Danzo, does your Root belong to the Shimura Clan?

Konoha.

The Hokage Office Building.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in a broad wooden chair, the old pipe that had accompanied this body's original owner for years clenched between his teeth, poring over documents.

Deep curiosity lurked beneath his gaze.

Before he could read much, the office door handle was roughly twisted. Accompanied by an almost simultaneous, perfunctory knock, a bandage-wrapped man with a cane strode inside.

Shimura Danzō was seething.

Recently, Hiruzen Sarutobi had fallen seriously ill, bedridden with a high fever for several days, and set aside some of his work.

Only a few years had passed since the Second Shinobi World War ended, and the village had yet to recover fully from the ravages of war...

Such conduct was far too indolent!

As the Hokage's advisor, he needed to give him a proper dressing-down!

Shimura Danzō was just about to call out "Hiruzen" out of habit, launching into the smooth little routine he had used for years.

But then the other man suddenly raised his head, amusement in his eyes.

Shimura Danzō's heart tightened, and he instinctively stopped in his tracks.

What was going on?

Having just recovered from his illness, Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed younger. His posture and bearing were much straighter than before.

Was it an illusion?

"I was wondering who it was."

Hiruzen Sarutobi unhurriedly tapped his pipe against the edge of the desk, then paused. "So it's the Hokage's..."

He deliberately stressed the final word. "...advisor?"

Shimura Danzō's expression turned ugly.

During that pause, his emotions had actually stirred.

After all, Hiruzen Sarutobi never addressed him by his position as the Hokage's advisor.

So wasn't there a possibility, however small? Surely it had to exist?

—Monkey had finally realized today that I was the one best suited to be Hokage, and he was going to hand the position over to me!

But once that emphatic "advisor" emerged...

Shimura Danzō immediately realized that Hiruzen Sarutobi was expressing displeasure!

"Hiruzen..."

Shimura Danzō frowned, his fingers unconsciously tightening until the document envelope in his hand crumpled slightly. "What is the meaning of this?"

"I mean you've been doing good work lately." Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled, seemingly pleased. "Root keeps expanding, and its funding per member and equipment standards have even surpassed the Anbu's..."

"You've added trench coats to their uniforms and adopted masks that look fiercer than the Anbu's. Your word as advisor is absolute among them..."

"Konoha's Root belongs to the Shimura Clan!"

Thoughts raced through Shimura Danzō's mind.

Something was wrong...

Very, very wrong!

By all rights, he was secretly conducting the banned wood release experiments. Hiruzen Sarutobi should not be coming after him now.

At the very least, this Lord Hokage should wait until he discovered it and confirmed that Danzō had achieved results. Only then would he try to take the fruit born of that darkness and give him a punishment neither too harsh nor too lenient.

During that process, even if his personal authority expanded beyond the bounds of a Hokage's advisor, it was compensation for shouldering that darkness.

That had been their unspoken understanding for years.

Was Hiruzen Sarutobi going to tear up that agreement now?

Wasn't he afraid I'd stop working on Wood Release?!

If he did it himself, as a branch standing in the light, would he dare take the blame?

"Hiruzen, I'm doing this for Konoha!"

Shimura Danzō loudly stressed his point. "Root lurks in the darkness, facing the harshest conditions and missions. Naturally, it needs substantial personnel and supplies!"

"As Hokage, you should be thinking about the village's future and the shinobi wars that are certain to come, not quibbling over Root's minor issues! This is meaningless infighting!"

At that, Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly rose and strolled over to Shimura Danzō, pipe in hand.

He gave a disdainful smile right in his face and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.

The pungent smoke made Shimura Danzō clench his fists at once!

This was too humiliating!

Even if Hiruzen Sarutobi was Konoha's Hokage, he couldn't treat his advisor like this...

But the words that followed left the Darkness of the Shinobi World stunned.

"Did you think I was criticizing you?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head and firmly patted his old friend's shoulder. "I'm reminding you that you've taken the wrong path!"

Shimura Danzō's brows knitted tightly. "What wrong path?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi swept his hand sharply.

"From the Five Great Hidden Villages down to obscure shinobi tribes, who doesn't know you want to be Hokage?"

"But how can you become Hokage like this?"

"You constantly walk in darkness. As the head of a special department, you possess privileges that ordinary shinobi fear."

"But the farther you go down that road, the farther you get from the Hokage position."

"For example, why did the Second give the Uchiha Clan sole responsibility for the Military Police Force?"

Shimura Danzō's expression became quite a sight.

How could he not understand that reasoning?

