Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

The seeds of estrangement have been sown.

All he needs to do now is patiently wait for the seeds to take root and sprout.

Danzo then sat down cross-legged again and activated the Dark Walk Technique once more, shrouding the entire room in darkness once more.

He is the root of Konoha, and should remain in the darkness of Konoha.

But one day, he will transform into a leaf bathed in sunlight.

……

As soon as the Third Generation left prison, he immediately returned to the Sarutobi clan.

It had been half a year since he last returned to the Sarutobi clan's territory. When he returned, he found that the territory had undergone many changes. The biggest change was that there were many more brand-new large houses, and the territory had also expanded considerably.

The third generation noticed these circumstances and their hearts sank.

In the past, he would notice these changes in the clan's territory every time he came back, but he didn't pay much attention to them. Today is different; he finds these changes somewhat jarring.

Although the Third Generation returned to the Sarutobi clan in the middle of the night, not long after his return, the three clan elders appeared at his house.

Two of these three elders were his uncles from three generations ago: his second uncle Sarutobi Seiseki and his fourth uncle Sarutobi Kenta. The third was his contemporary, his cousin Sarutobi Sho, Sarutobi Seiseki's eldest son.

"Hiruzen, what brings you back tonight?"

The Third Hokage's second uncle, Sarutobi Seiseki, noticed that the Third Hokage's expression was not good and realized that something was wrong. He tentatively asked, "What's going on?"

The Third Hokage glanced at Sarutobi Seiseki, but instead of speaking immediately, he looked at Sarutobi Sho.

During his absence from the Sarutobi clan, he had the most contact with Sarutobi Sho. Whenever the Sarutobi clan had any requests, Sarutobi Sho would come and tell him. It could be said that Sarutobi Sho was the person in charge of the Sarutobi clan at the moment.

When Sarutobi saw the Third Hokage looking over, he smiled and said, "What's wrong, Hiruzen? Is something bothering you? Just tell me. The Sarutobi clan is your strongest support. As long as you ask, the Sarutobi clan will take care of it for you."

"That's right, the Sarutobi clan will always be your home."

Sarutobi Seiseki also said with a smile.

The two laughed, but the Third Generation and Kenta Sarutobi did not.

"Hiruzen, speak up. There's no need to hold back for the sake of saving face. You are the Hokage. The Sarutobi clan owes its success to you. If you fall, the Sarutobi clan won't fare much better."

Kenta Sarutobi looked at the hot tea in his cup and said calmly.

After he finished speaking, his eyes were fixed on the eyes of the Third Hokage who was looking over.

"It's nothing serious, I just haven't been back for a while, and I happen to have some free time tonight so I can go home and visit."

Upon hearing this, the third generation remained silent for a moment before finally smiling and replying.

The third generation smiled, and the somewhat tense atmosphere at the scene instantly disappeared.

Sarutobi Seiseki and Sarutobi Sho finally felt relieved. They had just seen the Third Hokage's ugly expression and thought that their hiring of the Black Gold Bounty Hunters had been exposed.

It was already late at night. The Third Hokage had finally returned, and since he said he was alright, the three of them naturally wouldn't disturb the Third Hokage and Sarutobi Biwako's time alone. The three of them left one after another.

Sarutobi Biwako was the Third Hokage's capable wife. She could tell at a glance that her husband was troubled. As soon as the three of them left, she immediately asked the Third Hokage, "What happened? Did Danzo say something unpleasant?"

As the Hokage's wife, and with her son and daughter-in-law serving as the head and vice-head of the Anbu, Sarutobi Biwako naturally knew the Third Hokage's whereabouts perfectly well. She was simply unaware of what happened tonight when the Third Hokage was alone with Danzo.

However, the Third Hokage looked preoccupied as soon as he returned from prison, which suggests that Danzo had said some very unpleasant things to him.

"Biwako, do you think I've been too lenient with the Sarutobi clan?"

He sighed, "I can still confide in my wife, even though it's a third generation."

