The moment Danzo saw Hanzo, his pupils shrank sharply.
The four Root ninjas beside him rushed at Simu without hesitation.
A sharp sizzling sound filled the air.
"Explosive tags!" someone shouted.
They were trying to self-destruct, aiming to destroy Hanzo's body.
Simu let out a bored sigh, his expression indifferent—like a teacher watching children play.
"This again?"
Before anyone could react, four streaks of light flashed.
Simu's kicks were too fast to follow.
In an instant, the four powerful Root ninjas were sent flying.
Their bodies crashed through the office walls, soaring high into the air.
BOOM!
Four consecutive explosions lit up the Konoha sky like fireworks.
Simu casually slipped his hands back into his pockets, turning his gaze to Danzo with a smirk.
"Elder Danzo, no need for these petty tricks in front of me."
His tone was light, almost mocking.
"If you want to destroy evidence, you might have to do it yourself."
Danzo's eyes darkened, and a cold smile crept across his face.
"I just wanted to confirm if this is the real Hanzo." Danzo tried to brush it off, but his actions had already exposed him.
Everyone in the room could see it now—Danzo was hiding something.
Simu had no interest in arguing further.
Instead, he turned to Yamanaka Inoichi, who had risen to the rank of Jōnin.
"Inoichi, check Hanzo's memories."
At this point, Inoichi was one of Konoha's top intelligence ninjas, making him the perfect choice for the task.
Danzo immediately tried to intervene.
"Hanyu Simu! The priority right now is capturing Orochimaru, not wasting time on Hanzo's memory!"
Simu, completely unfazed, smirked as if he had already expected this reaction.
With a casual flick of his wrist, he pulled out a small white snake from his pocket and tossed it to the ground.
"Orochimaru? I've already taken care of him."
The room fell into silence.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's face paled, his expression one of utter shock.
In that moment, he looked like he had aged ten years.
Orochimaru's entire life—from childhood to adulthood—flashed before Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes.
He suppressed the overwhelming sadness in his heart and slowly closed his eyes.
Just then, a masked Anbu ninja appeared beside him, whispering something in his ear.
With great effort, Hiruzen forced open his heavy eyelids and cast a complicated look at Simu.
For a brief moment, emotion flickered across his face—grief, regret, disbelief—but just as quickly, he regained his composure.
Even Simu had to admit, the Third Hokage was a master at controlling his emotions.
Hiruzen took a deep breath and spoke, his voice slightly hoarse despite his efforts to remain calm.
"After Anbu's confirmation, Orochimaru is indeed dead at Simu's hands. The one we saw earlier was merely his last remaining clone."
Silence fell over the room.
Everyone turned to Simu with complicated expressions.
One of the legendary Sannin—a top candidate for Fourth Hokage—was now gone.
Just moments ago, they were all worried about how to hunt down Orochimaru, the rogue ninja who possessed many of Konoha's deepest secrets.
But now?
Simu had returned... and everything had changed.
Uchiha Bakugo looked at Simu with admiration, a stark contrast to Danzo's cold, calculating gaze.
"It's a shame that an exceptional ninja like Orochimaru-senpai chose this path… truly heartbreaking."
Simu exhaled slowly, then turned his sharp gaze to Danzo.
"Elder Danzo, can we now address the siege on Konoha's forces in the Land of Rain?"
Konoha's troops had been trapped in the Land of Rain—surrounded by Amegakure, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure forces.
Had it not been for Simu's overwhelming strength, even with 2,000 Konoha shinobi, their fate would have been sealed.
But the real question was—why had the Rain Shinobi, Konoha's supposed allies, turned against them?
And how had Konoha's marching routes been so precisely leaked to the enemy?
There was only one explanation—a traitor.
The seasoned warriors in the room, men who had survived countless battles, despised traitors above all else.
If this betrayal went unpunished, who would dare fight for Konoha in the future?
Faced with the growing tension, Third Hokage could only nod solemnly.
Danzo, for once, did not object.
It wasn't that Danzo didn't want to object—he simply had no excuse to do so.
If he spoke out now, it would only make him seem more guilty.
With everyone's approval, an Anbu ninja retrieved a full set of interrogation equipment from the facility.
Yamanaka Inoichi placed a metal helmet on his head, its wires connected to a large crystal ball—a device that could project the memories he extracted.
He lightly pressed his palm on the dying Hanzo's forehead, closed his eyes, and began the mind probe.
All the Jōnin in the room watched the crystal ball intently.
Everything that had happened today shook them to their core.
The ones present weren't just any shinobi—they were Konoha's elite, high-ranking ninjas, or powerful Jōnin from civilian backgrounds.
And none of them were fools.
