Chapter 587: Daily Persecution of Little Danzo

Inside the Hokage's office,

Sarutobi Hiruzen pinched his nose and opened the window; only as the breeze blew in was the horrific stench brought by Danzo diluted a little.

Otherwise, if some uninformed person were to smell it, they would think he, the newly promoted Hokage, was playing some excessive games in his office.

"Whew... Danzo, have you offended someone recently?"

After an explanation from Danzo, Sarutobi Hiruzen reluctantly believed that the reason the other party was so foul-smelling was because he had been ambushed.

But at the same time, he was also very puzzled; although Danzo's rear was quite large and there was a suspicion of occupying public space, his character was still passable, and he did not seem like the type to make enemies.

"Hmph! Perhaps it was due to the involvement of the clan."

Looking at his friend who was deliberately keeping his distance, the livid Danzo recalled the rumors circulating in Konoha recently, and he roughly had an answer in his heart.

It seemed that the actions of the Shimura clan at the mission hall had indeed aroused public anger; this time it was just rotten eggs, but what about next time?

What if they threw poop at him?

They couldn't possibly use that to make egg tarts, could they?

Although the window had been opened for ventilation, a trace of the stench still lingered at the tip of his nose. Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned, took out a brand-new pipe from his drawer, hesitated for a moment, and then clamped it in his mouth.

This was a gift from his father for taking office, who said it was a necessity for a mature man.

*Click—*

He lit the pipe somewhat clumsily. As wisps of blue smoke rose, the strong smell of tobacco filled Sarutobi Hiruzen's nasal cavity, diluting the lingering stench. His expression improved slightly, and his brows relaxed, but they soon furrowed tightly again.

"Cough, cough... In this matter, your Shimura clan did indeed go a bit too far."

Stimulated by the smell of tobacco, he coughed a few times and shook his head gently. As the Hokage, how could he not know about the unfair regulations newly issued by the mission hall?

But because the Shimura clan only focused on D-rank missions and did not truly touch the cakes of the major ninja clans, the situation had not escalated.

After all, they were only D-rank missions. Since the core resources—C-rank and B-rank missions—had not been carved up, the wealthy ninja clans would not offend the newly empowered Shimura clan for such small interests. At most, they would just grumble, without making any substantive protests.

The impact on the Shimura clan was minimal, not even as damaging as the rotten egg Danzo had eaten this morning.

"They are just some D-rank missions. It's not like you don't know how much effort we Shimura put into the election."

Danzo sat down on the office sofa with a thud, saying with an unhappy expression.

To help Sarutobi Hiruzen scrape together the funds to buy the Hokage position, their Shimura clan had even sold the stud pigs they had raised for years; that was the foundation of their Shimura pig farm.

Even now, the pig farm hadn't recovered, and the pork he had been longing for had changed from unlimited gorging to one piece a day, not even enough to get between his teeth.

"That's enough, don't make things too difficult for me."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression tightened. Even if he had ten thousand frustrations in his heart, he could not continue to reprimand him. As the Hokage pushed forward by the Ninja Clan Alliance with all their might, he indeed bore too many responsibilities that could not be told to outsiders.

"Don't worry, we have our own sense of proportion."

Regarding Sarutobi Hiruzen's words, Danzo did not take them to heart. In the eyes of a ninja of his level, D-rank missions were nothing at all.

He didn't know what those troublemakers were thinking, protesting for their lives over a mere few tens of thousands of ryo in rewards. It wasn't like they hadn't left a share of missions for them; there must be someone behind the scenes fanning the flames.

Danzo thought seriously about who benefited the most from this, and finally reached a shocking conclusion.

It must be the Uchiha!

It must be because they were forced to hand over the management of the mission hall, and some resentful Uchiha clansmen were making a big deal out of the D-rank mission crowdsourcing to retaliate, trying to incite public anger and smear the glorious image of the Shimura clan.

Wait, where would a pig farmer like you get a glorious image?

The two chatted for a while longer, and the others attending the meeting arrived one after another. As soon as Mito Kadone and Koharu Utatane pushed open the door with smiles on their faces, their brilliant smiles froze on their faces.

"Hiruzen, is the office toilet clogged?"

Mito Kadone pushed up his glasses and asked with a pale face.

"If this happens again next time, don't call me for meetings."

Holding her nose, Koharu Utatane frowned, her beautiful eyes full of disgust.

"It's Danzo!"

In order not to let his friends misunderstand, Sarutobi Hiruzen sold out his childhood friend at light speed.

"Monkey, you... you will regret this!"

Danzo jumped up from the sofa, pointing at Sarutobi Hiruzen's nose in a fit of rage.

