What Root had done back then had been thoroughly disgraceful. Danzo had joined forces with Hanzō to deal a vicious blow to the organization known as Akatsuki.
Black cloaks patterned with red clouds were Akatsuki's uniform.
"But that mask doesn't make sense... Are they framing Madara? That Madara may be mysterious, but some people still know he exists. Or has Madara become a member of that organization?" Danzo narrowed his exposed eye.
He remembered something: Uchiha Itachi had never told them how he had met the mysterious man who called himself Madara Uchiha.
The mysterious man calling himself Madara was probably the one responsible for the Fourth's death. How did Uchiha Itachi meet him? Danzo was deeply puzzled.
"Judging from the restored surveillance footage, the mysterious organization Itachi joined might be Akatsuki, and that mysterious man calling himself Madara might be its leader. Otherwise, there's no explaining what the footage captured—that mask." Danzo thought of the enemy he had once worked with. "It looks like Hanzō must be in a pretty miserable position now."
As the man known as the demigod grew old and frail, he had become nothing more than a political creature immersed in power, just like Danzo's old friend Hiruzen Sarutobi.
In Danzo's eyes, the so-called Shinobi Hero was nothing but a joke. Not a trace of his former glory remained.
All Danzo saw was an old man clinging to the Hokage's seat, unwilling to relinquish power.
"Send two standard squads into the Land of Rain to gather intelligence on the country. I need current information on Hanzō," Danzo told the Root Ninja standing by.
Realizing that such a dangerous organization existed in the shinobi world, Danzo could no longer sit still. He knew absolutely nothing about this mysterious organization.
There was no doubt that this mysterious organization would target Konoha. Unless they learned more about it, they would be left reacting helplessly when the time came.
"Even Itachi can't send information back..." Danzo felt he needed to step up research into certain forbidden techniques.
Konoha was still too weak. Such a dangerous organization existed in the shinobi world, yet Konoha knew nothing about it.
"What has Hiruzen been doing all these years? Is everyone in the intelligence department useless?" Danzo was somewhat angry.
At that thought, Danzo told the technician beside him, "Print out this image from the surveillance footage."
Soon afterward, Danzo headed straight for the Hokage Office with a photograph in hand.
When he reached the Hokage building, Danzo dispensed with courtesy. He opened the door to the Hokage Office and tossed the photograph onto Hiruzen Sarutobi's desk.
Danzo looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi. "Hiruzen, have your intelligence department find out which organization in the shinobi world wears clothing like this."
Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at Danzo, seemingly reproaching him for not knocking, as though he had disregarded the Hokage's authority.
He picked up the printed photograph from his desk and thought for a moment, but found nothing familiar about it.
"Is this someone captured by Root's surveillance cameras? What have you found?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked.
"All I know is that he most likely belongs to some terrorist organization," Danzo replied.
"Danzo, you're still keeping things from me at a time like this!?" Hiruzen Sarutobi's tone suddenly hardened. "If that were all, would you have come to me?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi knew Danzo's ways all too well. Whenever Danzo believed he could handle something, he would act on his own, just as he had with White Fang back then and with the Uchiha Clan recently.
The moment Danzo lifted his backside, Hiruzen Sarutobi knew exactly what kind of shit he was about to take.
He had only brought this photograph over because he felt he could no longer handle the matter himself.
"Hiruzen, I..." Danzo looked hesitant.
"Hmm?" Hiruzen Sarutobi gave a heavy, questioning grunt.
Danzo lowered his head. "At the scene of the Uchiha Clan Massacre, I encountered a mysterious man calling himself Madara Uchiha. Root lost some men fighting him. His ability was extremely strange; no attack had any effect on him. Itachi invited him to help wipe out the Uchiha Clan."
Hiruzen Sarutobi flew into a rage. "You're only telling me this now!? Even if he was an impostor posing as Madara Uchiha, you should have reported it to me immediately afterward!"
Smack! Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his hand onto the desk. "Do you realize that man was almost certainly the culprit behind the Nine-Tails' Attack!?"
Danzo lowered his head slightly and said nothing. He knew that once Hiruzen Sarutobi's anger subsided, everything would be fine.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was furious. His old friend had actually concealed something this important from him. If this incident had not happened, he might have gone to his grave without ever learning that such a man existed.
"That boy Itachi..." Thinking of Uchiha Itachi gave Hiruzen Sarutobi a headache too. Itachi had known that such a dangerous man had his sights set on the village, yet had never said a word to him, the Hokage. Despite knowing that the man was responsible for releasing the Nine-Tails, Itachi had actually invited him to help destroy the Uchiha Clan.
If I'd known there was still someone this dangerous out there, I wouldn't have tacitly allowed Danzo to... Hiruzen Sarutobi regretted his decision.
Although the village now had a Wood Release ninja, Yamato's skill was sufficient for building houses. Using him against a Mangekyō Sharingan capable of controlling the Nine-Tails was a joke.
Under these circumstances, the best choice was to counter a Mangekyō Sharingan with another Mangekyō Sharingan.
"You mean this man calling himself Madara Uchiha joined or founded some mysterious organization?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, pointing at the photograph after his anger had subsided somewhat.
"Yes. That's what I concluded from some intelligence Root obtained. I suspect they're a terrorist organization based in the Land of Rain." Danzo did not explain what intelligence had led him to that conclusion.
Root had done far too many things that even the Hokage knew nothing about. Those matters could not be spoken of.
Hiruzen Sarutobi understood immediately. It was simply another case of Danzo's Root secretly stirring up trouble.
The plundering of Root this time might well have resulted from a grudge Root had incurred with this organization in the past.
Knock, knock, knock. Hiruzen Sarutobi tapped the desk three times, and an Anbu wearing an animal mask appeared with the Body Flicker Technique, kneeling on one knee before the desk.
Hiruzen Sarutobi placed the photograph on the desk and pushed it forward, looking at the Anbu. "Take this photograph to the intelligence department and find out which organization in the shinobi world wears clothing like this. If we have no relevant information, start gathering it immediately."
The Anbu took the photograph and vanished from the office.
Before long, the Root member returned to the Hokage Office with a thick stack of documents.
"Lord Hokage, we found relevant information among the intelligence sent back by our agents in the Land of Earth." The Anbu respectfully placed the documents on the desk in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Mm." Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and looked at the Anbu. "You may leave."
Before you continue