Chapter 357: Let''s Lay Everything Out, I Will Be Your Master From Now On

    Aoba''s thoughts started to wander. This matter did not seem to be that simple.

    "If I remember correctly, the information that came over a while ago said that Iwagakure was at war with Kumogakure. Now that Kumogakure was facing Iwagakure and Kirigakure simultaneously, it could be said they were facing an enemy from both sides."

    Aoba held his chin with his right hand, and many question marks appeared on his head. He found that the situation in the ninja world was changing bit by bit.

    "Logically speaking..."

    "The relationship between Iwagakure and Konohagakure has always been bad!"

    "Ever since Onoki was young and was educated by Madara, he has been holding a grudge against Konohagakure."

    "In the previous two ninja wars, Iwagakure was also on the opposite side of Konohagakure. Why did they suddenly come to jointly hold a Chunin Exams with Konohagakure at this critical moment?"

    "Something is wrong!"

    "There must be something wrong here!"

    "But..."

    "The ridiculous thing is..."

    "Why did Hiruzen agree to this matter?!"

    The more Aoba thought about it, the more he felt that there was a big problem. These problems were not so simple that they could be explained clearly. There was a feeling of concealment everywhere. Moreover, if Hiruzen disagreed, it would be impossible to succeed. In other words, Hiruzen had done an extremely outrageous operation.

    "Forget it!"

    After thinking about it, Aoba shook his head directly. He felt that there was no point in thinking about it. It could not solve the problem at all. It was better to prepare for it now. He could not let his two little teammates fall in front of him.

    As for Iwagakure''s people.

    Aoba instinctively thought that they were here to cause trouble.

    In this way, he was also prepared to speculate on the opponent with the greatest malice. If his opponent did not do that, it could only be said that the other party was a little white. The matter was destined to be in his own hands. But if he bet on others with the greatest goodwill that the other party would not do this, then, in the end, he might fall into a passive state.

    This was not possible!

    After a short period of thought, Aoba had already figured out what to do next.

    Suddenly.

    Aoba''s figure disappeared.

    He reappeared on the tower''s first floor.

    At this moment.

    The shadow clones on the tower''s first floor were all practicing the puppet technique. When they saw Aoba coming over, they all looked at him.

    They were part of Aoba''s chakra.

    It could be said that their thoughts were the same as Aoba''s. They all realized that something had happened after seeing Aoba''s arrival. Otherwise, they would have waited until the time to send the information back.

    "All of you, come back!"

    Aoba said to the shadow clones in front of him. His tone was unquestionable, and there was no need to explain anything. What was there to explain to him?

    "Yes!"

    The shadow clones immediately stopped what they were doing, then began to remove themselves one after another.

    Bang! Bang! Bang! ...

    Along with the sound of explosions, these shadow clones had already been removed and returned to Aoba''s body with information.

    After that.

    Aoba quickly formed seals with both hands and used Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu(Multiple Shadow Clone Technique) once again. Instantly, the shadow clones reappeared here.

    This seemingly superfluous operation was actually updating the intelligence information the shadow clone knew.

    "Let''s begin!"

    Aoba nodded at the shadow clones, and everyone immediately moved. However, they were not walking toward the puppets just now. Instead, they put the puppets aside and began to carry out new training.

    Immediately after.

    Aoba arrived at the second floor of the tall tower and flipped through the books that Minato had left for him before he left.

    He planned to come over just like that during this period of time.

    After all, many things in these books might help him in the Chunin Exams.

    ...

    On the other side.

    In the Hokage''s office.

    Hiruzen sat on a chair in the office. He held a kiseru in his hand and took one mouthful of smoke after another. Suddenly, he felt a burst of irritation. He could not help but get up and walk out of the office.

    Hiruzen walked to the door opposite Hokage''s office.

    He did not knock on the door.

    He directly pushed the door open.

    "Sandaime-sama!"

