"What is this about!?" The Third Hokage questioned.
Outwardly, he maintained a facade of composure and calm gravitas but inwardly panic was already flaring and the Anbu had long been signalled to take specific emergency actions.
'You can really act, Monkey.' Mito thought to herself with some disdain.
Before her Mind's Eye of The Kagura, such a flimsy mask could not at all hide the emotions running underneath.
On that day, as per his usual routine, Hiruzen had woken at the break of dawn and strolled through the still empty Konoha streets, breathing in the cold and refreshing air as he headed straight for the Hokage's office.
What he did not expect however, was that as soon as his butt touched the Hokage chair, shocking visitors would arrive straight to his door, demanding to see him while accepting no delay or preparation.
And considering their status, Hiruzen could not well use his Hokage's authority to make them wait as he properly readied himself.
"As you have no doubt realized Monkey, we have a matter of critical importance to discuss." Mito responded to the Hokage's initial question.
'Then can Mito-sama take into account the seriousness of the matter and stop using my nickname while discussing it?' Hiruzen internally grumbled.
"Can this wait until the advisors get here? They are already notified." He spoke.
"Naturally. The matter is connected to them anyway well . . . one of them." Mito responded.
'What did you do this time Danzo?' The Hokage internally questioned, not doubting, even for a moment, who exactly was the matter related to.
A tense silence set in, with neither side willing to break it.
Seconds stretched into minutes as they all awaited the arrival of the Hokage Advisors.
Utahane Koharu and Mitokado Homura arrive together but the silence remained unbroken. The oppressive atmosphere of the Hokage's office ensured that the two did not even dare to speak a word, communicating with Hiruzen just through glances.
Tsunade tried to look unbothered but it was clear to anyone that her irritation was mounting, the Third Hokage was honestly shocked his temperamental student had yet to explode.
'Then again, she never could raise her head in Mito-sama's presence.' He thought to himself.
Uchiha Fukutsu stood with a stern posture, arms crossed, chin tilted slightly up, eyes closed, giving nothing away, even the arrival of the two advisors caused no reaction.
The only calm and relaxed individual in the room seemed to be the Uzumaki matriarch, casually awaiting the main character's appearance.
The tense minutes continued to trickle by until a rather furious Danzo, doing his best to contain his rage with a mask of indifference, stepped into the Hokage's office.
Uchiha's Fukutsu's eyes immediately snapped open, traces of crimson threatening the activation of the Sharingan as the Uchiha clan head glared.
Danzo returned the glare with disdain.
"Wh-" Unlike the cowardly two before him, the bandaged man did not hesitate to speak up but alas . . .
He could not even get a single full word out.
Without any warning, golden chains erupted from Mito and sealed the entire room while holding Danzo trapped, suspended mid-air, completely paralyzed and unable to speak.
Everyone in the Hokage's office except for the trapped Danzo, turned towards the Uzumaki matriarch with shock.
'She looked to be the most calm during our whole operation but . . .' Uchiha Fukutsu did not complete his thoughts, returning his gaze towards the Hokage and his trapped right hand man.
Meanwhile, Tsunade was forced to re-evaluate the disciplinarian but calm, wise and measured image she had of her grandmother.
"Since everyone arrived . . . Monkey, we're here today to ask for an explanation." Mito coldly declared.
'Mito-sama has an interesting way of "asking" for things.' Hiruzen thought but did not voice it out.
'Damn you Danzo! What did you do to provoke this old woman so badly?' He wondered.
"An explanation?" The Third Hokage inquired.
Impressively, despite the situation, his voice and expression remained calm and measured, far from the panic and fear in Utahane Koharu and Mitokado Homura.
'They've lost their edge.' Hiruzen internally commented on his former squadmates.
Irrespective of such thoughts, the conversation continued.
"Indeed. An explanation . . . for this." Mito spoke, tossing a scroll the Hokage's way.
It was not part of the records the assault teams recovered nor the evidence they gathered, just a laundry list of Root's many crimes.
Hiruzen took a good long look at the Uzumaki matriarch, trying to garner hints regarding her full intentions.
But he got nothing.
Finally, he opened the scroll in his hands and began looking it over . . .
The further Hiruzen read, the darker his face got.
"Before you ask, we have evidence for everything." Mito suddenly spoke, making the Hokage grip the scroll's paper harder, crumpling its edges in his hands.
"Hiruzen-" Homura finally spoke up, wishing to at least get some sort of heading.
The Hokage merely passed along the scroll in his hands, saying nothing.
Having barely started to read it, the Hokage Advisor's face was already turning pale.
Remaining silent as well, he passed the hot potato to Koharu.
Results were similar.
"Now that we're all situated, you all better have a great explanation." Mito accused.
It was clear that the Uzumaki matriarch had already decided what she wanted and was merely giving the Hokage a chance to do it himself.
To make the right call and preserve his authority, protect his position and take the just side of the matter.
'Come on Sarutobi-sensei! Who is right and who is wrong . . . A child could tell under these circumstances . . . Make the right choice . . . please.' Tsunade's head was bearing a storm of thoughts.
As for Mito and Shiki, neither of them believed Hiruzen would make the, so-called, "right choice".
They were so sure of it in fact, that they did not even bother to plan things in the event that he did.
"Before anything, the facilities mentioned here must be shut down and investigated." Utahane Koharu suddenly spoke up.
"That's right, everything will be clearer then." Mitokado Homura supported.
In fact, their goal was just to buy the time needed to formulate a response and, if possible, dispose of some of the most damning evidence, though neither held much hope for that.
"Hmph!" Uchiha Fukutsu interjected into the conversation for the first time.
"The Senju and we Uchiha have already raided the facilities ourselves to prevent any . . . mistakes." He paused and deliberately emphasised on the last word, clearly levying accusations on the Hokage and his cohort.
At first glance, this pushed the Hokage faction into an even deeper pit but the belligerent talk, accusations and the fact that the two clans mobilized independently also gave them a rope to climb up.
This was the strategy already discussed and the Uchiha clan head was more than happy to play his role.
His words shocked Hiruzen, Koharu and Homura but Danzo, still bound up and previously ignored, was shaking not with surprise but with outrage.
"Perhaps we should let the accused say some words?" Mito suddenly but calmly suggested.
"He certainly seems to want to speak." She added.
Sincerely, Hiruzen sort of wished his old pal to just stay gagged and not make matters worse for himself or even all of them.
Alas, he knew that was not going to happen.
And so, Danzo was ungagged.
+++++
Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
500 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
1000 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters
Every earned BONUS CHAPTER on Webnovel will also be posted on Scribble.
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -