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Orochimaru, standing by, couldn't help but find Shimura Danzo's impotent rage amusing.
Danzo was ambitious but lacked talent, yet he was also extremely arrogant.
Aside from some talent in combat, he mostly relied on 'ruthlessness' and 'greed.' Leveraging his relationship with Lord Third, he commanded a vast network and immense resources, employing unscrupulous methods in intelligence gathering.
Over several decades, he had earned the moniker 'Ninja World's Darkness.'
However, he himself was completely unaware of this, nor did he realize how much convenience his relationship with Lord Third brought him. He often attributed all of Root's successes entirely to himself.
Over time, he naturally became more arrogant, even viewing Root as his personal property, tolerating no one coveting it.
It was a pity that Lord Third only needed a single transfer order to expose the fragility of his so-called 'deeply rooted Root.'
Forget about cutting half your forces with a word; even if he abolished the entire Root, what could Shimura Danzo do?
Orochimaru stood in the corner, his soft, slender tongue tracing his lips, his golden snake eyes coldly observing the scene.
He had no immediate intention of helping.
In recent years, Shimura Danzo had increasingly failed to recognize his own position, even often treating him, Orochimaru, as a subordinate, completely forgetting the circumstances when they first banded together for warmth.
Orochimaru hoped that Danzo would gain a little clarity through this incident.
However, Shimura Danzo was clearly not one to admit defeat easily.
"Bastard!"
He paced around the overturned desk in circles, his brows furrowed tightly, his expression incredibly solemn.
'The reason this incident is so tricky is because it's a joint internal inquiry proposed by Tsunade and Hatake Sakumo, suspecting the existence of an insider among the high-ranking officials.'
'Cutting half of Root's forces is even a minor issue in the inquiry's content.'
'The biggest problem is that Tsunade is demanding a comprehensive audit of all major departments' ledgers.'
'If an investigation is to be launched, regardless of whether this mess was caused by Homura or Koharu, I, as the primary suspect, will certainly be subjected to scrutiny.'
'By then…'
The more Shimura Danzo thought about it, the more he felt he had been hit where it hurt most this time.
Although all the money he embezzled was for the better development of Konoha, not a single penny was spent on himself or his family; it all went to Root's expenses.
However, the amount he embezzled… had reached a single-digit percentage of Konoha's total financial expenditure.
It was indeed not so easy to overlook.
As for Root's accounts, if it were merely an audit, it would be fine; at most, it would just be a matter of fabricating a few false accounts.
However, how could he withstand a joint audit with other departments?
'Damn it!'
'I just want Konoha to prosper, why is it so hard to do something practical?'
'As things stand, since the problem cannot be solved, then we must find a way to solve the people who raised the problem.'
'That foolish woman Tsunade is Lord Third's granddaughter and cannot be lightly touched, but Hatake Sakumo is an immigrant from the Land of Iron, merely a commoner with no foundation, and no Kekkei Genkai worth noting.'
'Most importantly, we absolutely cannot allow the Senju Clan, represented by Tsunade, to form an alliance with commoner Ninja like Hatake and others!'
'For the Hokage lineage, this is the greatest threat.'
Shimura Danzo's thinking was very simple.
Thinking this, he immediately turned to Aburame Ryoma beside him and said coldly:
"Ryoma!"
"At your command." The loyal Aburame Ryoma knelt on one knee.
"You find a way to take out Hatake Sakumo for me!"
"..."
At these words, the entire Root office fell into a deathly silence.
Everyone quietly looked at Aburame Ryoma, who stood at the very front.
Aburame Ryoma was also stunned, the expression under his mask instantly stiffening, and he subconsciously pointed to himself.
'Ah, me?'
Shimura Danzo didn't hear a reply and for a moment didn't quite grasp what the problem was, his gaze somewhat irritably sweeping towards Aburame Ryoma.
How could even his most loyal subordinate be so disrespectful?
Just as he was about to scold him, a chilling voice echoed from the shadowy corner.
"This is asking too much."
"Lord Danzo."
"I'm afraid all the Ninja in Root combined wouldn't be enough for Hatake Sakumo to kill alone, would they?"
Hearing this, everyone's gaze converged towards the direction from which the voice came.
Shimura Danzo raised an eyebrow, looking with his single eye.
A tall, slender figure with pure white hair, completely shrouded in a white robe, slowly stepped out.
