"Oh, old man, you just love making things difficult for me..." Jiraiya muttered under his breath as he rubbed his bruised jaw. Tsunade's punch had come out of nowhere, filled with years of bottled-up rage. She hadn't even hesitated.
Glancing over at Naruto, Jiraiya forced a casual smile. "Wait here, kid. I'll come find you later."
With that, he turned and dashed off, chasing after the storm that had just blown through the village—Tsunade Senju.
Bang!
The door to the Hokage's office burst open with a violent kick, slamming into the wall. Scrolls trembled on the shelves. The ink brush in Sarutobi Hiruzen's hand jerked violently across a scroll, leaving a long, unsightly streak.
"Tsunade! For heaven's sake—at least knock before you barge in! And what's the meaning of this? You haven't even—"
"Knock? I am knocking—with my damn foot!" Tsunade snarled. Her golden hair fluttered as chakra surged through her, and her eyes burned with fire. "Tell me, old man, is Wood Style so important to Konoha that you had to commit such atrocities to get it?!"
Sarutobi blinked, momentarily stunned. "What… Wood Style? Tsunade, what are you even talking about?"
Tsunade laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Still pretending, are we?" Her voice dropped to a cold, deadly tone. "You expect me to believe you don't know about the Wood Style experiments Danzo and Orochimaru conducted using war orphans?"
The color drained from Hiruzen's face.
"I know about Tenzo," he said weakly. "But I didn't find out until it was too late. That project… it had already been completed by the time I uncovered it."
"Oh really?" Tsunade sneered. "You didn't know Orochimaru and Danzo were conducting human experiments? You didn't know they were using children—orphans whose parents died serving this village?!"
"Tsunade, please…" Hiruzen's voice faltered. "You have to believe me—I truly didn't know Danzo had taken things so far. I knew he was obsessed with the First Hokage's power, but using orphans? Villagers? I would never have approved of that!"
Tsunade's breath came hard and fast. She turned and leaned against the wall, closing her eyes. For all her fury, her voice softened.
"Do you have any idea what it feels like to hear that your grandfather's body was dissected and desecrated to create weapons? That the children of men and women who died for this village were cut open in labs beneath your nose? And all for some idealized dream of rebuilding Konoha with Wood Style?"
She took a shaky breath.
"Do you know what it's like to be part of the Senju and feel ashamed of it?"
Hiruzen's shoulders sagged. "I didn't authorize it. I swear on my name as Hokage. By the time I learned of it, Orochimaru had already fled, and Danzo… he had left no evidence behind."
"That's always the excuse, isn't it?" Tsunade said bitterly. "Danzo does the dirty work, and everyone just shrugs it off. 'No evidence,' 'No direct involvement.' But tell me, old man—those experiments, those facilities, those researchers—they needed funding. Where do you think that money came from?"
That hit its mark.
Hiruzen said nothing. He couldn't. As Hokage, he held ultimate authority over village finances. Though most disbursements were handled by the two elder advisors, major projects required his signature. Even if he hadn't known what the money was for, he had approved it.
He had signed off on those horrors.
Tsunade saw the guilt in his eyes and continued, voice now low and tired. "You say you love Konoha. That you've sacrificed for it. Then why is it always the innocent who pay the price?"
Hiruzen looked down at his hands—once steady, now trembling.
"I... I thought I was doing what was best for the village," he whispered. "But I've made mistakes, Tsunade. So many mistakes."
Tsunade turned away, arms crossed tightly over her chest. "And you still protect Danzo. Even now. He plotted to assassinate the daimyo, for heaven's sake. He's ruined lives. Yet you let him live. Why?"
Before Hiruzen could respond, footsteps echoed down the hall. The door opened again—this time less violently—and in walked Jiraiya, flanked by Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura.
Jiraiya winced at the atmosphere.
"Not the best timing, huh?" he muttered.
Koharu and Homura looked equally uncomfortable. They had come to speak to Tsunade about distancing herself from the Uchiha, but the heavy tension in the room made it clear another matter had taken precedence.
Not far from the Hokage Building, Andrew Uchiha stood atop a roof, arms folded, watching through a chakra-sensing technique.
"So it's reached this point," he murmured. "Tsunade versus the Hokage, with Jiraiya and the elders caught in the middle."
He let out a slow breath.
This scandal, if revealed, could shake Konoha to its core. Public trust in the Hokage's office, already shaky after the Uchiha incident, would collapse completely.
And the ones who would suffer most… were the civilians.
If the truth about Danzo's war orphan experiments spread, no ninja would ever again willingly die for Konoha. After all, what kind of village experiments on the children of its fallen heroes?
Back in the Hokage office, Jiraiya took a step forward. "Tsunade," he said softly, "I didn't keep it from you to protect anyone. I just… I didn't know how you'd react."
"You knew what Orochimaru did. You knew about Danzo's obsessions. And you said nothing."
"I was going to tell you," Jiraiya insisted. "But you've already been through so much, and—"
Tsunade cut him off. "No more excuses."
Koharu cleared her throat, attempting to steer the conversation. "Tsunade, we understand your anger, but please try to remember—the village is delicate right now. A scandal like this could—"
"Collapse it?" Tsunade interrupted, glaring. "Maybe it should. Maybe it needs to fall before it can be rebuilt."
"Tsunade!" Hiruzen snapped. "You don't mean that."
"I don't know what I mean anymore," she replied. "But I know one thing—if you don't deal with Danzo properly, someone else will."
Jiraiya sighed deeply. "She's not wrong. Danzo crossed too many lines. He has to answer for what he's done."
Koharu and Homura exchanged looks. They said nothing, but the tightness in their expressions revealed their inner conflict. They, too, had approved Danzo's requests. Not all, perhaps—but enough.
This burden was shared.
Outside the building, Andrew turned and vanished in a flicker of Flying Thunder God.
He had made up his mind.
The docks needed to be finished.
Once complete, the Uchiha clan could begin moving civilians away from Konoha proper. Away from the fallout of political power struggles. Away from the risk of being used—again.
He couldn't risk everything they'd built on a noble desire to reveal the truth. Not yet.
Not until his people were safe.
"If the truth comes out too soon," he whispered, "it'll be Uchiha blood that spills first."
Inside the Hokage's office, silence fell once more.
Tsunade walked toward the door, her shoulders tense but her voice quiet. "Handle it, old man. Or I swear, I will."
She stepped past Jiraiya without looking back.
And for the first time in years, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt… afraid.
Not of an enemy. Not of war.
But of truth.
Because he knew—deep down—that Tsunade was right.
And some things, no matter how hard he tried, could never be buried forever.
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