"Lord Danzo, this is the Official Order from above."
Elsewhere, in some dark corner of the village, a Root shinobi whose hands trembled slightly handed the scroll in his grasp to the elderly man seated at the head of the secret chamber, half his face and body wrapped in bandages as he rested with his eyes closed.
"Mm..."
In response, the elder extended a hand. Without any change in expression, he accepted it and gave a slight nod.
Yet after taking it, he showed no intention of opening it, merely holding the scroll in his hand.
"This is outrageous! Lord Danzo is one of the village's elders and the master of Root. That brat has gone too far. He thinks he can order Lord Danzo around with a mere Official Order? Even the Third Hokage would not dare do such a thing!"
Seeing that his master remained unmoved, Danzo's newly promoted confidant, a man known for his calmness, spoke with considerable indignation.
"Hmm?"
At those words, Danzo's closed eyes opened a narrow slit. His somewhat gloomy gaze swept over the newly promoted confidant, and a dissatisfied snort squeezed from between his completely motionless lips.
The new confidant's body immediately stiffened, and he fell silent as a cicada in winter.
Though he did not know how he had angered his master, whose power had been growing by the day, the new confidant understood very clearly that this was not the time to speak, much less mention anything related to the Official Order.
So he chose to remain silent, expressing his fear and obedience toward his master's authority.
After all, the sight of his master's foremost confidant of several decades being carried cold and lifeless out of this room just three days ago remained vivid in his mind. Even a confidant who