Chapter 95: Danzo's Skill
After leaving headquarters, Sasuke looked at the letter of appointment in his hand. He should have been happy, but he felt the urge to curse.
There was nothing wrong with being appointed a special jonin, but replacing Torifune as captain of the frontline mobile patrol was crazy. Danzo, with a single order, had painted a bullseye on his back. Sasuke's purpose in returning was to get a safer job to avoid Ebizo's revenge. Now, instead, he had the enormous responsibility of being the first line of defense against any Sunagakure infiltration.
Of course, Sasuke knew that the order didn't mean Danzo valued him. He was more interested in Maru and Torifune. It was a waste of Konoha's power for two masters to serve as bodyguards for the Hokage's son. By promoting Sasuke to fill the vacant position, Danzo could reassign the two elite jonin to more important posts. And Sasuke, thanks to his demonstrated "Will of Fire," was the perfect pawn for this move.
What was even more perplexing was that he should be grateful. Grateful to Danzo for his promotion and promise him his vote in the next Hokage election.
"Worthy of being Danzo," Sasuke thought, looking towards the grim command center. His understanding of Shimura Danzo's powerful skill was renewed. He used to think he was ambitious but incompetent. Now he saw the truth. His ability to weave intrigues was worthy of the true darkness of the ninja world.
He put away the letter of appointment and left. He saw his team waiting for him with worried faces.
"Captain, are you alright?" they asked, surrounding him, relieved to see him safe and sound.
"Here. Your chunin rank evaluation letter." Sasuke handed a document to Tekudo.
"Captain, I became a chunin! Woohoo!" Tekudo exclaimed, euphoric. Ryo and Chomi congratulated him.
Sasuke, however, smiled humorously. "Tekudo, that letter was approved by Danzo himself. Are you happy?"
"Huh?" Tekudo paled with fear. "Captain, help me, I don't want to join Root."
Obviously, he was no longer a rookie. He understood Konoha's politics.
"Don't worry," Sasuke consoled him. "With your physique, Lord Danzo would look down on us."
At that moment, in the large headquarters office, a Root ninja with a dog mask, named Ryoma, asked his leader a question.
"Danzo-sama, Sasuke Umino's Will of Fire is strong. Why don't you also accept him into Root?"
"Ryoma, he's qualified, but his strength lies in tools, a combat style that consumes a lot of money. Root lacks funds; it's more profitable for the village for him to remain a regular ninja."
"Danzo-sama is wise," Ryoma replied, understanding the logic.
"Send Sarutobi Shinnosuke back to Konoha. We don't need this useless person who only knows how to earn merit on the front lines," Danzo continued.
"Yes, Danzo-sama."
Danzo added: "It seems Sarutobi Kagejiro is very dishonest. He dared to make random accusations. Let Yamanaka Fu use the mind-reading technique and extract all his memories for me. I want to see how many rats are destroying Konoha's foundations."
"Danzo-sama, if the technique is used, Kagejiro will probably be ruined. It will be difficult to explain to the Third."
"Explanation? He should give me an explanation!" Danzo slammed the table. "His good nephew did something so atrocious! Master Tobirama should never have ceded the Hokage position to such a soft type."
At the same time, he felt deep regret. If he had been the Hokage, Konoha would never have had these rats.
"Next!" he ordered, continuing the interrogation, his gaze filled with cold killing intent.
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