Far away near the border of the Land of Spring Country.
Several shinobi with the insignia of Konoha were stationed. Leading the battalion was Jiraiya.
He looked visibly worn out, as if he hadn't rested for many days and had to be constantly monitoring things.
Because of the tension between Konoha and the four great ninja villages, the Third World War was already in the middle of erupting anew.
The war had already started, but after some consultation between the leaders of all villages, they had reached some form of concession. The peace agreement was near until what Kiri did in the Chunin Exams in Konoha, which reanimated the tension.
It seemed that neither village truly wanted peace, only using the time to recuperate some of their strength before beginning the war anew.
There were many skirmishes between the villages, and the other villages had also deployed their own forces.
"Things are really getting bad," said a shinobi.
According to the intel they had gathered, the Cloud Village was preparing to launch an attack.
Iwa, for now, was not making a move, but there was also intel that they were planning something big.
In front of so much hostility, Konoha's defenses couldn't weather it.
"If not for Jiraiya-sensei, things would have turned dire," said another shinobi. Jiraiya's presence there was in itself a strong deterrence.
Unlike Konoha, the other villages couldn't mobilize an S-rank shinobi that casually.
While they were talking—
Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. Several masked men appeared in the camp.
Their clothing was different from the standard ANBU, what is seen with the Hokage.
Anyone who knew what ruled in Konoha's shadow would recognize which faction they belonged to.
Root.
Before them stood a young one. His name was Tashima Yamanaka. Having joined the organization at seven and becoming one of its trusted agents at sixteen, he was among the first of Root. Currently, he was twenty-three, the same generation as Minato and Inoichi.
His talent was, if not even superior to Inoichi's, with the rigorous training he got from Root.
He walked toward Jiraiya.
Jiraiya, being one of the Third's disciples, he didn't dare to show disrespect. After all, even Konoha's darkness had to treat the Sannin carefully.
"We have been sent to gather as much intel and infiltrate the enemy's lines to sabotage," he said to Jiraiya with a smile, yet there was no warmth in it.
It was blank and empty.
Yet watching them arrive, Jiraiya was not pleased. He had a bad feeling. But knowing that his teacher wouldn't confront Danzo, there wasn't much he could do about it.
After all, while they were officially there to collect intel as they said, you couldn't truly predict what the goal of Root was.
They were not, to put it simply, trustworthy.
But Jiraiya knew there was nothing he could do. At last, he had to watch over his men and make sure Root didn't go too far.
"Fine, but you will have to follow my orders," he said. Though Jiraiya is usually a carefree person, he isn't to be underestimated. He can be dangerous when he wants. He released a bit of killer intent before suppressing himself.
Despite this, the Root shinobi behind Tashima, while shaken, didn't fall to the pressure. It was like they were numb.
.
Tashima grinned. While he was aware that the Sannin were very strong, never had he been exposed to such pressure. But if Jiraiya thought that would be enough to shatter Root's ambition, then he was mistaken.
Of course, he didn't say this straight to Jiraiya's face. After all, he still had things he needed to do with his life.
"Rest assured, Lord Jiraiya, we will mind our own business."
With that, he ordered the Root under him to move and take position.
While this was happening, the shinobi who were gathered with Jiraiya were scrutinizing the masked elites. Everyone was wondering what they were really planning.
"How troublesome indeed," said a man with sharp eyes.
He was Nara Yaiba, a jōnin from the Hokage faction, and had been working closely with Jiraiya ever since he moved to the front.
For him, Root's appearance wasn't any good news.
Since they were here, it meant Hiruzen was already aware of it.
Don't let Hiruzen's looks fool you.
He was an old fox. While Jiraiya believed in his master, he also knew his teacher wasn't so simple.
After all, there was nothing Danzo could do without the tactical approval of the old man. Otherwise, if Hiruzen truly wanted to stop his friend, he could do it easily.
There were many ways for Hiruzen to suppress Danzo, and everyone knew this, even Danzo.
After all, currently Danzo had yet to possess the overwhelming superiority in Root he would have in the future to cause the downfall of the Uchiha clan.
All in all, while Danzo harbored many ambitions, he had to play along with Sarutobi's rules for now.
For Hiruzen, Root was necessary. It's why he allowed it to act so freely, to suppress some dangerous ambitions that might threaten Konoha.
Root was like a blade Hiruzen could wield and place around the neck of anyone that dared to oppose him.
While Danzo thought of himself as a mastermind for Hiruzen, his friend was just a useful tool that he could wield anytime to crush any opposition, and with the concentrated power in his hands as Hokage, he could in turn also punish Root if it overstepped.
What little power Hiruzen gave away to Root, he could take it back.
Not to say Hiruzen was a bad person; he genuinely cared for Konoha, but after so many decades, and as the longest-ruling Hokage who had lived through the Second Shinobi War, this care had become diluted, a pale contrast to the Will of Fire the village had long preached, that protects its people and doesn't compromise with evils.