"Lord Danzo! The Hokage requests your immediate presence at an emergency meeting!"
Inside the Root base, an ANBU ninja loyal to the Hokage bowed respectfully to Danzo, who sat behind his desk.
"I understand. I'll depart at once," Danzo replied calmly, his face half-hidden beneath bandages.
Once the ANBU ninja left, Danzo immediately summoned his trusted subordinate, Aburame Ryōma.
"Has last night's situation been investigated?" Danzo asked, his bandage-wrapped right hand lightly tapping the armrest.
The arm that had been implanted with Hashirama's cells throbbed faintly with pain.
"Reporting to Lord Danzo," Ryōma said in a low voice. "Last night, a masked unknown ninja attacked the Hyuga clan compound. Hyuga Hizashi was seriously injured and taken to Konoha Hospital, Hyuga Hiashi sustained minor injuries, and the Kumogakure envoy has gone missing."
"The Hyuga clan?" Danzo's remaining eye narrowed at the mention of a masked ninja.
He couldn't help but recall that there was currently a masked figure within the Akatsuki organization as well.
However, after the battle four years ago, Akatsuki had gone into hiding and stopped openly recruiting. Danzo's network had failed to obtain any further information.
Only fragments could be gathered indirectly through spies stationed in Amegakure.
"Could it be Akatsuki?" Danzo muttered darkly, still bitter about his failure to seize the Rinnegan.
"Unlikely," Ryōma analyzed. "Our spies in Amegakure haven't reported anything unusual. If Akatsuki sought revenge, their first target would be Hanzo of the Salamander. There would be no reason to attack the Hyuga clan."
Four years earlier, Danzo had allied with Hanzo, mobilizing most of Root to crush Akatsuki. That operation had driven Yahiko to his death and triggered Nagato's Rinnegan awakening.
Now, Akatsuki consisted only of a few remnants, hiding in Amegakure and quietly building strength for revenge.
If they intended retaliation, Hanzo would be their priority.
"Let's go. We shouldn't keep the Hokage waiting," Danzo said, standing slowly and concealing his bandaged arm beneath his robe.
Ryōma followed closely behind.
———
Inside the Hokage Tower conference room, the atmosphere was heavy and filled with drifting smoke.
When Danzo entered with a stern expression, all of Konoha's top officials were already present.
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, sat at the head of the table in his ceremonial robes.
To his left sat the senior advisors, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane.
To his right sat the injured Hyuga Hiashi.
Behind the Hokage stood a single ANBU guard wearing a white cat mask.
"Danzo, you're rather late," Mitokado remarked, adjusting his glasses and scrutinizing his old comrade.
"Root affairs are numerous," Danzo replied curtly before taking a seat beside Hiashi.
"Now that everyone is here," Hiruzen began, setting aside a report and taking a puff from his pipe, "Kakashi—hand this file to Advisor Danzo."
"Yes, sir."
The silver-haired ANBU bowed and delivered the document.
Danzo's eye narrowed as he read the compiled ANBU report.
Hiruzen continued, "Last night, a mysterious attacker killed the Kumogakure envoy and attempted to frame the Hyuga clan by leaving the body in their compound. Fortunately, Hiashi noticed the anomaly in time and intervened, preventing a worse outcome."
"However, the enemy was extremely powerful. Hizashi was gravely injured, and Hiashi suffered minor wounds."
"I dispatched ANBU to pursue him, but we lost his trail. He appears to possess detailed knowledge of Konoha's barrier system. I have ordered the Barrier Team and ANBU to conduct a full inspection."
He exhaled a plume of smoke.
Naturally, Hiashi had not reported that he himself had killed the envoy. Instead, he had placed all blame on the masked attacker.
With one Hyuga leader gravely wounded and the other injured, the clan had already paid a heavy enough price.
Even if Kumogakure raised doubts, the Hokage could hardly reprimand the Hyuga—doing so would alienate the other clans.
"Lord Third," Hiashi added, "when I returned to the compound this morning, I discovered my study had been infiltrated."
Hiruzen frowned. "So he evaded the ANBU and doubled back."
"This enemy is frighteningly familiar with the village's layout…" he muttered.
His first thought was of recent defectors. But among all known rogue ninja, none possessed such overwhelming power.
At present, neither Orochimaru nor Uchiha Itachi had yet defected. Among Konoha's known missing-nin, the strongest would likely be Hiruko—but even he wasn't capable of fighting both Hyuga brothers at once.
"Did the enemy display any distinctive techniques?" Danzo asked after finishing the report.
Hiashi chose his words carefully. "His taijutsu mastery was exceptional, and he seemed highly knowledgeable about the Hyuga Gentle Fist. But his fighting style was unrecognizable."
He avoided mentioning that the battle had ended within mere moments.
"The ninjutsu he used was unfamiliar—he condensed chakra into a spherical form with immense destructive power."
"A spherical chakra technique…" Hiruzen immediately thought of the Fourth Hokage's Rasengan.
But Hiashi added, "It resembled the Rasengan in shape, but was much larger and darker in color. Its power was far greater. Hizashi was nearly killed by it."
"What could his objective be?" Koharu wondered. "To provoke a war between Kumogakure and Konoha?"
If the envoy's corpse had truly been planted as intended, the Hyuga clan would have been framed.
Hiashi replied evenly, "Perhaps."
In truth, even he didn't fully understand the masked man's intentions.
Without that mysterious intervention, this meeting might have been an interrogation of the Hyuga clan instead.
"I'll contact Jiraiya and our roaming ninja to gather intelligence," Hiruzen concluded.
With no clear answers, the meeting ended.
After everyone else departed, only Danzo remained.
"Hiashi," Danzo said coldly, turning to face the Hokage.
"Only three years have passed since the Nine-Tails incident, and now the village is attacked again. Is this the result of you reclaiming the seat of Hokage?"
"Our high-level combat strength is lacking. It would be wiser to hand Naruto over to Root—"
"That is Minato's child!" Hiruzen snapped.
"All the more reason to train him properly!"
"Enough!" Hiruzen thundered, slamming his pipe down. "Danzo—I am the Hokage!"
"You'll regret this, Hiruzen!" Danzo spat before storming out.
The door slammed shut.
BANG!
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