Naruto: I became a super shadow in the Anbu.

Chapter 297 Danzo, You've Gone Too Far (Part 2)

Danzo only lost all his subordinates, but the ninja clan leaders all lost their juniors and relatives.

The ninja clan leaders were momentarily flustered when they first saw Danzo, but then they remembered how aggressive Danzo had been when he demanded people. They all frowned and looked at the Third Hokage, hoping that the Hokage would stand up for them.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's words liberated the clan leaders.

"Clan leaders, Danzo and I have some matters to discuss. You may leave now. I will seriously consider what you have to say."

Several clan leaders left.

Danzo sat down on the sofa, glanced at the yellow dog, and said, "Has your Sarutobi clan not yet investigated the matter of Sarutobi Kanosuke?"

Ye Guang thought to himself, "Could the Sarutobi clan really be investigating themselves? That was just a name he made up on the spot."

It would be better to investigate Sarutobi Yako; you might actually find something.

Yellow Dog answered first: "Advisor Danzo, I have carefully ruled out the Sarutobi clan ninjas, and there is no information about Sarutobi Kanosuke."

Perhaps this name was just something the enemy made up on the spot to create internal conflict among us.

"Make it up off the cuff? You can just casually make up a name and casually use your Sarutobi clan's S-rank forbidden technique, Five Elements Great Barrage?" Danzo asked.

"Many Sarutobi ninja went missing during the war. Have they been ruled out?"

Sarutobi Kanosuke was between 20 and 25 years old. Among the Sarutobi clan members in this age group, some of the older ones had even experienced the First Shinobi World War.

Have the missing Sarutobi clan members been investigated?

Yellow Dog replied, "We've considered this issue. There are at least 30 missing ninjas of this age from the Sarutobi clan, making it impossible to find any results."

"Of these 30 people, how many had contact with the Five-Element Combo? Was the scope very large? Are you unwilling to investigate, or did you find something but dare not speak out?"

"Danzo!" Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted Danzo's questioning, saying:
"The person wearing the white swirling mask could never be a member of my Sarutobi clan."

If someone in the Sarutobi clan could master the forbidden technique, the Five Elements Great Combo, I would do my utmost to train him; how could I possibly let him become a rogue ninja?

The leak of the Five Elements Great Combo was an incident of a secret technique being leaked.

I suspect even more strongly that Madara Uchiha obtained my secret technique and painstakingly replicated it.

"Your younger brother Sarutobi Hibiki and Sarutobi Hiyu, your nephew Sarutobi Einosuke, and your son Kyouin—these are just a few people who have learned the Five Elements Great Combo. Why don't you focus on investigating them?"

"Enough! Danzo!" Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned.
"Let's leave Sarutobi Kanosuke's matter here. Don't waste time on nonsense."

Ye Guang thought to himself, "Back then, Shimura Tanjiro and Sarutobi Yu were killed by Fire Release techniques. The Uchiha clan had to prove their innocence for a whole month before the higher-ups let them go."

This time, Sarutobi Kanosuke was really pushing his luck, but he just let it go.

“Let me tell you something even more important,” Hiruzen Sarutobi said.

"The intelligence network reports that the recent intelligence delays are extremely serious."

Danzo, given the current state of Root, is it possible to guarantee the operation of the spy system?

Danzo glanced at the yellow dog and asked, "What do you mean? Do you want the Anbu to take over the spy system?"

"We will take over part of the spy system, transferring the spy systems of two of the four major powers to the Dark Side," Hiruzen Sarutobi said.

“It is extremely irresponsible for spies to not maintain contact with their leaders for an extended period of time, especially for those who have made great sacrifices.”

"Impossible! Give me just one more month, and I can rebuild the spy network's communications!" Danzo said.

"In the past two weeks, I have selected 12 civilian ninjas to enter the Root training program. If I have another 8 people from the ninja clans who were just here, I will be able to form a new Root training program."

A month later, the Roots regained control of the spy system.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the spy system has been successfully operating under my control for over a decade.

You don't think that just because someone casually says the spy network is being transferred to the Dark Side, the Dark Side can take over, do you?
If handled improperly, even spies planted throughout a country could be completely uncovered by the covert operations!

The spy system was one of Danzo's most important powers; taking away the spy system was tantamount to taking away Danzo's eyes.

Hiruzen Sarutobi hesitated.

Ye Guang thought to himself, "Sarutobi Hiruzen is too weak. He was intimidated by Danzo's words and dared not separate the spy network."

He and the yellow dog exchanged a glance and nodded at the same time.

Night Light left the Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo both glanced at the fox, wondering what order the fox was carrying out with the yellow dog.

Soon, Black Ant and three Anbu ninjas entered the Hokage's office.

Black Ant was confused and didn't know why Fox had relayed Vice Minister Yellow Dog's order to send his three subordinates into the Hokage's office.

Danzo's expression changed when he saw the three people's masks.

The yellow dog said to the three men, "Take off your masks and show your tongues!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi was just arguing with Danzo when he saw the yellow dog causing this scene. He wondered what the yellow dog was up to.

