Escape From Konoha

Seeing the appearance of this root leader, whether Shikamaru was sitting or lying on the hospital bed, or standing on one side, Shikaku's body suddenly stiffened, he felt a sense of astonishment.

They were not mentally prepared for Danzo's arrival, nor did they expect that he would walk out of Konoha's torture room.

Although he was imprisoned in the torture room, everyone knew that it was just a formality and it was impossible to truly restrain Danzo's movements in this way. However, during his imprisonment, the other party left the torture room in person only a handful of times. number. Even when Uchiha Sasuke attacked Konoha before and caused huge losses to the village, most of the opponent's roots were indifferent. It can be seen that it did not affect his deployment arrangements. So, what is the reason for appearing here this time?

Shikaku didn't feel at all that he or his son Shikamaru had such a big reputation that they could make the other party take action personally.

The experience of visiting Danzo in the torture room a few days ago was still vivid in Shikaku's mind, but he barely communicated with the other party. He just followed Tsunade's instructions and asked about Uchiha Sasuke. Other than that, In addition, he did not involve Shikamaru and the secret communication with the roots in order to avoid more trouble.

But now that the other party came to the door in person, Lu Jiu suddenly couldn't calm down.

After a moment of shock and nervousness, Shikaku did not hesitate to stand in front of the bed where Shikamaru was, blocking Danzo's way forward.

The two Anbu who followed Shikaku also emerged from the shadows, standing beside Shikaku, staring at Danzo's every move with vigilant eyes.

It seems that the other person is just an old man who is getting older, but everyone who has dealt with him knows how scary and difficult this person is.

If you are targeted by him, it will be an extremely difficult matter.

Danzo didn't take Shikaku's interception seriously. He just met the opponent's gaze with a calm gaze, and his breath was calm and long.

Just like this, Shikaku and the two accompanying Anbu couldn't help but sweat dripping from both sides of their foreheads, and their palms were slightly clenched, so that they could be in combat mode at any time in the event of a conflict.

"Elder Danzo, now that you have abdicated from the top, you should go back and forth from wherever you are. It is not necessary for you to personally come forward in matters between our father and son."

This is a polite refusal.

As the Jonin squad leader, Shikaku did not want chaos within Konoha.

When facing a powerful leader like Danzo, he also adopts the attitude of being tolerant and not wanting to be his enemy.

Otherwise, facing a huge fighting organization with no limits on their methods, even the Inar, Deer, and Butterfly Tribes would really not be able to withstand Danzo's torment.

Danzo didn't speak. Except for the words he said before, he never opened his mouth again. He just maintained a calm and calm posture, standing in the ward, putting unparalleled pressure on Shikaku.

It wasn't until there was a rush of footsteps in the corridor outside that Danzo, Shikaku and others turned their heads and looked at the door of the ward.

boom!

The door there was kicked open.

"Danzo, you old bastard, if you want to fight, I, the Hokage, will fight with you myself!"

Tsunade, who was already in an extremely bad mood, immediately became angry when the Anbu conveyed the situation here. She immediately put down all the work in her hands and intervened angrily, preventing Danzo from further actions.

"Lord Danzo!"

Seeing Tsunade rushing in with a detachment of ANBU menacingly, Aburame Tori and Yamafaze's two close confidants immediately ducked into the house from the window, struggling to resist the powerful chakra burst out by Tsunade.

"Wind, take the root, you retreat."

Danzo said softly.

Yamafaze and Aburame Tori looked at each other, immediately put down their resistance and stood behind Danzo, but their eyes did not relax their vigilance towards Tsunade.

With Danzo's body and bones at this time, if he was touched by the opponent's fist... no, even if it was brushed, it would have unimaginable consequences.

Seeing Tsunade coming over, Shikaku felt relieved as if he had found his backbone.

"Danzo, this is my chassis, don't let me mess around here! Go back to your prison!"

Although she knew that the martial arts faction led by Danzo in Konoha was powerful at this time, Tsunade was not willing to be outdone.

After several years of secret manipulation, the power she has gained is not weak. It may be difficult to compete directly with the Kingdom of Demons, but after competing with the roots, Tsunade still has this confidence.

Moreover, she, the Hokage, was so angry when dealing with the Kingdom of Ghosts that she had no place to vent her worries. The appearance of Danzo just allowed her to find this outlet.

Danzo was not surprised by Tsunade's arrival, or in other words, attracting Tsunade was probably his original intention.

Therefore, he said calmly: "It just so happens that I have something to discuss with you. Let's go to another quiet place to talk."

Danzo looked neither happy nor sad, with a feeling of powerlessness that made Tsunade punch the cotton. He clicked his tongue in displeasure and said: "You and I have nothing to talk about. You should be honest. It’s the greatest help to the village.”

