Chapter 138 – The Argument
Konoha had been unusually lively these past days.
First came the rumors about Hatake Sakumo, spreading through the village like wildfire, becoming the favorite topic of conversation after meals.
Then came the rumors about Elder Danzo.
Those were far more explosive.
Though they had circulated for a shorter time, they drew far greater attention than anything said about Sakumo.
At this point, Taichi and Kakashi could consider their objective achieved. The villagers were no longer fixated on whether Sakumo had been wrong to abandon a mission to save a comrade.
But things rarely end when you want them to.
You may decide how something begins.
You rarely get to decide how it ends.
Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzo had learned this lesson when they spread rumors about Sakumo—only to trigger Taichi and Kakashi's retaliation.
And now Taichi and Kakashi were about to learn it as well.
Before the day was over, new rumors began spreading quietly through Konoha.
"Have you heard? Those human experiments were actually approved by the Third Hokage."
"That's nothing. Do you know why there's no longer anyone with the Senju surname? They were all sent to the front lines in the Second War by the Third to die."
"I heard the Third is getting old and insecure—he's started suppressing high-profile shinobi in the village."
"Do you think Lord Sakumo was also being suppressed by the Hokage?"
"Shh! Do you want to get killed saying things like that?!"
---
Walking home, Taichi had originally intended to activate his sensory field to check for surveillance.
Instead, he heard those rumors.
For a moment, even he was stunned.
Those weren't his fabrications.
Did Kakashi add fuel to the fire on his own?
Was his courage really that reckless?
Taichi quickly dismissed the idea. The rumors were too new. Kakashi had been with him earlier. If he had done something, he would have said so.
Then another possibility surfaced—
What if Danzo himself had spread them?
As for motive?
Simple.
If I suffer, you don't get to walk away clean either.
The more Taichi thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
He actually laughed.
"This is what they call dogs biting dogs," he muttered. "Both end up with mouths full of fur."
But after laughing, he sighed.
Danzo was no saint.
But without the Third Hokage's tolerance—his silent endorsement—many of those actions would never have been possible.
Root existed because Hiruzen allowed it.
Danzo had grown into what he was because he had been indulged.
Taichi looked up toward the Hokage Monument.
The stone faces of three Hokage watched silently over the village.
The First Hokage—power incarnate—founded Konoha alongside the so-called "God of Shinobi's rival," establishing its foundations.
The Second Hokage—innovative, brilliant, master of forbidden techniques—created the systems and institutions that shaped the village.
And the Third?
In his youth, he had preserved what was built.
But in old age, one misstep followed another.
He failed to protect Uzushiogakure, once a steadfast ally.
His own disciple Tsunade had left the village.
Now there was the "White Fang Incident."
Taichi let out a long breath.
"If only the Fourth Hokage's era would arrive sooner…"
Maybe then the suffocating atmosphere would finally ease.
---
That Night — Hokage's Office
Sarutobi Hiruzen was still reviewing documents.
His efficiency wasn't particularly high—but he slept very little. That gave him the time needed to handle endless administrative burdens.
He picked up the daily village report.
When he saw the rumors about Danzo, he initially smiled.
Danzo had grown increasingly active of late. A little pressure might do him good.
But the instincts of a Hokage quickly overrode the satisfaction.
Who spread these rumors?
At this moment?
Could it be Hatake Sakumo?
No. If Sakumo intended retaliation, he would have acted earlier.
The Uchiha?
Also unlikely.
These rumors were disturbingly precise. Though exaggerated, their direction aligned closely with reality.
The Uchiha didn't have access to this level of information.
For a fleeting moment, Hiruzen even wondered—
Had he himself ordered these rumors?
He shook his head and gave a bitter smile.
I truly am getting old.
But then his expression changed abruptly.
If even he momentarily suspected himself—
What would Danzo think?
He knew his old comrade too well.
Once Danzo dug in his heels, even the Hokage's words might not restrain him.
Just as Hiruzen prepared to take action, urgent knocking sounded at the door.
His heart sank.
"Enter."
An ANBU operative pushed the door open, visibly tense.
"What is it?"
"Hokage-sama, new rumors have begun circulating in the village."
He handed over a prepared report scroll.
Hiruzen accepted it.
And as his eyes moved down the first lines—
His face slowly darkened.
The storm had escalated.
And now—
It was no longer just about Danzo.
As if sensing something ominous, Sarutobi Hiruzen's hand trembled slightly when he accepted the scroll.
He broke the seal.
The very first line made his pupils contract sharply.
"The final remaining strength of the Senju clan was destroyed by the Third Hokage."
"The human experiments were conducted under the Third Hokage's approval."
The words struck like blades.
"Have you apprehended anyone spreading these rumors?"
"No, Hokage-sama. By the time we noticed them, the source had already vanished. What remains is spontaneous repetition by villagers."
—
"How widespread are they now?"
"They've begun to take shape, but the situation is still controllable. We've deployed additional personnel. If no new sources appear, the rumors can be suppressed."
Hiruzen exhaled slowly.
Not too late.
Not irreparable.
But the relief lasted only a moment before anger surged upward.
He didn't need to think.
These rumors about him could only have come from one person.
Danzo.
Only Danzo possessed both the motive and the audacity to strike at him like this.
"Go. Bring Danzo here."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
---
Danzo arrived soon after.
He had anticipated the summons and had been waiting at Root headquarters.
The moment he pushed open the Hokage's office door and saw Hiruzen's darkened expression—
A strange satisfaction stirred within him.
So. You're cornered too.
You thought you could keep pressing me forever?
He entered slowly, leaning on his cane. The heavy door closed behind him, sealing the room in silence.
Smoke hung thick in the air.
Neither man spoke first.
