Hatake Sakumo continued, "I came to explain this matter to you first."
"So no one can turn the tables and claim I attacked fellow village ninja when Root was the one spying on an Academy student."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression darkened.
Danzo. Danzo again.
He had already made it very clear that Fang Xu would not be joining Root.
The Ninja Academy was not a place for Root to meddle in, either. He had not expected Danzo to back down on the surface, only to secretly send people to keep watch.
Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up his pipe, then set it down hard.
"I will handle this matter personally."
Hatake Sakumo looked at him.
"Lord Hokage, Fang Xu is only six. He has talent, and he is willing to work hard."
"But what he needs most right now is to grow up in peace, not to be targeted by Root."
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded.
"I understand."
"Fang Xu is a disciple you have high hopes for, and a genius I have high hopes for as well."
"He is Konoha's future."
"No one may interfere with his growth."
Hatake Sakumo's expression eased somewhat at those words.
"With your assurance, Lord Hokage, I can rest easy."
Hiruzen Sarutobi said gravely, "I will warn Danzo. Root will no longer monitor Fang Xu."
Hatake Sakumo nodded.
"Then I will take my leave."
Hiruzen Sarutobi watched him leave the office.
The window closed again, leaving only the smell of pipe smoke in the room.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk, his expression darker than before.
A moment later, he spoke.
"Someone, come."
An Anbu appeared silently and dropped to one knee.
"Lord Third Hokage."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice was icy.
"Go to the Root Underground Base. Summon Shimura Danzō to see me immediately."
The Anbu lowered his head.
"Yes."
Having received his orders, the Anbu flickered away and hurried toward Root's underground base.
At the Root Underground Base, the lights were dim and the walls cold.
Three Root ninja knelt on one knee below the steps, all bearing injuries.
Takuma, who led them, had severe swelling across half his face and dried blood at the corner of his mouth. He held his broken mask in his hands, not daring to look up.
Danzo sat at the head, his cane laid across his knees, his expression frighteningly grim.
"Useless."
At that single word, the three Root ninja lowered their heads even further.
Danzo stared coldly at them.
"I told you to monitor an Academy student, not draw Hatake Sakumo out."
"You barely gathered any information on Fang Xu. Instead, you gave White Fang something to use against us, and he took it straight to the Hokage Office."
"You have utterly disgraced Root."
Takuma said quietly, "I have failed you. Please punish me, Lord Danzo."
Danzo slammed his cane against the floor.
Thud!
The sound echoed through the underground base.
"You will certainly be punished."
"Go receive your punishment under Root's rules."
"Remember, there will be no next time."
Takuma immediately bowed his head.
"Yes."
Danzo swept his gaze across the three, his voice turning colder.
"Hatake Sakumo is no ordinary Jonin. He has not survived this long merely on his reputation as Konoha's hero."
"If you let him catch you again, do not bother coming back."
The three answered in unison, "Yes!"
Just then, a Root ninja strode in.
"Lord Danzo, an Anbu reporting directly to the Hokage has arrived."
Danzo's expression grew uglier.
"Let him in."
A moment later, an Anbu wearing an animal mask entered the base and knelt on one knee.
"Lord Danzo."
"Lord Hokage has ordered that you come to the Hokage Office immediately."
Danzo stared at him.
"Is Hiruzen in such a hurry?"
The Anbu lowered his head, his tone unchanged.
"Lord Hokage said that you are to come immediately."
Danzo tightened his fingers around his cane. Immediately, is it?
Hatake Sakumo had just humiliated him, and already Hiruzen's Anbu had followed him right to the Root Base.
This was a summons, and perhaps a warning as well.
Danzo rose, his gaze sweeping over the three Root ninja kneeling on the floor.
"Get out and receive your punishment."
"Yes!"
The three Root ninja dared not linger and quickly withdrew.
Danzo walked out with his cane, holding back his anger with every step.
The Hokage Building.
Outside the office, two Anbu stood guard at the door.
The moment Danzo stepped into the office, the door closed behind him.
Soon, Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice came from inside, thick with suppressed anger.
"Danzo, I warned you not to touch Fang Xu."
Danzo's face was cold.
"I only sent people to monitor him."
"Monitor him?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his hand on the desk.
"Your men were hiding near the Hatake Residence and Fang Xu's home. Sakumo caught them on the spot."
"You call that monitoring?"
"Do you really think I cannot see what you are doing?"
Danzo planted his cane against the floor.
"Fang Xu's background is unusual."
"A member of a Senju branch family, with talent in Lightning Release and aptitude for Kendo."
"Doesn't it worry you at all that Hatake Sakumo has taken a child like that as his disciple?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze turned cold.
"Danzo, do not dress up your personal ambitions as the village's needs."
"It is not as though I am unaware of all the things Root has done over the years."
"I tolerate you because someone has to handle certain things in Konoha's shadows."
"But that does not mean you can bypass me and reach into the Ninja Academy, or lay your hands on the village's children."
Danzo's expression darkened.
"Hiruzen, you are too naive."
"War is coming. The village needs blades it can truly use."
"Feelings, teachers, classmates-these things will only slow Fang Xu's growth."
"Entrust him to Root, and he will develop his abilities sooner."
Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at him and said, stressing every word, "Fang Xu is not your blade."
"He is the orphan of Konoha ninja, and Sakumo's disciple."
"He is also a young man I have high hopes for."
Danzo sneered.
"There is no telling whose side this young man you have high hopes for will ultimately stand on."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice abruptly rose.
"Enough!"
Outside the office, the two Anbu kept their heads lowered, not daring to make a sound.
Inside, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood behind his desk, unleashing the full pressure of his presence.
"Danzo, I saw through those thoughts of yours long ago."
"You have always believed that the Second Hokage should not have chosen me back then, that the Hokage position should have been yours."
"So anyone outside your control makes you uneasy."
"That goes for Sakumo, and for Fang Xu as well."
Danzo's expression turned utterly ugly.
Hiruzen Sarutobi did not stop.
"But remember this."
"I am Konoha's Hokage."
"Root exists because I allow it."
"If you overstep your authority again and secretly act against Fang Xu, Kakashi, or any child in the Ninja Academy, I will strip you of your authority over Root."
Danzo's pupils contracted slightly. Those words carried more weight than any reprimand.
Root was the most important force in his hands.
Yet Hiruzen Sarutobi had laid out that boundary right to his face.
Danzo gritted his teeth.
"Hiruzen, I am thinking of you."
"Fang Xu is far too talented, and Hatake Sakumo has already taken him."
"If Sakumo brainwashes him and he stands against you in the future, you will regret it."
Hiruzen Sarutobi said coldly, "Sakumo is Konoha's hero, not its enemy."
"Fang Xu is a child of Konoha, not a tool, either."
"This matter ends here."
Danzo's chest felt terribly tight.
He wanted to say more, but Hiruzen Sarutobi's stance left no room for negotiation.