Family Meeting

Yamanaka Keichi began searching Elder Ito's memories, but his mind was blank. There was nothing there.

His memories had been destroyed the instant the Explosive Tag blew up his body.

Yamanaka Keichi turned to the others. "There are no memories left in Elder Ito's mind. They were all lost in the explosion."

"Someone clearly destroyed the body to erase the evidence," Elder Ize said. "Given the strength Elder Ito showed a few days ago, killing him without the culprit revealing himself would have been nearly impossible.

"If the killer wasn't someone Elder Ito knew, why destroy the body and erase his memories?"

"Third Hokage, you must give us a satisfactory explanation today. A member of the Elders Council cannot die for nothing. If Danzo goes unpunished again, he'll only grow more reckless," said an elder who rarely spoke.

"Elder Shinsuke is right. Even if a full investigation is needed, Danzo should be confined first," another elder said.

Koharu and Homura said nothing and kept their silence. After a moment's thought, the Third Hokage said, "When Danzo returns from this mission, I'll confine him to his home while we investigate. I'll have ANBU watch his every move. I won't let him do anything like this."

After considering it for a long while, the elders nodded and filed out. They wanted a harsher punishment for Danzo, but their only evidence was a fleeting image. Convicting him on that alone would be too hasty.

"There are too many doubts about the evidence," Homura said.

"The dead Ninja need an explanation," the Third Hokage said. "If we still do nothing about Danzo, more Ninja will resent it. Once people lose heart and abandon what they believe in, Konoha will be headed for decline even if it survives."

The Two Advisors nodded without another word.