Knock. Knock. Knock.
Just as Shimura Danzō found himself caught between a rock and a hard place, a knock sounded at the door.
Danzō quietly let out a breath of relief.
He had no idea how to answer Hiruzen Sarutobi's accusations. The knock had arrived at the perfect moment to break the tension.
"Come in."
Hiruzen shot Danzō a glare but temporarily suppressed the anger boiling inside him.
With the Hokage's permission, an ANBU shinobi wearing a cloak and mask pushed the door open and stepped inside.
"Hokage-sama, the investigation is complete."
The ANBU ninja respectfully bowed and placed a document on Hiruzen's desk.
Hiruzen picked it up and began reading with a blank expression.
A moment later, however, the fury in his chest exploded.
Bang!
Hiruzen flung the document directly at Danzō and slammed his palm onto the desk.
"Do you even realize there's a traitor in your own house?!"
"You didn't even notice there was a spy among you! What kind of Root commander are you?!"
The report delivered by the ANBU had indeed proven that this incident was not directly orchestrated by Danzō.
But that only made Hiruzen even angrier.
What kind of place was Root?
It was the darkness beneath the darkness of ANBU, the organization that carried all of Konoha's shadows.
If a traitor appeared inside Root, it practically meant someone had stripped Konoha bare and displayed all its secrets to the outside world.
This was no longer merely a problem with Danzō's judgment.
It was a problem with his competence.
Danzō frowned.
Instead of picking up the document that had fallen to the floor, he looked directly at the ANBU ninja.
"Shinnosuke… what exactly happened?"
Shinnosuke—Sarutobi Shinnosuke—was the current ANBU Commander and the son of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Shinnosuke first glanced at his father. Seeing that Hiruzen did not object, he began explaining.
"Elder Danzō, I was ordered to investigate the source of the rumors spreading through the village. All the individuals distributing them turned out to be operatives from Root."
"That's impossible!" Danzō interrupted before he even finished.
"I absolutely never gave such an order!"
Shinnosuke continued calmly.
"Although the individual insisted the order came from you, my investigation revealed that he made contact with a spy from Iwagakure last night."
"So we can preliminarily conclude that this operation was orchestrated by the Hidden Stone Village."
"Iwagakure? Ōnoki? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Danzō's disbelief only deepened.
"The person responsible for carrying out the task isn't just a Root ninja—he's also a member of my Shimura clan, one of my own nephews! There's no way he would betray me!"
"Danzō, have you grown senile?"
Hiruzen glared at him sharply.
"So what if he's your clansman? So what if he's your nephew?"
"Back then, Tobirama-sensei sacrificed countless members of the Senju clan—including his own relatives—in pursuit of recreating the power of the First Hokage. Do you think blood ties stopped him?"
"And this clansman of yours only joined Root recently, didn't he?"
"I know Root has been short-handed lately, but that doesn't mean you can relax your vetting standards!"
"Do you not understand the principle of quality over quantity?!"
Danzō fell silent.
But his eyes filled with killing intent.
After his encounter with Uchiha Ren a few days earlier, Danzō had begun to suspect something was wrong within Root.
When he returned that day, he had conducted a major internal purge of the organization.
Even though no solid evidence was found, he still removed many members he considered suspicious.
As a result, Root—already understaffed—became even more short-handed.
Left with no other choice, Danzō had recruited several capable members from the Shimura clan to replenish the ranks.
He never imagined that this decision would instead create an opening for foreign spies.
Hiruzen lit his pipe and took a deep drag before speaking again.
"Our negotiations with Iwagakure are about to begin."
"Ōnoki seized this opportunity to stir up chaos inside our village. His goal is obvious—create internal instability so he can gain the upper hand during negotiations and demand greater concessions."
"We must calm this situation before negotiations with Iwagakure begin."
Hiruzen felt deeply frustrated.
Everything had been unfolding according to his plan—until Iwagakure suddenly interfered.
"Calm it down? Heh."
Danzō let out a cold snort.
"If you ask me, this is actually an opportunity."
"Why not take advantage of the situation and eliminate the Uchiha threat once and for all?"
"If the Uchiha are removed, we can concentrate our resources on dealing with other problems."
Hiruzen's gaze sharpened.
"Danzō, don't be so reckless."
"The strength of the Uchiha clan runs deeper than you think. Do you want to push the village into the abyss?"
"You'd better abandon those unrealistic ideas immediately."
Danzō snorted again.
"Then what do you propose? Compromise with the Uchiha and allow their power to grow even stronger?"
"Hiruzen, hesitation only breeds disaster. You're far too soft!"
Hiruzen's expression became solemn as he retorted sharply:
"Compromise? The Uchiha haven't even made any demands yet—what compromise are you talking about?"
"For years, haven't the Uchiha been the ones compromising with us?"
"Yes, the Uchiha can be dangerous—but that only applies to a small portion of them."
"I will personally speak with Uchiha Fugaku."
"I believe he won't disappoint me."
Danzō's face darkened.
"What exactly do you plan to do?"
Hiruzen pondered for a moment before answering:
"We'll cancel the delay on compensation and rewards. Return everything owed to the Uchiha."
"Let Fugaku use those funds to pacify the radical faction within the clan."
"At the same time, suppress the rumors spreading throughout the village. Announce that Iwagakure spies were responsible for provoking conflict between the village and the Uchiha."
"We must stabilize the situation as quickly as possible."
"As for the negotiations with Iwagakure… we'll concede a small amount of profit to them this time."
"Right now, what the village needs most is stability."
The surging undercurrents in the village had made Hiruzen realize that the situation could spiral into irreversible disaster.
That was why he was willing to cut off a piece of flesh if necessary to resolve the crisis quickly.
"First Sunagakure, now the Uchiha and Iwagakure…"
Danzō looked at him with fury and disappointment.
"Hiruzen, if you keep governing like this, you'll eventually ruin the entire village!"
Hiruzen exploded with anger.
"Who do you think I'm cleaning up this mess for?!"
"If your Root hadn't failed so miserably, would we be in this situation right now?!"
"No!"
Danzō refused to back down.
"They seized this opportunity precisely because of your weakness!"
"If you were more decisive and forceful, this wouldn't even be an opportunity!"
"Hiruzen, the root of all these problems lies with you!"
"Enough!"
Hiruzen suddenly flew into a rage.
"Danzō, I am the Hokage!"
"In Konoha, my word is final!"
"Tch… damn it…"
Danzō ground his teeth in frustration. In the end, he could only respond stiffly:
"Hiruzen… you will regret this."
With that, Danzō turned and stormed out, slamming the office door behind him with a loud bang.
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