Hiruzen sat behind his broad desk, fingers gripping the scroll. His face was storm-dark.
Suddenly—
He flung the scroll to Danzo's feet.
"Danzo!" His voice rumbled low and heavy. "Explain this. The rumors spreading about me this evening."
"These slanders—how did they appear?"
Danzo glanced at the scroll.
Did not bend to pick it up.
In his mind, Hiruzen had broken the rules first by spreading rumors against him.
Now he merely retaliated.
And even showed restraint—waiting until evening.
You lose your composure this easily?
He coughed lightly as if irritated by smoke, then raised his murky eye.
"'Slanders'?" Danzo let out a dry laugh. His cane tapped once against the floor.
"Hiruzen, as Hokage, are you truly shaken by idle gossip?"
Hiruzen opened his mouth—
But Danzo cut him off.
"Konoha has never lacked malicious elements. Root is already investigating all rumor sources."
"Including those earlier attacks against me."
"Against you?" Hiruzen slammed both palms onto the desk and rose to his feet. "Danzo, you expect me to believe that these highly classified details appearing suddenly this evening have nothing to do with you?"
"Absurd!"
Danzo's voice rose sharply. His cane struck the floor with a grating scrape.
Whether he had ordered it or not—
He would never admit it here.
And besides, he had never been one to require moral high ground to speak loudly.
"Hiruzen! Do not slander me. If there are cracks in your governance, and someone exploits them to divide the leadership, you should ask how to cleanse the rot—not immediately accuse the man who has handled countless dark burdens for you!"
"Are you questioning my loyalty to Konoha—or concealing your own failures?"
"And those matters of the Senju… those experiments…"
He leaned forward slightly.
"Did they touch a nerve?"
"Enough!" Hiruzen's shout shook the room. Ash spilled from his pipe.
"You speak of nerves? I am Hokage. Every decision I made was for Konoha's stability!"
"But you—"
"You are shaking the village's foundation!"
Danzo cut in coldly:
"Evidence."
He did not retreat an inch.
"Produce proof, Hiruzen. Otherwise, this is mere suspicion—an accusation without basis."
"I act with a clear conscience—for Konoha. If you doubt me, show evidence."
He paused, voice dropping like frost.
"Otherwise—focus on your own duties. And remember who cleans the poison that sunlight cannot reach."
Silence fell.
Thick.
Heavy.
They were not arguing from the same premise at all.
Hiruzen had summoned Danzo to condemn him for daring to spread rumors about the Hokage.
Danzo believed Hiruzen had struck first—and was merely counterattacking.
Two minds.
Two assumptions.
Full power. No restraint.
Years of balance strained under anger, suspicion, and old rivalry.
At last, Hiruzen felt regret.
He knew what kind of man Danzo was.
He should have clarified matters earlier.
Now—
This.
After a long silence broken only by pipe embers and cane taps, Hiruzen's shoulders sagged.
"Danzo…"
His voice was hoarse.
"The rumors about you… I did not order them."
Danzo's eye sharpened.
He nearly scoffed—
Until Hiruzen continued.
"I swear it upon our teacher."
Hiruzen raised his head. There was no calculation in his gaze.
"If I instructed anyone to spread rumors about you, then may my soul find no peace after death."
The oath struck like thunder.
To swear upon their revered master—
Danzo stared into Hiruzen's eyes.
Searching for deception.
He found only fatigue.
Regret.
And hurt.
"You… truly did not?"
His cane tapped harder against the floor.
If Hiruzen was innocent—
Then the rumors against him, the ones he had released about Sakumo, and his evening retaliation—
Someone was muddying the waters deliberately.
Hiruzen nodded firmly.
"Absolutely not."
Danzo fell silent.
He would never lower himself to admit "I misunderstood you."
But something had shifted.
"Even so," Danzo said coldly, "those rumors against the Hokage are not my doing. I will investigate all sources—mine and yours. I want to see who dares manipulate Konoha's leadership."
For the first time that night—
They shared a fragile consensus.
An external enemy.
"Who?" Hiruzen lit his pipe again. "These details are not common knowledge."
Danzo's eyes darkened.
"Someone capable of deploying numerous shadow clones. Precise. Calculated."
"Uchiha?"
His habitual suspicion surfaced first.
Hiruzen shook his head.
"Fugaku would not act so recklessly. And these secrets are beyond Uchiha access. Moreover… the timing suggests someone protecting Sakumo."
"Not Sakumo himself," Hiruzen murmured. "He is proud. Direct. He would not stoop to such methods."
He did not realize how that comment cut.
So Danzo uses dirty methods.
And you do not?
Danzo's thoughts twisted silently.
"Then perhaps an external force," Danzo speculated. "Iwa? Suna? Even the Daimyo? Internal chaos benefits them most."
"Possible," Hiruzen conceded. "But who among them possesses such precise intelligence?"
They debated.
Analyzed.
Considered great clans, hostile villages, hidden factions.
The office lights burned through the night.
When dawn finally touched their faces, they realized—
They had spent hours unraveling conspiracy after conspiracy.
And missed the simplest possibility.
The most insignificant one.
The least fitting for "adult logic."
The chain reaction shaking Konoha's leadership had begun with something astonishingly small—
A stubborn, brilliant boy seeking to defend the honor of the father he admired.
Joined by an equally sharp, slightly mischievous friend.
A hot-blooded retaliation.
Petty.
Personal.
Almost childish.
In Kakashi and Taichi's eyes, it wasn't even a grand conspiracy.
Just a small act of defiance.
As for the rumors involving the Third Hokage—
That was coincidence layered upon coincidence.
Taichi had woven rumors too close to reality.
The rest?
Guilt made powerful men see ghosts.
And fear made them turn on one another.