Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode.

Chapter 59 His Heart Is Despicable

Danzo calmed down, and the Anbu members, including Sarutobi Takashi, also ceased their combat stance. However, the encirclement remained, with the Anbu still eyeing Danzo and his Root ninjas with predatory intent.

Moreover, the number of ANBU ninjas arriving later continued to increase.

These ANBU ninjas were all masters of concealment. If Kirito hadn't been able to sense souls within a 1-kilometer radius using his soul perception, it would have been difficult for him to detect them completely using only his perception of chakra through natural energy.

As a Kage-level ninja, Danzo was also quite skilled in sensory ninjutsu, so he naturally noticed Sarutobi Takashi's little trick of secretly mobilizing ANBU ninja reinforcements.

He merely snorted coldly, crossed his arms, and stared in the direction where the Third Generation and the others had left, his eyes cold and deep.

"It seems Danzo really can't leave. There are so many Anbu ninjas, including 20 Jonin alone. Even if he is a Kage-level ninja, he wouldn't dare to make a move. There's also a shadow clone of Uchiha Homura next to him. If a real fight breaks out, this Uchiha clan leader would definitely be very happy to call on the Uchiha clan ninjas to help him."

Kirito watched Danzo's helpless decision to give up and leave, and thought with satisfaction.

In this way, he wouldn't have to secretly follow Danzo anymore.

The Root's headquarters is still very dangerous. Who knows if there are any sealing barriers there that can detect souls, or ninjas that can sense souls?

He absolutely did not want to follow Danzo, that cunning old fox, unless absolutely necessary.

"Ah, the safe time for astral projection is almost up, it's time to go back."

Kirito suddenly felt a slight pain in his soul and frowned slightly as he thought to himself.

Time flies, and before he knew it, his nighttime stroll was coming to an end.

Without further hesitation, he manipulated his spirit body to turn around and fly quickly towards the Rope Tree's house.

A minute later, at the Nawaki family's house, Kirito in the basement reopened his eyes and stood up somewhat stiffly.

. . .

Meanwhile, in Mito's room, the Third Hokage, Mitokado Homura, Uchiha Koharu, and Hyuga Kazuma were gathered, kneeling obediently on the tatami mats, listening to Aburame Ryoma recount the details of how the Root ninjas destroyed the Senju clan's sealing barrier that night.

With Mito, a master of sealing techniques, present, the seal of the tongue-twisting Root of Trouble on Aburame Ryoma had been removed. Next, he was controlled by Uchiha Homura, who was proficient in genjutsu, using his Sharingan, and then he obediently told her everything he knew.

According to Ryoma Aburame, Danzo chose to destroy the Senju clan's sealing barrier in order to lure out Ebizo, the head of the Sand Village's intelligence network.

Danzo did a lot of work on this.

Among these actions was the use of a discovered Sand Ninja spy embedded in the Ninja Academy to leak information about Kushina Uzumaki, and the secret dissemination of information on the black market that Mito Uzumaki was nearing the end.

Afterwards, he secretly cooperated with Orochimaru to break the Senju clan's sealing barrier, and then deliberately revealed this information and his intention to obtain the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki to a Root member who had already been discovered to be a Sand Village spy.

Danzo's entire plan was quite ingenious, with each step tightly linked and flawless, leaving almost no room for error. He made full use of all the pawns at his disposal, even his own infamous reputation.

The Third Generation and the others asked themselves honestly, if they were Ebizo, they would probably have already been tricked.

However, Danzo had overlooked one crucial detail: Kirito, who had mastered the art of spiritification and spent his nights wandering around.

He probably couldn't have imagined that Kirito would learn the Spirit Transformation Technique in such a short time.

After all, which S-rank ninjutsu doesn't require a significant amount of time to master?

According to his intelligence, Kato Dan spent a full year learning the art of spirit transformation. Before practicing, he used many precious resources to nourish his body and reach the best possible state for practicing the art of spirit transformation.

Who knew Kirito's talent for cultivating the Spirit Transformation Technique was so abnormal? In less than a month, he successfully mastered this terrifying S-rank soul ninjutsu. Moreover, thanks to the abundant training resources provided by the Senju clan, his cultivation of the Spirit Transformation Technique progressed by leaps and bounds.

Not to mention Danzo, even Mito was shocked by this. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she probably wouldn't have believed that anyone could master the Spirit Transformation Technique so quickly.

In short, Danzo was tricked by empiricism this time.

Kirito, who doesn't play by the rules, is the one who appears, forcing his plan to fail.

"Damn Danzo, how could you hide so much important information from me? How many other important things have you been hiding from me?"

After hearing Ryoma Aburame's account of his plan, the Third Hokage was shocked and developed a deep resentment towards Danzo.

For example, he had no idea that there were Sand Ninja spies in the Ninja Academy, and Danzo actually concealed this fact, which made him feel heartbroken and terrified.

After all, the Ninja Academy is a very important institution that cultivates young talents of Konoha and spreads the Will of Fire. If a Sand Village spy were to infiltrate the teaching staff of the institution, it could very well lead to the destruction of countless young talents if something were to happen.

Not every student at the Ninja Academy is a super kid like Kirito, Chizuru, or Nawaki, possessing the strength of a Chunin. Most are just ordinary kids who don't even have the strength of a Genin.

If that Sand Village spy were to launch an attack and secretly cause a major disaster, the precious young shoots of Konoha might very well suffer heavy casualties.

At that time, he, as the Hokage, will be held accountable.

Behind every child lies the hope of a family, and if that hope were to vanish, many people would go mad.

These people, having nowhere else to vent their anger, will inevitably direct it at him, the Hokage.

After all, the Hokage is the number one protector of the village.

If he doesn't take responsibility for such a major mistake, who will?

Even if he becomes a scapegoat immediately afterward, most people will probably continue to blame him, thinking that he is incapable of protecting everyone and is unworthy of being Hokage.

If you can't even protect the tender leaves and buds of the school, how can you expect to protect others?

Who believes it?

Danzo, that bastard, actually didn't tell him such important information; his intentions are truly despicable.

Given Danzo's character, the Third Hokage believed that Danzo would do such a thing.

Upon realizing this, the Third Hokage felt an unprecedented fear of Danzo, thinking that his old comrade-in-arms was truly ruthless and cruel in order to bring him down.

"You bastard, good luck to you."

The Third Hokage thought angrily, deciding that he had to severely punish Danzo this time and abandon his plan to plead with Mito.

It wasn't that he didn't want to plead for Danzo, but Danzo had gone too far this time, and the sword was clearly starting to backfire on him.

He must seize this opportunity to suppress Danzo once again.

It's tough for a new author to get ahead, so I hope all my fellow readers will visit often to increase the readership. After you finish reading, I hope you'll vote for this book and invest in it. If you could give me some monthly tickets and rewards, I would be extremely grateful. It's so hard for a new author and a new book.

(End of this chapter)