The Hokage's Visit

The next day, dawn broke bright.

It was a rare leisurely morning for the Teshima Clan. Mori Chie had just finished clearing the table, while Teshima Kazuto had already gone to the hospital for his shift.

Tejima Shinichi had also changed into clothes suitable for movement and was preparing to head out. With a rare day off, he had no intention of idling around. He planned to go to the training grounds to consolidate his newly mastered Hard Vortex Water Blade and... digest the insights gained from that life-and-death battle the night before.

Just then, a steady knock sounded at the door.

Knock, knock, knock.

Mori Chie was somewhat surprised. Who could it be at this hour?

She wiped her hands and walked toward the door, calling out as she went, "Coming. May I ask who it is?"

A slightly aged voice came from outside.

"It's me, Sarutobi Hiruzen."

Mori Chie froze mid-motion, a flicker of shock crossing her face.

She hurriedly pulled open the door. Standing outside was none other than the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, dressed in his Hokage Robe and wearing the Hokage Hat! He

"H-Hokage?!" Mori Chie cried out, instinctively bowing. "Y-you came here in person? Please, come in!"

She was utterly astonished.

The Hokage had countless affairs to attend to. Why had he suddenly come to their home without any warning?

This was simply unprecedented!

Sarutobi Hiruzen waved a hand, his smile gentle. "No need for formalities, Chie. I was merely passing by to take a look. There are some things I'd like to discuss with Shinichi."

His gaze passed over Mori Chie and fell upon Tejima Shinichi, who had come to the entryway upon hearing the commotion.

"Me?"

Tejima Shinichi was also somewhat surprised, though he understood what this was about.

Mori Chie's heart tightened as well.

As a former Special Jonin, she keenly sensed something unusual.

The Hokage had come personally to see Shinichi?

Had something gone wrong during Shinichi's mission yesterday?

Or was it...

Suppressing the doubts and unease in her heart, she quickly stepped aside. "Hokage, please come in. Shinichi, why aren't you inviting the Hokage inside to sit?"

Tejima Shinichi stepped forward and gave Sarutobi Hiruzen a slight bow. "Hokage."

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Tejima Shinichi and smiled, but showed no intention of entering.

"No need to trouble yourself, Chie." He spoke gently, turning his gaze back to Tejima Shinichi. "Shinichi, do you have time? If you can, would you accompany this old man for a walk and a chat?"

The suggestion surprised Mori Chie even more.

A trace of surprise flashed through Tejima Shinichi's eyes, but he quickly returned to calm.

"Yes, Hokage." He nodded in agreement.

Mori Chie watched her son follow the Hokage out of the house, and the unease in her heart grew stronger.

Leaning against the doorway, she furrowed her brows tightly.

It had probably been since Shinichi graduated from the Ninja Academy that she had vaguely sensed some indescribable changes in him.

As his mother, she had wanted to ask several times, but swallowed the words each time they reached her lips. Shinichi seemed unwilling to let them know, lightly brushing everything aside with the word "mission."

And now, even the Hokage had come personally, specifically asking to "chat" with Shinichi...

Mori Chie let out a soft sigh. A sense of helplessness mixed with worry lingered in her heart.

What, exactly, was this child carrying all by himself?

Tejima Shinichi silently followed half a step behind Sarutobi Hiruzen as the two slowly walked along the quiet streets of the residential district. Morning sunlight filtered through the gaps between leaves, scattering mottled shadows across the ground.

Sarutobi Hiruzen did not speak immediately. He merely smoked his pipe, seemingly organizing his thoughts.

Tejima Shinichi did not urge him, waiting patiently.

At last, when they reached a secluded little park, Sarutobi Hiruzen stopped and turned around. He looked at Tejima Shinichi with a complicated expression before slowly speaking.

"Yamato gave me a detailed report on what happened yesterday."

He paused, his voice lowering slightly.

"You... suffered."

Tejima Shinichi raised his eyes to meet Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze, then sighed and replied evenly, "It was just a mission. There is no need for this, Hokage."

That excessive calmness made Sarutobi Hiruzen sigh inwardly.

There was a fire bottled up inside this child—a rage that could nearly burn everything to ashes, and... killing intent.

"As for the ones who attacked you..." Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep puff from his pipe. The smoke he exhaled blurred his expression. "I have already dealt with them."

Tejima Shinichi's gaze shifted slightly as he waited for him to continue.

"Shimura Danzō has been stripped of his authority as an elder advisor and may no longer interfere in village affairs." Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice carried an unquestionable decisiveness. "The Root division under his command will be disbanded as of today. All personnel will be incorporated into the Anbu under unified command."

Those two seemingly casual sentences exploded in Tejima Shinichi's ears like two soundless bolts of thunder!

The calmness on Tejima Shinichi's face shattered inch by inch like a mirror! His dark amber eyes widened slightly, clearly reflecting Sarutobi Hiruzen's imposing, unquestionable figure.

"What?!"

The two words of startled disbelief escaped his lips.

He... had not heard wrong, had he?

Strip Danzo of his authority as an elder? Disband Root?

Could this... really be a decision made by the Third Hokage he remembered—the one who often weighed his options, and sometimes even seemed somewhat indecisive?!

Tejima Shinichi's mind went blank for a moment.

He had thought that the Third Hokage's personal visit would amount to little more than restating the village's rules, offering some soothing pleasantries, or subtly warning him not to seek private revenge.

He had long prepared himself to deal with that sort of "standard" resolution.

But he had never expected to receive such a... such an earth-shattering response!

What did this mean?

It meant that the dark power Danzo had cultivated for decades had been uprooted... at least on the surface!

It meant that Root, which had lurked like a venomous snake in Konoha's shadows, had been forcibly exposed to the sunlight and placed under the Hokage's direct supervision!

It meant that Shimura Danzō himself had been completely stripped of power, becoming a "former" elder with seniority but no real authority!

This was... cutting the fuel from beneath the cauldron!

Tejima Shinichi could even imagine how grotesquely Danzo's old face would twist when he learned the news.

This would be even harder for that stubborn old man to accept than killing several of his subordinates, or even marching straight to his door!

After all, this was the most thorough denial and trampling of the power and ideals he had pursued his entire life!

He stared blankly at the Third Hokage before him, smoking his pipe, his face somewhat blurred behind the haze.

At that moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen's image in Tejima Shinichi's eyes seemed to gradually overlap with that of the Shinobi Hero who had overlooked the village from Hokage Rock and struck terror into the hearts of enemies during the Third Shinobi World War.

That decisiveness and iron hand belonging to a Kage seemed to have... returned!?

Tejima Shinichi took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the immense shock in his heart, though his voice still carried a faint tremor.

"...Hokage, are you... serious?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the rare shock on his face, slowly exhaled a ring of smoke, and gazed at him deeply.

"I am not so senile that I would joke about something like this."

He paused, his tone carrying the heaviness of a matter already settled.

"The orders have been issued. By now... they should already be being carried out."

Tejima Shinichi fell silent.