"The person has been brought, sir," the Root ninja said respectfully as he knelt on one knee before Danzo Shimura.
"Mm." Danzo nodded, then turned his gaze toward Kurogane Ren.
"What do you need from me?" Kurogane Ren asked calmly. He wasn't worried that the man would attack him. Plenty of people had seen him being brought here by Root, and more importantly, Danzo didn't yet possess Kotoamatsukami.
If it really came to a fight, Kurogane Ren didn't think he could win. After all, Danzo was a master of Wind Release, capable of cutting through Susanoo. On top of that, he already had a Sharingan—most likely Uchiha Kagami's three-tomoe eye—and had somehow acquired the forbidden technique Izanagi, making him extremely troublesome to deal with.
Still, as long as he stayed wary of that eye and didn't try to kill Danzo, escaping wouldn't be a problem.
"I've heard about what happened in the meeting today. Your proposal was excellent," Danzo said in a low voice.
"It's simply my duty for Konoha," Kurogane Ren replied.
"Mm." Danzo nodded again, then pulled out a scroll from within his robe and tossed it over. "These are some sealing techniques. Consider it your reward."
"This… isn't that a bit inappropriate?" Kurogane Ren asked.
"There's no issue. This is a reward from the leader of Root," Danzo said, his tone firm.
Kurogane Ren caught the scroll, hesitated for a moment, then said, "Then I'll accept it gratefully."
"Good. Since you've accepted it, continue to serve Konoha well. I have many more rewards I can offer in the future," Danzo said.
"Thank you, Lord Danzo," Kurogane Ren replied with a faint smile.
"Mm. You may return to your research now. Remember what I said—serve Konoha well, and you won't be treated poorly." With that, Danzo turned and left with the Root ninja.
Left alone, Kurogane Ren looked down at the scroll in his hand.
Slowly, a mocking smile curved his lips. All those nice-sounding words… wasn't this just an attempt to plant seeds of doubt now that he had been promoted by Minato and showed signs of further advancement?
It wasn't that Kurogane Ren himself was important. What mattered was that Minato shouldn't have loyal subordinates of his own.
But the problem was, Minato wasn't that kind of person.
Danzo simply projected his own suspicious nature onto others.
And if Kurogane Ren wasn't mistaken, the scroll in his hand was nothing valuable at all.
He casually opened it, took a glance, and the mockery in his eyes deepened. Even when recruiting someone, Danzo wasn't willing to pay a real price. If he had handed over something like the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing, Kurogane Ren might have actually considered it.
After all, what did Danzo's actions have to do with him?
Well… maybe not entirely true. There was also the question of whether Danzo even possessed that technique yet.
In any case, the man was stingy. Even the sealing techniques he offered were things Kurogane Ren had already studied and discarded. At best, he had at least recognized Kurogane Ren's interest in sealing arts.
So what should he do with this scroll?
Simple. At some point, he'd hand it over to Minato.
He knew Minato well enough—this alone wouldn't make him suspicious. But at the same time, Kurogane Ren couldn't just remain completely silent forever. This wasn't some trivial lover's quarrel; this was a matter of trust.
He yawned and began walking back toward the sealing division. As for Danzo… he truly looked down on him.
For someone who had done so many dark deeds while claiming to embody Konoha's darkness, Kurogane Ren felt he wasn't ruthless enough.
People often said the Third Hokage "indulged" Danzo, turning a blind eye as long as things didn't cross a certain line. And on the surface, that did seem true.
But if Kurogane Ren were in Danzo's position, once he obtained Shisui's Kotoamatsukami—even with its limitations—it would still be more than enough.
Cut off Konoha's contact with Jiraiya and Tsunade, then use the Third Hokage's trust and Kotoamatsukami to eliminate him without implicating himself. Would that really be so difficult?
At that point, Minato was dead, Orochimaru had defected, and neither Jiraiya nor Tsunade was in the village. Who else could compete with him for the Hokage position?
Asuma? Kakashi? Neither was ready.
Even becoming acting Hokage would have been enough. With the authority of the position, combining Root and ANBU, removing the "acting" title would only be a matter of time.
So why didn't Danzo do it?
Because he wasn't ruthless enough.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was his lifelong friend. That bond was too deep for him to sever, which was why he never used Kotoamatsukami on him.
Already walking in darkness, yet unwilling to go all the way… it made him look like nothing more than a fool.
Kurogane Ren walked back, the mocking look still lingering in his eyes.
Reflecting on Danzo's life—spending everything in pursuit of the Hokage position, only to hold it briefly before dying and earning the title of the "5.5th Hokage"—he saw him as the perfect example of what not to become.
He would never follow that path.
Anything he wanted, he would take.
Even if the methods were extreme.
Over the next few days, the modification of Konoha's Great Barrier reached its final stage, and it was finally Kurogane Ren's turn to step in.
The simple yet repetitive work had already been handled by his subordinates. The delicate and critical parts required his personal touch.
After inspecting their work, he nodded slightly. Their sealing techniques weren't top-tier, but under the guidance of the Uzumaki clan, their fundamentals were solid.
Once the inspection was complete, he began his own work. The barrier had to be perfected—ideally requiring no further modifications in the future—and the hidden backdoor he planned to insert could only be one.
After all, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, was a master of sealing techniques. The more hidden flaws there were, the higher the chance Minato would personally inspect the barrier.
And if that happened, the odds of his secret passage being discovered would increase significantly.
For now, Kurogane Ren had no intention of falling out with Minato—not even after eventually leaving the village.
It wasn't fear of Minato.
It was concern about the two protagonists of Konoha.
After all, behind them stood the Sage of Six Paths.
Those two… even if they died, they might just be kicked back from the afterlife.
Like how Sasuke's heart had stopped after fighting Haku, yet he lived again.
Or how Naruto had his vital pathways severed in battle against Kabuto, even the Nine-Tails nearly dying—yet he still bounced back.
Kurogane Ren seriously suspected that if he went too far against those two, the Sage of Six Paths might just appear out of nowhere and slap him straight into the afterlife.
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