"Knock. Knock. Knock."
Just as Shimura Danzō found himself caught between advance and retreat, the sharp sound of knocking echoed through the Hokage's office.
Danzō let out the faintest breath of relief.
He had no proper answer for Sarutobi Hiruzen's pointed questioning. That knock had, for the moment, pulled him out of the fire.
"Enter."
Hiruzen shot Danzō a hard glare, forcibly suppressing the anger simmering in his chest.
The door opened. A cloaked, masked ANBU shinobi stepped inside and knelt respectfully.
"Lord Hokage. The investigation is complete."
The ANBU placed a dossier on the Hokage's desk.
Hiruzen picked it up, his face unreadable as he flipped through the pages. But after only a short while, the calm mask shattered.
"Bang!"
He flung the file straight at Danzō and slammed his palm onto the desk.
"There's a ghost living in your own house and you don't even know it!"
"You don't even realize you're harboring a traitor! Is this how you run Root?!"
The ANBU's report had cleared Danzō of directly ordering the incident—but that only made Hiruzen angrier.
What was Root?
It was the darkness beneath the darkness of ANBU—the place that carried all of Konoha's unspeakable burdens.
If a traitor existed inside Root, it meant Konoha had been stripped bare and exposed to the enemy.
This was no longer a matter of Danzō's ideology.
It was a matter of competence.
Danzō frowned. He did not stoop to pick up the file from the floor. Instead, he looked at the ANBU directly.
"Shinnosuke. Explain."
Shinnosuke—full name Sarutobi Shinnosuke—current commander of ANBU, and Hiruzen's eldest son.
Shinnosuke glanced at Hiruzen first. Only after receiving a slight nod did he continue.
"Elder Danzō, I was ordered to trace the source of the rumors spreading through the village. The individuals responsible are all operatives under your Root division."
"Impossible!" Danzō cut in before he could finish. "I gave no such order!"
Shinnosuke remained composed.
"The suspect insists the order came directly from you. However, our investigation confirms he made contact last night with a spy from Iwagakure."
"At this stage, we can preliminarily conclude that this is a scheme orchestrated by Iwagakure."
"Iwagakure? Ōnoki?" Danzō's voice rose sharply. "Impossible. Absolutely impossible!"
"The operative assigned to this task is not only a Root shinobi—he is from the Shimura clan. My own kin. My nephew. He would never betray me."
"Have you grown senile, Danzō?!" Hiruzen snapped. "What of it if he's your clansman? What of it if he's your nephew?"
"Did you forget? When Tobirama-sensei pursued the revival of the First Hokage's power, how many members of his own clan were sacrificed? How many of them were his own relatives?"
"And this 'relative' of yours joined Root not long ago, did he not?"
"I know Root has been short on manpower recently—but that doesn't mean you loosen your screening standards!"
"Better none than unworthy. Do you not understand that?"
Danzō fell silent, but killing intent flickered deep within his eyes.
After his recent encounter with Uchiha Jin, he had already suspected that something inside Root was compromised. He had carried out an internal purge immediately after returning.
Though he found no concrete proof, he eliminated quite a number of suspects.
And as a result, Root—already short-handed—was now stretched even thinner.
Left with no choice, Danzō had drawn capable members from the Shimura clan to replenish the ranks.
He had never imagined that decision would hand enemy spies the opening they needed.
Hiruzen lifted his pipe, lit it, and took a long drag before speaking.
"Our negotiations with Iwagakure are about to begin. Ōnoki is exploiting this timing deliberately. He wants to stir internal discord between the village and the Uchiha, gain leverage, and squeeze more concessions."
"We must suppress this matter before talks commence."
Hiruzen's thoughts were in turmoil.
Everything had been proceeding according to his design—until Iwagakure suddenly stepped in to muddy the waters.
"Suppress it?" Danzō let out a cold laugh. "In my view, this is an opportunity."
"Why not seize the momentum and eliminate the Uchiha problem once and for all?"
"With the Uchiha dealt with, we could focus our strength elsewhere."
Hiruzen's gaze sharpened.
"Danzō. Do not underestimate them. The Uchiha's strength runs deeper than you think. Do you intend to drag the village into the abyss?"
"Cut off those reckless fantasies while you still can."
Danzō snorted.
"And what do you propose? Compromise with them? Strengthen them further?"
"Hiruzen, hesitation breeds chaos. You've always been too soft."
Hiruzen's expression darkened.
"Compromise? They haven't even made a demand. What compromise are you speaking of?"
"For years, has it not been the Uchiha who have compromised again and again?"
"Yes, the Uchiha can be dangerous—but that danger lies with only a fraction of them."
"I will speak personally with Uchiha Fugaku. I trust he will not disappoint me."
Danzō's face turned grim.
"And what exactly do you intend to do?"
Hiruzen pondered briefly.
"As for the compensation and rewards—return what rightfully belongs to the Uchiha. Let Fugaku use it to placate the more radical voices within his clan."
"At the same time, quell the rumors. Publicly declare that this was the work of Iwagakure spies attempting to sow conflict between the village and the Uchiha."
"And the negotiations with Iwagakure… we'll concede a minor advantage if necessary."
"What the village needs most right now is stability."
The undercurrents swirling beneath the surface had made Hiruzen realize this situation could spiral beyond recovery.
If sacrificing a small portion of profit could extinguish the fire early, he would do so without hesitation.
"First Sunagakure. Now the Uchiha and Iwagakure." Danzō's face was tight with resentment. "Hiruzen, at this rate, you'll bleed the village dry."
Hiruzen exploded.
"You think I'm doing this for myself?! I'm cleaning up your mess!"
"If Root had not failed, we would not be standing here!"
"No," Danzō shot back coldly. "They seized this opportunity because they saw your weakness."
"If you had shown strength, there would have been no opportunity."
"Hiruzen—the root of this problem is you."
"Enough!"
Hiruzen rose abruptly, anger flashing across his face.
"I am the Hokage!"
"In Konoha—my word is final!"
Danzō ground his teeth.
"…Damn it."
In the end, he could only spit out coldly, "You will regret this."
With that, he turned sharply and stormed out, the office doors slamming violently against their frame.
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