The warm, golden light of the Hokage's office was a beacon against the deepening twilight. Below, the village of Konoha began to glitter, a sprawling constellation of life and light. Inside, the air smelled of old paper and Hiruzen Sarutobi's sweet pipe tobacco. The retired Third Hokage sat in a comfortable chair, a thin stream of smoke curling towards the ceiling, watching his successor work.
Minato Namikaze's pen scratched across a document, his movements economical and efficient. Even buried in paperwork, the Fourth Hokage possessed an aura of calm competence.
"The reports from the border patrols are stable," Minato said, not looking up. "The peace treaty with Iwa seems to be holding strong. For now."
"Peace is a garden, Minato," Hiruzen said sagely, tapping his pipe against an ashtray. "It must be tended constantly, lest the weeds of old hatreds take root again."
A firm knock at the door interrupted them. "Enter," Minato called out.
Daikoku Funeno stepped inside, his large frame seeming to fill the doorway. He bowed deeply, his face a mask of grim duty. "Lord Hokage, Lord Third. I apologize for the interruption."
Minato leaned back, his expression shifting from that of a bureaucrat to a leader. "Daikoku-sensei. You look troubled. Please, report."
Daikoku stood straight, his hands clasped behind his back. "It concerns four students from my class. Class A. Itachi Uchiha, Hana Inuzuka, Izumi Uchiha, and Ryu Haruno." He took a breath. "I have discovered that for the past five months, they have been using the Shadow Clone Jutsu to attend the Academy in their stead, while their real selves have been engaged in unsanctioned training."
The silence that followed was profound. Hiruzen slowly took the pipe from his mouth, his brow furrowed in deep thought. Minato's ever-present smile didn't falter, but his blue eyes sharpened, a focused intensity entering his gaze. He wasn't angry; he was intrigued.
"Five months," Minato mused, a hint of disbelief in his tone. "To maintain a forbidden jutsu daily for five months, and to fool the entire Academy staff… the chakra control and reserves required would be immense for a child."
"Indeed," Hiruzen added, a slow smile spreading across his own face. "Four of them, you say? Itachi Uchiha is a prodigy, that is known. The Inuzuka heiress has her clan's vitality. But the Haruno boy… a civilian-born child, keeping pace with them? To not only match an Uchiha but to conspire with him in such a bold deception… Remarkable."
Daikoku shifted uncomfortably. "They have been dealt with, my lords. I have summoned their parents for a conference tomorrow morning."
Minato raised a hand, his expression thoughtful. "Punishment is not the goal here, Daikoku-sensei. Development is. We have been handed four shinobi who are clearly operating on a Jonin-level of initiative and talent, albeit with a Genin-level of respect for the rules." He leaned forward, his mind working with its customary speed. "This is what we will do. They will attend your class, in person, for one month. No clones, no exceptions. I want them to experience the fundamentals they have so arrogantly skipped."
He paused, his gaze meeting Hiruzen's, who nodded in understanding. "At the end of that month," Minato continued, "you will conduct a special graduation examination, just for the four of them. If they pass, we will graduate them. We can slowly ease them into D-rank missions as a four-man cell under a trusted Jonin instructor. To leave them in the Academy would be to cage eagles. We must let them fly, but guide their path."
Daikoku was taken aback by the sheer pragmatism of the plan. It was an elegant solution, one that nurtured their immense talent rather than stifling it. "I understand, Lord Hokage. It will be done." He bowed once more and made his way out, a heavy weight lifted from his shoulders.
Once the door was closed, Hiruzen chuckled, a deep, rumbling sound. "You see the village as a weapon to be sharpened, Minato. It is one of your greatest strengths." He stood, stretching his old bones. "I am very interested in this new generation. This Haruno boy in particular." He looked at Minato, a curious glint in his old eyes. "I believe I will attend this parent-teacher conference tomorrow. I would like to meet him."
Deep beneath the village, in a place untouched by sun or warmth, the silence was absolute. It was a dead, sterile quiet, the kind that presses in on the eardrums. And then, the silence was shattered.
A laugh.
It was not a sound of joy or humor. It was a grating, unhinged cackle that scraped against the stone walls, a dry, rattling sound like bones grinding together. Danzo Shimura sat alone in his chamber, his head thrown back, his one visible eye wide with a manic, furious light.
He had been duped. For five months, his elite Root operative, his silent, unseen ghost, had been diligently tracking a puppet. A lump of chakra. He, Danzo Shimura, the Master of Secrets, the Darkness of the Shinobi World, had been made a fool of by a five-year-old boy with pink hair. The sheer, breathtaking audacity of it was what broke his composure.
His laughter died as quickly as it had begun, replaced by a wave of cold, murderous rage. His hand clenched into a fist on the desk, the knuckles white. I could have him killed for this, the thought came, sharp and venomous. A single order, and the boy would cease to be. A lesson in disrespect.
But the thought was just as quickly smothered, crushed under the cold, heavy weight of his ambition. The rage receded, leaving only icy calculation in its wake.
No, he thought, his breathing returning to its steady, controlled rhythm. To kill him would be to break the most valuable tool I have ever found.
He looked down at the file on his desk, at Ryu Haruno's smiling Academy picture. The boy wasn't just a prodigy with rare power. He was a natural. He understood deception. He understood the value of a mask. He thought like a Root shinobi without ever having been taught. Danzo's rage curdled into a possessive, predatory obsession. The boy hadn't just disrespected him; he had proven his own worth beyond a shadow of a doubt.
He will be mine, Danzo vowed in the echoing silence of his tomb. He thinks he is playing a game with the foolish Hokage, but he is already in my web. And soon, he will learn what it truly means to serve the Leaf from the shadows. He will be my finest instrument.