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It was a testament to his forethought and tactical ability that he’d made it this far. There was a time when he lamented being overlooked for the likes of Hiruzen but now he could see how he benefitted from the snub. Danzo bided his time, compounded his strength and learned from the mistakes of the unworthy that warmed the office for him.
His time had finally come with the Akatsuki attack on his village. With the limited warning that they’d gotten from that deeply untrustworthy excuse of a spymaster, there was no reasonable way to recall all of their forces from outside of the village in time and especially not defend with what was remaining. As much as it infuriated him, he held back his support. With the messenger to the jinchūriki dead and the Hokage and the strongest fighters out of depth in the fight, he waited. Danzo’s mind began to conjure the images of citizens, monuments and clans being decimated along with the very real rumble from above his hidden base. It was only when the report of Tsunade being downed came in that he deployed all 256 of his ROOT soldiers and once enough time had passed, joined the battle himself.
Sufficed to say, he came out looking like the hero that left the village to secure enough soldiers to save them all. He corrected no one.
When the Daimyo sneered at the damage of the village that he claimed have power over, he was all too happy to support Danzo as the Rokudaime and the rest of the surviving council followed suit.
He liked to think that he settled into the office with grace even though it was owed to him more than four decades prior. He despised the rowdy disorder of the Fourth’s coronation and the irrational screams of the recently departed Fifth’s coronation. He couldn’t recall much of anything about the Third’s coronation as he’d been overcome with righteous indignation. When he walked out onto the platform to a peaceful candlelight vigil, he was pleased. There was quiet, order and no disrespectful chants to interrupt his speech.
He finally had the power to do what needed to be done to secure Konoha’s position as the world’s superpower.
He had plans. He had plans for his plans and decades of notes, potential fallouts, outcomes and contingencies. Danzo hadn’t wasted a moment of his time lying in wait.
The first thing that he did was recall all active shinobi to the village bar Jiraiya of the Sannin. He would deal with that degenerate later. The entire village was in dire need of repairs and the superior strength of the shinobi would be invaluable. The inevitable belly-aching made him move his plans further.
Phase two was enacted when he declared martial law. It was the first time since the second hokage’s reign that anyone had experienced such a thing. They were spoiled and soft so he took the reins. With the integration of his ROOT into the main military force, they set the example and the others soon fell in line with limited need for consequences. All rebellion was treated similar to desertion during war.
With his newly obedient workforce, he divided them equally with half patrolling the village day and night. The inside needed to be monitored for spies or dissenters and the outside needed to be patrolled to either defend or deter from upstarts that thought they could take advantage of their current perceived weakness. The other half were temporarily dedicated to the betterment of the village. At the moment, that meant rebuilding and clearing the results of three hokages’ worth of poor leadership.
The Academy curriculum was returned to what it should be, properly educating and pumping out fully functional soldiers at 10 years old and not the ignorant daydreamers that had been the result of watered-down coddling disguised as teaching.
Phase three was peaceful and easy. The daimyo took months to notice the changes and in his slow mind, he thought that the withdrawal of his Konoha guard had been temporary. When he finally decided he was tired of his missives being ignored he made the ludicrous decision to send some samurai. Danzo sent their bodies back with the declaration of sovereignty pinned to the leader’s chest. Soon the council would be disbanded as well.
Even with his victory absolute and his many plans having their framework laid, now was not the time to settle. He fully intended for Konoha to thrive beyond his death but even the framework required a strong foundation.
His safety would need to be assured for now.
It was no matter to see to a constructive display of skill. His jōnin were given temporary leave of their duties in groups in order to prove that they were worth their title or be demoted. Once it became clear that rank was on the line and more than a few Tokubetsu jōnin were swiftly demoted, the tournament quickly became a bloody feud. He hadn’t seen ninja this motivated in years.
There was one match in particular that interested him. It was between some insignificant Aburame whose name escaped him and a rather notable looking Inuzuka. The fight was as mismatched as could be while not truly skewing the results. A long-ranged fighter with limited stamina against a close-range fighter with near unlimited stamina and a ninken with years of combat experience. The boy did well and even when he lost his clothes to a rather pointless acid that didn’t even seem to leave a scratch on the soldier himself, he still managed to swiftly bridge the gap between them and subdue his opponent.
It was rare to be able to observe such a skilled specimen without raising their guard but the Inuzuka Jōnin was quite busy with his next opponent. Danzo could see from the tight, continuous ripple of the well-defined musculature that he was fulfilling his purpose out on the field. His unguarded battle stance showed a willingness to discard social etiquette for the sake of the mission, not a stitch surviving outside of his high-quality headband and yet he fought. Round after round, Danzo observed his soldier move and scoffed at the easily distracted failures that dared to enter the ring without the proper motivation. Those that went so far as to avert their eyes from something as paltry as genitals found themselves swiftly demoted. Konoha had no use for such weak-willed leaders and he had half a mind to have them all stripped and flogged for such unprofessionalism. Danzo was well-suited indeed for this position as he had learned early on to judge a proper soldier by their body and how they carried themselves. It was a skill that took time and proper effort to hone.
This Kiba Inuzuka would be more than suited to protect the Konoha’s leader. His day guard was already filled with his most loyal but it was for the best that not too many of his ROOT be away from their posts around the village. He could happily spare from his night guard and be secure in the fact that a dedicated warrior would do his duty no matter the personal cost.
The past Hokage were as weak as some of the jōnin now. They argued for things like “privacy” and “independence” when they were the future of the village. What was the sacrifice of having a guard with you in your quarters when it meant the prosperity of your lands? How useful were they guarding from the outskirts of the Hokage mansion?
No. Danzo had goals to accomplish.
His new guard would be with him from the moment that he retired from the office for the day. Bedroom, bathroom and any late-night interruptions would be handled with Hokage Guard Kiba Inuzuka by his side helping him keep the peace.
Oh, yes. He would do nicely.