Naruto: Forbidden Arts and an Immortal Agenda

With Kakashi's escort, their journey to Lianyun City was extremely peaceful.

Upon arriving at Lianyun City, Team One and Team Three remained inside the city to rest while Kakashi continued his mission with his Anbu subordinates.

At the same time, Danzo entered the Third Hokage's office carrying a secret letter.

Hiruzen didn't even look up, continuing to handle paperwork as he asked, "Danzo, what is it?"

Danzo placed the sealed letter on the Third's desk, briefly reporting, "Yugito Nii, the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, appeared near Lianyun City. She ambushed Team One during their bandit-eradication mission but was defeated by Team Three and Anbu Squad Ten who arrived for support."

Hiruzen looked up in surprise upon hearing this, then picked up the letter and quickly read through it.

After reading the letter, Hiruzen exhaled a puff of smoke, his fingers instinctively tapping on the paper.

"Yugito Nii is the Perfect Jinchuriki?"

Though Yugito had been considered a failure, Hiruzen immediately verified the report's accuracy.

Danzo gave a slight nod. "Yes. She can achieve Full Tailed Beast Transformation and use the Tailed Beast Ball."

Confirmed, Hiruzen frowned slightly, feeling uneasy inside.

The real value of a Perfect Jinchuriki lay on the battlefield, where the mountain-shattering power of the Tailed Beast Ball was unmatched.

Now that Konoha was at war with Hidden Cloud, if Yugito appeared on the front lines, it would cause great damage to Konoha.

"Notify Jiraiya and have him seal the border. He must capture Yugito Nii by any means necessary."

After the Hokage's assistant took away Hiruzen's orders, Danzo suddenly said, "You might want to read the letter again carefully."

Hiruzen did not reach for the letter again, calmly asking, "What are you trying to say?"

A dark gleam flashed in Danzo's lone eye as he spoke coldly, "A newly graduated genin actually managed to kill a Cloud ninja who was at least Special Jonin level—on his own. Don't you find that strange?"

Hiruzen remained expressionless. "So what?"

Danzo's lone eye carefully observed Hiruzen's expression, missing no subtle reaction.

They had known each other since childhood and gone through countless life-and-death trials together—they understood each other far too well.

Sure enough, suspicion soon flickered in Hiruzen's eyes.

Colder than before, Danzo continued, "According to clues left at the scene, Kakashi deduced that Uchiha Aozora has mastered at least one B-rank or higher Fire Release technique. Yet according to the Ninja Academy's intelligence, he only recently learned to extract chakra this year."

Danzo chuckled coldly. "Maybe he's just some kind of prodigy?"

Hiruzen replied, "Shibi Aburame reported to me that Uchiha Aozora indeed shows exceptional talent in Fire Release techniques, having already demonstrated impressive skill during last week's bandit-eradication mission."

Without further argument, Danzo continued, "Then how do you explain his ability to injure Yugito in her fully transformed state?"

Hiruzen puffed on his pipe. "His precision in throwing ninja tools is formidable enough to threaten jonin, and plus, he wields a unique throwing knife made from chakra-conductive metal."

Danzo didn't press further but finally said, "All these explanations could be true. But then... what about the Tomoe Sharingan?"

You and I both know the Sharingan is inherently a vessel of darkness. Its awakening requires intense negative emotions.

"When did Uchiha Aozora awaken his Sharingan, and why? Why do we have no information on this?"

"Perhaps he awakened it recently..." Hiruzen hesitated slightly, then took another couple puffs of his pipe.

Danzo gave a knowing smile. He could tell Hiruzen had already begun suspecting Uchiha Aozora internally, though the Hokage still wanted to remain in the light instead of revealing his darker thoughts.

"I suggest," Danzo advised at the right moment, "recruiting Uchiha Aozora into Root. Under my supervision, all his secrets will be exposed."

Hiruzen stared hard at Danzo and firmly shook his head. "Impossible. Uchiha Shisui would never agree."

To maintain absolute control over Root, anyone joining the organization must be marked with a Cursed Seal—a requirement that both Uchiha Shisui and his younger brother firmly refused to accept. Though Shisui maintained friendly relations with Konoha's upper echelons, he would never allow his little brother to become subordinate to anyone else.

As if realizing he sounded too rigid, Hiruzen softened his tone: "Uchiha Shisui serves as our key communication bridge with the entire Uchiha clan. With internal unrest and external threats currently facing the village, we shouldn't provoke him unnecessarily."

Danzo sighed with regret.

Awakening a double-tomoe Sharingan at just twelve years old and mastering B-ranked Fire Release techniques—if recruited to Root, this boy could become a powerful force under his command.

Moreover, since Aozora was Shisui's only younger brother, influencing Shisui himself through Aozora would also be possible.

At the very least, Danzo could study the mysteries of the Sharingan through Uchiha Aozora.

Unfortunately, all these possibilities were now rejected by Hiruzen.

After some time, Danzo compromised: "Then at least place Uchiha Aozora under surveillance! Let Root handle monitoring him!"

After thoughtful silence, Hiruzen finally nodded.

He indeed felt uneasy about Aozora concealing his true strength, causing even his trust toward the normally pro-Konoha Uchiha Shisui to waver slightly.

But again, maintaining Konoha's stability remained paramount.

Unless circumstances became truly desperate, he still preferred gradually weakening the Uchiha clan's influence.

The recent relocation of the Uchiha Compound had already caused resentment among the Uchiha clan against Konoha; stirring up tensions further now would be unwise.

Thinking thus, Hiruzen solemnly cautioned: "Danzo, you are only authorized to monitor Aozora discreetly. Absolutely no additional measures may be taken. Do you understand?"

Upon hearing this, Danzo inwardly spat in disgust.

How weak! Would our teacher have regretted choosing you had he lived long enough to see this?

"Of course. The interests of Konoha come first. But I shall handle things my way."

Saying this, Danzo turned and left the Hokage's office without looking back, his cane tapping as he walked away.

Watching Danzo disappear into the distance, Hiruzen momentarily lost himself in thought.

Just then, the Hokage's assistant entered: "Third Hokage, your orders have been issued."

He then presented a scroll: "Lord Jiraiya has also sent a document."

Hiruzen accepted the sealed document, unfurling it. As he read, the wrinkles on his face deepened.

Although large-scale warfare had not yet begun at the border, smaller Ninja Wars were already causing heavy casualties. Jiraiya had just requested additional war relief funds again.

As he sat there scratching his head, someone announced from outside the door:

"The Head of the Police Force, Fugaku Uchiha, requests an audience."

Hiruzen Sarutobi set the documents aside and said, "Please come in!"

Once Fugaku Uchiha entered the Hokage's office, Hiruzen spoke directly, "Fugaku, is there anything urgent?"

Fugaku cut straight to the point as well. "The New Compound has already been built. According to plan, my people are ready to relocate, but why hasn't the relocation compensation arrived yet?"

Hiruzen was stunned. "Relocation compensation?"

Seeing this, Fugaku felt a bad premonition but continued anyway. "When our clan learned about the relocation decision, they were deeply upset. Later I came looking for you, but you were busy with official business, so I discussed it with Elder Danzo instead.

Because the new compound is more remote compared to the original location, we agreed on compensation to make up for the losses our people were expected to suffer."

Listening to Fugaku's explanation, Hiruzen finally understood why the Uchiha had accepted the relocation plan so easily, and he was also shocked by Danzo's audacity.

Now caught between two difficult choices, he could neither deny the promised compensation and risk the Uchiha relocation failing, nor could he magically conjure up such a massive sum of money to satisfy them.

After taking several deep pulls from his pipe, Hiruzen sighed heavily. "Fugaku..."

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