    Inside the door were two Anbu ninjas guarding here. After seeing Hiruzen, each of them stood still with seriousness and respect in their eyes.

    "How is Danzo?" Hiruzen asked the two of them.

    "Everything is fine now," One of the two immediately replied.

    "You guys go and guard the door. No one is allowed to enter." Hiruzen immediately spoke in a commanding tone.

    "Yes!"

    When the two Anbu heard Hiruzen''s words, they immediately nodded. After that, they walked out of the room. No one dared to disobey Hiruzen''s orders.

    All of a sudden.

    Only Hiruzen and Danzo, who were resting on the bed, were left here.

    Hiruzen walked toward Danzo''s bed step by step. Finally, he arrived on the edge of the bed and stared at Danzo, whose eyes were closed.

    "Danzo, I know that you are awake. I have something important to ask you." Hiruzen said slowly. He had been with Danzo for so many years. They had already formed a tacit understanding. There was no need to say anything. He could feel that Danzo had already woken up.

    "What is it?"

    Danzo slowly opened his left eye, which was exposed to the outside. He stared at Hiruzen, who was sitting next to him. After a few days of recovery, he could already speak.

    Only.

    Danzo''s voice was still very weak.

    It could be seen that he was still sick.

    "Not long ago, Iwagakure envoy came and asked to jointly hold the Chunin Exams. Do you think there is a problem here?" Hiruzen asked in a low voice. He still wanted to hear Danzo''s opinion on this matter.

    "Iwagakure?" Danzo closed his eyes again, but he was still in a state of deep thought. After a while, he said in a hoarse and powerless voice, "Iwagakure must have come with ill intentions. You have to be careful. It is very likely that it will be bad for the village."

    "Now that Iwagakure is already fighting with Kumogakure, will they still fight with us, Konohagakure? Are they not afraid of being attacked from the back?" Hiruzen once again voiced his doubts and understanding. He always felt that now was not the time for Iwagakure to attack Konohagakure.

    "Iwagakure is definitely not that simple. You have to be careful about this. You must not be careless," Danzo said to Hiruzen.

    "Danzo, do you have any objections?" Hiruzen thought for a moment and asked again.

    "Is the Tsuchikage coming?" Danzo directly asked the key point of the question.

    "Come!" Hiruzen nodded and then said, "But I think it might be the same as before; that is when Chunin Exams gets to the third round. In the first two rounds, he should not come."

    "If you think it is not easy to handle, you can let Orochimaru preside over the third round of the Chunin Exams. There will be no problem with the first two rounds. The key is after the Tsuchikage comes. If I am not wrong, the Chunin Exams may develop into an opportunity for Iwagakure to fight against Konohagakure. You must be careful." Danzo said to Hiruzen. Now he was really thinking about Hiruzen. After all, his body had been seriously injured, and there was no way to move.

    "If it''s like what you said, does it mean I should reject them to participate in the Chunin Exams?" Hiruzen asked in a low voice. Now, he was a little annoyed. He answered too fast. If he did not easily agree, maybe there was still room for adjustment. It was too late to say this now. If he refused Iwagakure''s request to hold the Chunin Exam with them now, he would return on his word. He would directly give Iwagakure a reason and excuse to start a war with Konohagakure. This was not what he wanted to see. He came to Danzo not to regret it but to find an opportunity to remedy it.

    "No!"

    Danzo said without hesitation.

    Such a reaction.

    It made Hiruzen feel much better.

    At least.

    It was Iwagakure who came to find trouble.

    It did not have much to do with him.

    "I think if you directly rejected Iwagakure''s request, the other party might launch an attack. It just so happens that you agreed to hold the Chunin Exams together and bought time for Konohagakure. Of course, it was also to give Iwagakure sufficient time to prepare. This is also what they wanted to see." Danzo explained.

    "I understand. Rest well. I will go and prepare." Hiruzen said. After he finished speaking, he planned to leave directly.

