Home

The Third Hokage looked up in shock at Shikaru Nara's beaming face. The plan this girl from the Nara Family had proposed was vicious.

He ought to stand up and rebuke her. How could she say such a thing, let alone suggest doing it?

Elder Danzo was a member of the village. How could they send him to his death?

But the Third Hokage opened his mouth and said nothing. He raised a hand and gently touched his face. The burns Amaterasu had left behind still ached faintly.

He turned to Danzo's somewhat twisted smile. He really had indulged his old teammate too much, covering for him no matter what he did. Even after Danzo had tried to assassinate him several times, he had never held him accountable in the slightest.

In the end, though, he did not take Shikaru Nara's advice. "Enough. I'll face Uchiha Itachi myself!" he declared sternly.

The Third Hokage's voice rang with resolve. As he stood, sunlight streamed through the window and fell across him.

The sun was rising. Though his back was nowhere near as straight as it once had been, he still seemed to shine.

Shikaru Nara pursed her lips, but her face showed a mixture of admiration and envy. It was exactly the expression the Third Hokage liked to see.

The radiant Third Hokage did not bask in it, however. He quickly began assigning tasks to every Anbu operative and even tried to give orders to Danzo's Root.

"I have time, of course. At least enough to talk with Shikaru Nara."

"What did you say to Lord Hokage?" Nara Shikaku had been assigned a task too, but even if Uchiha Itachi rushed toward Konoha at full speed, he would not arrive immediately.

Unfortunately, that child was now in for a harsh lesson