Hiruzen's Fury

Sarutobi Hiruzen gasped for breath in a fit of rage and slammed the letter in his hand onto the desk.

The letter had been delivered by a messenger from the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. It was written on fine paper in neat handwriting, every stroke imbued with official solemnity and authority. But at that moment, in Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes, the paper was like a blade—a blade stabbed into his back.

"Investigate." He jerked his head up, his voice so low it seemed to squeeze out of his throat. "Send people to investigate. Search all the way to the Land of Sound if you have to!"

The Anbu kneeling before his desk kept his head down, not daring to look up. He had served Lord Hokage for many years and had rarely seen him like this. The last time he'd seen him so angry was, well, the last time.

"Yes." The Anbu gave a curt reply, rose, and left. When the door closed behind him, he moved as lightly as a cat, afraid to make even the slightest unnecessary sound.

Only Sarutobi Hiruzen remained in the office. He sat motionless in his chair.

His chest was still heaving, his breaths heavy and ragged, like an old bull driven to anger. His face had flushed bright red, and the veins on his forehead bulged one after another, as if they were about to push through his skin. His lips were pressed tightly together, the corners turned down. The face that usually wore a kindly smile now looked almost menacing.

It was a long time before his breathing finally began to settle.

Sarutobi Hiruzen reached out and picked up the pipe on his desk. It had gone out at some point. He didn't relight it, only held it in his hand, rubbing his fingers over the patch of wood worn smooth by use.

He began to think back.

It had been less than a few short weeks since the night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre. A few weeks barely counted as a moment in the history of the Ninja World. Yet in that brief time, Konoha had been turned upside down.

Before the Uchiha Clan Massacre, Uchiha Setsuna had feigned illness and remained bedridden. Everyone had thought he was on the verge of death. But before dying, the old bastard had used a sound-amplifying jutsu to shout his words across all of Konoha.

He had torn open the darkness Sarutobi Hiruzen had long kept hidden and laid secrets that should never see the light of day before everyone.

The fall of the Senju Clan, the death of the Fourth Hokage, the identity of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki... Every word had stabbed into Konoha like a knife, and into Sarutobi Hiruzen, too.

Sarutobi Hiruzen had thought time would bury those events and the years would dull their edges. But before his death, Uchiha Setsuna had dragged them all back into the open, making the entire Ninja World hear them.

Sarutobi Hiruzen still remembered the flames that night.

Then the secret of the Caged Bird was made public. The Hand Seals for the Cursed Seal and the routes through which chakra flowed were laid out in precise detail, like an instruction manual.

Hyuga Hiashi had acted decisively, recalling every clan member away on a mission and shutting the gates of the Hyuga Clan Compound. Since then, no one had seen a Hyuga Branch Family ninja walking around the village.

The Hyuga Clan's withdrawal had dealt a heavy blow to Konoha's reconnaissance capabilities. The other clans were all on edge as well.

The Ino-Shika-Cho alliance still seemed to be functioning normally, but it had already begun to tighten its defenses from within. The Inuzuka, Aburame, and smaller clans were even more anxious, afraid that Danzo or Sarutobi Hiruzen might turn their attention to them one day.

Sarutobi Hiruzen could understand their fear. The Uchiha were gone, the Hyuga had withdrawn—who would be next? No one knew, but everyone was guessing.

Then, at the same time, on the same day, Yugito, the Two-Tails Jinchuriki of Kumogakure, was abducted, as was Han, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki of Iwagakure.

The attackers had moved quickly, leaving no trace behind, and their Sealing Jutsu had been exceptionally powerful.

Both Kumogakure and Iwagakure had pointed their fingers at Konoha. Their reason was that, on the surface, Konoha alone possessed the complete Sealing Jutsu legacy of the Uzumaki Clan.

The Raikage of Kumogakure was furious and threatened war. Ōnoki of Iwagakure wasn't as agitated, but he had still sent a letter demanding that Konoha hand over the culprit.

The shadow of war hung over Konoha, bearing down on Sarutobi Hiruzen until he could hardly breathe.

He had been full of hope about Tsunade's return. Sarutobi Hiruzen knew he was getting old and that it was time to find a successor. No one in the Sarutobi Clan was suitable, so his only option was his former student.

Sarutobi Hiruzen had a plan. He would have Tsunade learn from him for a few years, while he continued to serve Konoha for a few more. When he was finally no longer able to carry on, and Konohamaru was older, he would have Tsunade take Konohamaru as her student. Then he could retire in peace and hand the position over to her.

