This puppeteer is a bit... well...

Chapter 59 Danzo and Hanzo

Being in darkness makes one understand darkness better.

As the leader of "Root," the dark side of Konoha, Danzo understood the dark side of ninjas.

He firmly believed that ninjas from different factions could never truly trust each other... Whether they existed as clans in the past or as villages now, ninjas would often clash with ninjas from other factions during missions.

The longer it goes on, the deeper the resentment grows.

The various ninja villages have been established for almost forty years. In such a long time, who hasn't had a grudge against whom!

If we encountered each other under normal circumstances, we would want to kill the other person's mother.

Even if we temporarily put aside our grievances and cooperate for the sake of the bigger picture, it's impossible to truly trust each other.

They will definitely be wary of each other while cooperating.

Danzo then planned to exploit the distrust among the allied forces to dismantle the alliance.

(Crisis and opportunity coexist. Although the joint attack on Konoha by the four great ninja villages is the biggest crisis in history, it can also be an opportunity to annex the enemy and strengthen oneself if handled properly.)

On the way to Hanzo's bedroom, Danzo's mind raced as he considered how to persuade Hanzo.

"Lord Danzo, we've arrived."

The sound interrupted his thoughts, and Danzo frowned.

He looked up at the Rain Village ninja who was standing at the doorway, gesturing for them to enter, and said calmly, "Hmm!"

Danzo nodded slightly, took off his shoes, and stepped inside at a leisurely pace.

Because of its climate, the Land of Rain is not suitable for agriculture, so it attaches great importance to technological development, especially in industrial manufacturing.

As a result, the country's buildings are quite avant-garde.

But Hanzo was a nostalgic person, and his bedroom was still in an old-fashioned style.

Paper door, tatami mats, low and cramped space, dim lighting...

Hanzo then removed his ninja uniform and cape, wearing only a wetsuit and a breathing mask, and sat casually inside.

In front of him was a low table with tea set on it.

"sit."

Hanzo gestured to the person opposite him, indicating that they should sit down and chat.

Danzo didn't stand on ceremony and knelt down opposite Hanzo. The Amegakure ninja who had led the way discreetly withdrew and closed the door.

Hanzo personally poured tea for Danzo and casually asked, "Danzo, what brings you here on behalf of Konoha to visit me?"

Danzo raised his hand, indicating that he would do it himself, and then took the teapot from Hanzo and filled both of their cups.

Then, he slowly said, "I'm sure Lord Hanzo has already guessed the purpose of my visit!"

"I did have some suspicions." Hanzo glanced at the tea in his cup, which rippled like a stone thrown into a lake. He then turned his gaze back to the person opposite him. "Our operation this time was easy to predict. You're here to persuade me to withdraw from the joint operation, aren't you?"

"No..." Danzo shook his head slightly, took a sip of tea, and then continued, "I'm here to save Amegakure."

"Um?"

Hanzo's eyes narrowed, flashing a sharp gaze, and an invisible aura emanated, stirring up a chaotic hurricane.

Hair flew wildly, and the low table trembled incessantly.

At this time, the demigod of the ninja world had not yet lost his true self, and his strength was unparalleled in the ninja world. Even if the three former Sannin attacked together, they would not be a match for him.

Although he did not make a move, the sheer aura he exuded was enough to intimidate ordinary ninjas.

But Danzo was no ordinary ninja.

Although he felt the suffocating pressure and was taken aback by the opponent's strength, he remained calm and unmoved on the surface.

Hanzo frowned, his imposing aura softening, and questioned, "Can I use this as a threat?"

"I was just stating the facts for my friend out of kindness."

"Heh!" Hanzo sneered. "You mean Konoha would win against the combined forces of the Four Ninja Villages?"

"Do you really think Konoha will lose?"

Danzo remained unmoved. He picked up his teacup, took a small sip, and continued, "Don't be fooled by the fact that your allied forces are more than three times the size of Konoha's. Can you really use those forces to fight Konoha's ninjas on the battlefield?"

"Why not?"

"I believe in Lord Hanzo's character, but if Lord Hanzo would do this, what about the others?"

Upon hearing this, Hanzo's expression changed slightly.

Danzo hit the nail on the head regarding his concerns.

Because of what the Hidden Cloud Village did in their last operation, the allied forces distrust each other and will definitely be wary of one another.

Once one side takes precautions and prepares a backup plan, the others will not dare to go all out, fearing being stabbed in the back.

Let's take the simplest example to illustrate.

