I have a bunch of relatives who want to become Hokage.

"Alright, stop complaining. You guys go to another place first. Give me your name, I'll keep this old man entertained for a bit today." Uchiha Shingen was also furious. "Let's see what tricks he can come up with!"

"No, Shingen-nii, what does Danzo want with you?"

"He wanted to get me to work at 'Root'."

"Are you crazy?" Uchiha Tetsuka exclaimed in shock. "Who would go to that godforsaken place? I'm exhausted from work, and I heard they even leave marks on people's tongues."

Uchiha Inaho couldn't help but say, "Can't you be a little more cultured? That's called the Seal of Extinction of the Tongue."

"You're so capable! Is this a matter of a name?" Uchiha Tetsuka looked at him with displeasure. "When has anyone from our family ever been there? Everyone knows what his relationship with our family is."

"Alright, keep your voices down." Uchiha Shingen patted the two of them. "He's on par with the Hokage, so don't gossip behind his back."

After seeing the others off, he entered the shop, where the owner was waiting for him.

"They really went in?"

"He's really inside..." the shopkeeper said with a bitter face. "Master Xinxuan, will something bad happen to him?"

"No need to look so upset. He wouldn't make things difficult for a businessman like you," Uchiha Shingen casually reassured him. "Let's go, take me there."

"Yes, Master..."

Chapter 51 I am not some kind of devil

The izakaya owner, who was acting as the guide, nervously went upstairs at Uchiha Shingen's urging.

Even Danzo Shimura was aware of his reputation; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to build his business to its current level. Merchants who could open such shops in the five great ninja villages were no ordinary people.

While a ninja's personal life is parallel to that of an ordinary person, the ninja world is also part of society, and ninjas in high positions naturally influence all aspects of society.

Danzo Shimura was such a ninja.

In terms of social influence, none of the Five Kage are as effective as the title of "Darkest Ninja." The Five Kage will not stoop to their level, but Danzo Shimura will.

The roots of the tree have reached every country, leaving their mark everywhere.

The izakaya owner was, of course, terrified.

When he arrived at the door of the private room, he swallowed hard, and just as he was about to muster up the courage to open the door, he placed his other hand on the door.

He was a ninja, wearing a mask that was distinctly different from the style of the Anbu, and his gaze was cold.

The izakaya owner felt an urgent need to urinate after being stared at by the Root ninja.

However, the Root ninja only glanced at him before turning his gaze to Uchiha Shingen behind him.

His voice was also devoid of warmth.

"Uchiha Shingen, Lord Danzo said that you can go in alone."

"Hmm." Uchiha Shingen smiled warmly, extremely enthusiastically. "Let's apologize to the boss first."

Both the Root ninja and the izakaya owner were taken aback.

"Uchiha Shingen..."

The short sword pressed against the Root ninja's jaw, silencing him from saying the rest of his sentence.

“Say, ‘I’m sorry, I’ve affected the boss’s business.’” Uchiha Shingen’s Sharingan eyes were filled with kindness, and his expression was gentle as he kindly instructed the other party on how to apologize.

"Eh? Master, you don't have to do this... I'm fine... Holy crap!"

The blade pierced the Root ninja's chin and protruded from the top of his head.

Then the person collapsed to the ground with a thud, and blood was everywhere.

"What are you doing, trying to use the Substitution Jutsu in front of me? Are you stupid?" Uchiha Shingen wiped his hands with a handkerchief, looking very disdainful.

"M-M-Master!" The izakaya owner's voice changed, but he didn't dare to shout too loudly. His tone was absolutely amazing.

"Stop pretending." Uchiha Shingen glanced at him. "With so many shops you own, how many dead people have you seen?"

The izakaya owner shut his mouth, looking extremely aggrieved.

"The store's gift money is waived this month, and you don't need to worry about this person. Don't let anyone in unless I invite them."

After saying that, Uchiha Shingen opened the door and entered the private room.

The private room was dimly lit, with all the lights off; the only light came from the bustling night market lights outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Uchiha Shingen pressed the light button and turned on the chandelier in the private room.

Inside the room, illuminated by the lights, Shimura Danzo sat on the sofa, holding a glass of wine, without even glancing at the lifeless body at the doorway.

Uchiha Shingen closed the door behind him, walked to Shimura Danzo, took another cup, and poured some sake into it.

Then he sat on the other side, without saying a word, just staring.

Danzo Shimura gazed at the night view outside the window for a while, took a sip of his drink, and turned his head back.

Danzo Shimura is not old yet, but the bandages on his right eye and right hand make him look much weaker than Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Shingen Uchiha could see clearly with his Sharingan that his right hand was a prosthetic and his right eye was a dead eyeball.

He hasn't embarked on that path yet.

This person, on the one hand, did countless immoral things, and on the other hand, believed that doing so was right, and never shied away from his "dark" beliefs.

On the surface, he seems quite tragic, but he is very ambitious and selfish, and his personality is extreme. He is prone to making a big deal out of small things. You can't say he is completely black, but he is definitely not good either.

As expected, you can tell what a person will be like at three years old; he's turned out to be this pathetic.

“Uchiha Shingen, you don’t seem to be in a good mood as usual,” Shimura Danzo said.

He was completely oblivious to the fact that Uchiha Shingen was staring at him with his Sharingan activated.

