The moment he saw Hanzo, Danzo's pupils suddenly shrank.
The four Root ninjas surrounding him charged desperately toward Simu.
The sizzling sound echoed from them.
"It's the detonator!" someone shouted.
These Root ninjas were ready to sacrifice themselves to destroy Hanzo's body!
"This trick again," Simu said lazily, his eyes watching the scene as if it were a child's foolish stunt.
Several flashes of light flickered by.
Simu kicked out with lightning speed—too fast for anyone else to see.
The four powerful Root ninjas instantly became streaks of light.
With the force of his attack, they smashed through the office wall and were thrown directly into the air.
"Boom!"
Four explosions followed in quick succession.
Four bright fireworks bloomed in the sky above Konoha.
Simu slowly put his hands back into his pockets and looked at Danzo leisurely.
"Elder Danzo, you don't need to resort to destroying the body in front of me."
"Maybe you could still do it yourself."
Danzo smiled coldly.
"The old man only wants to confirm if this is the real Hanzo."
Though Danzo refused to admit it outright, this action made everyone realize there was definitely something suspicious about him.
Simu didn't want to waste words with Danzo any longer.
Instead, he looked toward Yamanaka, who had become a Jonin.
"Haiichi, please search Hanzo's memories."
Yamanaka was now one of Konoha's top intelligence ninjas.
There was nothing wrong with asking him to search.
Danzo hurriedly jumped up to object.
"Hanyu Simu, our priority now is to capture Orochimaru, not to dig into Hanzo's memories!"
Simu seemed to expect this. He smiled lightly, took a white snake from his pocket, and threw it on the ground.
"Orochimaru's problem—I've already taken care of it."
Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't hide the shock on his face.
At that moment, he seemed to age ten years.
Orochimaru's life from childhood to adulthood seemed to flow before his eyes again.
Suppressing the endless sadness in his heart, Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly closed his eyes.
A masked ANBU ninja appeared next to Sarutobi Hiruzen and whispered something in his ear.
He struggled to open his heavy eyelids.
His gaze swept over Simu's body with a complicated look.
Then his expression returned to normal.
Seeing this, even Simu had to admire the Third Hokage—the old fox's ability to control his emotions.
"After ANBU's confirmation, Orochimaru was indeed eliminated by Simu, and this is his last clone."
Though trying to suppress it, the Third Hokage's voice was still a bit hoarse.
The room fell silent.
Everyone looked at Simu with complicated eyes.
One of the legendary Konoha Sannin.
A strong contender for Fourth Hokage.
Just moments ago, they were still worried about how to hunt down Orochimaru—the rogue ninja who had mastered many of Konoha's secrets.
Now, Simu had returned with news that seemed to settle the matter.
Uchiha Sifang looked at Simu with admiration, contrasting sharply with Danzo's cold, lion-like gaze.
"It's a pity that such a talented ninja like Orochimaru-senpai would do something like this. It's truly heartbreaking."
Simu sighed and then turned to Danzo.
"Elder Danzo, do you now know who was behind the siege of Konoha's forces in the Land of Rain?"
Konoha's troops had been besieged by Rain Shinobi, Rock Shinobi, and Sand Shinobi in the Land of Rain.
If not for Simu's extraordinary strength, even the combined two thousand Konoha shinobi would have been forced to surrender.
Why did the Rain Shinobi—originally Konoha's allies—rebel?
Why was Konoha's marching route exposed so accurately?
There was absolutely no way there were no traitors.
Everyone present was a battle-hardened ninja.
What they hated most were traitors.
If this matter wasn't explained, no one would dare fight for Konoha again in the future.
On this point, the Third Hokage could only nod heavily.
Danzo didn't object either.
Not because he didn't want to, but because he had no grounds to.
If he opposed now, he would only appear more suspicious.
After getting everyone's consent, the ANBU ninja brought in a full set of instruments from the interrogation room.
Yamanaka donned a metal helmet.
This helmet was connected to a huge crystal ball that could project the memories he detected.
He lightly placed his palm on the dying Hanzo's head.
Then closed his eyes, and the probing began.
All the Jōnin present stared intently at the crystal ball.
What happened today truly shocked them.
Those participating in this meeting were all high-level ninjas, or powerful commoner Jōnin.
Everyone had sharp insight.
They were already vaguely aware of the treachery involved.
