Konohagakure.
Hokage Office, within the Hokage Building.
Inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat with a stack of mission records unearthed from the Root headquarters, his expression unusually grim.
The contents of these records were so shocking that even a seasoned political player like him couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.
He had never imagined that Danzo would have gone behind his back and committed so many actions.
Originally, Hiruzen believed that he and his old friend were two sides of the same coin. While he didn't expect all of Danzo's actions to be for the benefit of the village, he assumed at least a significant portion were.
However, from the looks of it now, he had clearly underestimated Danzo's ambitions.
Not even half—perhaps not even one-third—of these actions were for the sake of the village.
Hiruzen couldn't help but feel fortunate that he had acted swiftly upon noticing issues within Root, dispatching ANBU to seize control of its headquarters.
Had these mission records leaked, there was no telling how much chaos they would have caused within the village.
The human experimentation alone was bad enough, but the fact that Danzo had covertly abducted members of various clans to research their secret techniques would undoubtedly provoke those clans to their breaking point.
After skimming through the documents, Hiruzen set most of the records aside, focusing instead on two particular files.
The first pertained to Yamato.
When he learned that Yamato had inherited the Wood Release abilities of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, he couldn't help but feel overjoyed.
No one understood the power of Wood Release better than Hiruzen, who had witnessed Hashirama's abilities firsthand. It was a power capable of holding off entire armies single-handedly.
Most importantly, Wood Release had unique effectiveness against tailed beasts, which were akin to the "nuclear weapons" of the ninja world.
With this newfound advantage, Konohagakure would have a critical edge over other villages and greater leverage in future negotiations.
For a time, the village had even tried to replicate this power, though their efforts ultimately failed, costing many skilled ninja in the process.
The village had long since abandoned such attempts.
Yet, to Hiruzen's surprise, Orochimaru and Danzo had persisted—and succeeded.
However, the mention of Orochimaru brought a shadow to Hiruzen's face.
Before seeing these mission records, Hiruzen had harbored some guilt over his decision to abandon Orochimaru and recommend Minato Namikaze as the Fourth Hokage instead.
But now, all trace of that guilt had vanished.
Orochimaru was simply too cold-hearted.
From the mission records, it was evident how many Konohagakure ninja had been sacrificed in his experiments to replicate Hashirama's Wood Release abilities.
And this didn't even account for the cost of his other experiments.
Frankly, these records alone were enough for Hiruzen to issue an order for Orochimaru's arrest.
But he hesitated, unable to bring himself to do so because Orochimaru was his former student.
"Perhaps I'll keep a closer eye on him after I step down," Hiruzen thought to himself as he set the file aside, turning to the second document with a grave expression.
This file detailed Root's numerous attempts to target Seimei, along with an extensive analysis of him.
The records were thorough, ending only the day before, when Danzo launched his last operation.
Hiruzen carefully read through the contents.
It was clear that Danzo had been targeting Seimei since the latter's participation in the Chūnin Exams.
Initially, Danzo had sent assassins after Seimei. Later, he passed intelligence to Kirigakure, enabling their forces to breach the eastern defensive line and ambush Seimei and his support team within the Land of Fire.
Later still, during Seimei's mission to reinforce the Black Stone Outpost, Danzo used a mole within their ranks to orchestrate a deadly trap.
All of these actions were meticulously documented.
If it had ended there, Hiruzen might have been willing to let it slide.
While he disapproved of Danzo's methods, at least his actions could be interpreted as an attempt to eliminate potential threats to the village.
But everything changed once Danzo suspected Seimei had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
From that point onward, Danzo's actions were no longer for the village but for his own ambition—to claim Seimei's eyes.
"The Mangekyō Sharingan…" Hiruzen murmured.
As the Hokage and the head of the Sarutobi clan—a lineage tracing back to the Warring States period—he fully understood the immense power of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
One need only recall Uchiha Madara, the legendary wielder of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Madara had once stood as the equal of Hashirama Senju, the "God of Shinobi."
Had Hashirama not been there to stop him, Madara alone could have razed Konohagakure to the ground.
While Seimei might not yet reach such heights, if Danzo's suspicions were correct, capturing him would be no simple task.
Hiruzen was already convinced that Seimei was responsible for Danzo's death, even though the ANBU team he had sent to investigate the incident had yet to return.
After all, Danzo's final mission had been to lead a team to kill Seimei.
Now that Danzo was dead, it was most likely because Seimei had turned the tables.
This further supported the likelihood of Danzo's suspicions being accurate.
Hiruzen was well aware of Danzo's strength and that of the Root operatives under his command. Without overwhelming force, it would have been impossible for none of them to escape alive.
