Konoha's outskirts.
The heart of the underground Root base.
In an office of about forty square meters.
Looking at the various funding request files in his hands, Shimura Danzo couldn't help raising a hand to rub his temples.
The department had just been established, and the village had only given it thirty million ryō in funding.
Yet the budgets submitted by the various departments added up to a staggering eighty-nine million ryō!
If it had been a few million over, he could have handled it, but this was more than double!
"..."
Shaking his head, he let out a helpless sigh and began looking over the planned expenditures.
It wasn't that he was worried his subordinates would swindle funds. After all, they had prepared their budgets according to his plans.
But he really couldn't come up with that much money right now!
He was used to wielding a knife; switching to a pen all at once really wasn't easy.
He could only start by cutting back on the details and making every ryō go twice as far.
They would build the basic framework first, then expand it gradually!
Looking at the construction file for Base No. 2, he rejected it, cut out more than half of the proposed work, and put a check beside the smaller plan costing two million ryō.
"Bang-!"
After a burst of hurried footsteps,
the office door was suddenly flung open by a middle-aged Root member!
Seeing the man stumble in, Shimura Danzo set down the pen he had accidentally snapped in his hand. Frowning, he scolded, "Heihachirō, this is Root. You're an old man already-what are you running around like a maniac for?"
Owl... Shimura Heihachi didn't bother with the mask lying on the ground or the scolding from his clansman.
Looking at Shimura Danzo, dressed in a black robe behind the desk, he scrambled to his feet.
His face full of panic, he replied, "Dan... Danzo, we've made a huge mistake. The Shimura Clan... is finished!"
Thinking of the intelligence his comrade had sent before dying, and of what they had done that day,
Shimura Heihachi's voice was filled with terror and despair for his clan's future!
"Bang!" Hearing this, Shimura Danzo slammed his hand down on the desk, rose to his feet, and pointed at his clansman as he roared, "What nonsense are you talking about? I left home less than an hour ago. How could the clan be finished already?"
"As long as I'm here, just tell me what happened. Don't go spouting nonsense and trying to scare me!"
The roar in his ears gradually eased the terror in Shimura Heihachi's heart.
That was right. He still had Danzo. He still had the Hokage!
The Hokage!
Looking at the man glaring at him from behind the desk,
Shimura Heihachi slowly explained, "The plan to capture Uka failed. The Baku squad and another squad were all killed by the Senju!"
Hearing that the plan had failed, Shimura Danzo was about to lose his temper.
But remembering how his old friend had looked just now, he asked in confusion, "So it failed. Go erase their records and change them to spies."
"With Daiki among the Senju, what are you panicking about?"
"B-but... but... but!"
The several stammered words set off Danzo's anger over the failed plan!
Seeing his clansman's pathetic state, his temper flared even more.
Pointing at the middle-aged Root member, he cursed, "Get your fucking tongue straight! If you can't talk, I'll cut it out for you!"
At that, Shimura Heihachi took a deep breath and suppressed his body's instinctive trembling before explaining to Danzo, "The plan failed, so we didn't expose ourselves. But I saw with my own eyes the message 'Baku' sent before he died. He said... he said-"
"Slap!"
Without thinking, Shimura Heihachi slapped himself hard across the face.
The pain in his cheek gradually steadied him, and he continued, "Baku only said two words-'Wood Release'-and then Chiharu killed him!"
Seeing that his clansman had calmed down, Danzo was about to sit and wait for his report.
But when he heard the words "Wood Release," he was so shocked that he sprang back to his feet.
The muscles in Shimura Danzo's face twitched involuntarily a few times. Narrowing his eyes, he stared hard at his clansman and asked, "Did he really say Wood Release? The Senju have Wood Release? Who was it?"
"Yes. The other two people in the squad saw it too!" After nodding to confirm it, Shimura Heihachi thought of the information they had gathered afterward.
He added, "After the Senju left, we checked the alley. The scene had already been destroyed, but we still found a hole about as thick as an arm in the eaves of a building farther inside. There was a strange trace of Chakra left inside!"
"Although none of us had ever seen Wood Release, we're all familiar with the other types of nature transformation. Based on Baku's message before he died, that must have been the trace left by a Wood Release Ninjutsu!"
"You can go check it yourself too, sir!"
Hearing this, Shimura Danzo's legs gave way, and he slumped heavily into his office chair.
He didn't need to go see for himself!
He already believed the report.
Baku was a ninja of the Shimura Clan. He wouldn't send false information. Before he died, he deliberately spoke two words toward Owl, knowing that one of his comrades was there!
The chance that the message he'd risked his life to send was false was tiny!
Shimura Heihachi knew that too, which was why he had been so terrified!
That was Wood Release...
The First Hokage's fearsome power.
His signature Wood Release, and the Valley of the End, reduced to ruins.
How could the Senju have another ninja like that...?
Uka and that little girl named Harumi were separated from Hashirama Senju by who knew how many generations.
Their descendants shouldn't have inherited it!
For a moment, Shimura Danzo didn't know how to react.
The news was simply too shocking!
If he'd found out just a little earlier, why would he have interfered in the Senju's internal affairs?
Even a day earlier, or half a day!
He wouldn't have sent people to act, and he could have severed ties with Daiki!
Daiki?
That was right. Yes, Daiki!
Shimura Danzo seized on the key point that had flashed through his mind!
As long as Daiki hadn't been exposed, all he had to do was label everyone involved as spies!
It didn't matter even if members of the Shimura Clan were involved. The excuse they used publicly would hold up.
Then Hiruzen could step in and mediate, and the Shimura Clan and Danzo himself would get through this crisis!
Looking at his childhood friend, who had remained standing beside the desk ever since making his report,
Danzo reached out and pulled him close, then whispered instructions in his ear: "Heihachirō, I've come up with a preliminary solution, but to be safe!"
"Go back now with your wife and children, along with my younger brother's and younger sister's children, and take them all to my backup base!"
"Remember, take only the children, not the adults! Once you get them there, stay behind to protect them. When everything is over, I'll send someone to bring you back!"
Although he had thought of a solution, Danzo still made the worst-case preparations.
They couldn't be sure of the Senju's situation yet.
What if Daiki had been exposed too?
If they didn't prepare a fallback now, then once the Senju started making their move,
the Shimura Clan truly wouldn't have any hope left!
Hearing Danzo's instructions, Shimura Heihachi hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "I'll wait there for news. Make sure whoever comes says that childhood code phrase!"
"Mm. Remember to change your name. Pick one yourself!" After giving the instructions, Shimura Danzo stared at his childhood friend for a long time.
His voice slightly heavy, he said, "If it really comes to that, remember not to think about revenge!"
"All right!" Shimura Heihachi nodded and said nothing more!
After making these backup arrangements, Danzo left his friend behind and went straight to the Hokage Building!
Watching his friend leave, Shimura Heihachi couldn't help feeling despair and regret.
He regretted that they had lost their heads back then and gone after the Senju.
His despair was that the backup base Danzo had mentioned didn't exist at all.
Everything he'd told him was just a psychological suggestion.
These suggestions would guide his memories toward certain false locations.
Even that code phrase was fake!
In a world where memories could be examined, how could they possibly leave behind such an obvious fallback plan?
Danzo meant for Shimura Heihachi to take the children and hide far away!
Once enough time had passed, they were to investigate the situation themselves and decide whether to come back!