Uchiha's personal opinion

Coincidentally, Sakumo Hatake, as a believer in the fundamentalist doctrine of the "Will of Fire," also happens to have this kind of personality.

After making detailed plans for the ninja army's deployment at the western border defense force camp, Uchiha Tokumitsu and Hatake Sakumo immediately returned to the mobile force's temporary base to begin gathering supplies and preparing for the battle. At the same time, they issued a transfer order to the Tokumitsu Red Guard stationed at the Daimyo's residence in the Land of Grass.

The western border defense forces have also begun to proactively shrink their deployment areas and concentrate their forces to prepare for an attack.

After making pre-battle preparations, Akimichi Torifu immediately set off back to the dispatched army camp in the Land of Rain to coordinate combat matters.

The Land of Rivers and the Land of Rain will form two war zones. The main attack will be launched in the Land of Rivers, with Sakumo Hatake in command. The objective of the operation in the Land of Rain will be to contain the enemy, but a small-scale feint attack will be launched first to draw away the forces of Sunagakure. Akimichi Torifu will be in charge of this operation.

At the same time, a battle plan memorandum was also sent back to Konoha and presented to the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Active attack...Uchiha...private ninja army..."

These words, representing trouble, intertwined, giving Hiruzen Sarutobi a particular headache.

But since the dice have already been rolled, we can only continue moving forward.

If he forcibly stops the war, not only will he have a very unpleasant falling out with his old classmate Akimichi Torifu, who is serving as the commander-in-chief of the dispatched army, but if word gets out, he, as the Hokage, will inevitably be branded as a coward.

After puffing on his pipe for a while, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, decided to visit his old friend Danzo Shimura, who was still receiving treatment at the hospital, and ask for his opinion.

……

Konoha Hospital, VIP ward.

Even though it was wartime and Konoha Hospital was already overcrowded, there were still many top-class single-patient wards reserved for emergencies.

As a result, one of Konoha's high-ranking officials has already moved in smoothly.

"Danzo, are you feeling better?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi, dressed in casual clothes and carrying a bag of fruit, arrived at Danzo's hospital room.

In the spacious and bright intensive care ward, Danzo lay on the hospital bed, his face pale, with a bunch of impressive-looking high-end instruments monitoring his condition beside him.

"How good can it be if you're missing an arm and a leg?"

Danzo's words were full of resentment.

Hiruzen Sarutobi ignored Danzo's tone, waved away the Root ninjas who were guarding the ward, placed the fruit he had brought on the table, and casually picked up an apple to peel.

"Haven't they already been brought back?"

His right hand and right leg were severed by Hanzo, and the severed limbs were then retrieved by his Root ninjas at great risk, but problems arose during the reattachment.

After Danzo was seriously injured, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade stepped forward to fight Hanzo of the Salamander. Danzo had to undergo emergency surgery due to the severity of his injuries. However, the medical ninja in charge of the surgery, under the coercion of the Root ninja, was in a panic and forgot to check the condition of the severed limb. He did not discover that the severed limb contained Hanzo's poison. It was only after the limb was reattached that he realized something was wrong.

When the toxin began to spread from the severed limb to her whole body, Tsunade returned to camp. After examination, in order to alleviate the effects of the toxin, she had no choice but to sever her right hand and right leg again to isolate and neutralize the toxin.

However, this back-and-forth process caused serious problems for Danzo's already ravaged severed limb. Although it was successfully reattached after the toxins were removed, the limb's viability was severely compromised, and it still faced a significant risk of necrosis, especially in the humid environment of the Land of Rain.

There was no other way but to urgently send him back to Konoha Hospital, which has a better medical environment, for postoperative care.

"So what? It's better to just cut ties."

Danzo's face was ashen. "Even in death, I would be better off than looking like this, neither human nor ghost!"

After these few days of bed rest and recuperation, he himself is well aware of his physical condition.

I dare not hope to recover to the way things were before; just being able to walk and pick up things normally would be an incredible blessing.

Physical disability is the biggest blow to a ninja, especially when the loss is of their dominant right hand and a leg.

For a ninja, strength is the foundation of their survival.

Danzo, whose strength was destined to be greatly reduced, was filled with images of the miserable scene that would follow his loss of power due to his plummeting strength.

"...It'll be alright. The chief physician said that as long as you cooperate with the treatment, there's still a great chance." Hiruzen Sarutobi's tone was also somewhat sorrowful. After all, he was his old friend and an exceptionally useful tool. Seeing him so dejected now, he felt really bad.

Besides Danzo, who else could continue to bear the darkness of Konoha?

Before coming to the hospital, Hiruzen Sarutobi had considered this question countless times.

But after much thought, no suitable candidate could be found.

Danzo's expression did not soften despite Hiruzen Sarutobi's words of comfort. He remained motionless, pale, and looked like he was dying, staring blankly at the equally pale ceiling.

"This time, it was your carelessness after all..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi criticized bluntly, "As the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, instead of sitting in the central command and directing the ninja army, you're charging at the front like a Jonin. Do you think you're Tobirama-sensei?!"

"Even Tobirama-sensei couldn't withstand the combined attack of the Gold and Silver Brothers!"

"Besides, you're not young anymore, and your strength has long since begun to decline! Why bother being as brave and fierce as those young people!"

A series of reprimands were delivered to Danzo, who was bedridden.

"You came here just to see me make a fool of myself?" Danzo said coldly, his tone filled with a gloomy, deathly aura.

"I've appointed Toru as the new Commander-in-Chief!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi finished peeling the fruit, took a big bite, and said, "You should already know this news, right?"

