This so-called meeting ultimately came to a halt under Danzo's fierce insistence.
In his own words, the village was already in complete chaos—who had time to discuss business matters?
But his true intention was quite simple.
Rinjin didn't want to embarrass Hiruzen Sarutobi in front of everyone, and neither did Danzo.
Rinjin's reason was profit—businessmen rarely want to make mortal enemies.
Danzo's reason was that he still wanted to become Hokage. Protecting the Hokage's authority was the basic behavioral principle for anyone aspiring to that position.
However, just because Rinjin wouldn't speak up didn't mean Danzo Shimura could remain silent.
The situation had completely reversed.
It was no longer about whether Rinjin wanted the profits from property insurance—now Danzo had to force those profits down Rinjin's throat no matter what.
Back in the Hokage's office, Danzo roughly kicked out all the other higher-ups, leaving only Shikajika Nara behind.
In his view, Shikajika Nara was the only one among the leadership with a functioning brain.
Whether that brain was actually smart was no longer within his consideration.
For him, having a brain was enough.
Soon, only Hiruzen Sarutobi, himself, and Shikajika Nara remained in the office.
"Hiruzen, we need to talk!"
Sitting on the sofa, Danzo spoke seriously.
Hearing this, Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi placed his arms on the desk, fists pressed against his mouth, and nodded silently.
Seeing this, Danzo tightened his grip on his cane.
Although Rinjin had only stirred things up a little and hadn't even gotten serious yet—
Still! There was no denying that he'd caused extremely bad effects, leaving all the higher-ups, including himself, scrambling frantically.
Most crucially, Danzo could sense that Rinjin wasn't taking this seriously.
If he were serious, he wouldn't have returned to the meeting at all, much less admitted to his actions.
Perhaps, in Rinjin's view, his behavior was merely the intensity of two children greeting each other—nothing worth making a big deal about.
So, give him back his rightful profits and let him return to clean up this mess.
Actually, Danzo's thinking wasn't far-fetched or difficult to understand.
His logic was built entirely on Rinjin's behavioral patterns:
When facing enemies, strike hard and fight to the end.
But Rinjin was just a money-obsessed bastard.
With such people, as long as you pay enough, everything's negotiable.
It wasn't that Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others weren't smart or lacked intelligence.
It's just that while ninja world shinobi might have superhuman individual abilities and excel at warfare,
When truly facing business warfare—a more brutal battlefield—they were somewhat at a loss.
At its core, they neither cared about nor understood the power of Money Release. That was the biggest reason they fell into Rinjin's hands.
"Ahem..."
After clearing his throat twice, Danzo began speaking.
"Hiruzen, from Rain Village sending people into the village to Sakumo's suicide—it was all Rinjin's manipulation!"
"I know!" Hiruzen Sarutobi replied coldly.
He'd suspected as much when problems were discovered with Sakumo's corpse.
"Then why didn't you stop the meeting? Why wait for me to speak up?!"
Hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a long sigh, a flicker of dimness actually passing through his eyes.
So what if he knew? He'd realized it too late!
He even suspected that Sakumo Hatake wasn't dead at all—maybe he was already living it up in Rain Village!
Given Rinjin's personality, there was no way he'd let Sakumo Hatake commit suicide.
Thinking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke calmly:
"Danzo, there are some things you can do, things anyone else can do, but I absolutely cannot!
The Hokage is Konoha's leader!
Anyone can bow their head to Rinjin, but the Hokage cannot!"
His resolute words rang out.
Looking at Hiruzen Sarutobi's incredibly clear eyes, Danzo broke out in cold sweat again.
He felt like his head was slowly turning into a donkey's!
That bastard Hiruzen—he'd probably figured out the whole situation long ago!
"You... what are you planning to do now?" Danzo stammered.
Hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head seriously:
"It's not about what I'm planning to do, but what you're planning to do, what all of you are planning to do. I'm not doing anything!"
Hiruzen wanted to do something too, but insurance, business—these things were completely beyond his and his advisors' knowledge.
Even if they saw through Rinjin's schemes, solutions weren't something they could come up with quickly.
So, having Danzo act as a messenger to contact Rinjin was what he and Shikajika Nara considered the most appropriate solution.
It must be said, no one was a fool—fools couldn't become the leader of the ninja world's greatest village.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had kept Danzo down for decades, clearly being more cunning.
Watching the frowning Danzo, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke in a teaching tone:
"There are many things a Hokage cannot do. The most basic and most taboo is bowing his head.
When I bow my head, my time as Hokage will be over."
With that, Hiruzen Sarutobi lowered his head to unfurl a scroll and said no more.
Watching the silent Third Hokage, Danzo gritted his teeth resentfully, stomped his cane forcefully, and left the Hokage's office.
In the end... I'm still the one bearing everything!
But he didn't feel too much resentment. In his view, everything he'd experienced was just paying tuition.
Hiruzen Sarutobi watched from the sidelines, keeping himself clean while making Danzo anxious and do his work.
Rinjin stirred up storms in the village with just a finger.
With these two great teachers, he'd definitely become the strongest Hokage in history!
It must be said, once someone's been screwed over enough, their mentality becomes steady as an old dog.
Just as Danzo was searching everywhere for Rinjin—
Rinjin and Sakumo Hatake were standing before Konoha's ninja cemetery memorial stone, chatting and laughing.
"Dog Bro, look at your unlucky first half of life—aside from meeting me as a friend, you've accomplished absolutely nothing!"
"Heh~" Sakumo smirked back.
He was completely immune to Rinjin's sharp tongue.
"I actually think the greatest tragedy of my life was meeting a bastard like you!"
"Tch~ Ungrateful wolf!
I'm not bragging, but without me always helping you, your name wouldn't even make it onto this stone!
Though it still hasn't made it on now!"
Hearing this, Sakumo didn't speak, just stared blankly at the memorial stone.
After a long while, he finally spoke:
"Alright, enough of your chatter.
I'm already letting you talk me into being a gatekeeper—what more do you want?!"
"Nothing much. How about I put up a monument just for you in Rain Village? Gold-plated?"
Seeing Rinjin's shameless grin, Sakumo's nose nearly twisted with anger.
"Get lost! I wouldn't want it even if it were pure gold!"
Hearing this, Rinjin cackled and shook his head.
"Pure gold? Don't even think about it. With that much gold, I'd rather build myself a statue!"
Speaking of which, Rinjin paused as if remembering something and instructed:
"Oh right, Dog Bro, you'll partner with Kagami.
He just became a grandfather recently, and this useless guy insists on staying home to take care of his grandchild!"
Hearing this, Dog Bro was startled and immediately threw his arm around Rinjin's shoulder, full of gossip:
"Kagami already has a grandchild?! How so fast?"
"He just looks young—don't forget, he and Danzo were both Second Hokage's disciples.
And when I was ten, he was already going on about making babies.
Back then, his wife complained he was useless and just wanted to play around!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, the two sleazy men looked at each other and burst into sleazy laughter.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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