Danzo's mercenary plan had failed.
Toward those Konoha shinobi who wanted to defect to Tsunade, Danzo hated them so much his teeth itched.
Yet he could not attack them inside the village. That would stain his own reputation.
And Kakuzu, whom he had finally hired with great effort, had been driven away by Jiraiya.
Now that Jiraiya was secretly protecting them the entire way, Danzo could not find any opportunity to act. He could only watch helplessly as those people left Konoha and headed toward the Land of Fire capital.
"Is compromising with Tsunade truly the only choice left?"
"If Tsunade returns to Konoha and is not merely satisfied with obtaining justice for Nawaki, but instead tries to compete with this old man for the Hokage position, what should I do?"
This was why Danzo was unwilling to let Tsunade return to Konoha.
Even though Danzo knew Tsunade probably was not very interested in the Hokage position.
The possibility that she would proactively compete with him was not high.
But if she competed, he would have no chance of winning at all.
What was she?
The princess of the Senju clan.
The granddaughter of the First Hokage.
What was he?
Merely the clan head of the Shimura clan.
Who would those civilians choose?
He had done so many dirty deeds, and his reputation was poor.
Even though Tsunade had not returned to Konoha for so many years, she was still better than him.
As for the shinobi clans, aside from the Shimura clan choosing him, the others were uncertain.
Although Ino-Shika-Cho could be said to be bound tightly to the Sarutobi clan, Tsunade and Hiruzen Sarutobi had already fallen out. Logically speaking, Ino-Shika-Cho should not stand on Tsunade's side. But Danzo understood very clearly that if things truly reached that point, Ino-Shika-Cho would abandon Hiruzen Sarutobi one hundred percent.
The Inuzuka clan went without saying. Their relationship with him was poor.
The Aburame clan was a neutral faction.
After calculating back and forth, perhaps only the Sarutobi clan would still support him.
But that would not be because they sincerely supported him. It would be because they were even less willing to support Tsunade.
Once the Senju clan completed its reconstruction, this force would be extremely massive.
It might not reach the level of being the number one shinobi clan, but it would definitely rank among the foremost.
Many members of the Senju clan could no longer trace their bloodline.
On the surface, this seemed as though it would cause the Senju clan to lack manpower.
But there was one situation.
Some civilian shinobi could claim to possess Senju blood. As long as they found even a slight connection, they could use this opportunity to become part of the noble Senju clan.
"Unless Tsunade can swear publicly that she will absolutely not compete for the Hokage position."
Danzo's thoughts had already begun to loosen.
Mainly because he had been forced into having no other choice.
"It is all Hiruzen's fault. He left me with this rotten mess!"
But just as Danzo's willingness to negotiate with Tsunade grew stronger and stronger—
A piece of news spread through the shinobi world at an extremely fast speed.
"The one truly conducting human experiments was not Orochimaru, but Danzo Shimura. Danzo Shimura not only conducted human experiments, he also collected a large number of Sharingan and used the corpse of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, as research material."
"Danzo Shimura defiled Senju Hashirama's corpse!"
In an instant, this news detonated the entire shinobi world.
The matter of human experiments had already drawn the attention of countless people when Orochimaru defected from Konoha.
Everyone was deeply wary of it and cursed Orochimaru bitterly.
Even later, because the rumor that Hiruzen Sarutobi had framed Orochimaru appeared, many people began to doubt Hiruzen Sarutobi and reduced their criticism of Orochimaru.
But everyone's attitude toward human experiments remained the same.
They hated them to the bone.
Therefore, the moment this news appeared, it received enormous attention.
In addition, this news involved three hot topics.
Danzo Shimura, the Acting Hokage.
In the entire history of the shinobi world, the concept of an Acting Kage had actually rarely appeared.
Danzo, as an Acting Kage, seemed very special.
In addition, the Sharingan was also a hot topic.
The Uchiha clan itself had an extremely strong presence. And many people still had not forgotten the rebellion from back then.
And then there was Senju Hashirama.
The man who single-handedly created the era of shinobi villages.
The God of Shinobi.
A powerful Wood Release user.
Konoha's First Hokage.
A great existence who willingly abandoned his clan surname for the sake of the village.
"I never expected the truth to be like this."
"No wonder Orochimaru clearly didn't do those things, yet Konoha still produced so much evidence. Because someone really was doing them. It's just that the person wasn't Orochimaru, but Danzo Shimura."
"Hiruzen Sarutobi joined hands with Danzo Shimura to frame Orochimaru?"
"How vicious."
"One eliminated his own disciple so that his Hokage position would not be threatened."
"The other shifted the dirty deeds he had committed onto someone else."
"Two old bastards colluding with each other. Absolutely hateful!"
A young man cursed furiously.
"Those old bastards should just die once they get old! Do they stay alive purely to persecute the younger generation?"
"Between the two of them, not one is any good. They must have colluded long, long ago. One is Hokage, the other is the Hokage's assistant. Who knows how many evil things they've done?"
Jiraiya was indignant.
"Hiruzen-sensei and Danzo joined hands to frame Orochimaru. No wonder Orochimaru had no chance to clear his name. With a frame-up like this, no one could possibly escape."
"It seems our previous judgment of the relationship between Hiruzen-sensei and Danzo was wrong."
"Indeed. If the two of them were at odds and had conflicts, then why could Danzo remain in that position for so long? Elder Mitokado and Elder Utatane did not have much conflict with Hiruzen-sensei, but as fellow elders, their authority was far smaller than Danzo's."
Tsunade nodded.
"The two of them may have been acting all along."
"On the surface, they created the appearance of discord. But in reality, their relationship may have been better than anyone's."
"That is why Danzo clearly could have contacted us, yet never did."
"Those filthy things Hiruzen-sensei did, Danzo definitely had a part in them too."
"Including what happened to Nawaki back then."
Tsunade looked toward Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya, it seems we cannot place any hope in Danzo. Hiruzen-sensei and Danzo are both no good."
"Nawaki's matter must be investigated clearly."
"And as for the Hokage position, we must take it as well."
"Jiraiya, you were right. I need to shoulder this responsibility. Konoha cannot be allowed to keep being trampled by them. Otherwise, more tragedies like Nawaki's will happen."
"The one who defiled Grandfather's corpse absolutely cannot be forgiven!"
Jiraiya sighed.
"No one could have imagined they would be rotten to this extent."
As he spoke, a trace of self-blame appeared on Jiraiya's face.
"Before this, I even suspected Orochimaru. Now it seems Orochimaru must have known something long ago. That was why he took the initiative to contact Danzo—to investigate."
Konoha.
Hokage Building.
When Danzo saw the contents of the rumor, his expression froze fiercely.
Then, his face darkened until it seemed as if water could drip from it.
"Nonsense!"