*Creak—*

Just as the two were at daggers drawn, the door was pushed open again. A simple and honest voice came, and Akimichi Torifu, who stepped in, looked at his friends who had arrived a step earlier than him and raised his breakfast with a smile.

"Everyone is here early. Have you eaten? I brought the new 'Old Eight Secret Small Burgers' from the entrance of the village..."

As a result, the next second, his smile also froze on his big face like the others before him. He wrinkled his nose and took a few deep breaths.

Watching Akimichi Torifu, who was taking a deep breath of the air, the people present chose silence in unison.

After confirming the familiar smell, Akimichi Torifu blinked and said with some hesitation,

"Are these secret small burgers that popular? You actually went to line up to buy them, and they are even the limited 'Oli-ge' flavor..."

"NO!!!"

"What's wrong with everyone? You don't have any energy at all."

After a period of ventilation, the pungent smell in the office had dissipated. Uchiha Kagami, who arrived late, looked at his friends with different expressions and scratched his curly hair in confusion.

"Kagami, you came at just the right time."

Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had endured the stench for a long time, said something inexplicable with a complex expression, leaving Uchiha Kagami full of question marks.

"I shouldn't be late, right?"

He glanced at the clock on the wall; there was still some time before the meeting.

"No, Kagami, do you want a small burger?"

Akimichi Torifu, with a pale face, held up the untouched small burger in his hand and asked. He didn't have the slightest appetite now.

"Thanks, I ate on the way."

Politely refusing the food that sounded very strange, Uchiha Kagami sat down at the workstation belonging to the secretary and began to prepare the materials for today's meeting.

When the meeting time arrived, the people with solemn expressions sat at the pre-prepared conference table, a hint of nervousness showing on their faces.

Except for Sarutobi Hiruzen and Uchiha Kagami, the others had only just been appointed as advisor elders with transcendent power a few days ago, leaping to become high-level figures in Konoha who were below two people but above ten thousand, finally having made it to the top.

Of course, this was also closely related to how much their clans contributed during the election.

"I announce that the first Konoha high-level meeting begins."

Sarutobi Hiruzen, sitting in the main seat, exchanged glances with Uchiha Kagami beside him, and he spoke first. A hint of anticipation appeared on the faces of the people sitting below.

Just as the clan elders said, the future of Konoha belonged to them.

This meeting not only established the political structure of Konoha led by the Hokage and the secretary, with the cooperation of advisor elders,

but also announced that the Senju and Uchiha, the two veteran clans that founded Konoha, were gradually fading from Konoha's political stage.

"Kagami, about the mission hall, you won't be angry, right?"

"How could I be? The tides turn; we can't let the Uchiha keep holding onto important departments forever."

"Hehe, I'll treat you to a drink after work~"

The first high-level meeting ended quickly, not as serious as a few people had imagined. In a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere, the duties of each person were divided one by one.

Among them, Mito Kadone was in charge of the Konoha Sealing Squad, responsible for the maintenance of the village's barrier.

Koharu Utatane served as the Minister of the Konoha Medical Department, responsible for the management of the medical system.

Akimichi Torifu was arranged to the logistics department. As a radical militant, he had some complaints about the department he was in charge of.

"Hiruzen, can't you let me be in charge of border defense?"

Although he loved food, he didn't want to spend his time buried in piles of supplies every day. He wanted to go to the battlefield and fight on the borders where there were frictions from time to time.

"Sorry, Torifu, you are too radical."

Sarutobi Hiruzen knew Akimichi Torifu's personality all too well. If he were thrown to the border defense, he feared that within a few days, he would be fighting with other countries.

As long as the enemy provoked him slightly, he would dare to directly activate the Super Multi-Size Technique to crush them.

"Hmph!"

Hearing this, Akimichi Torifu, with a look of regret, snorted with dissatisfaction and said nothing more.

"Monkey, what about me? What about me?"

Seeing that the others had all been distributed significant power, Danzo, whose eyes were glowing with envy, urged anxiously.

"You? We are prepared to let you..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen and the other person in the main seat looked at each other, and Uchiha Kagami took out a plan and handed it to the expectant Danzo.

"This is... Huh?"

Confused, he took the plan, and Danzo looked up. His expectant expression immediately froze on his face, and his pupils shrank, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Shimura Clan Grounds,

"This is the power that brat Sarutobi Hiruzen gave you?"

The Shimura father and son were talking in a secret room. Shimura Kenichi looked at the plan in front of him, his aged brows furrowed tightly, and the expression on his greasy face was quite strange.

"That is indeed the case."