Besides, although Tsunade was his student, she was also the granddaughter of Senju Hashirama. With her there, Konoha's current problems would be easy to solve. Someone had to design a solution for the Hyuga's Caged Bird, reassure the other clans, and develop Konoha's research system. Tsunade was better suited to handle all of that than he was as Hokage.

But Tsunade hadn't come to see him.

She had gone back to the Senju Compound, shut the gates, and met with those who had once branched off from the Senju.

These branches of the Senju Clan had long since fallen into decline. They weren't even third-rate families in Konoha! The first people Tsunade had met after returning to the village weren't the Hokage or the head of any clan. They were members of a group of minor families that had been in decline for decades.

She had shut the doors and spoken with them all afternoon. No one knew what they had discussed. But that very lack of knowledge made it even harder to accept.

That morning, Sarutobi Hiruzen had still been waiting. He'd thought Tsunade might come by in the afternoon.

She had just returned in the morning. She needed to sort out her lodgings, get Shizune settled, and take care of various odds and ends. Surely she would have time in the afternoon?

Jiraiya had waited with him all afternoon. The two of them sat in the office, making conversation now and then. Jiraiya held one of his own books, flipping through it without taking in a single word. Every so often he would stand and walk to the window, then sit back down, like an ant on a hot pan.

By dusk, Jiraiya couldn't sit still any longer. He said he was going to have dinner with Naruto, then stood and left. At the door, he stopped, as if he wanted to say something. His mouth opened, then closed again. In the end, he only glanced at Sarutobi Hiruzen before opening the door and leaving.

After Jiraiya left, Sarutobi Hiruzen sat alone in his office.

The sky outside changed from orange-red to dark red, then from dark red to blue-gray, until it was completely black.

Smoke from dinner fires rose throughout the village in thin, straight wisps. There was no wind; even the smoke seemed too lazy to move.

Sarutobi Hiruzen had never stayed in his office at this hour before.

He could almost smell the food drifting through the air. Someone on the neighboring street was cooking, and he could hear the sizzle of oil from several streets away.

In the Anbu break room on the other side of the wall, people were speaking in low voices. He couldn't make out their words, but they sounded calm, as if nothing urgent was happening.

All of Konoha was running as usual.

Only the Hokage Building, where Sarutobi Hiruzen sat, was as quiet as a tomb.

He was waiting for Tsunade. From morning to afternoon, from afternoon to dusk, from dusk until nightfall.

Tsunade hadn't come.

Instead, a letter had arrived—a notice delivered by a messenger from the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.

Sarutobi Hiruzen picked up the letter and read it again. He knew every word, but seeing them together made him wish he didn't.

"This is to notify Sarutobi Hiruzen, Hokage of Konoha: Following an investigation, Fujiwara Orochimaru has been identified as the long-lost son of the Daimyo of the Land of Sound. He has now been reunited with his family and has reclaimed his identity. Effective immediately, the wanted notice for Fujiwara Orochimaru as a missing-nin is canceled. Fujiwara Orochimaru has voluntarily renounced his identity as a ninja and will no longer identify as one. He has taken citizenship in the Land of Sound and become a noble of the Land of Sound. Konoha is requested to take note and cooperate. The Daimyo's Mansion of the Land of Fire."

"Fujiwara Orochimaru." Sarutobi Hiruzen said the name aloud, the corner of his mouth twitching.

He truly couldn't understand what the Land of Sound had to offer that Orochimaru had even changed his surname!

Orochimaru was no longer an orphan, a missing-nin, or a criminal in Konoha's eyes. He had a father, a home, an identity, and a future. He was going to be a noble, becoming part of the very class he had once despised most...

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire had canceled the wanted notice out of consideration for the nobles' standing. A daimyo's descendant couldn't be a missing-nin. It was a matter of prestige and status, an unspoken understanding between nobles.

The Anbu who delivered the letter had also brought back some news he'd learned from the Daimyo's subordinates—

The Daimyo of the Land of Sound had personally traveled to the Land of Fire with gifts and asked the Daimyo of the Land of Fire in person to cancel Orochimaru's wanted notice.

Apparently, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire had refused at first. The things Orochimaru had done—human experimentation and desertion—would be difficult to smooth over! But the Daimyo of the Land of Sound had said he intended to make Orochimaru his successor.

His successor!

That meant the future ruler of the Land of Sound would be Orochimaru!

A daimyo's heir surely couldn't be a missing-nin. He couldn't possibly remain one!

This wasn't just a matter of courtesy. It was a matter of the dignity of an entire nation. The Daimyo of the Land of Fire could refuse to show respect to the Daimyo of the Land of Sound, but he couldn't refuse to respect the title of "daimyo." That was simply how the rules between nobles worked: you helped me, I helped you, and nobody made a scene.

