The Hokage's Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura sat in deathly silence, the crystal ball showing the golden-red sun that had obliterated the base.
After a long moment, Hiruzen exhaled wearily. "Tailed Beast Ball."
"An S-rank ninjutsu used exclusively by tailed beasts. The strongest killing move of a perfect Jinchuriki." He stared at Menma's image. "He's grown too fast."
If not for multiple verifications, Hiruzen would have sworn that it was the Nine-Tails itself in human form.
He had seen perfect Jinchuriki before—Yagura Karatachi of Kirigakure, Killer Bee of Kumogakure. But none of them could unleash such devastation with the casual nonchalance displayed by Menma before them.
Danzo's face was grim, his heart aching.
A third of his subordinates and his entire fortune—gone.
Then there was Sai, his most talented and promising young ninja, captured like livestock.
Fortunately, Hiruzen's direct ANBU had also been arrested. Menma must have figured out who was behind this. There was bound to be a show to watch.
Although he anticipated the fallout, Danzo's anger was impossible to suppress. He crushed the corner of his desk with a sharp crack, glaring at Hiruzen.
"Is this the result you wanted?"
"Four Elite Jōnin, over two hundred core chunin, and countless innocent genin." Danzo's voice dripped with venom. "All dead at the hands of their own people under your glorious and righteous Third Hokage methods. Is this your Will of Fire, Hiruzen?"
His anger mounting with every word, Danzo turned away with a flick of his sleeve. "You must provide a punishment and compensation regarding the Jinchuriki that satisfies me. Otherwise, I won't mind uniting the advisors to impeach you!"
He already had a blood feud with Menma. Rather than mend fences, he would rather destroy the relationship between the Jinchuriki and Hiruzen. He would force the Third to punish the boy, creating a rift between them.
Moreover, that personality wielding the Nine-Tails' power seemed to harbor significant dissatisfaction with the Hokage.
Looking at the furious Danzo, Hiruzen Sarutobi was equally enraged. In truth, he only wanted Menma to kill a few Root elites while rescuing people—a warning and a deterrent. He never expected Menma to be so ruthless, wiping out everyone in the base and leaving not even a single ant alive.
The fact that Naruto hadn't intervened this time also infuriated Hiruzen. He had instilled so much of the Will of Fire and the importance of the village in Naruto, yet Naruto allowed Menma to slaughter so many Konoha ninja. Even the ANBU sent out to protect a few people had their hands crippled and were bound together like pigs and dogs.
"Afterward, I will reinstate you to your position as Hokage's assistant, and I will restore funding to Root. And your surviving subordinate, I will have the Jinchuriki release him." Hiruzen gave Danzo a cold look. Then, in a tone that seemed like a question but was undeniably authoritative, he asked, "Is this compensation enough?"
"Hmph. Of course not!" Danzo snorted, his dissatisfaction clear. "Given that you've raised such a cruel Jinchuriki—one with absolutely no sense of belonging to the village—I also demand you hand him over to Root for secondary training. We must prevent irreversible harm to the village."
After witnessing the Nine-Tails' performance, Danzo was even more unwilling to part with its immense power. If he could really use this excuse to acquire a Jinchuriki, combined with the ability of that eye…
Danzo's words made Hiruzen look at him suspiciously. "Are you confident you can control a Jinchuriki whose strength is no less than yours or mine?"
Danzo smiled coldly, refusing to reveal his true intentions. "That is none of your concern. My Root organization will naturally do a better job than you, you hypocritical Hokage. We won't let the Jinchuriki get out of control."
Hearing Danzo's confident tone, Hiruzen frowned again. Could it be that Danzo had experimented with the First Hokage's cells again and created a Wood Release ninja? Or perhaps his Sharingan research had reached the point where he could control tailed beasts? He would have to have someone investigate this thoroughly again.
Thinking this, Hiruzen decisively rejected Danzo's suggestion. "I have my own arrangements for the Jinchuriki; I don't need your Root organization interfering."
Just as Hiruzen finished speaking, Menma's voice came from outside.
"My arrangements? Could the Third Hokage explain this to me in detail?"
With a rustling sound, Menma pushed the office door open, a smile on his face. However, his smile was forced, his eyes betraying not a shred of respect.
"Yo, Old Codger Danzo, you're here too. No wonder we couldn't find you in your lair."
Turning his head, Menma saw Danzo's face—black as the bottom of a pot—and feigned surprise, his mouth agape. "How have you been lately? Still bleeding from your ass?"
"You bastard, shut up!"
Menma's two sentences upon entering instantly broke through Danzo's defenses. Being called an Old Codger was one thing—plenty of people called him that—but the kick Menma had given him two weeks ago, and the red mark left on his buttocks, were humiliations Danzo could never forget. It had forced him to stay indoors for a week, not even seeing any of his Root subordinates.
Forcibly suppressing his anger, Danzo glanced at Hiruzen and spoke coldly. "Attacking high-ranking leaders, murdering and kidnapping fellow villagers, and destroying village base facilities. Menma, aren't you going to give an explanation? Otherwise, our Hokage will exterminate us for such rogue ninja behavior!"
"An explanation?" Menma scoffed, completely unconvinced. "Root secretly colluded with escaped missing-nin, assassinated the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, kidnapped the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's comrades, and attempted to recreate the Nine-Tails' rampage from thirteen years ago. Do you think that explanation is acceptable?"
"What did you say!?" Danzo was so angry he almost choked. This ability to frame someone was even more outrageous than Hiruzen's! And how did Menma know he colluded with Orochimaru?
"Stop framing me! Root has always acted with a clear conscience; we've never done any of this!"
Menma ignored the enraged Danzo and turned to Hiruzen. "What does the Hokage think is the truth? It can't be that these ANBU directly under the Hokage kidnapped my comrades and framed this Old Codger, can it?"
Hiruzen gave Menma a deep look before speaking. "You're right, Root does have problems, but it has nothing to do with Danzo. It's because you destroyed that base and a traitor appeared."
"You're talking nonsense! Root has no traitors!"
Seeing the two of them so quickly define the situation, Danzo was both shocked and furious. So he got beaten, lost money, and now he had to take the blame for his subordinates' treason? Besides, Root ninjas were bound by the "Tongue Calamity Seal." If his subordinates were traitors, wouldn't that make him the ringleader of traitors?
"You Old Codger, you have a problem with that?" Menma grinned menacingly at Danzo.
"I said, my Root—" Danzo's words were cut short.
Before he could finish, Menma, enveloped in golden-red chakra, suddenly appeared before him and slapped him.
Smack!
The sound of the slap rang out. Two bloodied molars flew from Danzo's disbelieving mouth.