Tsunade summoned an Anbu and instructed him to invite Elder Danzo over.
A short while later, the Anbu returned and reported, "Elder Danzo is out on business and is not in Konoha."
The group exchanged glances; something was wrong! Danzo currently under Tsunade's financial constraints and hadn't been assigned any specific tasks. Now that the previous Hokage had returned, he was out on business. Without a doubt, he had gotten wind of something and escaped.
Tobirama Senju sneered, "No need to wait for him, let's go straight to the Root Base."
The group arrived at the Root Base in a grand procession. The Root base was an inconspicuous little house. Two masked ninjas stood guard outside the door.
Tsunade stepped forward and addressed the two Root ninjas. "I am the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade. Now I ask you, where is Danzo?"
The two Root ninjas remained silent, simply drawing their longswords from behind their backs.
With Tobirama Senju disarmed the two Root ninjas in an instant, pried open their mouths to reveal the seal on their tongues— the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal.
This is an extremely insidious sealing Ninjutsu, used by the caster to control others, preventing the recipient from uttering anything detrimental to the caster.
However, this was no challenge for Tobirama Senju, a master of forbidden techniques. He formed hand Hand Seals and pressed them against the faces of the two ninjas. After a scream, the two Root ninjas collapsed to the ground, and the seals on their tongues disappeared.
Tsunade asked again, "Where did Danzo go?"
The two Root ninjas immediately knelt down and said to Tsunade, " Lord Hokage, we haven't seen our leader for several days."
Tsunade didn't want to get entangled with such a low-ranking ninja. "Get out of the way! Go report to the Anbu yourself."
This time, the two Root ninjas did not stop them, but respectfully stepped aside.
Since it's called Root, its operating space must be underground in Konoha. A long, straight ladder leads to the underground space. Root ninjas keep gathering there, and they don't stop them, just stand silently to the side.
Although Danzo most likely defected, these desperate Root ninjas themselves didn't do anything particularly wrong; they were merely manipulated puppets.
Tobirama Senju released the seals from each of them. The expressions of the many ninjas varied; some were overjoyed, while others looked bewildered.
With Danzo absent, and these ninjas clearly recognizing the Fifth Hokage Tsunade, not to mention the First Hokage Hashirama Senju, the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, and the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze, it was obvious who represented Konoha.
Tsunade group made no attempt to conceal their purpose, and soon, Konoha ninjas, having received the news, rushed to their location. Many ninjas followed behind Tsunade, removing the masks from the Root ninjas one by one.
Besides the orphans Danzo by Danzo, many of the Root ninjas were children he had taken from other ninja clans.
In such a place that could extinguish humanity, ninjas naturally wouldn't want to send their children there, yet they also feared Danzo's power and methods.
Suddenly, a female ninja cried out and hugged a boy of about ten years old. She dared not cry out loud for fear of disturbing Tsunade nearby, but simply held the child in her arms tighter, tears streaming down her face.
But the boy looked completely bewildered; he had clearly forgotten his mother.
The group continued down the stairs and came to see a huge underground space.
There were about a dozen ninjas scattered around, two of whom were in charge. One wore dark glasses, and the other had orange hair.
Shinsei felt a sense of familiarity as he looked at the two figures. He suddenly remembered that these two people had tried to bring him to Danzo during his first mission.
The ninja wearing sunglasses stepped forward and said to Tsunade and her group, " Lord Hokage, this is the Root Base. No one is allowed to enter without Danzo's orders."
That's an interesting point. Tsunade is the Fifth Hokage and the highest leader of all Konoha Ninja. No ninja belonging to Konoha can disobey the Hokage's orders, even the Impure World Reincarnation Tobirama Senju and Hashirama Senju silently abide by this rule.
Tsunade crossed, her face cold, and remained silent. The ninja before her clearly regarded Root as Danzo's private organization.
A ninja behind him shouted, " Aburame Torune, do you want to rebel? This is the Lord Hokage!"
Tobirama Senju coldly observed the Root ninja opposite him, never expecting that his disciple had already regarded this place as a country within a country. He had previously harbored some illusions about his disciple, but now those thoughts had been completely dispelled.
Disobeying the Hokage's orders—if this attitude were allowed to continue, the village would fall apart, something the Hokage absolutely could not allow.
Inoichi Yamanaka also shouted sternly at the orange-haired man, " Yamanaka Fū! Get over here now and pledge your allegiance to the Hokage!"
Yamanaka Fū threw away the Kunai in his hand, walked up to Tsunade, and knelt on one knee. " Lord Hokage, Yamanaka Fū is at your disposal."
Tsunade remained silent with a cold expression, instead looking at Aburame Torune. She was gradually losing patience and seemed poised to issue an order at any moment, commanding the ninjas behind her to swarm forward.
Aburame Torune sighed, slowly walked to Tsunade, and knelt on one knee before her. The Root ninjas behind him, seeing that the two in front of him had already pledged their allegiance to the Hokage, followed suit and expressed their loyalty to the Hokage as well.
Tsunade forward and said to the Anbu behind her, "Take everyone away and interrogate them separately. Seal and organize all the documents and search for evidence of their Danzo rebellion."
"Yes, Lord Hokage!"
The Anbu behind them stepped forward, stripped the masks off the Root ninjas one by one, and chained them.
Shinsei looked at Yamanaka Fū and Aburame Torune on the ground, somewhat disappointed. He had thought the two would resist, allowing him to kill them openly and honestly.
Unfortunately, now that they have surrendered, someone will naturally judge their crimes.
A moment later, an Anbu Ninja stepped forward and said to Tsunade, " Lord Hokage, the news has been confirmed. Elder Danzo, the missing-nin Danzo, left Konoha three days ago, and his whereabouts are currently unknown."
Tsunade glanced at Tobirama Senju, Tobirama Senju pretended not to see Tsunade look and turned his face away.
His disciple had become missing-nin, and as his teacher, he felt ashamed even in death.
"Notify all ninja villages to classify Danzo as an S-rank missing-nin."
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
"He ran really fast, "Shinsei remarked with a hint of awe. He wondered if the old man had caught wind of something, or if he'd guessed that he was going to take action against him.
Three days ago was the time when the Hokage returned to the village.
However, putting yourself in his shoes, what Danzo did might have been acceptable to Tobirama Senju, but it would have been absolutely unacceptable to Hashirama Senju.
Based on the row of Sharingan on his arm alone, Hashirama Senju would definitely kill him to avenge Madara Uchiha.