Sarutobi Hiruzen could understand the Daimyo of the Land of Fire's decision. But understanding it didn't make him any less furious.

He set down the letter, picked up his pipe again, packed it with tobacco, and lit it.

The flame flickered inside the pipe, then quickly died down, leaving only a glowing ember that brightened and dimmed. Smoke drifted slowly from his mouth and spread through the office like a thin veil.

He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. Orochimaru is the son of the Daimyo of the Land of Sound?

He didn't believe it. Sarutobi Hiruzen knew Orochimaru's parents better than anyone. After all, Orochimaru was his student. Would he have taken someone as his student without investigating his background thoroughly?!

Orochimaru had grown up in Konoha. His parents had been ordinary Konoha Ninja who died in the war. The story about him being the son of the Daimyo of the Land of Sound, a child lost for many years—all of it was made up.

But it was a convincing story, convincing enough that the Daimyo of the Land of Fire had believed it and the Daimyo's Mansion had issued a formal notice. Orochimaru was no longer Konoha's missing-nin. He had a new identity, new citizenship, and a new future.

Sarutobi Hiruzen took another deep drag, forcing himself to calm down.

The angrier you were, the more important it was to remain calm. Senju Tobirama had taught him that. The Second Hokage had said, "A Hokage can get angry, but he mustn't make decisions while angry."

Sarutobi Hiruzen began to analyze everything that had happened.

Uchiha Setsuna had feigned illness for years, then erupted on the night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre. He hadn't acted on a sudden impulse; he had prepared in advance. The sound-amplifying jutsu, the Explosive Tags, the things he'd said—none of that could be produced on a whim.

How long had he been preparing? A year? Two? Even longer? Could he have done all that alone, or had someone helped him from behind the scenes? And if he had guessed what Sarutobi Hiruzen had done, why hadn't he taken the Uchiha Clan and left?

There weren't many people who knew the secret of the Hyuga's Caged Bird: the head of the Hyuga Clan, the core members of the Main Family, himself and Danzo, and... possibly the late Uzumaki Mito.

Tsunade's grandmother, Senju Hashirama's wife, and a princess of the Uzumaki Clan. During her life, Uzumaki Mito had come into contact with many forbidden and secret jutsu. She might have studied the Caged Bird's Cursed Seal, too. Who had inherited her knowledge? Tsunade? The granddaughter of Senju Hashirama and Uzumaki Mito, and a direct descendant of the Senju Clan.

And Tsunade's behavior today was strange, too. She had returned to Konoha but hadn't come to see him. Instead, she had shut the gates and met with the descendants of those who had branched off from the Senju.

They shared the same blood. Was Tsunade meeting them because she wanted to gather what remained of the Senju's strength? What was she planning? To rebuild the Senju Clan, or did she have some other goal?

The Jinchuriki of Kumogakure and Iwagakure had gone missing at the same time. Whoever was behind it had exceptional Sealing Jutsu. No one in the Ninja World had skill with Sealing Jutsu like that except members of the Uzumaki Clan.

But the Land of Whirlpools had already been destroyed. Though the other four great villages had each acquired some of the Uzumaki Clan's legacy, none could have obtained as much as Konoha.

There were only a handful of people in Konoha who could access the complete legacy: Danzo, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya.

Setting the others aside, Orochimaru had studied the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu, as well as the Sharingan and Hashirama Cells. His mastery of Sealing Jutsu ranked among the top three of his time.

But why would Orochimaru do this? He had no grudge against Kumogakure or Iwagakure, and the Jinchuriki were of no use to him.

Unless... someone was directing him from behind the scenes, or... Thinking of Orochimaru's reunion with the Daimyo of the Land of Sound, Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't rule out the possibility that Orochimaru was connected to these events.

These events had seemed unrelated, and Sarutobi Hiruzen hadn't thought much of them at first. But the Ninja World had never been short on coincidences. What it lacked was someone capable of tying so many of them together.

The more Sarutobi Hiruzen analyzed the events of the past few weeks, one after another, the more it seemed as if someone had planned them all from behind the scenes.

Every move had struck right at the blade's edge, precisely targeting Konoha's weaknesses—his weaknesses.

First, the Uchiha Clan Massacre had reopened Konoha's wounds. Then the Hyuga's withdrawal had weakened Konoha's defenses. Next, the missing Jinchuriki had brought the threat of war. Then Tsunade's return had disrupted the balance of power within Konoha. Finally, Orochimaru had escaped and broken free of Konoha's control...