The man's voice was hoarse, but his face was handsome to the point of being somewhat feminine, with a red mole on his brow.
Orochimaru's gaze also followed, a little surprised.
"Hiruko?"
Seeing this capable laboratory supervisor, Shimura Danzo's voice paused, his expression returning to indifference: "This is not where you should be."
Hiruko, however, paid no mind, casually bending down to place the document in his hand beside the overturned desk: "This is the battlefield trace investigation report collected by the Root squad."
"According to the trace calculations, the Third Raikage's minimum movement speed is three times the speed of sound, and he is capable of shattering obstacles like rocks and trees in his path at this high speed."
"My modeled estimations of his physique and Chakra armor strength are all written on it."
"Furthermore, according to intelligence reports, he once withstood a Tailed Beast Ball from the Eight-Tails head-on."
"Hatake Sakumo is capable of fighting such a monster head-on, and his speed is even a notch faster."
"At the same time, according to our inside report from Kumogakure, when the Third Raikage, that muscle monster, returned to the Village, he had several new wounds on his body."
"This is unprecedented."
"Lord Danzo, do you know what this means?"
Shimura Danzo was stunned upon hearing this, then turned to look at Aburame Ryoma beside him.
Aburame Ryoma nodded solemnly, confirming.
"Hiss…"
He immediately took a deep breath.
Shimura Danzo was almost fifty years old and had been away from the front lines for quite some time. He only knew that Hatake Sakumo was very strong.
But he never expected him to be that strong?!
Then this…
This was indeed impossible to contend with.
Although Shimura Danzo was arrogant, he wasn't stupid.
The level of Root's meager forces, if others didn't know, how could he not know himself?
However, if this were the case, how would the remaining problems be solved?
Could it be that he really had to obediently wait for that bastard Hiruzen to ruthlessly cut a piece off him?
As Danzo was thinking this, his peripheral vision finally caught Hiruko's self-assured expression.
"Ahem."
Only then did Shimura Danzo clear his throat in a feigned manner, sitting back in his original seat, and calmly said: "Hiruko, since you have a plan, speak it."
A faint smile slowly appeared on Hiruko's face.
"Lord Danzo."
"Since Lady Tsunade and Lord Hatake Sakumo have raised an inquiry into Konoha's high-ranking officials in their report, why should we stop them?"
"On the contrary, for the future of Konoha, we should help them investigate thoroughly and meticulously."
"The heads of each Ninja clan, the leaders of organizations, the department heads of the Hokage Building, the commanding officers of various front-line units… Are only Konoha Advisors considered high-ranking, and these people not 'high-ranking'?"
"For Konoha, we should thoroughly investigate to the very end."
In short, it was two words—escalate.
For this Village currently in a state of war, Hiruko's proposal was undeniably malicious, and he continued to speak volubly:
"At the same time, we must not only raise the stakes but also place our bets."
"Exert pressure on public opinion, conduct comprehensive investigations on the economic front, dismantle the internal forces of various Ninja clans on the military front, and fully promote Konoha's cleansing operation on the political front."
These words, even to a daring individual like Shimura Danzo, sent shivers down his spine.
Just imagining it for a moment, he could picture the catastrophic outcome:
"Aren't you afraid of something going wrong?"
Hiruko smiled gently: "These are all troubles caused by Lady Tsunade."
"What does it have to do with you?"
"Lord Danzo, you are merely expanding a part of the investigation scope under the instruction of Lord Third."
Shimura Danzo's eyes grew brighter the more he listened, and his gaze towards Hiruko became increasingly appreciative.
He had never expected that this ordinary, neither-here-nor-there laboratory supervisor actually possessed such talent in this area.
He had truly underestimated him before.
"Excellent, very good!"
"I never thought that among so many people in Root, it would be you, Hiruko, who would guess my thoughts in advance."
"Alright, it's decided!"
Hiruko's eye twitched fiercely, but in the end, he bowed to show respect.
His experiments still required Danzo's support.
At least in the next few years, his financial resources absolutely could not decrease.
For this, he could only resort to such a desperate measure.
He thought to himself, his peripheral vision secretly glancing at the man standing in the corner's shadow, his expression tense.
No matter the cost, he had to prove himself.
Even ordinary people can surpass geniuses like you.
'Just wait, Orochimaru.'
(Hiruko ↑)
A bit late, very sorry.
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