With Danzo's confusion, and his busy work schedule, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Hokage got off work even later. When he returned home and saw a dark house outside, his heart dropped.
After pushing the door open, he saw a note on the door, with the handwriting Asuma on it, telling him that he was drinking with friends tonight. If he didn't go back, he might have been too drunk and stayed at a friend's house.
But at this time, Asuma was not drunk, he just had a little dispute with Hong.
"You're crazy!" He widened his eyes and looked at Hong who lowered his head. His trembling hands held an invitation. The content of the invitation was very simple, but it was an invitation from Root. According to Hong, every Special Jonin and Jonin of Konoha, as well as some of the top elite Jonin, had received this invitation.
"Do you know where Root is!" Asuma's voice became louder.
"Isn't Root an organization similar to Anbu, except that they are not led by Third Hokage, but by Danzo Elder."
Hong shrugged, as if he didn't care. In her opinion, Root is a department of Konoha, similar to Anbu and Security Force, except that the person who leads this department is Danzo Elder.
"Uh--" Asuma listened to Hong's story and didn't know how to explain it for a moment. It seemed that Hong was right. Root was just a department in the village and there was nothing to be afraid of.
But he remembered that both his family and his father told him not to have anything to do with Root, as if it was a very scary place.
"Oh, even if Root is not a good place, this invitation is not an invitation for me to join Root." Hong stretched out his hand, grabbed the document in Asuma's hand, turned the pages for him, and showed the real content of the document.
The content of the text shocked Asuma. He grabbed the document tightly and read it word by word.
"The Uchiha Clan bloodline that can be inherited!" Asuma's eyes widened, he raised his head, looked at Hong, and he held her hand tightly.
"Don't go!" he shouted, "This is human experimentation!"
"But isn't this human experiment just right?" Hong's eyes widened and he explained, "The reason why the Elders in your family don't accept me is because I don't have any Kekkei Genkais. Now I have this opportunity--"
Asuma couldn't convince Hong, or he didn't have any reason to convince her. He also hoped that this document was true. He checked it over and over again, using paper, signing, and wording, and it seemed that it was not fake.
"Did anyone else get it too?" he asked again.
"Many people have received it, but except for me, no one is very interested." Hong nodded slightly and continued, "You can ask Kakashi and Might Guy. I remember that both of them have received it."
Asuma didn't ask any more questions. He knew that he couldn't change Hong's mind, so he could only make up his mind and ask carefully the next day.
Maybe not the next day. He looked at the moon outside the window. It was already very late and it was time for him to leave.
"I will ask, but don't agree until I ask clearly." He covered Hong's hand with his hand and said softly.
Then he drank all the tea in front of him, stood up, looked at Hong's expectant eyes, hugged her gently, and then used Transformation Jutsu.
Hong pinched the Asuma that turned into Kunai, then walked up to the second floor and onto the terrace, briefly checked the direction, and then threw it out heavily.
The direction in which Hong threw Kunai was Kakashi's house. Asuma's original plan was to stay at Kakashi's house, but he canceled Transformation Jutsu in mid-air and landed on the roof of a private house.
He glanced not far away. The lights on the houses there were still on and the people there were not sleeping yet.
He crossed the roof and landed in front of the door. This was his home. He touched his pocket, took out the key, and inserted it into the keyhole. What greeted him was his father's surprised face.
"I didn't drink too much, so I didn't live at Kakashi's house." He explained softly while changing his shoes, clothes, and washing. Then he sat on the coffee table, tilted his head, and looked at his father who started eating slowly again.
"Are you busy at work today? You seem to have come back later than yesterday." He asked softly.
Third Hokage racked his brains as to how to answer, but after a long time he only managed to squeeze out two words: "Very busy."
"Yes, the village is so big, there must be countless things for you to do." Asuma nodded slightly. He did not make any more tea, but just picked up a cup of hot water and drank it in one gulp.
The conversation between father and son seemed to have ended awkwardly. Hiruzen Sarutobi swallowed the food in his mouth and picked up the topic again.
"How was the dinner party tonight?" he asked.
"That's it. Everyone has changed a lot. Some have successfully become Chunin, and some have become Jonin, but it seems that the change is not that big--" Asuma shook his head and replied.
"This proves that they are all good ninjas Konoha--"
Third Hokage once again killed the topic, and the family became quiet again, until Asuma couldn't stand the atmosphere anymore. He stood up, walked to the dining table, and looked down at his father.
He had rarely looked at his father from such an angle before.
And it was the first time to look at my father without Hokage hat from this angle.
He looked at his father's hair in surprise. The upper part of his hair was gray, while Root was completely white. This made him realize how old his father was, so he chose to sit down and face his father face to face.
Hiruzen Sarutobi put down his chopsticks, tried his best to behave properly, and straightened his waist. His children rarely sat face to face with him like this.
"Asuma?" He asked softly, looking at the child who was still a little confused.
"Danzo Elder--"
"He sent an invitation to Jonin, saying that he could transplant Uchiha Clan's blood into the bodies of ninjas who did not have Kekkei Genkai, and allow this blood to be passed on."
Asuma softly told his father what Hong told him. He watched his father's eyes widen, and then he seemed to become angry and grabbed his shoulders.
"Danzo! He invited you? Did you agree?" Third Hokage asked eagerly.
"No, no." Asuma quickly replied.
He clearly saw that his father's expression suddenly relaxed and he seemed to take a long breath.
"But many of my friends seem to have received invitations, so I wanted to ask you what is going on."
"You don't have to accept it, just don't accept it." Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head gently, without giving any explanation to Asuma.
"Why?" Asuma asked in confusion.
For the sake of his and Hong's future, he must ask clearly.