But for Konoha's power holders, standing in the light had always been Hiruzen Sarutobi's exclusive privilege.

As the saying went, there could not be two suns in the sky.

So Shimura Danzō could only hold tightly to the darkness in his hands...

After all, power in the darkness was still power. Whatever else, he was the Hokage's advisor, second only to one man and above everyone else!

"Of course I know!"

Shimura Danzō spoke hoarsely. "What are you trying to say, Hiruzen?! I willingly shoulder the village's darkness! A shinobi must have the conviction to sacrifice!"

"Let me ask you: do you want to be Hokage?" Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly smiled. "I'll only ask you this once, Danzo."

In the past, Shimura Danzō had believed no one understood Hiruzen Sarutobi better than he did.

But today, he had absolutely no idea what this Lord Hokage intended to do...

Yes! How could I not? I think about it day and night, every single day, even in my dreams! I want to be that damned Hokage so badly! Shimura Danzō roared inwardly.

But...

Facing this unfathomable Hiruzen Sarutobi, he found it difficult to voice the words on the tip of his tongue.

Subconsciously, the scene of Senju Tobirama asking who would stay behind to cover their retreat surfaced in his mind.

I hadn't dared raise my hand to cover the retreat...

Was I too afraid even to say I wanted to contend for Hokage?!

At that thought, Shimura Danzō took a deep breath and stiffly forced out a single word. "Yes!"

"Mm, you've improved since then." Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded with a chuckle.

That tone left Shimura Danzō feeling distinctly uncomfortable.

Did you think you understood me so well? Let me tell you, you didn't understand me at all!

What was with that tone?

Did you think you were my superior?!

Yet despite his inward grumbling, he pricked up his ears and listened intently.

"If you do, I can help you, but I won't name you as my successor."

"Let me make that clear."

Hiruzen Sarutobi returned to his seat and took a sip of hot tea. "I'll give official backing to some of Root's past activities."

Shimura Danzō's breathing unconsciously grew heavier, and bewilderment rose within him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was actually going to take the blame for me?

Was this still the shinobi world founded by the Sage of Six Paths?!

Shimura Danzō eagerly waited for Hiruzen Sarutobi to continue, but Hiruzen Sarutobi simply drank his tea at a leisurely pace.

He glanced at him and lifted his chin slightly.

The meaning was clear: he had already demonstrated his sincerity.

Next...

It was Danzō's turn.

Countless thoughts churned through Shimura Danzō's mind.

Should I tell him about that Wood Release Test Subject...?

That was a precious wood release ninja!

But Hiruzen Sarutobi's composed manner left him utterly unable to gauge what the man knew.

"At Orochimaru's request, I helped him conduct some wood release experiments."

Shimura Danzō chose his words carefully. "There was a price to pay, but the results were extremely encouraging. A test subject survived the potency of the First Hokage's cells."

"That's what I came to discuss with you today."

That was a lie.

He had come to berate Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Hiruzen Sarutobi beckoned, signaling Shimura Danzō to sit, and poured him a cup of tea.

He seemed completely unconcerned about Wood Release.

Shimura Danzō frowned slightly. That was Wood Release!

He could not help calculating inwardly.

Was Hiruzen Sarutobi holding out for a better bargain, pretending not to care to devalue my confession... or had he actually known all along?

The refreshing tea tasted bland in his mouth, smothered by his tangled thoughts.

As though he had not taken the wood release experiments to heart at all, Hiruzen Sarutobi asked with a smile, "Nothing else?"

"A few days ago, I requested a talented shinobi from the Aburame Clan."

Shimura Danzō's tone grew increasingly irritated.

"Hiruzen, does that even count? If I don't demand personnel from those arrogant ninja clans, how will Root have any fighting strength? How will it establish the Hokage Faction's authority?!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi laughed. "See? You're getting worked up again. We two old friends haven't sat down for a chat in ages. I'm asking about your work and your life."

"You really haven't had it easy all these years."

Shimura Danzō sneered inwardly. Why was Monkey suddenly playing the sentimentality card?

Yet his rigid, corpse-like expression unconsciously softened a little.

"Sometimes, when I see you building up armed forces in Root and doing your best to hide them from me..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi abruptly shifted tack. "I'm not angry. It hurts me a little."

"You know you're outside the normal line of succession for Hokage. Perhaps you're building these private forces because, if I'm gone one day, you think you can try your luck with an armed coup?"

"You began researching Lord Hashirama's cells not only for the village's sake, but because you wanted that power yourself, didn't you?"

