In Konoha: I will spread the will of conquest throughout the ninja world.

Hokage Building.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was still writing furiously.

He was already very familiar with handling these government affairs, and the reason he was working overtime today was because the funding from Daming was about to come through.

You can't go against anything but money.

The ninjas work so hard on missions just for this little bit of money.

"The medical department's funding cannot be reduced, the compensation for ninjas who died in the war needs to be approved as soon as possible, the police department... well, let's stick to the previous choice, the ANBU's operating funds and equipment upgrades must be put on the agenda as soon as possible."

After all that trouble, Hiruzen Sarutobi was deeply troubled by the rapidly decreasing funding.

Money, oh money, money is a good thing, but good things are never easy to get.

"or."

The pen tip stopped at the mark at the base. Hiruzen Sarutobi hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.

"no."

The Root and the Dark Bureau are intertwined, and if the funds were allocated solely to the Root, Danzo would definitely try to get them back from them. It's better to avoid trouble than to create more problems.

Thinking of his old friend, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but feel helpless.

He was appointed Hokage in a time of crisis, taking over the position from his teacher. However, Konoha was both powerful and weak at that time.

The divisions between the various ninja clans remain, and there are many powerful ninja clans. As the Hokage, his power has visibly shrunk. Not to mention compared to his teacher, it is not easy for him to even maintain his position as Hokage. Helplessly, he can only let the other members of the Shadow Guard and the Second Hokage's students play their part.

Danzo's free interpretation is the most striking.

But he was too free.

He assassinates nobles, important figures from other ninja villages, geniuses from ninja villages, and even wild geniuses—he doesn't even spare his own family's geniuses!

However, the last one was because he tacitly approved it behind the scenes.

The ninja clan is still too strong; they have to be weakened.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed.

"This is all for Konoha."

Thinking of this, he picked up the pipe beside him and was about to take a puff when suddenly his nerves twitched. He keenly sensed the murderous aura directed at tobacco outside the door, extinguished the tobacco, opened the hidden compartment, and put the pipe in, his movements as practiced as if he had rehearsed countless times.

boom!

The doorbell slammed against the wall, and a clean, white foot entered the Hokage's office first. Isogen maintained his smile, carrying a human-shaped artwork in one hand.

"Lord Hokage, I've caught two scoundrels who were trying to infiltrate Konoha to commit lewd acts."

Sakumo Hatake followed closely behind.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's attention was first drawn to the unusual pose of Yoka Igarashi, who was draped in a white bath towel, before being shifted by the words to the unidentified humanoid object he was carrying.

His gaze fell on the Konoha headband worn by the Root ninja, and he could sense that the Root ninja's aura was almost overwhelming.

Danzo!

Almost instantly, Hiruzen Sarutobi's anger surged.

"Hokage-sama." Sakumo Hatake spoke up in time, bringing Hiruzen Sarutobi's consciousness back to Shimura Danzo, who was staring at the one-eyed figure at the Root base.

"Thank you for your hard work, Shuo Mao."

Suppressing his anger, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke to Sakumo Hatake.

Unexpectedly, Hatake Sakumo shook his head slightly, his gaze falling on Igarashi Yoka, who had already casually tossed the pipe and tobacco from Sarutobi Hiruzen's drawer out the window.

"He did it all by himself. By the time I arrived, he had already captured those two... suspected spies."

Hiruzen Sarutobi was slightly taken aback.

"But their wounds."

"It was left over from the subsequent interrogation."

"..."

With her delicate face raised, Yu Ge smiled slightly: "Don't worry, Lord Hokage. Although their life force is a bit weak, speaking is not a problem. If all else fails, I will ask Uncle Yamanaka for help."

"...Ahem, Yu Ge. Could you please recount what happened?" Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep breath and asked with a kind expression.

"Um……"

A concise and to-the-point statement.

Hiruzen Sarutobi has basically figured out what happened.

The problem lies entirely with those two Root ninjas and his old friend.

After all, he knew very well what Wuxian's activities had been like over the past year. Most of the Root ninjas who were injured were treated at the Root base, so it was unlikely that they would have had any contact with Wuxian at the Konoha Hospital. In addition, with this incident, the memory of Danzo asking him for people a year ago automatically surfaced.