They were all connected!

Sarutobi Hiruzen felt a sudden flash of inspiration. His eyes flew open, red-rimmed in the haze of smoke.

Who had the motive? Who had the ability? Who could manipulate all of this from behind the scenes?

The first name to surface in Sarutobi Hiruzen's mind was that of his friend and partner of decades, Shimura Danzō.

Danzō had always wanted to become Hokage, always wanted control of Konoha. While Sarutobi Hiruzen held the position, Danzō couldn't get it. But if Konoha fell into chaos and Sarutobi Hiruzen could no longer keep things under control, then Danzō would have his chance.

Danzō had his methods. Root had been operating for decades, with no shortage of capable subordinates—spying, assassination, intelligence gathering, they could handle it all. Danzō also knew too many secrets: the fall of the Senju Clan, the death of the Fourth Hokage, the truth behind the Nine-Tails Incident. He knew all of it. If he wanted to expose those things, it wouldn't be difficult...

But Sarutobi Hiruzen still shook his head. It wasn't Danzō. At least, not entirely.

Both of Danzō's hands and his eyes had been sealed by Uchiha Fugaku. The nerves in his hands had died, his left eye was blind, and the vision in his right was so weak that he could barely see. Most of Root's personnel had also been reassigned, leaving it severely weakened. He could barely look after himself now. How could he have the energy to plan something on this scale?

Besides, Sarutobi Hiruzen knew Danzō too well. He was sinister, ruthless, and unscrupulous, but he had one fatal flaw: he only cared about immediate gains and losses. He couldn't devise a plan this far-reaching.

If it wasn't Danzō, then the second name that came to Sarutobi Hiruzen's mind was Tsunade.

Tsunade was Senju Hashirama's granddaughter. Konoha had been founded by Senju Hashirama, and Tsunade had always believed that the village ought to be protected by the Senju—at the very least, it shouldn't have become what it was now.

Because of this, Tsunade had always resented Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzō. She believed they had betrayed Senju Hashirama's ideals. And Tsunade had ability, connections, and resources. As soon as she returned to the village, she began gathering the Senju Branch Family. She was building her strength, bringing what remained of the Senju together again.

Sarutobi Hiruzen picked up his pipe, then put it down again. But there was one question: Would Tsunade really do those things?

Tsunade cared about Konoha. That much was certain. It was the village her grandfather had founded, the place where she had grown up. Though she had been away for more than a decade, she had never done anything to harm Konoha.

The disappearance of the Jinchuriki would bring war, and war would destroy Konoha. Would Tsunade want to see Konoha swallowed by war? Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't think so. She wasn't that kind of person.

But Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't dare rule out the possibility completely.

People changed. No one knew what Tsunade had been through during the decade she'd been away. What if she had changed? What if her disappointment in Konoha had turned into resentment?

Sarutobi Hiruzen rubbed his temples. Danzō and Tsunade were the two people most likely to be behind this, but he couldn't rule out either one. And neither of them made complete sense.

Was there a third person?

Sarutobi Hiruzen thought of Jiraiya. Jiraiya had spent his entire life avoiding responsibility: responsibility to Konoha, to his teacher, to Naruto. Would he plan something this large? Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't believe it. He knew Jiraiya's abilities, and he knew what kind of person he was. His student, the one most like himself, wouldn't betray him.

Orochimaru? He was the biggest apparent beneficiary now. Sarutobi Hiruzen suspected he was involved, but it was unlikely that he was the mastermind. Orochimaru preferred research to power. What he wanted was immortality, not the position of Hokage.

Hyuga Hiashi? The Hyuga were currently the ones being targeted. Their losses had been greatest since the secret of the Caged Bird was exposed. He should have no motive, but Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't dare rule him out.

Sarutobi Hiruzen thought until his head ached, but still found no answer.

The sky outside was completely dark now. Lights came on one by one in the village, scattering like stars when seen from the Hokage Building. Sarutobi Hiruzen watched them and suddenly felt as if every one of those stars was a pair of eyes secretly watching and waiting to take his position as Hokage...

Someone knocked. Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep breath and sat up straight. "Come in."

An Anbu entered, pushed the door shut, and knelt on one knee before the desk. His mask hid his face, but his voice carried a tight, restrained tension.

"Lord Hokage, we have urgent intelligence."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart sank. Why had there been so much bad news today? "Speak."

"We've just received the latest intelligence. Kumogakure and Iwagakure have begun gathering troops at the border! And the garrisons facing Kirigakure and Sunagakure have also sent warning reports. They've spotted troops at the borders of those two villages as well..."