After all, after becoming Hokage, Tsunade didn't dare to say that she knew everything Danzo had done before, but she knew about 70% to 80% of it.

Even so, Danzo's level of bastard was far beyond Tsunade's imagination.

Without this old guy standing in the way, Konoha and the Uchiha clan would not have reached this level of trouble.

It can be said that the reason why the Kingdom of Demons rose and the reason why Uchiha Sasuke attacked Konoha were because the two sides were incompatible with each other, and Danzo played an indispensable role in it, and he can be called the number one contributor.

And these are also the bitter fruits of her teacher Hiruzen Sarutobi's indulgence.

At the thought of this, Tsunade felt another unknown fire coming out of her heart and glared at Danzo angrily.

However, Danzo seemed not to have heard Tsunade's words. He directly missed Tsunade's body and left the ward with Yamafaze and Aburame Tune. However, he did not walk very fast. He was obviously inviting Tsunade. past.

Tsunade clicked her lips in displeasure again.

"Shikaku, follow me. The rest of you will stay where you are."

Although he said he didn't want to interact with Danzo, he was still very curious about Danzo's purpose of attracting him.

It's not that she hasn't thought about easing the relationship with Danzo.

Although what Danzo had done was a bastard, it was too late to regret and make amends at this time, so Konoha could only bear the responsibility. Moreover, facing the huge pressure from the external environment, Konoha can only overcome the difficulties by uniting all the forces in the village.

If the internal friction continues, it will only give others the opportunity to take advantage of it again.

…

In a secluded lounge in the hospital, Tsunade and Danzo were sitting on the sofa, looking at each other.

Shikaku, Yamafaze and Aburame Tune followed their corresponding superiors respectively, their expressions dull.

Tsunade crossed her legs, casually picked up a cup of tea from the coffee table with her right hand, and said straight to the point: "You old guy doesn't go to the Three Treasures Hall for anything. If you have anything to say, just say it. Let me hear that you are carrying the village behind your back, secretly What good thing did you do?"

When it came to the word 'good thing', Tsunade's tone suddenly became more serious, as if she was gritting her teeth.

Danzo didn't seem to care about Tsunade's cynicism, his face was always calm, and he didn't show any anger.

"I am seventy-three this year. It is time to find an heir..."

puff!

The tea that she had just drank and had not yet swallowed suddenly spurted out of Tsunade's mouth and splashed onto Danzo's body, causing Tsunade to cough violently. She looked at Danzo with her eyes wide open in shock, as if to inquire whether the other party was. Someone switched the package.

Danzo still didn't seem to care, he just calmly picked up a tissue and wiped the tea off his clothes.

"Genji...when did we need a so-called heir?"

Tsunade was surprised by this, with a hint of sarcasm in her tone.

The root is a twisted organization born under the political balance of Konoha. It is the right path for such an organization to die in the dust of history.

No matter who becomes the Hokage, they don't want to see such a powerful armed organization under the banner of ANBU that is not controlled by the Hokage or even the village and only serves individuals.

Ignoring these, Danzo continued: "So far, there are forty-three jounin and more than two thousand chunin members among the fighting faction members who have been merged under the root... These were all born under the compromise of Hiruzen's appeasement policy in the past. The product of. His strength is not enough to support the responsibilities of 'Shadow', so that's why I, 'Darkness', was born."

The more she listened, the more frightened she became. Although Tsunade knew that the martial arts faction under Danzo was extremely powerful, she did not expect it to be so huge.

There are more than forty jounin, more than two thousand chunin, plus the uncounted genin, the force of the fighting sect is already strong enough to shake the foundation of Hokage.

Moreover, the roots have not been incorporated yet.

It is a conservative estimate that Genbu will take out twenty nameless dark jounin who only have code names.

Tsunade's eyes started to jump.

"Danzo, what do you mean by this? Are you threatening me?"

Tsunade sighed and was sitting up. Her eyes instantly became sharp and she looked directly at Danzo.

Danzo thought to himself and said: "No, I just want to explain that when I was alive, I could still suppress this group of people. But once I die, will you be able to subdue them all based on your ability?"

After listening to Danzo's question, both Tsunade and Shikaku gave a silent response.

Although Danzo's words were very unpleasant, he also said an extremely cruel fact.

This group of fighting sects were originally radical elements born after the Third Ninja War due to the appeasement policy implemented by the Third Hokage for a long time.

From a fundamental point of view, Tsunade is also labeled as the Third Hokage, and to a certain extent, will also be regarded by this group of fighters as the successor of the Third Hokage's appeasement policy.

