CHAPTER 11
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Inside of the largest and tallest building of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, with almost panoramic windows and a view of the whole village, two old men were engaged in an aggressive dialog, in a manner of two elderly cats fighting for territory and females: slowly, without any haste, glaring at each other with a murderous look, trying to get confirmation of their advantage.
- Hiruzen, now is not the time to sit around and wait for the enemy to come knocking at our door. Iwa's seizure of Kusagakure is their first step towards a long war with us, we can't let them fortify at our borders.
- This is not what the First wanted when he founded the village, in order to protect the children doomed to die at a young age.
- Stop being so naive, deaths can't be avoided and war is the best way to bring out the real talents and strengthen the village.
- Enough, I'm sick of listening to your concerns and threats. Remember Danzo, I am the Hokage of this village, you and your root are not allowed to go beyond your information gathering duties. – Tired of trying to reason with the stubborn old man, Sarutobi Hiruzen made a harsh statement, which was the end of the whole conversation, as Danzo took one last look at his former teammate and walked out, slamming the door behind him.
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Root's hidden facility deep beneath Konoha.
* It's fine, Hiruzen, if you don't want to start a war, it will come to you on its own. Let's see how long you have the nerve to remain as Hokage when your reign is characterized by the spinelessness that resulted in three wars. Will the upper echelons and shinobi of the Leaf continue to support you after this? Good thing the plan to discredit and eliminate Sakumo worked out just fine, certainly not the outcome I was expecting, but it'll do. Iwa has already gathered enough courage to make its move as soon as a loophole in Konoha's combat capability opens up, which we will assist in accomplishing. - One of the Second Hokage's protégés, with a bandaged right eye and arm, was pondering when a masked man in the uniform of the Root Anbu appeared before him, kneeling on one knee.
- Danzo-sama, the Stone squad split up as you predicted and sneaked into the Land of Fire. They used Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique, but our sensors were able to pick up everyone's trail. All but one of the jonin have been eliminated. In less than 24 hours, he'll be in the vicinity of the village.
- Have Fuu use the Mind Transfer Jutsu and find out if the spies of Iwa disguised as civilians know any key information, particularly about us. If there are none, then let the Iwa jonin meet with them and take the data. The jonin himself is not to be touched. – Danzo knew that unlike ordinary people or genin a jonin has enough experience to realize that someone has been going through his memories. After waiting for the orders to be finished, and hearing no further instructions from the head of the Root, the subordinate disappeared as quietly as he had appeared before.
Such episodes are not uncommon in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, or perhaps the entire shinobi world - the darkness and ambition of some becomes the bitterness and suffering of others
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Dinner time, at the Yoshida family house.
- These roaming merchants are taking advantage of the heated situation between countries and overpricing explosive seals, at this rate no one will be surprised to see a rise in the price of weapons and things will go downhill. - Yoshida Sodha was grumbling to his wife over dinner about what was going on in the economic arena, sensing an upcoming change from the behavior of shinobi and merchants who were going outside the Leaf and had more insight.
- Then we should raise our prices too, what's the big deal;
- No, I won't do such a despicable thing; if everyone starts charging higher prices and Konoha loses the war, we'll be in a situation similar to what small villages like Amegakure are in. Everyone has to do their part for victory and a brighter future;
- Well, let's not talk about it. Yuske-kun, why aren't you eating, you didn't like it?
- Sodha-san, what is a professor? – Leaving his mother's question unanswered and drawing attention to himself, Yuske directed a question to the father of the family. He didn't want to arouse suspicion, so he didn't go straight to the point, wanting to guide the man in the direction he wanted to take.
Yoshida Sodha was about to start on the incorrectness of the form of address, but another unkind look from his wife made him reconsider about life and concentrate better on his son's question.
- A professor is a very smart man;
- I heard the Hokage being called a professor. Does that mean he's really smart?
- Yes, he's one of the wisest men in the world...
- So, it takes a lot of knowledge to become a Hokage?
- No, let me finish. Although the Hokage is very smart, he earned the nickname 'Professor' for his knowledge of a large number of ninja techniques, including the use of jutsu of all five elements.
- An element? How do you use an element? Can I?
* It's so hard to pretend to be a child so that you won't be doubted. – To himself, Yuske didn't stop complaining at having to pull information out bit by bit.
- In general, you can, there shouldn't be any obstacles. Truth be told, I'm not very well versed in these matters, as I didn't want to continue being a shinobi and left as a genin, and this information is often for those who have passed the chunin exam or advanced further. But you know, I was wondering what my affinity to the elements was, and it turned out that I have water and wind. Pretty cool, right? Your old man could become very strong and have a bright future, I guess. - Acting tactfully, he decided not to look in his wife's direction, foreshadowing the 'Seriously' look and saving himself from embarrassment.