"Hiruzen… why are you here?"
Danzō admitted he'd been startled. If someone could enter Root's headquarters without a sound, the consequences were unthinkable.
But the moment he saw it was his old friend, his emotions steadied.
He couldn't say he liked Hiruzen—despite having fought as brothers for so many years, and despite the fact that Hiruzen had even forgiven him for attempted assassination.
Still—
Danzō still hadn't become Hokage.
And wasn't that, in the end, his old friend's fault?
Of course, those thoughts stayed in his head. What he was truly curious about was why Hiruzen had come down here in the first place.
"And while my words may have been a bit excessive," Danzō added bluntly, "haven't you handled many matters in a way that clearly shows your weakness?"
"Is that what I came here to talk about?"
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow. He noticed Danzō still refused to address him as Hokage.
But he didn't dwell on it. After all these years, he was used to it.
"You placed that child into ANBU. I won't dig into your motives for the sake of unity—Root is, after all, a training base for ANBU."
Are you pretending not to know… or do you genuinely not want to know?
Danzō nearly said it out loud.
But reason stopped him. It wasn't worth provoking him over something so minor.
"However…"
Hiruzen paused, then continued in a colder voice.
"Didn't we reach an agreement? You would not interfere with Naruto's affairs.
So why have you gone back on your word and had that child approach him? Don't you think you've gone too far?"
…What?
Approach Naruto Uzumaki?
Danzō's mind buzzed. For a moment he didn't understand—
Then realization hit.
Ren.
That brat had made contact with Naruto?
But Danzō hadn't arranged that. And strictly speaking, Ren shouldn't even know what Naruto truly was.
"I—"
Danzō started to explain, then stopped.
Because he didn't need to explain.
He had always wanted the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki brought into Root. In his view, something so dangerous belonged under Root's control.
The Nine-Tails' night had cost Konoha the Fourth Hokage and countless elite shinobi—dragging the village into internal instability and external threats.
If the Fourth hadn't sealed the Nine-Tails, and it had escaped entirely, Konoha's situation would be even worse.
But Hiruzen had never agreed.
After countless "deep and enlightening discussions," they had settled on adopting methods used by other villages.
Methods that, inevitably, created Naruto's miserable childhood.
A jinchūriki had to become accustomed to suffering—stay calm, resist the beast's temptation, never lose control.
But that darkness couldn't continue forever. If the jinchūriki broke, the consequences were unacceptable.
So Hiruzen would occasionally appear at key moments—like a torch—steadying Naruto's resolve, offering warmth and comfort, and perhaps easing the guilt of the path he'd chosen.
Still, Danzō had never abandoned the idea.
He simply hadn't found an opening.
Ren didn't know Naruto's identity. Whatever his reason for doing it, this was an unexpected—and potentially valuable—chance.
"The Nine-Tails' jinchūriki needs stricter control," Danzō said at once, deciding to "take responsibility" proactively while also planning to investigate what had really happened.
"You've had ANBU monitoring him, but I don't believe they're more professional than Root."
"As expected… you still haven't given up."
Hiruzen frowned, cursing inwardly.
Professional?
Root's specialty isn't 'professional monitoring'—it's murder and theft.
After thinking for a moment, he tried to speak in a guiding tone.
"You know what Naruto is. Making him endure that kind of suffering is already excessive. I—"
"Hmph! You really are soft, Hiruzen!"
Danzō cut him off hard.
"I know exactly who he is. But don't forget—this was the Fourth Hokage's choice!"
"The Fourth already paid too much," Hiruzen said quietly, still trying to keep his patience. "And I've always felt it isn't fair to a child—"
"So that's why you're weak," Danzō snapped.
"Have you forgotten how cruel war truly is? Have you forgotten what it means for a village to lack a qualified jinchūriki?
Compared to the children driven from their homes—or killed in war—Naruto Uzumaki living safely in Konoha is already a kind of fortune!"
"Enough!"
Hiruzen couldn't listen anymore.
Even though he had to admit Danzō wasn't entirely wrong—
The shinobi world was brutal. When war came, age didn't matter. If you were a shinobi, you were a soldier. A tool.
That was exactly why, during the Third Shinobi World War, he had allowed barely-graduated children to be sent to the front lines.
Compared to that era… Naruto's life really was "better."
But—
He would not yield on this issue.
"Don't bring this up again," Hiruzen said coldly, staring at Danzō.
"I won't change my stance. Naruto has already suffered enough. He cannot—and will not—enter Root."
"Know your limits, Danzō."
"Hmph."
Danzō grunted, forcing his temper down.
To be honest, even he felt uneasy about "taking the blame" too boldly—after all, he truly had tried to assassinate Hiruzen once, and had been caught.
Pushing too far could be dangerous.
But for the sake of his dreams… Danzō endured it.
His dreams were simple.
First: become Hokage.
He had been one step too slow back then, and the dream still hadn't come true.
Second: unify the shinobi world. The world needed only one voice—Konoha's.
And within Konoha, only his voice was necessary.
He understood Hiruzen as well.
For the sake of unity, Hiruzen sometimes compromised.
"However…"
Just as expected, Hiruzen spoke again.
"Perhaps you're right. Root does have certain advantages in some areas."
He paused.
"But this matter… I need to think carefully."
"Hmph. Understood."
Danzō looked displeased on the surface.
Inside, he was satisfied.
His old friend was still soft—and still concerned with the bigger picture.
That meant Danzō could move more freely.
He would uncover the full details of Ren's contact with Naruto. If there was no problem—
Then it became a breakthrough.
"Besides," Danzō thought darkly,
"that brat has my cursed seal. He'll never escape Root for the rest of his life."
Hiruzen calmly nodded.
"Good. As long as you understand."
He could tell exactly what Danzō was thinking.
But Ren had entered ANBU now—he was no longer someone Danzō could control at will.
Root was defined as ANBU's training foundation, and Hiruzen believed he could correct certain extreme ideas in time.
At that moment, both men—without realizing it—shared the same thought.
That's my man.
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