Chapter 183 - 181: The Second Most Uncooperative (In Fact, The Most Cooperative)

Danzō arrived at the meeting a few hours after Azula's summons went out, the night already settled over Konoha like a blanket.

He had no idea he was Tsunade's primary target for the evening, nor did he know the true reason for the gathering.

His information network, once the envy of every shadow operative in the village, had failed to produce a single whisper about what was so urgent that the new Hokage would convene a full council at this hour.

Still, he went with the comfortable mentality of a spectator attending a show he wasn't performing in.

That comfortable mentality lasted approximately three seconds after he walked through the door.

The lineup was luxurious with every clan head, every department leader and every person with a title that mattered being present.

It was the same scene as the day Azula had ascended to the Hokage's seat, and the similarity gave Danzō a very bad feeling that felt like being stabbed by a kunai.

"Danzō!" Hiruzen called out, his expression complicated. A smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, the look of a man greeting a friend who had refused to see him since the day he relinquished his seat, a friend who was still very angry about it.

Danzō had no desire to engage with Hiruzen, but they were, for now, part of the same clique, and appearances mattered.

"Hiruzen, Koharu, Hōmura." He acknowledged each of them by name with the same expressionless nod before taking the seat they offered him, his face betraying nothing.

Hiruzen exchanged glances with Koharu and Hōmura, both of whom wore equally helpless expressions. There was nothing they could do about Danzō's stubbornness, and they all knew it.

The atmosphere was drowning of awkwardness, the clan heads uncertain how to behave around the former Hokage's clique, when Azula and Tsunade entered the room together.

Azula surveyed the gathering like she was checking attendance at a particularly entertaining social function, and her smile was warm and entirely insincere.

"Good, almost everyone is here. I was worried some of you might have... prior commitments." Her eyes flicked to Danzō for just a fraction of a second, so brief that anyone who blinked would have missed it. "But it seems we all have time tonight. How convenient."

She wasn't done with him.

"Danzō, I'm glad you came. I was worried I'd have to send someone to collect you." She tilted her head with studied casualness. "You're not a difficult man to find, but you do have a habit of not answering direct summons. I'm pleased you made an exception tonight."

Danzō, who was genuinely caught off guard by being addressed directly, didn't react at first. He had grown accustomed to Azula ignoring his existence entirely, treating him like a piece of furniture that happened to have political opinions.

But he recovered quickly and offered a polite smile that didn't touch his eyes. "I've simply been busy adapting to my current situation, Fourth Hokage."

He gritted his teeth around the words 'Fourth Hokage' but kept his expression nonchalant through sheer force of will. Years of political survival had given him excellent control over his face, even when his blood was boiling.

Azula just chuckled, gave Hiruzen a brief nod of acknowledgment, and settled into her seat at the head of the table.

The room fell silent as everyone waited for her to speak, to explain why they had all been summoned here at this hour.

She said nothing. She just surveyed them, her eyes moving from face to face with the patient calm of someone who had all the time in the world.

Finally, even Tsunade, who knew exactly what was about to happen and had been looking forward to it all day, couldn't contain her impatience. She nudged Azula's shoulder. "What are we waiting for?"

"I'm waiting for my future ANBU Commander," Azula said, her voice pitched at a normal conversational volume even though it wouldn't have mattered how quietly she spoke in a room full of elite shinobi. "And he isn't here yet."

Danzō, who had invested significant effort into securing Kageyama's loyalty and had been planning to continue using the man as his puppet in the ANBU for years to come, felt his heart dropping.

But the first to react audibly was Hiruzen, who had personally promoted Kageyama and had always believed in his teacher's philosophy of elevating civilians to positions of importance whenever possible. "You want to replace the ANBU Commander?"

He didn't speak Kageyama's name, because ANBU identities were technically secret, but the concern in his voice was genuine.

"I don't think that's a wise decision. He's been in this position for a short time, but he was specifically trained for it. As far as I know, I can't think of anyone in the village more qualified right now."

His mind was already racing ahead, trying to deduce who Azula might install in the position.

Given her promotion of the Rasengan and Chidori to the general Uchiha Shinobi, any Uchiha with a Three Tomoe Sharingan was now among the absolute elite of the Jōnin ranks.

She could easily be planning to put one of her clansmen in the seat.

"Oh? There really is someone more qualified, and it's Sakumo." Then she waved her hand as if dismissing the entire topic. "Anyway, this isn't the time to discuss personnel changes. I called you here because we have some serious matters to address."

She had just announced the replacement of the ANBU Commander as if it were a minor administrative footnote. The room was still processing this when Danzō's mind began spinning in a completely different direction.

'Damn. Did she discover something?' He couldn't conceive of any other reason for her to replace Kageyama, especially with Sakumo, her own trusted operative because it felt too targeted and deliberate.

Fortunately for everyone's patience, Sakumo was not the kind of man to waste time. He entered the chamber moments later, just finishing the last-minute task Azula had assigned him.

But the moment he crossed the threshold, he noticed everyone staring at him with expressions he couldn't quite decipher, and his instincts immediately went on alert.

"Everything has been taken care of, Hokage-sama." He addressed her with perfect formality in the public setting, his face as expressionless as ever.

