After revealing his secret, Uchiha Tonan continued the storytelling session with Shimura Danzo. “The First Highness was ignorant of worldly affairs at that time and didn’t know the stakes involved. Although I’m a Leaf ninja, I know that the ninja village’s hand cannot extend to the Daimyo Residence. To do so is the worst offense. Sarutobi-sensei is no longer satisfied with just controlling the village. He wants the entire Land of Fire. Under my persuasion, the First Highness seemed to have sternly rejected Shinnosuke’s proposal and he became even more vigilant towards Konoha.”
“As a result, Shinnosuke became furious and assassinated the Daimyo, trying to frame the First Highness. Fortunately, his method was sloppy and was exposed by the other eleven guardian ninjas. They had a massive battle, destroying almost one-third of the Fire Capital. After hesitating for a long time, I finally decided to kill this unstable factor in the Ninja World with my own hands. Like this, the assassin died and Sarutobi-sensei’s scheme failed. And the Daimyo Residence continued to maintain its cooperation with Konoha.”
After listening, Danzo subconsciously nodded but he was reminded of something and asked, “If it was like what you said, why did you kill Asuma?”
Tonan raised his head and looked into the distance. “To eliminate Sarutobi-sensei’s selfishness. Only by doing this, he would govern Konoha wholeheartedly. Of course, I know this is unfair to sensei but I could think of ways to make up for him. I am even willing to show filial respect to him in place of Shinnosuke and Asuma as a son. Everything is for Konoha.”
A strange look flashed through Danzo’s eyes. He felt this kid’s mental circuit was hugely different from ordinary people. However, such a paranoid and powerful person might be the most suitable one for partnership. He coughed lightly and asked, “In your opinion, what kind of a person am I?”
Tonan glanced at Danzo and bluntly answered, “Shady, sinister and ruthless. You do things by fair or foul means. You also sent your subordinates to look for trouble with me again and again.”
Immediately after Tonan spoke, Danzo clenched his fists, thinking that Tonan was going to fall out with him as well. However, Tonan dispelled his misgivings in the next moment. “But a single general’s reputation is made out of ten thousand corpses. Those who want to achieve great things won’t bother about trifles. If it was before, I would’ve thought you are a great out-and-out villain, Danzo-sama.”
“But after returning from the Fire Capital, I’ve secretly observed you. Especially when I was being treated unfairly today, you were willing to step forward bravely and stand on the side of justice. I realized my views on you were biased. If I’m not wrong, you’re interested in the Hokage position. That’s why you used various kinds of means to cut off Sarutobi-sensei’s wings. For example, White Fang-sama and me.”
Danzo straightforwardly admitted, “Yes, I did all that. Konoha has decayed under Hiruzen’s leadership. Only I can lead it back to prosperity. Tonan, if you support me in becoming Hokage, I guarantee that Konoha will become a thousand times better than what it is now.”
Tonan stared at Danzo with a solemn expression, “This matter is of great importance. Can I hear your ruling policies?”
Danzo knew that the critical moment had come. As long as he was able to persuade Tonan, he would get a follower comparable to sannin for free. He immediately took a deep breath and solemnly said, “As long as I take the stage, the first thing I’ll do is…”
Danzo launched into a presidential candidate speech. Tonan would frown and fall into thoughts sometimes and sometimes he was amazed. In the end, he looked at Danzo with deep admiration. “I didn’t expect that Danzo-sama’s understanding of the Will of Fire would be so profound. Many thoughts even coincide with mine. When the war is over, I’ll do my best to support you as Hokage.”
“War?” Danzo frowned when he heard this. Tonan nodded and said, “I feel like a war will break out soon. During this time, I don’t want Konoha to experience too much civil strife.”
As the leader of Konoha’s Root, Danzo received various news about every country daily. He wasn’t surprised when Tonan mentioned war. From all perspectives, there was a high chance that a war would break out. The only thing uncertain was when.
“I hope you’ll remember what you said today. I guess Hiruzen will not give you funds for the welfare institution. But it doesn’t matter, I can allocate the money to you.”
A look of joy appeared on Tonan’s face. He placed his hands on his knees and bowed deeply to Danzo, “Thank you, Danzo-sama.”
Danzo looked at Tonan’s attitude and nodded with satisfaction. People like Tonan would be able to provide great help in the Hokage competition. It shouldn’t be rushed when recruiting talent. Today was just foreplay. Danzo patted Tonan on his shoulder and left.
After walking a few steps, Danzo seemed to have thought of something. He looked back and said, “By the way, Hiruzen demoted you from Jonin to Chunin a few days ago. He used insufficient completed missions as the reason. The participant for the Honorary Chunin Competition has been replaced by you again. I can’t change this. You’ve to be more careful.”
After Danzo left, Tonan straightened up and narrowed his eyes slightly, “It seems you want me to die in the Fire Capital.” He turned around and looked at the brightly lit Konoha Hospital.
“After this incident, that old woman Tsunade is unlikely to look for trouble with me for a while. I’ll no longer have a legitimate reason to kill her.” Tonan pondered for a while and the corners of his mouth rose slightly. “If there’s no reason, it’s better to make one myself. And it must not only make Tsunade appear unreasonable but also be able to stimulate her.”
As the saying goes, when a gentleman takes a hit, he will seek to even the score. Tonan was a gentleman who sought revenge just for an angry look.
A leaf fluttered and fell toward his head but before it could touch him, Tonan had disappeared from the terrace.
At this time, in the Konoha Hospital, Tsunade was lying unconscious on the bed. It was unknown how serious her injuries were but the aftereffect of hematophobia was too significant, making her unable to wake up. Hiruzen, Jiraiya and Shizune were all guarding her ward.
Tsunade’s identity was too important. In case an expert like Tonan sneaked in and killed her, it would be a grave matter. In the ward, Hiruzen was carving tobacco. He took out the smoke pipe and walked to the window. He put his head out and lit the pipe to smoke, “Jiraiya, when Tsunade wakes up, you must stop her. Don’t let her look for trouble with Tonan.”
Jiraiya nodded, “I know, I’m not an unreasonable person.”
Hiruzen blew out a mouthful of smoke and narrowed his eyes slightly. The scenes of him getting along with Tonan appeared in his mind. The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong but he couldn’t tell what it was. So he had to exhort, “You’ve to be careful of Tonan in the future. He might not be as simple as you all think.”
Hearing Hiruzen’s words, Jiraiya took a bite of fruit, “Old man, can you explain a bit more clearly?”
Hiruzen blew out a mouthful of smoke and shook his head slowly, “There are some things I can’t tell you right now. You just have to remember to keep your distance from him. In addition, he is an Uchiha who has a good reputation among the villagers. If Tsunade goes out to look for trouble with him again, it’ll be difficult for me to deal with it.”
Jiraiya shrugged indifferently, “Forget it if you don’t want to tell it. Shizune, you can go back and rest now. The old man and I are guarding here. If Tsunade doesn’t wake up tomorrow, you have to continue treating her. You must have enough energy to do that.”
Shizune glanced at the unconscious Tsunade and nodded, “Alright, then I’ll leave it to Hokage-sama and Jiraiya-sama for now.”
