Shimura Danzō let out a cold snort.
"You ignorant brat. Everything I've done was for Konoha. What could you possibly understand?"
"Then please, Danzō-sama, list them."
Uchiha Kamito said with a grin.
Oh my, how embarrassing. Aren't you just walking right into a trap? Let's not even mention those things you've done—how many of them can actually be brought into the open? Let's just talk about this: which one of them did you actually accomplish?
"Hmph. At the Daimyō's residence, I spoke up for justice and secured a large amount of funding for Konoha."
Mitokado Homura: ???
"I have devoted myself wholeheartedly to maintaining good relations between the Daimyō and Konoha."
Utatane Koharu: ???
"I—"
"Ahem."
Hiruzen coughed twice, shooting Shimura Danzō a glare at the same time.
Don't even think about stealing my credit. All of that is mine—every bit of it.
"Well then, Danzō-sama, everything you've said sounds rather… abstract. Do you have anything more concrete?"
Kamito interjected at that moment.
You little brat—who are you calling all talk and no action?!
Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu were practically breathing fire, silently cheering Danzō on.
Come on, Danzō, destroy him. We're definitely voting for you.
"Of course I haven't only done such 'abstract' things."
Damn it, you idiot Danzō.
"I have rendered great service during the war against Kirigakure."
"Well, Danzō-sama, Kirigakure actually withdrew on their own. It didn't have much to do with us."
"Hmph. If I hadn't held them off along the coast for a full year, how could they have retreated so easily?"
"That may be, but Danzō-sama… you never even went to the battlefield."
"Hmph. I was the commander."
Shimura Danzō and Uchiha Kamito traded words back and forth.
But the atmosphere among the crowd began to shift.
The ninja clans naturally followed their clan heads, and the clan heads followed whoever truly held power.
But the civilian ninjas were completely different.
What they were hearing now was simple:
So Shimura Danzō-sama has never even set foot on the battlefield?
In truth, it wasn't a big issue for a commander not to personally fight.
The problem was comparison.
On the Cloud Village front, everyone knew how brutal it had been. The Ino–Shika–Chō clans had practically gone through a generational turnover (forced, at that), and that Senju kid was still somewhere recovering from his injuries.
On the Sand Village front, Konoha had truly gone all out. The Legendary Sannin and Hatake Sakumo had all gone to the battlefield, leading from the front, and even then they barely managed to maintain a stalemate.
On the Stone Village front, although the commander also hadn't fought personally, there hadn't really been any fighting at all—and Konoha hadn't suffered any casualties, so no one complained.
But on the Kirigakure front, casualties had nearly matched those of the Cloud Village battlefield—around three thousand Konoha shinobi lost. And you, the commander Shimura Danzō, never once stepped onto the battlefield?
Weren't you just using our lives to earn your own merits?
Shimura Danzō's reputation dropped another notch.
Then again… was there even any room left for it to drop? That was a rather profound philosophical question.
"Ahem. Please refrain from discussing matters unrelated to this incident."
Hiruzen noticed the situation drifting in an unknown direction and quickly steered things back on track.
"Very well, Advisor. Danzō-sama, please explain why that gray-clad, cat-masked ninja placed dangerous items into the goods of Inuzuka Logistics."
Damn it, stop calling me 'Advisor.' I never agreed to that.
Shameless Uchiha… what a pain.
Shimura Danzō began to think.
A reason… any excuse would do.
But the key now was which reason would benefit him the most.
Unintentionally, his gaze passed over Hiruzen's weathered face.
You'll do, Hiruzen.
Hiruzen: Danzō, don't come over here.
...
In the end, the matter concluded as a mere misunderstanding.
Shimura Danzō had been carrying out a confidential Hokage mission and was unfortunately spotted by the Inuzuka clan. Then, dutiful members of the Uchiha Police Force got involved, resulting in the current situation.
Hiruzen praised Shimura Danzō for his determination in executing the mission, the Inuzuka clan for their vigilance, and the Uchiha Police Force for their efficiency.
And with that, the matter was closed.
...
After it ended, everyone dispersed.
The four of them gathered again.
As the second most reckless one under Senju Hideki, Hyūga Hiyasu was the first to speak:
"Kamito, Shiken, what exactly were you two trying to do this time? You dragged this out for so long, just for a misunderstanding like that?"
He didn't understand the finer details of the situation.
But he knew one thing—Aburame Shiken was definitely the kind of guy who looked dark and was even darker inside. Whatever he wanted to do couldn't possibly be that simple.
As for Kamito… he was just as dark. With that nasty personality of his, there was no way he had aimed for a simple misunderstanding from the start.
As for Ryoha… his brain worked about the same as mine. He's probably just as confused right now.
Ryoha: Hey, I'm actually pretty smart, okay?
Inuzuka Ryoha also spoke up. "Yeah, Shiken, Kamito, just tell us what's going on. I hate guessing games."
Aburame Shiken answered first. "It's not that complicated. In simple terms, Kamito wanted to use this incident to bring down Shimura Danzō. The higher-ups needed to protect him. What both sides were really contesting was exactly that."
Hyūga Hiyasu shook his head. "I still don't get it. What you're saying doesn't quite match what just happened."
"Here's the thing. At the beginning, we were supposed to investigate that gray-clad, cat-masked ninja. But they shifted the topic to our Heavenly Net Plan. After that was resolved, they redirected the topic again to merits and contributions. Once Kamito shut that down, they had no choice but to settle for a relatively acceptable outcome."
Shiken continued explaining.
"But then… if they held the initiative and the right to interpret everything, why would they choose that kind of result?"
Hiyasu was still confused. Wasn't there a saying that whoever controls the narrative controls everything?
"Because that person is Shimura Danzō," Ryoha said. "The higher-ups didn't dare take the risk. And don't forget, this place was Root's base. Who knows how many things here can't be seen or spoken of? Even the higher-ups felt uneasy."
After all, he had felt something was off from the very beginning.
Hyūga Hiyasu stared at Inuzuka Ryoha.
What are you doing? Weren't we supposed to be the dumb ones in this chapter? If you suddenly get smart, what am I supposed to do?
Seemingly sensing the ominous gaze, Ryoha quickly asked:
"Kamito, Shiken, with an outcome like this, it doesn't seem like we gained anything. And we put in so much time and effort."
Uchiha Kamito and Aburame Shiken exchanged a smile.
No one knew how they managed to read each other's eyes through those sunglasses.
"No gains? How could that be?" Kamito laughed. "After this incident, the efficiency of my Uchiha Police Force is now famous throughout Konoha. And do you know the looks they gave me after I led a group of Uchiha to confront the Konoha higher-ups head-on? Hahaha!"
He burst into wild laughter.
Of course, there were also other benefits—the Hyūga clan's reputation for fairness, Inuzuka Logistics' determination to protect their goods, the Aburame clan's highly effective insects, and so on.
But at this moment, Kamito seemed to have completely forgotten all of that.
What was that phrase again?
Laughing like a madman.