Chapter 180: Skimming Stones

"Um..."

After Tsunade left, Jiraiya and the others were speechless for a while.

Who could have thought that Tsunade would rather destroy the First Hokage's heirloom necklace herself than hand it over to Konoha?

What more could be said?

The trio stared at the fragments of the crystal necklace on the ground, shaking their heads in disappointment.

"Tch, tch."

Suddenly, with a familiar voice, a figure appeared before them in a flash, causing them to tense up.

He began to lament:

"Are they going to let the Nine-Tails loose again? Naruto is being tormented like this, he might not survive this time.

Sigh, the orphan of the Fourth Hokage, the hero of Konoha, is being treated this way. If Minato and Kushina knew about this in the afterlife, what would their expressions be?"

As Konoha's jinchūriki, Naruto Uzumaki was only six years old this year. The Nine-Tails inside him had already gone berserk once.

If it weren't for the robust physical constitution of the Uzumaki clan, the last Nine-Tails incident would have been enough to kill the little guy.

Even though Naruto had survived that incident, he might not be so lucky if it happened again.

His words made Jiraiya's face change.

The Fourth Hokage was his student. As his teacher, Jiraiya should take care of his student's orphan, but he was... powerless.

With this thought.

Jiraiya couldn't help but feel deep guilt.

One day in the future, after he dies and goes to the pure land, how could he face the Fourth Hokage and his wife?

Koharu, and Homura didn't feel anything.

In their view, the mission of a jinchūriki was to be a vessel for the tailed beasts, a tool of war for the village.

Furthermore, it was the Fourth Hokage himself who sealed the Nine-Tails into his newborn son. No one forced him.

The one who made Naruto a tailed beast container wasn't someone else, it was the Fourth Hokage himself.

If Naruto had to blame or resent someone, the one he should resent the most should be his father, Minato Namikaze.

Koharu, and Homura exchanged glances, and nodded to each other.

Then, they suddenly looked at the figure, saying to him:

"Uchiha Dan, how about cooperating with us?"

Cooperation?

"How to cooperate?" Dan asked, seemingly interested.

"Very simple, as long as you take down Danzo, we will push you to the position of Hokage!" Their words were shocking.

From Koharu, and Homura's perspective, they wouldn't normally let Dan become the Hokage.

But comparatively, they can't accept Danzo even more.

Because Danzo threatened to blow up the entire Konoha just to become the Hokage, he has become a more dangerous factor for the village than Dan.

Moreover, they don't believe that Danzo really has the ability to lead Konoha and win this war about survival.

When the situation becomes dire.

Danzo might go mad, detonating all the explosive tags buried by Xuanyi, causing Konoha to be reduced to ashes.

To defuse this crisis Koharu, and Homura decided to ask Dan for help, even breaking their previous principles, promising to help Dan replace Danzo and make him the new Hokage.

Dan's Mangekyou Sharingan can use genjutsu to control Danzo, making him fall into a coma, thereby allowing Konoha to take the opportunity to remove the explosive tags in the village.

This is the only effective method to subdue Danzo.

"Koharu, Homura, you..."

Jiraiya was taken aback.

He just realized that the main purpose of the two advisors coming with him was not to find Tsunade, but to find Uchiha Dan.

Faced with the temptation of the Hokage position, would Dan agree?

Surprisingly.

"Why are you trying to remove Danzo when he just became the Hokage and is doing a good job?

I believe that Danzo fully deserves the title of Hokage of Konoha, and he was elected by the Daimyos and the ninjas of Konoha, he is a Hokage recognized by everyone.

Do you want to stand against all the villagers of Konoha by trying to remove him now?"

Dan seriously looked at Koharu, and Homura, and sternly rebuked them.

"..."

Their faces changed, not expecting Dan's response to be like this.

Could it be that this man really has no interest in the position of Hokage?

Not yet finished.

Seeing that the two of them didn't respond, Dan's eyes flashed, and he continued:

"You two are actually trying to overthrow the Hokage, should I tell Danzo about this? He might treat you like he did the Third Hokage, accusing you of rebellion, and put you in jail, right?"

As soon as these words came out, Koharu, and Homura's faces became even more ugly, finally saying:

"Forget it, pretend we didn't say anything."

