Shadow of the Wood

Chapter 140 Nine Requests

The dim candle flames flickered constantly, casting long, narrow and distorted black shadows on the wall, revealing a bit of gloom. The off-white solid stone wall was slightly rough, but with a cold architectural style.

A man is wearing a tan windbreaker, with a one-piece hood covering his head. Several patterns are outlined by red paint on the pure white mask. Together with the protrusions on the mask, a slightly abstract fox mask is formed. .

The man dressed as the captain of the dark army was kneeling on one knee, reporting something to an old man sitting on a tall wooden chair in front of him.

The old man sitting on the wooden chair straightened his back, leaned on his crutches in front of him with both hands, tapped his right index finger unconsciously when the other party reported the situation, his right eye was covered with gauze, and his left eye was slightly squinted. Under the light of the fire, a few gleams of light were reflected, far less cloudy than the eyes of ordinary old people.

This old man dressed in a simple kimono, but with a strong style in his simple sitting posture, is Shimura Danzo, one of the only three remaining elder advisors in Konoha Village. He is listening expressionlessly. A report from a subordinate, and the subordinate who reported the situation in front of him was a member of the "root" who went to the ward of Konoha Hospital not long ago, intending to arrest Nara Shikamaru!

The ninja wearing a fox mask will explain the whole process of the failure to capture Shikamaru, including Nara Heisuke's statement, without daring to add any embellishments, and present the whole process to Shimura Danzo in a calm tone, including the last He and two other subordinates were forced to take off their masks and expose their real faces to Nara Shikamaru and others.

After the ninja wearing a fox mask finished describing the matter, he waited anxiously for Shimura Danzo to speak.

Shimura Danzo didn't think about the thoughts of the subordinate in front of him, but just thinking about some things, the index finger of his right hand tapped the crutch unconsciously, and the whole dark room was silent for a while, only the faint sound of breathing and the sound of the index finger tapping on the wood sound.

"You mean they know what you three look like?" After a long time, Danzo Shimura seemed to have finally come to his senses, and asked the ninja in front of him.

"Yes." The ninja wearing a fox mask lowered his head when he heard Shimura Danzo's question.

"It doesn't matter, even the patriarch of the Nara clan, dare to take revenge on you?" Shimura Danzo pulled the corner of his mouth, showing a sneer, and said slowly: "Inaba and Aohoe rarely show up in the village, as for You, as the captain of the dark unit, the information is not available to the Nara clan."

This man in the uniform of the captain of Anbu is actually a member of Anbu!

Shimura Danzo, as the "root", the leader of countless Anbu ninja organizations, and himself an ambitious man who aims at the Naruto throne, how could he not place his own pawns in it! ?

It's just that when Sarutobi Hiruzen was alive, even Shimura Danzo didn't have the slightest chance, and these pawns and eyeliner haven't had much effect yet.

"Retire first!" Shimura Danzo finished speaking, and waved to the spy who was a member of Anbu directly under Hokage but who had taken refuge in the door of an elder advisor, signaling him to leave.

The dark army captain wearing a fox mask couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief when he heard this, but Shimura Danzo couldn't see the opponent's face clearly because of the mask.

Shimura Danzo breathed a sigh of relief after the leader of the dark army wearing a fox mask exited the room respectfully, his brows furrowed deeply, and the calm mask shattered, replaced by a gloomy expression.

"Sannin..." Shimura Danzo muttered to himself. What bothered him the most was not Nara Heisuke's performance. Such a choice did not surprise him, but he did not expect it to be so soon.

What Shimura Danzo really cared about was Chiba Gen's performance.

It can be seen from this that Jiraiya has also become the Fifth Hokage. Although it cannot be said to be what the people want, in the hearts of most people in the village, he is more qualified than Shimura Danzo.

If he wants to become the Fifth Hokage, Shimura Danzo must find a way to get rid of Jiraiya, not even Jiraiya. Chiba Gen's attitude made Shimura Danzo understand that even Jiraiya is no longer in the village. If one day, the same " Tsunade, one of the "Three Ninjas", returned to the village, still possessing enough prestige to overwhelm him.

