Chapter 111 – Time for This Old Man to Step In
From Danzo's perspective at this moment, the village was no longer under their control—not truly. But that didn't mean there wasn't a solution.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's original plan had actually been quite successful. The only problem now was a single variable: Hatake Kazane.
According to Hiruzen's original plan, neither Jiraiya nor Tsunade had any desire to become Hokage. Instead, the goal was to groom Jiraiya's student, Namikaze Minato, into becoming the Fourth Hokage.
As a ninja of civilian origin, Namikaze Minato had no political foundation within the village. That made him the perfect puppet—easily controlled from behind the scenes by the village elders.
The plan had been solid. If Minato ran for the Fourth Hokage, Jiraiya would surely refuse to support anyone else, effectively staying neutral.
The voting among the village's Jōnin would confirm this today.
Truth be told, the "Monkey" still held considerable sway over the village. Even with Orochimaru and Jiraiya opposing him vocally, he could still suppress them when it came to the actual vote.
If everything had gone according to plan, Konoha would've remained firmly in their grasp.
And as long as that remained true, Danzo knew he'd eventually have a shot at becoming Hokage himself.
The reason everything spiraled into chaos today was due to an unpredictable element that tied all of these things together.
That element… was Hatake Kazane.
After carefully analyzing the situation, Danzo concluded that the root of every issue could be traced back to Kazane.
Orochimaru may have always harbored some ambition, but without a power base of his own, he'd remained under Danzo's control. Even all of Orochimaru's experiments had been conducted using materials Danzo provided.
But ever since Hiruzen entrusted Hatake Kazane to Orochimaru, everything changed.
First, there was Kazane's own strength, which had grown at a rate completely defying logic. In just a few short years, he had become recognized across the ninja world as its most powerful shinobi.
Even the First Hokage hadn't possessed this level of power at Kazane's age.
Then, on the Iwagakure battlefield, Kazane killed the top-tier ninja Iron Arm Ōnoki's son, Kitsuchi.
Hiruzen had no choice but to pull him and Orochimaru back from the front lines using three thousand ninjas, all to stop the pair from further distinguishing themselves.
Counting the two thousand-plus ninjas Orochimaru had already commanded on the battlefield, this meant he now effectively controlled over five thousand shinobi.
Even if those troops had been disbanded upon returning to the village, who could say how many still secretly answered to Orochimaru?
On top of that, on the journey back to the village, Kazane had discovered a hidden gem: Might Duy.
This Might Duy was quite the mystery.
With strength like his, why hadn't he reported it to the village earlier? He could've been promoted to Jōnin long ago.
Yet he'd spent his days pretending to be an ordinary Genin, performing mundane C- and D-rank missions.
And hiding his power was one thing—but after meeting Hatake Kazane, he stopped hiding entirely.
Now, he spent his days openly associating with Orochimaru and Kazane.
Even that might've been tolerable, but what was truly baffling was Kazane's strange charisma. He had somehow gotten Jiraiya and Namikaze Minato to publicly support him.
Even Tsunade—who had always stayed out of village affairs—was now standing up and speaking on his behalf.
That was terrifying.
All those forces combined were now enough to completely overwhelm the old guard.
And Hiruzen, caught in the middle of it all, couldn't see the big picture—but Danzo could.
Still, if Hatake Kazane was the linchpin holding all of this together…
Then eliminating him would splinter the alliance. Their plan could still go forward.
Of course, Danzo had his own schemes. Even if he'd figured all this out, he wasn't about to share it with Hiruzen.
After Danzo's sarcastic jab, Hiruzen's face darkened, but he didn't retort. He truly had overestimated his influence in the village.
"Enough," he finally said. "Now's not the time for this. We should be thinking about what to do next."
At that point, Koharu Utatane stepped forward. She was visibly shaken by today's events, but this was no time for infighting.
"Sigh… What can we even do now? The news has probably already reached Hatake Kazane,"
"And without the village's support, which of us can hope to stand against him? He's the strongest shinobi in the world right now!"
Mitokado Homura's light sigh carried the weight of his inner turmoil.
He was truly conflicted. They had lost the support of the village, and now had made an enemy of Hatake Kazane. He didn't know what move to make next.
The signs had been clear at today's meeting—the village no longer answered to them. And without that power, who could rein Kazane in?
Even if the four of them teamed up, they stood no chance.
After Homura spoke, the room fell silent. Everyone knew he was right. They had just refused to acknowledge it.
Hiruzen, too, felt a pang of regret. If only he had been firmer back then—if he had rejected Danzo's suggestion to hand over Kazane—things wouldn't have spiraled this far.
Today, his actions had driven both Orochimaru and Kazane into opposition.
And to think, he had only hesitated because he couldn't let go of the Hokage seat. A bit of pride, a bit of control he didn't want to relinquish.
Even if Orochimaru had become Hokage… it wouldn't have been so bad. After all, Orochimaru was his student. He might've lost some authority, but it was still better than this.
Now, all three of his students had turned against him. The village's shinobi likely saw him as a cowardly Hokage—a disgrace among the line of Fire Shadows.
After dedicating more than thirty years of his life to Konoha, he never imagined that he'd end up abandoned and scorned in his twilight years.
He felt deeply disheartened. But what was done, was done. There was no turning back now.
All he could do was brace himself and find a way to deal with Kazane.
Danzo, watching Hiruzen sink into silence, couldn't help but feel disappointed. Their teacher had been wrong after all.
So this is what you've become, Monkey… You really are old.
Sigh.
Looks like I'll have to step in.
"If none of you have a way to deal with him, then I will."
Danzo stood, hands resting lightly on the table, and looked at the three others seated nearby.
To the dejected Hiruzen, Danzo now radiated a suffocating pressure. He was like a completely different man than the one in his memory.
"Monkey… If it's something you can't do, then let me handle it."
Danzo looked solemnly at the frail figure before him. From Hiruzen's slightly graying temples and his somewhat clouded eyes, Danzo saw weakness and helplessness that had never been there before.
You've truly grown old... Leave the future of Konoha to me.