Chapter 217: As If Hyūga Hinata Would Dare
"I heard you took Tsunade as your master?"
As he spoke, Danzō's eyes narrowed slightly, observing the changes in Naruto's expression.
No matter how rebellious Tsunade was, she was, after all, the granddaughter of the First Hokage and belonged to the Third Hokage's faction.
Therefore, in Danzō's view, if Naruto had taken Tsunade as his master, it meant he had probably developed the ambition to become Hokage himself.
"It would be an honor, but no, I didn't."
Hearing the probing nature of Danzō's words, Naruto smiled and shook his head, explaining, "Lady Tsunade probably just heard that I refused Lord Jiraiya and wanted to take me as her student simply to spite him."
"Besides, you should be well aware of my dream."
Danzō was naturally aware.
Naruto's dream was to become a great ninja like the Fourth Hokage, to become a flame that illuminates Konoha and warms everyone.
It was not to become Hokage like other children wished.
"Compared to becoming the Hokage who sits in the rear and commands everyone, I would rather stand at the very front, charging into battle to kill the enemy, or become a man like you, who shoulders all the darkness."
Hm?
Danzō took a deep look at Naruto.
Tsk, the more I look at this kid, the more pleasing he is to the eye.
Regardless of whether these words were sincere or feigned, the kid had hit the nail on the head for him.
He had made it clear that he didn't care about the position of Hokage.
"Hmph, since that's the case, I won't beat around the bush with you. If you need anything, I will do my best to satisfy you… You understand my meaning, don't you?"
"Of course. Grandpa Third is old. He should have retired long ago. Everything you do is for the good of Konoha," Naruto said with a smile.
Danzō nodded in satisfaction. "Everything is for the good of Konoha."
The two fell silent for a moment.
Danzō suddenly asked, "Have you completely mastered the power of the Nine-Tails?"
"Yes, but the Nine-Tails' personality is still quite troublesome. It requires me to compromise before it's willing to lend me its power…"
"Hmph, as a member of the Uzumaki Clan, how can you be threatened by a mere beast?"
Danzō held his cane and struck it heavily on the ground. "I have many sealing jutsus here. You can take them all back to learn later. If it's not enough, come find me again. I can even transcribe some from the Scroll of Seals. In short, you must find a way to tame that lowly beast."
Hearing this, a look of gratitude appeared on Naruto's face.
But Danzō's tone shifted. "However, if I need your assistance in the research of Tailed Beast chakra…"
"Of course, no problem."
Dealing with an old fox like Danzō was much simpler; at least he didn't make empty promises like Sarutobi Hiruzen.
As for Tailed Beast chakra…
It must be for some forbidden human experiment.
Heh, I have no problem with it, but you lot won't be fortunate enough to enjoy it.
Danzō was naturally unaware of Naruto's thoughts.
Seeing Naruto's attitude towards him, Danzō felt nothing but satisfaction.
As long as Naruto didn't turn out to be an ungrateful backstabber like Orochimaru, it was well worth it to exchange some trivial resources for the loyalty of a promising prospect.
"Heh, Hiruzen, oh Hiruzen. Your methods don't work anymore. In the end, I still have the upper hand."
Just as Danzō stood up, intending to leave…
"Please wait a moment, Lord Danzō. I have a gift for you."
Naruto quickly stopped him, then turned and walked toward the window.
A gift?
Danzō frowned subconsciously.
But then he remembered Naruto's age, and his furrowed brow suddenly relaxed.
Oh well. No matter how mature he is, he's still just a kid.
Preparing a gift for a respected elder, this must be the simple kindness of a child.
A moment later, Naruto walked back holding a flowerpot.
A refreshing and faint fragrance followed.
"This is…"
Sniffing the very special scent, Danzō felt his heart gradually calm down.
His originally restless Hashirama arm also seemed to become much more peaceful.
He was subconsciously drawn to the flower in the pot.
The tender green, flat leaves swayed, revealing a vigorous life force. Nestled among the green leaves were half-purple, half-black flower buds.
The main flower, however, had three petals. The surface of each oval petal was black, while the back was purple. In the center was a pale yellow stamen with purple fluff, the stamen hiding shyly beneath the fluff.
"With your intelligence-gathering capabilities, Lord Danzō, I'm sure you have heard of this flower."
Naruto smiled. "I was quite lucky. I happened to obtain one before the Iris Rainbow Flower became popular."
Danzō came back to his senses, reluctantly tearing his gaze away from the Iris Rainbow Flower and looking at the solicitous Naruto.
"...I have indeed heard of it."
The Iris Rainbow Flower had first appeared in the blockbuster movie, Princess Gale.
That purple flower, pinned to the chest of the female lead "Princess Gale," had instantly captured the eyes and affection of countless fans.
