Chapter 80: Danzō: Hiruzen Wants Me? No Way—I

Danzō’s face turned grim, his scalp prickling with unease.

Yes!

He wasn’t a fool; at first he’d been stunned, but now he’d figured it out.

These ninja clans have definitely defected to the Uchiha!

Obviously.

The entire Hidden Leaf is under tight surveillance by the Barrier Team—how could they possibly miss such a massive exodus from the village?

And in today’s Hidden Leaf, there’s only one place they can go.

The Uchiha!

The thought made his face darken further—Uchiha was already hard enough to handle; with so many clans joining them, how far would they push their arrogance?

And…

More importantly, how do I explain this to Hiruzen?

If he finds out his own actions caused the major clans to flee to Uchiha, Hiruzen Sarutobi might just tear me apart with his bare hands.

What do I do?

Danzō’s mind raced, after a brief pause he spoke slowly.

“Tell Hiruzen I won’t be coming.”

“Root has received intelligence—something’s happened in the other ninja villages, and I must go deal with it immediately.”

“Yes, that’s it!”

At this moment, Danzō’s face was solemn.

As if something major had truly occurred in the other villages, demanding his urgent attention.

The Anbu members were stunned.

What the hell!

Itachi’re pulling this crap—how am I supposed to explain it?

Sweat beaded on his forehead: “Lord Danzō, but the Hokage ordered…”

“Enough, shut up,” Danzō cut him off sharply. “If Itachi delay a matter of vital importance to the village, can Itachi bear the consequences?”

“Just report this to Hiruzen. Don’t concern yourself with anything else.”

After speaking.

Without hesitation, Danzō vanished instantly using the Body Flicker Technique.

Yes.

He wasn’t stupid!

With all the major clans now defecting to the Uchiha, if I show up at Hiruzen Sarutobi’s side, that furious old man might just summon Sarutobi Sasuke and impale me straight out of the village.

So?

I’m out. I’m gone.

I’m not the Hokage—Hiruzen Sarutobi is the one who should be panicking.

As Hokage, he’s more desperate than I am!

If this mess can’t be resolved, he won’t be able to keep his seat—so I’ll wait until he sorts it out. Only then will I return to the Hidden Leaf and reclaim my grand plans!

The Anbu member: “...”

His lip twitched.

Watching Danzō’s retreating figure, he wanted to stop him—but Danzō’s rank was too high; he dared not lift a finger.

No choice.

After all, he’s the Hokage’s ally. No matter how grave his mistake, he’ll at most be scolded by the Hokage—and then everything goes back to normal.

But me?

If Danzō holds a grudge against me, I might as well pick out my grave right now.

What do I do?

At this moment, the Anbu member was completely shell-shocked.

But, sigh!

He finally let out a helpless sigh and returned to the Hokage’s office.

Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi seated behind his desk, face dark as ink, aura cold as a hellish prison, flanked by the two Elders, his body trembled slightly.

But.

He still knelt on one knee and spoke calmly.

“Report—Hokage-sama!”

“Root received a secret message: minor movements have occurred in the other ninja villages. Lord Danzō must depart immediately to handle them.”

“He’ll return once he’s done.”

After speaking.

The kneeling Anbu member’s forehead began to sweat.

Then, immediately after—

Before Hiruzen could speak, Tōnami Koharu shrieked.

“What? Danzō ran away?”

“That bastard caused this disaster—and now Itachi tell me he’s gone?”

“Why didn’t Itachi stop him!”

Tōnami Koharu’s face twisted in fury as she screamed at the Anbu member.

Mizukado En, too, was seething with rage.

Yes!

They already knew what had happened—that’s why they’d ordered the Anbu to summon Danzō immediately.

But damn it.

That damn bastard Danzō just packed up and fled?

“Enough!”

“This isn’t the time to shift blame—focus on solving the problem.”

“Alright, Itachi’re dismissed.”

Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his fist on the desk, shattering his seventeenth pipe—his fury was unmistakable.

But.

He still waved the Anbu member away, letting him leave without another word.

He knew perfectly well: if Danzō wanted to leave, the Anbu wouldn’t dare—or could even attempt—to stop him. With so many clans defecting to Uchiha, his manpower was already stretched thin; he couldn’t afford to vent his rage and further demoralize his subordinates.

The Anbu member felt as if he’d been granted divine mercy.

Without a word, he bolted from the Hokage’s office—his back was drenched in cold sweat.

No choice.

When he arrived at Anbu headquarters today, he found nearly half his colleagues absent—each desk left with a resignation letter.

This was catastrophic.

The remaining Anbu members immediately reported it; Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi flew into a rage and ordered an immediate targeted investigation.

The ninja clan matter wasn’t even hidden, so the truth was uncovered instantly—furious beyond measure, Hiruzen assigned this poor fool to find Danzō.

But damn it.

Who could’ve imagined this bastard Danzō would be so shameless? The moment he sensed trouble, instead of fixing it, he just ran?

Fuck me.

Itachi’ve screwed me over!

As for why this only came to light today, the Anbu member understood perfectly well.

Though Anbu was filled with many civilian ninja, its true core members were all from ninja clans—that’s why the mass defections last night went undetected by the village leadership.

Whether Anbu, the Barrier Team, Intelligence, or Interrogation—all were riddled with ninja clan members.

Now that these clans were fleeing, the members in these departments naturally helped conceal their departure.

Only after their clan estates were fully emptied would these people themselves flee.

…

The Hokage’s office was suffocatingly tense.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and the two Elders wore grim expressions; none could think of a solution—this had happened too suddenly, leaving them utterly unprepared.

No way out!

Who could’ve imagined Danzō would be so ruthless? He was only authorized seven members per clan—he secretly increased it to seventeen, and demanded five Jonin per clan!

Holy shit.

He’s trying to wipe out these clans!

Especially the Oil-Style Clan—what a cruel, inhuman move: forcing their leader, Yūhi Shino, to lead the entire clan into Root?

Fuck, that’s brutal!

When he heard this news, Hiruzen Sarutobi nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

At that moment, Jiraiya leapt in through the window.

“Old man…”

"Why are Itachi in such a hurry to call me? What did Uchiha do now?"