Reborn as Danzō’s Grandson, Must I Offend the Entire Ninja World?

Sasori was about to mock Deidara's arrogance.

Their mission was only to capture the Kazekage. All they had to do was head directly to the location given by the spy.

However, as if trying to show off, Deidara began dropping large numbers of C3 clay bombs into the village as soon as he entered.

Dozens of humanoid bombs rained down on Sunagakure, causing powerful explosions that nearly woke up all of Suna's shinobi.

Fortunately, Deidara's clay bird was agile and remained airborne, giving him the high-ground advantage.

Most of the Suna shinobi could only stand on the ground and throw kunai or shuriken in an attempt to interfere.

The only one who could truly pose a threat was Gaara.

Streams of yellow sand surged upward, transforming into arms that reached for Deidara, while Gaara stepped onto the sand and gave chase.

The two exchanged fierce blows.

But in reality, Deidara had the upper hand.

Gaara had to both intercept Deidara's path and protect the village from the scattered bombs, forcing a large portion of his chakra into defense.

Even so, Gaara managed to seize an opportunity and used Sand Coffin to trap one of Deidara's arms.

But Deidara didn't care about the loss of his arm at all. Taking advantage of the situation, the mouth on his severed arm spat out countless tiny spider bombs hidden within the sand.

Sensing the time was right, Deidara launched a clay bird with his remaining arm and charged toward Gaara.

Gaara had no choice but to encase himself in a sand sphere to block the explosion. He succeeded, but Deidara laughed triumphantly.

The miniature spiders had already infiltrated the sand sphere, and Gaara was now a turtle in a sealed pot.

Deidara raised his sword fingers proudly and shouted, "Art is an explosion, hm!"

Boom—!

A muffled sound rang out, smoke billowing from the sand sphere. In the despairing eyes of countless Suna shinobi, the sand shell broke apart, revealing a heavily injured Gaara.

Using his final bit of strength, Gaara floated the sand above the village, then collapsed.

Deidara's giant bird swooped in, caught him, and flew out of the village.

Before leaving, Deidara dropped all the clay bombs he had prepared earlier.

In an instant, Suna was engulfed in flames. No one could be spared to pursue him.

Sasori watched the entire process and sneered.

"What a weakling..."

Their own Kazekage was taken away in front of them, yet they couldn't do a thing in response.

This was even more incompetent than the time he killed the Third Kazekage. Back then, at least Rasa was there to hold the village together.

Now that Gaara was gone, who would stand up for Suna?

Soon, Sasori got his answer.

Kankuro had escaped Deidara's earlier trap and caught up with Sasori and Deidara, who weren't moving at full speed.

Seeing the pursuer was just a puppeteer, Deidara laughed and flew ahead with Gaara.

Sunagakure really took them for fools, thinking puppets could stop him?

What did they want him to do—laugh to death and leave his clay bombs behind?

Inside Hiruko, Sasori was even more irritated.

Even now, they still considered his childhood creations as trump cards.

These puppeteers were utterly useless. Did they really not understand what innovation meant?

Enraged, Sasori overwhelmed Kankuro with ease, toying with his puppets like a child playing with blocks.

In the end, he poisoned Kankuro and left him lying in the desert.

Half an hour later, Baki arrived with his squad and found Kankuro and his broken puppets lying scattered across the sand. His expression turned grim.

"Lord Baki, what do we do now?"

The Anbu beside him was panicked. The Kazekage had been taken, and the strongest puppeteer in the village was unconscious from poison. How could Suna possibly rescue Gaara?

"All we can do now is rely on Temari. Hopefully... she can convince Shimura Yami."

Baki sighed deeply, feeling frustrated.

In the five great shinobi villages, their Kazekage had been abducted, and they had to rely on outside help just to have a chance at rescue.

Soon after, two messenger hawks soared into the sky, flying at full speed toward the Land of Fire.

Konoha.

Sunagakure's messenger hawks had yet to arrive, but the delegation sent to Kirigakure had returned.

"The situation wasn't ideal," reported Hyūga Hiashi, the leader of the delegation, his expression showing faint dissatisfaction. "The elder only showed up at the beginning. After that, a shinobi named Terumi Mei handled the negotiations."

"The Byakugan that once belonged to Hyūga Mingyao is now in the possession of a Jōnin named Ao. Numerous seals have been applied to it. Forcibly taking or killing him would destroy the Byakugan."

Hiashi's face darkened. His mood was terrible.

The Byakugan of the Hyūga clan had actually become a strategic weapon in another village's hands. It was humiliating.

Yami thought for a moment. "I think this sealing technique is actually pretty good. It protects the Byakugan from theft and preserves its integrity. Might be something your clan should consider."

Hiashi's anger turned to resignation.

Was this really the time to praise the enemy?

Yami's logic was simply beyond comprehension. Hiashi gave up on responding and continued, "Kirigakure was polite, but every time we brought up the Byakugan, they dodged the topic. Either they changed the subject or said it was Ao's personal trophy and not the village's concern."

"But because of their polite attitude, we had no excuse to get angry. We couldn't risk making Konoha look petty."

Yami sighed and laced his fingers together on the desk. "You people care too much about face. We're shinobi. Everything we do is shady anyway. What good is pride?"

"This is all Hiruzen's fault. All that nonsense about lofty ideals and virtue."

The boy roasted Hiruzen again, then waved his hand. "Go call the old man."

An Anbu member left with the order. Ten minutes later, Danzō was brought to the Hokage office.

Despite being 70, Danzō was still full of energy. Years of good health care and a lighter workload had kept him looking the same as a decade ago.

After Yami explained the situation with Kirigakure, Danzō immediately understood and let out a cold sneer, sending chills down everyone's spines.

