Konoha: Sage Body

"Danzo, do you think it's appropriate to take it out on a ten-year-old? Don't forget, he is also the teacher's grandson."

Sandaime angrily said, sensing that Danzo still wanted to continue targeting the White Fang squad.

No matter what, Nawaki is the teacher's grandson, and he doesn't want anything to happen to him at all. Besides, if something happens to Nawaki, Tsunade, his little cotton-padded jacket, will be sad. As for whether the main branch of the Senju clan will completely collapse after Nawaki dies and loses its true heir, he doesn't really care.

"Although he is just a 10-year-old kid, since he has become a ninja and gone to war, he can no longer be looked at with the eyes of a child. Besides, doesn't that kid have the strength of a jōnin? You know the situation of the Senju clan best.

Tsunade does not have the breadth of mind to become the Hokage right now, and she doesn't want to. She won't threaten your position as Hokage, but this brat is different. He always talks about becoming the Hokage, and he has a powerful helper left behind by Uzumaki Mito by his side. When he grows up, who can stop him from becoming the Hokage?

This is the best opportunity. Dying on the battlefield is not the best destiny for the Senju clan."

Danzo sneered, continuing to tempt Sandaime.

From those words, he knew that Sandaime was once again ready to compromise with him.

The person in front of him was indeed the same Sandaime he knew.

Just as Sarutobi Hiruzen was familiar with him, Danzo was likewise familiar with Sarutobi Hiruzen. As long as the position of Hokage under his butt was involved, Sarutobi Hiruzen would become nervous and would then want to eliminate all potential enemies that threatened his position as Hokage.

"So what? You and I are both approaching fifty. When the time comes, it's only natural to abdicate in favor of a younger successor. I have no intention of holding on to the position of Hokage forever. If Nawaki can take over my position in the future and become Hokage, then that kid is a good person. He is a Konoha ninja who inherits the pure Will of Fire. He will be a good Hokage, unlike someone who doesn't even know what the Will of Fire is.

You'd better not think of me as dirty as you do. I've never had any intention of harming my fellow villagers. I only punish those who have gone too far.

Sandaime would never listen to Danzo's enticements, and would never fall into his trap. He gave a righteous response.

He was already 48 years old, and in two years, his strength would begin to decline. By then, he really should find a successor to shoulder the burden of the Hokage.

To be honest, he has enjoyed the taste of power at the peak for so many years as the Hokage, but he has also had many unspeakable sufferings.

For example, there are always endless documents on his desk, and there are also countless annoying matters that never end.

If he wants to live a few more years in the future, it would be better for him to abdicate and let someone else take over.

"I see, so you, Sarutobi Hiruzen, really were a good Hokage. But if the Sarutobis behind you all think the same way, that would be great, hehehe~"

Danzo saw that Sandaime was still pretending to be a good Hokage, and once again mocked Sandaime behind his back by referring to the Sarutobi clan.

Sandaime suppressed other ninja but indulged the Sarutobi clan, a stain that Sandaime could never wash away in his lifetime.

Perhaps at the beginning, even if Sandaime's goal in developing the Sarutobi clan was to secure the position of Hokage under his butt, which was understandable to other ninja clans, after Sandaime had secured the position of Hokage, he still maintained this biased approach, so how could other ninja clans be convinced?

It is no surprise that when Sandaime retires, the Sarutobi clan will face the harshest crackdown by the new Hokage. Whether the new Hokage agrees or not, the other clans in Konoha will push the new Hokage to do it, unless the new Hokage has the power to suppress the major clans in Konoha.

Why has the Senju clan fallen to its current state?

On the one hand, it is due to the character of the people in the Senju clan. They followed in the footsteps of the first and second Hokage and paid a heavy price for Konoha's prosperity. On the other hand, is this not the result that the other clans of Konoha want to see?

With Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama, the Senju clan was too strong, and the other clans could only obediently serve as the underlings of the Senju clan.

But after the death of the two, will the other ninja clans be willing to be the little brothers of the Senju clan for the rest of their lives?

After Danzo became the leader of the Root, he used the power of the Root to monitor the various clans of Konoha and gained a clear understanding of the political environment of Konoha. The other ninja of Konoha had long been dissatisfied with the Senju clan, which occupied many of Konoha's resources.

All this discontent stems from the uneven and unreasonable distribution of benefits.

In the past, the Senju clan was powerful and it was only right that they should occupy more benefits. Now that the Senju clan is weak, it is unreasonable for them to occupy so many benefits.

Now that the Senju clan's anchor, Uzumaki Mito, has passed away, the discontent of the ninja clans towards the Senju clan has become even greater.

And among these clans, the one that is most discontent with the Senju clan is the Sarutobi clan.

