Hiruzen's thoughts raced a hundred miles an hour after that.
'I need to get this information to the main body before he meets with Danzo…'
'Since it might also be possible that Hiruko is working with Danzo to replicate Orochimaru's experiments…'
'If that's the case then I need to tread carefully… if possible I must lay a deep enough trap that I can catch both Hiruko and Danzo in the act.'
'If I can coordinate with the Uchiha in recovering the kidnapped children, perhaps the perception of the Uchiha in the village can be improved… and if that happens maybe the relations between the village and the Uchiha can be improved…'
Hiruzen looked at Haruto's innocent wide eyed look and sighed slightly.
"Haruto-kun… hang on for me here… I just remembered an urgent task that needs my attention. Until I return, why don't you practice with my clone if that's alright with you?"
Haruto nodded, tightening the grip on the scrolls he'd just pulled out.
'It seems things are moving faster than I calculated… otherwise Hiruzen wouldn't be in such a hurry.'
Hiruzen formed the shadow clone hand signs and created a new clone that looked like Kakashi before using the body flicker jutsu and vanishing from the spot. Curiously for Haruto, Hiruzen's body flicker jutsu didn't leave behind any leaves for him to pick.
And after the Hiruzen clone went out of sight, the first thing it did was dispel itself to transmit the information it had learnt back to the main body.
***
Hiruzen froze mid step on his way to the ROOT headquarters as new information filled his mind.
'Hmmm…'
'Troublesome…'
Compared to his clone, Hiruzen was much more composed with the information he had gotten.
'It is good to give credit to the Uchiha… but will they agree to risk one of their own in a case like this?'
'Also… Danzo will get suspicious if I don't visit him now that I have sent him a visitation notice…'
'Hmm… I can visit him for the Wood Release kid who Kakashi noticed… but without proof he'll just deny having anyone like that in ROOT.'
'I should try anyway… keeping a child in the dark is not the will of fire Sensei taught to us.'
With that decided, Hiruzen began walking towards the ROOT headquarters once again. And in a few minutes when he reached the village border where the ROOT headquarters was located, Hiruzen breathed a sigh of relief looking at the underground bunker sort of structure in front of him.
'At least he didn't try to stop me from entering this time…'
As soon as Hiruzen came in view of the guards in front of the bunker, they stiffened. They bowed minimally in greeting before continuing to stand guard in front of the gates of the bunker.
Sigh. 'ROOT is still the same as it was before… they have only a shallow understanding of the Will of Fire…'
Hiruzen followed through the dimly lit tunnels without company from the ROOT shinobi, walking through only with his hidden ANBU who were quietly tailing beside him.
Having been to ROOT before and being familiar with its layout, Hiruzen didn't have any trouble navigating the densely packed corridors.
"Hiruzen…" A harsh voice greeted Hiruzen when he opened the door to a dark office.
Hiruzen stepped inside, his ANBU followers waiting outside the office, as he quietly took a seat opposite to Danzo's desk.
"It has been a while since I've been here Danzo…" Hiruzen mumbled just loud enough for Danzo to hear.
"And?" Danzo asked, half looking irritated that he had to entertain Hiruzen, half angry because he knew that Hiruzen had come here for something. It was just that he didn't know which one of his crimes had been unearthed for it to warrant this visit.
'Is it the time I blackmailed the Daimyo to send Hiruzen out of the village for a while to embezzle some funds from the ANBU for the ROOT?'
'Or is it about the time I provoked a conflict between Jiraya's students and Hanzo…'
Hiruzen's next words however shut Danzo up momentarily.
"Danzo… I heard about the kids…"
Danzo's eyes narrowed momentarily as he planned out what he would do to escape this line of questioning.
"Awfully late for you to realise that my sons died… coming after they've already been buried." Danzo suddenly said, almost growling.
Hiruzen's eyes widened.
'Danzo's sons died!? How!? When!? Why wasn't I informed of this!?'
"You're here for that… aren't you? To give your condolences?" Danzo said with a tone dripping with challenge.
And what was Hiruzen to even say at this point?
'Can I even say no?'
So Hiruzen tried to please his long time friend as a pinch of sympathy polluted his vision.
"I did come here to offer my condolences Danzo… but I'm also here to give you my support… tell me… is there anything I can do for you to make up for this loss?"
Danzo internally smirked before speaking emotionally.
"The reason my two worlds died is because the ROOT shinobi don't have adequate training funds… there are more ROOT shinobi out there currently on missions that would appreciate it a lot if they had someone looking out for them… would you look out for them, Hiruzen?"
Hiruzen readily nodded while standing up quickly to leave the place.
"Just send me the bill Danzo… I'll make sure it is passed through to the finance department."
"Thank you Hiruzen… my sons will really appreciate this…" Danzo said softly, as if a big pain that had been weighing him down was only now released.
"Of course, Danzo, anything for my old friend." Hiruzen said and stood up from his chair. It all but seemed that Hiruzen was about to leave the room with Danzo victorious.
Only, Hiruzen slammed the table with his fist.
"HIRUZEN!!!" Danzo shouted, seeing several papers go flying into the air as the table was destroyed.
As the papers cleared from the air, Danzo finally saw Hiruzen's angered look.
"What about those parents whose children you took away, Danzo!?" Hiruzen asked in a bone chilling tone.
Danzo involuntarily shivered before composing himself and speaking in the same tone as before knowing that his plan had failed.
"And? Do you have any proof Hiruzen? Or are you trying to blame a grieving father on purpose?"
"Grieving father!? Danzo you came to my office this month arguing about letting you investigate the Uchiha so eagerly that had it not been for me seeing you today I would've thought you were eagerly enjoying life with an Uchiha in secret!" Hiruzen shouted.
"Blasphemy!!!" Danzo shouted back. "You of all people know this Hiruzen that I am devoted to the village! Everything I do is for the village!! It is for the Will of Fire that Tobirama-sama taught the both of us!! It is against the inherently evil Uchiha!!"
"Danzo!! I'm warning you!! Give me back the children you kidnapped! Or you'll see my worst side!!"
"I didn't kidnap anyone Hiruzen! You are blaming me for no reason!" Danzo said so aggressively that Hiruzen even believed him for a second, but only for a second since there was no one else in the village who could conduct such a kidnapping operation.
"Danzo!!!"
"Hiruzen!!!"
"Danzo!!!"
"Hiruzen!!!"
The atmosphere between the two turned heated, with Danzo gripping his chair so tightly that Hiruzen could hear the wood groaning. That was when Hiruzen decided to flip the script.
"Danzo!!! Either give me the children you kidnapped or give me the child with the wood release you have stowed away from your experiments!!"
Danzo's eyes widened, "How did you fi-?" Danzo slipped up, he caught his tongue at the end but it was too late.
Hiruzen smirked.
"I want that child in my office by tomorrow morning. If you don't send him to me by then, forget about running ROOT again… it will be disbanded and this time for good."
"Hiruzen! You'll regret this."
"Danzo! I am the Hokage!"
With those words Hiruzen left the room by slamming the door, walking back to the village with his ANBU squad and taking his seat at the Hokage's chair in his office to resume his duties silently while reveling in his minor victory.
***