I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 348 The person who accuses others may also be a habitual offender.

Inside the base, Danzo looked at his subordinate kneeling before him and asked, "Was the mission successfully assigned? Did the Third Hokage try to stop it?"

"Reporting to Lord Danzo, the mission has been successfully assigned to Sakumo Hatake. There was no obstruction from the Third Hokage. After the mission discussion, Sakumo Hatake will depart for Iwagakure."

After the Root members finished reporting, Danzo smiled, a rare sight on his face, and said, "After Sakumo Hatake failed in this mission, he was unable to bear the consequences."

As the Hokage, the Third Hokage is also culpable. If Onoki were to cause trouble, Konoha would face accountability. With just a little impeachment, Sarutobi would inevitably have to resign.

At that time, I will become the Fourth Hokage, as everyone hopes! Sarutobi has been scheming for more than 20 years, but has achieved nothing. I will rule for 20 years, and Konoha will surely be a new world!

"Twenty years from now, when the younger generation has grown up, I will support them to take the stage and guide them for ten years. They will surely be able to restore or even surpass the glory of my teacher's era!"

Upon hearing this, a fanatical light appeared in the eyes of that member, and he asked curiously, "Lord Danzo, which junior do you value?"

"Do you need to know?"

Danzo's cold gaze fell on the Root members, who shrank back, heads bowed, not daring to speak. Danzo scoffed and then said, "Actually, it doesn't matter if I tell you. I believe Sakamoto Tatsuma has the potential to become Hokage."

"But Sakamoto Tatsuma is from the Third Hokage's faction, and he even has a close relationship with Hatake Sakumo."

"Heh~ It's just a young man's lack of perspective. One day, he will understand my good intentions. I am the one who is wholeheartedly devoted to Konoha!"

Even as he said that, Danzo still felt a pang of jealousy when he thought about Tatsuma's dissatisfaction with him the day before yesterday.

It's all Hiruzen Sarutobi's fault! That old bastard must have instilled some bad ideas in Tatsuma. We need to find a way to let Tatsuma see the real him, so he won't be misled by some people with ulterior motives!

Suppressing his anger, Danzo asked, "By the way, how's the matter of you communicating with Orochimaru going?"

Upon hearing this, the Root member hesitated for a few moments before saying, "Orochimaru... agreed to cooperate, but there's a commission process and a contract to sign, and he's asking for a very high price."

"Hmph! Vulgar! As expected of Sarutobi's students! All they think about is money, money, money, they don't care about the village at all!"

Danzo was furious, but after mentally assessing Gen's current savings, he asked, "How much is he asking for?"

"A single bloodline limit organ transplant costs 10 million taels, and a commissioned research project costs no less than 20 million taels. The specific amount will be determined by him after assessing the difficulty. The training fee for a single scientific research ninja is 800,000 taels, but there is no guarantee that you will learn it."

Meanwhile, all venues, equipment, and consumables must be provided by Gen himself; he must also arrange the participants; no additional personnel or surveillance equipment may be installed; he must take the experimental logs with him; and if technical duplication is needed later, a 20% discount may be offered.

Upon hearing Orochimaru's price and demands, Danzo clenched his teeth, his lips pressed tightly together, and the lines on his nasolabial folds deepened like ocean trenches. He said through gritted teeth, "This Orochimaru... he really doesn't value my money!"

Given Orochimaru's offer and demands, even if Root were dismantled and sold off entirely, let alone their savings, it wouldn't be enough to raise the funds for the experiments and research Danzo wanted to conduct.

Actually, Orochimaru's own price quote was secondary; the most crucial factors were the venue, equipment, and consumables. Danzo knew exactly how much money Orochimaru spent over three years researching Wood Release.

Three years was enough time for the daimyo, who controlled the economic lifeline of the entire Land of Fire, to stop spending money. It remains to be seen who the most successful ninja in making money is.

However, the ninjas who spend the most money, ranked first and second, are definitely Orochimaru and Sakamoto Tatsuma.

These two people just casually filled out purchase orders and signed their names, yet they ended up spending more money than an ordinary ninja squad could earn in their entire ninja career.

"Lord Danzo, I have a suggestion."

The Root member tentatively spoke, and Danzo, his expression hardening with gritted teeth, lowered his head and said, "Speak."

"The Wood Release Research Institute has been sealed off for several years, and all the previous investments have been completely wasted. Why don't you take it from the Third Hokage? That way, we can save a lot of money on space and equipment."

Furthermore, Orochimaru himself has many projects, and he's been raising funds for the past two years to cover them. What do you think about exchanging his labor for access to the Wood Release Research Institute?

Upon hearing this, Danzo showed a thoughtful expression. He had been keeping a close eye on Orochimaru's movements and knew that Orochimaru, who had been lying dormant for several years, had been frantically looking for missions and even taking on side jobs in the past two years.

Konoha Hospital has several high-precision devices that he was commissioned to design and debug. When he visited Sarutobi's house last time, Biwako mentioned that those devices could advance ninja pathology by ten years.

Of course, Danzo wasn't interested in the kind of equipment developed for the health of ordinary people; what he wanted was something that could promote the development of the ninja profession!

Ideally, it should be related to bloodline limits, such as the reproduction of Wood Release, the transplantation of Sharingan, or the breaking of the Caged Bird Seal.

