"It was definitely Masaki Uchiha!"
"Hiruzen, we need to capture him right away. Make sure he doesn't get away."
Shimura Danzō felt as if he'd finally caught Masaki Uchiha with his hand in the cookie jar.
Masaki Uchiha, your time has come.
If I don't lock you up for a few years, all the trouble you've caused me lately will have been for nothing.
While Shimura Danzō was indulging in his fantasies, Sarutobi Hiruzen first glanced at Minato Namikaze.
Seeing that Minato's expression was blank, he knew Danzō had made another mistake.
The Hokage now was Minato Namikaze. How could Danzō keep trying to overstep his authority?
Hadn't the last lesson been enough?
At the thought, Hiruzen sighed inwardly.
Then, sounding resigned, he asked Shimura Danzō, "Danzō, on what grounds do you intend to arrest Masaki Uchiha?"
Still lost in his fantasies, Shimura Danzō answered innocently, "For kidnapping a village ninja. Is that not a good enough reason?"
By the end of his answer, Shimura Danzō seemed to realize what he'd said. He fell silent, his fists clenched so tightly they creaked.
The ninjas of Root weren't part of Konoha's official ninja ranks.
In the past, they carried out missions under the name of the Anbu.
In other words, Root was an illegal organization—an official organization that Konoha did not acknowledge.
It was only because Sarutobi Hiruzen had backed them that the well-informed clans knew what Root really was.
So, when they had no other choice, they cooperated with Root.
But after Minato Namikaze took office, he felt Root sullied the image of Konoha he held in his heart.
There was no room for such a dark organization in Konoha!
Out of respect for Sarutobi Hiruzen,
Minato hadn't tried to wipe Root out, but had instead let it fend for itself.
Root could forget about recruiting more people in Konoha.
So that excuse wouldn't work.
Some might ask whether Masaki Uchiha could be arrested for kidnapping a villager.
That wouldn't work either, because Konoha's regulations stated that
any villager with chakra had to register at the Hokage Building.
Anyone caught without registering would be arrested and sentenced for espionage.
Although this rule had become little more than a dead letter under Sarutobi Hiruzen's leadership,
Konoha's authorities had never officially abolished it.
The main concern was the threat of too many spies.
In practice, the clans of the Konoha F4 had even more people with chakra who'd never registered.
So most of the time, people turned a blind eye.
But Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others couldn't openly admit to doing this.
After all, you didn't often see someone stab themselves, did you?
"In that case, send someone to invite Masaki Uchiha here."
"Talk it over with him. If he really did it, have him return the person."
"Minato, I'll leave this matter to you."
Minato Namikaze heard a hint of weariness in Hiruzen's voice. Seeing the furrow in Sarutobi Hiruzen's brow, he understood that the matter needed to be resolved properly.
Wood Release had to remain in the Hokage's hands.
The two exchanged glances and reached an understanding.
"All right. I'll speak with him."
"If he really did it, I'm sure he'll hand the person over."
Minato Namikaze had reached this conclusion based on what he knew of Masaki Uchiha.
After all, I can't even gauge how strong Masaki is.
The thought left Minato feeling dispirited.
"Knock, knock."
"Come in."
When he saw that the person entering was his student, Hatake Kakashi, Minato Namikaze smiled and asked, "Kakashi, what is it?"
"Lord Hokage, an unconscious child who looks to be around ten years old appeared outside the Hokage Building just now."
"There was also a tag hanging on him with a single character written on it: 'Kinoe.'"
"Since we don't know what's going on, I came to report it to you."
Shimura Danzō, who had been simmering with anger, immediately snapped to attention at the words "a child around ten years old" and "Kinoe." In a commanding tone, he said, "Take me to see him. Now."
The others were all puzzled by the news.
What was going on?
Why would someone send him back?
Could it be a trap?
While the others pondered, Shimura Danzō grew impatient and barked, "Kakashi, are you deaf? Can't you hear me?!"
Hatake Kakashi didn't even look at him. He simply waited for his teacher's orders.
Minato Namikaze disliked the way Shimura Danzō had spoken to his student, so he shot back, "My student only listens to me, his teacher."
Then he turned to Hatake Kakashi and said gently, "Come on. Take me to see him."
Seeing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen hurried to smooth things over. "Kakashi, this ten-year-old child is connected to something very important, so Danzō's a little anxious. Don't take it to heart."
"Of course not."
"Please, follow me."
Hatake Kakashi's visible eye was as lifeless as a fish's. He didn't spare Shimura Danzō a glance as he turned and walked out.
"You..." Ignored by Hatake Kakashi, Shimura Danzō was furious and was just about to speak.
But the two old classmates behind him clapped him on the shoulder and urged him along. "Come on, Danzō. Let's see if it's that child. If we're too late, someone might snatch him away again."
Shimura Danzō snorted, twisted around to shake off the hands on his shoulders, and hurried after them.
The two men behind him exchanged a glance, then followed close behind.
Watching the three old classmates bicker like boys, Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help smiling as he remembered them in their youth.
"It's him."
Shimura Danzō stated with certainty.
After Danzō confirmed it, Minato Namikaze immediately had someone take Kinoe to the hospital for an examination.
After more than an hour of tests, they learned that he was physically fine and would likely wake up in about ten minutes.
The group decided to question Kinoe in his hospital room.
Before long, Kinoe slowly came to.
When he saw Shimura Danzō, he reflexively dropped to one knee and began reporting the details of how he'd been abducted.
Watching a ten-year-old child act like a puppet made Minato Namikaze hate Shimura Danzō's methods even more.
If everyone in Root was like this, then the organization had no right to exist.
As Minato Namikaze considered how to disband Root, Kinoe said that two people had knocked him unconscious and taken him from the training ground.
They'd woken him up once along the way, and he'd fought them before they knocked him out again.
When he woke up, he found himself here.
After thinking it over for a moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen asked, "Did you get a good look at what those two people looked like?"
Kinoe didn't even look at Sarutobi Hiruzen, and didn't answer.
Shimura Danzō felt a little smug. My people only listen to me.
He then repeated Sarutobi Hiruzen's question.
"No."
Kinoe's voice was flat, like that of a corpse. His face showed no emotion at all.