Sarutobi Biwako was taken aback by the Third Hokage's question, then a complex expression appeared on her face. She sighed deeply and answered truthfully:

"It's not just some, it's too much indulgence. Haven't you noticed that many important positions in Konoha's important departments have been filled by people from the clans? The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Anbu, schools, hospitals, prisons, the Sealing Squad, the Barrier Squad, the Torture Department—the top or second-in-commands in all of them are people from the clans."

Upon hearing his wife's words, the third generation looked as if he had aged ten years in an instant, and his face turned pale.

In order to secure his position as Hokage and ensure the smooth implementation of his decrees, he had been working hard to support the Sarutobi clan and assigning them to various departments to serve as supervisors, preventing them from shirking their duties or disobeying orders after they were issued.

Now that so much time has passed, those clansmen he sent to various departments have already climbed to the top of those departments.

In this way, wouldn't the Sarutobi clan be able to control everything in Konoha?

But how long can this situation last?

He knew very well that the Sarutobi clan's development was entirely due to him, the Hokage, and the support of other Kage-level shinobi.

As for the many Jonin and Chunin within the Sarutobi clan, he couldn't count on them at all.

Even if the Sarutobi clan is strong, they are still much stronger than the Uchiha clan as a whole.

If the Sarutobi clan fails to produce another young Kage-level shinobi after his abdication, can the Sarutobi clan truly maintain this situation?

At this moment, the Third Hokage suddenly thought of Kirito, Chizuru, and Nawaki, these young talents of Konoha who had shown extraordinary abilities at a young age. Then, thinking about the situation of his clansmen who were the same age as the three of them, he couldn't help but feel a deep chill in his heart.

What will become of the Sarutobi clan in the future?

What should the Hokage do?

Chapter 171: Danzo Must Die

Ultimately, all three generations succumbed to physical exhaustion and mental strain, and drifted off to sleep in the gentle embrace of their wives at Biwako.

"You're carrying too much on your shoulders all by yourself. Sometimes, you don't need to force yourself like this. You need to learn to say no and be a little tougher on your own people. You're just too nice to them and too soft-hearted, which is why they take advantage of you and become even more demanding."

Looking at the Third Generation's face, which was extremely haggard from long-term overwork, Biwako said with great heartache.

The Third Hokage wasn't always like this. Before becoming Hokage, he was full of vigor and loved to laugh. But after becoming Hokage, he smiled less and less, until all that remained was a sorrowful expression. He was always preoccupied and never looked as spirited as he used to be.

The position of Hokage may seem prestigious, but in reality, not everyone can shoulder its heavy responsibilities. Those who lack sufficient capacity will only face tragedy if they take the position.

This is Sarutobi Biwako's understanding of the Hokage position over the years.

Therefore, he never considered having his son become Hokage.

This lousy position is open to anyone who wants it.

Meanwhile, while the third generation was asleep, at the Senju clan's ancestral home, in the Nawaki family's residence, someone who shouldn't have been there suddenly appeared outside Momoka's room.

As a veteran elite Jonin, Momoka was undoubtedly very alert, and she immediately noticed that someone was outside the room.

She secretly gathered chakra, preparing to give the uninvited guest a huge surprise.

But she soon discovered that the uninvited guest was not an enemy.

A familiar white soul appeared before her.

"Kirito, why didn't you stay with the White Fang team? Why did you come back?"

Tao Hua frowned as she saw the familiar soul.

"Don't worry, Lady Tao Hua, this is just a soul clone that I created with my soul power. You can think of it as a shadow clone of my soul."

Kirito explained with a smile.

The White Fang Squad was being tracked and assassinated by Root, and he naturally wouldn't sit idly by. However, eliminating the Root ninjas behind them was merely treating the symptoms, not the root cause.

Therefore, he's going to pull off a big heist; he's going to address the root cause.

His White Zetsu clone already possessed Kage-level strength, and he believed he could easily defeat Danzo.

