Rainwater dripped through the gaps between the leaves, landing on Danzo's shoulders, yet he felt nothing.
After a long time, both children left, and the cemetery returned to silence, with only the rainwater continuing to fall.
Danzo still stood in the shadow of the trees. He did not know how long he had stood there until the rain gradually weakened and the sky grew darker.
Only then did he slowly turn around and walk back in the direction he came from.
After taking a few steps, Danzo suddenly stopped again and turned back to look in the direction of that gravestone.
In the rain and mist, nothing could be seen clearly.
Danzo withdrew his gaze and continued forward. He no longer thought about recruiting Kakashi.
That thought had already been shattered the moment that child spoke those words.
After that day, Danzo often thought of the child named Shinichi Higashino, thought of the words that child had spoken in the cemetery, but only thought of them. He did not choose to disturb him.
Until two years later, when that news arrived.
"Have you heard? That child named Shinichi Higashino, at the opening ceremony…"
"A self-developed Ninjutsu? A-rank? No hand seals?"
"The third Hokage personally took him away…"
At the Roote, upon hearing this news, Danzo put down the documents in his hand, his gaze flickering as something in his heart quietly stirred.
Similar!
Too similar!
Really too similar!
At that moment, Danzo's long-silent heart, for the first time, gave rise to a strong thought.
He wanted to personally train this child, to cultivate him into a great ninja like his teacher.
Once this thought arose, it spread like a prairie fire, impossible to contain.
Danzo immediately set aside all the matters in his hands and personally went to the Hokage's office to find Hiruzen.
"No."
Hiruzen's reply was only two words, crisp and decisive, so much so that Danzo almost thought he had misheard.
"Hiruzen, you should understand what this means. This child's talent…"
"I see it very clearly."
"Then you should let me teach him even more…"
"Danzo! I said no!"
Hiruzen interrupted him. His voice was not loud, but it carried a kind of determination Danzo had never seen before.
"Hiruzen…"
"I said no, Danzo! Remember! I am the Hokage!"
Danzo was stunned. He had accompanied this old companion for a lifetime, fought with him for a lifetime, yet had never seen such a resolute attitude on Hiruzen's face, no room for discussion, no possibility of compromise, no face given to him at all, even using the title of Hokage to suppress him.
"You will regret this!"
At that moment, overwhelming anger surged into his heart. He almost erupted on the spot, but in the end, he only let out a heavy, cold snort, left those words behind, and turned to slam the door as he left.
Bang!
That loud sound echoed in the corridor of the Hokage's office for a long time.
And in the days that followed, that child's lack of proper focus and Hiruzen's limitless indulgence toward him only caused the anger in Danzo's chest to accumulate more and more, almost beyond suppression.
He watched helplessly as this child, who carried the will and talent of his teacher, Tobirama Senju, did not concentrate on honing Ninjutsu, did not train his combat skills, and did not step into the real world of ninja.
Instead, he went to participate in some cooking competition, drew some manga for entertainment, stirred up all kinds of commotion in the village, wasting all the time that should have been used to pursue the path of becoming strong on these things that, in his eyes, were side paths and completely meaningless.
More than once, he saw these reports in Root's briefings. Every time, it added another layer to his dissatisfaction with the child wasting his talent, and another layer of resentment toward Hiruzen's indulgence.
This growing dissatisfaction and prejudice continued until today, until he sat at the conference table in the Hokage's office and personally opened the three reports written by that child.
He saw within them those cold and thorough analyses, those insights that pointed directly to the essence.
A wise man!
This thought emerged in Danzo's heart.
The first Hokage, Hashirama Senju, ended the Warring States Period with unmatched power and magnanimity, established Konoha, and created the era of one country, one village.
This was something everyone knew.
But Danzo understood in his heart that the one who truly built the framework supporting this village was another party.
It was his teacher, the second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.
The first Hokage was like the sun, radiating brilliant light and illuminating all things, but the sun only shines; it does not concern itself with how that light illuminates the path beneath people's feet.
It was his teacher who, under the sun's light, built Konoha's framework brick by brick.
The ninja village system, the mission system, the administrative structure, the educational regulations, and the division of responsibilities among various departments were all built from scratch by his teacher.
His teacher did not possess god-like power like his elder brother, the first Hokage, but he established the true foundation of this village in another way.
Danzo stood blankly before the window, gazing at the hazy night rain outside.
The usual coldness and gloominess faded away, leaving only surging complexity and melancholy.
The same will, the will to choose to bear responsibility in desperate situations, to stand at the very front in the face of life and death, as if it were only natural.
The same talent, the insight into the essence of Ninjutsu, the ability to turn abstract concepts in the mind into reality, step by step.
The same wisdom, the wisdom to see through appearances, points directly to the essence, and always examines how the world operates with the calmest gaze.
"Really very much like you, teacher…"
He was silent for a long time, then, facing the deep night, softly murmured.
...
The next day.
Hokage building, conference room.
Sunlight slanted in from outside the window, casting bright patches of light on the floor.
Occasionally, a few bird chirps could be heard from outside, making the room feel even quieter.
"I spent a long time reading the first report last night."
Koharu Utatane spoke first, her tone still carrying lingering shock: "The perspective is too broad. I never imagined that things like nations, villages, ninjas, wars… things that have entangled us our entire lives… could be described in such a cold yet concise way."
"Economy, politics, resources, geography, this child laid them all out on the table and peeled them back layer by layer for you. By the end, you realize that those situations we usually think of as complex, those chaotic conflicts, their underlying logic is just this simple, so simple that it makes people…"
She shook her head and did not finish her sentence.
"The second report reflects something else."
Homura Mitokado adjusted his glasses and took over. He opened another document, his gaze falling on the date: "This child's keen insight, at the time, the matter of the third Kazekage was nothing more than vague rumors, not even really rumors. Intelligence agencies of various countries were all observing and did not dare draw conclusions, but this child…"
"Just based on the third Kazekage's past behavior, based on those subtle inconsistencies in the Village Hidden in the Sand at the time, relying only on public, fragmented information, he pieced it together like a puzzle and arrived at the core conclusion that the third Kazekage had already met with misfortune."
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