After saying this, they were about to turn around and leave.

"Stop. Did I let you go?"

Dan said lightly, and at the same time, a strong killing intent locked onto Koharu, and Homura, making them freeze.

"What do you want to do?"

Cold sweat trickled down from the two of them.

Dan walked up to them, looked down at the two, and said:

"When the Uchiha clan broke away from the village, some Sharingan were taken by Konoha. Give them back to me, and I might consider helping you deal with Danzo."

So, this was what Dan wanted.

The two of them frowned, trying to bargain with Dan:

"No, you should first control Danzo, then we will give you the Sharingan..."

"Do you think you have the right to bargain with me?"

One sentence from Dan left Koharu, and Homura silent, shutting their mouths.

"...Alright."

The two of them looked at Dan deeply, then left with Jiraiya.

An hour later.

At the edge of the Uchiha Clan's territory, in the forest.

"You should leave Konoha first and wait for me at the old place." Tsunade said seriously to Shizune.

What happened today made Tsunade realize that if Shizune continued to stay by her side, she might be in danger.

Over the years, Shizune had been with her, living a life of gambling and dodging debts. To avoid debt collectors, they had many hideouts.

The old place Tsunade mentioned is located somewhere within the Fire Country.

"Lady Tsunade, aren't you coming with me?" Shizune asked worriedly.

"No." Tsunade shook her head.

All along.

Although she had been saying she was utterly disappointed with Konoha, she still couldn't let go in her heart after all. This was where she grew up.

Not to mention, her grandfather and great-grandfather were the First and Second Hokage of Konoha.

Tsunade grew up around them and naturally engraved the idea of protecting the village deeply into her mind.

During the previous Nine-Tails incident, she had stepped in to suppress the Nine-Tails, which had already made her stance clear.

Unlike Danzo, who claimed to protect Konoha but actually only satisfied his own desire for power, Tsunade's love for the village was sincere.

"Don't worry, Shizune, I will protect Tsunade." As a voice rang out, Dan appeared from the forest, joining them.

Upon hearing this, Tsunade rolled her eyes and retorted unhappily:

"Who asked you to protect me?"

However, Shizune was relieved, showing a happy expression.

Uchiha Dan, albeit a hateful and terrifying individual, provided a sense of security. The belief that Lady Tsunade would be safe was reassuring.

Thus under Dan and Tsunade's watch, Shizune quickly disappeared into the depths of the forest, soon vanishing from sight.

Dan shifted his gaze back to the Naka River flowing beneath his feet, and he let out a sigh.

"I've heard that before the founding of Konoha, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha used to play and compete together along this river."

Staring at the vast expanse of the river, Tsunade surprisingly agreed with Dan:

"That's true. My grandfather often told me that every time he competed with Madara, he always ended up winning."

Her words were filled with pride for her grandfather's glorious achievements.

Madara Uchiha had never defeated Hashirama Senju in his entire life, just as the Uchiha clan was always overshadowed by the Senju clan.

However, those were things of the past.

Seeing Tsunade still dwelling in past glory, Dan shook his head:

"Times change. Today, you represent the Senju, and I represent the Uchiha. If we were to compete like Hashirama and Madara did, you wouldn't be able to beat me."

Oh, really?

Upon hearing this, Tsunade immediately raised an eyebrow, and retorted defiantly, "That's not certain, we would have to compete to know."

"Do you dare to compete with me?" Dan looked at Tsunade, his gaze profound.

Tsunade counter-questioned, "What am I afraid of? Bring it on."

She had never considered herself weaker than others. Even if her opponent was stronger, she had never backed down.

"Alright."

Dan nodded, then started to unbuckle his belt, preparing to take off his pants.

"What are you doing?" Tsunade's eyes widened, her face full of surprise.

"Don't you know? The competition between Hashirama and Madara was who could urinate further. I think I could easily reach the other side of the river, how about you?"

As Dan spoke, he was gauging Tsunade, wondering what stance she would take for this competition.

Tsunade's face turned red, and she glared at Dan, then snorted, "Nonsense!"

She then turned around and walked away without looking back.

"Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were indeed quite ridiculous."

Dan murmured to himself, agreeing with Tsunade's opinion.

Afterwards.

