Torune Aburame's sobs stopped abruptly.
His shoulders still shook, his back still heaved, and a few muffled sobs lingered in his throat. But he clenched his teeth and forced every sound back down.
He took a deep breath, wiped away his tears, and straightened up. Kneeling outside the iron bars, he rested his hands on his knees and lowered his head.
Danzo watched him, the malice in his left eye slowly receding.
"I need you to turn this around!"
Torune jerked his head up.
His eyes were still red, and tear tracks still marked his face, but the light in his eyes had changed—from despair to astonishment, from astonishment to hope, and from hope to an almost feverish intensity.
He asked urgently, "Lord Danzo, do we still have a chance to turn this around?"
Danzo narrowed his left eye, and his voice grew vicious.
"That Uchiha devil."
"He wants us to kill each other..."
"I'll turn his scheme against him!"
"After you leave,"
"do whatever it takes to kill Sasuke Uchiha, Konohamaru Sarutobi, and Shimura Mai!"
Torune shuddered!
He knew all three of them!
Sasuke Uchiha was Uchiha Fugaku's younger son.
Konohamaru Sarutobi was the Third Hokage's grandson and Sarutobi Shinnosuke's son.
Shimura Mai was Danzo's daughter-in-law, the eldest son's wife in the Shimura Clan.
Torune's eyes went wide, his pupils contracting wildly. His lips trembled before he asked in a shaking voice,
"Why?"
Sasuke Uchiha was one thing, but Konohamaru Sarutobi was the Hokage's grandson! And Shimura Mai was Danzo's own family. She had borne the Shimura Clan a son and a daughter!
Danzo fixed him with his left eye. A spark leaped in its pupil.
"Don't ask!"
Two words, sharp and decisive, delivered as an order that allowed no argument.
"Remember."
"No matter the cost!"
"No matter what