The Third Hokage's Companions and the Outcome

The figure vanished from the spot in an instant, and then a sharp gust of wind rose behind Kagetsu.

Thud!

A dull impact rang out where the blade struck Kagetsu's neck.

What was that?

A flicker of confusion passed through the attacker's visible eye behind his mask. Then, in the next moment, he lost control of his body. His feet seemed glued to the ground, and his entire body stiffened.

Shadow Imitation Technique!

The dim alley beneath the night sky gave the shadows exceptional concealment and reach. At such nearly point-blank range, there was not even time to evade.

The attacker had clearly aimed to land a guaranteed blow, practically stepping right onto Kagetsu's shadow.

What startled him even more was that, in the next instant, dense runes slithered out from the darkness beneath Kagetsu's feet, spreading along the shadow and crawling all over his body.

"Th-this is the Cursed Seal Binding Technique!" The struggle in the attacker's eyes intensified.

The combined use of the Shadow Imitation Technique and the Cursed Seal Binding Technique was the technique Kagetsu had mastered most thoroughly, one he could almost cast instantly.

This combination had originally been meant to deal with Jugo's rampages. Against a rampaging Jugo, all one could do was restrain him instantly, continuously, and with force.

Kagetsu had honed that sense of timing and control through months of back-and-forth battles with Jugo.

At first, he had needed to work with Anko, seize the right moment, and engage in dangerous combat before they could achieve their goal. Once they became increasingly familiar with the process, dealing with Jugo's rampages became much easier and safer.

He released the Shadow Imitation Technique.

Kagetsu turned around and looked at the attacker, who was half a head taller than him and dressed in Anbu gear. Cursed Seals covered the man's body, and the runes on his exposed palm had spread all the way to his fingertips.

"The back of the blade? So you weren't here to kill me. Did you want to capture me for something?"

Looking at the blade that had struck him, Kagetsu confirmed the source of the strange, blunt sensation he had felt during the attack.

"You were able to block me in such a remote place. Were you specifically waiting for me? You're very calm. Since you were able to wait for me here, you must at least have known that I often took this route home after training.

"That means you're very familiar with Konoha's road layout, and you've looked into some of my daily habits.

"Judging by your attire, you belong to the Anbu. The Anbu serves the Hokage and obeys only Lord Hokage's orders. But if the Third Hokage wanted to see me, he only needed to tell my lazy Old Man. There'd be no need for methods like this.

"I heard from Orochimaru Sensei that Konoha has another Anbu organization called Root. It's Konoha's Anbu training institution, part of the Anbu.

"But that branch of the Anbu is controlled by an Elder named Danzo...

"Your emotions finally fluctuated. Looks like I guessed right."

Kagetsu had kept his eyes fixed on the attacker as he spoke. Using some of the small mental observation techniques he had learned from the Yamanaka Clan, he carefully sensed the other's subtle emotional shifts.

When he spoke Danzo's name, he sharply caught the fleeting emotional fluctuation from the attacker. Kagetsu sighed. He no longer wanted to probe any further. He knew perfectly well that the rest should be handled by adults capable of dealing with it.

"How surprising."

Not long afterward, a figure appeared in the darkness in an instant, landing in the alley with a rush of wind. When that familiar, magnetic, hoarse voice rang out, Kagetsu, who had been hiding in the shadows, finally relaxed completely.

"Anbu? No, it has the stench of Root." Orochimaru looked at the Anbu frozen in place by the Cursed Seal Binding Technique, reinforced twice over, and narrowed his golden eyes into slits.

"Orochimaru Sensei." Kagetsu greeted him.

"Looks like he didn't intend to kill you." Orochimaru had also noticed the improper direction of the attacker's blade. He almost instantly deduced the rough course of events and the battle.

"He wanted to knock me out, but he couldn't break through my Blut Vene." Kagetsu explained simply.

"Leave this matter to me. You can tell Shikaji."

Orochimaru fell silent for a moment, then summoned a giant snake that swallowed the attacker into its belly. He watched as it vanished from the spot in a puff of smoke.

"Is there going to be trouble?" Kagetsu looked up and asked.

"It's merely a warning from a petty old man. You were caught up in it."

Orochimaru had already figured out the cause and circumstances of the attack, but he had no intention of explaining it to Kagetsu here. Taking Kagetsu's hand, he said, "Come. I'll take you home first. Then I'll go see my teacher."

After safely escorting Kagetsu back to the Nara Clan Grounds, Orochimaru left at once, leaving Kagetsu with Shikaji, who had sensed that something was amiss.

Following Orochimaru's wishes, Kagetsu recounted everything that had happened that day to Shikaji in full detail. After leaving the old man, whose expression had become somewhat grave, to think it over, Kagetsu went back to rest.

Somewhere in a dim underground chamber.

An elderly man hidden in the candlelight leaned on a cane and looked at the subordinate kneeling before him, his one intact eye exposed.

"You said Orochimaru went to see Hiruzen?"

"Yes! We monitored Orochimaru entering the Third Hokage's residence. He remained inside for a long time before leaving." The kneeling ninja lowered his head and answered respectfully.

"I understand." The old man nodded and watched his subordinate rise and back away.

"Hiruzen."