The three ANBU ninjas simultaneously turned their eyes to look at Danzo.

These subtle maneuvers were utterly insidious against Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Do as the yellow dog says!"

Upon hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's order, the three ANBU ninjas quickly removed their masks and stuck out their tongues.

The three of them were trembling, their minds racing with thoughts of not being able to expose Lord Danzo.

Ye Guang stepped forward, formed hand seals, and used a sealing technique.

"Five Elements Unsealing!"

Three ANBU ninjas were successively hit by the fox's sealing technique, and the curse mark of the Tongue Calamity Seal appeared on their tongues!
Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly stood up.

The black ant gasped for breath, "You! What are you doing!"

The yellow dog and the fox exchanged a glance. This was a crucial time in their struggle for power with Danzo, and they could not back down.

The yellow dog said, "Lord Hokage! I've found some important clues!"
The root department even inscribed a mark of annihilation on some of the new recruits sent to the Dark Division!

After stating the facts, the yellow dog said nothing more.

The Third Hokage then had to fill in the blanks with his own imagination.

Cold sweat dripped incessantly from beneath the black ant's mask.

As the squad leader of the Hokage's direct subordinate squad, he was unaware that his subordinates were from Root.

For him, this was a serious dereliction of duty.

Black Ant's gaze swept over Yellow Dog. Why didn't the deputy minister discuss such a secret matter with him first?

If I were to take down these three people, my guilt would be much less.

Silence. The office was unusually silent.

After a long silence, Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "Danzo, you've gone too far! You have to give me an explanation!"

Danzo had a plan in mind, saying, "I suspect there is a traitor in the Dark Guard!"
The Root organization suffered repeated heavy blows, and apart from Orochimaru, many more died.

Those Root ninjas who came into contact with Ryoma Aburame either died mysteriously or were killed by rogue ninjas.

How many Root ninja souls are on Sarutobi Kanosuke's head alone?

There must be something wrong!

Some people have a very deep understanding of the roots and know the movements of all the members of the roots.

Only the shadows can do this!

How can you expect me to trust the Dark Guard?

Danzo then turned to stare at the yellow dog: "Shinnosuke Sarutobi! I didn't expect you to grow so fast!"
Your level of infighting is probably the strongest among the younger generation, right?
Don't you have anything to explain?

The yellow dog lowered its eyes behind the mask.

At times like these, he doesn't need to explain; he only needs to present the facts.

In fact, Danzo had planted people in the Anbu, specifically in the Black Ant Squad, to investigate his so-called traitors.

The Black Ant Squad are the Hokage's messenger ninjas, his bodyguard ninjas, and the Hokage's most trusted squad.

Seeing the yellow dog so calm, Ye Guang breathed a sigh of relief.

Danzo's intuition was still quite accurate. And wouldn't you know it, there really was a traitor in the Anbu.

It's a pity, the fox is now the hero who exposed Danzo's spy, and the yellow dog will never doubt him.

As for Danzo's claim that the yellow dogs were fighting amongst themselves... that's certainly true.

Who wouldn't want to rise to power as quickly as possible?

In front of the yellow dog, besides the major advisors, there were Orochimaru, Sakumo Hatake, Tsunade, and a group of others, making it hard for the yellow dog to breathe.

Yellow Dog certainly wanted to take a shortcut to overtake, and as the head of the Dark Division, Yellow Dog also had some ideas about it.

Hiruzen Sarutobi shouted, "Danzo! Don't change the subject! Don't say that the Yellow Dogs are fighting amongst themselves!"

If you suspect the Dark Side, and if the Dark Side and the Root can no longer coexist, which one do you think should be eliminated?

Shimura Danzo unusually did not refute this.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was truly enraged this time.

He was willing to compromise because he hoped that Konoha, this behemoth, could meet the needs of as many people as possible.

His frequent compromises do not mean he has no temper.

How can one tolerate having spies planted right next to them?
Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately made a decision:

"Danzo! Hand over the spy systems of the two great powers to the Anbu!"

Don't do anything underhanded, don't betray those spies who risked their lives for you, and don't have any shady dealings in this matter!
I will review all the handover reports!

Danzo's eye bags twitched, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he had to swallow this bitter pill.

Seeing Danzo's appearance, the yellow dog felt instantly relieved.

The spy network and Root organization were the foundation of Danzo's power. Taking away half of the spy network was a huge blow to Danzo.

Ye Guang thought to himself, "I wonder if I can take this opportunity to transfer Yakushi Nonou away."

If we could transfer Yakushi Nonou away, that would be wonderful.

Although Xiao Qi is ranked low, she is still one of his lovers.

As a man, you should treat everyone equally; how can you be heartless and ungrateful?

The Third Hokage continued, "Yellow Dog! From now on, all new recruits sent by Root will be tested by the Anbu. They will be tested not only for their strength, but also for whether they possess the Will of Fire!"

The so-called assessment of whether one possesses the will of fire is an assessment of loyalty, and an examination of whether one has the mark of having a tongue that can extinguish all evil.

