Chapter 9: Current Situation of the Ninja World
Root Organization's Base.
Shimura Danzo's office.
As the advisor of the Hokage of Konoha and the Supreme Leader of the Root organization, Danzo's official duties are quite busy. Every day, he receives intelligence scrolls from various channels.
Based on these intelligence scrolls, Shimura Danzo needs to think about how to benefit himself... no, rather, how to benefit Konoha.
"The Land of Rain... still in Civil War..."
"The leader of Rain Village, Hanzo the Salamander, stays hidden..."
"Hmph, that bastard Hanzo, back then, I helped him surround and exterminate the Akatsuki Organization, and he still refuses to honor our alliance..."
"The news from the Land of Wind..."
"The Daimyo of the Land of Wind has cut the budget of Sand Village again..."
"Gaara, the jinchūriki of the One-Tail in Sand Village, was attacked and went berserk, suppressed by the Fourth Kazekage Rasa with Magnet Release: Gold Dust, hmph, does Sand Village still dream of utilizing the Tailed Beast..."
"The news from the Land of Earth..."
"Frequent terrifying explosions occur outside of Rock Village..."
"Suspected to be the work of the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki's student, that woman Yakushi Nono, she really can gather a lot of information for Konoha..."
"But..."
"Why does this woman want a photo of Yakushi Kabuto again?"
"The news from the Land of Lightning..."
"Some claim the Fourth Raikage stole their clan secret technique..."
"Cloud Village has always been ambitious, they've longed to steal Konoha's Byakugan, we must find a way to suppress them, try to incite conflict between them and Rock Village..."
"The Land of Water..."
"Still no news."
"What exactly is happening inside Mist Village? All the spies who tried to infiltrate have disappeared, is there a conspiracy brewing?"
Shimura Danzo sat in front of his office desk, his face changing unpredictably as he read through all the external news, then he looked at another pile of intelligence.
This pile of intelligence was about the internal movements of Konoha.
"Let's see what happened in the village..."
"In the two days I was away..."
As an ambitious old man, Danzo was sure to focus not only on external matters but also secretly monitored the internals of Konoha, eliminating elements destabilizing to the village and striving to maintain a façade of stability.
"The opening ceremony of the new term at the Ninja Academy…"
"Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen delivers a speech at the school…"
Shimura Danzo looked at this news with a sudden grimace, but could only snort in contempt: "Hmph, being Hokage isn't done this way, that monkey... always wasting time on useless things!"
This piece of news was of no use.
What Danzo hated the most was being constantly reminded that his old friend Sarutobi Hiruzen was still actively working as the Hokage under the sun…
Yet, Danzo had to keep a close watch on Hiruzen, hoping to catch him in a mistake, preferably to remove him from his position as Hokage…
Or…
Try to kill him.
Danzo casually flipped through the news of the opening ceremony and saw the information on the second sheet, which was the list of new students enrolling at the Ninja Academy.
"Hyuga Hinata... the eldest daughter of the main branch of the Hyuga clan…"
"Aburame Shino...Inuzuka Kiba…"
"Nara Shikamaru from the Nara clan, Akimichi Choji from the Akimichi clan, Yamanaka Ino from the Yamanaka clan, all of this generation's Ino–Shika–Chō are here…"
"Uchiha Sasuke, the youngest son of Uchiha Fugaku... Hmph, named after the monkey's father to please him…"
Under normal circumstances…
Shimura Danzo wouldn't care about these children.
Unfortunately…
Among the new students of the Ninja Academy this year was one child worth monitoring.
Despite being only six years old, all of Konoha must be extremely cautious of him, as this child could potentially be a crisis that destroys the village at any moment!
"Uzumaki Naruto…"
Shimura Danzo slowly came across the name he was most concerned about, a shadow crossing his eyes: "A Jinchuriki of Nine-Tails... He should never have been sent to school!"
Tailed Beasts.
The most fearsome creatures in the ninja world.
There are nine Tailed Beasts in total.
One tail in Sand Village.
Two tails and eight tails in Cloud Village.
Three tails and six tails in Mist Village.
Four tails and five tails in Rock Village.
And Nine tails in Konoha Village.
A small village called Waterfall Village possesses the Seven tails.
According to the number of tails, the more tails a Tailed Beast has, the larger its chakra reserve, and people often use this to judge the strength of the Tailed Beasts.
Tailed Beasts naturally possess terrifying amounts of chakra and formidable strength. Once a ninja village employs a Tailed Beast in war, it can immediately alter the course of the conflict. However, Tailed Beasts are inherently violent and quick to anger, never easily utilized.
To harness the Tailed Beasts' power and enhance the Village strength, the major Ninja Villages in the ninja world creatively sealed the Tailed Beasts into human bodies, creating "Jinchuriki," who could utilize the Tailed Beasts' chakra.
In the great ninja wars, Jinchuriki often became human weapons on the battlefield, with other countries frequently using Tailed Beasts to determine the outcomes of battles.
However, Konoha never employed the Nine-Tails, the most powerful of all Tailed Beasts, fearing its strength and even protecting its Jinchuriki.
Until six years ago, the village faced the Nine-Tails' Rebellion. The Nine-Tails suddenly broke free from its Jinchuriki's seal and went on a rampage, leading to the sacrifice of the Fourth Hokage and many elite ninjas, causing severe losses to the village.
Since then, Konoha has been plagued by internal and external troubles. Fortunately, before dying, the Fourth Hokage resealed the Nine-Tails into a child named Uzumaki Naruto, preventing the village from losing the Nine-Tails.
However, this put Konoha in a difficult position, holding the strongest Tailed Beast yet unable to utilize it or even prevent problems from its Jinchuriki.
To prevent another incident like the Nine-Tails' Rebellion, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Shimura Danzo nearly racked their brains. Danzo suggested not to protect the Jinchuriki's identity anymore, considering using other villages' experiences in training Jinchuriki, possibly creating a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki that Konoha could utilize.
Let the child Uzumaki Naruto endure a miserable childhood from a young age, just like the Jinchuriki of other villages, letting this child know that he is seen as a monster in the eyes of others!
By forcing the child to get accustomed to a miserable life from a young age, he will remain calm no matter what happens in the future, and it will also prevent the Tailed Beast inside him from losing control.
However, this is somewhat dangerous. To avoid Uzumaki Naruto from emotionally breaking down during his growth, which could lead to issues with the Nine-Tails inside him, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, would often appear at critical moments to comfort the child and encourage him to bravely face his miserable life.
If you provide warmth to someone in their darkest moments, that warmth will be like a fire, encouraging the person to face the darkness with a torch in hand.
On the other hand, and most importantly, the Third Hokage fortified the Jinchuriki seal on Uzumaki Naruto to prevent the Nine-Tails from losing control and going on a rampage, in case it ever happened.
Theoretically, this is quite unfair to a child. However, having experienced the brutalities of war, the Third Hokage doesn't see it as unfair and even thinks Uzumaki Naruto is quite fortunate.