Naruto: Who made him a ninja?

"These are difficult times. All we can do is secure as many benefits for the village as possible. And our Fourth Kazekage is, to put it mildly, a problem.

The Third Shinobi World War is the best proof of that. Perhaps we need some fresh blood. Perhaps we need to change from within ourselves.

Yōkai is a good girl. She's learned a lot from me."

"Her?"

Ebizō frowned. Yōkai had long been taken away by his sister to study. He hadn't asked about the specifics.

Now, his sister was suddenly saying such things. Could it be that she thought highly of Yōkai?

"It's just an experiment, and Sunagakure owes her."

Chiyo seemed to know what her younger brother was thinking. She sighed helplessly and said,

"Besides, I don't want Danzō to win. In any case, some positions aren't suitable for us.

I think you understand this better than I do, don't you?"

Chiyo's words silenced Ebizō for a moment, but he soon laughed in relief.

"As expected of you, Sister. You're much more decisive and ruthless than I am. I really can't compare to you."

"Oh, stop making fun of me. We're both old now."

Chiyo shook her head with a smile, and said meaningfully,

"All we can do now is try our best for this village and find a suitable future.

Alright, stop talking. Look, your fishing rod is moving. There's a fish on the line."

"What's going on? Why would Danzō do this?"

In the Land of Grass, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked displeased as he read the report handed to him by an Anbu.

Ōnoki had agreed to negotiate with Konoha, so Hiruzen had taken the opportunity to call off Danzō's mission to Suna.

After all, they only wanted to apply pressure, not actually start a war. Putting on a show was good enough.

But now, Danzō's actions were making him unhappy. Wasn't he going against him?

Although Danzō had always been against him...

But when it came to important matters, Danzō could at least uphold the principle of protecting Konoha. What was this guy up to now?

"Shikaku, what do you think?"

After pondering for a moment, Hiruzen turned to look at Nara Shikaku.

Shikaku was someone he trusted, and the Nara clan's incredible intelligence always helped him in crucial moments.

He always sought Shikaku's opinion when faced with troublesome matters.

"Lord Hokage, I can't really comment on this matter."

Nara Shikaku's mind was working quickly. He had already thought of many things, so he could only be cautious in his words.

"However, perhaps Advisor Danzō is using his own methods to help us gain more benefits."

"Hmm."

Hiruzen frowned and nodded. He could understand some of the key points.

Danzō wanted to use this method to promote Konoha's negotiations and even gain more benefits for Konoha!

While this wasn't a bad thing, it disrupted some of his plans. He didn't want to create too much conflict or disagreement with Ōnoki.

"What level of compromise do you think Ōnoki will reach? Will he choose extreme measures?"

Although Hiruzen had some ideas in mind, he still intended to inquire.

"He will definitely harbor resentment towards Konoha, but that is inevitable. We have Kitstuchi in our hands, and that cannot be changed."

Nara Shikaku was dutiful and said in a low voice.

"Therefore, deepening the animosity again probably won't have a big impact. And we don't know what Suna will do.

Perhaps it's just a bluff, or perhaps they really intend to take the opportunity to reclaim the actual benefits of places like Kumagami from Iwagakure."

The Fourth Kazekage was a man full of adventurous spirit, as seen in the outbreak of the Third Shinobi World War.

This guy was now facing internal and external troubles. Maybe he really planned to take a gamble.

After all, they were tricked by Konoha before. Now that Konoha was holding back Iwagakure, it was normal for them to be the oriole in the back.

"However, I think neither the Hokage nor the Third Tsuchikage would want to escalate things."

Nara Shikaku spoke again as Hiruzen pondered.

"The Hokage naturally wouldn't start a war for the sake of peace. The Third Tsuchikage probably wouldn't want to get bogged down, allowing Kumogakure to benefit.

Therefore, negotiations still need to continue, but the Hokage probably can't retreat easily, given the current situation..."

"I understand."

Hiruzen nodded, feeling uncomfortable.

What Danzō did was indeed for Konoha, but it also put him on the spot!

If he compromised slightly under such favorable circumstances, Danzō would definitely disgust him.

If he took the opportunity to bite off a chunk of the Land of Grass's interests, he would offend Iwagakure. He was now in a dilemma.

And he was 100% sure that Danzō didn't care about pushing him to this point. Danzō would only think he was right.

He might even be doing it on purpose. He had always been working hard for the Hokage!

Hiruzen sighed and turned to ask,

"So, should we make up for it from other places?"

"As the Hokage commands."

Nara Shikaku nodded, but then he murmured nonchalantly.

"However, Suna's quick response, besides being driven by interests, may also mean they really intend to be a good ally..."

"Hmm."

Hiruzen nodded upon hearing this, but the discomfort in his heart grew stronger.

Of course, he knew that Nara Shikaku was reminding him, and he himself was now curious.

Was Suna's quick response really because they were pursuing interests, or was Danzō's influence playing a role?

"Danzō, what have you been doing behind my back...?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi murmured with some weariness, feeling that his old friend had become somewhat unfathomable.

"Bastard, how dare Konoha pull something like this?"

