"So you knew about all the human experiments he was running!"
"Yes."
"And you still let him get away with it?"
"Everyone's got their favorites. I had a heart-to-heart with him. He wasn't interested in the Hokage seat, so we struck a deal. He'd help me set up this scheme, and I'd let him and Nawaki leave. Being branded a missing-nin means nothing to him. After the war, I won't chase him. He can do whatever he wants."
Hiruzen let out a long sigh. He'd once pinned his hopes on Orochimaru. Seeing things end up like this was painful.
Koharu thought for a moment. "What about after the war… What do we do?"
The question was vague—what do we do about what? Choking on food? Coughing on water?
But Hiruzen understood. She was asking about the next Hokage.
"I originally wanted Minato Namikaze, but after the Tsūtatsu battle, he's missing—alive or dead, no one knows. I'm struggling with this problem myself."
"What about Jiraiya?" Koharu suggested.
"Jiraiya's too frivolous. He's not the right fit."
"Homura Mitokado?"
"Homura's got strategy but no decisiveness. And he's getting old. Not suitable."
"Tsunade… actually, forget I said that."
Hiruzen shook his head.
"Right now, there's no good candidate. After the war, I'll push through for a few more years while we keep searching for someone."
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