He made a peculiar move.

Dan bent down, scratching the ground as if he were looking for something.

"This one is nice."

Suddenly, Dan's eyes lit up, and he picked up a thin, well-shaped stone, weighing it in his palm.

Then.

He aimed at the river surface, and his entire right arm bulged with muscles. With a swift swing of his right hand, he threw the stone horizontally.

The stone rotated at a high speed in the air, skipping across the water surface and splashing up droplets, leaving a discontinuous line on the river.

What a beautiful stone skip.

Finally, the stone crossed the river surface, whistling into the forest on the other side.

"Ah!"

With a scream, a figure flashed and quickly fled deeper into the forest.

It appeared to be a scout from the ninja alliance.

To think they had infiltrated Konoha so quickly.

Dan clapped the dust off his hands, leapt across the wide river, and gracefully landed on the other side.

With a leisurely smile on his face, he calmly followed suit.

In the forest, a Mist Ninja with bluish-grey hair and an eyepatch over one eye was fleeing in terror.

His right hand was clutching his left arm, blood seeping out from between his fingers. A shocking wound was visible.

It was inflicted by the stone thrown by Dan.

This person was a veteran Jonin from Kirigakure, known as the "Byakugan Killer" - Ao.

Dan was right.

Among the village alliances, the vanguard of the Hidden Mist had already reached the outskirts of Konoha.

This was an elite force composed of the Hidden Mist's ANBU and Jonin, numbering about thirty people. Their mission was to scout Konoha's troop deployment and identify weak points in the enemy's defenses.

As the leader of this team, Ao decided after careful consideration...

To minimize exposure risk, he decided to infiltrate alone and use his Byakugan to gather information.

As is known.

The Uchiha clan had a falling out with Konoha and left en masse, thus their territory and forest were abandoned.

So, Ao followed the Naka River and entered the forest in the Uchiha territory.

After observing the terrain.

He intended to go upstream of the Naka River, climb the cliff there, and use the high vantage point to overlook the entire Konoha, thereby understanding the defensive situation in the village.

Unexpectedly.

On the way, he encountered Dan and Tsunade.

Just now, Ao was hiding in the forest and immediately recognized the two people on the other side of the river.

The woman was Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha, who not only possessed terrifying strength but was also a renowned medical ninja.

As for the man, he was even more terrifying. He was the strongest of the Uchiha clan - Uchiha Dan.

Although Ao was far away in Kirigakure, he had heard of Dan's dreadful reputation long ago.

This was a man who was even more formidable than "Lightning Blade" Raikage.

Ao knew all too well how powerful Raikage was, having clashed with him on the battlefield. At that time, he was terrified by the Raikage's long-range genjutsu and had to retreat.

It was hard for him to imagine just how powerful Dan, who was even stronger than Raikage, could be.

Until just now.

Ao couldn't avoid the thin stone that came whistling from the other side of the river.

It wasn't because the stone was too fast for him to dodge, but because there was a special Yin Release chakra attached to the stone.

It was Dan's Yin Release: Illusion Body Technique.

Ao only glanced at the stone, and then illusions swarmed in front of him, causing him to become stunned and unable to move.

That's why he was injured by the stone.

If the opponent had thrown it more accurately, he would probably already be dead.

No wonder.

At the previous Kage meeting, even the Fourth Raikage had specifically mentioned Uchiha Dan's name, expressing great apprehension towards him, and considering Dan as a person who could change the course of the war.

Ao, who had barely escaped with his life, didn't dare to look back and fled at top speed out of the Uchiha territory forest.

After running a good ten kilometers or so, he finally saw figures in the forest ahead and reunited with his companions.

In the Mist vanguard team.

Inoichi Yamanaka, Chojuro, Ringo Ameyuri, Suigetsu Hozuki, and

others were all present.

"The captain is back."

The Mist Ninjas noticed Ao almost immediately, and they realized that something... didn't seem right.

"Get out of here quickly!"

Ao landed in a clearing in the forest and yelled at the Mist Ninjas.

As his words fell, he noticed that none of them moved. Instead, they all looked serious.

What's going on?

In his surprise, Ao suddenly realized that Inoichi and the others were not looking at him, but behind him.

Because Uchiha Dan had silently appeared there.