Naruto: Getting Stronger by Drinking 907

Early in the morning, sunlight shone down on Konoha's streets.

Knock! Knock!

A burst of knocking shattered the morning's peace.

But the knocking went on for quite some time, and no one came to answer the door.

Hmm? What's going on? Hiruzen should have been up long ago at this hour, right? Could he have gone to the Hokage's Office?

Leaning on his cane, Danzo looked utterly exhausted. He checked the time, thinking in puzzlement.

Click—

Just as Danzo was hesitating over whether to leave, the front door suddenly opened.

"Hiruzen, you..."

Danzo had just begun to speak when his expression suddenly froze.

"Hiruzen, wh-what happened to you?"

Danzo stared at Hiruzen Sarutobi and asked in disbelief.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was utterly haggard.

The heavy dark circles beneath his eyes were nearly on par with those of a One-Tail Jinchuriki.

His withered skin, lusterless hair, and hunched back made it hard to believe that this was Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage known as the "Shinobi Hero."

"Danzo, what do you want?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Danzo weakly and spoke irritably.

He had only just managed to fall asleep when Danzo's knocking woke him up.

If he had not been so weak that he could not even refine chakra, Hiruzen Sarutobi truly would have shown Danzo what a "Ninjutsu Doctor" was.

"Yuu sent me. I'll be staying at your house to help you look after the two brats."

Danzo sensed that something was off about Hiruzen Sarutobi's mood, but he said nothing more and stated the purpose of his visit.

To Danzo, accomplishing his mission was what mattered. Why Hiruzen Sarutobi had ended up in this state had nothing to do with him.

Danzo had not forgotten how that bastard Hiruzen Sarutobi, when Yuu had beaten him senseless, had not only failed