    "That... Wait..." Danzo hesitated for a moment. He stared at Hiruzen, and his tone suddenly became a little stiff. However, in the next moment, he immediately softened and said, "Is there any news about that person?"

    "Who?"

    Hiruzen was stunned for a moment. He looked at Danzo doubtfully. When he saw Danzo lying on the bed and could not move, he immediately reacted.

    "You want to ask about the person who treated you, right?"

    Hiruzen stared at Danzo and asked. He always felt something strange, but his heart was very confused. He could not think of anything. He felt Danzo wanted to ask something, but Danzo refused to open his mouth. It was very strange.

    "I haven''t found the ninja who treated you yet, but I will try my best to find him. Once there is news of him, I will send someone to inform you immediately. You don''t need to think too much. You just need to recover in peace."

    After Hiruzen told Danzo, he immediately left the room without hesitation. His purpose of coming here had been achieved, so there was no need to stay here for long.

    After all, there were so many things waiting for him outside.

    He already knew what was going on.

    Continue to stay here.

    It can only be said to be a waste of time.

    Instantly.

    Hiruzen took a step forward and left.

    After Hiruzen left, the two ninjas guarding the door outside returned to the room and guarded this place.

    Danzo slowly closed his eyes.

    His head quickly thought about it.

    That person...

    Who was it?

    Danzo could clearly feel that there was Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal on his tongue!

    In the entire Ninja World, no second person knows this sealing technique.

    He had always used this technique to seal other people so they could control their conversation''s contents. However, after waking up a few days ago, he found the same sealing mark on his tongue.

    This made Danzo smell the scent of a conspiracy.

    But...

    He could not say it.

    Moreover.

    After the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal was branded on his tongue, he no longer trusted Hiruzen that much. Deep in his heart, he felt that this matter had something to do with Hiruzen.

    ...

    Unconsciously.

    Five days passed.

    There was only one day left until the start of the Chunin Exams.

    Early morning.

    Before Aoba could wake up, he was woken up by a series of knocks on the door.

    "Who is it?!"

    Aoba said in a bad mood. He instinctively felt that his two teammates were knocking on the door. However, the Chunin Exam would start tomorrow, and they had agreed to meet in Ramen Ichiraku. Wasn''t it a little too rushed to come out now?

    Aoba stood up and walked toward the door.

    In the past few days, he used his shadow clone to familiarize himself with ninjutsu again and read many related books. He was well prepared.

    He wanted to have a good rest today.

    He was still disturbed.

    Soon.

    Aoba came to the door, raised his hand to open it, and saw a very familiar person.

    Aoba raised his right hand and knocked on the door.

    Knock Knock Knock...

    There was a clear knock on the door, and it entered the office.

    "Come in!"

    Hiruzen said in a low voice, indicating that Aoba could go in.

    Aoba pushed the door open.

    He had come here as a medical ninja wearing a mask before, but this was the first time he had come here using his real appearance and the first time he had come so close to Hiruzen.

    "Sandaime-sama!"

    After Aoba entered the office, he stopped in front of the desk and bowed deeply to Hiruzen. He looked very cute and new.

    "You are... Yamanaka Aoba?"

    Hiruzen frowned slightly. He reluctantly found this name in his head. He had met Aoba very few times, so his impression of Aoba was not deep. Moreover, when he heard the report from the ninja guarding the door, he did not expect that the person who claimed to be carrying out the secret mission was Yamanaka Aoba. So he felt a little surprised.

    "Sandaime-sama has such a good memory. I am Yamanaka Aoba. I came here to find Danzo-sama!" Aoba looked at Hiruzen. After that, he explained, "Danzo-sama gave me a very important secret mission. Now that the mission has progressed, I must report it to Danzo-sama!"

    "What mission?"

    Hiruzen stared at Aoba curiously. A big question mark appeared on his head. He was very curious about the mission that Aoba mentioned.