"Lord Danzo, is Root already short even this many people?" Uchiha Shingen's eyes returned to black as he looked at him. "No matter what, they risked their lives for the village. Can't we at least improve their image in the village?"

“It’s inevitable that someone who’s been on missions outside the village all year round would be a bit of a loner,” Shimura Danzo said dismissively. “We were originally planning to keep this guy around for a while longer. Killing him is a loss.”

“Then let’s not let him wear Root’s clothes anymore,” Uchiha Shingen said. “These are clothes that only Konoha ninjas are qualified to wear.”

“It’s your anger that’s too strong; we don’t care about that.” Shimura Danzo put down his wine glass. “You do have a good opinion of ‘Root’.”

"Everyone should do their job and make things convenient for each other," Uchiha Shingen reminded the other party. "Mutual convenience is very important."

"Hmm, it's rare to hear an Uchiha say something like that. Did I disturb your good time tonight?"

"What do you think? I'm already off work."

"If you add 'roots', you'll also have the chance to taste specialties from other places."

"Spending public funds on meals and drinks is prohibited, and I will not let my guard down even if it is not the end of the year."

"It's alright, the 'roots' are granted permission."

"Whether or not I have special permission is none of my business." Uchiha Shingen remained unmoved. Well, he might have wavered slightly, but that was unimportant. "I cannot work for someone who doesn't trust me, Lord Danzo."

"You never worked for anyone, Uchiha Shingen." Shimura Danzo's gaze wasn't exactly pleasant; in fact, it might have been even more unsettling than the Sharingan that had been awakened by emotional stimulation.

Danzo Shimura stood up, walked to the window, and took in the night view outside.

“You work for this view, for yourself, and your abilities can be brought to greater heights at the ‘roots’.”

"Are you talking about yourself?" Uchiha Shingen looked at Shimura Danzo, indicating that he couldn't be fooled this time. "It's no use saying anything, Lord Danzo. I've worked hard all these years to become a Jonin just to avoid this kind of trouble. No one can force me to go where I don't want to go."

“Yes, you’re not someone who can be satisfied with such a small favor.” Shimura Danzo turned around. “But I can give you something the Uchiha clan can’t.”

Uchiha Shingen just chuckled.

He couldn't be bothered to put on a persona in front of Danzo Shimura.

Otherwise, that bastard will take advantage of the situation.

Are you interested in 'Sage Mode'?

Uchiha Shingen raised an eyebrow.

The Uchiha clan doesn't actually possess any so-called Sage Techniques; they simply don't follow that path.

The Thousand Hands of the Forest also lacked this skill; strictly speaking, this is a matter of personal destiny.

Although this thing is a perfect match for the descendants of the Six Paths.

“I’m interested, but I’ll figure it out myself.” Uchiha Shingen refused without hesitation, saying directly, “You should leave your ‘Tongue Trouble Seal’ to someone else.”

"Don't worry, I'm not some kind of devil." Shimura Danzo tapped his cane lightly on the floor. "Don't you like making deals? Make a deal with me."

Chapter Fifty-Two: Whatever the sugar daddy says is right

“Please go ahead.” Uchiha Shingen gestured for him to speak.

That's right. If you're going to talk business, then talk business. We're not exactly good people, so why pretend?

“Recently, there has been an organization called the Hannya Clan. I need a skilled person to wipe them out using extraordinary means,” said Shimura Danzo. “The number of Root ninjas is limited, and we don’t have enough manpower to do this in a short time. But if we have a Jonin, it will be much easier.”

“I won’t ask why they died,” Uchiha Shingen said, “but I don’t have much time.”

"Let me finish speaking before you refuse." Shimura Danzo was not angry that his words were interrupted. He continued, "The matter arose because the Hannya sect claimed to have found traces of a secret realm of sage techniques and hoped to exchange information with Konoha for it."

"Oh." Uchiha Shingen immediately lost interest.

Finding any traces or anything like that is definitely fake.

Back in the first playthrough, only Hashirama Senju in the entire Senju Forest knew Sage Mode, but until his death, no one knew how he acquired it.

Each of the three ninjas possesses a secret realm to inherit, and the names of these realms can be clearly stated.

Take Mount Myōboku as an example. In the manga, the toad named Fukasaku once said that the location of Mount Myōboku is called the Labyrinth Mountain. It takes a month to travel from Konoha, and one must go through a secret passage to reach it.

Putting aside the secret passage, given Naruto's speed at the time, it would only take him three days to travel from Konoha to Sunagakure. The distance between Mount Myōboku and Konoha is ten times that from Konoha to Sunagakure.

That labyrinthine mountain is probably located directly west of the Land of Wind.

In addition to the so-called secret passage, even if you can find the Labyrinth Mountain, you won't be able to find Mount Myōboku.

So even if the Prajna disciples really found a secret realm, since they can offer it for trade, it's more likely that they themselves can't enter it and are just using it to deceive people into making a deal.

But daring to deceive Konoha, especially to deceive Danzo Shimura, is still quite courageous.

"According to 'Root's' investigation, their information is true." Looking at Uchiha Shingen's disbelieving expression, Shimura Danzo narrowed his one eye. "You know about 'Root's' abilities in this area, don't you, Uchiha Shingen?"

"Let me make a guess: did they switch the information with false information? Or did they use false information to exchange for Konoha's true information?" Uchiha Shingen asked.