Main World.
Autumn, Year 29 of Konoha.
Hokage Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk, pen in hand, without a single word written on the paper before him. He had been sitting like this for an hour. When Mitokado Homura knocked and entered, he saw him like this and silently withdrew. He did not need to ask. He knew whom his teacher was waiting for.
The door opened. Orochimaru walked in, his long black hair falling over his shoulders, his golden serpent eyes contracting slightly in the afternoon light. He approached the desk but did not sit down, merely standing there.
"Teacher."
Hiruzen Sarutobi raised his head and looked at him. A moment later, he smiled. There was gratification in that smile, helplessness, and a barely perceptible trace of wariness.
"Sit."
Orochimaru sat down.
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a document from a drawer. It had no title, only a red stamp reading "Top Secret." He pushed it across the desk.
"Take a look."
Orochimaru opened the document. His gaze moved across the paper, his golden serpent eyes betraying no reaction. The document concerned Root-not Danzo's Root, but the Root established by Tobirama Senju. A secret organization under the Anbu, responsible for intelligence, infiltration, assassination, and eliminating traitors. Danzo had once been in charge of Root. Danzo had turned Root into his private army. Danzo had used Root to stage a coup. Danzo was dead, and Root had been destroyed.
Orochimaru closed the document.
"Teacher, do you intend to rebuild Root?"
"No." Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head. "Roots can branch off into another tree, and that tree will compete for Konoha's nutrients."
He paused.
"What Konoha needs is a vine."
Orochimaru raised his brows slightly. "A vine?"
"A vine lives in symbiosis with Konoha. Its nutrients are supplied by Konoha." Hiruzen Sarutobi's