Shimura Danzo spent an entire day reading the entries made in Uchiha Tonan’s diary. He was already in a trance. Finally, he saw the notes for the last six months.
The experience of Fire City made me discover that most people in the world live in dire straits. In contrast, Konoha is simply heaven. No wonder so many people didn’t hesitate to buy an inch of land in Konoha even if they had to sell off all their assets.
……
Master Chigo died… died of guilt, died of incomprehension. That’s right, he indeed acted according to the rules of the Land of Fire. But this was wrong! Evil should be deterred by iron-blooded means. Blind care and education cannot save the world.
Severe illness requires strong medicines, and in troubled times, heavy means should be used. Evil should be treated more ruthlessly. Make them afraid, and make them tremble when the slightest evil thought arises.
When Danzo saw this, he found that he was no longer bored, and lightly said, “Interesting.”
……
Wrong, I’ve always understood the Will of Fire incorrectly. Perhaps, it should be said that I missed an important point. People are divided into good and bad and villagers are also divided into enemies and allies.
The Will of Fire should also be divided into two sides. ‘The place where the leaves dance, the fire prospers continuously’. That is the situation when treating villagers and allies. However, when dealing with bad people and enemies, tolerating them with the Will of Fire is an injustice to good people and blasphemy to dead heroes.
The place where the leaves dance, evil has nowhere to hide. Brilliant flames will eventually dispel all darkness. And brings safety and warmth to the sprouted seeds.
Danzo nodded in agreement, “Yes, this fellow’s philosophy is somewhat similar to mine.”
He then continued to scroll down. The more he read, the more engrossed he was. Between the lines in the diary, there were no longer the beautiful idealisms it used to be. Instead, he was cynical and revealed deep hostility that delighted Danzo.
My beloved parents, clan members, and even Konoha’s fellow citizens died on the battlefield of the Second Great Shinobi War. They are all heroes, who burned themselves, illuminating the village.
But what was the result? Konoha won the war, but what did we get? For the so-called village’s pride, we signed a peace treaty with enemy villages so easily. What a good heart! What magnanimity! Foolish! Ignorant!
“Well written!” Danzo slapped the armrest abruptly.
It’s a pity that Konoha’s ideal has flaws. I understand everyone’s desire for peace. But a blood debt must be repaid in blood. If they want to fight, we must fight back. Konoha’s men aren’t afraid of death, not afraid of battle, and also not afraid of war.
If we lose, then it’s better to die in glory than to live in dishonor. If we win, let them pay a heavy price. Unfortunately… It’s regrettable…
Danzo sighed heavily and shook his head. His heart felt a bit heavy. He recalled the time when Hiruzen signed the peace treaty after the Second Great Shinobi War. He strongly opposed it every time but it was useless. He was weaker than Hiruzen and hence he was not the Hokage.
……
Sarutobi-sensei is a good Hokage. He has enough cohesion and appeal. He can unite all forces in the village when foreign enemies attack. But once the war is nearing victory, or in times of peace, the village will change into a mass of loose sand again.
There is a huge chasm between ninjas and common people. Talent, resources, and connections — common people don’t have these things. Apart from a small number of people, even if most civilians become ninjas, they are just expendable in the war. The ninjas also compete with each other and even this competition has reached a bad level.
In the war, as long as the scale of victory is tilted in our favor, the ninja clans would stop doing their tasks to preserve their strength. At the same time, they expect other ninja clans to stand on the frontline and consume their strength.
Moreover, those who are sent to the ninja academy are not the clans’ strongest but the weakest. The geniuses are for increasing the clan’s reputation, and the wastes are to fill the quota and to put on a show to everyone. Most of the children are hidden in the clan and taught secretly.
……
I’ve been observing Orochimaru-sama recently. He’s one of the Konoha Sannin whose reputation reverberated throughout the Ninja World. I think he is probably the one who can change Konoha. Sarutobi-sensei should retire.
And the next Hokage should be Orochimaru-sama. According to rumors, Orochimaru-sama would be an iron-blooded Hokage.
Seeing this, Danzo couldn’t help snorting, “You are bad at reading people. People like Orochimaru are innately cold-blooded and selfish. I’m the best candidate for the Hokage.”
……
I thought about it for a long time and made a difficult decision. I summoned the clan members who still had Konoha in their hearts, planning to go with them to kill Orochimaru-same. He is doing human experiments, using our village’s people as materials.
This kind of person cannot be the person I’m looking for. He is a devil. I must kill him. I can’t let Konoha be destroyed in his hands. Even if this ends in my death…
……
I came back alive. Orochimaru-sama must have died. I could see that Sarutobi-sensei had plans to let Orochimaru-sama go. But cancer should be amputated from the roots. I couldn’t let such a strong person who hates Konoha be released. Otherwise, there would be endless trouble.
I don’t know what will happen to Konoha in the future. Honestly speaking, I’m so disappointed in Sarutobi-sensei. He’s the Hokage and he should do everything from the village’s perspective but he decided with an emotional perspective today.
I wonder when we will get an iron-blooded person to lead Konoha to glory. I don’t regret killing Orochimaru. Everything is for Konoha.
Seeing this entry, Danzo couldn’t help but silently add, “Am I not the iron-blooded person you are looking for?”
After a long time, Danzo finally finished reading Tonan’s diary. He raised his head and sighed, “It seems my prejudice ran too deep. It turned out that this kid is the same as me.”
He called out loudly, “Ryoma!”
A figure flashed and knelt in front of Danzo. Danzo said in a deep voice, “Tell Nono to copy Tonan’s diary when she has the chance. It’s very useful to me.”
“Yes, Danzo-sama.”
After Ryoma left, Danzo put down the diary and quietly said, “Perhaps, we shouldn’t be enemies.”
