When Danzo arrived at the Sarutobi home at Hiruzen's invitation, he found that Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura were there as well, along with Torifu Akimichi.
Hiruzen and Mitokado were playing shogi while Utatane Koharu and Torifu Akimichi watched from the side.
It was rare for these old friends to gather again, and Danzo was rather surprised.
"Danzo's here." Seeing Danzo, Torifu Akimichi greeted him with a guileless grin.
Danzo smiled faintly. "What's going on today? Sarutobi invited all of us over for dinner."
Hiruzen shot him a glance. "What, you're unhappy that I invited you to dinner?"
Danzo saw Biwako busying herself alone in the kitchen. He walked over and sat beside the others, looking at the board where Hiruzen and Mitokado Homura were playing.
Mitokado Homura had his brows tightly furrowed as he pondered deeply, while Hiruzen appeared entirely at ease.
After a long while, Mitokado Homura moved a piece, making Danzo unable to hold back a laugh.
Utatane Koharu said, "En's shogi is as terrible as ever."
As expected, Hiruzen completed the checkmate. Mitokado Homura's mouth twitched before he helplessly tossed down the piece in his hand.
Danzo said, "With skills like yours, don't embarrass yourself."
Mitokado Homura snapped, "You're not much better than me when it comes to shogi."
Hiruzen smiled confidently. "The only one who could match me at shogi was Kagami."
Kagami Uchiha was already dead.
Everyone was quite composed when mentioning him. Danzo said, "Kagami let you win every time because he was afraid you'd lose too badly."
Hiruzen said unhappily, "I let him win sometimes too."
The five men, with a combined age of over three hundred, sat together chatting idly. Danzo had thought Hiruzen had invited them over because retirement had left him bored.
Once Biwako had prepared the food and