Before dawn.
The Hokage Building was brightly lit.
Sarutobi Hiruzen hadn't slept all night.
Root's hideout had been raided.
The Night Owl Plan had been exposed.
The Uchiha Sharingan Preservation Fluid had been discovered.
Danzo had been stripped of power.
He thought things couldn't get any worse.
Until Uchiha Fugaku led his people into the Hokage's office once again.
This time, they hadn't brought any scrolls.
They hadn't brought any prisoners.
They'd brought an arm.
A pale, twisted severed arm that still carried traces of Wood Release Cells.
Thud!
Uchiha Tekka slammed the arm onto the desk.
"Lord Hokage."
"Care to explain?"
"Why did Shimura Danzo have First Hokage Cells?"
"Why did he ambush Shisui at the Naka River?"
"Why did he try to steal the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
"Why could he escape from inside Konoha after we caught him?"
Four questions in a row.
Each one landed like a slap.
The Third Hokage looked at the arm on the desk, his expression grimmer than ever.
Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu were there too.
The moment they saw the severed arm, their expressions changed.
First Hokage Cells.
Those four words were more sensitive than Root spying on the Uchiha.
Because they touched on Konoha's deepest taboo.
Human experimentation.
Hashirama Cells transplantation.
Orochimaru's defection years ago.
And the dark deeds Konoha's leaders had once turned a blind eye to.
Now Danzo's right arm was ironclad proof.
Hiruzen spoke slowly.
"Was this severed from Danzo?"
Fugaku's voice was cold.
"Yes."
"At the Naka River."
"The witnesses are Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Tekka, Uchiha Yashiro, and Uchiha Inabi."
"And Shingetsu."
Shingetsu stood beside Fugaku, his face still somewhat pale.
The previous night's fighting and repeated use of Lightning Release had taken a toll on his body.
But his eyes were bright.
He hadn't activated his