Bab 4: Chapter 4
In the Hokage's office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat at his desk, puffing his pipe with a blank expression as he looked at the ANBU kneeling before him. The ANBU member was reporting Danzo's activities in full detail, even down to Danzo's stop at the Ichiraku Ramen Shop for a few bowls after leaving the Uchiha clan grounds.
Hiruzen frowned. As a student of Tobirama Senju, he preached peace with the Uchiha clan but harbored a deep-seated wariness toward them. Yet now, his old friend, the Uchiha clan's lifelong adversary, had ventured to the place he despised most.
Drawing in a mouthful of smoke, Hiruzen was puzzled. Could it be that Danzo was unwittingly under a genjutsu cast by the Uchiha? No, no, with Danzo's strength, there was no one in the current Uchiha clan who could manage that. Dismissing the thought, he waved the ANBU away.
"Alright, you're dismissed."
After sitting in silence, unable to come to a conclusion, Hiruzen sent the ANBU member away. Rising from his seat, he gazed out the window at the Hokage Rock in the distance, lost in thought.
"Ah…"
A long sigh escaped his lips.
"Someone, come here."
A figure wearing a dog mask appeared behind him in an instant.
"Notify Danzo. Tell him to come see me immediately."
...
"What? Sarutobi wants to see me? Now?"
Danzo stopped in his tracks, looking up at the moonlight as the ANBU member delivered the message. Based on his memories, whenever Hiruzen summoned him this late, it usually meant he'd been caught doing something dubious. But ever since he'd arrived in this world over the last half month, he hadn't done anything suspicious.
Or… could he be getting blamed for something the original Danzo did before he arrived?
Puzzling over his memories, Danzo eventually gave up. Sarutobi wouldn't do anything extreme. Following the ANBU member, he made his way to the Hokage's office.
...
"So, Sarutobi, what's the matter?"
"You're here, Danzo."
"Yes, what's so urgent that you had to call me here this late?"
Danzo was surprised to see Hiruzen without his Hokage robes. Since becoming Hokage, Sarutobi rarely removed the robe symbolizing his position, except in battle. If he had been wearing his combat gear, Danzo might have started to wonder if his cover had somehow been blown.
"There's been a lot of unrest in Amegakure recently."
"Yes, I'm aware of that. What, have they declared war?"
"No, not yet, but it's close. According to our latest intelligence, a large number of Ame-nin are gathering along the border."
Hearing that it was merely about troop movements, Danzo secretly let out a sigh of relief, muttering to himself, "Geez, you nearly scared me. I thought my arrival had caused a butterfly effect."
He tapped his cane lightly on the ground.
"Amegakure will likely remain at a stalemate with us for quite a while. According to my intelligence, Hanzo of the Salamander is more likely to make a move against Sunagakure first."
Hiruzen's eyes widened, surprised. Even his ANBU hadn't uncovered such intelligence, yet his "dear friend" seemed to know it already. It seemed Danzo had been amassing quite a network for Root in secret.
What Hiruzen didn't know, though, was that Danzo's "intelligence" was simply his memory of the anime storyline.
"Amegakure is a minor issue. Your three disciples alone are enough to keep it in check. You can send them to lead squads to the border and confront Ame-nin. If war does break out, they should invade the Land of Rain immediately."
"But since they're still young, they'll need a senior Jonin as their commander. I'd suggest Mito Menyan or Koharu Utatane."
Following his memory of the anime plot, Danzo quickly proposed a strategy that slightly differed from the one in the anime.
"When the time comes, I'll go to Amegakure myself to confront Hanzo."
In the anime, only the Sannin participated in the Amegakure conflict without additional elite support. This was primarily due to the need to guard against Sunagakure.
Present-day Sunagakure, under the leadership of the Third Kazekage—said to be the strongest Kazekage in history—was openly eyeing the Land of Fire.
"You're also planning to go to Amegakure, Danzo?"
To Hiruzen, the minuscule Land of Rain didn't warrant such concern, nor the presence of two high-ranking comrades.
"I trust my disciples; they'll achieve victory even without our help."
"Sarutobi, it's not that I doubt your disciples. My main objective is to quickly end the battle with Amegakure so we can use their territory as a base to strike at Sunagakure."
While Danzo made a convincing case, his true goal was to abduct Konan and her friends. Any opportunity to thwart Uchiha Madara, the future big bad, was too good to pass up.
"An unexpected assault, then."
Hiruzen puffed his pipe, mulling over the plan's viability.
Seeing Hiruzen's contemplative silence, Danzo waited patiently, knowing he was weighing the plan's risks. But even if Sarutobi refused, he would find a way to go to the Land of Rain.
"I understand, Danzo. Let's proceed with your plan."
Hiruzen put down his pipe, squinting as he looked at Danzo. Surprise attacks and covert operations—these were practically Danzo's specialties. Assassination, ambush, disruption—these were Shimura Danzo's bread and butter, so Hiruzen wasn't worried about him failing.
"Oh, by the way, I have a suggestion regarding the war."
Originally, Danzo had planned to tell Hiruzen this once the war began, but now seemed as good a time as any.
"This war would be an excellent opportunity to deploy the Uchiha clan's shinobi."
The instant he heard Danzo's words, Hiruzen tensed. As expected, Danzo seemed to have other intentions regarding the Uchiha clan. But what exactly was he planning?
"It's a war, after all. The Uchiha clan is an indispensable force."
Danzo stepped forward, coming to stand beside Hiruzen.
"Hmph, using such prime resources solely for village security is a waste."
"It's all for the sake of Konoha."
Hiruzen considered his friend's side profile with a thoughtful look.
"Very well. Tomorrow morning, I'll inform Mito Menyan and Koharu Utatane to join us in discussing this matter."
What nonsense. Getting those two busybodies involved? Letting those airheads stir up trouble?
"Sarutobi, you're the Hokage, and I'm your advisor. The two of us can make this decision ourselves. Just inform those two—they don't need to be involved in the discussion."
Danzo had little respect for the two advisors, considering them incompetent pawns he used to balance Hiruzen's power. Though they were strong, their shared paranoia toward the Uchiha clan rivaled even that of the original Danzo.
"Mito and Koharu were our teacher's students too. How could we exclude them?"
Hiruzen hadn't expected such a reaction from Danzo. Weren't they once close allies? How did they seem ready to clash now?
Even so, he knew he had to involve the two advisors. If he made decisions with Danzo alone, people would soon start calling him a dictator. Danzo wouldn't care about that, having never had a reputation to maintain, but Sarutobi did. After all, his position as Hokage had been appointed by the Second Hokage, not through the original election system set by the First.
And it was thanks to comrades like Danzo, Mito Menyan, Koharu Utatane, and Choza Akimichi that he'd been able to hold his position. That was why he tolerated their mischief—open and covert alike.
"Choza was better—always dutifully doing his job as a Jonin." Thinking of the honest, chubby man, Hiruzen's mouth quirked into a faint smile.
"Hmph, you're too soft, Sarutobi!"
Danzo quickly understood Hiruzen's concern. How could a Hokage hope to accomplish great things while being so indecisive?
"I disagree with involving them in this discussion!"
"Danzo, I am the Hokage!"
"Sarutobi, you'll regret this!"
*Bang!*
Feeling his anger flare, Danzo left, slamming the door behind him with a final parting shot.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone