Hiruzen Sarutobi felt an indescribable surge of excitement upon hearing those words. His eyes widened, his lips trembling slightly as he finally couldn't help but exclaim, "Danzo, I am the Hokage!"
This sentence pierced straight into Danzo Shimura's heart like a sharp blade, leaving him momentarily short of breath.
Danzo Shimura's expression turned livid instantly. Clenching his fists tightly, his body trembled slightly as if ready to erupt at any moment. Yet he managed to hold himself back in the end, shooting Hiruzen one fierce glare before spinning around and slamming the door shut with force.
Back at the Root base, Danzo Shimura remained restless for a long time. The words Hiruzen had spoken echoed repeatedly in his mind, each syllable cutting deeply into his heart like a sharp dagger.
He couldn't help recalling their past rivalry for the position of Hokage. If only he'd been braver back then, perhaps it would've been him sitting in that seat today. This thought kept haunting him, making him increasingly frustrated and regretful.
The more Danzo Shimura thought about it, the angrier he became. Anger flared inside him — he felt disrespected, looked down upon. He decided to take decisive action to unleash his fury. After careful consideration, his gaze fell once again on the Uchiha Clan.
At this time, Shiyu Uchiha just so happened to be away from the village, occupied with selling off some properties owned by the Uchiha Clan outside Konoha Village, thus not currently present in Konoha Village. Upon learning this, Danzo Shimura secretly rejoiced inwardly, sensing an excellent opportunity.
Danzo Shimura fully understood the tremendous power and influence possessed by the Uchiha Clan, who had always been one of Konoha's core forces. However, due to historical conflicts between the Uchiha and Senju Clans, despite their strength, they never achieved equal status. Under the Third's leadership, they'd become increasingly marginalized.
It was only after Shiyu Uchiha's rise that matters showed improvement. Danzo realized that eliminating this key figure would throw the entire Uchiha Clan into chaos, consequently weakening both their position and influence within Konoha.
Without hesitation, Danzo dramatically increased the bounty on Shiyu Uchiha's head to an unprecedented level — surpassing rewards offered for all other missions combined. He believed such an outrageous bounty would draw countless ninja to take on the mission — and they'd come at Shiyu Uchiha with everything they had.
Eager to see Shiyu Uchiha eliminated out of pure spite, Danzo even considered it acceptable if they failed to kill him outright. Even if they failed to kill him, simply weakening Shiyu would give Danzo the perfect chance to strike himself.
Yet events didn't end there. Hearing the news, Hiruzen Sarutobi saw a golden chance too. Since ultimately he wouldn't suffer any significant losses, he worked his magic from the shadows, pushing the bounty on Shiyu Uchiha's head higher and higher until it matched the insane rewards offered for the Five Kage-level targets.
Not only that, but the ruthless Hiruzen Sarutobi deliberately leaked Shiyu Uchiha's recent movements to the Black Market, causing great shockwaves and attention. At the same time, Shiyu Uchiha himself had also learned about this news, yet he didn't take it seriously. Fully confident in his strength, he dismissed it as nothing worth worrying about.
Privately musing to himself, he hoped this might lure Kakuzu into coming forward. That way, he could attempt to recruit Kakuzu. Even if the other party refused, he might consider hiring him to assist with the clan's business, thereby gaining more reliable support.
After all, having someone as powerful as Kakuzu join would greatly benefit the clan's development. And after the Third Great Ninja War, the Uchiha Clan simply wouldn't have much energy or manpower to spare for other concerns.
The bounty hunter Kakuzu on Shiyu Uchiha's mind was someone he learned of through a recommendation from the Bounty Hunter Agency while completing a bounty mission, upon discovering that an incredibly high bounty had been placed. His heart stirred, and he found himself dwelling on it for quite some time.
After serious consideration, he ultimately failed to resist the call of faith, deciding to secretly infiltrate the Land of Fire, plotting in his heart how best to deal with the troublesome enemy Shiyu Uchiha. He still had a certain level of understanding toward members of the Uchiha Clan, believing—as long as they weren't someone like Madara—he would have a chance.
Meanwhile, Shiyu Uchiha was busy managing the clan's commercial affairs, especially those estates located along the border of the Land of Fire. He clearly understood that the next ninja war would spill across these borders, inevitably causing endless troubles for these properties. Thus, he firmly decided to sell off these assets or exchange them for properties deeper inside the Land of Fire.
However, just as he was preparing to implement his plan, he was surprised to find out that the Sarutobi and their four allied families had actually sent representatives to buy them. Faced with such a situation, Shiyu Uchiha devised a clever scheme—to sell most of the properties to them and once again profit handsomely at their expense.
Unfortunately, the cash flow on their side was extremely limited and could not satisfy all the transactions. Shiyu Uchiha wasn't willing to engage in credit deals, so he could only offer them a partial share. However, through exchanges, he managed to transfer some properties into holdings located deeper within the Land of Fire. Although it seemed like a loss on the surface, the opposing side provided some financial compensation to the Uchiha Clan—so it wasn't actually much of a loss. Who knows if they'll be shedding tears when war finally breaks out?
As for the remaining properties meant for sale, they were quickly snapped up by wealthy nobles from the capital city of the Land of Fire. Through this, Shiyu Uchiha even acquired a batch of wartime resources, inwardly admiring the boldness of both Hiruzen and those Root agents for daring to use such goods to cover part of the payment. In high spirits, he threw in a few extra discounts.
This deal raked in an enormous profit for Shiyu Uchiha. During the following period, while the market conditions were favorable, he used the opportunity to acquire additional precious wartime supplies.
These supplies included various types of weapons, armor, and medicines, which played important roles in enhancing his capabilities.
Shiyu Uchiha realized that the outbreak of war would have a tremendous impact on the entire world, and these supplies would become a strong advantage for him in future battles.
Shortly afterward, Shiyu once again successfully purchased more war supplies through the ninken clan, and properly stored them within the ninken clan's territory using their close ties.
In this way, Shiyu secured sufficient war reserves to ensure he would gain more support and assistance when the war broke out, so he'd be ready for anything that came his way.
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