Chapter 16

Danzo Shimura cast one last glance at the Hokage Mansion.

This mansion, the Hokage Mansion, was the dream of his life.

The master of this mansion, with a casual remark, could make him break into a cold sweat, not because he was superior...

But because he was the Hokage!

Hiruzen Sarutobi's last reminder was not to let the child go astray.

That old bastard was hinting at him!

Danzo Shimura understood the hidden meaning. What Hiruzen Sarutobi was reminding him of was not to lose his way, not to harbor improper thoughts about the position of Hokage just because there was another ninja with the Wood Release bloodline in the Root Organization!

But...

How could a person give up their dream?

As long as he became the master of this Hokage Mansion, any order he gave out could change the fate of the entire Konoha and even the entire Ninja world.

"One day..."

Danzo Shimura angrily turned and left. Rather than continuing to stare at the Hokage Mansion and pine for it, he might as well go back and instruct Kagura Akihara properly!

Hmph...

Not to let the child go astray...

How could the child possibly go astray when he follows me?

Sarutobi, everyone has their own path, not just your path is the right one.

Back at the Root Organization base.

Kagura Akihara was still a little depressed. Danzo Shimura didn't allow him to go out, commanding him to rest at the Root base and there were no system tasks... It seems that the system wasn't so hasty in assigning work tasks, and he needed to explore it thoroughly.

Or...

Could rest... not be considered work?

Couldn't the rest intervals during work be considered as being on duty? Slacking off is clearly part of the job too! Especially when it's rest demanded by superiors!

However...

A new opportunity came soon.

Danzo Shimura returned to the base of the Root Organization, finally giving Kagura Akihara an official order, which also triggered a system task for him.

"Starting from today, I will personally guide your training, to ensure that you can defeat that brat called Uchiha Itachi in the Chuunin Exam!"

"Hmph!"

"That brat..."

"Gave me a bit of trouble..."

[System Task]: [New work task, as required by Danzo Shimura, participate in the second half of Konoha's Chunin Exam this year and defeat Uchiha Itachi in the exam.]

A job...

And I could get double the reward?

Kagura Akihara's face immediately turned serious!

"I will definitely do it..."

Looking at Danzo Shimura, Kagura Akihara asked again, "Mr. Shimura, is it permissible to kill in the Chunin Exam? Can I kill that guy called Uchiha Itachi?"

"..."

Danzo Shimura was a little at a loss for words.

This child's character was really too extreme!

Uchiha Itachi was the son of Uchiha Fugaku, the clan head of the Uchiha clan, and the successor to the strongest ninja clan in Konoha. He was always seen as the pride of Uchiha Fugaku and even activated the Uchiha clan's bloodline limit, the Sharingan, very early.

If Kagura Akihara could kill Uchiha Itachi, it would surely cause dissatisfaction among many people and may even intensify the conflict between Konoha and the Uchiha clan...

But...

Hiruzen Sarutobi was a weak person.

If Hiruzen Sarutobi were to appease Uchiha Fugaku's anger by handing over Kagura Akihara to Uchiha Fugaku, it would be extremely unfavorable...

Such a thing had happened before.

A few years ago, an envoy from the Hidden Cloud Village came to Konoha, ostensibly to renegotiate a ceasefire agreement, but secretly aimed to snatch the Byakugan bloodline limit from Konoha.

The envoy from the Hidden Cloud Village secretly infiltrated the Hyuga clan, intending to kidnap the daughter of the clan head, but was detected by the Hyuga clan head, Hyuga Hiashi.

For such a thief who wanted to steal his daughter, Hyuga Hiashi, of course, wouldn't be lenient, and killed the envoy from the Hidden Cloud Village on the spot.

However, the Hidden Cloud Village refused to admit this and instead shifted the blame onto Konoha, forcing them to hand over the murderer or else they would restart the war with Konoha.

Then...

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, agreed to this humiliating request and ordered the Hyuga clan to hand over the murderer, seeking peace at all costs.

In the end, Hyuga Hiashi's twin brother, Hyuga Hizashi, had to take the blame for his brother's crime and was forced to commit suicide, thus ending the absurd and humiliating case of the Hidden Cloud envoy's murder.

The lessons from the past were still fresh.

According to Danzo Shimura's understanding of his old friend, once Kagura Akihara accidentally killed Uchiha Itachi, Hiruzen Sarutobi would most likely, to quell the anger of Uchiha Fugaku, secretly hand over a child from the Root organization...

If this really happened...

The disobedient Uchiha would lose a genius, and the disobedient Root would also lose a genius. Hiruzen Sarutobi would not lose anything, so why wouldn't he do it?

As for...

Whether Kagura Akihara could defeat Uchiha Itachi...

Danzo Shimura suddenly realized that he had not considered this problem before. Uchiha Itachi was capable of easily defeating members of the Root.

Although Danzo Shimura had confidence in Kagura Akihara's Wood Release talent—a technique like Advent of a World of Trees was not something an average ninja could contend with—Kagura Akihara was always a bit thoughtless, easily manipulated by the Uchiha...

"Never underestimate Uchiha Itachi!"

Danzo Shimura reminded coldly before continuing, "The Chunin Exam does not prohibit killing enemies, but we also can't indiscriminately slaughter..."

After saying this, Danzo Shimura couldn't help but frown. Why would such weak words come out of his mouth?

"...Oh."

Kagura Akihara also felt it was a bit strange.

"In any case..."

Looking at Kagura Akihara, Danzo Shimura instructed in a deep voice, "You don't have to kill Uchiha Itachi. That kid still has some use for us."

"Yes, I understand."

Kagura Akihara didn't care about these things.

He had never been a bloodthirsty person.

Whenever Kagura Akihara offered to kill someone for Danzo Shimura, whether it was to kill Kakashi Hatake or Uchiha Itachi, it was only to amuse Danzo Shimura, and Danzo surely would not let him do it.

If Danzo Shimura really thought about it, he would realize that at the Root organization's base, Kagura Akihara only talked and never really helped him do anything...

But even if Danzo Shimura did think about it, judging by Kagura Akihara's attitude, he might be more afraid of Kagura Akihara actually doing something...

"There's one more thing."

"Remember your origins, you're a child raised in Konoha."

"You were adopted by the director of the Konoha orphanage, Nonō Yakushi, in her early years. It was I who brought you to Root and raised you, and it was I who conducted the Hashirama cell transplantation experiment when you were a child. Forget all about Orochimaru's existence..."

"..."

Kagura Akihara nodded silently, still sticking to his character, "Danzo-sama, can I kill the director of the orphanage then? Just in case she carelessly says something in the future that exposes any flaws, causing trouble for you..."

"Stop always thinking about killing."

"Nonō Yakushi still has her uses now."

Danzo Shimura felt something was a bit off once again.