Naruto: The Hidden Protector

36: Because it is the most effective way,

Danzo Shimura is well-versed in schemes. As the true darkness of Konoha, he has a hand in almost every scheme that has been carried out in the village. Whether it was to frame a genius, eliminate an unstable Uchiha, kidnap a hidden Senju member, assassinate a rising Hokage candidate, or even attempt to assassinate the Hokage himself, he has been involved in every conceivable plot.

However, despite his expertise, these years have not yielded favorable results for him. First, there was a failed attempt to kill Hiruzen. Due to this failure, he had lost the trust of Kakashi Hatake, a great ninja who was on the verge of becoming his greatest tool. Then there is the failed attempt to snatch both of Shisui's eyes. Even though he only got one eye it is still a failure. Especially when he lost an elite squad during the mission to retrieve the other eye.

And now his most recent failure is losing the nine-tails custody to that cursed brat. Who does she think she is to demand them hand over the nine tails from Hiruzen? That is Konoha's greatest weapon. A weapon that is rightfully his. And he isn't going to give that weapon to anyone.

So, as soon as he left the Hokage office, he instructed his Root ninjas to place a Root seal on the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. This way, even if that brat takes custody of the Nine-Tails, he will still have the ability to command it to do his bidding. Since this is a very important task, he especially ordered his elite scouting squad to do this mission.

And the result? All of his elite ninjas are dead, their corpses left in his office. And the weirdest thing about this is how the culprit came and placed these corpses here. There was no chakra trail or any use of space-time ninjutsu. Danzo made sure of it himself. The Root ninjas who were guarding this place were not harmed or placed in a genjutsu. This is like it was done by a ghost.

" Does our tracking team find any clues? " Danzo asked the Root ninja beside him.

" No Danzo sama both the Inuzuka and Aburame clan members are still searching for any clues about the intruder. " The Root ninja beside him replied.

"Tsk useless " Danzo spat as he clicked his tongue. He needed to fortify his base more thoroughly. He didn't want another incident like this happening in his Root headquarters.

' I need more funds. The barrier needs more adjustments and more ninjas are needed to replace the dead ones ' Danzo thought as he remembered his recent mission failures.

"I'm going to the Hokage Office, notify me immediately if you find something, " Danzo coldly said as he turned to leave.

" Yes, Danzo sama " The Root ninjas bowed as they all said in unison.

The trip to the Hokage office was uneventful, as Danzo used the secret tunnels to get there. Being someone accustomed to darkness, he found it troublesome to traverse the main streets. Apart from the Anbu ninjas patrolling the tunnels, he encountered no one along the way.

When Danzo arrived at the Hokage Tower, he bypassed the line and headed straight to the Hokage's office. As a high-ranking elder of Konoha and the Hokage's assistant, he had the privilege to do so. Without bothering to knock, he entered the office.

"Hiruzen..." Danzo's words trailed off as he took in the sight before him.

The usually dignified Hokage was a shadow of his former self. His desk, once piled high with paperwork, lay empty, its contents scattered on the floor. Hiruzen's expression resembled that of a man who had lost all purpose. In his hand, he clutched a familiar crystal ball.

"Oi oi, Hiruzen, what happened?" Danzo rushed to his friend's side, shaking him in an attempt to snap him out of his daze. But Hiruzen remained unresponsive.

With no other option, Danzo resorted to slapping Hiruzen across the face. The sharp sound echoed through the room, reverberating even outside.

The slap jolted Hiruzen back to reality, though not without pain. He looked at Danzo with confusion, the sting of the slap registering.

"Owww, Danzo, why the hell did you slap me? Are you trying to kill me with that?" Hiruzen exclaimed, nursing his cheek.

Ignoring his friend's protests, Danzo delivered another slap, this time to Hiruzen's other cheek. Without hesitation, he demanded, "Are you finally back to reality? What happened here earlier? Your office is barely recognizable at this point."

Hiruzen paused, attempting to recall the events. As the memories flooded back, he let out a horrified gasp, realizing the scene he had witnessed earlier.

Annoyed at his friend's behaviour Danzo was about to slap him again. But this time Hiruzen managed to stop him before he could,

" Oi Danzo, why the hell are you so keen on slapping me? " Hiruzen glared at his friend. If it was not for Danzo's indifferent look he would have suspected Danzo was taking revenge on him for all he had done in the past.

" Because it is the most effective way, " Danzo said, plainly hiding his true thoughts. At first, he too was trying to wake up Hiruzen but then he remembered this was the best way to take his revenge so he gave Hiruzen a second slap with more force.

" So why were you so scared earlier. " he asked, trying to change the subject.

Although Hiruzen wanted to argue back he stopped and shivered when he tried remembering the scenes earlier. It was a nightmare. A true nightmare.

"Danzo, someone has cast a genjutsu on me. I need you to find the culprit and detain him. If capturing him is impossible, kill him immediately. You can even utilize the Anbu for this," Hiruzen said, his expression darkening.

Earlier, he had been ensnared in a Genjutsu that subjected him to the disturbing illusion of macho men engaging in an orgy. Merely attempting to use the crystal ball to observe Konoha had proven too much for him. The worst part was the sensation that those men were advancing toward him, striking poses that nearly made him retch at the mere recollection. Even when he attempted to shut his eyes, the horrifying image persisted.

For someone to employ such a vile technique against him was an act of pure evil. 'The culprit needed to face justice. ' Hiruzen thought with killing intent leaking out of his eyes.

Danzo, seeing his friend's state, didn't know what to say. He had a sinking suspicion that the person who killed his Root ninjas is the same person who cast the Genjutsu on Hirzen. But he wondered what his friend saw for him to act this way.

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