    "Sandaime-sama, this is a secret mission given to me by Danzo-sama. I can''t tell you what the mission is!" Aoba directly shook his head and said. It was not that he violated the rules, but for the ninjas, the mission was like this. They could not say it casually, and it was a professional performance.

    "Danzo has already rested, and now I am in charge of his affairs. I am the Hokage of the village; you can''t even say it?" Hiruzen asked doubtfully. His eyes stared at Aoba, carefully sizing up this youth.

    "No!"

    Aoba decisively shook his head and directly refused, "This mission was given to me by Danzo-sama. He emphasized that I can not tell anyone about this mission, not even the Hokage-sama!"

    "Hahahaha!"

    After hearing Aoba''s words, Hiruzen suddenly laughed, but there was a trace of coldness in his smile.

    "Ah!"

    "Good! Good! Good!"

    "Very good!"

    "Aoba, now a part of Danzo''s matter, is taken over by Orochimaru. You can tell Orochimaru about it, right?"

    Hiruzen''s face turned displeased. However, he used very strong hypocrisy to disguise all of this. After all, these things were not a big problem to him. His anger was not directed at Aoba, but at this phenomenon made him unhappy.

    Many ninjas were like this now.

    They only listened to Danzo.

    They did not listen to the Hokage.

    They did not even put the Hokage in their eyes.

    Sometimes, Hiruzen feels that he has mistrusted Danzo. He felt that it was like asking a tiger for its skin. This should not have happened at all. This made him begin to be wary of Danzo in his heart.

    "No!"

    Aoba decisively shook his head. His gaze fell on Hiruzen. He could faintly feel that Hiruzen was clearly unhappy. It seemed that he was dissatisfied with Danzo''s actions.

    However.

    It did not matter.

    Aoba was very clear.

    No matter what Danzo did.

    Hiruzen would forgive him.

    So...

    He just needed to throw this pot on Danzo!

    "Sandaime-sama, this secret mission is very urgent. I must report it to Danzo-sama and accept his next instructions."

    Aoba said seriously. His tone was very tough. He did not have any scruples because he met Hiruzen. After all, he was also a person who knew Hiruzen. As long as you were strong enough, then Hiruzen would be soft.

    "Okay..."

    Hiruzen looked at Aoba deeply. In the end, he knew that it was useless to say anything, so he simply did not delay any more. What if something particularly big happened?

    "Come with me."

    Hiruzen did not think that Aoba would harm Danzo. After all, Aoba was a member of the Yamanaka clan. This clan was on his trust list. Moreover, he knew that if someone wanted to harm Danzo, they would have done so long ago. There was no need for such a method.

    "Yes!"

    Aoba immediately responded. After that, he followed behind Hiruzen. The two left the office and walked towards the opposite door.

    Aoba had also been here before.

    However, he did not show any intention of showing it.

    Instead, he pretended that nothing had happened.

    Creak...

    Along with the sound of the door opening, the door was directly pushed open, and Hiruzen walked in with Aoba.

    "The two of you go outside and guard, don''t let anyone in!" Hiruzen said to the two ninjas who were guarding Danzo''s room.

    "Yes!"

    After hearing Hiruzen''s words, the two ninjas immediately stepped out of the room, standing outside to guard.

    "Aoba, is it time for you to report the mission? Should I also have to leave?" Hiruzen''s eyes became dangerous. He threw a dangerous question to Aoba that was difficult to answer.

    "That''s right!" Aoba nodded without hesitation and replied in a very dangerous manner, "Sandaime-sama needs to go out and wait."

    "Good! Good! Good!"

    Hiruzen was not angry but smiled. He could not help but look at Aoba again. He had not seen such a ninja for a long time. Even a Root ninja would not be so straightforward when talking to him. This was simply not taking him seriously.

    After that.

    Hiruzen turned around and left.

    He walked toward the door.

    He had already silently memorized Aoba''s name in his heart. However, he was very clear that he could not blame all of this on Aoba. After all, Aoba was only following Danzo''s instructions.

