Slayer: Look directly at the Seraph, standing on the sun

Chapter 846 Cruel Chapter

Danzo left behind a harsh remark and turned to leave in anger. But as he turned away, a more sinister glint flashed in his eyes.

"Since you refuse to leave gracefully, don't blame me for giving you a hand..."

The wind on Hokage Rock carried a slight chill, dispersing the smoke rings exhaled by the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Faced with Danzo's aggressive statement that "Konoha is in dire straits," the Third Hokage showed no sign of panic. On the contrary, his seemingly cloudy old eyes now gleamed with a sharpness and confidence that only someone truly in control of the situation possesses.

"A desperate situation? Danzo, hasn't your intelligence network been updated in a long time?"

The Third Hokage chuckled softly, his tone calm yet powerful, "You only see the surface of us being attacked from all sides, but you don't see the changes behind this game."

He held up a finger and pointed west: "First is Sunagakure. Although that young man Rasa has some skills, he has already been severely weakened after the last crushing defeat. Just yesterday, they officially sent an envoy to deliver the ceasefire agreement. The war on the western front is effectively over."

Before Danzo could refute, he pointed north again: "Secondly, there's Iwagakure. Although it seems we still have the strength to fight, under Jiraiya's command, our forces have shifted from strategic defense to strategic counter-offensive. With the plan to cut off the supply line at Kannabi Bridge about to be implemented, that old stubborn Onoki won't last long."

"As for Kumogakure in the east," the Third Hokage's eyes flashed with a sharp light, "the death of the Third Raikage is a devastating blow to them. Although the new Raikage, A, is irritable, he has to focus his main efforts on stabilizing the internal situation and defending against Iwagakure. He is simply unable to launch a large-scale attack in the short term."

Finally, his gaze fell on the direction of the retreating Mist Village: "And the Mist Village, as you saw, is just a rabble. Long-term internal strife has long since exhausted their strength, and this so-called surprise attack is more like a death throes. As long as we hold this wave, they will naturally collapse on their own."

The Third Hokage turned around, looking directly at Danzo's increasingly gloomy face, and said, word by word, "So, Danzo. The Third Shinobi World War did not plunge Konoha into a desperate situation; on the contrary, it is nearing its end. And Konoha is still the ultimate winner."

Danzo's hand, gripping his cane, bulged with veins. He opened his mouth, but found himself speechless. The Third Hokage's control and foresight regarding the overall situation truly made this man, who had always been scheming in the shadows, feel a sense of powerlessness.

"Hmph! I hope your judgment is correct!"

Danzo left with a cold snort, filled with resentment and anger, and turned to disappear into the shadows.

……

The headquarters of the "Root" organization is located in a dark and damp underground area.

Danzo sat in the chair that symbolized dark power, his single eye filled with sinister intent.

"Trash! They're all trash!"

He slammed the intelligence scroll in his hand to the ground. "Why was I the last to know about such an important piece of news as the Sand Village's ceasefire? Is your intelligence network just for show?!"

The Root ninjas kneeling on the ground trembled, not daring to even breathe.

"Investigate! Thoroughly investigate every detail regarding Sunagakure! I need to know exactly where things went wrong, and what Rasa is really up to!" Danzo roared through gritted teeth. "Also, keep a close eye on the Land of Rain! Something feels off there these past few days!"

"Yes!" The Root ninja, feeling as if granted a pardon, quickly withdrew.

Not long after, a new intelligence report was delivered to Danzo.

This time, the content of the intelligence made his one eye narrow sharply.

"Akatsuki Organization?"

Danzo murmured the unfamiliar name. Intelligence indicated that this was a mercenary organization active in the Land of Rain and its surrounding war-torn regions. Unlike typical assassin groups, this organization's mission was a ridiculously naive and laughable one: "To eliminate barriers and achieve peace in the ninja world through communication between people."

"Peace achieved through communication? That's a complete joke!"

Danzo scoffed, a cruel sneer curling his lips. "In the ninja world, only power and slaughter are truth. This kind of organization, which attempts to subvert tradition and promote idealism, is a malignant tumor that shakes the foundation of the ninja world. It must be eradicated!"

This extreme insistence on maintaining the established order was an obsession ingrained in Danzo's very being. Any uncontrollable new force with a transformative nature was, in his eyes, a "deadly" threat that had to be nipped in the bud.

He continued flipping through the intelligence reports, his gaze suddenly landing on a portrait.

She was a girl with light blue hair and paper flowers in her hair.

“This girl…” Danzo frowned slightly, a strange sense of familiarity welling up in his heart, “I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before.”

He immediately summoned his subordinate in charge of intelligence analysis: "Investigate this girl named Konan. I need to know everything about her, especially... whether she ever lived in Konoha."

The efficiency of the root system was truly astonishing. In less than half an hour, a detailed file about Konan was placed in front of Danzo.

"really……"

As Danzo looked at the records in the file, his face grew increasingly grim, and the murderous intent in his eyes intensified.

"A war orphan, taken back to the village and raised by Konoha ninjas, even graduated from the Konoha Ninja Academy... turns out to be a traitor who betrayed his own people!"

But he soon discovered information that shocked him even more.

"During her time in Konoha, she wasn't assigned to a regular three-person team. Her mentor was..."

Danzo pressed his finger heavily on that name, his fingertip almost piercing the paper.

"Zhang Hai."

"It's actually him?!"

Danzo abruptly stood up and paced back and forth in the room. Zhang Hai, the Uchiha genius who excelled on the battlefield and enjoyed the Third Hokage's trust, was actually the teacher of this core member of the rebel organization?

"Sakumo Hatake's disciple...a genius of the Uchiha clan...and now he's the teacher of the Akatsuki leader..."

Danzo's eyes flashed with an increasingly cold light. "This Zhang Hai has too many secrets. On one hand, he plays the role of a loyal protector of Konoha, while on the other hand, he's cultivating this dangerous heretical force outside. What exactly is he trying to do? Does he intend to use the Akatsuki organization to overthrow Konoha from the outside?"

The intelligence gathering is not over yet.

The last line of the file reveals an even more startling fact.

"The other two core leaders of Akatsuki—Yahiko and Nagato—were taught by...Jiraiya?!"

Danzo felt a wave of dizziness, followed by an overwhelming surge of anger and fear.

"Crazy! Absolutely crazy!"