As I walked through the corridors of the Root facility, I took the opportunity to check where I had hidden the explosive tags.
To my surprise, some had disappeared, but others hadn't. So, I not only replaced the ones I had removed, but I also took the opportunity to leave some hidden and others in plain sight so that when Danzo searched the place, he would realize there were more tags in places he hadn't noticed, which would only increase his paranoia.
After a fairly uneventful walk, I arrived at the Root headquarters and, in the middle of it all, found Danzo sitting with nothing to greet me.
"What a poor host you are, receiving me like this," he said, staying to create a hand seal and a wooden chair for me to sit in at the other end of the mummy.
Danzo said nothing, just looked at me with a mixture of hatred and resignation.
"Heh, are you still mad that I humiliated you in front of all the jonin in the village when I was, DEMOCRATICALLY, appointed Hokage?" I emphasized the word "democratically" to remind him that everyone elected me, not him of his own volition.
"What do you want?" he asked simply, finally speaking.
"It's good that you're getting to the point; the truth is, I need to use your Root ninjas, since I have a mission to complete and I need people who know how to follow orders without much complaint and don't talk too much. I imagine you understand what I mean?" I suggested, smiling at him conspiratorially.
"You need disposable tools and you come looking for men from my division, how shameless. Why don't you use the men who were under your command? Aren't they trustworthy?" Danzo tried to attack, but I didn't flinch.
"Let me remind you that you are under my command, whether you like it or not, and if that's the case, then your men are under my command as well; at least, that should be the case theoretically. And speaking of your division, I also came to see what relevant work you've done, in the sense that there's anything you've done in these three years to benefit the village and not just you as an individual," I said firmly, placing one foot on the table and leaning back, waiting for Danzo to say something.
Seconds passed, and the silence in the room was both memorable and poignant.
"Oh, Danzo, what great feats you've accomplished for the village and for the good of the people; I should give you a medal of honor and erect a statue in your honor for all you've done for everyone," I mocked after two minutes had passed without Danzo saying a word.
"With the cuts you've made and the complications I've faced, I haven't been able to do much," he tried to justify himself.
"That's no excuse, since I know perfectly well that you're still carrying on your schemes in the shadows; it's not that you haven't been able to do anything, it's just that you're not interested in cooperating with my administration, and I'm making that perfectly clear. I know there's no shortage of money or personnel, since it costs you nothing to look for them outside the village. So let's stop throwing tantrums, is that clear?" he declared, slamming his fist on the table between us, shattering it into three pieces.
Silence continued to reign in the room. Danzo's cultivated eyes stared down as he gripped his cane tightly.
"Look, let me make this perfectly clear, you ungrateful mummy. The reason I haven't destroyed this place is that I believe this entire institution you have is for me to use whenever I want, like in these cases. And as I've said, Root hasn't done anything for the village these past three years. So either you do the task I'm going to give you, or I'll simply destroy this place, kill all the Root ninjas, leave you powerless, both militarily and politically, and seal your chakra. Tell me what you choose," I declared, already somewhat annoyed at having to threaten this old man when he should simply accept my orders without protest.
I saw Danzo biting his lip, unable to bear this perceived injustice against him. Poor thing.
"Understood," the mummy finally said.
"That was hard for you to say; you've been a disobedient puppy, but now you're doing what you should have been doing from the start: wagging your tail and obeying your master's commands," I mocked, rising to stand behind Danzo and placing a hand on each of his shoulders.
"Now, for this mission, I need you to put that seal on your tongue yourself." The moment I said that, Danzo tried to turn around to face me, but realized he couldn't, since I had placed a seal on him the moment I touched him, so he couldn't move. "You know what? You're a hypocrite; you make sure your men can't say anything about the root, but you get away with it. You should set an example for your men and put the 'eradication of cursed tongue' seal on yourself, you two-faced man."
I saw several Root ninjas poised to leap at me, but I simply unleashed a massive burst of chakra that momentarily disoriented them. Wood roots began sprouting from the ground, a clear message that any action would only result in them becoming human kebabs.
I stood before Danzo, looking at him with an air of insignificance.
"I'm surprised you're not molding chakra to do anything; I thought you'd do something stupid and get yourself killed instantly. But I see you're thinking something I've never considered before," he mocked me again, forcing Danzo's mouth open and staring at his tongue, which was completely unsealed. "Do you know why I'm doing this? It's because I don't trust you. You're capable of selling your own mother to get what you want, so I'm going to make sure you never reveal anything about Konoha to any potential Leaf enemy."
"I'm surprised you're not molding chakra to do anything." (Note: Danzo does nothing because he knows he can't defeat her, not even with his entire Root Battalion; his best chance is for Miyu to kill her so he can use Izanagi and escape, hence his inaction.)
...
As I was finishing signing the documents that were supposed to be ready last week, I felt someone knock on the door.
"Come in," I said, still looking at the documents.
At that moment, three individuals appeared before me, kneeling.