With her ability, regardless of whether she could suppress this group of people, it would be an extremely terrible disaster for Konoha.

"you mean……"

"I need a successor to avoid future chaos. In addition, my body is already riddled with holes. Even if there is no battle, I can only live for another year at most."

Danzo gave a very bad news.

Danzo would be dead in a year at most.

In the past, Tsunade would have thought this was a happy event worth celebrating. But in fact, this is likely to be the beginning of trouble in Konoha.

Once Danzo dies, the martial arts faction will inevitably lose its due control, and a civil war will most likely occur.

If you want to avoid such a thing, you can only let the roots continue to stabilize the rule of the martial arts faction.

If you want stable and long-term rule, you need the birth of new leaders.

It was this intention that Danzo expressed.

It can be said to be a conspiracy, there is no hidden conspiracy at all, but it makes Tsunade and Shikaku have to jump in.

"What do you think, Shikaku? In any case, this has a lot to do with you."

Judging from Danzo's attitude in coming to Shikamaru, he should have taken a fancy to Shikamaru's potential qualifications.

Therefore, Tsunade left the decision in Shikaku's hands.

Shikaku smiled bitterly, shook his head and said, "No, I don't know how to do it."

From a village perspective, this seems to be a very beneficial thing.

But how could he not know what kind of place the root is?

He didn't want his son to work in a place like this.

Moreover, the muscles in Shikaku's face couldn't help but twitch when he thought that Shikamaru might imitate Danzo's gloomy expression when he returned home.

"In this case, how about I discuss it with the child personally? In any case, he is already a qualified ninja and will have his own opinions. After all, it is not a good thing to dote on a child too much."

Danzo said.

"..." Shikaku sighed and nodded helplessly: "Okay, but Mr. Hokage and I will listen in secret. I also ask Elder Danzo not to force the child. Moreover, the child is still recovering. He can't bear too much stimulation, so the time for communication should be left after he is discharged from the hospital."

"Can."

Danzo agreed to the request and stood up.

"By the way, since you value Inuko so much, why did Uchiha Sasuke make him do such risky things when he attacked Konoha?"

Shikaku didn't understand this.

So he asked.

Shikamaru was seriously injured that day, and if Naruto had the Sage Talisman, he might have been sacrificed.

This is inconsistent with Danzo's words and actions at this time.

Danzo glanced at Shikaku and Tsunade, and said slowly: "When he met me through Sai that day, I secretly left the 'Izanagi' eye technique in his eyes, which will be automatically triggered when he dies. , to rewrite the fact of his death. Even without Uzumaki Naruto's Sage Talisman, he will be fine. But since this pupil technique is not triggered, let it remain in his eyes."

After saying that, without waiting for Shikaku and Tsunade's reaction, Danzo left with Yamafaze and Aburame Takene.

"Shikaku, have you really thought about it? If you are convinced by Danzo, there will be no turning back."

After Danzo left, Tsunade asked Shikaku.

"One is like another. That brat met Danzo once behind my back, so it might happen a second time in the future. If he doesn't give up the idea, it doesn't matter how many times he blocks it. Moreover, Danzo sees The winner must be due to the strength of Hokage and Inorika Die, his intelligence actually does not account for a large proportion."

Shikaku sighed sadly.

Otherwise, the current Shikamaru alone cannot be regarded as a young ninja in Danzo's eyes. He can only be said to be a young ninja with great potential, but he is still far from being able to truly stand alone.

Therefore, the Hokage faction represented behind Shikamaru and the power of the family are what Danzo really values.

"As long as you are confident. However, after getting rid of the thorn in Danzo's side, I can also be a little tougher on that brat from the Kingdom of Ghosts."

After all, it is also a very frustrating thing for Tsunade to always be suppressed by her former students.

Shikaku couldn't deny Tsunade's words.

Tsunade is tolerant of the Demon Country, not because she likes to be tolerant, but before the internal forces of Konoha cannot be unified, no matter how she interacts with the Demon Country, it will end in failure. She can only choose the method of minimizing losses and accelerating the destruction of the country. Only when Ye is unified internally can he have the strength to fight back.

The losses in the Fourth Ninja War could have been avoided, but the division within Konoha gave the Demon Country too many opportunities to take advantage of, resulting in an unfavorable war situation.

After learning this experience and lesson, Tsunade adopted the strategy of treating the Kingdom of Demons as if nothing happened as long as there was no large-scale attack, and the top priority was to unify the country as soon as possible.

If this negotiation with Danzo goes smoothly, then it is only a matter of time before Konoha will be unified.

But on the other hand, Shikaku didn't want this thing to go too smoothly.

