The Report!
{Earlier that day}
{Root Base 001, Konohagakure}
{2:03 PM, 27 March 78 Yrs}
Danzō Shimura had many names and titles, Shinobi no Yami, Legacy of the First and Second Hokage, the director of Root. To anyone who saw him for the first time, the only impression they would have would be that he looked like an old man who was well past his prime. That and the fact that he controls an 'illegitimate' organization, whose mere existence was slowly invalidated by the Third Hokage after the Uchiha massacre.
Danzo didn't have any hobbies or anything in particular that he liked, he had goals, however ambitious they may be, his ultimate goal was to make Konoha the unquestionable superpower in the elemental nations, there was a catch however. He wanted that to happen while he was holding the glorious position of the Hokage, the strongest shinobi in the Land of Fire.
He has done a lot of questionable things over the years for this goal, attacking Shisui to take his eyes, instigating Itachi to massacre his own clan, breaking into his sensei's tomb to get some of his cells, using those cells for research and then giving them to Orochimaru to create a new arm that could hold allow him to wield 10 Sharingan's at the same time that he obtained from said massacre.
Konoha's crush was just another step to removing an obstacle from his way toward the red cap. Hiruzen was one of his oldest comrades, he was strong but ultimately naive, Danzo was sure that the only reason Tobirama-Sensei selected him over Danzo for the position of Hokage was that, during a great shinobi war, his strength commanded a certain degree of respect making it a short and easier transition process.
While Danzo wasn't any slouch on the battlefield, his personal strength was at the lower end among all the S-ranked shinobi. Not now though, just the surprise element of Inazagi was enough for him to take advantage and get the drop on any enemy. Still, the wall named Sarutobi was still clinging to the position of Hokage, fortunately, his treacherous student provided a way out for him.
The gate to his office opened and he watched Kabuto walk into the room, his stance was a lot more confident now compared to when he first walked through this base. He was one of Danzo's regret, the kid was a prodigy, both in espionage and medical ninjutsu. He joined Root when he was a kid and participated in the most incriminating missions during the days when Root had to do a lot of unsavory methods to maintain a false appearance of strength in front of the other 4 great shinobi villages. So he knew a lot more than any operative should have, the plan to dispose of both him and Nonō should have worked if Orochimaru didn't mess up everything.
'Now no one knows whose side he is on...'
He was supposedly a double agent, giving Danzo several reliable but ultimately fruitless information on Konoha's most infamous missing-nin, but Danzo has started to take everything with a grain of salt, the kid was too deep into Orochimaru's hands to be trusted.
"Danzo-sama..." Kabuto's polite tone grated on his nerves, Danzo looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"Your report is late..." There was no hint of hesitation in Kabuto's stance as he shrugged.
"Orochimaru keeps a tight leash on his plans... anyway, the Oto and Sand shinobi would use routes 7 and 13 to enter and maneuver around Konoha."
'Those were the newer routes... it won't harm us that much to let them go, they just go through the periphery anyway.'
It was another point that went in favor of Kabuto being either a good or a bad operative. Either he intentionally hid the more important routes from Orochimaru, or he was just trying to look like a good operative while disclosing important information about Konoha's infrastructure, the weakness of patrols, and the barrier.
...
...
Danzo was a paranoid bastard but he knew his shortcomings, having survived 3 Shinobi world wars, paranoia was a badge he would happily display to anyone who would dare to doubt him. Both of them stared at each other in silence but Kabuto didn't break a sweat, his initial root training was mostly gone by now.
"Alright, see to it that only those two routes are leaked," Danzo waved him away, the bastard had the gall to give him a half bow and a small smirk as he retreated, Danzo suppressed the urge to frown as the silver-haired root agent left the room.
"Kaito!... tell Division 2 to activate plan DC#1452778..." Danzo's voice was colder than before, Kaito Yamanaka nodded before he vanished, and Danzo waved his hand indicating Koi to start with his report, the matter of Hiroshi wasn't something important, it was just a minor threat that he had to deal with.
Koi put a scroll in front of him which he opened and started reading, his eyebrows twitched a little as he looked at the evaluation given to Hiroshi by Koi.
"He was aware that someone was spying on him?" Danzo asked. Sai shouldn't have been spotted, or did he underestimate the kid too much?
"Yes, he tries several times every day to sense if anyone is spying on him by using Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique, I looked through Sai's schedule and file, and he hasn't had any contact with the Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique, since he has his own brand of ninjutsu style so he wasn't required to learn the basic 3."
Danzo suppressed a groan, it was a thing he had overlooked, most of the time Sai was sent to spy on civilian and genin-level ninjas of Konoha before this mission. He likely didn't have the experience to reposition into the trees or rooftops if your target uses the Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique.
'I need to change the guidelines for bloodline shinobi, they needed to know about the basic jutsu used by Konoha shinobi and other villages as well... maybe creating a whole section about experiences regarding jutsu needed to be added in the library.'
"...still, you gave him a minimum evaluation of high-chunin level?" Danzo read the report again, there was no indication of Hiroshi being at that level.
"I didn't include this in the report in case it leaks, but Hiroshi Aburame's chakra increased by approximately 11% in the last three days..."
...
"Gather a detail and surround the training ground 21, make sure no one walks-"
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AN- I know a lot of people are pissed off because of Danzo's intermission but all I can say is to continue reading, everything will be revealed in a day or two anyway the arc should be one of the most interesting ones coming up.
P.S.- Read Chapter 43 - The Land of Hot Springs! Part-2 at my P.atreon- p.atreon.com/DesMark
We are currently 8 chapters ahead and the number will keep increasing every day, plus all 8 chapters are around 1.5-1.8k words!
P.S.- It's the start of a new week, Can we get into the top 20 this week! Pretty Please?