"Hokage-sama, if there's nothing else, I'll get back to work."
Takuno looked at Minato's retreating figure and could sense the anger within him, feeling a slight sigh of emotion.
Perhaps in his previous life, few had seen Minato so furious; even during the Nine-Tails Attack, Minato mostly displayed calmness and composure—
"Wait a moment, Senpai," Minato suddenly said.
Takuno paused, then quietly waited for instructions.
Minato turned around and took out more than a dozen special ninja tools from his desk, handing them to Takuno.
"These are..." Takuno looked at the specially made Kunai in his hand, especially the "Sword of Ninja Love" engraved on the top, his pupils contracting.
"Yes, these are the special Kunai I use for my Flying Thunder God Technique. Please distribute these to the people below. If anyone is found spreading information, immediately release a signal flare, and I will rush to their location to provide support," Minato said, a cold smile appearing on his face.
"I understand," Takuno nodded, a little surprised.
Back then, when Minato was a sensei, he only gave Kakashi one special Kunai, right?
Now he directly gave out over a dozen. Of course, these Kunai would be collected after this incident, but it showed how much importance Minato placed on the matter.
To ensure success, he was even going to take action himself.
After speaking, Takuno left directly. He needed to inform the Squad Leaders to come and collect the ninja tools and to instruct them on what to do after finding the targets.
In the evening, after Takuno had distributed the special ninja tools marked with the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Takuno raised an eyebrow, looking at a bright signal flare in Konoha. Had they found the target so quickly?
After thinking for a moment, he also headed towards the direction of the signal flare.
When he arrived, he already saw Minato standing there, while the nearby Anbu were holding two ninjas who had lost the ability to resist.
"Hawk, you've arrived too," Minato said, noticing Takuno.
"Hokage-sama's speed is truly incredible." Takuno had rushed as fast as he could, but by the time he arrived, Minato had already apprehended the targets, probably not even giving them time to commit suicide.
Minato chuckled, then asked, "Can we identify the person behind them through their identities?"
Takuno said nothing, walking up to the two ninjas who were still glaring angrily, and extended his hand.
The two men opened their mouths as if uncontrolled, sticking out their tongues.
Minato now also saw the Sealing Jutsu on their tongues.
"Is this the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal?" Minato's pupils constricted. With such a curse mark, their identities could naturally be proven.
Because this Sealing Jutsu was a mandatory Sealing Jutsu only still used by Root.
It really is Danzo, isn't it?
Takuno looked at the two men, a little surprised. He had thought that Root members would have some way to commit suicide even if caught, but it seemed they didn't.
However, thinking about it, Root's appearances were not many, but judging from the performances of 'Kinoe', Yamanaka Fū, Aburame Torune, and Sai, they indeed didn't prepare many suicide methods.
Perhaps they thought that with the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal already in place, preventing them from revealing information about Konoha, even if they were captured, nothing would be exposed, so they relaxed their vigilance in this regard.
Unfortunately, for external enemies, the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal was indeed sufficient.
But what they were investigating now was whether these two belonged to Root, and the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal just happened to become irrefutable proof!
"Hawk, have the other investigations been completed?" Minato asked, closing his eyes.
"The investigation scope is over 90%, and it can be basically confirmed that Root did not mobilize at all during the Nine-Tails Attack, hunkering down in the Root base," Takuno replied.
"That's enough," Minato opened his eyes, looking at the Anbu there, a resolute look in his eyes.
"You two, bring these two to the Hokage Office. Everyone else, immediately go notify all Jonin-level ninjas to come to the Hokage Building for a meeting, including the Third Hokage, the two Advisors, and Danzo."
Takuno was stunned by this. Minato's sudden swiftness surprised him; it was so direct and so fast!
It was already evening; was he not even waiting until tomorrow?
"Hawk, come back with me. There's something specific I need you to do," Minato said, his hand already touching Takuno's shoulder.
The next moment, Minato and Takuno disappeared from everyone's sight, it was the Flying Thunder God Technique.
The Anbu members exchanged glances. They could sense that the structure of the Anbu might be changing.
At the same time, their eyes were filled with excitement.
Because no Anbu could possibly like Root.
What does it mean to be the 'Anbu of the Anbu'? Why did Root, ostensibly part of the Anbu, not fall under their control at all, as if it were an independent unit?
They all worked in the shadows, so why were they so special?
Therefore, seeing Root in trouble, not a single one of them felt sad for the other party; they were all stirring with anticipation and schadenfreude.