If Amegakure launches a full-scale attack on Konoha, but Iwagakure holds back a contingency plan to prevent a repeat of the previous incident.

Hanzo would then worry that Iwagakure might take the opportunity to steal Amegakure's house, so he would detach some of his troops to stay and guard Amegakure.

After all, the war between Amegakure and Iwagakure wasn't a one-off event, and Onoki's character wasn't exactly trustworthy.

In this way, everyone will hold back, and the strength of the allied forces will be greatly weakened, or even halved.

After all, everyone has selfish desires, and everyone wants the other person to do more.

but……

"Even so, the Allied Forces are far stronger than Konoha," Hanzo said with a firm gaze.

Danzo was completely unconcerned.

He chuckled softly, refilled the empty teacup, held it in his hand, a cryptic smile playing on his lips. "What if one of you betrays us?"

"What if?" Hanzo couldn't help but scoff. "Then why don't you just assume that the allied forces trust and cooperate with each other, and can wipe out Konoha without any obstacles? If everything is based on assumptions, then nothing can be discussed."

"That's natural."

At this point, Danzo let out a deep sigh of relief and continued, "But my assumption is based on the premise that it is highly likely to happen."

"Oh?"

"Everything is driven by self-interest. If Konoha were to transfer one-tenth of its annual mission assignments to Iwagakure and ask them to withdraw, do you think they would back down?"

Yes, absolutely.

Hanzo's expression turned gloomy.

As Danzo said, everyone is here for profit.

If one can obtain a benefit without incurring losses, why would anyone risk fighting for something they may not even be able to obtain?

Danzo raised his eyelids slightly, taking in Hanzo's change in expression without missing a beat, and then chuckled, "With Lord Hanzo's brilliance, you should have already figured out the correct answer, right?"

If Iwagakure withdraws, although the combined forces of Kumogakure, Ame, and Kusanagi will still be stronger than Konoha, victory will no longer be guaranteed.

If the battle reaches a stalemate, or if Amegakure suffers heavy losses in this war, what do you think Onoki will do?

"Invading Amegakure!"

Hanzo's face turned extremely ugly.

Everyone in the ninja world knows what kind of person Onoki is.

Although not as powerful as the Hidden Cloud Village, their ambition is no less, and they never miss any opportunity to gain benefits.

If the situation truly becomes as Danzo described, then the unharmed and well-rested Iwagakure ninja will definitely invade immediately.

In that case, even the village might cease to exist.

Seeing this, Danzo secretly smiled.

(The checkmate is complete.)

"Lord Hanzo, do you still think what I said before was a threat?"

Looking at that familiar "kind" face, Hanzo couldn't help but feel guilty about his previous words.

"I was too abrupt."

"So, what will Lord Hanzo do next?"

"Of course..." Hanzo's guilty face twisted into a cold smile, "Let's continue our alliance with Kumo, Kusanagi, and Iwa, and attack Konoha together!"

"..."

Danzo's body trembled, and his lowered eyelids snapped open, as if he couldn't believe it.

"Lord Danzo's words are truly impressive; I almost believed them." Hanzo sneered.

Upon hearing this, Danzo fell silent.

He didn't know what went wrong. The conversation had been going smoothly, but then this unexpected reversal occurred.

After a moment of silence, Danzo decided to test the waters, "What makes you say this, Lord Hanzo?"

"Although what you said makes a lot of sense, I can't find any problems with it right now. But if things were really as simple as you say, Konoha wouldn't have sent you to contact me."

Upon hearing this, Danzo fell silent once again.

People will only actively seek out others when they need something from them.

This isn't some profound truth; it's just something everyone experiences many times.

As the leader of Amegakure, Hanzo was caught between three great nations, and this was a situation he often encountered.

He knew full well that Danzo was not a saint and would not be so kind as to do good deeds when the interests of both villages were at stake.

Their relationship wasn't good enough for them to disregard the village's interests and come to remind each other.

Therefore, no matter how eloquently Danzo spoke, Hanzo only knew one thing—this guy had come to negotiate because he needed something from him.

So, if you think about it further along this line of thought, it's easy to figure out the other party's purpose.

The other person wasn't trying to kindly remind me of that terrible situation; they were trying to make me think about it.

Or rather, they wanted the situation to develop that way.

In other words, the situation wouldn't have developed that way originally.

However, Hanzo was not sure if his guess was true, because he could not find any flaws in Danzo's words.

Whether it's Konoha making concessions to get Iwagakure to withdraw from the Allied Forces before the war, or Iwagakure taking advantage of the stalemate in the war to seize the opportunity... these are all highly probable events.