Shimura Danzo couldn't help thinking about the report about Orochimaru that Yamato had reported to Koharu and Mitomon Yan.

…………

Sarutobi Hiruzen's funeral was held on the top floor of the Hokage Building in the early morning of the third day after the end of the war.

The venue for the funeral can be said to be perfect. Sarutobi Hiruzen has served as Hokage for the longest time in history and has spent a lot of time in this building. The Hokage rock above the building, including Sarutobi Hiruzen The Hokage of the past dynasties inside seemed to stare silently at the people attending the funeral, which can also add a solemn atmosphere to it.

Although Shikamaru's injury has not healed yet, but he does not need to be hospitalized anymore, so he also came to the funeral. The pure black dress was custom-made not long ago. The well-tailored clothes set off Shikamaru's tall and straight figure, and the simple decoration made him feel uncomfortable. More solemn.

There are constantly ninjas coming out of their homes, wearing pure black dresses, or holding flowers, walking silently on the road, and gathering with other people. Seen from above, countless people in black clothes gather, like a torrent, leading to Hokage building.

Ino and Choji also followed their parents. When the two families met Shikamaru's family who followed Nara Shikahisa and Nara Yoshino, they just said hello and didn't gossip.

This silent and depressing atmosphere has spread to everyone present.

Under the guidance, the flow of people gathered on the roof of the Hokage Building, and consciously lined up in two neat black squares in front of the portrait of Hiruzaru Sarutobi, during which everything was silent and silent.

A sound of sobbing came to Shikamaru's ears, all the ninjas who came to the field were good at hiding their emotions, even if they were sad inside, they would not show it here, so he couldn't help turning his head to look at the place where the sound came from.

Not far ahead, a small figure was lowering his head, his shoulders were shrugging, and he was suppressing his sobs with great sorrow, but in the end it was all in vain. This child who looked extremely immature among the many ninjas was exactly the grandson of Hiruzaru Sarutobi. , Sarutobi Konoha Maru, was only eight years old at this time.

It was not Asuma Sarutobi who squatted down next to him and comforted Konoha Maru in a low voice, but Iruka Unno.

Although Asuma Sarutobi is already a Jonin, but thinking about it at this time, he feels uncomfortable, and he is not even in the mood to comfort Konoha Maru, or he himself is not prepared to comfort Konoha Maru. Although cruel, but eight years old, many Talented ninjas have already entered the battlefield at this time.

Facing pain can make people grow, and too much relief may not be a good thing.

The weather suddenly changed in the middle of the funeral, the bright sunshine was shrouded by the sudden appearance of dark clouds, but within a breath, the drizzle had already fallen from the sky, pouring on the heads of the crowd, and also wet the table bouquets of flowers.

Serenity and gloom permeated the faces of everyone in the field, and this atmosphere even infected Shikamaru. Although he didn't have much contact with Sarutobi Hiruzen, it also made him feel a little gloomy.

After the funeral was over, after bidding farewell to his parents, Ino, and Choji, Shikamaru was going to return home alone to sort out his thoughts, but on the way home, he accidentally found the little tail following him.

With red and swollen eyes, and slightly trembling shoulders, the thin figure looked very helpless in the drizzle. When Shikamaru turned around and looked back, he found that Konohamaru was slowly following him, The thin dress was already wet by the rain, but compared to Shikamaru's strong body, Konohamaru was already trembling because of the mental shock and his young age and fragile constitution.

Despite this, Konohamaru's eyes were surprisingly firm, and his mouth was tightly squeezed, trying to stop the tears, and looked at Shikamaru with a strong expression.

Seeing this, Shikamaru sighed, walked towards Konohamaru, and asked softly, "Konohamaru, what are you doing with me?"

Konohamaru's lips trembled, and the tears that he tried to hold back still poured out of his eyes involuntarily. The strong look he had made before was gone, but he still looked into Shikamaru's eyes, and the words he spoke were broken by sobs , but this does not prevent Shikamaru from realizing the persistence: "Brother Shikamaru, I want to learn ninjutsu from you..., I want to avenge my grandfather!"