Life in Konoha worked like this: as long as the jonin completed their missions, that was enough. But for us students at the Academy… there was a lot more to worry about.
"Did I press too hard, Mitsuki?" Rin's gentle voice came from just behind him.
"No, it's perfect." Mitsuki sat relaxed at his desk, enjoying Rin's shoulder massage before class started.
After spending the whole day yesterday playing ninja games, now he had to endure another boring morning at school.
At that moment, Kurenai and Anko strolled into the classroom, laughing and chatting.The moment Anko spotted Rin, she strode up with a skewer of dango in hand like she was holding a kunai, her eyes sharp.
"Don't spoil Mitsuki so much! If you two get married one day, Rin, you'll be under his thumb your whole life!"
"M-M-Married? (〃°ω°〃) Me and Mitsuki?!"
"Yeah! You said it yourself on your first day: 'I'm Shimizu—mmph!'"
Flushed red, Rin hurriedly covered Anko's mouth, but ended up getting dango sauce all over her hands.
"You two, act like proper ladies…" Kurenai stepped between them, trying to calm things down.
"Anko, didn't you say you couldn't hear my self-introduction clearly?"
"Pff, if I hadn't heard it, how could I tell you I didn't hear it?"
"…"
Mitsuki tuned them out, letting the girls bicker in the background as he activated his Six Eyes. His focus turned toward the Hokage Residence.
Ever since gaining the Six Eyes, nothing in Konoha could be kept secret from him anymore. He even knew how many times Danzo used the bathroom in the Root's underground base each day.
Unfortunately, most of the Root's intel was encrypted. Without seeing their codebook, even Mitsuki couldn't decipher what Root had been up to lately.
Luckily, he'd asked Sakumo yesterday when he planned to submit his resignation to the Third Hokage.
A big event like Sakumo leaving the ninja corps? No way was Mitsuki going to miss that!
Let's go. Show me something good!
Meanwhile…
Sakumo was a man of action.The very next day, he walked straight to the Hokage Residence with his resignation letter in hand.
In Konoha, shinobi typically retired only due to serious injuries during missions or circumstances that made continuing as a ninja impossible.
Voluntary resignations were rare — usually only low-level shinobi who feared war took that route.
Inside the Hokage's office.
An ANBU appeared in a flicker."Hokage-sama, Hatake Sakumo requests an audience."
In times of war, seeing the Hokage required ANBU clearance.
Hiruzen was reviewing mission scrolls. "Let him in."
"Yes, sir."
Sakumo stepped up to the office door and knocked.
"Come in."
"Sakumo, huh? I know some people in the village have been saying awful things about you lately… try not to let it get to you."
Truth be told, Sarutobi hadn't planned on doing anything to punish Sakumo for the failed mission.
War was already taking up enough of his attention — he had no interest in sparking internal conflict.
But sure enough, someone did. His dear old teammate Danzo had leaked the details about Sakumo abandoning the mission.
Now that the news was out, there wasn't much Hiruzen could do to control it. After all, Sakumo had failed a mission, and the village had suffered losses.The fact that he hadn't punished Sakumo at all was already the limit of what Hiruzen could do.
If he'd tried to cover it up, he'd likely be scolded just as harshly as Sakumo.
Even a Hokage had to worry about his public image.
Politically savvy as ever, Hiruzen understood Danzo's move perfectly — he knew who would benefit the most from it.
He had once considered Orochimaru a strong contender for the next Hokage. But lately, Orochimaru had been growing too close to Danzo. That troubled him.
Sakumo, of course, was unaware of all this political scheming. He was here for one thing and one thing only:
To resign.
"Hokage-sama, I know the mission failure caused great harm to the village. I take full responsibility."
"No one succeeds every time. As Hokage, I share some of that burden too."
"You don't need to comfort me. This incident made it clear to me — I'm no longer fit to be a shinobi. Here's my resignation letter."
Sakumo bowed deeply as he handed over the document.
"Hmm… that's perfect, because I was just thinking — W-Wait, what?! Resignation?!" Sarutobi stood up from his chair in shock.
Mitsuki, watching from afar through his Six Eyes, was absolutely loving the drama.
Especially the part where, after Sakumo left, Sarutobi slammed his fist on the desk and yelled:
"Someone get Danzo in here! NOW!"
Now Sarutobi was furious.The warfront was already a mess, and now his supposed ally was causing problems back home?
He missed the days when Tobirama was still around. How had he not noticed before that Danzo could be so reckless?
"Is Danzo here yet?"
"I'm right here, Hiruzen. What do you need?"
Danzo hobbled into the office on his cane. As the Hokage's advisor, he didn't need to be announced — especially not when the Hokage had summoned him personally.
"Take a look" Sarutobi tossed Sakumo's resignation letter across the desk.
Danzo's eyes narrowed as he read it. He clearly realized he'd overstepped, but as expected, he wasn't about to admit fault — especially not to Hiruzen.
The room fell silent. Neither man said a word. They just stared at each other.
From afar, Mitsuki watched the whole silent standoff with growing impatience.
"Come on, are you two acting in a drama now?! Say something already!"
Eventually, Danzo broke the silence.
"You approved it?"
Sarutobi puffed on his pipe.
"What choice did I have? You're the one who leaked the mission details. On what grounds could I possibly reject Sakumo's resignation?"
"You're too soft, Hiruzen."
"And you went too far, Danzo."
Neither man backed down.
"Everything I did was for the good of the village!" Danzo shot back.
"Oh really? Looked more like it was all for Orochimaru."
"Hiruzen, are you serious right now?!"
Their argument escalated — but ironically, the more they shouted, the more Sarutobi began to calm down.
There was no point in tossing blame back and forth anymore. What mattered now was deciding what to do next.
At that moment, Koharu and Homura entered the room uninvited. As Konoha elders, they didn't need permission from ANBU to walk in.
Sarutobi looked at them and instantly understood: They were here as Danzo's reinforcements.
"Hiruzen, Danzo may have made a mistake" Koharu began, "but right now, the front lines are what matter most."
"That's right" Homura added. "Without Danzo's Root, the situation will only get worse. Whatever happened can wait until after the war."
Sarutobi stared at the two of them, speechless.You don't even know what happened, and you're already defending him?
Sitting back down, Sarutobi muttered silently to himself:
"…Tobirama-sensei, please save us."