Azula smiled at him with the closest approximation of warmth she ever displayed in public. "Good. As expected of the man who can fight the Third Raikage head on and leave unscathed, as efficient as ever."

The reminder of Sakumo's most famous feat had an immediate impact. The clan heads who had been harboring private doubts about his appointment suddenly reconsidered.

A man who had faced the Third Raikage in single combat and walked away without a scratch was, objectively, a Kage-level combatant. There weren't many of those available for administrative positions.

Azula turned her attention to Kazuto, the elected voice of Konoha's civilian population. "Tell me, Civilian Delegate. What are the fundamental rules that prevent shinobi, who possess overwhelming power, from simply attacking civilians or considering themselves superior to those they could kill with a casual kunai?"

Kazuto's history with Azula stretched back to the founding of the Konoha Court of Justice, which had given ordinary citizens a legal avenue to seek redress against shinobi for the first time in the village's history.

Since then, he had coordinated with her office on numerous investigations requiring civilian cooperation.

"When Konoha was founded, the Shodaime welcomed everyone with open arms, including us civilians who had been suffering since time immemorial," he stated, his voice steady.

"He promised to protect us. He declared that in his village, whether one came from a clan, a shinobi family, a civilian background, or even an orphanage, as long as they were welcomed through the gates, they would enjoy the same status as everyone else."

He knew, as he spoke, that this was almost certainly about the brewing conflict between Azula and the Hyuga. But he didn't soften his words or hedge his position. Even if he were given a hundred chances to answer, he would only state it more passionately each time.

Azula nodded, visibly satisfied. "Very good. Everyone here should remember that when the Shodaime founded this village, his purpose was to end the endless wars that sent children who wouldn't even qualify for our current academy into battle. His philosophy was simple: every person in this village is family."

"And I have always been the same," she continued, without even a hint of a blush. "Since I was a child, I've been contributing to this village, resolving conflicts and bringing fairness to everyone. Whether by sharing my clan's proudest collection of jutsu with the entire shinobi force or resolving disputes that might otherwise have dragged on for years."

She paused, and her eyes swept the room with deliberate slowness. "Did I do something wrong by trying?"

She was openly cataloging reactions, and everyone in that room understood that their response, their expression, even their posture, would determine where they stood in the new order she was building: neutral, opposition, or supporter.

"But while I've been building," she said, her voice dropping just slightly, "others have been scheming. Isn't that right, Hisashi-dono?"

She turned to face him directly. She hadn't activated her Sharingan, hadn't even flared her chakra, but Hisashi felt the pressure of her attention like a physical weight.

He had known this was coming. From the moment she had begun philosophizing about the village's founding ideals, he had recognized the trap being laid. He had prepared himself as best he could.

"Scheming, Hokage-sama?" His voice was steady despite the acceleration of his heart.

"I don't know what you mean. From the very beginning, we, the Hyuga clan, just like every clan represented here, have been working toward the prosperity of this village. We have cooperated with every one of your reforms, even those that trample upon our oldest traditions."

Even before this meeting, when Azula had specifically requested his presence, he had prepared for the possibility of confrontation.

His response was prepared carefully, and some of the other clan heads couldn't help but reflect that the Hyuga, historically neutral and cooperative, had indeed never caused a problem on the scale of, say, the Uchiha.

"You are half right," Azula replied. "The Hyuga clan is one of the most cooperative clans in this village. But you are wrong to bind yourself to the Hyuga's reputation. You, personally, Hisashi-dono, are the second most uncooperative person I have ever encountered in this entire village."

She didn't name the first. She didn't need to, but Danzō felt the words.

"The entire ninja world is advancing, uniting, and prospering, and I am the reason," Azula continued, her voice filling the room.

"I made every single major village cooperate with each other. I ended a war before it could begin. I made every other Kage acknowledge my authority, not just because of my strength, but because they trusted in my fairness. If they hadn't, they would have fought to the death rather than bend."

"And yet, here in my own village, I propose a single reform that touches your clan's traditions, traditions which stand directly in the path of the future I am building, and I encounter more resistance than I did making Ōnoki bow his head. Isn't that funny?"

She chuckled, and the sound was entirely mirthless.

"Not only that," Tajima said, taking over with the smooth confidence of a man who had been waiting for his cue.

"Hisashi-dono took it upon himself to convene meetings with other clan heads, creating the impression that there was widespread opposition to the Hokage's policies. He attempted to pressure the Hokage through manipulated public opinion, painting her as authoritarian and overreaching."

As he spoke, he produced a stack of documents and placed them on the table.

They were reports containing detailed accounts of Hisashi's visits, his arguments, his attempts to rally support.

Reports written and submitted by the very same clan heads with whom Hisashi had shared tea and laughter, the men he thought he had charmed into an alliance against the Hokage.

Hisashi stared at the papers, and the blood drained from his face.

'Damn it.' He had been certain those conversations were private and that there were no third parties present.

And yet here was proof that from the very first meeting, from the very first cup of tea, they had been watching him. Laughing with him while documenting his every move for the Hokage.

(END OF THE CHAPTER)

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