Danzo, with an equally strange expression, nodded gently. He also couldn't understand why Sarutobi Hiruzen would entrust such an important matter to him. Was it trust?

"It's strange; logically speaking, this kind of thing shouldn't be our turn."

In Shimura Kenichi's view, Danzo was more suitable for the department Akimichi Torifu was in charge of. Logistics support was full of profit; wouldn't that be faster than them running crowdsourcing?

"Why wouldn't it be our turn? Now the Senju are bankrupt and disbanded, and the Uchiha are withering. We Shimura are about to become the second largest clan after the Sarutobi."

Danzo shook his head with a rebellious look, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly.

Now the situation in Konoha was very clear. The decline of the former founders was a foregone conclusion, and their Ninja Clan Alliance was the rising star.

"If you put it that way, it does make some sense..."

*Clang—*

"Who is it!?"

Suddenly, the door to the secret room was rudely pushed open. The father and son, in the midst of plotting, jumped up in immediate alarm. Shimura Danzo reached back to pull out a sharp kunai, while Shimura Kenichi ended up with a greasy pork knuckle in his hand.

"It is me."

Shimura Jin'er, wearing a look of displeasure, stared at the pork knuckle in Shimura Kenichi's hand, his brows knitting slightly.

Is this brat really my son?

"Oh, it's Uncle Jin'er. You scared me."

Shimura Kenichi let out a sigh of relief, put away his midnight snack, and turned to look at his own uncle with a puzzled expression.

To this day, he still did not know that the uncle standing before him, who had helped him ascend to the position of clan head, was his biological father.

"Greetings, Grand Uncle."

Shimura Danzo also quickly withdrew the kunai in his hand and bowed respectfully to the old man before him.

"Let me see what exactly you have been assigned."

Shimura Jin'er did not waste words and got straight to the point, demanding the plan in Shimura Danzo's hand. Although he had retired behind the scenes for many years, the clan was full of his informants, and every word and action of the Shimura father and son was under his surveillance.

"Please take a look, Grand Uncle."

Without hesitation, Shimura Danzo presented the plan he had been hiding behind his back with both hands. After Shimura Jin'er took it and glanced only at the name on the cover, the expression on his weathered face changed drastically.

"This is bad."

"Uh, Uncle Jin'er, is there something wrong with this?"

Watching his uncle's look of shock and uncertainty, Shimura Kenichi blinked in confusion, and Shimura Danzo, standing to the side, also wore an inquisitive expression.

"This Hiruzen Sarutobi intends to push our Shimura clan to the forefront of the storm."

Shimura Jin'er took a deep breath, tossed the somewhat hot-potato plan to the bewildered Shimura Danzo, and explained in a grave tone.

"Isn't that a good thing? Once we master it, the Shimura clan can walk sideways in the village. Whether it's the Uchiha, the Senju, or that low-key Hyuga, they will all become our stepping stones."

"You idiot, do you think this thing is so easy to hold onto?"

Looking at his arrogant, cheap son, Shimura Jin'er was so angry that his mustache twitched.

Resisting the urge to strike him, he kept his face taut and shook his head, his weary eyes filled with gravity.

Uchiha Clan Grounds.

"Uncle Gin, why did you hand over the department responsible for the selection and training of Tailed Beast Knights to Shimura Danzo?"

After returning home from work, Uchiha Kagami had been tossing and turning, unable to figure this one thing out. So, taking advantage of the fact that it wasn't dark yet, he went to find Uchiha Izuna. Uchiha Gin happened to be there too, so he asked the question that had been bottled up inside him for a long time.

"In your heart, is little Danzo really that unreliable?"

Uchiha Gin, who was peeling an orange, raised an eyebrow and asked back with a mischievous smile.

"That's not it."

Hearing this, Kagami scratched his head. He and Shimura Danzo were childhood friends who grew up together; their relationship wasn't bad, and they even had some financial ties.

"But the Tailed Beast Card is the Clan Head's..."

His point of contention was that the Tailed Beast Card and the Driver were both the private property of the Clan Head. Now that Uchiha Madara's fate was unknown, the village distributing his "inheritance" so recklessly would likely cause dissatisfaction among some clansmen.

Uchiha Gin chuckled at this, popped a piece of crystal-clear fruit flesh into his mouth, confirmed it was sweet and sour, and then inconspicuously tossed the remaining flesh into the Shadow Realm behind him, where it was steadily caught by a snow-white, delicate hand that had been waiting for a long time.

After completing his daily feeding routine, he threw the orange peel into the trash can, a sinister smile appearing on his face.

"It's fine. Anyway, that thing is useless sitting at home, so it's better to throw it out and let them fight like dogs."

(End of chapter)