"Oh?" Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up.
Spar with him?
It had been a long time since he and Danzo Shimura had traded blows. Ever since one of them became Hokage and the other became his right-hand man, they'd stopped testing each other like they used to.
Back when they were younger, it had been constant.
A small fight every three days, a big one every five, and the rest of the time they were either patching themselves up or heading straight into another brawl.
Some of those clashes had been dangerous. Some had been smooth.
But in the end…
Hiruzen had never lost.
"Danzo," Hiruzen said suddenly, cutting to something else entirely, "what's your read on Kusagakure?"
He asked because he'd been turning over a different problem in his mind: once Tobirama Senju was revived, how did you arrange his identity?
If Tobirama came back as an Uchiha, then he couldn't appear in Konoha as "a Konoha shinobi." That would be exposed immediately.
An Uchiha who looked like Izuna Uchiha showing up out of nowhere? There was no way to explain that.
So Tobirama needed a background outside the village. Some kind of displaced orphan from the Warring States Era, someone who'd been separated and hidden away.
Maybe even a cover story tying him to Izuna's bloodline.
Hiruzen didn't know enough about Izuna's life to judge whether that would hold up. That would have to be discussed later, directly with Tobirama.
For now, Hiruzen had already picked a place to anchor the lie.
Kusagakure would be the "birthplace" of Uchiha Tobirama.
"Two-faced and spineless," Danzo said flatly. "A fence-sitter that bends with the wind, just like their name. They survive by studying other nations' techniques and constantly switching sides."
He didn't understand why Hiruzen had changed the subject, but when it came to work, Danzo was crisp and precise. "That village is a threat to Konoha."
"The part of the Land of Fire bordering the Land of Grass is flat ground, easy for troops to move through. Their border with the Land of Earth is mostly mountains, harder to push into. Naturally, that means they'll lean toward infiltrating the Land of Fire."
His eyes narrowed.
"And I suspect they're starting to act like battlefield hyenas again…"
Hiruzen's brows knit, but inside, a flicker of satisfaction sparked. "Do you have proof?"
"Battlefield hyenas" meant something very specific.
When the great nations went to war, there were always shinobi left behind: crippled, bleeding out, barely clinging to life. Konoha and the other major villages produced stronger shinobi on average than a small village like Kusagakure.
But even a jonin, if they were torn open and dying, could be finished off by an ordinary chunin.
Kusagakure had a history of using its slippery diplomacy to survive. They'd flip sides, feed information to whoever paid, then wait in the shadows while the major villages tore each other apart.
When the front-line fighting ended, they'd crawl out and "clean up," dragging away the half-dead shinobi from the big villages.
They stole techniques. They stole secrets.
Sometimes… they stole bloodlines.
They'd been caught doing it during the First Great Ninja War. For once, the five great villages had shown rare, unspoken agreement. Even while fighting each other, they'd turned and crushed Kusagakure together.
If Kusagakure hadn't dropped to their knees fast enough, crying and begging until their voices were raw…
And if the war itself hadn't been so brutal that even the "Kage" were dying, four of them gone…
Kusagakure would've been wiped off the map.
"I don't have proof," Danzo said. "But I have a feeling."
Before Konoha had moved to deter Kumogakure, Kusagakure activity along the Land of Fire border had become more frequent. Root had intercepted their movements several times.
"I reported that to you, Hiruzen," Danzo added, his tone carrying a faint edge.
"But your view then was that the Second Great Ninja War hadn't ended long ago, and we shouldn't stir up unnecessary conflict."
Hiruzen didn't change expression. "That was my mistake."
"But it's a good thing I have you as my support," he said smoothly. "You correct me. You keep me in check."
Danzo's mouth twitched upward before he could stop it.
Of course. He knew it.
Whether it was Hiruzen or the village, they couldn't function without him.
He was indispensable.
"Forget it," Danzo said, trying to sound magnanimous. "You think about more things than I do. An occasional bad call isn't something you should beat yourself up over…"
The moment the words left his mouth, Danzo startled internally.
Since when did he have a habit of defending the Hokage?
And yet…
If he thought about it, it wasn't completely wrong. Recently, Hiruzen had been worth learning from. Domestic policy, diplomacy, everything had been handled cleanly.
He shouldn't be this understanding, but not being understanding didn't feel quite right either…
Danzo's head started to throb. He decided to skip that thought for now and deal with it later.
"Kusagakure's Hozuki Castle," Danzo continued, "I think it's their nest. The place they hide their hyena behavior."
"A prison is the perfect environment," he said, voice low. "A closed compound."
Hiruzen nodded slowly, thoughtful.
Hozuki Castle had been built with the approval of the major villages, an "international prison" of sorts. In theory, it was meant to be a neutral holding facility for Rogue Ninja and wanderers who'd committed crimes across multiple villages, a third-party place for joint trials.
The idea sounded good.
But like Danzo said, with Kusagakure's hyena tradition soaked into the soil…
It was easy for a "neutral prison" to become a blind spot. A cage you could hide crimes inside, right under everyone's noses.
"Hiruzen," Danzo asked, "do we take them out?"
He paused, considering. "But with the current state of the shinobi world, if we move, it could set off a chain reaction. It might not be worth it."
Hiruzen stared at him for a second, then drawled, "Are you running a fever?"
His old friend… choosing restraint?
No wonder Danzo wanted to spar. His thinking had leveled up, which probably meant his strength had too.
"Don't underestimate me, Hiruzen," Danzo snapped, folding his arms.
"Gather intel first," Hiruzen said.
Danzo nodded. His friend still preferred steady, controlled steps.
"We can let them slip in on purpose, or hire them to probe our defenses. Either way, once they're caught, we send them to the analysis unit. It also tests the quality of our patrols and guard forces."
"I want solid intelligence," Hiruzen said evenly. "Handle it. This is your field."
Danzo blinked.
That sounded like his style.
Did people rub off on each other after working together too long?
Hiruzen… you're stealing from me.
"And if we really strike," Danzo asked, "do we build momentum first? Set the stage?"
"If Kusagakure has returned to hyena behavior, it harms more than Konoha," Hiruzen said. "And it won't be limited to villages that fought in the Second Great Ninja War. They won't behave themselves in peacetime either."
"Border skirmishes between nations," he continued, "they'll 'clean' those battlefields too."
"So the shinobi they've captured won't be from one place. There's no need to build momentum. We march fast and take Kusagakure at lightning speed."
"After that, we notify the nations to come reclaim their shinobi and their information."
Hiruzen's eyes were calm, almost bored.
"What are they going to say? That Konoha rescued their comrades who were ambushed, and that's wrong?"
"But we won't come away empty-handed," he went on. "We remove a hyena pack from our border, and the first one there gets to profit from the cleanup."
"This is stepping back to move forward."
Danzo silently admired the logic, even as he forced his voice into its usual stubborn shape.
"Hmph. I was thinking the same thing. Fine. We do it."
"Hold it," Hiruzen said, stopping Danzo as he turned to go put it into motion. "What about that spar you asked for?"
He pulled off his Hokage robe.
Konoha.
Training Ground Three.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura stood facing each other.
They adjusted their stances, measuring breath and rhythm. There was a quiet weight in both of them, something like nostalgia.
Time really did move fast.
The brothers who used to sharpen each other like blades… hadn't tested themselves like this in years.
"Hiruzen!" Danzo suddenly barked his name.
"Danzo!" Hiruzen smiled.
They accelerated at the same time, bodies blurring as they slammed together.