Shui Ling and Mizuki slowly walked out of the Hokage Building. Shui Ling stiffly turned her neck, spotted Danzo gazing out over Konoha through a window, and gave a faint smile and a silent nod.
"Elder, why bring up this... this... again?"
For a moment, Mizuki could not find the words to describe the proposal.
"All harm and no benefit? Or perhaps, going too far is as bad as not going far enough."
Shui Ling knew what Mizuki wanted to say and answered her as she walked slowly onward.
"Is Konoha strong now?"
"Strong!"
"Stronger than ever!"
"Except when Konoha was first founded, when the Warring States Era's Two Great Heroes were both around."
Shui Ling's voice was full of reminiscence and emotion.
"No, their differences were already beginning to show then. The village wasn't as united as it is now."
"Perhaps they really couldn't have beaten the Konoha of today..."
Shui Ling tipped her chin toward something, and Mizuki looked in the direction she indicated.
It was the Eastern Front Academy, which Danzo had wasted no time building after taking office.
Deafening shouts from fist drills rang out from within, punctuated by instructors' angry scolding.
"Konoha's eastern front. Impressive, aren't they?"
Mizuki nodded at her words.
"Konoha's most elite troops. They forged their spirit in the last battle in the Land of Lightning. You could call them the most elite force in the entire Shinobi World!"
"But..."
"When that boy Yū went missing last time, they were the most panicked, the most frantic."
"More than half their spirit drained away at once, leaving them little different from the other units. They only recovered a good deal of it when Danzo personally took command."
"Takahashi Yū has never led them to defeat. Or rather, Takahashi Yū has never failed."
"He