"Strength is power. That's true. But in Konoha, treating the two as completely equivalent strays from what Hashirama and Lord Tobirama taught us..."

The atmosphere grew heavy.

When the Hokage pointed out that a subordinate harbored thoughts of seizing power by force, it was unquestionably the gravest of accusations.

And as far as Shimura Danzō was concerned...

Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to understand him a little too well...

The two drank their tea in silence for a long while.

"I've never thought that way," Shimura Danzō said slowly. "Hiruzen, just tell me what you want to do."

"After all, you're the Hokage..."

But what came next was something he had not expected.

It was not a reprimand from Hiruzen Sarutobi.

It was a promise.

"Danzo, I pledge on my honor as Lord Tobirama's student that, from now on, I'll regard you as an official candidate for Hokage."

Those words carried tremendous weight.

So much so that Shimura Danzō urgently blurted out, "Hiruzen, do you mean that?!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi narrowed his eyes and pointed back at the portrait of Senju Tobirama on the office wall.

Shimura Danzō's heart instantly burned with excitement.

"Since you're taking the proper path, you'll have to operate in the sunlight, Danzo..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi sipped his tea. "Keep a few useful people in Root. Hand the others over to me for reassignment."

"Don't worry. I'll have a position ready for you."

Here came the main event!

Shimura Danzō rapidly weighed his options.

Naturally, he did not believe Hiruzen Sarutobi would become so generous that he would set him on the proper path and still let him keep all those men.

Besides, the asking price was actually fair.

If Hiruzen Sarutobi were a little more ruthless...

What trouble could he, this supposed advisor and head of Root, cause with the meager forces in his hands?

The Third alone...

Though Shimura Danzō did not want to admit it, Monkey really could fight!

Ino-Shika-Cho, his three students, Hatake Sakumo, and the various ninja clans gathered under the Hokage's name...

Even the Uchiha Clan would have to run themselves ragged for that damned Monkey if called upon to suppress him!

As long as Hiruzen Sarutobi was alive, keeping him in check was far too easy.

"Hiruzen, as for Root, I still think..." Shimura Danzō drew a deep breath, trying to bargain.

Hiruzen Sarutobi raised an index finger, signaling him to be quiet. "Danzo, you need to consider this from the Hokage's standpoint. If you were Hokage, how would you deal with Root?"

Shimura Danzō fell silent.

In Konoha as it stood, the Hokage's power was still far from unlimited.

But for him, an adviser to the Hokage and leader of Root whose position depended on Konoha's legal framework, that power had him by the throat.

Besides, Hiruzen had even invoked Lord Tobirama as a guarantee...

He had brought their rivalry for the Hokage's seat out into the open and promised him a fair contest.

That carried enough weight.

"Understood."

Shimura Danzō placed a scroll on the desk. "I'll hand over some matters concerning Orochimaru as well, Hiruzen..."

"I'll take care of Root."

"But what you promised me..."

With that, he gave Hiruzen Sarutobi a long, searching look, then strode toward the door.

Yet two steps out of the office, he paused.

Shimura Danzō looked at the open door, and a thought stirred in his mind.

Reluctant though he was, he still turned back to close it properly.

In the past...

I would never have closed the door for Monkey!

He would have been lucky if I didn't slam it!

But things are different now. I should still show this old fellow a little respect...

With a sour expression, Shimura Danzō turned around and pulled the door shut.

Hiruzen Sarutobi watched the door close with a smile, one eyebrow lifting.

Clearly, he was not the original Hiruzen Sarutobi...

He had once been Yuan Fei, a veteran government official. Just as his career was advancing from strength to strength, he had been struck down by ALS.

All he could do was pursue treatment and relax by browsing casual discussions of history during his downtime.

A few days earlier, some quirk of the recommendation algorithm had sent him a video that used Naruto as an analogy for history.

Though its arguments were dubious, it had made even him, someone who had never watched Naruto, smile knowingly. He had watched several more before drifting into a heavy sleep.

When Yuan Fei woke, he discovered that he had arrived in this Shinobi World and become the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi!

Though this body was no longer young, it held power far beyond anything he had ever known.

Besides.

Though all he knew of this world's future amounted to a few uncertain scraps of information.

He had a trump card at his disposal.

With a slight shift of his thoughts, a sheet of white paper with a red header appeared in his mind, its black lettering solemn and clear.

[Authority], [Diplomacy], [Economy], [Education], [Military].

The five indicators stood side by side before him.

And after he had just finished speaking with Shimura Danzō, a trace of gold had quietly appeared along the bottom of the lettering for "Authority."

Like a progress bar.

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