Hokage’s Office

  "It’s been a long time since I’ve e here..."

  Danzo Shimura, the Shadow of Konoha and leader of Konoha’s disbanded Root fa, stepped into the office with a faint sigh. His kimono was immacute, and his right eye and head were ed in bandages.

  As his gaze swept across the room, he he absence of heads or jonin. Only the Third Hokage and the two elder advisors were present.

  “Danzo, you’ve gooo far this time!” Koharu Utatane wasted no time, her expression stern as she spoke the mome down.

  “What are you talking about? I don’t uand,” Danzo replied evenly, though his mind raced to figure out what might have been exposed.

  He had done far too many things that could never e to light. He knew his old friends would not front him without solid evidence.

  “You’d best expin yourself,” Homura Mitokado said grimly. “We’re talking about your as against the kid of this vilge.”

  Did someoray me?

  Danzo’s expression darkened further. There were tless justifications he could offer to defend his as uhe guise of proteg the vilge. But as someoripped of all formal authority, he had no official standing tue.

  He began calg. Whiy Root members might have leaked this? Outwardly, his tone softened slightly. “I will remove their Cursed Tongue Eradication Seals and hand them over to the Anbu for iigation.”

  Which operatives should I hand over…? Danzo thought silently. It had to be those who khe least—those whose deaths wouldn’t risk revealing critical secrets, even if interrogated with the Yamanaka ’s teiques.

  Koharu exged a gh Homura and Hiruzen. Their initial surprise was fleeting, repced by steely determination.

  “Danzo,” the Third Hokage finally spoke, his tone heavy. “You’ve crossed a line.”

  Danzo reported a list of operatives, most of whom were teically Anbu. Root had been an Anbu training division, after all. Many Root recruits naturally transitioned into Anbu. Even after Root’s disba, many operatives merely went underground, blending into the rger anization.

  The Third’s expression darkened with every name listed. Homura remaioic, but Koharu couldn’t tain herself. She shot to her feet, pointing an accusatory fi Danzo.

  “What are y to do, Danzo? Stage a rebellion?”

  The accusation was extreme, but Koharu’s fiery temperament made such decrations unsurprising. She had been the first to advocate for wiping out the Uchiha tirely during their suspected rebellion.

  Here stood a retired elder, secretly trolling Anbu operatives through Cursed Seals.

  Danzo snorted dismissively, unwilling to justify himself. He rose, intending to leave.

  Hiruzen was too soft—he wouldn’t accept Danzo’s reasoning. But despite the frontation, Danzo was fident he wouldn’t face serious repercussions. His status as a Konoha elder and leader of the militant fa offered him prote.

  And Hiruzen’s history of leniency—like sparing Orochimaru—only strengthened his belief.

  As for the advisors? They might attempt to curtail his influence, but if they truly had the means, they would have acted long ago.

  “Wait.”

  Hiruzen’s voice stopped him in his tracks. “Danzo, do you remember a name—Kabuto Yakushi?”

  Kabuto Yakushi…

  Danzo’s mind raced. The boy had been an excellent tool. Under his manipution, Kabuto had eliminated a rogue “The Wandering Miko” before disappearing from Danzo’s trol.

  “I don’t know who you’re talking about,” Danzo lied smoothly.

  “We have evidehat Kabuto was a former Root operative, pnted within the vilge under a fabricated identity,” Hiruzen said, his voice heavy with anger. “Today, he attempted to attae of Konoha’s most talented young ninja and escaped even Kakashi’s pursuit.”

  “Danzo, do you really know nothing about this?”

  Hiruzen’s to no room for evasion. Root’s supposed dissolution had long been a sham, but an atta Konoha’s young talent crossed an invioble line.

  Danzo remained silent for a moment before finally st out of the office. He o destroy evidend prepare for Anbu iions to remove the Cursed Seals.

  Though he had itted tless atrocities—mimig Kirigakure’s brutal methods, human experiments, and more—this time, he felt genuinely frustrated.

  He truly hadn’t known Kabuto was still alive.

  "It’s a shame I ’t say more…"

  Link strolled through Konoha’s streets, refleg on the m’s events. Naming Kabuto had been risky, but the vilge’s trust in him—and the enigmatic “secret teiques” he wielded—allowed him to navigate the situation.

  If he’d revealed too much—like Kabuto being Orochimaru’s protege or on par with Kakashi—his position might have bee untenable.

  As for the idea of defeg to Orochimaru? He dismissed it immediately. Orochimaru’s trolling nature meant that anyone under his and lived in stant fear. Freedom in such a sario was an illusion.

  Konoha, oher hand, is perfect, Link thought. With Hiruzen’s prote, there was no need for him to erict militarization or political intrigue. Even if Hiruzeo pass, Tsunade’s leadership would uphold the vilge’s Will of Fire.

  Everyone here is talented, speaks well…

  "I love my Konoha!"