Shimura Danzo had just walked in. He hadn't even noticed his two companions hidden by the smoke, and strode straight up to the Hokage's desk, speaking in a rush.
"Hiruzen! Let's go to war! Cloud Village has completely broken with us!"
He looked ready to set the whole Cloud-Thunder Gorge ablaze with war at once.
"Root will handle the intelligence preparations for the war. You can rally the ninja clans!"
"This time, we're definitely going to take those brutes from Cloud Village down. We can't be as soft as our teacher and give them a chance to catch their breath!"
In Danzo's eyes, even Lord Second Hokage Senju Tobirama, a man so aggressively over-the-top, was still a conservative.
"Oh, and hand Kushina over to me. One of my projects is in its final stages. We should be ready to transplant the Jinchūriki soon."
"That girl is far too timid. She can't possibly replace Lady Mito as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. I've also found traces of several Uzumaki Clan members recently. We can capture them and train them properly."
After saying this, Shimura Danzo actually turned and headed for the door, as if he had no intention of giving Sarutobi Hiruzen time to respond.
Unexpectedly, the two Hokage aides hidden in the smoke sprang into action.
Mitokado Homura hurried to block the office door, bracing himself against it, while Utatane Koharu grabbed Danzo and dragged him back.
"Danzo, don't rush. Hiruzen hasn't said anything yet!"
Clearly, the two Hokage aides knew their authority came from the Hokage. Anyone who challenged the Hokage's authority would inevitably undermine their own standing in the village.
Then Sarutobi Hiruzen watched his three companions put on their little farce, furrowing his brow and snapping,
"What do you expect me to say?"
"Would he listen to anything I said?"
"What did he say when I told him to stop the human experiments and stop recruiting Root operatives from the ninja clans?"
"'Well... this is Root, not a place under Lord Hokage's jurisdiction!' ...Wasn't that what he said?"
"I, the Third, can't even interfere with the village's Intelligence Division anymore. Why don't the three of you just strip me of my authority outright?"
"After all, hasn't he always complained that he missed his chance at the Hokage Position because he hesitated for a few moments and didn't volunteer to stay behind in our teacher's place?"
"Call the Jonin Squad captain and the heads of all the major ninja clans here right now. Since all four of us are here, let's start the Hokage impeachment process!"
"I'll contact the daimyo in the capital and formally recommend Shimura Danzo as the Fourth Hokage in my capacity as the Third. How does that sound? Speak up!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's sudden outburst left all three of them stunned.
But the longer they listened, the more differently their expressions changed.
Utatane Koharu was suddenly reminded of Sarutobi Hiruzen's dashing figure when he had first earned the title of "Shinobi Hero" in his youth.
Back then, Koharu had liked him far more than the better-looking Shimura Danzo and Kagami Uchiha.
But before her affection could turn into love, Sarutobi Hiruzen's clan arranged for him to marry his childhood sweetheart, Sarutobi Biwako, who was also from the Sarutobi Clan. So her feelings had come to nothing.
Mitokado Homura, meanwhile, stared in astonishment at Hiruzen, who had always gone along with the crowd, suddenly standing his ground. His words were dripping with sarcasm, nothing like the way he usually acted in public.
Danzo, on the other hand, had already fallen into a fantasy the moment he heard Sarutobi Hiruzen say he would initiate the impeachment process and recommend him as the Fourth Hokage.
In the vision before him, Shimura Danzo stood on the roof of the Hokage building, wearing the Hokage's hat and a cloak emblazoned with the words "Fourth Hokage," waving to the Konoha villagers gathered below.
For a moment, he felt as though he had returned to his youth. He nearly blurted out the "Will of Fire" motto: "Wherever the leaves dance, the fire burns on."
Fortunately, Mitokado Homura saw that Danzo was losing touch with reality. He secretly formed Hand Seals behind him, disrupting the chakra in his body and pulling him unwillingly out of the fantasy.
Homura was certain that if Danzo dared to recite the Will of Fire motto right in Hiruzen's face, Hiruzen would really follow through on his sarcastic proposal!
Then, all they would accomplish would be throwing the village into chaos and making a laughingstock of themselves in front of outsiders.
Seeing that his outburst had frightened all three of them and not one dared meet his gaze—one looking out the dark window, another counting ants on the spotless floor—Sarutobi Hiruzen brought things to a close.
"Enough. I don't have time to keep wasting on this."
"Homura, remember to notify the Jonin Squad captain, the head of Anbu, and the head of the Senju Clan tomorrow. We'll discuss revising Kushina's security arrangements."
"Koharu, coordinate with the Intelligence Division. Have the Torture and Interrogation Force and the Corpse Disposal Unit extract every last bit of intelligence from the Cloud Village ninja as quickly as possible. Prepare a report for tomorrow's meeting."
"As for you, Danzo... forget it. Go back to Root and reflect on what you've done. You won't be attending tomorrow's meeting, either. Come talk to me when you've figured things out!"
Then Sarutobi Hiruzen picked up the Hokage's hat from the desk, stood, and walked past the three of them toward the door.
Just as he was about to step outside, Sarutobi Hiruzen stopped and turned his head toward Danzo, his eyes full of killing intent.
"Danzo, remember this: I'm the Hokage!"
Then he swept out of the room.
Hearing those words, Danzo came to his senses and instinctively prepared to retort.
"Hiruzen, you'll regret this!"
Unfortunately, Sarutobi Hiruzen hadn't given him the chance. He had already left with the Body Flicker Technique and vanished without a trace!
Not being able to say it left Danzo seething. Homura and Koharu felt just as frustrated.
They were focused on the door, with the nagging feeling that something was unfinished. They felt strangely hollow.
When the furious Danzo finally slammed the door on his way out with a loud "bang," the two of them felt a sense of relief. They exchanged a glance and gave each other a helpless, bitter smile.
Now they felt that being a Hokage aide was much harder than they had imagined. Without knowing why, both of them thought of their teacher.
When they were young, they had never seen their teacher get into the kind of predicament they were facing now while handling the village's affairs.
Touma hadn't expected that, once they returned to the village, Anbu would send the three of them straight home, each to their own house.
They hadn't been taken to Anbu or the Intelligence Division for questioning, nor had anyone been left to watch them. The village clearly trusted them.
It was only natural that the higher-ups trusted Namikaze Minato and Kushina Uzumaki. Kushina went without saying: she was the last princess of the Land of Whirlpools, and Uzumaki Mito vouched for her. Her loyalty was never even in question.
Namikaze Minato wasn't an ordinary civilian, either. His father, Hayato Namikaze, had been a ninja since Konoha's founding and was now an elite Jonin responsible for coordinating logistics and supplies for the Jonin Squad. He was already part of Konoha's upper ranks.
Naturally, no one would question the loyalty of this elite Jonin's only son, Namikaze Minato.
What surprised Touma was that, despite being the son of a Genin, he hadn't been taken in for questioning.
After all, during last year's "Great Purge," several Genin had simply vanished because their identities were considered suspicious. There had been a newly married Genin with a baby living nearby. The Intelligence Division had taken the whole family away, and none of them had ever returned!
Fortunately, his mother Takako finally answered his question. She also showed Touma a surprising side of the cheap father he had never met!
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