With a loud bang, the Hokage's office door was kicked open.
Shimura Danzō strode in with his chin raised high, sweeping a glance across the room where Sarutobi Hiruzen, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu had clearly been waiting for him.
Without a word, he walked straight to his seat and sat down.
Right or wrong didn't matter.
Presence mattered.
If he entered like a defendant, he would be treated like one. If he entered like an equal, the confrontation would at least begin on level ground.
Hiruzen calmly puffed on his pipe, watching him in silence.
In a few breaths, Danzō's attempt at seizing momentum dissolved into nothing.
Homura was the first to break the quiet.
"I heard Root suffered heavy losses this time…" His eyes fell on Danzō's missing arm. "It seems the damage was even worse than I imagined."
Koharu frowned. "Danzō, you owe us an explanation. What exactly were you doing in the Land of Rain?"
After escaping from Hanzō, Danzō had gone directly to Konoha's forward camp in Rain and undergone treatment there. There was no way Hiruzen wouldn't learn that he had stirred up trouble.
In fact, Hiruzen had likely already deduced that the sudden escalation between Konoha and Iwagakure on the Rain front bore Danzō's fingerprints.
What puzzled him was this—
What had happened to leave Danzō in such a state?
With Root elites at his side, even encountering Ōnoki or Hanzō shouldn't have reduced him to this.
Danzō ignored Homura and Koharu entirely, fixing his gaze on Hiruzen.
"Hiruzen. There's a serious problem in the Land of Rain. I agree to the peace talks with Iwa—but we must take control of Rain as soon as possible."
"Reason?" Hiruzen exhaled a ring of smoke. "One matter at a time."
"You acted without authorization. That alone is overstepping. Add to that the scale of your losses—"
"You will be held accountable. Don't try to redirect the discussion."
Hiruzen knew Danzō too well.
He wasn't going to let him shift the battlefield.
Danzō's expression darkened.
"Everything I did was for Konoha. My conscience is clear."
"That is not an excuse for unilateral action." Hiruzen's voice hardened slightly. "The recent intensification of conflict with Iwagakure—was that your doing?"
"I explicitly rejected escalation. Yet you continued to sabotage peace talks."
"Tell me, Danzō—are you the Hokage, or am I?"
Silence thickened in the room.
Then Hiruzen delivered it cleanly.
"Effective immediately, you are suspended from your position as Konoha elder."
"You may offer advice—but you will no longer have decision-making authority."
"As for Root—aside from missions already in progress, all activities are to cease. Root will remain in Konoha until further notice."
Danzō shot to his feet, slamming his palm against the table.
"You can't do that! You of all people understand Root's importance! We cannot stop now!"
"This is a notice," Hiruzen replied evenly. "Not a negotiation."
"If this matter were pursued formally, this punishment would be considered lenient."
Koharu added, "Danzō, Hiruzen is right. You went too far this time."
"You're severely injured anyway. Take the time to recover."
Hiruzen absolutely understood Root's necessity.
Most of Root's operations had always proceeded with his tacit approval.
But tacit approval was not a blank check.
In recent years, Root's growth had begun slipping beyond his control.
It was time for correction.
With the war nearing its end and a period of reconstruction ahead, Root's temporary dormancy posed little risk.
The three elders had already reached consensus.
Danzō had no leverage here.
"You… all of you…"
He looked from Hiruzen's stern gaze to Koharu's measured tone and Homura's quiet watchfulness.
They had aligned.
He stopped arguing.
If resistance would achieve nothing, silence was the better weapon.
Hiruzen tapped the pipe lightly.
"Then that matter is settled."
"But you still owe us answers."
"With your strength—what exactly happened?"
"And why do you insist we must move against the Land of Rain?"
Danzō's face shifted through several shades of calculation.
He hesitated.
Then he decided.
"You remember," he said slowly, "a few years ago, when Jiraiya stayed behind in the Land of Rain to raise three war orphans?"
Hiruzen blinked.
Of course he remembered.
At the end of the Second Shinobi War, Jiraiya had remained in Rain for years to train three children—leaving a battered Konoha short-handed.
Hiruzen had been furious.
That incident alone had disqualified Jiraiya from ever becoming Fourth Hokage in his mind.
A Hokage could not place sentiment above the village.
Danzō continued.
"You've heard that Hanzō recently accepted three personal disciples."
Hiruzen's brows knit—then relaxed as realization dawned.
"You mean… Hanzō's three disciples are the very same children Jiraiya trained?"
Danzō nodded.
"Correct."
"And Hanzō is grooming them as successors."
"If nothing changes, they will lead the Land of Rain."
A faint smile appeared on Hiruzen's face.
"So that reckless boy accidentally did something right."
Homura nodded thoughtfully.
"With Jiraiya's connection, relations between Konoha and Amegakure may become easier to manage."
"If Rain stands firmly with us, we gain leverage over both Iwa and Suna."
Danzō let out a cold, humorless laugh.
"You're thinking too much."
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