Inside Kaza's mansion.
Fourteen members of the Eighteen Seats stood in the living room.
"Lord Kaza, sorry to disturb you so late, but there are some things we really need to get off our chests."
The chubby Kubo stood at the front, speaking with an apologetic expression.
Hearing this, Danzō, sitting upright on the sofa, nodded seriously with a stern expression:
"Speak directly about whatever it is."
"Alright, then I'll speak directly. Lord Kaza, the fourteen of us have always believed that woman Yōhei isn't qualified to sit in the Eighteen Seats. How about we vote to kick her out?"
At the back of the crowd, the mocking smile at Toda's lips became more obvious.
See? Lord Kaza will definitely reject this outright! He might even kick us out!
Whatever, I should think about where to eat dinner tonight...
However! Something that surprised him happened!
Lord Kaza sitting on the sofa didn't reject it outright, but instead closed his eyes and pondered deeply.
Seeing this scene, Toda's brow instantly furrowed, and his heart was immediately filled with shock.
This shouldn't be! Has Lord Kaza gone senile?!
He had followed Rinjin for three years—he understood the "Kaza" persona that Rinjin had carefully constructed far too well!
It could be said that if someone had to play Kaza, he would definitely be the most convincing one.
Lord Kaza was lazy yet decisive. Lord Kaza was extremely detail-oriented. When Lord Kaza was handling serious business, he walked like his butt was on fire, but when idle, he loved to stroll leisurely...
For Toda, who liked to use a notebook to record Kaza's every word and action, he could list a hundred such behavioral patterns without repetition.
Yet this "Lord Kaza" before him deviated from his understanding.
The next second, Toda squinted his eyes tightly, firmly etching every word and action of this "Lord Kaza" on the sofa into his mind.
He didn't trust intuition, but his intuition told him: This person... is fake!
After quite a while, Danzō, unaware that he was already under suspicion, finally opened his eyes and shook his head at the crowd:
"There's no precedent for this kind of thing. All of you go back, and don't bring this up again next time!"
After speaking, Danzō supported himself on the sofa armrest to stand up, turned around, and walked out of the living room.
In the crowd, Toda watched Danzō's retreating figure, finding him increasingly suspicious.
Lord Kaza doesn't walk like that! Although he's already over fifty, he always walks with broad, swift strides, more energetic than young men!
People are like this—once they start suspecting, suspicious points emerge endlessly.
Following the dejected crowd out of the mansion, Toda hurriedly bid farewell to everyone and rushed back to his small, broken house without even bothering to eat.
Trembling as he took out his keys and opened the rusty door lock, this man with clenched teeth suddenly rushed into the house, charging to his desk like a madman and grabbing a thick notebook.
Opening it, the pages were densely filled with intelligence about Lord Kaza.
Flipping through... flipping through...
Until dawn broke on the horizon, Toda finally put down the notebook and heavily collapsed onto his narrow bed.
Having not slept all night, his eye sockets were full of bloodshot veins, and his chin was covered with stubble.
"Damn bastard, that's definitely not Lord Kaza! Who is it? Those old fossils? Or Rasa?"
Clenching his fists, nails digging into his palms, Toda roared uncontrollably.
He had ambition and wanted to succeed Kaza's position, but this didn't negate his admiration for Kaza.
An orphan without ninja talent. A bottom-dweller living in a broken house at the village's edge. A marginalized person who desperately wanted to climb up but couldn't see a future—no one knew how explosively excited he felt when he first heard those words: "Not bad, kid. Follow me!"
In his heart, although Lord Kaza never actively taught him anything, Lord Kaza had never stopped him from learning by observation.
Just like himself, whether in his heart or spoken aloud, what came out was always "Lord... Kaza." Those high and mighty people could never understand what a small opportunity meant to someone struggling in the mud.
In the shabby little room, Toda stared at the bright red blood continuously seeping from his palm, growling word by word like a vicious jackal:
"Re...venge..."
...
In the morning, Danzō got ready early and walked out of the mansion.
Although he had refused the request of Kubo and the others last night, speaking from the heart: he was willing to do it.
And his method was simple. Just like last time, feed Yōhei's seat to the Fourth Kazekage Rasa like feeding a little dog.
Using Rasa's hand to eliminate this detestable woman who dared to oppose him in the meeting.
Thinking of this, Danzō's steps became increasingly light.
There was no time to waste—he planned to get this done today.
In the Kazekage's office, Danzō sat on the sofa, imitating the manner Rinjin had described, humbly stating his request on the surface.
Rasa across from him squinted his eyes, looking very happy as he readily agreed to Danzō's request.
After chatting for quite a while, Rasa finally stood up to see Danzō off.
Watching Danzō's retreating figure leave the room, a trace of confusion quickly flashed through Rasa's eyes.
This uncle of his seemed... to have some indescribable feeling...
Downstairs at the jar-shaped Kazekage building, Danzō walked out the main entrance in high spirits, meeting Toda head-on as he hurried with urgent steps.
The moment he saw Danzō disguised as Lord Kaza, Toda immediately stopped and stepped aside, humbly lowering his head.
"Lord Kaza, good morning!"
Hearing this, Danzō, who was in a good mood, nodded carelessly and walked straight past.
It wasn't until Danzō had walked far away that Toda raised his head again, his expression cold as ice.
If his suspicion level was only ninety-five percent before, now it had reached one hundred percent.
Because the real Lord Kaza would never just walk past without saying anything.
He... he would... would leisurely... pat my shoulder... and... and would complain... complain that I'm... too... too rigid...
Thinking of this, Toda's nose became sour, and a trace of tears instantly flashed in the corners of his eyes.
Sharp nails once again pierced into the slightly congealed wounds. Toda gritted his teeth, turned around, and walked into the Kazekage building.
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