Chapter 545

Half an hour later.

Danzo had just returned to the Root base when a member walked in.

The member bowed and spoke with an indifferent tone.

"Lord Danzo!"

"The Anbu sent a notification: the Hokage requires you to head immediately to the Sarutobi clan, to the Hokage's residence, for a face-to-face meeting."

"It is very urgent; please go at once!"

After saying this,

the Root member bowed and remained silent.

Danzo narrowed his eyes slightly.

He had only just killed his own son; had he discovered the problem so quickly?

Impossible!

Root's operations were extremely covert; even if someone had truly discovered it, it couldn't have been this fast.

Koharu, Homura, and even Sarutobi Arashi could not possibly have betrayed him.

Could it be that something else happened tonight?

Thinking of this, he let out a sigh.

"Truly, an eventful autumn!"

"There is nothing for you here, you may leave."

Danzo spoke indifferently.

The Root member bowed and immediately left the office.

Immediately following this,

Danzo did not hesitate; he stood up at once, took four trusted subordinates, and headed straight for the Sarutobi clan grounds.

Approximately twenty minutes later.

When Danzo arrived at Hiruzen Sarutobi's home, Sarutobi Arashi came forward to greet him.

"Lord Danzo."

"The two elders, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, have already arrived in the reception room."

"Now, only you are missing."

Sarutobi Arashi's tone was calm.

However, the look in his eyes when he gazed at Danzo was filled with an inexplicable meaning.

Yes.

Although he had not seen Danzo today, he understood very well in his heart that from this day forward, they were all on the same side.

Because if the death of Shinnosuke Sarutobi were to come to light, none of them would be able to escape.

Therefore, these words before him—

·········Seeking flowers····· ······

—were a greeting, but even more so, a reminder.

It was to tell Danzo that Hiruzen Sarutobi summoning them now had nothing to do with the death of Shinnosuke Sarutobi.

"Oh, is that so."

"Sorry to trouble you, lead the way."

Danzo said with a smile.

He could, of course, hear the deeper meaning in Sarutobi Arashi's words.

It was just that

the current situation was rather special, and it was inconvenient for him to say more.

Sarutobi Arashi bowed slightly.

He then guided Danzo into the reception room, and only after bowing gently to close the door and leave did he involuntarily let out a soft breath of stale air.

Although his expression remained calm, if one were to look at him closely,

one could see that deep in his eyes, he was struggling to suppress a sense of joy, and his whole body was even trembling slightly.

Yes.

He was too happy.

Because from today on, the mountain that had been pressing down on his heart would completely disappear.

..... 0...

"Shinnosuke, don't blame me."

"I know you are a good person, and you were indeed good to me within the clan."

"But, there is no other way."

"Our status and position destined us to never be on the same path."

"If I don't remove you, this stumbling block, then I would be suppressed by you for the rest of my life."

"I am a person too, and I have my own pursuits."

"I don't want to spend my life like a caged bird of the Byakugan; I also yearn for freedom."

"So, I'm sorry!"

Outside a pavilion.

Standing by the edge of the artificial lake, Sarutobi Arashi couldn't help but look up at the pitch-black night sky, muttering to himself incessantly at the corner of his mouth.

Yes.

Regarding Shinnosuke's death, he was actually very sad in his heart.

After all, within the Sarutobi clan, Shinnosuke was one of the few friends he had.

But, it was a pity.

Their status and position had already determined that they could never be friends in this lifetime.

Following this,

after mourning his 'friend' for a while, a surge of heroic spirit suddenly rose in his chest.

Because Shinnosuke was dead.

And Hiruzen Sarutobi's other son, Asuma, was nothing but a playboy, a dissolute youth.

His mind was full of unrealistic fantasies; he even believed that a country should only have one 'Jewel' and hoped that Hiruzen Sarutobi would hand over power to the Daimyo.

Isn't that ridiculous?

The Daimyo is merely an ordinary person; by what right should the Hokage bow his head?

Even...

If it weren't for the commoners respecting the Daimyo too much, even vaguely mythologizing him, even if they, this group of ninjas, wiped out the Daimyo, they wouldn't be able to make all the commoners accept their rule.

Otherwise,

the so-called Daimyo would have died long ago!