"Hiruzen, what do you mean by that?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't answer right away. He simply said,
"Danzo, if you don't feel like explaining, that's fine. When Minato gets back, I'll ask him. Same result."
Danzo's face twisted again.
After a long silence, he let out a heavy sigh.
"I saw an opening, so I decided to use it. A chance to assassinate Rasa. If we'd taken him out, it would've been a massive win for Konoha."
"I just never expected Shiro-Suna Koichi to slip up so soon."
"That's why the whole operation collapsed."
Lying to Hiruzen Sarutobi was pointless.
The Hokage could pull the list of the dead anytime he wanted. Konoha still had eyes inside Sunagakure. And Minato had shown up late but still saw enough.
Hiruzen tapped his fingers on the desk, slow and deliberate.
"Danzo, correct me if I'm wrong—I ordered you to hand Root over to Homura. So why is it still under your thumb?"
Danzo snorted.
"Homura? With his level of talent? You really think he could run Root properly? That organization only reaches its full potential when I'm in charge."
Hiruzen's voice sharpened.
"So this is the 'full potential' you're talking about?"
"Dozens of elite Konoha ninja dead. Sunagakure lost zero men."
"And let's not forget—our real quarrel isn't even with the Sand. We allied with the Mist. The Sand's main fight was never with us."
"You just went and dragged their hatred straight onto Konoha's doorstep."
"Danzo, are you actively trying to destroy the village?"
Danzo shook his head fast.
"No, that's not—Hiruzen, don't twist my words. The only reason I moved against the Sand was because you chose to ally with Kirigakure in the first place."
"If you hadn't tied us to the Mist, I never would've touched the Sand."
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed.
"So in the end, this is my fault?"
Danzo stayed silent. That was answer enough.
Hiruzen let out a cold snort.
"Danzo… it seems I've been far too lenient with you. For old times' sake, I won't punish you today. But you will stop creating problems."
"For the next full year, you stay inside the village. No leaving. Not even a step past the gates."
"Cross that line and don't expect me to spare our past friendship."
Danzo's face drained of color.
"Hiruzen, you can't do this! The village needs me! Grounding me would hurt Konoha more than help it. I'm an elder—I have the right, the authority—"
Hiruzen gave him a flat look.
"But I am the Hokage."
Danzo slammed the door so hard the frame shook.
"Hiruzen… you will regret this!"
---
Barely a minute after Danzo stormed out, Mitokado Homura burst in, breathless.
"Hiruzen!"
He slapped the newspaper down on the desk.
"Have you seen this headline? Danzo has lost his mind! So he never actually handed Root over to me completely!"
"I didn't even recognize half those dead ninja. Never seen their faces before!"
"This is outrageous!"
"Hiruzen, give the order right now—make Danzo turn over the rest of Root!"
Hiruzen looked at his old teammate. Disappointment filled his eyes.
Only now—after everything had blown up—did Homura finally realize Root wasn't fully his.
And instead of marching straight to Danzo, he ran to the Hokage asking for an order.
Was that really the best he could do?
Two disciples of the Second Hokage. Both elders of Konoha. Yet after getting the Hokage's permission, Homura still couldn't seize control on his own.
He just waited for Hiruzen to do everything.
"Homura, I've already confined Danzo to the village. Root is your problem now. Handle it."
Homura's face crumpled.
"But Hiruzen… what if he still refuses to cooperate?"
"Then use your own methods."
Hiruzen didn't want to waste another second on this.
If Homura couldn't even take Root when he had the advantage, he'd never run it properly anyway.
If Danzo slipped up again later… well, Hiruzen could always just disband Root entirely.
Homura opened his mouth, saw the clear dismissal on Hiruzen's face, and left without another word.
Hiruzen picked the newspaper back up and kept reading.
"Hmm. Half the pages cover recent ninja-world events."
"Nothing fabricated. All basically true."
"The other half… a serialized novel?"
"The Basilisk Scroll—a ninja story. But the daimyo in here have way too much power. They actually force their ninja to slaughter each other just to pick an heir."
"The Fire Daimyo couldn't pull that off in a thousand years."
"And these ninja characters… they're all so ugly."
"The author is… Kagetsu?"
"I don't know who in Sunagakure wrote it, but for it to appear in Rasa's paper, he must have personally approved it. Why would Rasa green-light something like this?"
"The storytelling is solid, though. Actually pulls you in."
"Wait… that's it? It stops here?"
Hiruzen felt a flicker of irritation—his curiosity left hanging.
"Since it's a weekly… next week there'll be another issue, right? The story should continue then."
"One whole week…"
He set the paper down, still unsatisfied.
"Still… Danzo wasn't entirely wrong. This issue stuck to facts. But what about the next ones?"
"If we let this thing run wild, Rasa can start slipping in whatever poison he wants. The damage would be worse than those little rumor cards ever were."
"It has to be controlled."
So Hiruzen issued orders: the Ninja World Big Events Weekly was to be restricted across all of Konoha and every battlefield.
He also sent word to the Fire Daimyo, ordering the same inside the Land of Fire.
He wasn't the only one who saw the danger.
Onoki had already sensed the same threat and given similar commands.
But orders to suppress something don't always work when people actually like what they're reading.
Most ninja who picked up the paper and could read immediately got hooked on The Basilisk Scroll.
A lot of them couldn't put it down.
"This story is incredible."
"The tension is killing me—I need to know what happens next. The Kouga Ten versus the Iga Ten… who's actually going to win?"
"Still gotta wait a whole week…"
"Waiting for the next chapter is actual torture."
"Who the hell is this author? How do you write something this good?"
"Gen-no-suke and Oboro… man, those two got it rough."
One ninja suddenly tilted his head.
"Hey… you think this Gen-no-suke guy is modeled after the Uchiha? I mean, they both specialize in eye techniques and all…"
---