This, in turn, confirmed Seimei's power.
Dealing with such a ninja would come at a significant cost to the village.
The bigger issue, however, was the Uchiha clan standing behind Seimei.
If word of his Mangekyō Sharingan awakening leaked, the Uchiha clan would undoubtedly do everything in their power to protect him.
This could escalate into a full-blown internal conflict.
After nearly three years of continuous warfare, the village's overall strength had already declined. An internal conflict now would leave them vulnerable to enemy attacks.
Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't forgotten that, to this day, the Village Hidden in the Clouds still hadn't signed a peace treaty with them. Small-scale skirmishes continued to erupt on the front lines, with battles breaking out every so often.
Under such circumstances, escalating the situation was definitely not a wise choice.
On the other hand, he couldn't just ignore the matter entirely.
Setting aside the fact that an important figure in the village had died—even if his reputation wasn't great—they still needed to give everyone an explanation.
The pressure from Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado alone made things very difficult for him.
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.
Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was thinking about his two old friends, the door to his office was abruptly pushed open.
Two figures walked in without hesitation.
It was none other than Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado.
Compared to over a decade later, they didn't look quite so old yet, and their demeanor was still quite imposing.
As soon as they entered, they began their interrogation.
Koharu spoke bluntly: "Hiruzen, tell me, was the one who killed Danzo really that Uchiha brat?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't surprised that they knew about Seimei's involvement in this matter.
Others might not understand his two old friends' abilities, but he knew them all too well.
Even though the Root organization supposedly only answered to Danzo, Koharu and Homura had their own informants within it.
It was only natural that they could trace things back to Seimei.
Behind his desk, Hiruzen Sarutobi pinched the bridge of his nose and replied with a slightly weary tone, "There's no evidence for now."
"No evidence? So you're saying it's highly likely that he did it?"
Before Hiruzen could finish, Homura Mitokado interrupted.
Then Koharu added, "If that's the case, inform the Uchiha clan and have them hand him over. Once we interrogate him, we'll know for sure."
Hearing her words, Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head and said, "It's not that simple. Here, take a look at these."
As he spoke, he handed them several mission reports.
These included records of Root's past actions against Seimei, as well as evidence of Danzo secretly capturing ninja from various clans in the village for experimentation and research.
From the beginning, Danzo's actions couldn't see the light of day.
This meant they couldn't use public pressure to coerce the Uchiha clan.
What's that? You suggest not leaking these records?
Sorry, that's not possible.
There's no such thing as a wall without cracks.
Even in the highly loyal ranks of the ANBU, there were clan-affiliated ninja. Who could guarantee they wouldn't leak the information?
Keeping the lid on this might work for now, but once it's blown open, the consequences would be disastrous.
As for secretly eliminating Seimei…
Based on Danzo's analysis and the results of Root's last operation, Hiruzen Sarutobi estimated that very few in the village could actually defeat him, let alone kill him.
Moreover, Seimei acted in self-defense, which already put Danzo at a disadvantage.
Thus, there was no justifiable reason to target Seimei.
Danzo's death had left them with a major problem.
Koharu and Homura weren't fools. Initially, they were furious to learn that Danzo might have been killed by a young Uchiha, but now, after reviewing the information in their hands, they began to calm down.
Compared to avenging their old friend, maintaining the village's stability was their top priority.
If Hiruzen Sarutobi could foresee the consequences of rash action, so could they.
Yet this only made their frustration even harder to bear.
After a long silence, Koharu finally gritted her teeth and said, "So we're just going to let that brat get away with it?"
Unfortunately, no one answered her question.
The office was filled with silence.
After a while, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke. "Right now, our priority should be dealing with the mess Danzo left behind. We need to reassign his operatives and eliminate any evidence of his experiments."
"What about Orochimaru?"
Homura suddenly asked.
He had seen the details of Orochimaru's collaboration with Danzo in the reports. If justice were to be served, Orochimaru should also be apprehended.
Hiruzen Sarutobi paused briefly before replying, "I'll keep an eye on him."
The meaning was clear—past actions would be overlooked, but Orochimaru would be closely monitored going forward.
Koharu and Homura exchanged glances, seemingly unsurprised by Hiruzen's decision.
As friends of several decades, they understood Hiruzen's character all too well.
Predicting his choices was only natural.
However, Homura added one final statement. "Orochimaru should not participate in the Hokage election this time."
Clearly, he perceived Orochimaru as a threat—not to himself, but to the village.
Thus, he directly suggested that Orochimaru be barred from running for the Fourth Hokage.
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded in agreement, effectively approving the proposal.
After all, he had already considered this, and now it was merely set in stone.