First, Orochimaru defected.
Then, Hiruzen was exposed for letting past rogue ninja disciples go free.
Now, the truth behind the Land of Rain's betrayal was about to be revealed.
The air in the conference room was suffocating, thick with tension—as if thunder was waiting to explode.
Konoha's political landscape was on the verge of breaking.
The only person who remained completely at ease… was Simu.
At that moment, he was simply holding Kushina close, comforting her.
Simu paid no attention to the scene unfolding before him.
Weakened by old age and severe injuries, Hanzo's willpower was a shadow of what it once was.
Yet, even in this state, he was far stronger than the average ninja.
It took a skilled mind-reader like Yamanaka Inoichi a full hour to break through his mental defenses.
As Hanzo's body shuddered, the crystal ball flickered to life, revealing countless fragments of his past.
First, images of his youth—a boy who grew up in the war-torn Land of Rain, gradually rising to become a formidable warrior.
With his overwhelming strength and the deadly poison of his Summoning Beast, the Salamander, he earned the title of Demigod of the Rain.
Under his leadership, the Land of Rain grew stronger, even rivaling the great nations.
It was seen as the most likely candidate to become the Sixth Great Nation.
But that very strength alarmed the surrounding powers.
No great nation would tolerate a new rival on its borders.
And so, the Second Great Ninja War erupted.
The Land of Rain found itself caught in a three-sided invasion—besieged by the Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Amegakure.
Back then, the high-spirited Hanzo, determined to protect his homeland, made a bold and unprecedented move—
He declared war on three great nations at once!
This moment marked the peak of his will and the height of his strength.
At that time, calling Hanzo a demigod was no exaggeration.
Even those watching the memory unfold couldn't help but feel a surge of admiration.
Hanzo's forces successfully defeated the Land of Wind and pushed back the Land of Earth's troops.
But against Konoha, the strongest military power of that era, even the once unstoppable Hanzo felt helpless.
Not because he lacked personal strength—
But because his nation was too weak.
No matter how many victories he won, it never truly mattered.
Even if he wiped out thousands of enemy soldiers, the great nations could replace them with tens of thousands more.
But Amegakure?
It had nothing—just poverty and war-torn lands.
Faced with this harsh reality, Hanzo's will to fight wavered.
In the end, he chose to surrender to Konoha, granting Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru the legendary title of Konoha's Sannin as a final act of defiance.
Many people sighed at the sight.
Orochimaru, once a majestic figure and a pillar of Konoha, had fallen.
Now, he was nothing more than a rogue ninja, his legacy reduced to a lifeless white snake clone lying on the ground, waiting to be disposed of.
Then, the events of the Third Great Ninja War played out, marking its end.
But as the crystal ball continued, the tone shifted—
The images became dark and unsettling.
With Amegakure's defeat, Danzo's Root began its dealings with Hanzo.
The once fearless demigod had become paranoid and weak.
He allowed Root operatives to conduct human experiments in the Land of Rain…
As these memories played out, the room fell deathly silent.
Everyone's eyes turned toward Danzo.
Even Third Hokage looked deeply disturbed.
Human experimentation was strictly forbidden in Konoha—
Yet Danzo had ignored this law.
His face darkened, but this alone wasn't enough to provoke an outright revolt—
Not yet.
After all, these were just people from the Land of Rain.
Even within Konoha, many radicals believed that Konoha had been too lenient toward defeated nations after the war.
And so, the Land of Rain fell under Root's bloody rule.
Until the Amegakure Incident erupted.
"Mr. Hanzo, this is a letter from Lord Danzo."
A figure appeared in the crystal ball—
Aburame Ryoma, Danzo's most trusted assistant.
Hanzo unfolded the letter.
The bold characters inside stood out clearly:
"Join forces with Iwagakure and Sunagakure. Siege Hanyu Simu!"
Hum...
The entire conference room froze.
For a moment, it was as if time itself had stopped.
Danzo's grip on his scepter trembled violently.
"No..."
"No...!"
His bloodshot eyes widened in disbelief—
Like a cornered old beast sensing its inevitable downfall.
"These memories are fake!" Danzo roared, raising his crutch.
A sharp gust of wind wrapped around it like a blade, slicing toward Simu.
But, Simu extended his scaled arm and caught it effortlessly.
The wind blade barely sparked against his palm, completely ineffective.
Instead, The crutch cracked, splintering inch by inch under Simu's overwhelming strength.
Until it shattered into sawdust, scattering to the floor.
"Elder Danzo, are you that desperate?"
Simu's voice was cold, laced with killing intent.
"Arrest this traitor who betrayed his own people!"
His command echoed through the conference room.
.
.
TO BE CONTINUED
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