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Chapter 131: I Am the Hokage
"Danzo, you seem to have forgotten one thing."
Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at the retreating back, enunciating every word with heavy deliberation.
"I am the Hokage."
The air inside the office seemed to solidify instantly. Outside, rolling thunder stretched and shrank the shadows of the two men against the walls.
The veins on the back of Danzo's hand bulged as he gripped his cane. He turned slowly, a dangerous light flickering in his remaining eye.
"Are you lecturing me?"
"I am reminding you."
Hiruzen pulled open a drawer, retrieved a scroll stamped with the word "CONFIDENTIAL," and tossed it onto the desk. The scroll rolled twice before coming to a stop near Danzo's hand.
"Look at this."
Danzo frowned, picking up the scroll with suspicion.
"This is intelligence the Anbu risked their lives to smuggle back from the border. We lost three elite squads for this single piece of information."
Hiruzen relit his pipe, the flickering flame illuminating his weary yet sharp eyes.
"You only focus on the Uchiha as a threat, thinking of using war to wear them down. But have you considered what Konoha would face if the Uchiha decided to bite back at this critical juncture?"
Danzo unrolled the scroll, his eyes scanning the contents rapidly. His originally gloomy expression grew increasingly unsightly, until finally, a trace of disbelief cracked his composure.
"This is impossible..."
He jerked his head up, staring dead at Hiruzen.
"A six-year-old child? Defeating an Elite Jonin with pure Taijutsu? Have the brains of the Intelligence Division been kicked by a donkey?!"
Hiruzen exhaled a plume of smoke, his expression grave.
"I wish it were false as well. But this news was bought with the life of a 'Mole' who had been deep undercover in Kumogakure for ten years."
He pointed to the first section of the scroll.
"Kumogakure. The Yotsuki Clan has produced a monster named Yotsuki Raito. He is only nine years old. Without using any Ninjutsu, relying solely on physical strength and combat intuition, he shattered the arm and ribs of his own father—the Cloud Elite Jonin, Yotsuki Burai—in a head-on confrontation."
Danzo fell silent.
As a veteran ninja, he understood exactly what this implied. Nine years old. No elemental chakra transformation. Defeating a Jonin purely with physical prowess.
This wasn't just a genius; this was a war machine.
"Look further down," Hiruzen knocked on the desk.
Danzo shifted his gaze lower to the intelligence regarding Iwagakure.
"In Iwagakure, a boy named 'Doi' has appeared. He is also around eight or nine years old, yet he has been taken in as a personal disciple by that stubborn old mule, Onoki."
"The report states that this child is lazy by nature; if he can lie down, he will never sit. Yet, in the mastery of Earth Release, he has displayed a talent that even Onoki finds terrifying."
Hiruzen sighed, his voice dropping an octave.
"Danzo, the times have changed."
Hiruzen stood up and walked to the window, looking down at the bustling village below.
"We are in wartime. Iwagakure and Kumogakure are watching us like tigers, and Sunagakure is restless. Konoha looks strong, but in reality, we are standing on the edge of a cliff."
"At a time like this, are you still going to force the Uchiha into rebellion for the sake of 'preventing future trouble'?"
"If that child, Tsubasa Uchiha, dies under mysterious circumstances, the moment the Uchiha Clan realizes we made the move, the Police Force will be paralyzed instantly. They might even defect."
"With internal strife and external threats, Konoha cannot withstand such exhaustion!"
There was a note of desolation and helplessness in Hiruzen's voice.
Danzo's knuckles turned white as he clenched the scroll.
"That Uchiha brat..."
Danzo finally spoke, his voice raspy. "Can he really be controlled? That look in his eyes... it's madness."
"Whether he can be controlled or not is my concern."
Hiruzen turned around, his gaze burning intensely.
"As long as he is a ninja of Konoha, as long as he wears the forehead protector of Konoha, it is my responsibility to guide him."
