"Tell us in detail what happened from the moment you were abducted," Shimura Danzō urged.
Kinoe replied expressionlessly, "I was training at the base when two people suddenly came up to me and said Lord Danzō wanted to see me."
"I didn't notice anything wrong at the time, so I went with them."
"Just after we left the base, the two of them knocked me out. They woke me up once along the way, and I immediately used Wood Release, hoping to trap them and find a chance to escape."
"But I was no match for them, and they knocked me out again."
"They didn't speak to me at all during the journey."
"Finally, I woke up in the hospital. That's everything that happened."
He recounted the events from beginning to end without a hint of emotion, as if they had nothing to do with him.
Root really didn't treat its members like people.
The boy was only ten, yet he'd been trained to be like this.
Utterly inhumane.
Danzō really was despicable!
Minato Namikaze glared at Shimura Danzō.
If looks could kill, Shimura Danzō would have been killed countless times by now.
Never mind the other shinobi villages. There were plenty of people right here in Konoha who wanted Shimura Danzō dead.
Utatane Koharu spoke up as well. "Do you recognize either of those two?"
At Shimura Danzō's glance, Kinoe immediately answered, "I don't recognize them. I usually eat and sleep at the base, and I rarely go out."
Mitokado Homura began to sum things up. "So, somehow, these two people walked right into Root's training base, took you away, and then made you use Wood Release on purpose before knocking you out again and leaving you at the entrance to the Hokage Building."
After saying this, he looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen. "I don't understand why they would do this. Hiruzen, have you figured anything out?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen took a puff of his pipe before answering. "I suspect this still has something to do with the Uchiha. Given the suspicious details Danzō uncovered, the Uchiha can't be ruled out."
"Without any new evidence, I recommend that we talk to the Uchiha."
Hearing Sarutobi Hiruzen say this, Minato Namikaze disagreed.
"I don't think we should suspect any of our fellow villagers without conclusive evidence."
"Especially not the Uchiha, a powder keg waiting to explode."
"Whoever did this, they're bound to make another move."
"The most important thing is that Kinoe has been found. We can wait to see what happens next and investigate further then."
Minato Namikaze's decision came down like a hammer, settling the matter.
The others thought it over and agreed. Since they couldn't make sense of what the other party was doing, they could wait and see if they slipped up later.
Shimura Danzō, however, didn't see it that way. He wanted to make trouble whether or not there was anything to be found. Regardless of whether the Uchiha Clan was responsible, he intended to pin the incident on them.
So, when he heard Minato Namikaze say this, he immediately objected. "No! The Uchiha Clan must give us an explanation. How can we just let them off so easily?"
"Do you have evidence that they did it?" Minato Namikaze asked in return.
"I..." Shimura Danzō was momentarily at a loss for words.
"That's enough. The matter is settled." Minato Namikaze no longer wanted to waste his breath arguing with Shimura Danzō.
Seeing that even his old comrades weren't backing him up, Shimura Danzō was overcome with anger. He turned to Minato Namikaze and said, "You'll regret this, Fourth Hokage!"
"Hmph. I'm the Hokage, Danzō!"
Minato Namikaze had completely lost patience with Shimura Danzō's habit of pinning the blame on others, and he didn't hold back in his retort.
Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't want his old comrade and his former student's grandson to fall out, so he quickly stepped in to smooth things over. "All right, that's enough. Stop arguing."
"We're all doing this for Konoha. Danzō, Kinoe will stay with the Anbu from now on. I'll arrange for someone to handle the transfer with Root."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's words crushed Shimura Danzō's last remaining hope.
Though he'd been mentally prepared, he still tried to fight it. "Hiruzen, Kinoe can do more for Root."
"He can do just as much for the Anbu." Minato Namikaze cut in, leaving Shimura Danzō unable to say what he'd intended.
"Now, let's discuss how to deal with you."
"Although the Wood Release experiments weren't conducted during my term, now that I know about them as Hokage, I can't ignore them."
"In view of all the years you've devoted to Konoha, I'll leave you in the Lord Third's hands."
Hearing that Minato Namikaze had still given him some leeway, Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded to show his agreement.
The other two elders had wanted to say something, but when they saw the Lord Third nod, they too fell silent.
It was another day of Shimura Danzō getting "hurt."
"All right, I'm going back to work. Kakashi, stay here and keep an eye on Kinoe. Come find me once he's recovered."
After saying goodbye to everyone, Minato Namikaze used the Flying Thunder God technique and left.
"Let's go too. We'll talk at my house. Danzō, you're coming with me as well." His tone on that last sentence was especially firm, making Shimura Danzō's heart skip a beat.
Sarutobi Hiruzen led the others out of the hospital room.
The two boys were left alone, staring at each other in silence.
At Sarutobi Hiruzen's house
Study
"Have a seat first." Sarutobi Hiruzen got everyone settled, then began making tea without saying a word.
The atmosphere in the room gradually grew tense.
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura had no idea what Sarutobi Hiruzen was planning, so they could only steel themselves and ask.
"Hiruzen, is there something you need to tell us?"
But Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't even look at the two of them. He simply stared at Shimura Danzō.
Under his gaze, Shimura Danzō felt uneasy. "Hiruzen, why are you looking at me like that?"
"Tell me honestly. How many other things are you hiding from me?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked, his tone unfriendly.
"Nothing else. This is the only thing." Shimura Danzō forced himself to sound calm.
He had no choice. There were too many things he'd done behind Sarutobi Hiruzen's back.
Never mind things that had happened outside the village, like discovering the Rinnegan.
Even just the things that had happened inside the village—abducting shinobi to use in experiments, and so on—could never be exposed.
If he confessed to all of it, he might as well go straight to prison.
"Are you sure? If something else you haven't told me comes to light, I won't be able to protect you!" Sarutobi Hiruzen's tone grew harsher.
Hearing this, Shimura Danzō could only confess to something with slightly less impact: "recruiting the head of the orphanage by force as a spy."
"Hiruzen, Yakushi Nonō was the only one capable of stealing intelligence at the time. I did it for Konoha."
Sarutobi Hiruzen was long accustomed to Shimura Danzō's excuses.
After steadying himself, he said, "From now on, try not to cause me any more trouble, okay?"