As for the elite ninjas guarding Danzo's Root organization, they were nothing to worry about; they could be dealt with easily.

In a battle between Kage-level powerhouses, Jonin and the like are just slightly higher-level cannon fodder.

However, Danzo is currently deep inside Konoha's prison, which is heavily guarded and has a very strong sealing barrier. If anything happens, the entire village of Konoha will mobilize.

He does not yet have the ability to fight against the entire Hidden Leaf Village on his own.

He needs help to use it.

Tao Hua was the first helper he found tonight.

"Soul clone, is there something important you need to tell me so late at night?"

After receiving an explanation, Momoka continued speaking, but her eyes were fixed intently on Kirito's soul clone before her.

She was an experienced and shrewd woman, and of course she wouldn't completely believe Kirito's explanation. She strongly suspected that this soul clone had other unknown functions.

Furthermore, Kirito's analogy just now suggests that the abilities this soul clone possesses are actually the same as the original soul. If that's the case, then this soul clone is definitely not simple.

She was beginning to understand why Kirito was so rich.

She wasn't blind. After Mito's death, she became the head of the Senju clan. She knew everything that happened in the Senju clan's territory, including Kirito's two Sacred Beast puppets that Tsunade used for performance testing.

As the head of the Senju clan, she was familiar with the prices of all kinds of daily necessities and knew better than Tsunade just how terrifying the cost of those two sacred beast puppets was.

Given Kirito's earning power in Konoha, to save enough money to create those two sacred beast puppets within a year or two, he would have to work hard every day to create various sealing scrolls and sealing talismans, and he would also need to find a stable source of supplies.

As far as she knew, Kirito did not use the Senju clan's money or their channels for purchasing chakra metals, nor did the Uchiha clan.

Therefore, it's possible that this kid used this soul clone to venture out into the world at a young age and has already made a name for himself.

Given Kirito's demonstrated abilities and intelligence, this possibility is very high.

To be honest, Konoha is probably just an excellent learning platform for Kirito. The outside world is where he can really make his mark. After all, the interests of Konoha have long been divided up by the various ninja clans, so it's easier for him to start his own business outside.

However, she was still focused on Kirito coming to see her so late, thinking that the White Fang team must have run into trouble.

Kirito didn't waste any time and immediately recounted what the White Fang Squad had encountered that day, including focusing his suspicions on Danzo's Root organization.

"It must be this despicable guy. He was well-behaved for a while after being locked up in prison, but he started acting up again after Mito-sama passed away. He thought he was hiding well from the Third Hokage, but I already knew that he was using shadow clones to operate outside. This guy is too dangerous and must be eliminated."

When Momoka learned that Rope Tree had been attacked twice, she was furious and her face was filled with murderous intent.

"Lord Taohua is right. We must get rid of him as soon as possible. We can't let him live and cause trouble behind the scenes any longer."

Kirito immediately agreed.

Eliminating Danzo was something he had always wanted to do. He hadn't done it before because his teacher stopped him, but since his teacher passed away, he had been thinking about taking action. However, there were too many things to do at the time, Danzo was imprisoned, and Root was keeping a low profile, so he temporarily ignored this pest.

But now that Danzo is causing trouble, he certainly can no longer tolerate him continuing to live and must be eliminated once and for all.

“You want to do this? Although I really want to kill him, he is still a Kage-level ninja, protected by many powerful Root ninjas, and even the Third Hokage's Anbu are protecting him. The prison where he is being held is now the best turtle shell for him.”

When Momoka saw Kirito say he wanted to get rid of Danzo, she immediately calmed down and asked him a question.

She wasn't surprised when Kirito said he wanted to kill Danzo, but what gave him the right to say that? Did he have the ability right now? Besides, Kirito wasn't even in Konoha.

Are we going to rely on the Senju clan?

The problem is that the Senju clan is currently weak and isolated. They only have fifteen Jonin who are truly capable, five of whom were promoted recently, entirely through resource allocation, and have not yet undergone the trials of iron and blood.