Chapter 157

The Copying Charm is a spell that can duplicate objects. However, these duplicates are only convincing to Muggles; even a slightly educated wizard can discern the fakes. Moreover, the duplicates will vanish once the magical energy sustaining them is depleted.

Due to the trade with the Land of Waves, Leo is now quite wealthy. 1,2 billion ryo isn't much to him, but there's no way he would just hand over money to the Akatsuki.

So, before going to the gold exchange, he used the Copying Charm to replicate twenty one-hundred-ryo banknotes into twenty billion, packing them into twenty chests, although he ended up using only twelve.

At this moment, someone as angry as Kakuzu was Danzo, back at the Root headquarters in Konoha.

Today, Danzo had just returned to the base after a meeting, contemplating how to use this opportunity to force the Third Hokage to relinquish his position. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his chest, followed by blood pouring out from his heart.

Realizing he was being assassinated right in his stronghold, he immediately sacrificed a Sharingan from his right arm to activate the Uchiha clan's ultimate dojutsu, Izanagi.

However, during the minute of invincibility, no matter how hard he searched, or even when he called in a large number of Root ninjas, he couldn't find the assassin.

Just as he was puzzled, the minute ended, and his heart was pierced again, forcing him to sacrifice another Sharingan.

It was like seeing a ghost—once every minute, for a total of eleven times. By the time he had to sacrifice the Mangekyō Sharingan he had taken from Shisui, the ordeal finally stopped.

"Who... Who the hell did this?"

Danzo clutched his now useless right eye, his expression so dark it seemed like it might start dripping water.

The Sharingan was one of his trump cards, especially the Mangekyō Sharingan taken from Shisui, and now it was inexplicably destroyed. His heart was bleeding.

With the Uchiha clan annihilated, obtaining new Sharingan was nearly impossible unless he took Sasuke's. But Sasuke was under the Third Hokage's protection, and he also feared Itachi.

The worst part was that he still didn't know what kind of jutsu had attacked him, killing him eleven times in a row. If the attacker struck again, wouldn't he be done for?

"Could it be that guy?"

Suddenly, Danzo recalled someone—the mysterious person who had stolen the Scroll of Seals.

The jutsu used by that person, which seemed more like sorcery, was also extremely bizarre. Perhaps it was this person who had attacked him with some unknown, strange technique.

His reasoning wasn't without merit, as that day, the mysterious person had continuously tried to approach his body and even managed to scratch his back, taking some of his blood.

He had felt uneasy at the time but hadn't thought much of it.

"Ryoma, how is the investigation on that mysterious person progressing?"

Danzo took a deep breath, calming himself before asking one of his Root ninja leaders.

The ninja stepped forward and replied:

"We haven't found any ninja matching the mysterious person's characteristics, but we have identified his two subordinates. Based on their jutsu, they're likely the rogue ninja Zabuza Momochi and his companion Haku from the Hidden Mist."

"Rogue ninja from the Hidden Mist?"

Danzo frowned. Dealing with rogue ninja was always troublesome since they could easily have been hired by the mysterious person for this task.

"Take a team and find those two. Interrogate them to extract information about the mysterious person!"

After being killed eleven times today, Danzo had to figure out what was going on.

...

"Danzo, you should be grateful you still have some use; otherwise, you'd be dead by now!"

In the prince's residence, Leo retrieved the Scroll of Seals and the ninjutsu scrolls and began studying them.

The reason he spared Danzo's life was to balance the power of the Third Hokage.

Since the Third Hokage was still alive, killing Danzo would make Konoha entirely under the Third's control, which wasn't beneficial for Leo's plan to eventually take over Konoha.

Although the Third Hokage had accepted him as a disciple, it was clear that this was more of a calculated move than an act of genuine goodwill. The Third would never allow Leo to gain significant power in Konoha.

This conflicted with Leo's own interests, so he needed someone to keep the Third Hokage in check, someone he could manipulate to gain more power.

That person was Danzo, the Third Hokage's contemporary.

As long as Danzo no longer had Shisui's ultimate genjutsu, Kotoamatsukami, there was nothing for Leo to fear.

With that in mind, Leo shut himself away to study the ninjutsu for four days before using Apparition to travel to the border of the Land of Fire and then quietly entered the Land of Rice Fields.

"Well, well, Lord Orochimaru, you arrived quite early!"

In a private room of a tavern in a certain town, Leo pushed open the door and greeted Orochimaru, who was already sitting there drinking tea, with a smile and a wave.

"Congratulations to the prince on becoming the Hokage's disciple. That makes you my junior, doesn't it?"

Orochimaru set down his cup and looked at Leo with a gaze filled with inexplicable emotion.

Leo chuckled and, without hesitation, sat across from Orochimaru, picking up the teapot to refill Orochimaru's cup:

"Since we're now brothers in discipleship, I hope senior will take good care of his junior!"

"Hmph, but it seems this junior is quite disobedient, even disrupting his senior's plans. That's not very proper, is it?"

Orochimaru's tone suddenly turned cold, his slitted yellow eyes resembling those of a snake ready to strike.

Leo merely waved his hand dismissively:

"You've misunderstood me, senior. I wasn't ruining your plans; I was saving your life."

"Oh? And how do you explain that?"

Orochimaru's eyes fixed on Leo.

Leo poured himself a cup of tea:

"The Uzumaki clan's strongest sealing technique, the Reaper Death Seal, was the jutsu the Fourth Hokage used to seal the Nine-Tails. I assume senior knows something about it.

If I hadn't risked exposing my space-time ninjutsu to teleport in and stop the Third Hokage, when he suddenly summoned the Reaper, do you think your soul, taken by the Reaper, could still be resurrected through the curse mark?"

"So, you really were saving me."

Orochimaru's expression didn't change much in response to Leo's words.

He understood these points well enough, but his instincts told him that Leo's actions at that time were not purely to save him; there must have been another motive—perhaps to become the Hokage's disciple, as he had now.

"Even though I saved your life, it's nothing worth mentioning. Let's talk about other matters. I'm here because I want to propose a deal with you, a fair deal that will definitely satisfy you!"

Knowing Orochimaru's nature, Leo realized that Orochimaru wouldn't believe his words. Likewise, he believed that Orochimaru wouldn't make a move unless he was absolutely certain he could win. So, he decided to skip the pointless discussion and get straight to the point. 

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