Hiroya brought a hundred thousand ryo and personally delivered it to Byakuya.
He invited the Ninja Academy vice principal to take a seat. Today, Hiroya was beaming.
The money lay on the table, while steam curled up from the tea.
"What do you want to do with this money, Byakuya?"
"A hundred thousand ryo isn't enough to do anything. Oh, though it's enough to treat the principal to a lavish meal."
Compared to the world outside the village, prices in the village were especially high.
To live comfortably in the village and save up enough money for emergencies, a ninja had to work hard on missions, while ordinary people had to work themselves to the bone.
"That's true enough. By the way, I have good news for you. Lord Hokage is about to step down as the Academy's acting principal and serve only as its honorary principal."
Hiroya's face lit up as he spoke. Lord Danzo had promised him he would become the new principal.
It seemed like only a single step up the ladder, but it meant a great deal. Even the children of the great clans would be sent there to study.
As principal, he would finally be someone important, with a name and a reputation.
Although, in the eyes of the village's higher-ups, he was no more than a dispensable pawn, he was still a pawn with some weight.
"You'll become the new principal?" Byakuya asked.
Hiroya nodded emphatically. "I've worked diligently at the Academy, doing everything for the Third. And Lord Danzo personally promised to help me secure the position. Who else could it be?"
Seeing Byakuya's doubtful expression, Hiroya suddenly grew worried. "Could something go wrong?"
Ever since Byakuya had decided in the office to be honest with Hiroya, the two had gradually become partners.
Four days had passed.
Hiroya had provided him with a great deal of Konoha's secret information.
For example, the Hyuga brothers, Hizashi Hyuga and Hiashi Hyuga, were not on good terms; there was a deep divide between the Main Family and the branch family; Uchiha Fugaku, head of the Uchiha Clan, had personally gone to the front lines; Namikaze Minato, whose fame had been growing lately, had a crush on a red-haired girl named Uzumaki Kushina; and Kushina had been incredibly violent when she attended the Academy, so Hiroya hadn't dared to provoke her...
It was also from Hiroya that Byakuya learned that, on the day Kushina had been kidnapped by Kumogakure ninja, Konoha's defenses had seemed to collapse entirely.
Fortunately, Namikaze Minato had defeated the Cloud ninja and rescued her.
Even now, Hiroya still shuddered when he thought about it. An Academy student had been kidnapped on her way home. If the village had investigated, he would have been held responsible for "failing to teach her properly." After all, if he had taught the students how to respond to kidnappings, Kushina might not have been in danger.
He wanted to become the Academy's true principal, and he didn't want the slightest blemish on his record.
Byakuya looked at his partner, unsure whether ambition had blinded him or he truly didn't understand the complications.
"Principal Hiroya, does the Academy belong to Konoha, or to Lord Hokage?"
"Of course it belongs to Konoha... Naturally, it belongs to Lord Hokage."
He asked calmly, "If Lord Danzo recommends you to Lord Hokage, then whose man are you—the Hokage's, or Lord Danzo's?"
"..."
Hiroya broke out in a cold sweat.
The Konoha Ninja Academy was loyal only to Lord Hokage. That meant its principal ought to be—no, absolutely had to be—a trusted aide of Lord Hokage.
If Danzo put him forward as the new principal, then no matter how much he had done for the village before, in the Hokage's eyes, he would have defected to Danzo's side. He would be a traitor!
"Th-this, this..." Hiroya immediately sprang up from the sofa and paced about in panic, his steps growing faster and faster. "What do I do? What do I do? Should I go ask Lord Danzo for help?"
"Principal Hiroya, how many outsiders have you recruited for the Root Organization?"
"Twenty or thirty, I suppose. They're all ordinary people who haven't amounted to much. I wouldn't dare target children from the great clans. The missions weren't difficult, either—mostly clearing up minor threats around Konoha's outskirts, or monitoring someone in the village on orders. Oh, and there was the close surveillance of the Uchiha Clan."
Byakuya smiled. "With war looming, Principal Hiroya, you made me fill out that application form. So it was out of kindness."
"I've told you more than once that I knew your parents. They truly were heroes of Konoha. A hero's child shouldn't have to die on the battlefield, either. That's my selfish wish. Senkaku Byakuya! Please believe me!
"I made you fill out an application to become an outside member of Root because I was really at my wit's end. Root gives me a quota every quarter and has me recruit people on its behalf using my position as the Academy's vice principal. Since Mimura Hamaki keeps an eye on the Academy, I didn't dare expose myself."
"I benefited from your kindness, and now you want me to take your place?"
"Alas, I had no choice. I had no choice."
"What happened to the other children?"
"Last year and the year before, they monitored important figures in the village and the Uchiha Clan, or brought back people with unusual physiques from within the Land of Fire. Once the war began, they were all sent out."
Byakuya picked up his teacup and leisurely took a sip. His expression gave nothing away. "No wonder the missions I got were so difficult."
"You've got it wrong."
"Hmm?"
"The first time you were sent to clear out rogue ninja, there was no one available among the lower ranks of the outside members, so I had to send you. Going by the missions I'd handled before, a first mission was always to tail some important figure in the village and track their movements for a day."
"Root's outside members have ranks?"
"Byakuya, if Konoha is a great tree with 'roots,' why can't the roots have 'tendrils'? Root's tendrils are spread throughout places we can't see. Maybe even Teuchi at Ichiraku Ramen is one of them.
"When there are enough people, there are bound to be those of higher, middle, and lower standing. Back then, you... er, you were just too good at hiding yourself."
After saying all that, Hiroya only wanted to know how Byakuya planned to handle the Hokage's suspicions.
Hiroya seemed to remember something and hurriedly added, "Lord Danzo once said that even cannon fodder worth nothing could become priceless if used properly."
"Izumi Orange told me she was working for the Hokage and was responsible for keeping an eye on you."
"Izumi Orange? Did she really tell you that?"
"Why would I lie to you?"
"That's strange. Ever since I started following Lord Danzo, I've been especially careful about my movements. I never noticed Izumi Orange watching me."
"Not even once?"
"Not once!"
"I see."
So this baby-faced teacher had another identity.
"Come on, Byakuya, stop beating around the bush. I'm in such a panic that I can't think of a good idea. You look like you have it all figured out. Tell me what I should do to keep the principal's position!"
If someone saw an adult asking a ten-year-old for advice, they would probably laugh their heads off.
Byakuya replied easily, "It's simple. Report everything you've done to Lord Hokage, exactly as it happened."
"What? Wouldn't that be like asking to die?"
He countered, "Do you really think so little of the Third? Do you think he knows nothing?"
Until now, Hiroya had always patted him on the shoulder with the air of a superior.
Now Byakuya patted Hiroya on the shoulder. "Go openly to the Hokage Building and find Sarutobi Hiruzen. Aside from anything involving me, report everything else to him. That way, your chances of becoming principal of the Konoha Ninja Academy will be all but certain. No one will be able to compete with you. After all, a spy who switches sides is far too useful. Sarutobi Hiruzen won't pass up this opportunity."
"What do I tell Lord Danzo if he asks why I went to the Hokage Building?"
"You're the vice principal who handles the Academy's day-to-day affairs. With a large number of students graduating, you're going to report on the Academy's work to Sarutobi Hiruzen."
Hearing Senkaku Byakuya call Lord Hokage by name,
Hiroya was dumbstruck. Even after he left in a daze, he still couldn't believe it.
The Third, whom everyone revered as Konoha's protector, meant nothing at all to Senkaku Byakuya.
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