The next day, broad daylight.
A rare quiet morning at the Tejima house. Mori Chie had just cleared the table, and Tejima Kazuto had already left for his shift at the hospital.
Tejima Shinichi had changed into easy-to-move-in clothes and was about to head out. With a rare day off, he had no intention of lazing around; he planned to go to the Training Ground to consolidate his newly mastered Hard Water Whirlblade and… digest the insights gained from last night's life-and-death fight.
Right then, a steady knock sounded at the door.
Knock, knock, knock.
Mori Chie was surprised— who could it be at this hour?
Wiping her hands, she walked toward the door and called out,
"Coming —who is it, please?"
An aged voice came from outside:
"It's me, Sarutobi Hiruzen."
Mori Chie froze mid-motion, a flash of shock crossing her face.
She hurriedly pulled the door open. Standing there in full ceremonial robes and the Hokage's hat was none other than the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen!
"L-Lord Hokage?!" Mori Chie exclaimed, instinctively bowing. "Wh-why are you here in person? Please, come in!"
She was stunned.
The Hokage's days were packed —why would he suddenly show up unannounced?
It was completely unprecedented.
Sarutobi Hiruzen waved a hand, smiling warmly. "No need for formalities, Chie. I was passing by and wanted to see how things are. I have something to discuss with Shinichi."
His gaze slid past her to Tejima Shinichi, who had walked to the entrance upon hearing the commotion.
"Looking for me?"
Tejima Shinichi was also surprised, but he already had a good idea why.
Mori Chie's heart tightened.
As a former Special Jonin, she instantly sensed something unusual.
The Hokage coming personally for Shinichi?
Had something gone wrong with yesterday's mission…
or…? Suppressing her doubts, she quickly stepped aside. "Lord Hokage, please come in. Shinichi, invite the Hokage to sit!"
Tejima Shinichi stepped forward and bowed slightly. "Lord Hokage."
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at him, smiled, but made no move to enter.
"No need, Chie." He spoke gently, turning back to Shinichi. "Shinichi, do you have a moment? If you don't mind, walk with an old man and chat?"
The suggestion surprised Mori Chie even more.
A flicker of astonishment crossed Tejima Shinichi's eyes, but he quickly calmed.
"Yes, Lord Hokage." He nodded.
Watching her son leave with the Hokage, Mori Chie's unease deepened.
She leaned against the doorframe, brows knit tightly.
Ever since Shinichi graduated from the Ninja Academy, she'd sensed subtle, indescribable changes in him.
As his mother, she'd started to ask several times, only to swallow the words. Shinichi clearly didn't want them to know, brushing it off with a casual "mission."
And now the Hokage himself had come, specifically to "chat" with him… She sighed softly, a mix of helplessness and worry swirling in her heart.
'What burden has this child taken on alone?'
…Tejima Shinichi walked half a step behind Sarutobi Hiruzen as they strolled along the quiet residential street. Morning sunlight filtered through the leaves in dappled patches.
Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't speak right away, puffing on his pipe as if gathering his thoughts.
Shinichi didn't rush him, waiting patiently.
Finally, at a secluded little park, the Hokage stopped, turned, and looked at him with complex eyes before speaking slowly,
"Yamato has already reported yesterday's events to me in detail."
He paused, voice dropping lower.
"You… have suffered."
Tejima Shinichi met his gaze, sighed, and replied flatly,
"It was just a mission, Lord Hokage. No need."
The boy's excessive calm made Sarutobi Hiruzen sigh inwardly.
The child was holding back a fire —an almost world-scorching rage and… killing intent.
"The ones who attacked you…" The Hokage drew deeply on his pipe, exhaled smoke veiling his expression, "I have dealt with them."
Tejima Shinichi's eyes flickered; he waited for the rest.
"Danzo Shimura is stripped of his elder advisor authority and barred from Village affairs," Sarutobi Hiruzen declared with iron finality. "His 'Root' organization is dissolved as of now; all personnel will be integrated under the Anbu's unified command."
Those two light sentences detonated like twin silent thunderclaps beside Tejima Shinichi's ears.
The calm on his face cracked like a mirror! His dusky amber eyes widened, clearly reflecting the Hokage's unchallengeable figure.
"What?!"
The exclamation burst out involuntarily.
Had he… heard correctly?
Strip Danzo of his elder powers? Disband Root?
Was this really the same Third Hokage he remembered —often balancing forces, sometimes even seeming indecisive —capable of such a move?!
Tejima Shinichi's mind went blank for an instant.
He'd assumed the Hokage's personal visit would, at most, restate Village rules, offer polite consolation, or subtly warn him against private retaliation.
He'd already prepared himself for that "standard" response.
Never had he imagined such a… earth-shattering resolution!
What did this mean?
It meant Danzo's decades-old shadow network was uprooted —at least on the surface!
It meant the serpent-like "Root" lurking in Konoha's shadows was dragged into the light and placed under the Hokage's direct oversight!
It meant Shimura Danzo was completely sidelined, left a "former" elder with nothing but seniority and zero power!
It was nothing short of… cutting the very foundation from beneath him!
Tejima Shinichi could almost picture the contortions on Danzo's face when he heard the news.
Far more devastating than losing a few subordinates —or even a direct assault —this was the total negation and trampling of everything the paranoid old man had spent his life pursuing!
He stared blankly at the Hokage puffing his pipe, features half-hidden by smoke.
At that moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen's image seemed to overlap with the figure overlooking the Village from the Hokage Rock and the "Shinobi Hero" who had terrified enemies during the Third Great Ninja War.
That decisiveness and iron fist of a true Kage… seemed to have returned!?
Tejima Shinichi drew a deep breath, forcibly steadying the upheaval inside him, yet his voice still trembled slightly,
"…Lord Hokage, you… are serious?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen watched the rare shock on his face, exhaled a slow smoke ring, eyes profound,
"I'm not so senile as to joke about such things."
He paused, tone carrying a final, weighty certainty,
"The orders have been issued; as we speak… they're already being carried out."
Tejima Shinichi fell silent.