After exchanging their information, Aaron instructed Kakashi and the other three to find a small, ordinary inn for the night while he returned to Morishita's house.
There were two reasons.
First, he didn't want to slip up over something trivial. If someone had a perfectly good home in the village but chose to stay at an inn instead, that alone would look suspicious.
Second, he wanted to search the house again.
He had already gone through it earlier that afternoon, but when it came to missions like this, being extra cautious never hurt.
Earlier, he had found files on Grass Village ANBU members in Morishita's office at headquarters. Unfortunately, those documents only covered the squad Morishita personally commanded and the three Grass ninja he was investigating weren't listed there.
That meant the records he needed were likely in another captain's office.
There were only four ANBU squads in the Hidden Grass. Since one belonged to Morishita, that left three others.
If luck was on his side, he might find what he needed the very first time he checked.
Aaron opened the front door and stepped once again into the unfamiliar house.
The first thing he did was check on Morishita.
Although Aaron trusted both his strength and his sealing techniques, caution was always better. That was another reason he hadn't stayed at the inn with Kakashi's group.
He opened the small storage room.
Inside the pitch-dark room lay a young man, still unconscious.
Aaron added another sealing layer just to be safe, then closed the door again.
Satisfied, he returned to the bedroom and sat cross-legged on the tatami floor, beginning his chakra training.
Until the template inside him reached full synchronization, its power couldn't grow through normal training. The abilities it granted were fixed for the moment.
So the only thing he could improve naturally was his chakra.
Of course, compared to spending system points to boost his power directly, this kind of training was painfully slow.
But old habits die hard.
He had barely been meditating for long when his Observation Haki suddenly picked up a chakra signature approaching the house at high speed.
Aaron frowned and stopped training.
He stood up and walked into the living room.
Moments later, there was a knock at the door.
Aaron opened it.
A Grass ANBU operative stood outside.
"It's late," Aaron said calmly. "What's going on?"
At the same time, he extended his Observation Haki to its limit, scanning the surrounding area for hidden forces.
He was confident in his disguise, but confidence didn't mean recklessness. Being exposed was unlikely, but never impossible.
The ANBU ninja spoke quickly.
"Captain Morishita, the village leader requests your presence at the ANBU headquarters immediately."
Aaron nodded slowly.
He had already scanned the entire area. There were no large groups of ninja nearby.
That meant he probably hadn't been discovered.
Of course… there was always the worst-case scenario.
Maybe the Grass leader had figured everything out and was luring him into a trap.
He could practically imagine the scene:
The moment he entered the ANBU chamber, the leader would slam a cup onto the table as a signal
—and suddenly five hundred Grass ninja would burst out of hiding and surround him.
If that happened, Aaron would have no choice but to fight his way out, crush the village's resistance, and take the ANBU files by force.
Fortunately, nothing like that happened.
Under the escort of the ANBU operative, Aaron soon arrived back at the ANBU headquarters and met the Grass leader again.
The other senior ANBU officers from the afternoon meeting were also present.
The leader dismissed the escorting operative, tapped his fingers lightly on the table, and looked around the room.
"Konoha has made a move."
Hearing that, Aaron's heart skipped a beat.
Wait… they actually discovered me?
Is this where the ambush begins?
But a second later he realized something important.
The other ANBU leaders were staring at the Grass leader in complete confusion.
Clearly, they hadn't heard this news either.
If this were an ambush meant for Aaron, the leadership wouldn't be left in the dark.
The Grass leader continued:
"About an hour ago, two ninja from Konoha's Root division came to see me."
"They warned us that Konohagakure has sent agents to investigate our ANBU."
"They told us to be careful."
"They also said that if we can ensure our ANBU intelligence doesn't fall into Konoha's hands, then we won't have to worry about military retaliation or paying reparations."
The room fell into stunned silence.
The Grass ANBU officers exchanged bewildered looks.
Even veterans like them had never encountered a situation this bizarre.
At that moment, Aaron was stunned too.
Just minutes ago he had been wondering whether one of his teammates, maybe Midori had accidentally blown their cover.
But no.
This wasn't a leak from his team.
This was a direct backstab from Danzō Shimura.
Aaron couldn't understand it.
According to Minato Namikaze, Danzō had eventually decided to support him politically.
So why sabotage the mission now?
After a long pause, one ANBU captain finally spoke.
"…Let me get this straight."
"Konoha ninja warned us that Konoha ninja are coming to spy on us?"
The room remained silent.
Another captain thought for a moment and said:
"I've heard that Danzō Shimura, the leader of Root, was a student of the Second Hokage and once competed with Hiruzen Sarutobi to become Hokage."
"Maybe he lost the position again when the Fourth Hokage was chosen… and now he's looking for a way to sabotage Konoha from the shadows?"
The Grass leader shook his head.
"Who knows."
"But their identities as Root operatives were verified. The information is most likely genuine."
The ANBU commander nodded.
"That makes sense."
"With Konoha's power, if they wanted to crush us, they wouldn't need to resort to tricks."
After saying that, he sighed quietly.
This was the reality for small villages.
When facing one of the Five Great Nations, complicated schemes weren't even necessary.
Raw power alone was enough to overwhelm them.
At that moment, Aaron realized he couldn't stay silent any longer.
He didn't know why Danzō had interfered with the mission, but if he let this continue, everything could fall apart.
Aaron stood up suddenly, his voice sharp with urgency.
"Everyon, don't trust Danzō Shimura!"
"He's the greatest threat to the Hidden Grass right now!"
The Grass leader raised a hand.
"Morishita, calm down. If you have a theory, explain it clearly."
Because of Aaron's impressive performance in the earlier meeting, the leader was still willing to hear him out.
Aaron slowly sat back down and looked around the table.
"Do you know what kind of man Danzō Shimura really is?"
He paused deliberately.
This was a small psychological trick.
Instead of lecturing nonstop, he asked questions so the others would participate in the reasoning themselves. When people arrive at conclusions through their own answers, they're far more likely to believe them.
One squad captain responded:
"He's a student of the Second Hokage, a senior adviser in Konoha, and the leader of Root."
Aaron nodded… then shook his head.
"That's all correct."
"But you missed the most important detail."
"Danzō Shimura is the leader of Konoha's hardliner faction."
The captain frowned slightly.
He didn't immediately see the problem.
After all, many Grass ninja themselves favored aggressive policies.
Seeing the confusion in his eyes, Aaron spoke quietly.
"Being a hardliner isn't a problem."
"But if the leader of that faction becomes Hokage…"
"…then it becomes a very big problem."
Hardliners believed in military expansion and aggressive policy.
If Konoha were ever led by such a figure, the first targets wouldn't be the other great nations.
They would be the smaller villages surrounding the Land of Fire.
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