Shota moved ahead of the Kazekage and the others to scout out the surroundings of any danger.
Shota felt pleased as he did his job. In fact, he was more than pleased. He felt quietly triumphant. The trip to the Land of Earth and the Land of Fire had gone better than he could have hoped.
Suna would be getting a tailed beast without any complications from either Iwa or Konoha. The village hidden in the waterfall had agreed to the deal. That meant Suna was going to gain another weapon.
In this world, a tailed beast was the equivalent of a nuclear deterrent, not that it had ever stopped villages from starting great wars.
But for Suna, one more jinchūriki changed everything. It meant respect from other nations. It meant fewer raids on their borders.
And Suna had also secured a strong alliance with Konoha, currently the strongest shinobi village in the world. That brought real, practical benefits.
Cheap food and water would flow from the fertile Land of Fire into the desert. No more empty granaries during long droughts. No more children born weak because their mothers could not eat properly.
Merchants would travel safer roads. Trade would increase. Prices would drop. Families would eat better. Shinobi would fight less often on empty stomachs.
The best part of the trip, though, was personal. Shota had finally gotten the name of the traitorous Suna elder who had colluded with Danzo and endangered the village for years.
Danzo had complied and Shota had no doubts that he had done it begrudgingly and angrily. And with that, he had gotten the name of the person who Shota really wanted to kill.
Shota allowed himself a small, private smile. That elder had fed information to Danzo during the war. He would gather evidence and when the time came, he would expose the traitor to Rasa and let justice fall. The thought felt good. It felt like justice long overdue.
Now you might be asking why he told Minato about Danzo's dirty work despite Danzo complying with him and giving him the name of the traitor elder.
Well it was simple. He was going to do it even if Danzo gave the name or did not give the name.
It was his plan from the start and he also loved the idea of backstabbing Danzo. Can anyone say that they backstabbed the darkness of shinobi? None except Shota now.
The thought made him want to laugh out loud. He pictured Danzo's face when Minato would confront him about his crimes.
Shota wished he could be there to see it. Maybe he would ask Minato for a report later. "So, how did Danzo look when you arrested him? Did he cry? Did he beg? Tell me everything."
He had to bite his lip to keep from grinning.
Shota had made up his mind to tell about Danzo to the Hokage before he even arrived in Konoha.
That was why he had carried all the proof with him, notes, timelines, witness accounts he had gathered over months, copies of suspicious orders.
He also took a small vial of dried blood from the Root agents he had killed during the battle that he had killed him. Every proof would make it more difficult for Danzo to get scott free out of this mess.
He decided to take advantage of Minato already being a Hokage. He knew that if he waited and when Minato was dead, and Hiruzen was again the Hokage, Danzo would be able to walk free.
Or Danzo could have used Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan to walk away if he waited to reveal Danzo's crimes much later. He did not want to give Danzo a way out.
And he knew that Minato would make Danzo pay for his crimes. And he would have Jiraiya's support with him. Danzo now had no place to go.
'I can't wait to hear about Konoha's news in the coming weeks.'
Another reason for Shota trying to screw up the timeline was because he also wanted to prevent the Uchiha massacre. The Uchiha were the strongest clan in the shinobi world. They had both quality and quantity of shinobi.
With them alive and loyal, it would be much harder for Akatsuki to attack Konoha later. It would also help in the Fourth Great Shinobi War if Shota failed to stop Obito.
A stronger Konoha meant a stronger army to face Akatsuki and thus fewer deaths for Suna who would also be participating in the war.
He had also considered telling Minato about Orochimaru. But he had no proof against him.
Orochimaru was careful considering his sensei and teammates had never suspected him despite spending years together. The snake hid his experiments well. Minato would believe him less if he accused without proof.
'I will think of some other plan for the snake.'
'Now my next task would be to find proof against the name Danzo has given me. It would have been much easier if Danzo had also given me proof. But I will have to be careful. Danzo might just warn the traitor that his identity is revealed. And he might just do it considering I went back against our deal.'
Shota continued to contemplate about this as they continued to make their way towards Suna.
'Besides all this, let's hope Suna and Konoha get into a peace alliance. It would be good for Suna and its citizens with the cheap food and water availability.'
--------Author Notes---------
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