    After Hiruzen left.

    Only Aoba and Danzo were left in the room.

    "Danzo-sama, long time no see."

    A faint smile suddenly appeared on Aoba''s face. He did not look like a good person. He took a step forward, step by step, and walked toward Danzo with great rhythm.

    All of a sudden.

    Danzo felt an extremely strong sense of oppression.

    "This..."

    Danzo suddenly discovered a terrifying thing: his heartbeat had not become messy, as if it was beating with Aoba''s footsteps.

    Aoba took a step forward.

    Danzo''s heart skipped a beat.

    The rhythm that Aoba walked forward was the rhythm of Danzo''s heartbeat. It was like every step Aoba took had stepped on Danzo''s heart.

    "You... you... you... you are... you are that... so... it was you..."

    Danzo''s tone became nervous. He no longer cared about the discomfort caused by the disorder of his heartbeat and the injuries on his body that had not yet healed. His heart had already been occupied by chaos and fear.

    This was a very, very serious matter!

    This was the owner of the seal on his heart!

    As long as the other party thought about it, it could easily crush his heart!

    ''It was actually this Yamanaka Aoba?!''

    This discovery caused Danzo''s thoughts to collapse. Almost all of his knowledge had been overturned. He had only met Aoba a few times, and there was almost no other impression. His only impression was that Aoba had brought a book that could bring his thing back to life. But what he thought after seeing it was to ask Aoba to help monitor Fugaku.

    Such a person.

    How could he be...

    The owner of the powerful seal in his heart?

    This made Danzo feel a sense of disbelief!

    "You... you... you..."

    Danzo tried to call out Aoba''s name, but he found it impossible. As long as he thought about it, he could feel that his body would be paralyzed.

    This was the effect of the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal.

    Through this point.

    Danzo could confirm it.

    The seal on his tongue was left behind by Aoba.

    But...

    When did this happen?

    All of a sudden.

    Danzo''s thoughts began to wander. His brain worked quickly as he thought of one possibility after another.

    In the end...

    Danzo thought of something very terrifying.

    That was...

    The person who treated his injuries...

    It was most likely the person who engraved the seal on him...

    In other words...

    The one in front of him...

    This Yamanaka Aoba!

    "Danzo-sama, we haven''t seen each other for a long time. I didn''t expect you to miss me so much!" Aoba said with a smile. He continued to move at a fixed pace, constantly activating the seal in Danzo''s body to let Danzo know that this person was him.

    "What''s going on?" Danzo''s brain was somewhat unclear. He felt very strange. When he was injured this time, everything had changed.

    "It doesn''t matter if I tell you."

    Aoba walked to the side of Danzo''s bed. He lowered his head and looked at Danzo, who was still recuperating. The corners of his mouth curled up even higher.

    "Let''s lay everything out."

    "In the future, I will be your master."

    "Whatever I tell you to do, you have to do it. Otherwise..."

    "You will die from a heart explosion!"

    "Did I make it clear enough?"

    Aoba''s tone suddenly changed, revealing a cold feeling. This was the first time since he came to the ninja world that he stood out as his own identity.

    However.

    What he did was the result after careful consideration.

    Danzo was unable to expose him.

    This is a way without any problems, enough for him to stand behind Konohagakure and become Konohagakure''s darkness.

    "Ao... Aoba..."

    Even though there were a thousand helpless feelings in Danzo''s heart, there was nothing he could do. He was very clear about his current situation. He was completely under the control of others, and there was no way at all.

    "Danzo!"

    Aoba smiled slightly. Now that he called Danzo, he no longer added the word ''sama'' because he was already Danzo''s Aoba-sama.

    "This book is Fugaku''s new book. I specially brought it for you. Take a look. I sent it to you the moment this book came out. I think you know what to do!"

    Aoba reached into the ninja pouch and took out the book "Teacher Bai of the Ninja School" and placed it on Danzo''s bed...