Danzo's dilemma

Shisui Uchiha's arrival had robbed Naruto of the chance to beat up that bastard Mizuki himself, leaving him rather annoyed.

Once they got back, Mizuki would probably be thrown in prison. Naruto likely wouldn't get another chance to beat him up.

Seeing Naruto remain silent, Shisui assumed he had been frightened. His smile grew gentler as he said, "Are you all right, little guy?"

Of course Shisui knew who Naruto was. Precisely because he knew, he couldn't approach him as a member of the Uchiha Clan.

Today, however, had been an exception.

The shortest route back to the Uchiha Clan Compound took him through this forest. After all, the compound was rather remote.

As he passed through, he heard an explosion-the sound of Mizuki using Fire Release.

Naturally, Shisui went to investigate. Then he saw Mizuki thrusting a kunai at Naruto, who stood motionless as though frozen with fear.

Shisui had still been some distance from Mizuki, but... who was he? Body Flicker Shisui. He could cover that distance in the blink of an eye.

"I'm fine... Thank you for helping!"

Naruto could only offer a thank-you he didn't mean.

He really didn't mean it. He had been delighted to find a Chunin to test his strength against today, only for Shisui Uchiha to turn up halfway through.

Unaware of Naruto's thoughts, Shisui kindly asked, "Would you like me to take you home?"

"No... I can get back on my own!"

The moment Naruto finished speaking, Zeff appeared behind him.

This time, Zeff appeared as himself.

Zeff's sudden appearance immediately put Shisui Uchiha on guard, and his eyes transformed into the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

Seeing this, Naruto waved a hand. "Don't worry. He's my teacher, Zeff!"

At Naruto's words, Shisui nodded and thought, Looks like the rumors are true... This Nine-Tails Jinchuriki really does have a split personality.

With his Sharingan activated, Shisui could naturally tell that the tall Zeff before him was merely Naruto's shadow clone.

Naruto called his own shadow clone his teacher... Even if he claimed he didn't have a split personality, nobody would likely believe him.

In the end, only after Naruto repeatedly assured him that he could get home safely did Shisui give up on escorting him.

Naruto and Zeff headed out of the forest, while Shisui carried the unconscious Mizuki over his shoulder and went to see the Third Hokage.

Outside the forest, Naruto found Rock Lee waiting with a worried expression.

When he saw Naruto, Rock Lee looked him over before asking, "Looks like you won, Naruto!"

Naruto shook his head helplessly. "Someone interrupted the fight! Looks like we'll have to stick to sparring with each other for now!"

"Oh... That's a shame!"

Afterward, Naruto, Rock Lee, and Zeff headed to their usual training spot for their daily workout.

Meanwhile.

Shisui brought the unconscious Mizuki to the Third Hokage and recounted what had just happened.

Upon learning that Naruto had been attacked, the Third Hokage certainly didn't let Mizuki off easy. He had the Anbu haul him straight to Konoha Prison to serve time.

After Mizuki was taken away, the Third Hokage gave Shisui a long look and said, "Thank you for your efforts, Shisui. You can head back now."

Shisui was a little surprised. He had expected the Third Hokage to remind him, or even warn him, not to approach Naruto. But... to his surprise, the Third Hokage said nothing of the sort.

What did that mean? It meant he trusted him...

The Third Hokage had just taken out his pipe for a smoke when he suddenly felt an intense gaze on him. Looking up, he met Shisui's clear eyes.

He gave a light cough. "Shisui... Remember, you are an inheritor of the Will of Fire."

"Yes... Lord Third!"

With that, Shisui left the Hokage's Office.

In the lounge at the Root Base.

"Feels like we haven't had a field assignment in ages, apart from keeping an eye on the Uchiha!"

"Yeah..."

"Ever since Lord Danzo got hooked on that thing called a laptop, he's barely given us any missions."

"Tell me about it! I heard one of our seniors suspected Lord Danzo was under genjutsu, so he secretly stole the laptop while Lord Danzo was resting. Guess what happened?"

"What?"

"Lord Danzo went berserk right then and there. He nearly tortured that senior to death with his Cursed Seal!"

"After that, nobody dared try to stop Lord Danzo from playing games..."

In Root's lounge, quite a few ninja were discussing their Lord Danzo.

And what was their Lord Danzo doing? He was still staring intently at his computer screen.

Danzo looked rather bedraggled now, his sole remaining eye as bloodshot as if he had activated a Sharingan.

He had also lost over half the hair on his head-all of it torn out by his own hands.

After struggling for so long, Danzo had finally reached the Untended Graves.

Only a few bosses stood between him and the end of the game.

Naturally, Danzo could also sense that he would soon beat it.

Just then, a Root ninja entered the room and knelt on one knee before Danzo.

Hearing him enter, Danzo asked flatly, "How is the investigation going?"

"Reporting to Lord Danzo... We... have completed our investigation."

"Hmm? Tell me, how far has Hiruzen gotten in Dark Souls III?"

That was right... This Root ninja's mission had been to investigate the Third Hokage's progress in the game.

At Danzo's question, the Root ninja seemed at a loss.

"Well... Lord Danzo, actually... actually... Lord Third Hokage isn't playing Dark Souls III at all."

"The game he's playing seems to be about dating..."

Naturally, the Root ninja knew nothing about so-called romance games, so he could only describe it in plain terms as dating.

"Heh heh heh... Just what I'd expect of you, Hiruzen, playing such an indecent game!"

"Like hell... Damn you, Hiruzen! You played me..."

In his fury, Danzo wanted to smash the computer in front of him right then and there.

At the sight, the Root ninja immediately grew excited. Once the computer was smashed, their Root would return to the way it used to be, and Lord Danzo would stop becoming increasingly dispirited and lazy.

Just as the Root ninja thought Danzo would smash the computer in a fit of rage, the hand Danzo had raised froze in midair.

In the end... Danzo couldn't bring himself to do it.

Still kneeling on one knee, the Root ninja sighed helplessly to himself. Just fall apart already. Let Root fall apart as soon as possible. This organization has no reason to exist anymore!