Under the weight of countless accusing stares, Shimura Danzō remained utterly calm.
"What exactly," he said evenly, "do I need to explain?"
"Yes. I admit I was involved in the human experimentation project."
"But the order came from the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen."
"The one overseeing every major and minor detail of the experiments was his direct disciple—Orochimaru."
"As for me?"
"I merely supervised progress and handled logistics."
"I was carrying out orders."
"What, precisely, must I account for?"
The hall erupted again.
Eyes turned sharply toward Orochimaru, who had been idly studying Tenzo with mild curiosity.
No one had expected his involvement to be this direct.
Orochimaru noticed the attention and spread his hands lazily.
"Why is everyone staring at me?" he said, sounding almost amused. "I was a shinobi. Completing tasks assigned by my superiors was my duty."
"Did I have a choice?"
The room hesitated.
He wasn't wrong.
Back then, Orochimaru had been a talented but politically powerless jōnin. A commoner by birth. Still rising in strength.
Refusing an assignment from both his Hokage and his teacher?
That wasn't something one simply did.
Gradually, the accusing looks drifted away from him.
And shifted—to Hiruzen.
Hiruzen's temples throbbed.
He hadn't expected Orochimaru to shove every ounce of responsibility onto him so cleanly.
He shot his former student a glare.
Orochimaru smiled faintly.
"Forgive me, Sensei," he said softly.
"Back then, I had no choice."
"Now… I'd like to be a good person."
Hiruzen nearly choked.
So now you want to be righteous?
And I become the villain who forced you?
Behind the curtain, pulling the strings?
Danzō seized the opening immediately.
"In truth," he added dryly, "I once wished to stand in the sunlight as well. To be the 'good man.'"
"But at someone's earnest request, for the sake of Konoha…"
"I became the root buried in darkness."
"And now that someone has stepped down…"
"He seeks to burn the root to warm his hands."
"How chilling."
He never named Hiruzen.
He didn't need to.
The implication struck as clearly as a slap.
Hiruzen's hands trembled.
"You—!"
His chest seized.
A mouthful of blood sprayed across the table.
Gasps exploded through the hall.
"Lord Hiruzen!"
"Hokage-sama!"
"Hi—ru—zen!!"
Chairs scraped violently as people rushed forward—
"I'm fine!"
Hiruzen slammed a palm against the table and forced himself upright.
The blood leaving his mouth seemed to have released some of the pressure in his chest.
He would not allow sympathy to derail this confrontation.
Eyes blazing, he pointed at Danzō.
"Elder Shimura. Stop dodging the issue!"
"My question is simple."
"Why did you continue the experiments after I explicitly ordered them halted?"
Danzō didn't even blink.
"I have no idea what you're implying, Sarutobi-san."
"When you ordered the project stopped, it stopped."
"I did nothing privately."
Hiruzen's finger swung toward Tenzo.
"Then explain him!"
"In the report you submitted to me, the project had 'achieved no progress.'"
"And yet here stands a living Wood Release user!"
"Tenzo's personal record appears after the date I prohibited the experiments."
"That alone proves you continued them."
"And those records were delivered by you personally."
"Elder Koharu and Elder Homura can testify to that."
"You won't deny it, will you?"
Hiruzen had prepared for this moment.
Danzō remained steady.
"I will not deny delivering the documents."
"But what does that prove?"
"Did you imagine," he said coolly, "that a project of that scale could be terminated the instant you signed an order?"
"When you issued that command…"
"There were sixty active test subjects still undergoing procedures in Orochimaru's laboratory."
"You gave the order."
"I was left to clean up the mess."
"Should I have executed all sixty immediately and burned the bodies to erase the evidence?"
A murmur rippled.
Danzō gestured toward Tenzo.
"He was one of those sixty."
"The only one who survived."
"That survival is why his record exists."
"So tell me—"
"What exactly is suspicious about the timing?"
Hiruzen's brow tightened.
He knew the truth.
The experiments hadn't truly stopped after his order.
Danzō and Orochimaru had simply taken them underground.
Tenzo had been born in that shadowed continuation.
Later, when Hiruzen uncovered hints of ongoing research, he stripped Danzō of authority and confined him to Root headquarters. Orochimaru received a harsh reprimand.
Officially, the Wood Release experiments ended there.
Unofficially—
Hiruzen knew they had never truly stopped.
But suspicion without evidence was useless in this chamber.
If he accused Danzō outright without proof, the elder would simply argue the matter had already been "handled."
And the village could not punish a man twice for the same offense.
Which left Tenzo.
But Danzō's explanation—though distasteful—was plausible.
As long as he clung to it, this avenue would not bring Danzō down.
Hiruzen's eyes darkened.
If subtlety would not suffice—
Then it was time for something far more direct.
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