The only thing that puzzled him was Isogen's inexplicably warm yet cold smile.

The Root ninja's weaklings, the barking of puppies, and...

"These weaklings look stupid and not smart at all. The big dog that's training them must be dumb too. It's pathetic. Should we go to the Inuzuka family and ask which dog food has the highest nutritional value?"

"Oh……"

Hiruzen Sarutobi swore on his Hokage Rock that he was not laughing on purpose.

After laughing, a surge of anger immediately followed.

Danzo!

He was furious, but being a close friend he knew well, he had become resistant to Danzo's various actions and focused more of his attention on Igarashi.

Whether it was his unusual smile or his sharp words, they all took him to heart.

"Ahem, go and fetch Director Kimura of Konoha Hospital, and while you're at it, find all the people involved in this matter."

call out.

A member of the secret service team shot through the air and disappeared.

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at Yoko Igarashi, who had a smile on his lips, and coughed lightly.

"Yu Ge, you've worked hard all night. Leave the rest of the interrogation to me. I'll clear out the room next door for you for now."

Yu Ge smiled and nodded, then lightly jumped off the chair. He accidentally stepped on the exposed scarlet tendon of the ninja at the base of the fox mask. The ninja let out a muffled groan and then fell silent.

He's a real man!

Sakumo Hatake crossed his arms, his gaze steady.

Based on his experience and judgment, this guy should be passed out from the pain right now.

With exquisite chakra control, not a speck of dust or blood touched her delicate soles. Isogen hummed a tune unknown to the three sober people in the office and left with light steps, skipping away every two steps.

Hiruzen Sarutobi felt frustrated, and even the good mood he had when the daimyo allocated funds to him was ruined.

When I'm feeling down, I just want a cigarette.

"..."

Sakumo Hatake shook his head.

He was a very traditional ninja.

"Sigh, let's discuss this."

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head helplessly.

Entering the room next door, the Fifty Strings of Yuge felt like coming home.

He climbed out the window and gazed at the Chibaku Tensei on the horizon. It was as if I, across time and space, was looking at that pure-hearted ancestor of chakra in the ninja world.

Ah, I still really want to kill someone.

Should we go find that big dog's den now?

That doesn't seem likely; those places are definitely well hidden.

Then how about...

Look down.

The bath towel was slightly pulled open, revealing the budding product of the Ninja World.

Detonation tag.

Multiplying detonators.

The forbidden technique he chose from Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The distribution of forbidden techniques is extremely strict, and only heroes who have made great contributions can obtain them.

However, the strength of a ninja village is largely based on ninjutsu, and any ninja village would gladly agree to a ninjutsu-for-ninjutsu exchange.

Hiruzen Sarutobi initially wanted to give him the reputation of the Will of Fire, but unfortunately, he had developed a unique skill in his previous life where things went in one ear and out the other during his schooling.

His improved Palm Healing Technique met the standards of a forbidden technique and was indeed powerful. Hiruzen Sarutobi, in the prime of his life, would not hesitate to invest in a genius.

Furthermore, the Multiply Explosive Talisman holds a similar position in the Book of Seals as the first level of the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.

There's also a reason why he chose the Multiplicative Explosive Talisman instead of forbidden techniques like the Impure World Reincarnation, which violate human ethics. After all, aside from the negative buffs that all forbidden techniques have, the Multiplicative Explosive Talisman at most has the limitation of consuming a huge number of explosive tags, making it unusable only for those who are rich.

However, this is similar to the principle that the high price of good things is not due to the quality of the product, but rather to the people involved.

Over the past year, he's also amassed quite a few explosive tags from various places; otherwise... he could have blown up the one-eyed man?

Isogen licked his pink lips, eager to try.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: Ahem, dear readers and viewers, you can probably guess that the author, Little Bird, has been studying in China since childhood and doesn't have a deep understanding of Japanese bullying. Having grown up peacefully, there are many areas of this industry that she doesn't know much about.

At this point, we would like to ask you all to be generous with your donations. If you have any fun ideas, please write them in the comments section.

For example, Danzo's lewd act towards the Inuzuka family's ninja dogs was accidentally broadcast to the entire village, resulting in Danzo's death in front of everyone.

In addition, there are the usual routines.

As this is my first book, I would appreciate your support.

Yours sincerely.

∠(°ゝ°)