Sarutobi Ken was dependable when it counted.
He rushed through the collapsed wall of his parents' bedroom and immediately saw the horrific state Hiruzen Sarutobi was in.
The sixteen-year-old boy froze, something lodged in his throat. For a long while, he couldn't get a word out.
He was too shocked to speak. A moment later, he remembered to wonder how his mother was.
Fortunately, Biwako Sarutobi was only unconscious and entirely unharmed.
Seeing that his mother was all right, Sarutobi Ken ordered the servants in the residence in a grave voice, "Quick, fetch a medical ninja! Then notify the ANBU. Tell them... the Third Hokage has been murdered."
He practically gritted his teeth as he said the word "murdered."
Then something else occurred to him, and he hurriedly asked, "Where's Asuma?"
A servant soon came to report, "Young master, Master Asuma is still asleep in his room. The noise didn't wake him."
Only then did Sarutobi Ken slowly unclench his fists. "All right. Guard his door and don't wake him. Let him keep resting."
Clearly, as his older brother, he didn't want his younger brother, who was only eight and hadn't yet graduated from the Ninja Academy, to see the horrific state their father was in.
Soon, the ANBU in the village all learned of what had happened and rushed to the scene.
The Hokage's residence was brightly lit, and the atmosphere was so tense it could have dripped water. The ANBU members looked at the Third's horrifying corpse, his eyes still open in death, but none dared speak first.
After a long while, someone finally broke the silence. "...What do we do now?"
"Split into two groups," Sarutobi Ken said gravely. "Some of you stay here to guard the residence and protect my mother. The rest go seal off the two main gates. Don't let anyone suspicious escape."
"What about the clans, large and small?" an ANBU member asked hesitantly.
"Go notify the heads of each clan." Sarutobi Ken paused and lowered his voice:
"First, get them all up. If the enemy is a ninja from another village, they should be on alert too. Second, see who's missing. Whoever isn't there is a suspect. Oh, and don't go to the Uchiha. Send more people to keep watch on the Uchiha Clan."
At that, everyone nodded and immediately dispersed to carry out their orders.
And so, that night, the ANBU knocked on the doors of Konoha's clan residences, large and small, one after another.
The smaller clans were easy enough to deal with. The ANBU knocked on their doors, fobbed them off with a few words, and confirmed that everyone was present.
But when it came to major clans like the Hyūga, Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi, and Inuzuka Clan, even the ANBU didn't dare force their way in.
They had to knock first, then wait for a clan member to pass word along. Only after the clan head came out fully dressed did they tell them about the Hokage's murder.
Going from house to house and checking whether each clan head was home took quite some time.
The Uchiha alone were left out. No one went to notify or check on them.
The news of the Hokage's murder was deliberately kept from them. After all, relations between the Uchiha and the village were hanging by a thread.
Before all the clans, large and small, had been notified...
BOOM!!!
A tremendous crash suddenly came from the west side of the village. Immediately afterward, the ground beneath their feet shook violently.
The ANBU all stopped in their tracks. "This is bad! Something's happened in the west!"
When they rushed to the west side of the village and saw what had happened, everyone sucked in a sharp breath.
The entire area where the Root Base stood had caved in.
The houses and buildings that had stood above it had all sunk underground, as though a "black hole" had opened in the ground out of nowhere and swallowed the whole area in one gulp.
Those who came were all ANBU members and the heads of the clans, large and small. They counted among the village's middle and upper ranks, and all knew that Danzo's Root Base was here.
Looking at the collapsed area, they all understood that Root's "lair" was completely gone.
"...How was this even done?" someone murmured.
The crowd fell silent.
The same thought occurred to quite a few of them:
Could the Uchiha have done this? First they ambushed and killed the Hokage, then they came and wiped out the Root Base?
But on second thought, that didn't seem right.
If the Uchiha Clan had really done it, why hadn't they gone straight to Danzo's house to kill him?
Why go to the trouble of destroying the Root Base instead?
Meanwhile, the civilians, Chunin, and Genin in the eastern, southern, and northern parts of the village were still fast asleep in their beds, snoring thunderously.
They had no idea that the village had been turned upside down.
Hatake Sakumo emerged from Root and sped toward the south side of the village, his destination clear: Mitokado Homura's house.
Why had he chosen him first?
Simply because Mitokado Homura's house was closest to Root.
Hatake Sakumo silently considered the matter:
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō were both dead. Of the Konoha High Command, only the two advisors, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, remained alive.
As long as he "took care of" those two, his position as the Fourth Hokage would be secure.
When Hatake Sakumo arrived at Mitokado Homura's residence, he looked it over.
Homura had been a Konoha advisor for many years, after all. His residence was every bit as luxurious as Danzo's.
Sakumo first scanned the shadows around the place. Only after confirming that there were no ANBU guards or Root watchers did he sneak inside.
Hatake Sakumo had never visited Mitokado Homura's house before and wasn't familiar with its layout, so he had to search room by room.
Soon, he found a room with Mitokado Homura's son inside.
The boy was sleeping soundly. Hatake Sakumo glanced at him, and his profile came to mind: his strength could only be described as average. He was a Special Jōnin of the village who had taken a post at the Ninja Academy to "see out his days."
"Just a small fry." Once Hatake Sakumo confirmed that the person inside wasn't Mitokado Homura, he turned and left.
He checked several more rooms, but the people sleeping inside were all servants of one sort or another.
After checking yet another room, Hatake Sakumo's eyes lit up.
The person lying in bed, fast asleep, was none other than Mitokado Homura.
Mitokado Homura was fifty this year, one year older than both Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō.
Hatake Sakumo crept to the bedside, picked up some clothes lying nearby, and quickly tied Mitokado Homura's hands securely.
Even after he was tied up, the advisor was still snoring, completely undisturbed.
Hatake Sakumo: "..."
He really was a sound sleeper.
He reached out and shook Mitokado Homura.
"Mm... who is it...?" Mitokado Homura opened his eyes blearily.
Then he let out a frightened "Ah!" and nearly fainted.
A figure wearing a hood and a mask, covered from head to toe in blood, stood before him and stared down at him.
Mitokado Homura had at least been Tobirama Senju's disciple, but unfortunately, his skills had long since fallen into neglect over the years. At best, he was a Jōnin, and with his advancing age, he mostly handled political affairs and offered his opinions.
As for real ability... he truly had none.
Hatake Sakumo couldn't be bothered wasting words on him. Seeing him open his mouth to shout, he promptly held his blade to his neck.
"Don't make a sound."
Those three words made Mitokado Homura freeze on the spot.
Then he stared blankly at the person before him. The more he looked, the more familiar he seemed.
"Y-you're Hatake Sakumo?"
Hatake Sakumo didn't deny it.
There was no telling what Mitokado Homura imagined, but he was so frightened that he stammered, practically falling to his knees:
"S-Sakumo! I've always treated you well. The way people in the village ostracized and insulted you, and how everyone in the village even knew you abandoned the mission to save your comrades-that, that was all spread by Danzo!"
"G-go settle the score with Danzo, not me!"
Hatake Sakumo cut him off bluntly:
"All right, I killed Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō."
Mitokado Homura: "...?"