Chapter 19: Arguments in the Hokage Building

The graduation exam, which had a few minor disturbances, passed by quite uneventfully, and what followed was the assignment of instructors for the group of young ninja.

In the Hokage Office, Sarutobi Hiruzen casually flipped through the Ninja Academy grades, looking at Uchiha Feiyu, who remained in first place, seemingly pondering something.

With a clatter, the office door opened, and a middle-aged man with a gloomy complexion and a cold expression walked in:

"Hiruzen, I'm here to ask you for someone!"

"Asking me for someone? Do you think the mess you've already stirred up isn't big enough? Danzō!"

After the Third Hokage looked up and saw his old classmate, his anger flared up instantly, and with a bang, he slapped the table:

"Don't you think you owe me an explanation regarding the matter of Hatake Sakumo?!!"

Shimura Danzo hadn't even said much yet before being bombarded by the Third Hokage, but although Danzo was in the wrong regarding the Hatake Sakumo affair, he certainly wouldn't admit it:

"What are you talking about, Hiruzen? What does the matter of Hatake Sakumo have to do with me?"

The Third Hokage looked at Shimura Danzo with cold eyes and said indifferently:

"How many people in Konoha do you think are capable of silencing a Special Jonin within the Anbu? Or do you really think I'm old, dim-sighted, and deaf, and that I would believe the bullshit that Kondo Kunihiko was a spy from another Ninja Village?!!"

"I said it, this has nothing to do with me; I don't know anything about any Kondo Kunihiko."

Shimura Danzo's main strategy was to stubbornly deny it; in any case, now that the Third Shinobi World War was about to begin, even if the Third Hokage had a lot of dissatisfaction in his heart, it was impossible for him to take action against his Root at this point in time.

As long as he didn't admit to it, after enough time passed, the Third Hokage wouldn't be able to settle old scores; anyway, since the founding of Root, they had done plenty of excessive things, and in the end, didn't the Third Hokage just raise the board high and lower it gently?

Without him playing the "bad cop," where would the Third Hokage go to play his "good cop"? As long as he still had value, there was no need to worry about the Third Hokage dealing with him or Root.

Things were just as Shimura Danzo had thought. Although the Third Hokage was filled with anger, he ultimately didn't harp on this issue, only coldly saying:

"Everyone knows the truth about this matter in their hearts. Now is the stage of war; we will settle accounts after the war ends!"

"Also, what about the intelligence from the other Ninja Villages? Don't tell me your Root hasn't even done this basic job properly?!"

"Hmph, you don't need to tell me that; I have already collected the intelligence from the other Ninja Villages!"

As Shimura Danzo spoke, he took out a stack of Information Scrolls. Although Root was a troublemaker when it came to internal affairs, it was indeed a poisonous blade in the darkness when it came to external ones.

The title "Darkness of the Shinobi World" was not a reputation blown out of proportion like "Strongest Hokage," after all, no one would be willing to market such a title.

Being able to be called the Darkness of the Shinobi World, rather than the Darkness of Konoha, shows that other Ninja Villages had definitely suffered bitter losses at Danzo's hands.

The Third Hokage picked up the Information Scrolls and flipped through them, and the anger on his face dissipated quite a bit. Regardless of anything else, although his old classmate did things very excessively, he still had a certain level of ability!

Danzo looked up and saw the change in the Third Hokage's expression, knowing that he had passed the test this time, and then he spoke again:

"For the sake of this intelligence, my Root has suffered heavy losses and needs more personnel to replenish its ranks."

The Third Hokage frowned slightly, but ultimately said:

"Fine, I can give you a budget for 20 slots; go and recruit people according to the list yourself!"

Although Root would not conduct recruitment openly, they did have a personality analysis of all the ninja within Konoha. Generally speaking, those ninja with extreme or dark personalities, or those whose own ninjutsu were highly dangerous, were all on Root's candidate list.

Danzo snorted coldly: "What I want are not those ordinary ninja, but true elites!"

The Third Hokage raised an eyebrow. After so many years as partners, he understood Danzo thoroughly; it could be said that as soon as Danzo stuck his butt out, he knew what kind of fart this guy was going to let out:

"You guy, speak clearly! Which ninja have you set your sights on again!?"

"Kakashi Hatake! I think he has the potential to be a Root ninja..."

"You damn bastard, stop dreaming!!! Do you think Konoha isn't chaotic enough already?!"

The Third Hokage let out a roar, and even the smoking pipe in his hand was snapped in two by his anger:

"The storm over the White Fang hasn't passed yet, and that guy Kondo Kunihiko has already been exposed, and now you still want to take Kakashi into Root? What does this mean? Telling our Konoha ninja that after they die, their children will just be taken into Root to be brainwashed into dead soldiers?"

"Do you believe that if this news gets out, the number of Konoha ninja defecting could increase several times over!!!"

Although Root did plenty of things like "devouring the household," they were at least done in dark corners. Now, the matter of the White Fang of the Leaf was the focus of the entire Konoha, and all the other ninja were in a state of "the rabbit dies and the fox grieves."

If Kakashi were taken into Root at this time, seeing Konoha's such ugly behavior, how could other ninja have the heart to serve Konoha?

Besides, although the Third Hokage was very indulgent toward his old classmate, he couldn't truly support Shimura Danzo without limits. He only wanted Danzo to be a black glove, not to have Root dig up all of Konoha.

Although in the manga, Danzo's Root appeared to be "covering the sky," a careful observation would reveal that there were no real experts in Root. The only Shadow-level powerhouse was Danzo himself in his prime; the others were at most a few Elite Jonin.

If the potential Kakashi had shown before was only a possibility of reaching the Shadow-level, then after he killed Kondo Kunihiko, this possibility became a certainty that he would reach the Shadow-level in ten years. How could the Third Hokage hand such a super genius over to Danzo?

"Hiruzen, don't forget, he is the son of the White Fang. How can you be sure he won't harbor secret resentment because of the White Fang's affair!"

"Just hand Kakashi over to me; I will train him into the sharpest blade in Konoha..."

"Enough!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen was almost laughed to anger. Why would Kakashi harbor resentment? Wasn't it because you, Danzo, went too far? Now you still have the nerve to say this to me!

"Kakashi is off-limits! If you want a genius, the first-place graduate from the Ninja Academy this time can be given to your Root to cultivate!"

(End of chapter)