"Hokage-sama summoned us," the three ANBU said simultaneously.
This was a rule I stipulated: if anyone wanted to enter the office, they had to knock and wait for my approval; otherwise, they weren't allowed in, and doing so would be considered a spy and possibly eliminated on the spot. It's important to note that it's not necessary to open the door to enter the office; the ANBU have their own methods.
"Inu, Fukurou, Pansā, you've finally arrived," I said, looking at the three young men I planned to take on tomorrow's mission to capture the bijuu. "I imagine Raido must have been busy with some nonsense, as usual; you can remove your masks and sit down."
"This time it wasn't like that. It was Inu's fault; he'd disappeared," Pansā complained, sitting down and removing his mask to reveal himself as Raido Namiashi, my former student from my jonin-sensei days.
Two years ago, I practically forced Raido to join ANBU so he could develop a more distinctive style for high-level missions, but the truth is, I want to train him to be an agent I could trust and call on at any time within the organization—something that has only partially worked.
"No comment," Inu said, removing his mask to reveal a rather listless Kakashi Hatake.
"It's best if we don't fight, especially not in the Hokage-sama's office," Fukurou tried to defuse the situation as he removed his mask, revealing Shusui Uchiha with a natural smile, though a closer look would reveal it to be somewhat forced.
"If you want, you can fight here, but anything you break will be deducted from your pay in equal parts," I remarked, which eased their tensions a bit.
"It won't happen again," they both said simultaneously.
"Well, putting that aside, I called you here because tomorrow we're leaving on an S-rank mission of utmost importance, top secret, ultra-important, and ultraman," I began explaining the situation to the three of them.
"Can you tell me what mission it is?" Kakashi asked.
"No, tomorrow morning, as we move toward the objective, you'll be given instructions on what to do, and that's it," I explained, to which Kakashi simply nodded.
At that moment, Raido raised his hand to ask a question, which I gestured for him to do.
"How much will the job cost?" His question made me raise an eyebrow, and Kakashi and Shisui gave him strange looks.
"Don't tell me you're broke," I asked.
"Well, I was planning to place an order with the Land of Iron to have a custom sword made for me, and to make a high-quality sword, a lot of capital is needed," Raido explained.
"Well, I was going to let each of you choose a jutsu from the seal scroll; this was a reward for putting in all your effort and dedication to complete it, but from what I can see, you need that money, so instead of learning a high-level jutsu, I'll give you the money so you can order the sword you want so badly," I said, making Raido's eyes widen in disbelief.
"Um, uh, Hokage-sama," Raido began.
"Yes?" I asked, seeing his doubts.
"Can I choose the jutsu instead of the money?" he asked uncertainly.
"No, you've already lost that opportunity. Now be a man and accept reality," I declared, causing a dark cloud to appear above him as it rained heavily; his eyes now looked lifeless.
Shusui could only place a hand on my shoulder to comfort him while Kakashi shook his head at his bad luck.
"Well, tomorrow at 6:00 AM we'll meet with two trusted ninjas and the Root ninjas to head out on the mission." At my statement, I saw the three of them tense up.
"Hogake-sama?" Shusui asked.
"Do you have any concerns?" I questioned.
"Perhaps it's not such a good idea to bring the Root ninjas along, knowing we've been monitoring their movements and Danzo's," Shisui stated.
"Don't worry, I already have that traitor Danzo by the throat, so using his men won't be a problem," I said, calming him down a little, but not much. "If that's all, you may leave," I announced, at which point Shusui and a soulless Raido donned their masks and, with a Shunshin, departed, leaving me alone in the room with Kakashi.
"I imagine you have something to tell me if you stayed here, right?" I asked, going back to the paperwork.
I can't believe I can't use Shadow Clones in this situation; it's because of an incident where I overused the technique, causing me to suffer a minor, momentary brain shock.
After being unconscious for an hour, Hiruzen, Tsunade, Junko, Shizune, and a young Yami asked me never to do that again.
That's why I can only use three Shadow Clones at a time now: one for the office, one for clan business, and the last for training to prevent my Sharingan from becoming rusty.
"That's right, Hokage-sama," Kakashi stated.
"I told you several times that you could call me 'auntie' when we were alone," I complained.
"That wouldn't be proper while on duty," the ash-blond man replied.
I just pouted slightly.
"Well, tell me what happened," I instructed.
"Not too long ago, a member of Ne tried to take my Sharingan," Kakashi reported.
"So, what do you want me to do, punish Danzo?" he asked, feigning disinterest, but he knew where this conversation was going.
"Not really, but what I wanted to say is that the individual who tried to attack me could use Wood Release," he concluded.
At that moment, I stopped to stare at Kakashi, who tensed up at my gaze.
"Okay, okay, tell me more, and I'd like to know why you didn't report this immediately and are only doing so now," he said sweetly, but with a hint of murderous intent.
I watched as a tense and sweating Kakashi began to recount everything that had happened while I chuckled to myself.