Danzo met Shen Mo's gaze, his single eye sweeping over the scattered contents of the jars. An overwhelming realization began to dawn—Shen Mo's words, though arrogant, were terrifyingly accurate.
These seemingly disparate items—handicrafts, seeds, books—were tools that could genuinely affect the political and economic landscape of Konoha and the Shinobi world.
But the complexity felt alienating. Danzo's mind craved direct, martial power—a single, undeniable force. He wanted the ability to conquer, not the patience to cultivate.
He took a sharp breath, staring directly at Shen Mo. "Since this jar is intended to elevate me to Hokage... the power contained within cannot be weak."
"Power on the scale of the First Hokage?" Shen Mo crossed his arms over his chest, a flicker of amusement in his eyes, as if reading the precise thought bubble floating above Danzo's head.
"Exactly!" Danzo affirmed, abandoning all pretense. "Power! If I possess the strongest power, the Hokage seat will naturally be mine!" His conviction was absolute: control required strength, and any weakness would lead to collapse.
Shen Mo merely sighed internally. This was the precise reason he could exploit Danzo. The man's need for absolute, personal control meant he would forever resist the idea of collaborative strength or trust. He would rather destroy the entire system than concede even a millimeter of authority.
"Idiot," Shen Mo stated, his tone sharpening, tinged with genuine disappointment. "Your definition of power is pitifully narrow."
Danzo remained silent, his gaze challenging Shen Mo to elaborate.
"Your current combat strength is, by any objective metric, perhaps only marginally inferior to Sarutobi Hiruzen's," Shen Mo conceded.
Danzo's expression twitched. He knew this was true—in terms of raw combat Jutsu, his own power was formidable.
Shen Mo's voice cut through the silence again. "Yet, why is Sarutobi Hiruzen the Hokage now, and not you?"
Danzo felt a painful, internal tightening. Stop invoking Hiruzen! Even ignoring the present, the choice had been made decades ago by their master, the Second Hokage, who selected Hiruzen over him.
"It implies," Danzo said, his voice flat with suppressed anger, "that my strength is insufficient."
"Was Uchiha Madara strong enough?" Shen Mo countered.
This time, Danzo had no defense. Madara had fought the First Hokage to a standstill, nearly destroying him.
"If Uchiha Madara had defeated the First Hokage and used his peerless, absolute strength to conquer the Shinobi world, what would the result be?" Shen Mo pressed.
Danzo fell silent. He knew the answer: Madara's methods would lead to the destruction of the entire framework established by the First Hokage, resulting in endless conflict and tyranny.
"Power is certainly vital," Shen Mo said, his expression softening to one of calm instruction.
"But it is not the brute strength you prioritize. A true ruler gathers the world's power. Sarutobi Hiruzen's power is far greater than yours. How many citizens and clans in Konoha support him? How many support you? Is that not also a form of power?"
Danzo was forced to acknowledge the painful truth. Hiruzen's political capital was immense, and as long as the Third Hokage lived, his ascension was impossible.
"Observe this." Shen Mo flicked his fingers, and a small, sealed pouch floated out. Plant seeds rattled inside. "Do you recognize these?"
Danzo peered at the seeds, recognizing them as an unfamiliar variety of grain.
"This is a high-yield grain strain from another world," Shen Mo said, a hint of genuine excitement entering his voice. "Its yield surpasses your native strains by at least tenfold."
Tsunade's eyes widened. She had traveled extensively and seen firsthand the precarious lives of common people outside the villages, constantly battling scarcity. The sheer economic impact of this single item was staggering.
Danzo, a man who dealt in the financial realities of war, felt his focus shift entirely. He knew Konoha's military budget was constantly strained by the need to feed its large population of high-metabolism ninja.
"And this," Shen Mo said, moving a thick, detailed manual toward him.
"The Obstetrics and Maternity Care of Sows. A shame it's only a partial text. I once knew an Emperor who financed his entire pre-conquest campaign by implementing large-scale, high-efficiency pig farming. He used that capital to buy loyalty and arms."
Danzo swallowed hard. Though the example was absurd, he grasped the underlying truth. Money was the sinews of war.
"And finally, this." Shen Mo held up a single, damaged blueprint.
"This details a highly efficient, cost-reducing method for steel production. It will drastically lower the cost of manufacturing blades while simultaneously improving their quality. Tell me, if you were to introduce these innovations and flood Konoha with such economic benefit, would the major clans' view of you simply 'change'?"
It would be a revolution. Danzo's mind raced. He could use this prosperity to slowly erode the clans' reliance on the Hokage system. Once Sarutobi was gone, the groundwork would be complete.
"You may try absorbing any one of the Light Spheres," Shen Mo offered, encouraging him to take the next step.
Danzo hesitated briefly, then pointed a trembling finger at one of his Root subordinates. The ninja absorbed the sphere, his eyes briefly glazing over before snapping back open, filled with astonishment and a touch of horror.
"Sir," the subordinate reported, his voice filled with a stunned reverence, "I... I understand a concept called The Power of Capital."
"Excellent," Shen Mo smiled, nodding to Danzo. "A ruler must understand capital. All fame, fortune, and political power are merely its manifestations. It is omnipresent, all-encompassing, and possesses the means to control human hearts far more effectively than your shabby, stolen Genjutsu."
The ninja nodded, terrified. The knowledge absorbed was a cold, concise lesson on using financial leverage to silently dismantle entire governments.
Danzo was visibly hooked. He reached out and touched a second sphere. A rush of pure knowledge filled his mind: "The Fourth Compulsory Course for Kings—Lesson Three: Fundamentals of Economic Warfare."
The detailed strategies for crippling an enemy nation's infrastructure through covert economic manipulation were laid out with chilling clarity.
Danzo no longer hesitated. He began absorbing the remaining knowledge spheres one after the other, his face a mask of intense concentration.
Shen Mo simply watched, knowing the battle was won. Danzo's ego could not be swayed by talk of morality, but he was utterly susceptible to the mechanics of unseen control and power acquisition.
These lessons—with their emphasis on grand, state-level conflicts and impersonal, ruthless efficiency—were precisely what he needed. They forced him to stop viewing his political struggles as a small, backroom squabble and to embrace a truly expansive ambition.
After several long minutes, Danzo absorbed the final sphere. He stood motionless for a moment, then let out a deep, slow sigh of pure enlightenment.
"How profound," Danzo murmured, his voice heavy with the weight of new knowledge. "The cultivation of a king is truly profound."
He now understood Shen Mo's earlier contempt. A true ruler did not rely on messy assassinations or desperate illusion tactics.
A true king implemented an obvious conspiracy—a benevolent reform that his subjects would willingly fall into, unable to resist its benefits, and ultimately, grateful for the chains of prosperity. He would never lose his position like this again.