Hiruzen Sarutobi Made His Choice

The more Mito Uzumaki listened, the more she felt that Hiruzen Sarutobi was trying to pry information out of Hoshiryu Uchiha.

Especially when it came to witnesses, he seemed far too eager.

Thinking this, Mito Uzumaki spoke up and interrupted their conversation.

"Alright, now that everything has been made clear, we should head back."

As she spoke, she did not wait for Hiruzen Sarutobi to ask anything else. She took Hoshiryu Uchiha's little hand and turned to leave.

When they reached the door, Mito Uzumaki stopped and said meaningfully:

"Monkey, you are the Hokage."

Don't disappoint me!

Mito Uzumaki said the latter words to herself in her heart.

The Hokage's power was not meant to be used to shield criminals.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's behavior had made her realize there was a problem, and she was already preparing to find another way.

If, in the end, Hiruzen Sarutobi could not give her a satisfactory answer—

Then Mito Uzumaki would have to consider whether Hiruzen Sarutobi was truly suited to be Hokage.

Yet he did not notice any of this.

Hiruzen Sarutobi thought Mito Uzumaki had said that only to remind him to investigate the matter as quickly as possible.

To prevent more children from being harmed.

After saying that, Mito Uzumaki led Hoshiryu Uchiha away without looking back.

Once they were gone, Hiruzen Sarutobi lit his pipe and began puffing out clouds of smoke.

"Elephant, go bring Danzo here."

The moment he finished speaking, a black shadow flashed past.

An ANBU, who had not been in the room a moment ago, appeared and dropped to one knee.

Lowering his head, he replied:

"Yes, understood."

Only after Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded did he use the Body Flicker Technique to leave and find Danzo.

Before long, Danzo arrived before the Hokage with his perpetually gloomy expression.

"Hiruzen, what did you call me here for?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi said nothing. He merely stared at Danzo.

It was not until Danzo began to feel uncomfortable under his gaze that he finally spoke.

"What kind of people has your Root recruited recently?"

Danzo's pupils contracted at those words, but he quickly regained his composure.

"Just some Genin from ninja clans who have received their forehead protectors. You approved this yourself. Is there a problem?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi knew his close friend very well. Though Danzo had paused for less than a second, he already knew that the person Mito Uzumaki had mentioned—the one who had targeted children—was Danzo.

At that thought, Hiruzen Sarutobi could no longer suppress the fury in his heart. He grabbed Danzo by the collar.

"You idiot! Do you know that if you lay hands on children, no one can save you!?"

"Mito already knows about this. She has asked me to investigate it."

"And you're still pretending? Are you trying to get yourself killed, Danzo!?"

At the end, Hiruzen Sarutobi shoved Danzo away, sending the dazed man tumbling to the floor.

Danzo was truly dumbfounded. He had only begun acting less than a day ago.

And aside from the few candidates he had personally approached, all the others had been recruited by Root personnel.

How had this already reached Mito Uzumaki? Did everyone know about it?

Still, he was not completely foolish. Knowing how serious the matter was, he hurriedly scrambled to his feet, went to Hiruzen's side, and plastered a smile across his face.

"Since Mito has handed this matter over to you, I should be fine, right?"

By then, Hiruzen Sarutobi had also composed himself. He picked up his pipe and took a deep draw.

Looking at Danzo's obsequious smile, he said irritably:

"Tell me the truth. How many children have you targeted?"

The moment those words were spoken, Danzo's smile froze.

It was not that he had targeted a few children—all the people he had targeted were children.

Danzo intended to turn Root into his own private domain, so naturally, he had to pick the best candidates.

Adult ninjas from ninja clans were far too difficult to brainwash successfully.

Even with the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal, it could only prevent those ninja from revealing information about Root and him.

It could not make them devote themselves to him wholeheartedly.

Moreover, the talented ones had already gained some fame, so forcibly recruiting them without anyone noticing was simply impossible.

Danzo looked down on those with poor aptitude, so he simply chose children instead.

Though the results would come slowly, there were far more benefits.

Seeing Danzo like this, Hiruzen Sarutobi had a bad feeling.

He asked in disbelief, "You didn't recruit only children, did you?"

Cold sweat poured down Danzo's back, but he still stubbornly said, "That's right, this way we can..."

Before he could finish, Hiruzen Sarutobi kicked him flying.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was at the peak of his strength, and that furious kick injured Danzo badly.

Danzo leaned against the wall, his labored breathing making it clear how much pain he was in.

"Danzo! If you want to die, don't drag me down with you. Return the authorization order!"

Danzo coughed heavily twice before slowly saying, "I'll return the authorization order, but some of the children have already been taken to Root. What should we do about that?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi grew so irritated that he even stopped smoking.

He paced back and forth, unable to make up his mind.

The Third Hokage truly had not expected Danzo to go this far.

Things had already reached this point. Even if they found someone to take the blame, the truth would be exposed. Those children were the best evidence.

But dealing with those children made Hiruzen Sarutobi hesitate.

After all, although Hiruzen Sarutobi lacked ability and craved power, he did genuinely love Konoha.

If Danzo had captured children from another village, he would have disposed of them without a second thought.

But these were Konoha's children, Konoha's tender leaves.

Letting them wither away here was something Hiruzen Sarutobi could not bring himself to do.

Danzo did not have so many psychological burdens. He could even set a mother and son against each other until they killed one another, let alone over such a minor matter.

So Danzo's intention was to immediately dispose of those children and eliminate the evidence.

But seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi hesitate, he did not dare defy him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was now his only savior.

Otherwise, given his crimes, the lightest sentence would be life imprisonment. He might even be executed on the spot.

After hesitating for a long while, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally made up his mind.

To him, there were only two paths left.

One was to destroy the evidence, find someone to take the blame, and frame it as a plot by another village.

The other was to kill Danzo on the spot, preventing this matter from implicating himself. After all, he was the one who had given Danzo the authorization order.

"Danzo, I'll leave it to you."

After saying that, Hiruzen Sarutobi walked to the window and looked out over Konoha, though no one knew what he was thinking.

In the end, Hiruzen Sarutobi could not let go of his bond with Danzo and chose to abandon those children.

No wonder Danzo would later assassinate him. In the end, he would be forgiven anyway.

Danzo was overjoyed. He struggled to his feet, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, then took a few more breaths before saying, "Leave it to me, Sarutobi."

After Hoshiryu Uchiha and Mito Uzumaki left, they remained silent for a while before Mito Uzumaki finally could not help asking, "Hoshiryu, do you know something?"