At this moment, the air in the Hokage Office seemed to freeze.
For a time, Sarutobi Hiruzen and Homura Mitokado were so frightened that they barely dared to breathe.
The more honest a person was, the fiercer they became once they exploded. Likewise, the more rational someone usually was, the more insane they became once they threw caution to the wind.
"R-Relax a little, Koharu. Danzo didn't mean it that way." Sarutobi Hiruzen finally came to his senses and hurriedly stepped in to stop her.
Shimura Danzo wrenched himself free from Utatane Koharu's grasp.
He fixed Utatane Koharu with a deep, unfathomable gaze.
But Koharu showed no reaction at all to Danzo's icy stare.
Danzo shifted his gaze to Homura Mitokado. Homura Mitokado, however, lowered his head slightly and avoided Danzo's eyes.
He turned once more to his best friend, Sarutobi Hiruzen. Hiruzen wore an awkward smile. Yet the longer Danzo looked, the more he felt it was filled with mockery and ridicule.
At last, his gaze was gradually drawn to the Hokage's hat on the desk.
His eyes grew even deeper.
Then, with a savage expression, he turned and shoved open the office doors as he strode out. The doors slammed loudly in his wake.
He walked down the long corridor with a dark expression. His face grew uglier and uglier, and his heart hurt more and more.
He wanted to find somewhere and have a good cry. But he told himself that no matter what a ninja encountered, he had to possess a heart that did not shed tears!
"You are Konoha bathed in sunlight; I am the Root in the darkness." He recalled the words he had said to Hiruzen when he founded Root.
At the time, he had meant those words sincerely.
"Danzo, I'm sorry. You're