Chapter 150 - Danzo’s Ambition
"Really?"
"That's the best news I could hear..."
"Lee has always wanted to become an outstanding ninja!"
The girl with her hair tied in twin buns wasn't questioning the man before her for daring to comment on Tsunade. Instead, she felt relief knowing her teammate would be healed.
"You really care about your friends..."
The man raised his gaze slightly, studying the girl sitting on the corridor bench. Then he asked softly, "And what about your own dreams?"
"I used to want to be a legendary kunoichi like Lady Tsunade..."
Tenten tilted her head back, gazing at the hospital ceiling, her voice weak. "But I don't have the talent for medical ninjutsu, and I can't learn to drink or gamble like her. I thought mastering ninja tools would be enough to make me like Lady Tsunade..."
But...
This Chunin Exam...
Once again reminded her of the gap.
She was just an ordinary person.
The distance between her and true prodigies was overwhelming.
She had always noticed it whenever she watched Lee spar against their genius teammate, Neji Hyuga. That difference between talent and effort was frustrating.
Still, she had always managed to adjust her mindset and find her own path.
But...
In the recent preliminaries...
She had lost to the Sand Village kunoichi, Temari.
Yet, she only allowed herself a brief moment of disappointment before regaining her composure.
Rather than worrying about her own future, she was more concerned about her teammate's.
"Lee..."
Tenten's eyes turned back toward the operating room doors.
Creak.
The doors swung open.
Tsunade strolled out casually, as if she had just completed a minor procedure. She now carried herself much like Shigen once did.
"No big deal."
Tsunade waved a hand dismissively as she met Tenten's anxious gaze. "He just needs some time to rest."
"Lee is okay?!"
Joy flashed across Tenten's face. She clenched her fists in excitement and admiration. "As expected of Lady Tsunade!"
"Mmm, mmm..."
Tsunade was long immune to such praise. She waved it off and took a seat beside Shigen, grabbing a cup of water from the chair's armrest and gulping it down.
Then, she casually brought up Lee's condition.
"I saw a new type of injury today. That brat's body suffered damage from using some kind of forbidden technique. Young people these days are really reckless..."
"Write it down."
Shigen responded just as casually. "When I carried him into the operating room, I noticed it too. That technique opened the chakra points in his body, but not enough. Even so, it still damaged him..."
"..."
Tenten grew curious.
She saw that Tsunade and the man beside her were talking rather intensely.
Who was he?
One of the Three Legendary Sannin, Tsunade...
Was actually treating him with respect?
And...
His insight was sharp!
He had immediately identified the damage caused by the Eight Gates. He even seemed quite familiar with the technique itself!
"Lee really is lucky..."
Tsunade mused, swirling the water in her cup.
She wasn't just talking about Lee's recovery.
She was also marveling at the fact that after finishing a grueling surgery, someone had already prepared a cup of water for her.
"Speaking of which..."
"The Chunin Exam..."
She started to change the subject but suddenly stopped herself.
"Ah, forget it. No need to bring up unpleasant topics. Lord Shigen isn't fond of ninja conflicts."
"News just arrived."
Shigen lowered his head slightly, speaking in an indifferent tone.
"It seems there's been a sighting of Orochimaru at the exam site."
Crash!
Tsunade crushed the water cup in her hand!
The woman who had just finished her surgery immediately stripped off her white coat, her expression turning stormy as she stormed out of the hospital!
Orochimaru...
She wouldn't just sit back and do nothing!
She was going to find Jiraiya and get every detail about Orochimaru's whereabouts.
She would never forgive him for stealing the Crystal Coffin!
"Lady Tsunade!"
Shizune, seeing Tsunade rush off, quickly chased after her.
She still needed to discuss Lee's post-surgery treatment and medication.
"The rest... leave it to me."
Shigen slowly stood up from his chair.
"Eh?"
Tenten blinked in confusion at Shigen.
"Huh?"
Shizune, on the other hand, looked at him with gratitude.
"This is truly a huge help..."
"This doctor feels kind of strange..."
Tenten muttered under her breath while staying beside Lee.
"Hey, hey..."
Shizune quickly pressed down on Tenten's head and whispered,
"This man is the most skilled medical ninja in the entire shinobi world! He's even stronger than Lady Tsunade! She idolizes him!"
"W-what?!"
Tenten's eyes widened in disbelief.
The person she had admired since childhood...
Looked up to this man?!
Why...
Had she never heard of him before?!
Meanwhile, at the Chunin Exam preliminaries, injured genin were constantly being sent to the Konoha Hospital.
Among them were the Hyuga heiress, Hinata Hyuga, as well as Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno...
These young ninja...
Were truly throwing their lives on the line.
For them, the rank of Chunin meant surpassing their peers.
When Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha finished their battles, they visited the hospital.
They came not only to check on their injured comrades—
But also to boast to Shigen about making it to the final round.
"We're going to win, for sure!"
Naruto's spirit was as fiery as ever.
"There's still a month left to train..."
Sasuke, on the other hand, lacked confidence. He touched the back of his neck, still feeling the burning sensation.
Aside from visiting their friends—
They had another goal in coming to the hospital.
They wanted Shigen to remove Orochimaru's cursed seal from Sasuke.
This mark prevented Sasuke from fully utilizing his abilities.
And in all of Konoha...
Shigen was the most skilled at handling cursed seals.
If he could suppress it—
Sasuke was confident he could claim victory.
Especially with a month of intense training under Kakashi and Jiraiya.
After all...
Their opponents were no joke.
Shigen pressed his fingers against Sasuke's neck, sending a stream of warm chakra into the cursed mark.
"Removing it entirely will be difficult."
His voice was calm.
"For now, I'll suppress it with my own seal."
As his chakra flowed in...
The Cursed Seal of Heaven withered.
When Shigen withdrew his fingers, a dark, circular binding seal had formed around the cursed mark—
Like iron chains locking it in place.
"The pain... it's gone."
Sasuke touched his neck, feeling a cooling sensation.
For the first time, he didn't fear Orochimaru's mark.
The next step—
Was for him and Naruto to grow stronger in the next month.
Perhaps sensing the danger of the final exam, Jiraiya began teaching Naruto the Rasengan.
Kakashi, on the other hand, passed on his Lightning Release technique—Chidori—to Sasuke.
All the genin were training hard.
All except one.
The Rain ninja, Pain, didn't care.
Because with his strength, he could destroy Konoha single-handedly.
The Chunin Exams meant nothing to him.
But their presence had drawn Jiraiya's attention.
Nagato's team had planned to assassinate Danzo Shimura.
Now, that plan had to be postponed.
Meanwhile...
In Konoha's shadows, another force was on the move.
Danzo Shimura.
The man whose ambitions never ceased.
Danzo sat in his dark underground base, slowly running his fingers along the hilt of his blade.
News had arrived from his old informants within Anbu.
A team of Rain ninja had performed remarkably well in the Chunin Exams. Their strength was far beyond the level of typical genin. However, two of them had withdrawn before the third round.
That team from the Hidden Rain...
They were up to something.
Danzo needed no further speculation.
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That team had to be Nagato's.
The brat with the Rinnegan, the same one who had destroyed his and Hanzo's ambush years ago.
A conspiracy?
What conspiracy?
They were simply here to assassinate him in revenge.
But Danzo wouldn't place his survival in the hands of Hiruzen Sarutobi or the others.
He had seen Nagato's strength firsthand during that blood-soaked battle.
Still...
This was Konoha.
If Danzo compared their strengths, the most likely outcome of a fight between Nagato and Konoha's leadership...
Would be mutual destruction.
And that...
Would be the best-case scenario.
Danzo narrowed his eyes, pushing his blade firmly into its sheath.
The Rinnegan...
The position of Konoha's Fifth Hokage...
If conflict broke out between Nagato and Konoha's upper ranks, he could take everything for himself.
Though the situation had grown complex, with both Orochimaru and Obito seeking to exploit the chaos to seize the Rinnegan, Danzo remained convinced—
He would be the one to emerge victorious.
"It's time."
Danzo adjusted the bandages around his face and signaled to his two most trusted bodyguards.
He left the depths of Root's underground base and set off to meet two old comrades—Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado.
Now...
It was time for him to step forward.
For four years since the Uchiha massacre, Danzo had been stripped of power, forced into political obscurity.
But with Konoha now facing crisis after crisis, even the possibility of impending war, how could a former Hokage advisor like himself simply stand by?
At the very least...
He needed to put on a show.
He had to secure the backing of his old allies for his eventual return.
After all...
A terrifying storm was about to descend upon Konoha.
And Danzo knew—
He would survive.
More than that—
He would rise.
His entire life had been building toward this moment.
With eleven Sharingan embedded in his arm...
And another resting within his eye socket...
"This time..."
"Hiruzen will die."
"Hopefully, Jiraiya and Tsunade will perish in the storm as well."
Danzo gazed up at the four stone faces on the Hokage Monument.
His cold, calculating stare darkened even further.
"When that happens... I will finally sit upon Konoha's highest seat."
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Powerstones?
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