Main World.
Konoha Year Twenty-Two, autumn.
Konoha, Hokage Building.
Autumn sunlight streamed through the high windows, casting mottled light and shadows across the long conference table. Hiruzen Sarutobi sat at its head, wearing the Hokage hat and the Hokage's white ceremonial robe. In his hands, he held a freshly drafted document. Several large words were written on its cover-"Proposal for Handling the Shimura Clan and Danzo." His gaze moved slowly across the paper, a faint smile on his lips.
Mitokado Homura stood beside him, holding a cup of hot tea, a trace of complex emotion on his face that was difficult to conceal.
"Third Hokage, are you... really going to... the Shimura Clan..."
"Eradicate the clan."
Hiruzen Sarutobi set down the document and leaned back in his chair.
"Not kill them all, but erase them."
Mitokado Homura's brow furrowed slightly.
"Erase them?"
"Yes, erase them."
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded.
"From today onward, the surname Shimura no longer exists."
He picked up his pen and wrote two characters on the document-"Slay Village."
"In the history books, Shimura will be changed to 'Slay Village'-meaning to slaughter the village."
Mitokado Homura's pupils contracted slightly.
"This... this..."
"Danzo's name will also become taboo."
Hiruzen Sarutobi continued writing.
"Danzo will be stigmatized as 'Group Burial,' meaning he buried everyone in Konoha."
He put down his pen and looked at Mitokado Homura.
"Decades from now, no one in Konoha will know Danzo's real name."
Mitokado Homura remained silent for a long time.
"Third Hokage, aren't you... afraid that future generations will call you..."
"Call me what? Cruel? Heartless?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi interrupted him.
"Homura, you need to understand something. Danzo was a traitor. He launched a rebellion, killed Konoha's shinobi, and destroyed Konoha's foundations. Someone like that doesn't deserve a place in Konoha's history."
He rose and walked