Naruto: I Kill, I Loot, I Ascend

Chapter 216: Danzo’s Prestige — Flame Demon Hyuga Arin

"Alright. Things have been arranged for the most part recently," Danzo said coldly. "You can return to your task of persuading Orochimaru."

Recently, Root had been moving quite actively. Danzo frequently visited various ninja clans.

Having Hyuga Arin, the Flame Demon, standing behind him brought a lot of credibility.

In simpler terms—

It made for excellent showing off.

Several clans had already chosen to cooperate with them.

The Aburame and Yamanaka clans were the main ones. They had been considering it for a while but hadn't fully committed.

However, once they saw Arin standing beside Danzo, they immediately agreed.

The Akimichi and Nara clans, however, showed no reaction at all.

The reason for the Akimichi was simple.

Their clan still had elders with both high status and great strength, so they had no need to rely on Danzo.

Among the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, the Akimichi clan was actually the strongest.

As for the Nara clan—

Their ninja were famously calm and rational.

They were also Konoha's well-known strategist clan, and they were extremely resistant to joining Root.

After all, Root's requirements were strict.

First, members had to erase their public identity.

Then they had to undergo emotional suppression training.

In the end, they would become little more than machines.

Danzo had also wanted to recruit members of the Hyuga clan.

The issue of the Byakugan could easily be solved with special contact lenses.

Besides, Arin could remove the Caged Bird Seal, meaning branch family members wouldn't need to fear betrayal through clan control.

Unfortunately, the entire Hyuga clan had become extremely wary of him.

That was because he had publicly supported Arin last time and exposed his intentions.

Danzo glared fiercely at Arin.

"So my mission is finished?" Arin asked while rubbing his chin.

"It's finished," Danzo replied irritably.

Everyone who needed to be contacted had already been contacted.

Root was no longer a secret among the major clans.

Arin suddenly stretched out his hand.

"What are you doing?" Danzo frowned.

"Payment," Arin said matter-of-factly.

"I worked for you. You're not planning to pay nothing, right?"

"You're not going to delay employee wages, are you?"

"Surely not… right?"

His tone became increasingly strange.

Danzo's anger rose with every word.

"Ryoma!" Danzo shouted.

A silent man with dark markings on his face appeared behind him.

The newly joined Root member—

Aburame Ryoma.

"Pay Hyuga Arin according to an A-rank mission reward."

"Yes."

Only then did Arin smile with satisfaction.

"I thought you were calling him over to kill me."

Danzo and Ryoma both twitched slightly.

Arin's strength was obvious to everyone.

He had even managed to rescue the Three Sannin from the hands of the Iwagakure Tsuchikage, Onoki.

No one knew exactly how he did it.

But the fact remained—he had succeeded.

Danzo estimated that in the entire Root organization, no one besides himself could defeat Arin with certainty.

And yet he expected Ryoma to kill him?

Veins popped on Danzo's forehead.

"GET OUT!!!"

Did this brat not understand the concept of respecting one's superior?

Danzo became even more convinced of his belief—

Ninja should not have emotions.

Later

After receiving his satisfactory reward from Root, Arin returned home, changed clothes, and then headed toward Konoha Hospital.

At the moment, Konoha Hospital was still operated mainly by civilians.

But recently, there were signs of change.

"I heard ninja will start working in the hospital."

"Are you talking about those who can't continue being ninja anymore? That's not unusual."

Many doctors in Konoha Hospital were former ninja who had lost limbs or suffered severe injuries.

Since they could no longer fight, they relied on their chakra control to work as medical staff.

That was already common.

"No, this time it's different."

"This time they're fully capable ninja."

Two nurses walked past Arin, their conversation drifting into his ears.

"So Hiruzen is planning to support Tsunade in establishing a medical-nin system," Arin murmured.

Now that the war had ended, it was the perfect time to build a medical structure.

Or perhaps—

Konoha's losses had simply been too severe.

They wanted to prevent similar losses in future wars.

Those losses weren't only the dead.

There were also many ninja who had been crippled or permanently injured.

If a proper medical system could be built, some of them might recover.

Konoha truly had too few people left now.

"During the Third Great Ninja War, Hiruzen even sent academy students to the battlefield."

"He must have been pushed to that point."

Such actions went against the original ideals behind Konoha's founding.

But those ideals had already been broken many times before.

One more time hardly mattered.

Arin arrived at Orochimaru's hospital room.

More precisely—

The Three Sannin's shared hospital room.

As soon as he looked inside, he saw Tsunade punching Jiraiya straight out the window.

"Idiot!! Write something decent for once!!" Tsunade shouted angrily, leaning on a crutch.

Orochimaru, lying in the bed between them, smiled helplessly.

Before Arin rescued them, the three had looked energetic.

But in reality, they had all been seriously injured.

They hadn't been surrounded for just one day—they had endured it for quite some time.

Tsunade had suppressed their injuries temporarily.

But after returning to Konoha, the injuries erupted again.

In the end, they all ended up hospitalized.

Hearing the door open, Tsunade turned and saw Arin.

Veins bulged on her forehead.

"You brat!! You still dare to show up!!"

She still hadn't settled the matter of him touching her earlier.

"Tsunade-senpai, it was an emergency situation," Arin said awkwardly, keeping his distance.

"Hmph!"

Tsunade snorted coldly.

"Thanks… for what you did."

After saying that, she ignored him and returned to her bed.

If Arin hadn't appeared, the three of them might have died there.

Tsunade still felt deep guilt.

Kato Dan's death had caused her to lose control.

That was why they had ended up surrounded.

"It was the Third Hokage's order anyway," Arin said casually.

After all, he had been paid very well afterward.

And now he had a whole household to support.

He had to earn more money.

So why—

Why did he have to support an entire clan when he wasn't even married yet?!

Arin sighed helplessly and sat down beside Orochimaru's bed.

Jiraiya climbed back through the window at that moment.

Fresh blood seeped through the bandages covering his face.

"Yo, Hyuga kid," he greeted.

"Thanks for saving us this time."

"Small matter," Arin waved it off.

Jiraiya climbed back onto his bed.

He had recently been inspired to write a novel.

Unfortunately—

Tsunade had seen it.

Orochimaru looked at his nominal disciple with a faint smile.

"So, what brings you here?"

"To visit you is just a side objective," Arin said casually.

"I mainly came to ask if you're interested in joining Root."

"Pff—"

"PFF—"

Both Jiraiya and Tsunade immediately spat out their drinks.

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