First, Orochimaru rebelled; then it was revealed that the Hokage had spared rebellious ninja disciples; and now, the inside story of the Battle of the Land of Rain was surfacing...
Under the oppressive atmosphere in the conference room, it felt like violent thunder was brewing.
Konoha's sky was about to change.
The only one who remained calm was Simu.
At this moment, he was gently holding Kushina, paying no attention to what was happening in front of him.
Weakened by old age and serious injuries, Hanzo's willpower was faint compared to usual.
But still far beyond that of an average ninja.
Even a master like Yamanaka Haiichi spent a full hour breaking through the defenses of his mind.
With a tremor in Hanzo's body,
countless images began to appear on the crystal ball.
First, Hanzo's boyhood — how he gradually became a powerful ninja on the war-torn battlefield of the Land of Rain.
With his terrifying strength and the poison of the Summoning Beast Sanshō, he was hailed as a demigod.
The Land of Rain was also known as the country most likely to become the Sixth Great Nation.
It was precisely because the Land of Rain was growing stronger that it aroused the dissatisfaction of the surrounding powers.
No major country wanted to see another great power emerge beside it.
Thus, the Second Ninja World War broke out.
The Land of Rain faced simultaneous invasions from the three great powers: the Land of Earth, the Land of Fire, and the Land of Wind.
At that time, the high-spirited Hanzo, determined to protect his homeland, made a bold move:
He declared war on the three great powers simultaneously!
This was the pinnacle of Hanzo's will and strength.
It was no exaggeration to call Hanzo a demigod at this time.
Even the surrounding audience couldn't help but feel excited watching this scene.
Although the Land of Wind was defeated, and the Land of Earth's troops were overwhelmed one after another,
when facing the most powerful Konoha of that era, Hanzo still felt powerless.
This was not due to a lack of individual strength,
but because of the weakness of his country.
Even if he defeated the local troops time and again,
so what?
Even if a thousand soldiers died in those great countries,
under strong national power, they could immediately send tens of thousands more to fight.
What about the Land of Rain?
It was barren and weak.
Faced with this predicament, Hanzo of the Salamander lost the will to fight.
He finally chose to surrender to Konoha after granting Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru the title of Konoha Sannin.
Seeing this, many sighed.
Orochimaru was once majestic and regarded as a pillar of Konoha.
Now he had become a rebellious ninja, and in the end, only a white snake clone lay quietly on the ground, waiting to be dealt with.
Then, World War III came to an end.
The images in the crystal ball took on a more eerie tone.
With the defeat of the Land of Rain,
the Root, led by Danzo, began making deals with Hanzo of the Salamander.
Hanzo became reserved and cowardly.
The ninjas who allowed the Root to conduct human experiments in the Land of Rain...
The memory was projected here, and everyone's eyes fell on Tuan Gu.
Even the Third Hokage's complexion turned very ugly.
Human experimentation was absolutely forbidden in Konoha.
Unexpectedly, Danzo actually...
Danzo's face was equally gloomy.
But that alone was not enough to cause everyone's outrage.
After all, these were people from the Land of Rain.
Even within Konoha, many radicals believed that Konoha's attitude toward defeated countries after World War II was too lenient.
From then on, the Land of Rain was shrouded in the bloody rule of the Root.
Until...
The outbreak of the Land of Rain Incident.
"Mr. Hanzo, this is a letter from Mr. Danzo."
A man's figure appeared from the crystal ball.
It was Danzo's most valued assistant, Aburame Ryoma.
Hanzo opened the letter, and the large characters inside were especially eye-catching:
"Combined Rock Shinobi and Sand Shinobi, besiege the Hanbu Bureau!"
Humming...
The entire conference room seemed frozen in time; everyone was motionless.
Danzo's hand gripping the scepter trembled violently.
"Wrong..."
"Wrong..."
Danzo's eyes turned red, like a furious old dog.
"These memories are fabricated by you!"
He raised the crutch in his hand.
Air currents swirled around it like a sharp blade, aimed at the same bed.
Simu reached out with his scaled arm and easily grabbed it.
The wind blade only stirred sparks in Simu's palm and had no effect.
Instead, the hard crutch cracked inch by inch under Simu's immense strength.
Eventually, it shattered into sawdust and fell to the ground.
"Elder Danzo, are you trying to escape?"
There was endless killing intent in Simu's tone.
"Arrest this old traitor!"
Simu's cold order echoed throughout the conference room.
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