Chapter 14

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"How dare they!"

At this moment, Konoha's F4 gathered in the elder's office, and Danzo angrily slammed the table, cursing. Sarutobi took a deep breath, managing a small smile.

"They were right. The Hokage should be elected."

Koharu and Homura exchanged admiring glances toward Sarutobi. This man can endure anything, even more than the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, they thought.

Danzo, still furious, snapped at Sarutobi, "Have you forgotten your teacher's warnings? The Uchiha clan is evil, and we must always be on guard! Now, everyone knows the ambitions of the Uchiha—they think about becoming Hokage every day!"

Koharu and Homura looked at Danzo in exasperation. Isn't it normal for the Uchiha to aspire to the position of Hokage? After all, they were one of Konoha's founding families, yet for over 40 years, none of them had even come close to the seat. Still, neither of them dared to voice this thought aloud, as they relied heavily on Sarutobi to maintain their positions of power. Both of them were civilian ninjas without significant lineage or backing, and they had climbed to their status thanks to Sarutobi's assistance.

Their families had benefited greatly under his leadership, so they had no choice but to cling to his influence.

Mito spoke up first, backing Danzo's aggressive stance, "That's right. The Uchiha have clearly shown rebellious intent. The previous proposal to place ANBU surveillance on them after their relocation must be enforced."

Koharu added, "Also, concerning the Konoha Police Force, the Uchiha clan doesn't need to know that ANBU can already handle most of Konoha's security. Of course, we still need the garrison for handling lower-level tasks, but those are thankless jobs. Once the other ninja clans are fully loyal again, we can assign them the grunt work."

This was reminiscent of what happened during Orochimaru's attack on Konoha, where it became evident that Konoha's territory was far too vast to be secured by just the 70 members of the ANBU. The Konoha Police Force was still necessary. Only chunin and above were assigned to the main headquarters, while genin patrolled Konoha's streets. Lower-ranked genin alone couldn't manage conflicts involving elite ninjas from powerful clans, so the involvement of chunin was critical.

When Fugaku learned that the Uchiha were being gradually edged out of the garrison, he knew that they would no longer be able to maintain the law and order in Konoha effectively. This was exactly the outcome Konoha's F4 wanted—to strip the Uchiha of their influence little by little, like slowly boiling a frog in warm water.

Sarutobi, seeing the situation spiraling, cautioned the elder council members, "You're being reckless! Doing this will only deepen the conflict between the village and the Uchiha clan."

"You should all be aware of their current strength. The Uchiha clan now has six jonin, and that's just officially. There are also 17 elite jonin and nearly 100 chunin. Do you have any idea how powerful that is?"

"Furthermore, the report from Shisui indicates that these are just the registered numbers. There are many ordinary members of the Uchiha clan who haven't even gone through the ninja evaluation process."

"Remember, the Uchiha are part of this village, and we cannot afford to treat them with contempt."

Danzo's expression soured. His ROOT organization, although officially a part of ANBU, consisted of only a 17-member team, with the rest still in training. In a confrontation with the Uchiha, the ROOT's forces would be severely outmatched.

Sarutobi turned to Danzo, then said something unexpected.

"I think Uchiha makes a valid point. After all, I've already resigned. Tsunade would be a great choice for the next Hokage."

Danzo's anger flared instantly.

"Sarutobi! During the time of the Fourth Hokage, you conspired with Minato to take the title. And now, you want to pass it down to your apprentice?"

Seething with rage, Danzo stormed out of the room, his eyes flashing with cold anger. His two ROOT agents immediately appeared beside him.

Danzo gritted his teeth and gave a cold command, "Find Tsunade!"

"Yes!"

---

Meanwhile, in an unknown casino, Tsunade sat at a gambling table with a young girl of about 16 or 17 beside her, repeatedly slamming her hand on the table.

"Come on! Place your bets! Ahhhh!" Tsunade shouted.

Kato Shizune, standing beside her, trembled in fear as the surrounding gamblers, burly and intimidating, eyed them like wolves. She began to regret her decision to follow Tsunade, hearing about her legendary status as one of the Sannin.

"Tsunade-sama, please stop gambling. This is all the money we have left," Shizune pleaded.

Tsunade let out a hearty laugh, unconcerned. "Hahaha! What are you worried about? If we run out of money, I'll just borrow more. I'm one of the legendary Sannin, and an apprentice of the Third Hokage! You really think I won't get the money?"

Shizune looked at her with despair. As the dice were rolled, she watched anxiously.

"666!"

Shizune was overjoyed. "Tsunade-sama, we won!"

But there was no response. When she looked up, Tsunade had already stood up sharply, staring at the dice in disbelief.

"Grab the money and let's get out of here!" Tsunade barked.

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