The Meeting

"Knock, knock, knock."

A knock sounded at the door.

"Come in." Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice rang out, authoritative yet hoarse.

Danzo opened the door and strode into the room, his gaze sweeping coldly over those present. "Everyone's here."

"Didn't think you'd actually bother to knock." Utatane Koharu wrinkled her old face as she looked at Danzo. "But what experiment have you been up to this time? You've gotten younger."

Her eyes were fixed on Danzo's face.

Though she was a Hokage Advisor, she was still a woman at heart.

Seeing an old friend suddenly revert to his youthful appearance after just a few days apart, Koharu was clearly stirred.

"Is that why you called me here?" Danzo shot her a glance without answering, then looked straight at Sarutobi Hiruzen, seated in the main position.

Beneath the pale hair, that face covered in age spots bore a heavy weariness. Even Sarutobi Hiruzen, once illustrious for his battle achievements, was now merely an old man in his twilight years.

Even someone as strong as him couldn't resist the erosion of time.

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the youthful Danzo with equal complexity, his cloudy eyes carrying a hint of nostalgia. "I never thought I'd see you looking like this again. When I saw you this afternoon, I was startled—thought my old eyes were playing tricks on me."

"If this is about reminiscing, there's no need." Danzo walked to the table and sat down, his words blunt.

This wasn't due to the influence of Danzo's memories; he had always been this kind of person.

"As domineering as ever." A smile rose on Sarutobi Hiruzen's face. That expression, paired with this temper—it was just like the old days, unchanged.

But a hint of dimness flickered in his eyes.

Danzo's personality was the same as always, yet he himself had grown indecisive.

"The reason I called you here this time is to discuss matters concerning Kumogakure." Sarutobi Hiruzen shed his earlier fatigue, his face turning serious.

"Everyone should be clear on this: after Kumogakure's delegation arrived in Konoha, they sent ninja to attempt kidnapping the Hyuga Clan's young princess. Hyuga Hiashi discovered and killed them. Right?"

Hiruzen looked at the others in the room.

Danzo frowned deeply. "Are they using this as a pretext to start a war?"

This event wasn't covered much in the original story, but he still remembered it.

Hizashi Hyuga would take his own life over this, and it would go on to affect his son, Neji Hyuga's, fate.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart jolted. He looked at Danzo with a complicated expression, but still nodded. "A small force has already been assembled at the Land of Lightning's border. The Raikage intends to use this incident to launch an attack on Konoha."

"Minato's only been gone a short while, and these bastards are already crawling out of the woodwork." Mitokado Homura sighed. "If Minato were still here, they wouldn't dare so much as fart."

"What are your thoughts on this? Do we fight it out, or seek peace and swallow this insult for now?" Hiruzen looked at Danzo across the long table, then turned his gaze to Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura.

"With Minato gone, and Jiraiya and Tsunade not here, this war won't be easy to fight." Utatane Koharu shook her head.

"What's the Feudal Lord's stance?" Mitokado Homura asked.

Sarutobi Hiruzen replied, "The Feudal Lord's opinion is that we should rest and recuperate for a while."

His tone was low. "Rest and recuperate"—in other words, do their utmost to seek peace, appease Kumogakure, and swallow this insult.

"Danzo, what do you think?" Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Danzo, who had remained silent. It was rare for Danzo not to voice his opinion.

This was unusual.

In past meetings, Danzo always spoke his mind first. This time, he sat quietly, just listening.

Something was off.

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura exchanged a glance. They, too, felt Danzo seemed a little different.

"Does my opinion matter?" Danzo glanced at him, then at the other two. "You've already chosen to seek peace. We have no certainty in starting this war, and Koharu and Homura won't gamble on it."

"Since you've already made up your minds, does my opinion really matter?"

Those eyes seemed to see right through all three of them.

"Ahem."

Sarutobi Hiruzen coughed awkwardly. "We did agree that the four of us would vote on decisions together. Your opinion is certainly important."

Danzo said nothing, just stared at him expressionlessly.

He'd seen through Sarutobi Hiruzen's true face in the anime long ago, but from the memories, Hiruzen had always treated them well.

Danzo had no interest in the Hokage position now, so he didn't bother to undermine him further.

"In that case, let's notify the village clans tomorrow and hold a meeting." Seeing that Danzo didn't object, Sarutobi Hiruzen let out a relieved breath.

The village's primary decisions were first deliberated among the four of them.

Then, the clan heads would discuss and make the final call.

Danzo stood up calmly. "I won't attend tomorrow's meeting. You all handle it."

With that, he turned to leave.

"Danzo."

Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly called out to him. This old friend's behavior today surprised him, and made him suspect that Danzo might be scheming behind the scenes again.

"Hmph?" Danzo turned back in confusion.

"With Minato dead, the situation in the village is far from optimistic right now. I hope you won't do anything that forces my hand." Sarutobi Hiruzen's tone was stern, laced with heavy threat.

"I will never hand the position of Hokage over to you. Your personality simply isn't suited for it—it never was. Even if I step down, you won't get a chance to sit in that seat."

His words were blunt, and he didn't bother to avoid Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura.

They were all old teammates; most of the time, they could guess each other's intentions.

Minato's death. Orochimaru's defection from the village.

One incident after another had already given Sarutobi Hiruzen a splitting headache. If Danzo chose this moment to stir up trouble, he swore he wouldn't spare their old friendship this time.

Danzo, however, stared at the grim-faced Sarutobi Hiruzen and said in a calm voice, "I've lost interest in the Hokage's seat."

Locking eyes with Sarutobi Hiruzen, Danzo's tone carried a seriousness he hadn't shown since entering the room. "Power? That boring nonsense no longer interests me. Find an opportunity to let me step down."

"What exactly are you trying to do?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned at Danzo, puzzled by his meaning.

This old friend, who had regained a youthful appearance, felt unfamiliar to him.

"I'm referring to Root," Danzo explained. "Simply put, I no longer wish to be Root's leader. Find someone to take my place, or disband Root entirely."

"What kind of joke is this!" Utatane Koharu slammed the table and stood up, glaring at Danzo. "Danzo, this is no time for tantrums."

"Do I even need to spell out what Root is, or what kind of people are in it?"

"Everyone is under your control—who would dare to take over?"

Clearly, Utatane Koharu misunderstood Danzo, thinking he was using Konoha's current situation and Root's existence to threaten Sarutobi Hiruzen.

(Author's note: Adding an explanation about the protagonist's age, since too many people have brought it up. The age is due to the body reversing to a younger state after the injection of a young soul. This is a novel—don't come at me about it not matching common sense; it's not like anyone's ever tried this. Some have also asked why I didn't just write Danzo from his youth. The reason is that inserting the timeline too early, with the protagonist's abilities, would probably mean Naruto wouldn't even be born—and that wouldn't be interesting. There are examples of people becoming younger in Naruto. Danzo also participated in Orochimaru's research on Hashirama Cells. As long as Danzo still controls Root's members and holds the curse marks, others might find it strange but won't suspect anything. The protagonist will hide and act, but once his wings are fully grown, there'll be no need for pretense.)