Stripped of power

The Hokage Building.

The Hokage Office was unusually lively today.

An office that normally held only one person now had five people in it.

Bang!!!

Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his hand down on the desk, glaring hatefully at the man before him.

"Danzo, don't push your luck! I'm the Hokage! You knew I intended to make him someone Naruto could bond with, yet you still assigned him a mission. Are you trying to rebel? Or do you think you no longer have to obey the Hokage's orders?"

To be blunt, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't care whether Luo Mang lived or died. He could always find someone else. A Genin without a shred of talent wasn't worth falling out over.

What infuriated him was that Danzo had issued the mission under the Anbu's authority. It was a blatant challenge to his power.

"If Kakashi hadn't happened to pass by..."

"Danzo, you really went too far this time!"

Utatane Koharu adjusted her glasses, her aged face instantly creasing with wrinkles.

Put her in a horror movie, and she would have been a minor boss at the very least.

She didn't care whether Luo Mang lived or died either. What concerned her was whether Danzo had also planted spies in her clan.

Now that she was old, she wanted the people around her to live well and have a better future. Otherwise, she wouldn't have become a parasite feeding off Konoha. It would be truly tragic if Danzo had planted spies in her clan.

Homura Mitokado raised his hands to play peacemaker. "All right, everyone. Let's hear Danzo's explanation first. Perhaps he discovered something."

"Everything I did was for the village! What right do you have to criticize me? You're old, and you're easily deceived. I wanted to take that brat into custody in case he had any ulterior motives toward the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki!"

Shimura Danzō stiffened his neck and shouted at Hiruzen Sarutobi, meeting his glare head-on.

Inside, he was cursing Kakashi. Why had he left the village when he had nothing better to do? He had stumbled right into Danzo's plan and exposed it. Otherwise, Danzo would have already succeeded.

If the boy really had been plotting something, Danzo could have used the evidence collected during this incident to undermine Hiruzen Sarutobi and demonstrate how unreliable he was.

Perhaps Hiruzen Sarutobi would be driven from the Hokage position, and Shimura Danzō would be next in line.

Shimura Danzō had become so obsessed with the Hokage position that he could connect anything to it.

"I'm the Hokage! This was my decision, and I had already assigned him a mission. You went around me and forced another mission on him for your own selfish purposes. Danzo, do you even recognize me as the Hokage?"

This time, Hiruzen Sarutobi was unyielding.

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi was weak when dealing with outsiders, he could be extremely ruthless within the village. And this threatened his position. How could he not take it seriously?

"You!"

Hearing Hiruzen use his status as Hokage to pressure him again, Shimura Danzō's eyes widened. He raised a finger and pointed at Hiruzen Sarutobi, but couldn't get another word out.

"It seems I've been far too lenient with you. You actually planted your people in the Anbu. Will you plant them in my clan next? From this moment on, you are no longer the leader of Root!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi showed him no consideration this time. He took a draw from his Pipe, exhaled a cloud of white smoke, and spoke sternly.

"You can't do this to me!"

Shimura Danzō strode forward and slammed both hands down on the desk, roaring at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Danzo, your ambitions are growing out of control!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi remained seated, smoking his Pipe as he answered casually.

In truth, he would have preferred to disband Root on the spot. But with so many members, finding places for them all would be difficult if he dissolved it outright. He could only take things slowly.

However, he would never give Danzo authority again. The man clearly didn't take him seriously as Hokage. To consolidate his own power and prevent Danzo from entertaining further ambitions, he had to strip him of his position.

"No! Absolutely not! I won't give up Root!"

Watching Danzo roar, Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado's expressions shifted slightly.

It seemed he really had been making moves within their clans. That was something they absolutely could not tolerate, so stripping Danzo of his power was now a foregone conclusion.

The fifth person present was merely an Anbu member who had been brought in under arrest. He was a spy Danzo had planted and bought off, caught by Hiruzen Sarutobi's trusted men while reporting information.

"It seems this really is necessary!"

Utatane Koharu snorted, her gaze stern as she spoke.

This time, Homura Mitokado no longer tried to play peacemaker. He sighed helplessly and nodded in agreement.

"No! You can't do this to me!"

"Close the door on your way out!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi had no intention of listening to any more of Shimura Danzō's explanations this time. He simply ordered him to leave.

Those words choked off the roar Shimura Danzō had been about to unleash, trapping it in his throat. He glared at Hiruzen Sarutobi so fiercely that his eyes grew bloodshot.

If looks could kill, Danzo would have killed Hiruzen Sarutobi several times over.

"Hmph."

Just as expected, Danzo walked to the door, placed both hands on the handle, and turned his gaze toward Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other two.

"You'll regret this!"

With that, he walked out and slammed the door behind him.

Creak, crack...

He had used so much force that the door made cracking sounds.

Hiruzen Sarutobi continued calmly smoking his Pipe, paying it no mind. Instead, he turned his attention to the Anbu member who had been bought off.

"When I think about it, I've treated the Anbu well. Yet you betrayed me. My kindness was wasted on a dog."

Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand and addressed the two Hokage Advisors beside him.

"Take him away. I'm sure his mind holds information you want to know."

"Yes. Danzo's ambitions really are growing out of control!"

Utatane Koharu adjusted her glasses and glanced at the Anbu member.

She could hardly wait to search his memories. Finding some intelligence on Danzo would be ideal.

But judging by Danzo's reaction earlier, that was probably unlikely. If there really were any secrets he couldn't afford to have revealed, he would surely have resorted to some trick.

Silencing the witness by killing him, for example. Although they didn't want to admit it, the strongest among them now were Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo. Kagami Uchiha, who had once been one of their strongest, was already dead.

So if Danzo truly decided to silence the witness and kill the Anbu member right before their eyes, they would have had a hard time stopping him.

"Yes. Let me know if you learn anything."

Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand, dismissing them.

Homura Mitokado didn't linger. After a brief bow of acknowledgment, he and Utatane Koharu took the bought-off Anbu member and left using the Body Flicker Technique.

Now alone in the Hokage Office, Hiruzen Sarutobi smoked his Pipe and took out the Crystal Ball.

An image appeared within it, showing Luo Mang and Naruto Uzumaki carrying out their mission.

"What is it about you that could make Kakashi take you so seriously?"

Watching Luo Mang act as commander in the image, Hiruzen Sarutobi murmured to himself.

He didn't believe Kakashi had simply been bored enough to leave the village on a mission and happen upon them. It had to have been deliberate.