"I knew it. As expected of you, Danzō."
Through the power of his Six Eyes, Mitsuki already had a general grasp of Danzō's plan.
Even though he only saw the scene of Danzō's operatives being dispatched, anyone who understands Danzō even a little could guess what he was aiming for.
"You want to sabotage the peace talks, huh…?" Mitsuki thought.
But honestly… Mitsuki wasn't sure whether he should interfere or not.
On one hand, if the peace talks were sabotaged by Danzō, the war would definitely continue.And he knew exactly what that meant: he would be forced into more missions, more "overtime".
Given Kirigakure's weakened state, they would definitely fortify their defenses in their own territory and stop launching offensives.
That meant Konoha would have to send troops into the Land of Water—likely assigning Mitsuki again for targeted destruction missions.
But the Kirigakure shinobi weren't idiots. Knowing they couldn't win in a direct confrontation, they would split up and fight guerilla-style across the Land of Water.
And if the entire populace fought… even if Mitsuki destroyed all of Kirigakure itself, it would be meaningless.
He could easily end up stuck in the Land of Water for a long, long time.
That was the exact opposite of Mitsuki's intention from the start: to end the war with Kirigakure quickly.
However… looking at it from another angle…
With Konoha's current strength — putting aside post-war occupation and the situation on the other two fronts — if they went all-out, they could completely crush Kirigakure.
It was just a matter of how long it would take.
Of course, if Konoha focused its power on invading another nation, Iwagakure and Kumogakure would inevitably intensify their attacks, but Mitsuki didn't believe Orochimaru and Minato wouldn't be able to hold them off.
They would just have to pay a price.
And anyway, the blame for killing the envoy and sabotaging the peace talks would fall on Danzō.
So… should he interfere?
Or rather — what reason should he use if he decided to act?
…
Meanwhile, Danzō's ruthless plan had already begun.
To accommodate the Kirigakure envoy, the Konoha inn had been completely emptied in advance.And thanks to Root's preparations, the remaining staff had already been replaced.
Right now inside the inn—aside from the Kirigakure envoy—only Root operatives were present.
Gathered in one room, the Kirigakure shinobi waited nervously for Kisame and the negotiation team to return.
Knock, knock, knock.
Hearing the knocks, Zabuza exchanged uneasy glances with the others. Kisame's group had only left a short while ago—who could be visiting at this time?
Still… they were in Konoha's territory, and they were an envoy for peace.It should be safe.
Zabuza got up to open the door, but was stopped by Mei.
"Wait, Zabuza-senpai."
She called toward the door loudly:
"May I help you?"
"Room service," a low voice answered.
"We don't need anything. Thank you."
Mei waited several seconds.
No response from outside.
BOOM!
The door exploded inward under a violent blast of wind, and an inferno surged through the doorway, turning the wooden interior into a blazing eruption.
"Hsss—!!"
A thick wave of steam burst out — Mei had completed her hand signs in an instant and raised a Water Formation Wall.
With the wooden walls collapsing, Mei glared at the masked Konoha shinobi who appeared.
"You're from Konoha, aren't you? Why attack us? Are you trying to destroy the hard-won peace?"
Tatsuma Aburame didn't bother wasting words. Their initial surprise attack had failed—the four envoys were all still standing.
Was that because of the girl?
Seeing the refusal to negotiate, Mei felt something was off. This shouldn't be an order from the Third Hokage.
If it were, Konoha would've attacked as soon as the envoy reached the outskirts of the village—or simply refused talks to begin with.
"So what do we do? Fight back?" one Kirigakure shinobi asked Zabuza.
Fight back? Against these odds? Zabuza wanted to crack open the guy's skull to see what was inside.
There were more than a dozen enemies—and this was inside Konoha.
Even if they won… then what?
They'd die anyway.
"Stay calm. This is probably the act of a few individuals within Konoha. Someone wants to sabotage the peace talks," Mei said.
Zabuza immediately asked, "Then what do we do?"
Mei bit her finger in thought before sighing, "What else? We run. Stall for time until the Hokage sends help."
If this was an intentional attempt to sabotage negotiations, then all they had to do was hold out long enough for the Third Hokage to intervene.
Tatsuma raised his hand.
Four elite Root operatives took positions at the perimeter of the inn, forming hand seals with practiced speed.
"Four Violet Flames Formation!"
Towering pillars of purple light erupted upward, locking the entire inn in a barrier.
Since this operation wasn't authorized by the Hokage, Root had to act fast.
…
Creak.
The door to the Hokage's office opened.
Hiruzen had been using his crystal ball to monitor Shikaku and the negotiation team—He glanced up and saw his old teammate, Danzō.
"Danzō? You've been holed up in Root for days. Why come here all of a sudden?"
"Do you really think agreeing to peace with Kirigakure so easily is wise, Hiruzen? Even if you secure temporary stability, the moment they see a chance, they'll attack us again. What meaning is there in false peace?"
Hiruzen frowned deeply.
He knew Danzō far too well.
He wouldn't come out of Root just to rant.
Yes — in Hiruzen's view, everything Danzō said was nonsense.
Of course he knew peace was temporary. As long as Konoha held the most fertile land in the shinobi world, the greed and hostility of other nations would never vanish.
"What exactly are you trying to do? Don't forget we don't only have Kirigakure to worry about."
He already had a terrible suspicion.
Instead of answering, Danzō asked:
"What am I trying to do? Heh… I'm going to make Konoha great again."
Just as Danzō's voice rose—
A deafening explosion came from the direction of the Konoha inn.
BOOOOM!