After the movie, groups of people were whispering, asking about that never-before-seen flower.
News about this flower began to spread like wildfire.
However, that was only the beginning; the discussion was limited to fan circles.
People then discovered that at a noble's ball, the wife of the Land of Fire's Daimyō also had such a flower on her chest.
The purple petals were intoxicating.
The natural floral fragrance that followed her wherever she went made her the center of attention at the entire ball.
Thus, the flower was given a name. It was called the Iris Rainbow Flower.
It was an extremely beautiful name, as noble as the flower itself.
A little over ten days later, the wife of the Land of Lightning's Daimyō also appeared at a banquet wearing this flower.
It was said that the Land of Fire's Daimyō's wife demanded that the flower arrangements in her chambers be changed three times a day with Iris Rainbow Flowers, and she must always have a brilliant Iris Rainbow Flower pinned to her chest.
From then on, this flower called the "Iris Rainbow Flower" became all the rage among the nobility.
Although it was constantly being sold, it was still incredibly difficult to obtain even a single flower.
But in Danzō's view, the nobility had always been extravagant.
They adorned themselves in the most ostentatious ways, vying to wear the most magnificent clothes, showing off their wealth like peacocks displaying their feathers.
It was not surprising at all that they would do something so foolish.
But, looking at it now…
"I originally thought it was just a rare flower. I didn't expect it to have such a special effect."
Danzō took the flowerpot from Naruto and examined the Iris Rainbow Flower carefully.
That's right.
Not only could it soothe his mood, but it could also pacify his restless Hashirama cells.
In that case, this was more than just an ordinary flower.
"Naruto, well done."
"You flatter me, Lord Danzō. Compared to the help you've given me, this is nothing."
Realizing the significant value of this flower, a smile appeared on Danzō's stiff face.
It was rare for the ever-strict man to praise someone.
"Remember, if you run out of resources, you must come to me."
With that, holding the Iris Rainbow Flower, Danzō turned and left with hurried steps.
Just as his entire figure was about to disappear into the darkness, he suddenly stopped and spoke again:
"...Your will and mine are very compatible. If possible in the future, I am willing to train you to be the leader of Root."
"This is exactly what I have been hoping for. I am truly grateful."
Hearing this, Danzō nodded in satisfaction, and his figure vanished from the room.
After he left, the smile on Naruto's face gradually turned mocking.
Although that guy Danzō is a bit stupid, he is indeed an excellent tool.
After confirming that no one was watching, Naruto used a summoning jutsu to call forth "Nine-Masked Beast: Seiryū."
Then, he took out the scroll that sealed Ōtsutsuki Tatsuhito's corpse.
"Deliver this body to Brother Menma. The mission he gave me is still ongoing. Tell him not to worry about the situation here."
Meanwhile, in the forbidden library of the Hyūga Clan compound.
A Main Family elder led the way at the front. Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura followed behind, their eyes shining as they sized up the treasures around them.
Secret histories, secret techniques, rare medicinal herbs, and even a large piece of chakra-conducting metal.
Chakra-conducting metal was a rare, special metal capable of being infused with chakra, which would then fuse with the metal itself, greatly increasing the power of ninjutsu.
It was suitable for making ninja tools and equipment with special properties, such as the divine Sword of Kusanagi, Sarutobi Asuma's "Flying Swallow" blades, and Master Tobirama's Sword of the Thunder God.
A precious treasure that countless people coveted was simply piled up in a warehouse because the Hyūga didn't use ninja tools.
As expected of a clan with a thousand-year heritage, the Hyūga Clan's foundation was truly terrifying.
At this thought, the eyes of the two elders held a bit more envy and jealousy.
However, they hadn't expected to get permission from the Hyūga Main Family so smoothly, allowing them to come directly to the Hyūga's forbidden grounds to browse at will.
Thinking about it this way, they really are a bunch of weaklings sitting on a mountain of treasure.
The three of them soon arrived at the deepest part of the library.
"Advisors, aside from some secret ancient texts that were stolen by the intruder a while ago, these are all the ancient texts of our Hyūga Clan."
"Oh?"
Homura narrowed his eyes. "So the intruder didn't steal the secret techniques, but chose to steal the secret ancient texts."
What a coincidence.
Their main goal this time was the Hyūga's secret histories.
"My deepest apologies."
"Not at all, we are the ones who are intruding."
"It is our natural duty to eliminate the Hokage's concerns."
The Main Family elder shook his head and sighed. "We already know what happened. We can understand the concerns of you two. No matter when, our Hyūga Clan will unconditionally support Lord Hokage's decisions."
With that, he tactfully walked out by himself, leaving only Koharu and Homura behind.
Outside the forbidden grounds, several other Main Family elders were waiting.
