Will of embers

Chapter 20

Danzo was getting desperate. He saw the village falling before his eyes, and there was little he could do to stop it. That fool Hiruzen refused to listen to him. Refused to help him protect the village as he was satisfied by accomplishing meaningless work inside the village. At the same time, ignoring the most pressing things and choosing to overlook the dangers outside the village.

Danzo was furious that Hiruzen didn't take Kumogakure seriously. He must have realized that their not agreeing to their peace offer was a sign of aggression, yet he refused to acknowledge it and do something about it. Konoha needed to prepare for war and boost their numbers, and yet Hiruzen refused to do anything about it. He would rather get in the way of Danzo doing it.

And then there were the recent actions of Suna and Kiri. Danzo didn't know the details, as neither of the villages had disclosed anything. But Pakura's disappearance and her new inclusion in the Bingo books told enough for Danzo to be concerned. And once again, when he told it to Hiruzen, he said it was none of their business and he should leave it to be.

Danzo was losing his choices. He had thought of it before and had already started to plan, but it seemed that it was time he finally did it. He had to eliminate Hiruzen before it was too late. Danzo could not see his village fall into a false sense of security under Hiruzen's control. Danzo could see other villages scheming and planning to strike with any opportunity present. The only logical and practical thing to do was to strike them first.

The danger was all around them, and it frustrated Danzo that nobody saw it apart from him. No, these fools followed Hiruzen and refused to acknowledge the danger, living in a false state of tranquility. But Danzo could not let Hiruzen's foolishness blind the rest of the village. Before it was too late, Danzo needed to act.

"Danzo-dono, I am surprised to see you," Daimyo of the Land of Fire wasn't too pleased to see Danzo, especially when he came in uninvited. "To what do I own the pleasure?"

The Fire Daimyo is fickle and indecisive, easily swayed in his decisions by biases and external influence. Danzo will have to use this to his advantage. Even if the Daimyo was more inclined to agree with Hiruzen and had an extreme liking to Jiraiya, Danzo still was in the Daimyo's good graces, and, more importantly, he was more familiar with the Daimyo's advisers.

"I was in the area," Lying was second nature to Danzo. "I thought I should inform you of my investigations since I am here. It would be unbeknownst to me if I didn't report my findings to you the first chance I got."

"Investigations?" The Daimyo looked at his advisors like the fool he was.

"Yes," Danzo replied as he took a scroll from his sleeve. "I have suspicions that Kumo is planning to attack us. I know for a fact that the Fourth Raikage is a decisive man. So, for him to not even try to agree to our peace offers means he is planning to strike at any moment."

"What does Hiruzen think of this?" Danzo expected the Daimyo's question.

"Our Hokage is preoccupied with other ordeals to focus on these things," Danzo replied. "I'm sure you have heard what Orochimaru has done."

"Oh, it was dreadful news," The Daimyo said.

"Then you can realize that our Hokage isn't in his best state of mind at the moment." Danzo was ready to use everything he needed to achieve his goals. "He dismissed the idea of Kumo doing anything and would rather wait for them to take action, no matter how much I tried to convince him otherwise."

"The information you brought to me is indeed concerning," The Daimyo replied as he took a long sip of his tea. "But in the end, I trust Hiruzen's decision. He has yet to let me down. And without his opinion, I will not do anything."

"Of course, Hiruzen is my old friend," Danzo smiled, as everything was going according to his plan. "His mind is as sharp as his blade. But recent events might have clouded his judgment. All I wanted was for the Daimyo himself to have a conversation with our Hokage to prioritize these affairs. It would help him to get out of the village and focus on something else than Orochimaru's actions."

Danzo could see that he got Daimyo. Even as he looked at his advisors, who eagerly nodded their heads in agreement, Danzo already knew that the Daimyo would agree with him. And why wouldn't he? Everything he said was reasonable enough. And as foolish as Daimyo was, it only worked to Danzo's advantage. Now, Daimyo had no choice but to call Hiruzen here or go to him himself. Either way will work for Danzo's plan.

…

Danzo had done many things, some of which could be considered vile or malicious, but he was never ashamed of them. Whatever he had done, it was for the betterment of the village. He knew very well that nobody would agree with his actions. Experimenting with children wasn't one of his proudest moments, but it had to be done for the village to gain more power.

He didn't need validation. All he desired were the results. Even though Orochimaru had overreached and Hiruzen had caught him, Danzo couldn't let the experiments be for nothing. He needed to continue them. It would be a disservice to everyone who was sacrificed to end them here. But he couldn't do it with Hiruzen in control of the village.

Hiruzen could never understand. He was born strong and talented, above everyone else. He couldn't understand that a sacrifice was needed to achieve any moderate level of power. He couldn't understand that without that power, the village was in danger. He never could understand the feeling of being powerless.

That was Hiruzen's most major flaw. With him as the leader, the village would never be able to shed its powerlessness. As much as it pained him, Danzo knew what he was doing was right. That is why he was here, disguised as a shinobi from Kumo. That is why he was standing before Kakuzu and his partner with a suitcase full of money.