Therefore, Hanzo's attitude at this moment was all a pretense; his real purpose was to deceive Danzo and confirm his true purpose for coming here.

But Danzo remained as steady as a rock in the face of Hanzo's probing.

His expression remained unchanged as he picked up his teacup and took a small sip, but his mind was racing and his movements never faltered.

Hanzo couldn't tell that he was thinking about something, nor could he judge from his reaction whether his words were correct. He couldn't help but wonder: Was I judging a gentleman by my own petty standards, or was Danzo, that old fox, seeing through my intentions and deliberately putting on this act?

In fact, Hanzo's guess was correct; it was all just Danzo bluffing, merely a negotiation tactic.

As the leader of the "Root" shrouded in darkness, Danzo had witnessed the ugliness and darkness of human nature and knew that in negotiations, the weaker party would be put on the defensive... The Allied Forces were far superior to Konoha, and it was simply impossible to get Hanzo to withdraw from the alliance through normal negotiations.

Therefore, Danzo used rhetoric to put himself in a proactive position during the negotiations—that is, what was originally asking you to withdraw from the alliance's attack became "I'm doing this for your own good, I want to save you," so that you would voluntarily withdraw.

Danzo's words during the negotiations were not mere idle talk, but rather facts with a high probability of occurring. Even if the other party had doubts, they would, after making a rational judgment, believe them without question.

But the truth is that Danzo would never use one-tenth of Konoha's mission requests to force Iwagakure to withdraw.

On his way to the Land of Rain, Danzo thought a lot and considered many questions.

In this crisis, Konoha would have to pay a heavy price to prevent Sunagakure from getting involved.

If we give another tenth of our mission assignments to Iwagakure and force them to withdraw, Konoha will suffer heavy losses before the war even begins.

Afterwards, they will face the combined forces of Cloud and Grass (assuming they successfully persuade Rain Village to retreat), and a bloody battle is inevitable between the two sides.

Regardless of the outcome, Konoha will suffer heavy losses and be completely disqualified from competing for the title of the ninja world's overlord.

If the Hidden Mist Village, Hidden Sand Village, and Hidden Rock Village were to take advantage of this opportunity to attack, Konoha would be completely destroyed.

Therefore, in the face of this crisis, it is not enough for Konoha to simply get through it; they must also win decisively and cripple the Allied Forces.

However, given the vast disparity in combat strength between the two sides, the only way to achieve a major victory is to divide the enemy's forces and turn them into allies.

The enemy is the coalition forces, and they have the opportunity to do this.

Just as Danzo said at the beginning, everyone is here for profit, and as long as the profit is enough, nothing is impossible.

However, this benefit cannot come from Konoha.

……

"Lord Hanzo is overthinking it."

Placing the teacup on the low table, Danzo lowered his eyelids and said, "I believe that Lord Hanzo is a man of great wisdom and foresight, and he will surely be able to discern whether what I say is true or false."

"That's why I asked this question, precisely because I can't tell the difference."

"Lord Hanzo is joking."

Seeing the other party's nonchalant expression, Danzo smiled slightly and changed the subject, "Then let's look at the problem from a different angle. Everyone is here for their own benefit. Instead of joining the Allied Forces to attack Konoha, why doesn't Amegakure do something more profitable while the other villages are busy?"

"Is there anything more beneficial right now than joining the Allied Forces to attack Konoha?"

"Of course."

Danzo calmly took out a map of the ninja world, spread it out on the table, and pointed to a country on the map.

Hanzo leaned over, his eyes widening slightly, and exclaimed in surprise, "The Land of Iron!?"

"That's right, it's the Land of Iron."

The Land of Iron is a permanently neutral country. It has no ninja villages, but it also does not assign missions to other ninja villages.

Because this is the land of warriors.

This country has a large number of samurai, whose strength is no less than that of ninjas.

These samurai are a force directly under the official command of the Land of Iron, unlike ninjas who are mercenaries who have long cooperated with the state.

Therefore, samurai do not accept mission assignments and have no conflict of interest with ninjas.

In addition, given the Land of Iron's neutral stance, no ninja village has ever provoked them.

How could Hanzo not be shocked that Danzo was now suggesting that Hanzo take advantage of the other ninja wars to invade the Land of Iron?

Thank you to Big Face Cat Meow Meow, I'll Die Without Ilya, Silky Sword, Emotional Ruins y, Korsi, Little Strange Tea, and Ali Ya for the donations. I am very grateful.

(End of this chapter)