This Danzo Is Weird!

After his outburst, Danzō gradually calmed himself down.

There was no point in being angry now—what mattered was preventing this impending tragedy.

Under Ryōma's watchful gaze, Danzō began furiously drafting a letter.

---

First, he analyzed the state of the ninja world.

Sunagakure was cunning and treacherous.

Located in a barren land, they would undoubtedly be eyeing Konoha, waiting to take advantage of the multi-front war to seize any opportunity to carve out a piece for themselves.

Kumogakure, meanwhile, had been growing rapidly. With a powerful military and a steady stream of talent, they were eager to dethrone Konoha as the dominant power in the ninja world. It was highly likely they would conspire with Sunagakure to launch an attack—this could not be ignored.

To mitigate this, Konoha should seek peace with Iwagakure and Kirigakure, redirecting their aggression toward Kumogakure and Sunagakure.

At the very least, efforts should be made to wrap up those two fronts quickly to focus resources on dealing with Kumogakure and Sunagakure.

---

Second, he addressed personnel matters.

Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado were shortsighted and incapable of decisive action—they shouldn't be relied upon.

Orochimaru, despite his questionable morality, was highly competent. He should remain in command of the Land of Water front.

Replacing him in the middle of the conflict would be disastrous, and his abilities were sufficient to ensure stability there.

Namikaze Minato, with his extraordinary talent and unparalleled speed, should be deployed across multiple battlefields to maximize local superiority. His mobility would allow him to support areas where Konoha was outnumbered.

However, Ōnoki of Iwagakure was unpredictable and devious. To counter him, the steady and reliable Akimichi Torifu should replace Minato on the Grass Country front to hold the line against Iwagakure.

Finally, more ANBU operatives should be sent to Kikyō Pass under Danzō's direct command. He specifically requested Kakashi Hatake, Shisui Uchiha, and Might Guy—shinobi who had distinguished themselves in this war.

---

After finishing the letter, Danzō handed it to Ryōma.

"Take a look—did I miss anything?"

Ryōma accepted the letter, his hands trembling as he read. By the time he finished, his face was pale with sweat.

Was this truly a letter to the Hokage, or an order directed at the Hokage?

The tone, the phrasing—it made it seem as though Danzō was the one calling the shots, not Hiruzen Sarutobi!

"What is it? Is there a problem?" Danzō asked, frowning.

Ryōma quickly shook his head and hesitated before replying, "Lord Danzo, such large-scale troop movements... isn't this a bit too aggressive?"

At this, Danzō raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Aggressive? Would I still be Shimura Danzō if I wasn't aggressive?"

Ryōma felt the pressure radiating from Danzō and had to admit—it made sense. If Root wasn't aggressive, who would be?

"Understood. I'll deliver the letter to the village immediately," Ryōma said, bowing.

---

With that, Danzō got up, leaning on his cane.

"Deploy a unit of Root operatives to monitor the Land of Wind's borders. The rest will come with me to Kikyō Pass."

"Yes, sir."

As Danzō issued his commands, his loyal forces quickly mobilized. The gears of fate began to turn.

---

That said, Danzō's moves weren't entirely reckless.

While they seemed aggressive on the surface, they didn't drastically alter the battlefield's dynamics.

His instructions to Hiruzen were essentially: let Orochimaru remain in command of the Land of Water front, urge Minato to finish his battles quickly to prepare for redeployment, and request reinforcements for his own campaign.

The only issue was the tone of the letter—firm and commanding.

But would Danzō truly be himself if he wasn't assertive?

---

As for whether Hiruzen Sarutobi might punish or even demote him for this?

Danzō wasn't concerned in the slightest.

Hiruzen was indecisive, timid, power-hungry, and hypocritical, allowing his close friends to run amok in the village, forming factions and cliques.

But who was one of those old friends, running amok and forming cliques?

Oh, right—it's me.

That settled it.

In the original story, Hiruzen's leniency toward Danzō had practically no limits.

Even when Danzō orchestrated assassinations against the Hokage himself, Hiruzen forgave him. So why would he care about a little battlefield insubordination?

And even if it came to that—could Hiruzen really claim to be blameless?

---

Soon, Ryōma faithfully carried Danzō's will back to the village.

Predictably, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage, was furious the moment he read the letter.

　　If it weren't for his well-practiced self-control, the desk in front of him would've been smashed to pieces countless times by now.

"Are you sure this was written by Danzō?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen glared furiously at Aburame Ryōma.

Faced with the Hokage's anger, Ryōma calmly replied, "Yes, this letter was personally written by Lord Danzo."

Hiruzen let out a heavy breath.

He already knew the letter was written by Danzō—it was impossible not to recognize his handwriting. Still, he needed to confirm it, if only to compose himself.

"I see. You may leave now," Hiruzen said irritably, waving his hand.

But Ryōma didn't move.

"Lord Hokage, about the letter…"

Seeing Ryōma still standing there, Hiruzen's barely-contained anger flared up again. In a cold voice, he snapped, "Tell Danzō that I need time to consider it!"

"Yes, sir."

This time, Ryōma finally left the office.

---

As soon as he was gone, Hiruzen immediately convened a high-level meeting.

The so-called "high-level meeting" was nothing more than a small gathering of four people: himself, Danzō, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado. After all, these four essentially ran the entirety of Konoha.

---

"Why did you call us here in such a rush, Hiruzen? Is there an emergency?"

It was already nighttime, and Koharu, clearly exhausted, asked with a frown. Staying up late was a nightmare for a kunoichi, especially at her age.

Homura seemed slightly more alert.

Once his two old friends had arrived, Hiruzen tossed Danzō's letter onto the table.

"See for yourselves."

---

A minute later, the two elderly advisors slammed their hands on the table in unison.

"That Danzō has gone too far!"

"We've known each other for so many years, and he dares to slander us like this?"

Hiruzen couldn't help but find their reaction a bit amusing.

At least Danzō had spared him from being insulted in the letter.

As the two advisors prepared to continue venting their frustrations, Hiruzen cut them off with a cough.

"I didn't call you here to scold Danzō. What are your thoughts on his predictions?"

"Impossible!"

"Absolutely impossible!"

Koharu and Homura immediately responded in unison.

"We've already reached an agreement with Sunagakure to jointly attack Kirigakure. We can't afford to break that trust now!"

"Besides, we don't have enough manpower to defend against Sunagakure even if we wanted to!"

"As for Orochimaru continuing as commander of the Land of Water front—that part is worth considering…"

Hiruzen fell silent.

Though he was deeply annoyed by Danzō's arrogant tone, he couldn't deny that Danzō's capabilities far surpassed those of the two advisors in front of him.

After all, most of Konoha's intelligence came from Danzō's efforts.

Perhaps he had received critical information that justified his concerns.

Noticing Hiruzen's hesitation, Koharu grew anxious.

"Hiruzen, you're not seriously considering agreeing to Danzō's proposal, are you?"

Homura added pressure.

"Konoha absolutely cannot afford to fight on four fronts!"

"Besides, Danzō's actions amount to insubordination. That's grounds for execution!"

Hiruzen tapped his fingers on the table, refusing to respond.

Insubordination?

The orders were issued by him, and he could legitimize Danzō's actions anytime he wanted.

Seeing his indecision, Koharu and Homura exchanged glances. Koharu was the first to speak.

"I think Danzō must have his reasons for acting this way. However, given our current lack of manpower, the best we can do is allow him to deploy a small number of shinobi to assist the local defense forces as a precaution."

"But we absolutely cannot take the initiative to attack!"

"Very well. Let's proceed with that," Hiruzen finally said, opening his eyes.