"Hundred million," Kakuzu repeated the number Danzo gave him. "It is an appropriate amount of money to eliminate someone as powerful as the Third Hokage."

"That is if you succeed," Danzo said, closing the suitcase and hiding its contents. "As per usual, you will get twenty percent in advance and the rest once the job is done."

"Or I could kill you now and take the money," says Jin, Kakuzu's partner and a missing-nin from Tobari, Curtain village, famed for its kenjutsu skills but nothing more.

"You will try," Danzo replied coldly, as he knew how to deal with people like them. "But I would be careful if I were you of who you are threatening."

"A no name shinobi from Kumo," Jin replied, and Danzo had to wonder if he was new to this game.

"It won't be the first time I've tried to kill a Hokage," Kakuzu said, silencing his partner. "And this time, the rewards are more promising. But that is if he is out of the village and I am given the opportunity to strike him."

"In a week, he will leave the village to visit the capital," Danzo informed them. "That is your opportunity."

"How do I find you after the job is done?"

"You won't," Danzo answered. "I will find you, but only if the job is done."

If he succeeded, Danzo would have to find him, and Kakuzu would need to be eliminated. By bringing the head of the one who killed the Hokage, Danzo's position within the village would be unwavering. Then, he could progress with his plan to strengthen the village without any hindrances. Danzo had to thank Hiruzen for being so foolish as to leave Orochimaru alive. With him, the secrets of Hashirama cells will be his. Even if it still concerned Danzo of what Orochimaru would say to Hiruzen about him.

"You know what will happen if I don't get what you have promised, don't you?"

"Money isn't a problem for us."

Only fools like them would have such reverence for money. As with everything else, money was a tool to be used. It had as much meaning as people were ready to give it. And even though one hundred million ryo was a substantial amount even for a big country as the Land of Fire, it was still a tool. And Danzo knew how to use tools in the best way.

…

Hiruzen looked at the report of Kirigakure's team infiltrating the Land of Fire. They didn't seem to have done anything and were chased away pretty quickly. But what caught Hiruzen's eye was Shisui Uchiha, one of the members of the team that chased the Kirigakure team away. Still, he was a genin, but after taking a few looks at his records, Hiruzen could tell that he was gaining recognition fast.

Shisui has been a rising star ever since he graduated from the academy. He had seen the boy a few times as he gave missions to certain teams to check on them. He didn't look anything special, just a bright-eyed kid who got nervous before Hiruzen's gaze. But knowing the future, Hiruzen should start paying more attention to the boy.

He will probably pass the next chunin exam if he is allowed to participate in it. After seeing how certain exams were quite brutal to the participants, Hiruzen was thinking of extending the age range for someone to participate in them. But the rest of the Konoha council quickly shot down that idea. So, Hiruzen negotiated that a genin should have at least a year of experience beforehand.

To Hiruzen, it was a bit ridiculous to let fresh genin take the exams even if they were geniuses. He understood that the shinobi world was a brutal place, but it didn't sit right with Hiruzen to let children get injured or, worse, killed when it was completely unnecessary. It took a lot of effort to win over the council, especially when Danzo was using every trick under his sleeve to stop him.

At least Danzo had left him be and disappeared in the darkest shadows after that meeting. Honestly, Hiruzen would rather not have Danzo pitch his extreme ideology about what a shinobi is every time he had a chance. But Hiruzen had to understand that Danzo was a product of a different time, so he couldn't really reprimand him for the craziest things he said and tried to implement.

"Hokage-sama," It was a surprise for Kakashi to burst into the office, so it had to be something important. "A message from the Daimyo had arrived."

Anything that came from the Daimyo was of the utmost importance, even though the village acted independently; it was a military force of the Land of Fire. Without the Daimyo's support, the village would quickly collapse, and the same went for the Daimyo. Without the military force of the village, the Daimyo's position would be at risk.

"Why now?"

"What is it, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi could tell that Hiruzen didn't like what he read.

"He wants me to visit him in the capital," Hiruzen replied with a sigh. "It is probably nothing of importance, just a fickle idea of the Daimyo. But if he asked me to visit him, I have no choice."

Hiruzen could smell something fishy about it, especially with Danzo gone. He knew the Daimyo wasn't someone who would order the Hokage much. And if he needed anything discussed, he would come to Konoha rather than call anyone to the capital. So, the question stood: why now? It wasn't like Hiruzen was too busy to refuse, but he still didn't want to go.

"Should I start preparing for our visit to the capital?" Kakashi asked.

Hiruzen could only nod. It was just a visit in the end, but it still bothered him. He wished he could take Jiraiya with him, but he was out of the village on a mission. Hiruzen had sent him to investigate how Kusagakure was doing with the extra missions Hiruzen had given them. Well, that was the pretext, but Hiruzen was more interested in Uzumaki, who might be there.

He couldn't remember the details, but he knew that Karin originally came from Kusagakure. The question was whether she was born there or just took refuge with her family. Hiruzen has given Jiraiya a few hints of his wanting to gather the remaining Uzumaki in Konoha. So, hopefully, he will report to him if he discovers anything about them.