With the support of the Sandaime Hokage and the overall strength that has already crushed the current Senju clan, the Sarutobi clan has long been eyeing the piece of cake that the Senju clan holds in Konoha. They have been afraid to take it before because of Uzumaki Mito and the enormous reputation of the Senju clan in Konoha.

Now that Uzumaki Mito is gone, and the enormous reputation of the Senju clan is gradually fading with the deaths of Senju Hashirama, Senju Tobirama, and Uzumaki Mito, the Sarutobi clan can no longer hold back.

In fact, the reason he was able to so easily determine the route of the White Fang squad's movements was because he had learned it from his informant planted within the Sarutobi clan.

He also knew that an elder of the Sarutobi clan had hired many bounty hunters from the Black Gold Agency to attack the White Fang squad.

Unfortunately, Hatake Sakumo was cautious by nature, and after encountering an attack, he immediately changed his course of action, leaving the bounty hunters hired by the Sarutobi clan empty-handed.

In short, if the Sarutobi clan were to eat into the Senju clan's interests in Konoha, would the Sarutobi clan really be willing to let the next Hokage come from the Senju clan?

Would the Sarutobi clan not fear retaliation from the Senju clan?

And who can guarantee that Jōnin Senju Nawaki will not become the next Senju Hashirama?

If this really happened, the Sarutobi clan, which dared to swallow up the Senju clan's interests, would probably be annihilated by the Senju clan in the future.

Danzo repeatedly used the Sarutobi clan to mock and coerce Sandaime, who really couldn't stand it anymore. He angrily rebuked, "The Sarutobi clan is not as despicable as you think!"

After saying this, he once again activated the curse mark to torment Danzo.

Danzo had an extremely strong tolerance for pain, and the previous two times the curse mark was activated had greatly increased his upper limit for pain tolerance. This time, he just stared at Sandaime without saying a word, sneering, "It's been a long time since you've visited the Sarutobi clan. I advise you to pay more attention to those good relatives of yours."

Sandaime felt very bad when he heard Danzo say this.

Although he is still the head of the Sarutobi clan, he has been preoccupied with the responsibilities of Hokage for many years, working hard for the village, leaving him no time to educate his children, let alone deal with the affairs of the Sarutobi clan.

Therefore, he basically delegated power to several clan elders within the Sarutobi clan, asking them to take care of the affairs of the clan for him.

Out of a sense of guilt for being the clan chief but not having the time or energy to take care of the Sarutobi clan, he has always chosen to agree to some of the clan elders' requests that were not too excessive.

To be honest, out of his trust in the Sarutobi clan, he really doesn't know much about the current situation within the Sarutobi clan.

What Danzo is saying now obviously hints that someone within the Sarutobi clan is not doing things properly.

However, the Sarutobi clan is currently the greatest support force behind the Hokage, with three generations firmly in power. He does not want anything to happen to the Sarutobi clan.

For a moment, Sandaime was at a loss for words.

He had come here in a rage to accuse Danzo, but he never expected his own backyard to be on fire.

"Do not make any more moves against White Fang Squad. If I find out about it again, I will definitely kill you. And, for the time being, your shadow clones should stay in."

Realizing that his backyard is on fire, Sandaime can't afford to confront Danzo right now. He leaves quickly after giving a warning.

Danzo watches Sandaime's departing back, slowly gets up from the ground, dusts himself off, and sneers inwardly:

"You will definitely kill me. Sarutobi Hiruzen. I wonder if you remember, you have already said this to me several times, but I am still alive and well. As expected, you still care too much about the position of Hokage beneath your butt. In order to keep it, you will go to any lengths, even if you don't want to. Unless you can destroy your own family in the name of justice, you will only be able to let the Senju clan down. Hehehe~"

The seeds of estrangement have been sown.

He now just needs to wait patiently for the seed to take root and sprout.

Subsequently, Danzo sat back down cross-legged and once again activated the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, enveloping the entire room in darkness once more.

He is the root of Konoha, and as such, he shall remain in the darkness of Konoha.

But one day, he will metamorphose and become a leaf basking in the sunlight.

...

As soon as Sandaime had left the prison, he immediately returned to the Sarutobi clan.

It had been six months since his last visit to the Sarutobi clan, and when he returned, he noticed that there had been many new changes. The biggest change was that there were more brand new large houses, and the clan territory had expanded quite a bit.

Sandaime noticed these changes and felt a sinking feeling in his heart.

In the past, he had noticed these changes in the clan territory every time he returned, but he had not paid them any mind. Today was different, however; these changes were somewhat jarring.

Although Sandaime returned to the Sarutobi clan in the middle of the night, he had only just arrived when the three village elders appeared at his house one after the other.