"I understand! Lord Hokage!" said the yellow dog. "Lord Hokage, our Anbu can undo the seal that severs the root of tongue-trouble."

The fox is skilled in the self-inflicted curse seal and the Five Elements seal; he can break this spell.

We can now properly handle all the root spies we've identified.

Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression softened somewhat.

The yellow dog's abilities were getting stronger and stronger, which made her very happy.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Danzo, whose eyes were lowered. He knew Danzo; Danzo was dissatisfied and was plotting something else.

In order to completely persuade Danzo to give in, the Third Hokage remembered something else. He said:
"Fox, go and invite Antlers, the class monitor."

Ye Guang hurriedly left and went to the second floor to invite Nara Kaguya upstairs.

I don't know what Nara Kazumi can offer, and why Hiruzen Sarutobi would summon Nara Kazumi at this time.

After entering the office, Shikano sat on the sofa opposite Danzo.

Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "Class Leader Shikanobu, tell us what you just discovered."

Nara Shikano glanced around, sensing the tense atmosphere in the office, but unsure why, and said:

"In the past few months, the Anbu has been eliminating powerful ninjas from enemy villages in accordance with the assassination manual."

The other major ninja villages reacted quickly and followed the example of Konoha's Anbu, listing their own assassination targets.

When Konoha ninjas were on missions in the Land of Grass, the Land of Rivers, and the Land of Waves, they encountered assassination attempts by unidentified ninjas.

When the first Jonin was assassinated, I focused my investigation on it.

When the second Jonin was assassinated, I was certain that the enemy village also had an assassination manual.

The enemy village will retaliate, with fierce and reciprocal retaliation.

I believe that the current methods for assassination are flawed.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Danzo:

"Danzo, the Anbu and Jonin teams are under a lot of pressure right now. I can't just sit idly by and watch Konoha's spy system sit idle for a few months."

You say you can rebuild the spy system in a month? You and I both know that's absolutely impossible.

The duties of Root are complex and covert, and it takes at least three months or even half a year for a Root ninja to fully become familiar with his job.

With our espionage system inactive and our assassinations in the Anbu (secret branch) stalled, the balance of power shifts. Without a sufficiently aggressive response, other ninja villages will only intensify their assassination attempts against us.

Faced with pressure from both Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shikaku Nara, Danzo had no choice but to compromise.

Danzo thought for a moment and said, "I will temporarily hand over the spy systems of the Land of Lightning and the Land of Wind to the Dark Side."

Huang Quan was overjoyed; he had finally mastered the spy system.

Temporary handover?

Danzo was overthinking it. Once the spy network was handed over to him, allowing the yellow dog to take control of the spy chief, the entire spy system would never be able to slip away again.

Everyone knows the importance of the spy system; the spy system is the eyes of Konoha.

If Uzushiogakure had a sophisticated spy system, they wouldn't have been caught off guard by the Kirigakure and Kumogakure ninjas who had reached the village's doorstep before they discovered it.

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded. "Not bad, Danzo has finally conceded."

Nara Shikaku continued, "Hokage-sama, I have another suggestion."

"Oh? Tell me."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was in a great mood, wondering what new ideas Nara Shikaku had up his sleeve.

Nara Shikaku said, "Assassinations targeting enemy village jonin, jonin, or even kage-level ninja are necessary."

There are some issues with reciprocal retaliation resulting from assassinations carried out by covert operations.

We also paid a heavy price, and I believe we can take some other measures.

Yellow Dog felt a chill run down his spine; everyone had to take Nara Kaguya's opinion seriously.

Nara Shikanobu said there's a problem with the Anbu, so there must be a problem with the Anbu.

Nara Shikaku continued:
"Konoha killed a Jonin from Kumogakure, so Kumogakure will definitely try to assassinate him back."

What I mean is, we could have done it more discreetly, so they wouldn't know who assassinated them.

The daimyo of various countries set up an underground gold exchange to use money to assassinate wandering ninjas who disobeyed their orders.

My idea is to combine the cleanup of the assassination manual with the bounty on the underground gold exchange, and to carry out these actions in an interspersed manner.

If a Jonin from an enemy village dies and then exchanges his bounty at an underground gold exchange, using a more discreet method, the enemy village's retaliation won't target Konoha.

This would reduce the pressure for reciprocal retaliation.

“Good idea.” Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded repeatedly: “Class Leader Shikanobu, Inu Kyou, you two study it and come up with a plan.”

After Nara Shikanoku agreed, he got up to leave, but was stopped by the Third Generation.

In front of Nara Shika, Hiruzen Sarutobi said:

"The roots have been repeatedly attacked, and the high-end combat capabilities have suffered heavy losses. The reconstruction of the roots cannot be completed in a few months."

The various ninja clans sent many talented individuals to Root, making huge sacrifices.

I've decided to rebuild the Root Ninja Clan and forbid the recruitment of any ninja clans for two years, giving all the clans a chance to recover!

Nara Shika was taken aback; this was truly good news.

He quickly looked at Danzo, wondering if Danzo would object.

(End of this chapter)