"Even if he is a double-edged sword, as long as the hand holding the hilt is steady enough, he can still sever the enemy's throat."
"Danzo, put away your little schemes. At least until the war is over, I will not allow anyone to make a move against Tsubasa Uchiha."
"This is the Hokage's order."
Hiruzen delivered the final words with ironclad finality, leaving no room for argument.
Danzo took a deep look at his old friend. The malice in his eyes slowly receded, returning to his usual deadpan, ripple-less expression.
"Since you are the Hokage, you will bear the consequences."
"If one day that brat destroys the village, I will kill him with my own hands, and then I will kill you."
With that, Danzo tossed the scroll back onto the table, leaned on his cane, and walked out of the office without looking back.
The moment the door clicked shut, Hiruzen slumped into his chair as if a thousand-pound weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
He picked up his pipe, which had long since gone out, and gave a bitter laugh.
"Guide him... is it?"
Recalling the report from the Anbu about the mad boy who would let a kunai pierce his own heart just to secure a victory, even the "Professor of Ninjutsu" felt a lack of confidence in his heart.
.....
Border of the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth, The Wastelands.
A gale swept gravel across the landscape, stinging exposed skin. Vegetation was sparse here; the land was littered with exposed rock and dead trees scorched black by lightning strikes.
Three figures were moving at high speed through the rocky terrain.
The leader was a burly man with dark skin and pale yellow hair slicked back meticulously. It was none other than Kumogakure's strongest rising star of the current generation, the son of the Third Raikage—A.
Following closely behind was a teenager wearing sunglasses, carrying seven oddly shaped short swords on his back, his mouth moving non-stop as he mumbled something.
"Yeah! The fools of Hidden Rock, hard as stone blocks! My swords slice 'em up, like pudding in a cup! Fools! Ya fools!"
Lagging at the very back was a boy who looked to be only about nine years old.
However, his exaggerated physique was anything but child-like.
His pitch-black tight combat suit was stretched to the limit by bulging muscles. Hanging around his neck was a string of massive prayer beads—weighted training gear fashioned from some kind of high-density ore.
It was Garp, reincarnated as Raito.
"Hey! How much longer do we have to run?!"
Garp dug his finger into his nostril, his face the picture of impatience.
"My stomach is flat from hunger! Does that crappy outpost have any Senbei to eat?"
A vein popped on A's forehead. He stopped abruptly, turning around to roar.
"Raito! This is an S-Class destruction mission! Can't you have a little sense of tension like a proper ninja?!"
"And you, Bee! Shut your mouth! Your rap is nothing but noise pollution!"
Killer B stopped and made an exaggerated gesture, spreading his hands.
"Big Brother doesn't get art, it's the rhythm of the heart, yeah!"
A took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the urge to beat them both up.
"Listen closely."
A pointed toward a stone fortress barely visible in the distance.
"That is Iwagakure's Outpost Number 73. According to intelligence, it is stockpiled with a massive amount of explosive tags and grain."
"It's a transit station for the Rock Village's 'Explosion Corps'."
"Our mission is to destroy its fortifications, detonate the supplies inside, and evacuate immediately."
A's expression turned serious.
"Iwagakure's defenses have been very tight recently, especially their defensive Earth Release. It is extremely troublesome."
"According to the plan, Bee will handle harassment from the flank, I will lead the frontal assault, and Raito, you..."
Before he could finish his sentence.
A black shadow had already shot out like a cannonball.
"Bwahahaha! Can I finally make a move?!"
Garp's wild laughter stretched out in the wind behind him.
"Rock bastards! Your Grandpa is here to loosen your bones for you!"
A stood frozen in place, watching the back of the figure kicking up a sky-full of dust, the corner of his eye twitching violently.
"That... bastard!!!"
"Bee! Follow him! Don't let him die!"
"Yo! Don't panic, bro! The little monster's fist is hard as an iron wall, yo!"
Killer B struck a pose, lightning flashing beneath his feet as he instantly gave chase.
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