After Chinya left Root, Danzo stood frozen in place for a long time, still reeling from shock.
He remained motionless for a long while before finally regaining his senses.
His face twisted with rage, Danzo bared his teeth and slammed his fist onto the table—crushing it to pieces.
With a furious snarl, he growled, "Tatsuma Aburame!"
From the shadows, a figure peeled away behind Danzo.
Tatsuma Aburame, Danzo's trusted right-hand man and an elite core member of Root.
Danzo turned toward him, bloodshot eyes ablaze with fury. He demanded, "Answer me—I'll give you a squad of Root's finest ninja. Can you kill Chinya?"
Tatsuma Aburame's expression remained blank as he calmly replied, "Forgive me, Lord Danzo, but I have no confidence of success. Wherever I hid, he already knew I was there. My Parasitic Bugs fear him so much they won't even come near.
If I may be honest, Lord Danzo, based on his current strength, even all of us together might still be unable to kill him."
Danzo roared, "Then what good are you people?!"
Tatsuma did not respond, silently holding his position.
After venting his anger, Danzo gradually calmed down.
But hatred burned intensely in his gaze—"Chinya, I'll make you see how foolish it is to oppose me. All your power in Konoha came from me. Taking it back would be effortless. Without my backing, you'll gain nothing from Minato Namikaze either. Let's see who breaks first—you or me!"
---
As Chinya stepped out of Root, he remained utterly calm.
In Chinya's mind, Danzo had always been just a tool.
Besides, there was little left that Danzo could offer him anyway. If their relationship had reached the breaking point, then so be it.
Chinya went directly to the Konoha Defense Unit and found Kakashi.
Kakashi looked up in surprise. "Chinya-sensei, why are you here?"
It startled Kakashi greatly. Recently, Chinya had practically been inseparable from Kushina Uzumaki. What business could he possibly have here?
Chinya told Kakashi, "Kakashi, your temporary leadership ends today."
Kakashi frowned in confusion. "Huh? Are you saying Chinya-sensei will resume command?"
Chinya shook his head. "No, I won't be taking over either. From now on, the Konoha Defense Unit has nothing to do with us anymore."
Now thoroughly confused, Kakashi asked, "What happened?"
Chinya answered simply, "I've split with Danzo."
Instantly, Kakashi understood.
So it really was because of Danzo.
Originally, the Konoha Defense Unit had been established at Danzo's request. Now that Chinya had broken with him, it only made sense that Danzo wouldn't allow Chinya to remain its leader.
Chinya asked, "Are the bail funds still intact?"
Kakashi answered, "They are. Over the past few months, we've collected nearly forty million ryō altogether (about four hundred thousand gold coins)."
Chinya nodded thoughtfully. "Forty million ryō, huh? Less than I expected, but still enough."
Chinya had been cultivating in Ryuchi Cave for about four months. That was over 40 million ryō in total — around 300,000 ryō per day on average.
Kakashi led Chinya into the room where money was stored. Chinya pulled out a scroll and sealed all the cash inside it directly.
After sealing away all the money, Chinya took Kakashi and prepared to leave the Konoha Defense Unit.
As they were leaving, they happened to run into Shisui Uchiha.
Shisui Uchiha blinked in surprise when he saw Chinya, his expression immediately turning serious.
Shisui was one of the first people who learned that Chinya had returned to Konoha.
Recently, Shisui had been really anxious.
Although Kakashi fully followed Chinya's orders, he wasn't nearly as strict about it as Chinya himself.
When Shisui found out that Kakashi would continue serving as acting captain of the Konoha Defense Unit, he felt greatly relieved.
Now seeing Chinya here, thinking that Chinya might want to take back the role of captain again, Shisui instantly grew tense.
Chinya smiled lightly at Shisui: "Don't worry — or maybe I should say you won't have to worry ever again. Well then, see you."
Chinya and Kakashi left the Konoha Defense Unit.
Shisui couldn't understand Chinya's words at all.
What did that sentence mean? What was meant by not needing to worry anymore?
After leaving the Konoha Defense Unit, Chinya said to Kakashi: "Kakashi, you go wait at my house first. I still need to drop by the Hokage Tower. After all, I should let Minato Namikaze know about my resignation, and I should also drop by and give Danzo a taste of his own medicine."
Kakashi nodded: "Alright, Chinya-sensei, I'll be going then."
Watching Kakashi leave, Chinya made his way toward the Hokage Tower.
Once Minato was informed and before Kushina Uzumaki gave birth, there shouldn't be anything troubling him, so he could focus entirely on being by Kushina's side.
Arriving at the Hokage Tower, Chinya knocked on the door to the Hokage's office.
"Come in."
As Chinya entered, he saw both Minato Namikaze and Hiruzen Sarutobi inside the office.
Minato looked surprised: "Chinya? What brings you here?"
Chinya told Minato: "Fourth Hokage, starting today, I'm resigning from my position as captain of the Konoha Defense Unit. Feel free to choose someone else to take over."
Both Minato and Hiruzen widened their eyes simultaneously: "Huh? What? Why are you suddenly resigning?"
"Kushina is pregnant; I need to take care of her. I think that reason alone should be enough. As for the full details, you and the Third Hokage will find out soon anyway. The fact that I told you first instead of him makes a big difference. Consider this me helping you two out. So unless something urgent comes up, please don't bother me. Well, I'll be taking my leave now."
With those words, Chinya turned around and left the Hokage Tower.
Minato and Hiruzen exchanged bewildered glances, struggling to make sense of Chinya's cryptic words.
But they didn't have to wait long to learn the cause.
Not long after Chinya left, Danzo burst hurriedly into the Hokage's office.
Danzo originally intended to meet Hiruzen Sarutobi at his home, but upon learning that he was currently at the Hokage Tower, Danzo went there directly.
After entering the office, Danzo spoke out immediately, "Fourth, Hiruzen, Chinya has shown misconduct. I propose removing him from his position as captain of the Konoha Defense Unit and dismissing him entirely from the unit! I will recommend a qualified ninja to take over as the new captain of the Konoha Defense Unit."
Danzo was confident that Minato Namikaze and Hiruzen Sarutobi would agree.
At this point, Minato had grown closer to the Uchiha Clan. If Chinya were no longer the captain of the Konoha Defense Unit, he would no longer have the authority to target the Uchiha Clan. This is exactly the kind of outcome Minato would be happy to see.
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