Shimura Danzo had spent his entire life obsessed with the title of Hokage, eternally regretting that he hadn't stepped forward back then—allowing Tobirama to pass the title to Hiruzen.
But in truth, Danzo had never seen the core truth: what kind of qualities one truly needed to become Hokage.
The courage to sacrifice for comrades? That was the bare minimum.
Unable to understand that, fixated on the past, Danzo was always destined to live in Hiruzen's shadow.
Though on the surface he stood just one step away from the Hokage seat—serving as both Hokage Advisor and Konoha Elder—all of Danzo's power was ultimately granted by Hiruzen.
Even Root was a branch severed from the ANBU, which was completely under the Third Hokage's control. Most of Danzo's Root operatives had originally come from ANBU.
He thought he could keep secrets from everyone, that he could move in the shadows unnoticed.
But could he really have done any of it without Hiruzen's tacit approval?
Doesn't this all seem a bit... familiar?
Almost like a certain imperial lackey in a historical dynasty?
If Hiruzen, as Konoha's leader, is the emperor—then Danzo's Root is the secret police, and Danzo himself is no more than a so-called all-powerful Grand Eunuch, like the infamous Wei Zhongxian.
But all his authority came from the throne—from Hokage. And the emperor could depose him at will.
Only, Danzo—like Wei—could never see himself clearly. He always had his own ambitions, his secret plans. He wasn't content with being the emperor's tool. He wanted to become the emperor.
So, once the Uchiha problem was "resolved," Danzo became expendable.
He could be called back later if needed.
This wasn't even the first time. Root had already been officially disbanded once—after the Orochimaru incident.
As long as Hiruzen lived, Danzo could never truly make waves.
Danzo believed fate was giving him another chance when he met Naruto at his lowest point.
But what he didn't realize was... his movements had long been under Naruto's observation.
None of those "coincidences" were random. They were orchestrated.
Naruto had already seen through him completely.
This had been a trap—right from the start.
And Danzo had walked into it willingly.
Danzo wanted to control Naruto. But Naruto… wanted Danzo's knowledge.
Danzo would never have guessed that just as he barely escaped one scheme, he had willingly jumped into another.
His whole life, he'd been used. A pitiful, pathetic—but undeniably dangerous—tool.
Right now, Danzo was thinking on level one.
Hiruzen was on level five.
And Naruto? Naruto was playing 4D chess on level ten.
---
Since he had decided to teach Naruto ninjutsu, Danzo got right to work.
"To learn ninjutsu," he began, "the first thing you need to know is your chakra nature. Chakra natures are innate, though with training, one can develop others—though they'll never be as strong as your natural affinity."
As he explained, Danzo pulled out a slip of chakra paper and handed it to Naruto. "Inject your chakra into this."
This was chakra paper, a tool used to determine a ninja's elemental affinity. It reacts to chakra input in the following ways:
Fire: the paper burns
Wind: the paper splits in half
Lightning: the paper wrinkles
Water: the paper becomes damp
Earth: the paper crumbles
It doesn't react to yin or yang chakra, so it's limited to the five base elements.
Danzo added cautiously, "You do know how to channel chakra, right?"
Naruto nodded obediently. "Our teachers at the academy explained it."
In truth? When his teachers were talking, Naruto had been training.
His shadow clones were the ones in class—and most of them slept through it.
The real teacher had been the Fourth Hokage.
Yes, Minato knew Wind Release, but Naruto didn't want to make it too obvious that he could use flashy techniques like BIU BIU BIU from the start.
He needed a low-key reason to explain his abilities. Can't just start busting out energy blasts.
(Okay, real talk: it's because Naruto thought Minato sucked at teaching. Aside from single-hand-seal techniques like the Shadow Clone and Multi Shadow Clone, he couldn't master any elemental jutsu Minato tried to show him.)
Naruto pressed his chakra into the paper.
Slice—
The paper split cleanly in half.
Wind nature chakra!
Danzo's eye practically lit up.
Heaven is helping me!
Pure wind affinity. Just like himself!
While one chakra nature might be considered average in the ninja world, Naruto's identity as the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki made him anything but ordinary.
Even with just wind release, Danzo would personally train this boy into a weapon.
Staring at Naruto with burning ambition, Danzo imagined the future:
Once the jinchūriki inherits my teachings and bears my mark... then we'll see what you do, Hiruzen!
He felt rejuvenated just thinking about it.
---
Unfortunately...
Reality is cruel.
Very quickly, reality gave Shimura Danzo a slap to the face—hard enough to make stars spin in his vision.
He was furious.
Three months. Three full months of his careful, meticulous instruction—and Naruto still couldn't learn even the most basic C-rank technique:
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.
Just one move!
Any other ninja would've mastered it in less time. Even the slowest learner would have some results after that long.
Sasuke had learned Fireball Jutsu in one week.
Danzo could swear on his only remaining eye: in all his years, he'd never seen someone so…
(High EQ): "Lacking talent in ninjutsu."
(Low EQ): "This kid is hopeless."
Compared to how quickly Naruto had learned to sense and control ki, his ninjutsu aptitude was rock bottom.
Aside from jutsu that required no hand seals, Naruto couldn't manage even the most basic elemental jutsu.
Minato had once told him, "You're a natural-born taijutsu user."
Naruto looked at the wind scrolls in Danzo's hand with a mix of envy and frustration.
If he couldn't master this one jutsu, the rest—Wind Blade, Vacuum Sphere, Vacuum Wave, Pressure Damage—were just pipe dreams.
Maybe one day he could just clap his hands and summon whatever he wanted…
Like they say:
When one door opens, another shuts.
His door? The power of ki.
His shut window? Elemental ninjutsu.
Which meant one thing—Naruto's path was the martial artist's path.
…Though during his free time, he did manage to learn one of Konoha's assassination techniques: Crescent Moon Dance.
With a single move, Naruto split into three afterimages and carved a stone wall into thirds.
Danzo stood in stunned silence.
For a moment, he recalled something Hiruzen had once told him:
> "That boy has quite the talent in taijutsu."
Watching Naruto instantly master a taijutsu technique that took most months to learn...
Danzo was speechless.
"Damn you, Sarutobi Hiruzen… Was this all part of your plan too?"
PS: Access advance (50+) chapters at
https://www.patreon.com/c/NanamiTL