Unfortunately, the researchers at Root were utterly incompetent. After so many years of research, they hadn't made a single success. Orochimaru, the only one with any hope of researching these things, was demanding an exorbitant price.

However, what this subordinate said makes sense. If he can successfully obtain the Wood Release Research Institute and use the access rights as a bargaining chip, he might be able to get Orochimaru to work for him.

But how can we get the Wood Release Research Institute from Sarutobi?

Although the Wood Release Research Institute was built in the village, it was always used by Konoha ninjas, and even the work of guarding it after it was sealed off was the responsibility of Konoha.

Ultimately, however, this was built with funds from the daimyo of the Land of Fire, and theoretically it belongs to the daimyo's estate, making it an enclave of the daimyo.

Therefore, this is different from the situation when he obtained the Necropolis from Sarutobi. It is not something he can get by throwing a tantrum or acting first and asking for permission later. He must come up with a better way.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Danzo waved his hand, and the Root members who had been kneeling before him nodded. They then vanished in an instant. Only then did Danzo speak, "Come in."

The door was pushed open, and an ANBU ninja appeared, saying, "Lord Danzo, the Hokage requests your presence."

Danzo stared at him, then said, "I understand. Your clan, including Shikaku, is very intelligent. I wonder if you have inherited that intelligence?"

"No, I can't understand what Lord Danzo is saying right now."

Shikaku replied listlessly that he had finally managed to slack off the day before yesterday, but the Hokage caught him and scolded him. Then, he was beaten by his parents that night.

When he discovered yesterday that the whole incident stemmed from the fact that a Root member temporarily transferred to his place had stolen intelligence and leaked some top-secret information to Danzo while he was on leave, he was so angry that he wanted to strangle that Root member and Danzo.

That would be too troublesome. He doesn't have the ability to do it. He would have to make a lot of plans to accomplish this. It would be better to just accept it as it is.

Unfortunately, taking leave will be troublesome from now on. The Hokage actually requires that even if he takes sick leave, he must obtain a medical certificate from a doctor at the Konoha Hospital who is an attending physician or above.

As for personal leave, he should have his father ask him to take it.

Danzo glanced at the nonchalant Shikaku, snorted, and walked right past him. Since Shikaku was so stupid, then he'd wait until he became the Fourth Hokage... Heh.

However, Danzo's good mood about becoming the Fourth Hokage did not last long, because he was looking forward to the series of chain reactions triggered by Sakumo Hatake's impending mission failure.

The reason Hiruzen Sarutobi called him was to attend a mission seminar, but Sakumo Hatake preemptively demanded to borrow members of Root and requested the village to grant him the same authority as Danzo.

Danzo naturally couldn't agree. After arguing with Sakumo Hatake, Hiruzen Sarutobi mediated. Sakumo Hatake backed down first, saying that he needed Root's data, so even if he couldn't get the same access as Danzo, someone with the same access needed to participate.

They directly put Danzo on a pedestal, either forcing him to relinquish the command of Root, which they had only recently regained and held for less than two years, or for him to participate in Sakumo Hatake's mission.

Moreover, due to the allocation of authority, Sakumo Hatake has successfully slipped from the top position of task leader to the second position, becoming an executor rather than a commander.

Because Danzo was busy protecting his Root authority during this process, he didn't even realize that he had been tricked until he belatedly realized it.

A meticulously planned, seemingly inescapable trap turned into a trap that one ended up trapping oneself?

"Damn that Sakumo Hatake! With such political acumen, he's kept it hidden for so many years, harboring malicious intentions! Harboring malicious intentions indeed!"

Danzo flew into a rage upon returning to the Root Base. It was only because there were no extra decorations in his office that he would have smashed them.

As the mastermind behind this scheme, Danzo naturally knew that the sin of carrying out this mission was not the sin of success or failure, nor the sin of war, but the sin of politics.

This is the crime that is most difficult to escape, and it is also the crime with the most severe punishment. Once you are involved, life and freedom are secondary; being infamous for eternity is the real punishment.

The thought that the plan intended to frame Sakumo Hatake had backfired on Danzo only fueled his anger.

Fortunately, at the end of the seminar, he used his traditional skill of throwing a tantrum to temporarily put the seminar on hold. However, no amount of time could change what Sakumo Hatake insisted on.

Either give up absolute control of the root, or become the scapegoat.

Danzo didn't want to get involved in either of these things. After all, who knew what kind of outrageous and heinous things that the "human beast" Hatake Sakumo would do to Danzo's Root after he took control of it again?

As for taking the blame, he was counting on this mission to become the Fourth Hokage. Political crimes are something that, once you get involved in them, your future will be ruined.

The Root member accompanying him said tremblingly, "Lord Danzo, something is definitely amiss. After years of investigation and analysis, we have determined that Hatake Sakumo does not possess such political insight and ability."

Could it be... could it be that the Third Hokage instructed or even trained him? After all, just yesterday the Third Hokage authorized Sakumo Hatake to suppress our Root organization.

Upon hearing this, Danzo stopped in his tracks, his body stiffened, and then he trembled with anger. He suddenly realized that what his subordinate had said was absolutely right.

"Damn monkey! Are you so jealous and resentful that you're willing to abandon years of friendship and the future glory of Konoha just to stop me from rising to power?!"

Sakumo Hatake: "Achoo!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi: "Achoo!"

(End of this chapter)