The Anbu also understood their comrades' thoughts, chuckled, and then began to notify all the important figures about the Fourth Hokage's emergency meeting.
Inside the Hokage Office.
"Hokage-sama, is there anything else?" Takuno asked.
"Senpai, I need you to take people to Root to handle some matters," Minato said.
Takuno looked at Minato. This time, he was truly enraged to the extreme, pursuing the matter so relentlessly, having already made a decision before the meeting even began.
It could be said that for the upcoming meeting, Minato was merely informing them, not consulting with them.
Takuno sighed a little and asked, "My subordinates aren't here right now, and they're not suitable for this kind of thing, are they?"
"Of course not them, but other Anbu. They are currently in the village," Minato replied, his eyes flashing with coldness. "Senpai, you will lead three other departments to raid Root and make sure to find more incriminating evidence."
Minato said that after he became Hokage, although he couldn't directly move Danzo, he could still glimpse a corner of the iceberg of his past actions from the pile of documents. So, he didn't believe there was absolutely no incriminating evidence in his base.
Even if there really wasn't any, what they had now was enough to bring him down. What they were doing now was to see what extent of crime they could pin on him.
"Hokage-sama, what if the Root ninjas resist?" Takuno asked. This was a very possible scenario.
Minato paused, closing his eyes as if hesitating, but quickly opened them and said, "Permission to kill on sight!"
"Yes!" Takuno replied, a smirk forming under his mask.
Now, even if the Root ninjas didn't resist, he would make them resist!
At this point, Minato also wrote a written order and stamped it with the Hokage's seal, handing it to Takuno. He hoped that the Root ninjas would be more cooperative after seeing this.
Takuno turned to leave for the Anbu base. At this moment, Minato suddenly thought of something and said, "Senpai, leave a Shadow Clone to attend the meeting."
"Alright."
After speaking, Takuno left, while also sending a Shadow Clone back to the Sealing Team to wait for the Anbu's notification to attend the meeting.
Minato stood by the window, looking at everything in Konoha.
At this moment, he felt a bit of fear.
If he hadn't asked Takuno to investigate Root's movements during the Nine-Tails Attack, he wouldn't have learned so quickly about the rumors they were spreading.
And if these rumors spread, not to mention their impact on him, their impact on Kushina and young Naruto would definitely be huge; they might even live under the villagers' scrutiny thereafter.
This was something he absolutely could not accept. He had to nip such rumors in the bud and give Danzo, who spread these rumors, the necessary punishment!
The Jonin of Konoha gradually arrived at the meeting room in the Hokage Building.
It had been a long time since the Hokage had directly used the Anbu to notify them of an emergency meeting. Now, they wondered what had happened again.
Had another country attacked? But they hadn't received any news in that regard.
As they whispered and speculated, the Third Hokage and the two Advisors also walked in.
Their arrival didn't surprise the Jonin, but the person who walked in after them made everyone pause.
It was Danzo?!
Had he also been invited to this emergency meeting?
It was well known that he usually didn't attend regular meetings.
After Danzo walked in, he first looked around, his gaze finally falling on Takuno sitting in the corner, and he couldn't help but let out a cold snort. However, in such an environment, he obviously couldn't say much and walked to the front seat and sat down.
The Third Hokage looked around at this moment. Minato had not yet arrived.
He was also a bit puzzled, not understanding what could be important enough for Minato to make such a big fuss. He hadn't received any prior notice either.
It could be said that, except for the Jonin still on missions outside, everyone was basically here.
Of course, one Jonin had to be excluded from this, and that was Orochimaru. After the Fourth Hokage took office, he rarely emerged from his laboratory.
The Third Hokage didn't force him to come either, after all, letting him indulge in research was better than him causing trouble for Minato everywhere, right?
Perhaps there was some sudden situation?
The Third Hokage thought so.
Among everyone present, perhaps only Takuno's Shadow Clone knew what was about to happen next, and he couldn't help but feel a little anticipation.
At this moment, Minato finally walked in, wearing his Hokage cloak with "Fourth Hokage" inscribed on it.
After Minato sat in the front seat, he looked at the faces around him, and after confirming that most of the ninjas had arrived, he spoke.
"Thank you all for taking the time out of your busy schedules to attend this meeting. Let's get straight to the point of this meeting."
Minato said, his eyes flashing.
"Is there still a need for Root to exist in Konoha!"
As Minato's words fell, the entire room suddenly fell silent. They couldn't help but look at Danzo on the other side.
Especially Uchiha Fugaku, whose eyes lit up after Minato's words!