Contradictory feelings were born in Shikaku's heart.

◎

The country of Zhi.

In the underground water of a huge building, Sasuke struck the person who wanted to escape with lightning, and immediately knocked the escaping ninja to the ground. He was paralyzed and unable to move. He could only stare fiercely, waiting for Sasuke to respond. His fate was pronounced.

"Is that all, Kakashi?"

Sasuke turned to look at Kakashi, who didn't know when he appeared here. Behind him were the ninjas from the country of ghosts in heavy armor. They took the escaped ninja out of the underground sewer like a prisoner.

"Yes, after cleaning up this rat, the intelligence department here in Zhizhi Country will not have any problems in a short time. After all, the official cooperation with Zhizhi Country has been less than a year, and the newly built intelligence branch here has It’s normal to have some problems.”

After all, it takes a lot of time to put spies in.

Especially for an intelligence organization with a rigorous structure like the Kingdom of Ghosts, there is an extremely strict onboarding process for new recruits. This is true even if it exists as a branch.

Therefore, if outsiders want to insert spies, it will consume a lot of manpower and material resources.

This kind of thing will not happen again in a short time.

Kakashi and Kakashi came to the rooftop of the building and looked at the scenery below.

The intelligence branch here is located in the capital of Zhizhi Kingdom, only a few office streets away from Daming Mansion, so the location is very close.

Here, the intelligence agency of the Kingdom of Ghosts is a formal official organization, so it can be built openly and operate smoothly with the support of the Daming Mansion of the Kingdom of Zhi.

But similarly, the information they get here will also be shared with the Daming Mansion of Zhizhi Kingdom, and if necessary, they will capture the 'rat' for them to ensure their safety.

For a small country that is rich in medicinal raw materials and has no ninja village, it can only maintain its inheritance in the ninja world if it is protected by a big country.

And compared with other small countries that are still at war, the domestic situation in Zhizhi Country is favorable, and there is no political turmoil.

Currently, the only ninja unit from a major country that has officially settled in is the Demon Country.

Although this ninja force only has a total of more than 150 people, this arrangement is enough to protect a small country.

"It's really a peaceful country. It's completely different from the small country I visited before."

Sasuke said.

Before coming to Zhi Country, he and Kakashi also passed through a small country.

A civil war is taking place in that small country, and the manipulators behind the scenes are the Kingdom of Ghosts and the Kingdom of Earth, using that country as a platform to engage in a wrestling match between the big powers.

In contrast, the peace and tranquility here in Zhi Country seemed to Sasuke like two different worlds.

"I heard that the superiors are planning to marry a certain princess from Daming Mansion here. In addition, this country is rich in medicinal resources. It is out of these considerations that troops will be sent to protect her directly."

Kakashi shrugged.

Marriage and union between major powers is not a rare thing.

In the past, the Senju clan, which was famous in the ninja world, and the Uzumaki clan, which was good at sealing techniques, were combined through marriage.

The princess of the Uzumaki clan was once the wife of the First Hokage and the first Nine-Tailed Jinchuuriki of Konoha.

This kind of alliance was very common in the Warring States Period.

Even the Uchiha clan used this method to develop their own power and confront the Senju clan.

It's just that those ninja clans were eliminated by the cruel ninja battlefield in the long years of battles. In the end, only the powerful Uchiha clan survived. To this day, they still retain a relatively complete family inheritance.

"If you want to revitalize the Uchiha clan in the future, you can also try to develop in this direction. The revitalization of the clan has nothing to do with the size of the population. As far as I know, there seem to be many girls who are secretly observing you. .”

Kakashi narrowed his eyes and smiled.

"..."

Looking at Kakashi who was getting more and more crooked as he spoke, Sasuke didn't expect to get angry, so he ignored his teasing.

marry?

Before killing Danzo, he would not consider such boring and meaningless things.

"Okay, now that the matter here has been resolved, let's go to the next country quickly, complete this mission as soon as possible and then go back. I still have a lot of things to deal with."

Sasuke changed the topic and focused on this mission.

In order to save time, he did not take Zhongwu and the four people with him, but asked Zhongwu to help train the four people to improve their strength.

"That's it..."

Kakashi lazily took out a map with a clear route of action outlined on it.

"The country we are going to next is the Country of Liquor, which is an area hardest hit by civil war. The intelligence branch there was previously attacked by Kumogakure's ninja leaders, and a lot of valuable information was lost. After arriving there , but there is no leisure here in Zhizhi Country. Take a short rest, set off at midnight tonight, and try to arrive before noon. "

Looking at the sunset that was about to sink to the western sky, Sasuke nodded and agreed.

After traveling for several days, he was a little tired.