Two of the three elders were Sandaime's uncles, his second uncle Sarutobi Seishi and his fourth uncle Sarutobi Kenta, and the other was his contemporary, his cousin Sarutobi Hayao, the eldest son of Sarutobi Seishi.

"Hiruzen, why are you free tonight?"

Sandaime's second uncle, Sarutobi Seishi, noticed that Sandaime's complexion was not good and realized that something was not right, so he asked tentatively.

Sandaime glanced at Sarutobi Seishi. He did not speak immediately, but looked at Sarutobi Hishio.

During his absence from the Sarutobi clan, he had the most contact with Sarutobi Hishio. Usually, whenever the Sarutobi clan had a request, Sarutobi Hishio would come and tell him about it. It can be said that the person in charge within the Sarutobi clan is Sarutobi Hishio.

When Sarutobi saw Sandaime looking over, he smiled and said, "What's wrong, Hiruzen? Is there something troubling you? Just say the word, the Sarutobi Clan is your strongest backing, as long as you mention it, the Sarutobi Clan will help you deal with it."

"That's right, the Sarutobi Clan will always be your home,"

Sarutobi Aoishi also said with a smile.

The two laughed, but Sandaime and Sarutobi Kenta did not.

"Hiruzen, speak your mind. There is no need to hold back. You are the Hokage, and you are largely responsible for the current state of the Sarutobi clan. If you were to fall, the Sarutobi clan would not fare well either."

Sarutobi Kenta looked at the hot tea in his cup and said indifferently.

After he finished speaking, his eyes fixed on Sandaime's, who had looked over.

"It's nothing important. I just haven't been back in a long time, and I happened to have some time off tonight, so I thought I'd come home for a visit."

Upon hearing this, Sandaime was silent for a moment, and a smile finally appeared on his face as he replied.

Sandaime smiled, and the originally somewhat tense atmosphere on the scene instantly disappeared.

The large stone that had been hanging over the hearts of Sarutobi Aojishi and Sarutobi Hishio had finally settled firmly. The two of them had just seen Sandaime's unpleasant expression, and they had thought that the matter of hiring the bounty hunters from Black Gold had gone wrong.

It was already very late at night, and Sandaime had finally returned home. Since Sandaime said that everything was fine, Sarutobi Aoko and the others naturally did not want to disturb the two of them when they were alone together, so they left one after the other.

Sarutobi Biwa was Sandaime's supportive wife, and she could tell right away that her husband was troubled. As soon as the three had left, she immediately asked Sandaime, "What's going on? Did that guy Danzo say something mean?"

As the wife of the Hokage, and with her son and daughter-in-law serving as the ANBU Chief and Deputy Chief, Sarutobi Biwa naturally knew exactly where Sandaime was. She just wasn't sure what had happened when Sandaime was alone with Danzo tonight.

But Sandaime had just returned from prison and looked so troubled, so it was clear that Danzo had said something unpleasant to him.

"Biwa, do you think I've been a little too indulgent with the Sarutobi clan?"

Sandaime could still speak his mind to his wife, and sighed.

Sarutobi Biwa was taken aback by Sandaime's question. Her expression changed, and then a complex expression appeared on her face. She let out a long sigh and answered honestly:

"Not a little, but too much. Haven't you noticed that many important positions in Konoha's important departments have already been taken by family members? The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ANBU, schools, hospitals, prisons, sealing barriers, enchanting barriers, the Department of Torture, the person in charge or the second in command is someone from the family."

When Sandaime heard his wife's words, he instantly looked ten years older, and his face turned pale.

In the past, in order to firmly hold onto the position of Hokage, he issued decrees that could be implemented normally, so he had always worked hard to support the Sarutobi clan to help him, and had the Sarutobi clan members go to various departments to do their jobs and play a supervisory role, so that after his orders were passed down, the people in these departments would not be able to cheat or even disobey.

Now that so much time has passed, it turns out that the clan members he sent to various departments have already climbed to the top of these departments.

In this way, can the Sarutobi clan not cover the sky with one hand in Konoha?

But how long can this situation last?

He knew very well that the reason the Sarutobi clan had developed in this way was because they were supported by him as the Hokage and a Kage-Level powerhouse.

As for the many jōnin and chūnin within the Sarutobi clan, he could not count on them at all.

No matter how strong the Sarutobi clan was, overall, could it be much stronger than the Uchiha clan?

If after he abdicated, the Sarutobi clan could not produce the next young Kage-Level powerhouse, could the Sarutobi clan really continue to maintain this situation?

At this moment, Sandaime suddenly thought of the Konoha sprouts Kirito, Chizuru, and Nawaki, who had shown exceptional talent at an early age. Then he thought about the situation of his clan members who were the same age as the three, and a deep chill arose in his heart.

Where should the future of the Sarutobi clan go?

What should he, the Hokage, do?