Chapter 132: Danzo: Teacher, You Lied to Me!

Shimura Danzo was dumbfounded, staring fixedly at Yamanaka Chujiu and Orochimaru.

"How dare you kill me?"

"Unforgivable!"

"Orochimaru! Hiruzen trusted you so much and gave you such heavy responsibilities, yet you dare to kill me?"

Orochimaru laughed: "Shimura Danzo, where on earth did this deep-rooted rule of yours—that you could never be killed by a Konoha ninja—even come from?"

Yamanaka Chujiu looked at Danzo with contempt: "Cannot kill you?"

"Think about it yourself, Danzo. In order to seize power, how many innocent Konoha ninja have you killed, and how many people who trusted you have you betrayed?"

"How many ninja have died in the Root that you created?"

"Even if one were to treat soldiers like dirt, no one wastes them the way you do."

"And after the Root has made such great sacrifices, has it ever resolved even a single crisis for Konohagakure?"

"No! Not even once!"

"You treat human life like grass, regarding the lives of Konoha ninja as nothing, so why, when it is your time to die, do you feel that you cannot be killed?"

"How can that be the same?"

"I am the Hokage Assistant, I am an Elder of Konohagakure!"

Danzo was trembling with rage, his cane slamming heavily onto the surface of the sea, kicking up a circle of waves.

He glared viciously at Yamanaka Chujiu, his killing intent almost drowning Chujiu: "Whether it is Konoha ninja or Root ninja, a ninja is just a tool; how can they be mentioned in the same breath as an Elder like me?"

Orochimaru sneered: "Danzo, Konohagakure does not have the position of Elder."

"If ninja are tools, then you yourself are also a ninja, also a tool. To keep Konohagakure from falling into civil war, you should just honestly go and die."

Danzo roared: "I am not a tool! I am Shimura Danzo, the Hokage destined to become, the Hokage who will lead Konohagakure to greatness once again!"

A mocking light flashed in Orochimaru's golden vertical pupils: "What a childish thought, what a feeble argument. No wonder the Second Hokage did not choose you to be Hokage."

"Although my teacher Sarutobi Hiruzen has many faults, a childish person like you absolutely cannot become Hokage, or it would inevitably lead to the destruction of Konohagakure."

Shimura Danzo's vital point had been struck; he jumped up and roared: "You're talking nonsense! I am the most suitable candidate for Hokage. I was just one step slow at the time, just one step!"

Yamanaka Chujiu suddenly burst into laughter: "No way, you still don't know why you lost to the Third even now?"

"Stupid Danzo, don't you understand? If you had been the first to jump out back then, the Second Hokage would have taken advantage of the situation to take you with him to intercept the pursuers, leaving Sarutobi Hiruzen to inherit the position of Hokage!"

Shimura Danzo widened his single eye: "Impossible, on what grounds do you say that?"

Yamanaka Chujiu sneered: "Explaining problems to a fool is truly too much trouble... eh?"

Orochimaru suddenly smashed a fist onto Yamanaka Chujiu's head and said coldly: "I don't know why either, explain it to me properly."

"Oh." Yamanaka Chujiu explained: "At that time, the ninja clans of Konohagakure were still powerful. To sit firmly in the position of Hokage, one had to be able to unite the future Shadow-level Ninja to the greatest extent and suppress the Shadow-level Ninja of clans like the Hyuga and Uchiha."

"There weren't many Konoha ninja back then who had the potential to become Shadow-level Ninja and could make the ninja clans submit."

Orochimaru had already understood and continued: "So that's how it is. Senior Hatake Sakumo, myself, Jiraiya, and Tsunade."

"And Tsunade is the most special. She is the granddaughter of the First and Lady Uzumaki Mito, the granddaughter of the Daimyo, the iconic figure of the Senju Clan, and she could make me and Jiraiya fight to the death to protect her."

Yamanaka Chujiu said: "Teacher Orochimaru, you finally understand. They say the Hokage and the Daimyo are the two jewels of the Land of Fire, but in reality, Lady Tsunade is the jewel of Konohagakure."

"Whoever can control Lady Tsunade can directly control three Shadow-level Ninja, the Senju Clan integrated into Konohagakure, the geniuses among the civilian ninja, and the full support of the Daimyo himself."

"So when the Second Hokage encountered danger, unable to wait for the Konoha Sannin to grow up, the Third Hokage could only be Sarutobi Hiruzen."

"Shimura Danzo, your hesitation at that time actually saved your life; otherwise, you would have long since become a name on the Memorial Stone."

Shimura Danzo finally understood, but he also fell into complete despair.

"So, Teacher Tobirama had already chosen Hiruzen long ago, which is why he arranged for Tsunade to be his disciple..."

"So I had been abandoned long ago..."

"So I was never a candidate for Hokage recognized by the teacher?"

Yamanaka Chujiu chuckled: "Isn't that a matter of course?"

"Otherwise, why don't you ask your teacher, the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama, yourself?"

Shimura Danzo's gaze was exceptionally fierce: "I will go to the Pure Land to ask the teacher, but not now!"

"I refuse to accept this. I will definitely become Hokage, and then die as Hokage, and then go to the Pure Land to ask."

"For now, I will send you two to the Pure Land first!"

Yamanaka Chujiu shook his head in disappointment: "I've explained it so clearly, yet you still don't understand."

"After the Fourth Hokage sacrificed himself, Sarutobi Hiruzen could coax you into supporting his restoration without ever giving you a chance to become Hokage. What qualifications do you have to wrestle with him?"

"Danzo, you are so stupid that I almost feel sorry for you..."

On the other side, Orochimaru was already forming hand seals and slammed his hands onto the surface of the water: "Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation!"

A coffin rose from the water's surface, with the bright, clear character "Second" written on the lid, emitting an unsettling aura of the Impure World.

Orochimaru laughed: "Chujiu, the teacher didn't guess your meaning wrong, did he?"

Yamanaka Chujiu gave a thumbs up: "Done beautifully, Teacher Orochimaru!"

"Truly worthy of being a great Konoha ninja who is about to become the Fifth Hokage!"

Accompanied by the "click-clack" sound of wood rubbing, a voice asked: "Fifth Hokage? Konohagakure is already going to have a Fifth Hokage?"

The person who walked out of the coffin was clad in armor from the Warring States Era, possessed a head of beautiful white hair, a face as cold as ice, and sharp, piercing eyes.

His whole body radiated the majesty cultivated from long experience in power struggles and holding the power of life and death.

He looked at the ninja present with an indifferent expression; that calm, sharp gaze made every ninja present subconsciously hold their breath.

The Second Hokage of Konoha, Senju Tobirama.

Not alive.

The moment Danzo, standing to the side, saw the Second Hokage, his face turned deathly pale, his whole body trembling uncontrollably, his eyes filled with fear and unwillingness.

He opened his mouth, but could not say a single word.

After several attempts, Shimura Danzo finally steadied his emotions and asked the question that made him uneasy: "Teacher Tobirama, they say you deceived me."

"They say that even if I had been faster than Hiruzen at the time to express my willingness to follow you and block the enemy alongside you, you still would not have let me succeed you as the Third Hokage."

"They say you would have still made Hiruzen the Third Hokage, and furthermore, you would have taken me with you to fight Kinkaku and Ginkaku to the death, ensuring that I would die in battle."

"Teacher... did you really deceive me?"