Since Danzo's control over the Root ninjas was based on the binding effect of the Tongue Calamity Seal, he didn't need to worry about the loyalty of his existing subordinates, and he could also remotely obtain the information he wanted while lying in bed.

"I know, but this isn't a good choice..." Danzo's tone became slightly angry, and his eyes turned to Hiruzen Sarutobi. "Back then, we made him 'retire' in his prime, but even after all these years, his resentment shouldn't have disappeared..."

“I understand your concerns, and I’ve thought about them too…” Hiruzen Sarutobi looked directly into Danzo’s eyes. “After all, he’s a fellow disciple from the same school…”

"so what?"

"I originally thought that it would be better for Toru to serve as the commander-in-chief of the dispatched army than for those ninja clans, especially since the number of ninja troops in the dispatched army was reduced beforehand..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head, somewhat helplessly, "But I didn't expect him to collude with the Uchiha so quickly..."

“Uchiha…”

Upon hearing this title, Danzo's face turned ashen.

"He still harbors resentment, otherwise he wouldn't be acting so defiantly..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed.

It seems that the grudges left over from the past have not dissipated with the passage of time.

"Does the Ino-Shika-Cho trio have any thoughts on this?"

"The active Ino-Shika-Cho ninja all have some opinions about Touken Ranbu..." Hiruzen Sarutobi hesitated for a moment, then continued, "But the conservatives within the three clans, especially those elders who have lost power..."

"Hiruzen! Listen to me, take care of them quickly!"

Danzo was both angry and anxious, and after he finished speaking, he began to cough violently again.

The medical equipment started beeping incessantly, and the medical ninja rushed in to provide emergency intervention, only leaving after the situation calmed down.

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not respond to Danzo's suggestion.

"Hiruzen, you're still too soft-hearted..." Danzo slowly closed his eyes. "This will get you killed..."

“The situation doesn’t allow it…” Hiruzen Sarutobi also felt somewhat exhausted. “Besides, it seems Sakumo has no chance of turning the tide…”

"Then find an opportunity to eliminate his clan!" Danzo said through gritted teeth. "Otherwise, even more ninja clans will surely side with them!"

"Danzo, you haven't changed at all..."

"At a time like this, you're still worrying about this!"

Upon hearing this, Danzo became even more furious, "If we don't suppress those evil Uchiha, there will definitely be endless troubles in the future!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent.

"Don't assume that all those ninja clans necessarily hate the Uchiha. Remember, they are all ninja clans!" Danzo continued to insist on his point of view. "Ninja clans are all parasites and opportunists. When the Uchiha established the police academy, some ninja clans were already wavering! If we don't deal with them ruthlessly, the consequences will be unimaginable!"

"What should we do?" Hiruzen Sarutobi's face was equally grim. "Charge into their clan's territory, drag them out, and publicly behead them? Do you want to start a civil war in the village tomorrow?"

"Then throw them onto the battlefield to die!"

"Without their consent, how can you conscript unregistered ninja clan members to the battlefield?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi pulled out his pipe, ignored Danzo who was bedridden, filled it with tobacco, lit it, and took a deep drag: "The more critical the situation, the more composure you need to face it! Danzo, you've been underground for too long, you've forgotten the rules under the sun!"

"Rules..." Danzo's cold eyes were fixed on Hiruzen Sarutobi. "You came all this way just to tell me this?"

The reason he hid in the darkness, becoming a root buried deep underground, doing nothing good but committing all sorts of bad deeds, was it all to assist Hiruzen, the Hokage?

"I've decided to launch an attack on Sunagakure..." Hiruzen Sarutobi pulled an opened letter from his sleeve and handed it to Danzo.

Danzo struggled to raise his left hand and retrieve the document.

"That brat Uchiha... I should have just killed him!"

Danzo carefully read the letter, feeling utterly exhausted. "Over two hundred private soldiers of Chunin rank or higher, all directly commanded by that young, wicked brat..."

"Do you have any ideas?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi took deep drags on his pipe, exhaling thick plumes of smoke.

"Tell Orochimaru that after the feigned attack, withdraw the ninja forces from the front lines of the Land of Rain under the pretext of providing support, and then slowly move towards the Land of Rivers."

This is tantamount to telling Sunagakure that the main force was just a feint attack as a cover, and that the Sunagakure brothers should hurry up and go to the Land of Rivers to kill that bastard Uchiha Tokumitsu!

Moreover, by mobilizing the ninja army to the Land of Rivers, they can reap the benefits after the ninja army in the Land of Rivers and the Sand Village ninja army have fought to a standstill, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed softly.

Danzo's scheme was both simple and ruthless, but the price was likely to be the loss of the entire western border defense force, which made it difficult for him to make a decision.

Danzo glanced at Hiruzen Sarutobi's conflicted expression, then closed his eyes again, feigning sleep. "No need to make a decision now. Go back and think it over carefully..."

Danzo knew that his old friend, as the Hokage, was used to wearing a mask in the sunlight and wouldn't decide to adopt his opinion so quickly.

But it doesn't matter, because in the end Hiruzen Sarutobi will still do it this way; this is just a pretense.

"You should get some rest..." Hiruzen Sarutobi hesitated for a moment, then got up to leave.

"Um……"

Danzo responded with a soft hum.

"Don't worry... Root is still yours..." Just as he was about to turn the lock and leave, Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped and said without turning his head, "But you will need to increase the number of people training in Root. The expansion of the Anbu requires enough manpower."

After saying that, he opened the door and left.

Upon hearing this, Danzo's originally pale face immediately regained some color.

Looking at the still pale ceiling, I suddenly felt that time had become colorful again.

……