Seeing the head elder finally emerge, they quickly pulled him aside and asked in a low voice, "There are many of our clan's secrets in there. Will doing this really not cause any problems?"
Opening the Hyūga Clan's secret histories to Konoha's high command, allowing them to read the history recorded by the Hyūga Clan for hundreds of years, made many of the Main Family elders very uneasy.
"Besides, Lord Hokage has always been lenient. How could he issue such an unreasonable order? Perhaps…"
The other Main Family elders were slightly startled, then immediately understood what he meant.
Perhaps the order didn't come from Lord Hokage at all, but the two advisors had bypassed Lord Hokage and were directly interfering with the Hyūga Clan?
"It doesn't matter whose order it is."
The head elder shook his head. "Doing this can eliminate the leadership's concerns about us and also guarantee the Hyūga's position in the village."
Being targeted by the higher-ups was not something to be happy about.
Given the Hyūga Clan's current situation of being repeatedly invaded, they really couldn't afford any major setbacks.
"Will Hiashi really agree to this?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the scene suddenly fell silent.
After a moment of silence, the head elder spoke, "Hiashi is still too young. There's no need to ask for his opinion."
"Sigh, ever since placing the Caged Bird Cursed Seal on Hyūga Hinata, Hiashi has repeatedly made compromises with the Branch Family."
As Main Family elders, they had long been dissatisfied with Hiashi's recent tendency to favor outsiders.
Protecting the Main Family was the natural duty and responsibility of the Branch Family.
The sudden emergence of Hyūga Hinata had already caused the Branch Family to become disloyal.
And as the clan head, Hyūga Hiashi had continuously let Hyūga Hinata, who had been relegated to the Branch Family, do as she pleased.
Even if it was to appease the Branch Family, there was no need to go to such lengths.
Suddenly, the head elder asked with deep meaning, "I heard that Hyūga Hinata and Hyūga Neji have concealed information about the recent intruder?"
"Hm?"
Hearing this, the other elders looked at each other, seeing the confusion in one another's eyes.
Could there be more important information about this intruder?
"It seems none of you know."
The head elder said with a half-smile, "The witnesses to this invasion incident, apart from Hiashi, were all members of the Branch Family."
"And according to the intelligence I have, the intruder also possesses the Byakugan, and it's a Byakugan without the Caged Bird!"
Everyone's faces showed utter shock.
"This… could it be a mistake?"
"Is your information reliable?!"
"Impossible! Aside from that one Byakugan in Kirigakure, there are no other records of the Byakugan being lost to the outside!"
Although they were sound asleep when the invasion occurred, they had seen the terrifying traces of the battle afterward.
How could a Hyūga clansman with such immense strength appear out of thin air?
"Why is it impossible?"
The head elder's tone was icy. "Have you all forgotten the one who invaded the forbidden grounds back then?"
"It's impossible for one person alone to infiltrate the Hyūga compound. There must have been a traitor in the Branch Family who helped that person!"
The faces of the others couldn't help but turn grim.
The matter of the invasion of the forbidden grounds had always been a thorn in their side.
They had tried many methods but had failed to find the intruder.
But if it was a case of internal collusion, then that would explain it.
"In that case, it seems the intruder's target was little Hanabi?"
One Main Family elder said in a gloomy tone, "Perhaps this whole affair was planned by the Branch Family, with the goal of killing Hanabi?!"
"Does the Branch Family have the guts for that?"
"I can't say for others, but that little brat Hyūga Hinata definitely dares!"
"That's right! It is because of that brat Hyūga Hinata's existence that many in the Branch Family now dare to defy us, the Main Family. We must nip this in the bud and absolutely not let this trend continue to spread."
As they spoke, the Main Family elders all looked toward the head elder, their angry faces also showing a bit of hesitation.
"Heh, I know what you're worried about. It's nothing more than the fear that Hyūga Hinata will be as ruthless as before."
The head elder chuckled calmly. "But don't you forget, the two advisors are still here."
"Your meaning is…"
"Take this opportunity to hold another clan meeting, and at the same time, request the two advisors to attend."
The head elder sneered venomously. "As if she would dare. No matter how bold she is, in front of the two advisors, she definitely wouldn't dare to act presumptuously."
"This way, not only can we use this to force the Branch Family to explain this incident, but we can also damage Hyūga Hinata's prestige within the Branch Family. A Branch Family without a leader is like a de-fanged cat."
Hearing this, the other Main Family elders nodded in unison.
If Hyūga Hinata dared to be disrespectful to them, the Main Family elders, in front of the two advisors, it would mean the Branch Family had a rebellious heart against the Main Family.
At that time, not even Hiashi, the head of the clan, would be able to protect her!
"Notify all members of the Branch Family to meet in the conference room in one hour!"
(End of Chapter)
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