The Hokage's office.
The air was so heavy it seemed water could drip from it.
Fine tobacco glowed and dimmed in his pipe. The deep wrinkles on Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi's face seemed a little deeper than usual. He smoked in silence, the curling smoke unable to hide the gravity and exhaustion in his eyes.
Several people at the very pinnacle of Konoha's power structure stood in the office.
Uncharacteristically, Jiraiya wore no playful grin. He leaned against a corner with his arms folded, his cloak's shadow hiding most of his face. Only his sharp eyes remained visible, moving between Tsunade, Danzo, and the child Tsunade held protectively in her arms.
Danzo stood in the center of the office, leaning on his cane like a lifeless stone statue. No expression showed on his bandaged face, but his one exposed eye was like a bottomless, icy abyss, radiating a chilling coldness.
Tsunade, meanwhile, was like a lioness on the verge of going berserk. She sheltered Senju Chen completely in her arms. Her amber eyes, usually either alluring or languid, now held nothing but cold, undisguised killing intent, fixed unwaveringly on Danzo.
At the center of the storm was Senju Chen.
His small body was wrapped in a clean blanket, his arm swathed in thick bandages. His little face was utterly bloodless, undried tear tracks still clung to the corners of his eyes, and his body twitched from time to time, as though he remained trapped in immense terror.
Yet beneath his lowered eyelids, those seemingly vacant eyes were perfectly clear and calm.
The Hokage, two of the Sannin, the Root of the Anbu, the Konoha Council of Elders... the audience for this show carries enough weight.
Senju Chen calmly assessed the situation in his mind.
Big Sister Tsunade's fury is even fiercer than expected. Good. Anger will make her my sharpest spear. As for Danzo... I can feel it. Beneath that old bastard's calm is the fury of an erupting volcano.
Outmaneuvered by a four-year-old and forced to suffer in silence. He must really want to kill me right now, doesn't he?
Senju Chen sneered inwardly, but his body trembled harder. He shrank farther into Tsunade's arms and let out a muffled whimper like a small animal.
That whimper was like a needle, instantly piercing the strained quiet in the office.
"Danzo!" Tsunade finally spoke, her voice ice-cold. "Have you nothing to say?"
"I have nothing to say." Danzo's voice was hoarse and flat, without the slightest fluctuation. "Although that ninja wore a Root uniform, he was not my subordinate. There are many suspicious points in this incident. It was most likely an attempt by a foreign spy to frame us and provoke internal strife in Konoha."
"Frame you?" Tsunade laughed in her extreme anger, her laughter brimming with menace. "Are you saying my little brother is lying? Or are you saying Konoha's Anbu can't even tell whether a ninja belongs to you?"
"Tsunade, calm down." Hiruzen Sarutobi finally put down his pipe and spoke in a tired tone that brooked no argument.
He turned his gaze to Senju Chen, making his voice sound as gentle and kindly as possible. "Little Chen, don't be afraid. Tell Grandpa Hiruzen what happened. Tell us everything you know."
Everyone's eyes instantly focused on the four-year-old child.
Senju Chen raised his head, his large, watery eyes full of fear and confusion. He looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, then timidly glanced at the expressionless Danzo. His body gave a violent shudder, and he buried his head in Tsunade's arms again.
"Wah... Big Sister... I'm scared..."
"Don't be afraid, Chen. Your big sister is here. No one can hurt you." Tsunade gently patted his back, soothing him softly, but her gaze toward Danzo grew colder still.
Under Tsunade's comforting, Senju Chen seemed to muster his courage at last. In a halting, tearful child's voice, he began his carefully prepared performance.
"Big Sister Shizune... bought me dango... and then... boom! Such a loud noise..."
"So many people running... so many people shouting... then... then a bad man in a mask... grabbed me... so fast..."
His account had no logical order, entirely that of a terrified child struggling to recall a horrifying experience.
"He... he took me into the woods... he said... he said Konoha... couldn't... couldn't have another 'God of Shinobi'... he said... I had to die..."
At the words "God of Shinobi," everyone straightened, their expressions changing.
"He took out a really shiny blade... he was going to... cut my throat... I was so scared... I didn't want to die..." Tears welled up in Senju Chen's eyes again, and his voice rose into desperate sobs.
