Someone Has Already Reached Where They Shouldn't

The Hokage's office.

Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen sat behind his desk, a pipe clamped between his teeth. He took a deep draw, and white smoke swirled before his aged face.

Before him sat Uchiha Fugaku, posture rigid and expression grave.

"Fugaku, this is the first time you have come to me of your own accord."

Looking at the man before him, complex emotions flickered in the Third Hokage's eyes: vigilance, relief, and exhaustion.

Fugaku did not respond. He simply took the items he had brought with him and pushed them gently toward the Third Hokage.

"...Your Majesty, please take a look at this official order. These are the orders six members of my Uchiha Police Force received to carry out a mission outside the village."

Fugaku's voice was low. "I would like to ask, was the content of this mission signed by you personally? If so, why were they ambushed while en route?"

The Third Hokage picked up the order, his gaze falling upon the Hokage's official seal on the mission scroll and the handwriting, which was nearly indistinguishable from his own.

His brow furrowed slightly. The embers in his pipe flickered, and he took a deep breath, holding the smoke in without exhaling.

"Fugaku," the Third Hokage said, looking at the Uchiha before him, "I did not sign this mission scroll."

Sarutobi Hiruzen was seething with rage inside. He was certain the order was a forgery, and that meant—

Within the power structure of his Hokage office, someone had reached into places they had no business touching.

The moment he saw the signature on the scroll, one name had already crossed Sarutobi Hiruzen's mind.

Danzo.

"Your Majesty," Fugaku said, his tone devoid of fluctuation, "official seals can be forged and handwriting can be mimicked, but the mission protocol for mobilizing Uchiha clansmen must pass through the internal channels of the Anbu."

"The location of the ambush was on the only viable route specified in the mission scroll. To be able to set an ambush with such precision requires intelligence support from within the village."

"In Konoha, there are no more than four people capable of pulling this off."

Fugaku did not name them, but his meaning was clear.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's face turned grim. He did not refute Fugaku, for these were the facts.

"Fugaku," Sarutobi Hiruzen said, "regarding this matter... I need time to verify it."

"Verify what?"

Fugaku cut the Third Hokage off, his eyes already manifesting the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

Swish!

Several figures appeared in the Hokage's office, all of them standing guard against the Uchiha before them.

The Shadow Guard.

Fugaku ignored them, his gaze fixed solely on Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Stand down."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice was hoarse as he ordered the Anbu to retreat.

He then looked at Fugaku and said, "Konoha is a great tree. Its roots are far more massive than its canopy. There are places where the sunlight cannot reach, roots that have burrowed so deep that even I, the Hokage, do not know what they are absorbing."

The words were soft, yet Fugaku understood them perfectly.

The Third Hokage was implicitly admitting that the power of Konoha was not solely in his hands, but this...

"So, must the Uchiha clan simply endure it?"

As these words fell, the office plunged into a deathly silence.

Sunlight filtered in through the window, cutting the office into two halves of light and shadow; Sarutobi Hiruzen stood in the light, Fugaku in the dark.

Looking at Fugaku, Sarutobi Hiruzen held his pipe in his hand, his tone carrying a note of guilt for the first time.

"The Uchiha clan is a part of Konoha. I will investigate this matter personally. Not the Anbu, not the Council of Elders—I will investigate it myself."

"If it is confirmed to be someone within Konoha, no matter who they are—forging the Hokage's orders, harming fellow ninja of the village..."

Sarutobi Hiruzen paused, each word seemingly squeezed out. "I will give you an answer. Not a pacification, not a pension, but a true answer."

Fugaku closed his eyes, the images of those fallen figures appearing in his mind.

The Third Hokage before him was sincere; of this, Fugaku could be certain.

The shock, anger, and guilt in those eyes were not feigned. If they were, then the Third Hokage was truly the greatest actor in the ninja world.

Fugaku believed that until he had come, the Third Hokage truly did not know.

But so what?

The Third Hokage did not know, but he was the Hokage.

If the Hokage does not know, does that mean it is not the truth of Konoha?

The Hokage may not know, but the blood of the Uchiha had already been spilled. If he continued to pin his hopes on the Third Hokage—

Then in the future, the blood of the Uchiha would flow even more, just as he had seen.

Fugaku opened his eyes again, looking at the aged Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Your Majesty, do you know what it means if this answer cannot be delivered in the end?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen was stunned; the Fugaku before him was very different, or at the very least, not the Fugaku he had known before.

He wanted to ask what had happened to Fugaku, but the Third Hokage opened his mouth and remained silent for a long time before finally speaking, "...Fugaku."

At this moment, he could only call out his name.

Because he did not know how to respond.

If he truly took action, investigated Danzo, and moved against Danzo, it would be equivalent to moving against Root, and it would mean he would have to personally tear open the dark side of Konoha.

It would also mean that a wound that could never heal would be carved between the village and the Uchiha.

But if he did not act, the Uchiha clan—or at the very least, the Fugaku standing before him—would completely lose the last shred of trust they held for the Hokage and for Konoha.

Fugaku felt no sorrow or anger at this moment; he simply watched the Third Hokage quietly.

Regarding that future, he had actually questioned and speculated about it in his own heart.

He wondered if it had been the Third Hokage's intention.

The Third Hokage before him had given Fugaku the answer he deserved: it would not have been an order he issued, but even if the Third Hokage had learned of the incident after it occurred, he would not have done anything about it, because the entire clan would have already been wiped out.

Given the Third Hokage's past style, even if such a thing had truly happened, there would be nothing he could do, and he might even have tacitly accepted the Uchiha clan's annihilation.

"I understand."

Fugaku stood up and bowed slightly toward the Third Hokage, his words heavy with an indescribable complexity. "I will await your explanation."

Just as he was about to turn away, Fugaku gently placed the scroll that Hayato had brought back onto the desk.

"Lord Hokage, this is intelligence brought back by two members of the Uchiha clan who were fortunate enough to return."

Having said that, Fugaku stepped directly out of the office.

The door closed softly.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's pipe slipped from his hand, hitting the desk with a dull thud.

He stared blankly at the scroll before him, as well as the forged mission scroll, while the sunlight outside the window slowly faded away at that moment.

Having served for decades, he had seen Konoha fall into a leaderless state after Minato's death, and for the sake of the big picture, he had been forced to drag his aging body back to shoulder the burden of the Hokage once more.

Yet even so, his old friend continued to undermine him from behind, making Konoha's already difficult situation even worse.

He had been constantly weighing options and playing games... this ridiculous politics.

Recalling Fugaku's demeanor and his final words, Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly closed his eyes.

He, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was a sinner.

As Hokage, failing to prevent all of this from happening—it was he who had allowed Danzo's power to swell.