"Leave it to me. It's just a weakened Kirigakure. Root can turn them upside down."

Danzō had a clear view of his strengths now. He wasn't good at building, having never dealt with that. But when it came to sabotage and harassment, there was no one in the shinobi world better.

Plus, the Root's overall strength had improved significantly. Even without Kage-level individuals, with Hashirama cells and chakra armor, they were elite among elites.

So long as they didn't fight Kirigakure head-on, they could be a constant thorn in their side.

Hiashi offered a kind smile. "We'll leave it to you, Elder Danzō."

Because of Hinata, Danzō wouldn't treat the Hyūga harshly. He nodded calmly. "Everything is for Konoha. No need for formalities."

"Bu—"

Yami was about to speak when a rapid knock came at the door.

A signal corps member burst in after getting permission.

"Hokage-sama! Urgent report from Sunagakure! Kazekage Gaara has been captured by an unknown individual. Suna is requesting assistance!"

…

Moments later, Temari rushed into the Hokage building.

"Yami-sama…"

She looked at him pleadingly, but no words came out.

She was afraid that if she asked, she'd anger Yami and lose their only chance of saving Gaara.

"I don't think we should help."

Danzō spoke first, playing the role of the bad guy.

Hinata was Yami's official fiancée. Temari, in contrast, was just a captive. Even if they lived together, she held no real status.

Danzō reasoned, "Yami, you're the Hokage. You must put Konoha's interests first. The weakening of other great powers benefits us most. Don't act on emotion."

The others remained silent but agreed with him deep down.

Though many disapproved of Danzō's methods in the past, his loyalty to Konoha was never in question.

Yami tapped his fingers on the desk, deep in thought.

He didn't speak for a long time.

Temari was on the verge of collapse when he finally opened his mouth.

"Red cloud on a black cloak… Looks like Akatsuki captured Gaara. We'll save him. Even if we can't, taking down two Akatsuki members wouldn't be a loss."

Soon after, several individuals were summoned to the Hokage office.

Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, Karin, and Seimei.

Yami dismissed the others and shared the information.

When Naruto learned that Gaara had been captured because of the Tailed Beast inside him, his eyes burned with anger…

As a Jinchūriki, was it impossible to escape the fate of being used?

He felt sorrow for Gaara and a heavy burden from his own identity.

Tonight, he'd visit the sealed space and beat up his father again.

The others sympathized but weren't as emotionally affected as Naruto. Kakashi and Sasuke focused more on Akatsuki.

"Maybe we'll run into Uchiha Itachi," Sasuke muttered, clenching his fists. A red gleam flashed in his eyes.

"Karin, your job is to treat Kankuro. Seimei, you're the main force in battle."

"Understood, Yami-sama." Karin adjusted her glasses calmly.

After years of learning from Tsunade, she had fully inherited her legacy. Whether it was monstrous strength or medical prowess, she was nearly Tsunade's equal in her youth.

The only regret… her figure would never match Tsunade's.

Without any more delay, the team set out immediately, Temari included.

Before leaving, Yami handed her a scroll and told her to give it to Gaara. If he couldn't be saved, it would go to Suna's next Kazekage.

As the group was leaving, Kurotsuchi arrived.

She had seen the distress scroll Temari left at home and, upon recognizing the clay bombs, immediately guessed her former senior Deidara was the one behind it.

"Temari, I'm sorry." Kurotsuchi looked at her close friend with guilt. "I'm coming too. I know Deidara's explosives better than anyone."

"No, this isn't your fault."

Temari declined her help and quickly caught up with the others.

Ever since Yami discovered a batch of White Zetsu, there had been no more sightings in the Land of Fire. The Gedo Statue hadn't awakened, and Uchiha Madara, who could create them, was dead.

Black Zetsu cherished his remaining pawns and wouldn't waste them.

Still, when Kakashi's group arrived in Suna and Karin detoxified Kankuro, Akatsuki had already received word of Konoha's movements.

Land of River.

Inside a cave, Sasori and Deidara coordinated with the phantoms of the Akatsuki members to extract Shukaku from Gaara.

Without Orochimaru, whose hand hadn't recovered, the Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals couldn't be activated.

"Konoha's reach really is long," Pain muttered coldly.

He ordered Deidara and Sasori to prepare two sacrificial puppets for the Impure World Reincarnation to buy time.

"Kisame and I have enough chakra. Let's go," Itachi said, volunteering after learning Sasuke was among the rescue team.

Even if it was just a puppet clone with partial power, he could use the opportunity to test Sasuke's growth.

Pain nodded.

"Delay them as much as possible. The extraction will take time."

"Understood."

Kakashi's group tracked them to the Land of River using Pakkun's keen nose. Along the way, Kakashi reminded the younger shinobi,

"Be careful when you see Akatsuki. They're dangerous rogue ninjas. Not to be underestimated."

"Would be better to just kill them all," Sasuke said coldly.

Chiyo, who had joined the mission, laughed. "Now that's a true Uchiha."

Kakashi sighed. Sasuke's mouth was more dangerous than his Sharingan.

Soon, the group came to a stop.

Two figures in black cloaks with red clouds blocked their path.

"Uchiha Itachi. Hoshigaki Kisame."

Kakashi's expression turned grim.

That made four Akatsuki members total, counting the ones who attacked Suna.

He immediately pushed up his forehead protector, revealing his Sharingan.

But someone else was even more impatient.

"Uchiha Itachi!"

Sasuke shouted, forming hand seals mid-yell.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

A massive fireball flew at them. Itachi's expression didn't change. He raised one hand and completed a seal, spewing out a fireball of the same size.

At the same time, his cold voice echoed out.

"Not bad, Sasuke. You've finally become worthy of my attention."

(To be continued.)

***

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