"I... backed away... and fell down... my hand... my hand pressed against the ground... I just thought... I wanted those little sticks to grow out... grow out and hit him..."
"Then... then... lots and lots of wooden spikes came out... that bad man... he... he fell down... so much blood..."
He stretched out his uninjured little hand, pointing shakily at Danzo as he cried out, "That bad man... I don't know... I don't know... wahhh... Big Sister... Big Sister, I'm so scared..."
Having said that, he seemed to exhaust every last bit of strength and courage. He broke down completely, bawling in Tsunade's arms.
Flawless.
A four-year-old child, faced with death, had been provoked into losing control of his kekkei genkai and accidentally killed his attacker. The entire sequence was perfectly reasonable, without a single flaw to pick at.
Danzo's lone eye remained fixed on Senju Chen, his gaze so dark it seemed ready to devour someone.
He had been played!
He didn't know where things had gone wrong, but he was certain he had been dragged into an enormous conspiracy! Had his own Root ninja actually disobeyed orders and decided to kill on his own? Or had this four-year-old brat staged the whole thing himself?
Impossible! How could a four-year-old child possess such deep cunning and terrifying strength!
A tempest raged in Danzo's mind, but he knew any defense would sound hollow now. He could only cling stubbornly to one explanation.
"This must be an assassination carried out by another nation after learning about Senju Chen, unwilling to watch our Konoha grow stronger," Danzo said, his voice still cold. "I will investigate this matter thoroughly! If someone from my Root truly did this, I will certainly give Lord Hokage and the Senju Clan an accounting!"
What he did not know was that, by sheer coincidence, his excuse had actually hit upon part of the truth.
But Tsunade had no intention of listening to any more nonsense.
"An accounting?"
She gave a cold laugh and slowly rose, holding Senju Chen.
The next second!
BOOM-!!!
An utterly savage surge of chakra erupted from Tsunade like an awakening behemoth! The entire Hokage's office shook violently beneath the blast!
She made no unnecessary movements, merely concentrating her killing intent on a single point before violently throwing a punch!
The force of her punch struck no one. Instead, it swept past Danzo's body and slammed into the wall behind him!
Under her Monstrous Strength, the sturdy wall, built from special materials, was as fragile as tofu. An enormous hole was smashed straight through it. Rubble burst outward amid dust, and bright sunlight poured in with the cold wind, illuminating every face in the office.
Tsunade held her little brother with one arm, her other hand still extended from the punch. She turned her head, her blood-red eyes like those of an asura returned from hell, and pointed at the ashen-faced Danzo, enunciating every word.
"Danzo! Don't forget who left you the position you hold now!"
"I don't care whose man he was! He wore your Root's clothes, and he laid a hand on my only little brother!"
"Listen carefully! If anything ever happens to my little brother again, I, Tsunade, swear here and now that even if it costs me my life, I will make sure you and your pack of rats hiding in the dark are wiped out in Konoha... down to the last dog and chicken!"
Her piercing, bone-chilling killing intent became tangible, plunging the temperature of the entire room to freezing.
Supported by his cane, Danzo's body went rigid. He could feel it: Tsunade was not making a threat. She truly would do it.
He had grievances he could not voice.
That was exactly how he felt now. He was clearly the victim, yet he had to take the blame. He gave the child still "trembling" in Tsunade's arms a long look and silently noted this debt in his heart.
Hiruzen Sarutobi pressed his aching temples. In the end, he could only step in to smooth things over. "Tsunade, enough! I will certainly give you and Little Chen a satisfactory answer regarding this matter!"
Tsunade snorted coldly. Without looking at anyone again, she turned and left with Senju Chen in her arms.
Jiraiya glanced at the enormous hole in the wall, then at the gloomy Danzo and the helpless-looking Sarutobi. Shaking his head, he followed her out.
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura spoke up then as well. "Sarutobi, we told you last time that Senju Chen must be protected. Nothing must happen to him. You bear an inescapable responsibility for this incident."
"Indeed. Moreover, this child has already awakened his true Wood Release bloodline and used Wood Release ninjutsu. This matter must remain strictly confidential. Until this child has grown, nothing must happen to him. This concerns Konoha's future."
After speaking, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura also left the Hokage's office.
Only the Third Hokage and Danzo remained in the office.
Wind blew through the hole, sweeping up the documents on the floor with a rustling sound, as though mocking this farce.