The old man, wrapped in bandages and leaning on a cane, pushed open the doors to the Hokage's Office. His exposed single eye swept over the Third Hokage working inside and Nara Shikaji silently handling paperwork to one side, before returning to the Third Hokage, who had raised his head to meet his gaze.

"What did you summon me for?"

"Last night, Orochimaru's disciple, Nara Kagetsu, was attacked by an Anbu operative. Danzo, do you have anything to say about that?" The Third Hokage took a puff from the pipe at his side. His aged face was obscured by smoke, making it difficult to read.

"An Anbu attack? What does that have to do with me?" Danzo snorted and retorted righteously.

"Do you know what Orochimaru did?" As though he had expected Danzo's denial, the Third Hokage fell silent for a moment, rubbed his brow with a headache, and spoke helplessly.

"What could he have done?" Danzo stood before the Third Hokage's desk, his eye dismissively sweeping over the silently working Nara Shikaji as he spoke coldly.

"He sent the attacker to the Interrogation Unit." The Third Hokage closed his eyes. "Yamanaka Inoichi, the head of the Interrogation Unit, questioned him personally. Do I need to say more?"

"What could he possibly interrogate out of him?" Danzo narrowed his eye.

"Beforehand, Orochimaru helped remove the numerous seals and Binding Techniques you had placed on the attacker." The Third Hokage smoked with a deeply troubled expression, then opened his eyes and stared at Danzo through the haze.

"What is he trying to do? My conscience is clear!" Danzo snorted.

"Why do you think our teacher chose me as Hokage instead of you?" The Third Hokage suddenly asked an unrelated question.

"That was only because you said that line about staying behind first!" At Hiruzen Sarutobi's question, Danzo, who had remained calm all along, suddenly became agitated. He shouted furiously.

"No! It was because our teacher knew perfectly well that you only understood ruthlessness and not compromise. You had a little cleverness but no regard for the bigger picture, short-sighted and lacking any long-term vision.

"If someone like you became Hokage, you would only become a disaster for the village!" The Third Hokage answered word by word.

"You're talking nonsense!" Danzo heavily struck the floor several times with his cane. The veins on both hands gripping it bulged. His old friend had enraged him almost instantly.

"Take a good look at what you've done! How dare you lay hands on people in the village! First Sakumo, then Kagetsu. Next, are you going to come after me?" The Third Hokage berated him tit-for-tat.

Danzo stared deeply at the Third Hokage's furious face, then suddenly fell quiet and calm.

"The village's security will henceforth be handled by the Anbu directly under the Hokage. Your Root need only handle matters outside the village. Furthermore, in light of the mistakes you have made recently, Root's funding and recruitment will be restricted accordingly." Looking at the calmed Danzo, the Third Hokage stated the final punishment evenly.

"You'll regret this, Hiruzen!" Danzo's hands clenched even tighter. Even if Hiruzen Sarutobi had harshly berated him and made him lose face before Shikaji, it would not have left him as unwilling to accept it as this punishment. This was an utterly merciless reduction of the power in his hands!

"I am the Hokage, am I not?" the Third Hokage said coldly.

"Hmph!" Danzo turned, flung open the door with a gust of wind, and left the Hokage's Office.

"My punishment should satisfy you and Shikaji, shouldn't it?" Watching Danzo leave, the Third Hokage wearily rubbed his brow again.

"I have no objections, Lord Hokage." Nara Shikaji stood and bowed respectfully to the Third Hokage.

"What about what you promised me, Sensei?" Orochimaru emerged from a hidden door, his eyes fixed on his teacher.

"The funding cut from Root will be placed under your control, and Danzo will have no authority to interfere with the personnel of the Ino-Shika-Cho clans. However, you may discuss and select them yourself." The Third Hokage nodded.

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and met his teacher's probing gaze.

"That differs from what you promised me last night." After a moment of silence, Orochimaru licked the corner of his lips, somewhat displeased.

"Do you know how much manpower and money it takes to establish a new department? The village's economy has improved and become much more prosperous, but it hasn't reached the point where we can spend extravagantly.

"Besides, even as Hokage, if I want to establish an entirely new department, I must convene a Jonin Meeting for a vote.

"Tsunade's Medical Department wasn't successfully established overnight either." The Third Hokage shook his head.

"But the facts proved that establishing the Medical Department was the right decision! Tsunade's proposal at the time was also correct! Your delay, Sensei, was meaningless and did the village no good." Orochimaru replied without reservation.

The Third Hokage immediately began smoking his pipe again.

"At the very least, you need to let the jonin and me see the value of this department's existence. The Technology Development Department, based on the requirements you proposed, would require even greater expenditures of money, manpower, and other resources than the Medical Department! I cannot see what it means for the village." The Third Hokage looked troubled.

Looking at the village's disastrous finances, even he, as Hokage, was in a difficult position. The Medical Department had only been established for a few years, and its investment had yet to be recouped. Now they wanted to launch another money pit—those who did not manage the household did not know the price of firewood and rice.

"That does not align with our agreement." Orochimaru's eyes had narrowed into vertical slits.

"How about this? I will authorize you to establish this department and allow you to recruit personnel independently. I can also provide some initial startup funding. But if you cannot produce sufficient results afterward, you will bear the financial burden yourself. Do you accept this solution?" After considering it, the Third Hokage offered a compromise.