Once the showdown between Uchiha Tonan and Senju Tsunade was over, with the Hokage turning an act of revenge into a misunderstood sparring battle between his old and new student, the ninjas left one after another under Anbu’s guidance.
Namikaze Minato and the others had much to say to Tonan but Shimura Danzo glanced at them and solemnly asked, “Why are you all not leaving? I want to speak to Tonan on behalf of Konoha about the funding for rebuilding the welfare institution. Do you think I’ll make things difficult for the Konoha hero?”
Tonan smiled at everyone, “You all go back and rest. I’m fine.” Minato patted Tonan’s shoulder, “Don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you need anything. Don’t endure it alone.”
Late at night, the crescent moon was like a lone boat in a sea of clouds. It passed through the gaps from time to time, sprinkling a touch of silver light. At the Hokage Rock terrace, the cold wind whistled, blowing dead grass blades and leaves all over the sky.
Tonan and Danzo stood at the edge, staring at the village, where the lights of thousands of houses were lit up. The previous battle hadn’t affected most villagers’ enthusiasm in welcoming the New Year.
Danzo squinted as he leisurely looked at the Konoha landscape, “I’m very curious about something. Why did Hiruzen and you suddenly fall out?”
Tonan raised his hand and caught a leaf flying in front of him, calmly replying, “Because I killed Shinnosuke and Asuma.” Danzo was startled and looked at him once more. He thought of a possibility in his heart but he discarded it and commented with a puzzled look, “I don’t understand.”
Tonan chuckled and let go of the leaf. Just like this, he quietly watched the swirling leaf, slowly float down. Only after the fallen leaf had disappeared did he turn his head and lightly said, “I’m… Abe Seimei.”
There was no change in his expression when he said this. He revealed such an important secret so casually. Danzo’s surprise reached another level now. He took a deep breath and stared at Tonan in silence for a long time, not knowing what to say.
Since the incident in the Fire Capital, everyone was secretly investigating Abe Seimei’s true identity. Let alone finding a clue, no one would have thought that this person could be Tonan, who right now was standing in front of him.
Danzo gradually frowned, unable to figure out the meaning behind Tonan’s action. He asked, “Why’re you telling me this secret so easily? Are you not afraid I’ll reveal it?”
Tonan adjusted his glasses and shook his head. He chuckled, “Secrets, the fewer people know them, the more valuable they are.” He then pointed at Konoha below and looked at Danzo, “Danzo-sama, if the people below learned this secret, what do you think they’d do? They’ll just have one more topic to talk about after dinner, nothing more.”
The reason Tonan revealed the secret was to be on the offensive. Now that Sarutobi Hiruzen knew it and already had a falling out with him, it was destined that it wouldn’t be hidden for too long. As long as more than one person knew a secret, it was no longer a secret.
Taking advantage of the fact that Danzo had yet to know it, he took the initiative to lower Danzo’s vigilance against him and trust him more. In a way, this was also making the most out of this secret. Tonan had already calculated that he would need to join forces with Danzo for a while. At that time, if Danzo suddenly learned about this, there might be friction between them.
Danzo narrowed his eyes and thought for a while, “Since you’ve fallen out with Hiruzen because of this, I can’t figure out why he didn’t call the Leaf ninjas to kill you.”
Tonan looked at the crescent moon in the sky, “You must already know I fought against Sarutobi-sensei not long ago. In that fight, he was unable to do anything to me. What’s more, I’ve killed Orochimaru and almost killed Tsunade today, which can be considered as killing one and a half of the Konoha Sannin. Once he sheds all pretense and attacks me in Konoha, I don’t need to win. As long as I survive for just half an hour, do you think the Uchihas won’t get involved?”
When it came to the Uchiha clan, Danzo’s expression became fierce. “What is it that you want to do?”
Tonan glanced at Danzo without any fear and shook his head, “In fact, at first, I thought that Sarutobi-sensei was the kind of person who was just and fair for the village. It can be said that his Will of Fire enlightened me. But later I noticed many deviations. I found he was not as loving and selfless as he seemed to be. His selfishness was higher than anyone else’s and his desires were never satisfied. The Fire Capital trip in particular practically collapsed my faith.”
Danzo raised his eyebrows, “What happened in the Fire Capital back then?”
Tonan narrowed his eyes lightly, and said with a look of reminiscence, “I served as the temporary captain of the City Guards in the Capital. I abided by my duties to punish the criminals and eliminate evil in the area under my jurisdiction. I killed one batch after another of criminals and rescued hundreds of orphans from human traffickers. To not delay the orphans’ growth, I disguised myself as Abe Seimei and taught them. But for some unknown reason, I caught the Daimyo’s attention and was invited to teach the two princes. After I entered the Daimyo Residence, I discovered Shinnosuke’s true face.”
Danzo became interested and asked, “Could it be that Shinnosuke was not only serving as one of the Twelve Guardian Ninjas but was also carrying out secret missions?”
Tonan nodded gravely, “When I was teaching the two princes, I accidentally learned that Shinnosuke instilled the might of the Leaf ninja in the First Highness. He made insinuations about abolishing the other eleven ninjas after the First Highness succeeded the throne and replacing them with Leaf ninjas. I think you can imagine what the consequences of doing this could be, Danzo-sama.”
Danzo was silent when he heard Tonan’s words. The consequences of such a situation were obvious. With the life and death of the Daimyo in the Hokage’s hands, the so-called one village, one country system would be useless. This system had taken root in the hearts of the Ninja World’s people for several thousand years.
No one had dared to scheme something like this, even during the Warring States Period. Danzo had been plotting for the Hokage seat for so long but even he didn’t think to dip his finger in the Daimyo Residence. “Hiruzen, I never realized your ambitions are so lofty.”
