The night was deep, and only scattered lights dotted Konoha.
After Sakumo and Chiya led their teams back to the village, they immediately brought the rescued children to the Konoha Hospital.
Tsunade had received word and was waiting at the entrance with the entire Medical Corps.
When she saw those children, covered in wounds and barely alive, her expression instantly darkened like still water.
"These animals..."
She cursed under her breath and immediately directed the medical ninja to begin treatment.
Sakumo did not linger. He turned to Chiya and said.
"I am going to see the Hokage."
Chiya nodded, but seeing the icy expression on Sakumo's face at that moment, he could not help but warn him.
"Be careful, and remember to keep your emotions in check."
Sakumo did not respond. He took several elite Anbu members and went straight to the Hokage Building.
Watching Sakumo's departing figure, Chiya's brow furrowed slightly.
'His state of mind right now does not seem good at all.'
Inside the Hokage's office.
Hiruzen was seated at his desk reviewing documents. Smoke drifted lazily from his pipe.
Beside him, Koharu was speaking about the recent progress in training medical ninja.
The door was shoved open with force. Sakumo strode in, his expression hard and cold.
"Hokage-sama."
His voice was low and tightly restrained.
Hiruzen looked up, a gentle smile rising on his face.
"Sakumo, did the mission go smoothly?"
Sakumo ignored his pleasantries and said directly.
"We found evidence of human experimentation in an underground warehouse at the border. Children were being used as test subjects. Severed limbs were scattered everywhere."
Hiruzen's smile stiffened for just a moment, but he quickly composed himself.
"This... is truly heartbreaking."
"Heartbreaking?"
Sakumo's voice rose several degrees.
"Hokage-sama, those were children. The youngest was no more than three years old."
"I suspect the child disappearance cases the Uchiha Security Force investigated last time and what happened tonight are the work of the same person."
Koharu's brow creased. She cut in with a sharp voice.
"Hatake Sakumo, watch your attitude."
Sakumo turned to look at her, his eyes sharp.
"My attitude? Are the lives of those children not worth a certain attitude?"
Hiruzen raised a hand to signal Koharu to calm down, then let out a long sigh.
"Sakumo, I understand your anger, but things must be investigated properly."
"Investigated?"
Sakumo gave a cold laugh.
"Those experimental facilities were clearly in long-term operation. And we found items belonging to Root."
"This was clearly done by Root operatives."
The atmosphere in the office froze in an instant.
Hiruzen's eyes darkened for a brief moment, then settled back into calm.
He slowly rose from his seat, walked to the window, and turned his back to the room.
"Root..."
He murmured softly, as if weighing something in his mind.
Koharu saw this and immediately spoke.
"Hiruzen, Root is currently managed by Homura. He would never allow something like this. There must be some misunderstanding here..."
Sakumo pushed back directly.
"A misunderstanding? Then who conducted those experiments?"
"And who brought those children there? If..."
Hiruzen finally turned around. The smile on his face had vanished entirely, replaced by a deep, cold stillness.
"Sakumo, are you questioning our decisions?"
Sakumo was briefly taken aback, but he quickly stood firm.
"I only want to know the truth, and to see those responsible receive the punishment they deserve."
Hiruzen held his gaze for a few seconds, then suddenly let out a sigh, his tone softening.
"You are right. Something like this cannot be tolerated."
"Children are the hope of Konoha, the inheritors of the Will of Fire."
He walked back to his desk, placed both hands on the surface, and spoke in a grave voice.
"From today, Root will undergo a full reorganization. All experimental projects are suspended and the Anbu will oversee them."
Sakumo's brow creased slightly.
"Just a reorganization?"
Hiruzen's gaze turned toward him.
"That is not all. I will personally investigate this matter and give everyone an answer."
Sakumo was silent for a moment, then finally nodded.
"I hope Hokage-sama means what he says."
Hiruzen smiled faintly.
"Of course."
After Sakumo left, the atmosphere in the office turned ice-cold in an instant.
Koharu could not hold back.
"Hiruzen, Sakumo's attitude today was completely out of line."
Hiruzen relit his pipe and drew a long breath.
"He is too upright. So upright that he does not understand politics."
"Have Homura come here."
The Anbu at the door bowed and vanished swiftly into the night.
Before long, Homura came hurrying over.
"Hiruzen, what has happened?"
A flicker of confusion crossed Homura's eyes.
Homura was the nominal head of Root, a title he held in name. He had been called over in the middle of the night and could not make heads or tails of the situation.
"Tonight, the Anbu and the Uchiha operatives conducted a joint mission to the border. They located a laboratory. Inside were trafficked children subjected to all manner of horrifying experiments."
Homura listened carefully.
Hiruzen paused, his gaze carrying an unspoken weight.
"What Hiruzen means is..."
"Homura, effective today, you are relieved of your position as head of Root."
Hiruzen said evenly.
Homura's expression changed immediately.
He had only been head of Root for a short time. He had not even gotten acquainted with all the ninja in Root, and now he was already being relieved?
"Hiruzen, this..."
Hiruzen raised a hand to cut him off.
"I will have Danzo return to take over Root."
Koharu and Homura exchanged a glance, and they understood his intent in an instant.
Use Danzo to keep Sakumo in check.
Sakumo in particular, as captain of the Anbu, had made a name for himself through the Great Ninja War in a single battle.
His reputation had even come to overshadow Hiruzen, the greatest Third Hokage.
His standing in the village had been rising higher and higher.
And now he had apparently lost all sense of restraint.
He was openly beginning to question the Hokage and the other senior leadership.
This was forbidden. It crossed a line.
Hiruzen exhaled a stream of smoke, his eyes deep and unreadable.
"Since Sakumo wants the truth so badly, then let him go and fight for it against Danzo himself."
At the same time.
Sakumo walked out of the Hokage Building. The night wind swept through his white hair.
His heart was heavy.
He knew that tonight's events would not end so simply.
But he also knew something else clearly.
Some things must be done by someone.
Even if what lay ahead was an abyss, he would step into it without hesitation.
Because those were real, living children.
Behind each of them was a family.
Even in a time of war, Sakumo would never have raised a hand against children.
"Captain, weren't you a bit too impulsive back there?"
Kiki thought back to what Sakumo had done and said inside the Hokage's office.
He could not help but feel a cold sweat on Sakumo's behalf.
The Anbu were by nature a special organization under the Hokage's authority. And the captain of the Anbu had openly questioned the Hokage...
"Impulsive? Would you have me watch those children be turned into experimental subjects and do nothing?"
"Should I just allow more children to be sent to a laboratory in the future?"
Sakumo was quiet for a moment, then continued.
"The matter the Uchiha Security Force investigated last time was the work of Root. And now this incident involving trafficked children is also the work of Root operatives."
"Root has gone this far off the deep end. Am I still supposed to think twice about it?"
Sakumo let out a sigh and tilted his head back to look at the dark sky.
"You and I both have children of our own now. If the children who went missing were our own, what would we feel?"
"If something like this cannot be stopped, Konoha will have no future to speak of."