"How is it? Surprised?" Danzo asked calmly as he sipped his tea.
"I am." Isamu slowly lowered the intelligence scroll in his hand, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I never expected the once-glorious Senju Clan to actually choose to leave Konoha. That really is unexpected."
In the original timeline of the world, the disappearance of the Senju Clan had always been a mystery. Now, however, the truth seemed to be surfacing before him.
They hadn't vanished naturally.
They had been forced out.
And judging from Danzo personally delivering this information, Konoha itself clearly intended to erase the Senju Clan completely.
"What's so strange about it?" Danzo replied indifferently. "The Senju Clan invested far too much strength into the First and Second Ninja Wars. Their elite forces suffered catastrophic losses, and now they no longer have anyone capable of supporting the clan. It's only natural that they'd want to leave Konoha."
"No backing, huh…" Isamu lightly tapped the table with his finger before glancing toward Danzo. "But you didn't come all the way here just to tell me the Senju are leaving, did you?"
A cold smile appeared on Danzo's face.
"Of course not. Konoha is not a place people can enter and leave whenever they please." He leaned forward slightly. "Isamu, you understand what I mean, don't you?"
As expected.
Konoha truly intended to make a move against the Senju Clan.
Isamu narrowed his eyes.
"What does the Third Hokage think about this? Did he agree?"
Danzo slowly set down his teacup.
"The Senju are one of Konoha's founding clans. Hiruzen couldn't openly reject their request to leave." He paused briefly. "As for the rest… while he didn't explicitly say it, he silently approved it. You know what kind of person Hiruzen is. Some things cannot be done publicly."
"So you'll dirty your hands for him instead."
Danzo did not deny it.
Isamu let out a faint laugh.
"To move against your own teacher's clan… you two disciples of Tobirama truly are ruthless."
"Hmph."
Danzo's expression darkened slightly.
"Enough nonsense. I came here today for one reason only." His sharp eyes locked onto Isamu. "When the time comes, I hope you won't interfere."
"Interfere?" Isamu looked amused. "You're overthinking things. The Senju Clan's affairs have nothing to do with me."
He spoke casually, almost lazily.
"If not for Tsunade, I wouldn't even spare them a glance. Go ahead and do whatever you want. I won't stop you."
Danzo carefully observed Isamu's expression.
There was no hesitation.
No anger.
No attachment whatsoever.
Only indifference.
Finally, Danzo relaxed slightly.
"That's good. I thought you might oppose us."
"Oppose you?" Isamu sneered. "A bunch of fools destroying each other has nothing to do with me."
To him, the Senju Clan truly meant nothing.
Even after marrying Tsunade, he had never felt any sense of belonging toward them. The so-called Senju of the Forest had long since decayed from the inside out.
Cowardly.
Arrogant.
Complacent.
The glory of Hashirama Senju had vanished long ago.
Compared to the old Uchiha war faction, the current Senju Clan was nothing more than an empty shell.
Danzo stood up.
"During the operation, stay inside Konoha."
"Fine."
Without another word, Danzo turned and left.
Watching his departing figure, Isamu chuckled softly.
"You really never win an argument against me, Danzo…"
After Danzo disappeared, Isamu leaned back in his chair and stared quietly at the ceiling.
The destruction of the Senju Clan…
What irony.
The clan founded by Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama would ultimately be destroyed by Tobirama's own disciples.
If Tobirama were alive to witness this scene, his expression would probably be priceless.
Thinking about that stubborn old war fanatic from the Uchiha faction, Isamu couldn't help but smile faintly.
"If that old man heard the Senju were about to be wiped out, he'd probably laugh himself to death."
Unfortunately, he still couldn't enter the Small World created by his Rinnegan.
Without his Main Body fully recovering, there was no way to reopen the passage.
"Forget it. There's no point thinking about it now."
Shaking away the distracting thoughts, Isamu closed his eyes briefly.
The next morning, after Isamu and Kushina headed off to the Ninja Academy, Isamu quietly arrived at the training grounds deep within the forest behind Konoha.
Then he hid himself high within the branches of a giant tree.
Today was the Genin team assignment day.
And he already knew exactly who Isamu's team leader would be.
One of the Legendary Sannin—
Jiraiya.
Half a year ago, Jiraiya had finally returned from the Land of Rain after finishing the training of the Ame Orphans.
The moment he returned to Konoha, Hiruzen immediately assigned him a new Genin squad.
The members were:
Isamu.
Minato Namikaze.
And Uzumaki Kushina.
As for the reason Isamu knew Jiraiya would bring them here…
It was simple.
This forest clearing was where the Sannin themselves had once trained under Hiruzen Sarutobi.
It was also where Hiruzen first tested them.
Jiraiya absolutely would not choose another place.
Thinking about the upcoming scene, the corners of Isamu's mouth slowly curled upward.
Minato already possessed the strength of an Elite Genin.
Isamu was even stronger, already comparable to a Chunin.
Even Kushina was no ordinary Genin.
If Jiraiya underestimated those three little monsters…
Then today's test would definitely become very interesting.
"Heh…"
Leaning lazily against the tree trunk, Isamu quietly waited for the show to begin.