Chapter 16: Akihara Kagura's New Life
Shimura Danzo looked back at the Hokage Building.
This Hokage Building was the dream of Danzo's life.
The owner of this Hokage Building, with a casual word, could make him sweat profusely, not because he was better than Danzo...
It was simply because he was the Hokage!
Sarutobi Hiruzen reminded himself not to let that child go astray.
That old bastard was hinting at him!
Shimura Danzo understood the hidden meaning. Sarutobi Hiruzen's reminder was for Danzo himself not to go astray, not to harbor inappropriate thoughts about the position of the Hokage just because he had a Wood Release Kekkei Genkai ninja in the Root organization!
But...
How could one give up on their dreams?
Just by becoming the owner of this Hokage Building, a single command could change the fate of the entire Konoha and even the whole ninja world."One day..."
Shimura Danzo left in a huff, realizing it was better to return and properly guide Akihara Kagura rather than continue staring at the Hokage Building to quench his thirst.
Hmph...
Not to let that child take the wrong path...
How could the child go wrong following me?
Hiruzen, everyone has their own path, it's not only your path that is the right one.
At the Root organization's base.
Akihara Kagura was still somewhat dejected. Shimura Danzo forbade him from going out, ordering him to rest at the Root organization's base without any system tasks... It seemed that the system's assignment of work tasks was not so hasty, he still needed to figure it out on his own.
Or...
Rest... can't be considered work?
Doesn't a break during work count as being on the job? Slacking off is clearly part of work too! Especially when it's a rest demanded by a superior!
But...
A new opportunity soon arrived.
Shimura Danzo returned to the Root organization's base and finally issued an official order to Akihara Kagura, also successfully triggering a system task for him.
"From today, I will personally train you to ensure that you can defeat that brat Uchiha Itachi in the Chunin Exam!"
"Hmph!"
"That brat..."
"Gave me a bit of trouble..."
[System Prompt]: [New work task, follow Shimura Danzo's instructions, participate in Konoha's second half of the year Chunin Exam, and defeat Uchiha Itachi in the exam.]
A Task...
And he get double the reward?
Akihara Kagura's expression immediately became solemn.
"I will definitely do it..."
Akihara Kagura looked at Shimura Danzo and asked again, "Lord Danzo, is it permissible to kill during the Chunin Exam? Can I kill that guy named Uchiha Itachi?"
"..."
Shimura Danzo was somewhat at a loss for words.
This kid's personality is too extreme! Uchiha Itachi is the son of Uchiha Fugaku, the head of the Uchiha clan, one of the strongest clans in Konoha. He has always been Fugaku's pride and had even activated the Sharingan, a Kekkei Genkai of the Uchiha clan, at an early age.
If Akihara Kagura were to kill Uchiha Itachi, it would definitely cause dissatisfaction among many and might even exacerbate the conflict between Konoha and the Uchiha clan...
But...
Hiruzen is a weak person.
If, in order to appease Uchiha Fugaku's anger, Monkey handed over Akihara Kagura to Fugaku, that would be disastrous...
Such incidents have happened before.
A few years ago, envoys from Cloud came to Konoha under the guise of renegotiating a ceasefire, but secretly they intended to steal the Byakugan Kekkei Genkai of the Hyuga clan.
The Cloud envoys sneaked into the Hyuga clan to kidnap the daughter of the clan head, but were discovered by the clan head, Hyuga Hiashi.
Facing thieves who wanted to steal his daughter, Hiashi naturally showed no mercy and killed the Cloud envoy on the spot.
Cloud, however, denied any wrongdoing and instead accused Konoha of murder, threatening to start a war unless the murderer was handed over.
Then...
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, agreed to this humiliating demand, ordering the Hyuga clan to hand over the person who killed the Cloud envoy, seeking peace at all costs.
In the end, Hiashi's twin brother, Hyuga Hizashi, took the blame for his brother and was forced to commit suicide, ending the incident with Cloud Village in such a ridiculous and humiliating manner.
Learning from past events.
According to Shimura Danzo's understanding of his old friend, if Akihara Kagura accidentally killed Uchiha Itachi, that Monkey would likely hand over a child from the Root organization to appease Uchiha Fugaku's anger...
If such a thing really happened...
Losing a genius from the rebellious Uchiha clan and a genius from the Root would not affect Hiruzen; why wouldn't he do it?
As for...
Whether Akihara Kagura can defeat Uchiha Itachi...
Danzo suddenly realized that he had never considered this question. Uchiha Itachi could easily defeat members of the Root.
Although Danzo had confidence in Akihara Kagura's Wood Release talent, with techniques like the Advent of a World of Flowering Trees not something an ordinary ninja could counter; but Kagura, who always seemed thoughtless, could easily be manipulated by Uchiha...
"Never underestimate Uchiha Itachi!"
Shimura Danzo spoke in a cold voice to remind, then continued: "The Chunin Exam does not prohibit killing the enemy, but we can't just kill at will..."
After Shimura Danzo finished speaking, he couldn't help frowning. How could such weak words come from his own mouth?
"...Oh."
Akihara Kagura also felt something was strange.
"Anyway..."
Shimura Danzo, looking at Akihara Kagura, commanded in a deep voice: "There's no need to kill Uchiha Itachi. That kid is still of some use to us."
"Yes, I understand."
Akihara Kagura didn't care about these things.
All along, Akihara Kagura was not a bloodthirsty person.
Every time Akihara Kagura actively offered to kill for Shimura Danzo, whether it was to kill Hatake Kakashi or Uchiha Itachi, it was just to make Shimura Danzo happy and said casually. Danzo definitely wouldn't dare let him do it.
If Shimura Danzo really wanted to think deeply, he would realize that in the Root organization's base, Akihara Kagura had always been all talk, never actually doing anything for him...
However, even if Shimura Danzo thought deeply, given Akihara Kagura's attitude in speaking, he might be even more afraid of Akihara Kagura doing something for him...
"There's one more thing."
"Remember your origins, you are a child who grew up in Konoha."
"The Dean of the Konoha Orphanage, Yakushi Nono, took you in in your early years. It was I who brought you to the Root and raised you. It was I who conducted the Hashirama cell transplant experiment on you when you were young, completely forgetting Orochimaru's existence..."
"..."
Akihara Kagura silently nodded, still sticking to his persona: "Lord Danzo, can I go kill the Dean of that orphanage? To prevent her from talking nonsense in the future and revealing flaws, causing trouble for you..."
"Don't always think about killing."
"Yakushi Nono is still useful now."
Shimura Danzo felt something was off again.