Compromise

Meanwhile, in the Hokage Building office, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the two Hokage Advisors and members of Konoha's Council of Elders, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, and Darkness of Konoha, Shimura Danzō, sat around a table, one at each side. Hiruzen and Danzō sat facing each other.

Kakashi and Yamashiro Aoba stood beside Hiruzen, reporting what had happened that day.

After hearing Kakashi and Aoba's report, all four members of Konoha's High Command wore grim expressions.

Danzō's face was especially dark, as though he'd just come up from a coal mine. His hawk-like eyes stared straight at Hiruzen.

Kakashi and Aoba stepped back behind Hiruzen. They exchanged rueful smiles: both had lost to their own students, and it was easy to see the embarrassment on their faces.

But Aoba felt much better than before. Even someone like Kakashi had lost, so if anyone ever brought up what had happened, most of the attention would be on Kakashi.

Once their embarrassment passed, both men turned their attention to the four members of Konoha's High Command seated around the table. Today's situation was unusual, and they needed to decide how to handle it.

"What does everyone think we should do about this?"

Hiruzen glanced at the three people before him and spoke.

None of them answered. Their silence tossed the question back to Hiruzen, since in a meeting like this, the Hokage had to state his position first.

Hiruzen removed the Hokage hat from his head and set it on the table. Then he said, "Based on Kakashi and Aoba's reports, we can confirm that Konoha has gained three more exceptionally gifted ninja. I believe that's good for the village."

Danzō, who had been itching to argue, couldn't hold back.

"Lord Hokage, two of these three gifted ninja are Uchiha remnants, and the other is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. According to the intelligence I've received, the three of them are very close. If anything goes wrong, they could pose an immeasurable threat to Konoha," Danzō said aggressively.

"Danzō, what is this 'immeasurable threat' you speak of? They're Konoha ninja who received their education here. I don't know what makes you think they'll endanger Konoha. Why couldn't they bring the village a brighter future?" Hiruzen replied softly, but his calm eyes fixed just as firmly on Danzō.

"Heh! Lord Hokage, you underestimate the darkness in people's hearts. If certain truths ever come to light, do you really think they'll still feel the same way?" Danzō said with a cold laugh.

"Wherever leaves dance, the fire burns. The light of the fire will illuminate the entire village. When the fire dies, new leaves will grow again.

"I believe the Will of Fire passed down through Konoha will make them fight for the village." Hiruzen once again invoked Konoha's Will of Fire.

The Will of Fire was Konoha's creed, and no one present dared defy it. Danzō in particular wanted to succeed Hiruzen as the Fifth Hokage, so he had to learn the Will of Fire. Only after he took power could he gradually reveal his own vision.

"Lord Hokage, Danzō, we're not here to argue. We're here to discuss what to do next.

"Everything we know so far, including the origins of those two Ninja Beasts, points to Yuyou Uchiha. By contrast, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki don't pose much of a threat. We should focus on how to deal with Yuyou Uchiha." Utatane Koharu spoke up. As a Hokage Advisor and member of Konoha's Council of Elders, her words carried considerable weight. The tension between Hiruzen and Danzō eased somewhat.

"According to the intelligence we have, Yuyou Uchiha's strength is at least that of an elite jonin. We don't know how capable he is in actual combat, but he somehow produced two Ninja Beasts with jonin-level strength. Kakashi also said those two work so well together that even he found them difficult to deal with.

"So we have to consider whether Yuyou Uchiha has any other Ninja Beasts. His power is already enough to warrant our attention." Mitokado Homura, seated beside Koharu, joined in.

The two of them were neutral members of Konoha, balancing Hiruzen and Danzō.

"You've heard the two advisors, Lord Hokage. Yuyou Uchiha is dangerous, so I believe Root should handle him," Danzō said, picking up the thread.

"Yuyou Uchiha hasn't done anything to harm Konoha. According to our rules, we can't take any action against him. Doing so would violate the way Konoha operates, and that wouldn't be good for the village." Hiruzen remained firm. He didn't want Root taking charge of Yuyou Uchiha.

He also took Yuyou's demonstrated strength very seriously. But when it came to someone so talented, Hiruzen wanted him under his own control, or at least firmly aligned with Konoha's interests.

He didn't want Root to grow any stronger. Danzō's forces were already powerful enough. Giving him even more support could bring about another dangerous incident like the Uchiha upheaval.

Besides, if they moved against Yuyou Uchiha and drove him to betray the village, the situation would become even harder to handle.

The High Command meeting continued, with Hiruzen and Danzō clashing over the central issue.

Danzō wanted to bring Yuyou Uchiha under his control—or kill him before he could grow stronger.

Hiruzen, on the other hand, took the opposite view. He believed Yuyou Uchiha should grow alongside the other Konoha ninja and become one of the village's pillars in the future.

The meeting went on for a long time and wasn't called to an end until dawn the next day.

In the end, they decided to increase surveillance on Yuyou Uchiha, but make sure he didn't notice. Any intelligence they obtained had to be shared with all sides immediately.

During the meeting, Hiruzen didn't mention Sai. Everyone knew Yamashiro Aoba was one of Hiruzen's trusted men, so his surveillance was perfectly aboveboard.

Sai was different. Danzō had no authority to spy on any Konoha ninja, but Sai's existence was also a compromise Hiruzen had made with Danzō. Otherwise, they would never have reached a joint agreement.

"One day, Hiruzen Sarutobi, you'll regret saving Yuyou Uchiha," Danzō said as he came over to Hiruzen before leaving.

"I stand by my choice. I hope Root will show some restraint. There are things you mustn't touch. I'm the one in charge of Konoha now, Danzō." Hiruzen shot him a glance as he replied.

After everyone had left, only Hiruzen, Kakashi, and Aoba remained.

"Lord Hokage, what should I do next?" Aoba asked Hiruzen.

"Follow the usual procedure," Hiruzen said after a moment's thought.

"Aoba, you have a heavy task ahead of you. Besides Yuyou Uchiha, you'll also need to keep an eye on that boy named Sai. He belongs to Danzō."

"Understood, Lord Hokage," Aoba replied with a nod.

"Kakashi, you know what to do. I'm counting on you to look after Naruto and Sasuke," Hiruzen continued.

Kakashi nodded. To be honest, he still didn't know what to do. With two Ninja Beasts, Sasuke and Naruto were much stronger, and that would have a major impact on what happened in the future. But Ninja Beasts were part of a ninja's strength; he couldn't tell them not to use them.

After that discussion, Team 7 and Team 99 each had two people who were practically invisible: Sakura and Fujiwara Chima.