Chapter 97: Killing Two Birds with One Stone
Danzo waited for Fox's reply.
Yako's heart was coiled tight with tension. If he said the wrong thing, Danzo would silence him here and now.
He rapidly organized his thoughts and said:
"Lord Danzo! We must make a huge show of carrying the news back to the village that Uchiha Madara is still alive. Once we do, the village will muster a massive strike team to hunt him down. Uchiha Madara being alive is Konoha's worst nightmare.
"The spot where Kato Dan fell isn't far from where Madara surfaced. He had Senju guards flanking him, so I imagine the Senju clan has a rough idea of his coordinates. If we take Kato Dan's body and dump it inside the Deep Forest Emergence that Uchiha Madara unleashed, framing it to look as though Kato Dan died at Madara's hands—wouldn't that kill two birds with one stone?"
Danzo's eyelids lifted a fraction, deeply intrigued. "How would it kill two birds with one stone?"
Sensing that his proposal had struck a chord, Yako pressed forward without pausing:
"First, it neatly accounts for Kato Dan's death. With Dan dead, Tsunade will tear apart earth and sky trying to hunt down the truth. But if Kato Dan died fighting Uchiha Madara, Tsunade won't have any recourse. After all, her own grandfather died of premature aging from the toll of his death duel against Uchiha Madara at the Valley of the End.
"Second, it diverts the disaster eastward. The Senju clan will inevitably turn their fury toward the Uchiha clan. Once the Senju and the Uchiha lock horns in internal strife, neither side will have the breathing room to dig into the truth behind this death."