In Kusagakure, within the Iwagakure camp.

Ōnoki was also incredibly furious as he looked at the report in his hand. In his opinion, Konoha's recklessness likely stemmed from believing they had Iwagakure cornered!

While being bitten by Kusagakure was practically a foregone conclusion, Konoha's greed was truly infuriating Ōnoki.

However, Ōnoki also knew that he needed to remain calm, as haste would only lead to poor decisions.

"Has there been any reaction from Konoha's side?"

After a while, Ōnoki asked in a low voice, and the Anbu beside him gently shook his head.

"Lord Tsuchikage, there hasn't been any clear reaction yet. However, an organization sent a scroll claiming that their mission is complete."

"Organization? Akatsuki?"

Ōnoki was quite displeased. He wanted to see what was happening on Konoha's side, but instead, information from Akatsuki arrived.

Hadn't that organization's mission already failed? Why were they coming to him now?

Fortunately, Ōnoki quickly realized that Akatsuki's main mission was to confirm Konoha's Mangekyō and Wood Release, and to eliminate them if possible.

As a result, they could now confirm this information, after all, those madmen had indeed attacked Kusagakure!

"A bunch of trash..."

Ōnoki cursed inwardly, but he still opened the scroll and began to read. As he did, his brow couldn't help but twitch slightly.

"Shisui Uchiha, Mangekyō Sharingan, Shimura Hidezawa... Danzō Shimura's man."

He hadn't expected to see Danzō's name in this place.

The Akatsuki seemed to feel that their performance in this mission was not up to par, so they included some extra information.

This included information about Shisui and Hidezawa, as well as the connection between Hidezawa and Danzō!

Danzō was already someone he greatly disliked. Who knew how many people that intelligence-gathering bastard had planted within Iwagakure.

Furthermore, this guy was always involved in dispatching envoys to Sunagakure, both in the past and now.

Moreover, according to the information at hand, it seemed that the kid with Wood Release had also been to Sunagakure and disrupted some of Sunagakure's plans!

"This kid is somewhat interesting, but he's Danzō's man..."

When Ōnoki thought about how Danzō had a genius with Wood Release in his hands, he felt even more disgusted with the man.

Iwagakure was suffering from a shortage of talent, while Konoha could produce geniuses every now and then. How could that make him happy?

However, he was only disgusted. In the end, Danzō was just Hiruzen Sarutobi's shadow, simply acting on orders.

"Lord Tsuchikage..."

Just then, another Anbu entered, causing Ōnoki to be slightly puzzled.

"What is it? Speak if you have something to say."

"Lord Tsuchikage, it's information from Konoha. These are the topics they've provisionally proposed for tomorrow's talks."

The Anbu respectfully handed over a scroll, and Ōnoki snorted coldly as he took it, believing that Konoha was likely about to make exorbitant demands.

"Hmm?"

However, after opening the scroll and examining it carefully, Ōnoki was somewhat surprised.

"Konoha is..."

The negotiation content marked by Konoha included many aspects, whether it was the division of Kusagakure or the return of personnel.

But the interesting thing here was that Konoha seemed to be giving up some of its benefits!

In the division of Kusagakure, Konoha took a large bite of half, but the key issue was that the half Konoha wanted was not a densely populated area.

Population density was related to the share of missions, and Ōnoki had already investigated that area and found that it didn't have any abundant resources.

At the same time, in terms of personnel exchange, Konoha didn't seem to set any barriers, which made Ōnoki somewhat puzzled.

"A slap followed by a sweet date?"

Ōnoki raised an eyebrow. He was considering whether Konoha didn't want Sunagakure to really get anything from him, as that would make them difficult to control.

In fact, this was quite logical. As allies, Konoha certainly didn't want their ally to be too strong and then play both sides.

However, he couldn't help but think about a question. Could it be that Konoha wasn't as united as he imagined?

Ōnoki had been criticized for a long time because he hadn't chosen a Fourth Tsuchikage, making it difficult for him not to overthink in this direction.

"Moreover, although Danzō is Hiruzen Sarutobi's shadow, he is also a disciple of the Second Hokage. Perhaps he really has some ideas?"

Ōnoki didn't know if his guess was correct, but the emergence of this idea made him pay more attention to Danzō.

After all, this guy was not a simple character, after all, this guy was known as the 'Darkness of the Ninja World'.

What's more, this guy also had a ninja with Wood Release in his hands!

"Also, Sunagakure, that kid with Wood Release went to Sunagakure. Could there be any traces of Danzō in this?"

Thinking of this, Ōnoki felt that he could do something. Anyway, the negotiations wouldn't end in a day or two, he still had time!

"Immediately arrange for people to go to Sunagakure and carefully investigate some of the previous situations and changes in Sunagakure, especially during the period when Rasa, that idiot, wanted to confront us."

He immediately ordered the Anbu beside him. Since he wasn't sure, he would investigate it carefully. He always felt that this matter was very interesting.

"Yes, Lord Tsuchikage."

The Anbu was puzzled, but he nodded seriously and turned to leave.

"Shimura Danzō, huh?"