"Wood Release: Four-Pillar House Technique? What a magnificent jutsu..."
Inside the Hokage Building, Hiruzen Sarutobi watched the scene in the crystal ball and sighed.
The Root operatives were all dead, but their base remained. A day was more than enough for the Anbu to turn the place inside out.
They had secretly conducted human experiments, sold out the village's shinobi for Root's benefit, threatened and intimidated the parents of gifted children, and forced those children to join Root. They had even assassinated envoys from other villages multiple times to provoke war...
Of course, they had also done things that benefited Konoha, such as assassinating prodigies and hardliners from other shinobi villages, and wiping out minor villages or political groups with the potential to grow.
But those things were a matter of perspective. And compared to Danzo's crimes, those few achievements were hardly worth mentioning.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had to admit that Minato was right.
Root's growth had done Konoha more harm than good.
He had handed Root over to Danzo because he knew his own shortcomings and needed someone to take the hardline measures he couldn't.
But now, it seemed that the man had used every underhanded trick on his own people...
Although Danzo's death had left him somewhat resentful toward Minato, he couldn't deny that the young man was exceptional.
Kindhearted, but not blindly naive; ruthless when he struck, but neither cruel nor corrupted.
Minato's support for the orphanage only strengthened that impression.
He acted with method and discipline, knew when to advance and when to retreat, and made use of the rules when they worked in his favor. When they didn't, he stepped outside them. And even without rules, he had the overwhelming power to make new ones...
Hiruzen couldn't have been more pleased with Minato.
This was the