Just as Kazuyama Gekkō turned every Root Division member into crystal, a kilometer away, beside a tree trunk, a masked Root Division shinobi suddenly awoke.
He immediately bolted toward the village at a shocking speed, channeling all his chakra into his feet to accelerate.
By the time he reached the village, Kazuyama Gekkō had just begun sorting through Danzō's incriminating evidence.
The Root Division base—Danzō had occupied it for far too long.
This operation was his last desperate gamble. If he could take down Kazuyama Gekkō, he might still have a chance. If not, he was ready for the worst.
"Lord Danzō..."
"How is the operation progressing?"
The Root Division shinobi shook his head. Seeing this, Danzō's heart sank.
He had mobilized nearly all of Root Division's elites, yet they still failed to capture Kazuyama Gekkō?
It seemed this boy had truly grown into another White Fang of Konoha—no, perhaps even more difficult to deal with.
"Order everyone to retreat. Withdraw from the village."
"Lord Danzō, where are we retreating to?"
Danzō knew that once those classified files were exposed, he would face inevitable retribution.
The current Hokage wasn't Sarutobi Hiruzen, but Minato Namikaze. That man would never tolerate his actions, not even under the excuse of serving the village.
And Minato had two key allies: Kazuyama Gekkō, who already held a grudge against him, and the Uchiha, who would surely seize this chance to kick him while he was down.
"Leave the village. Head toward the Daimyō's Mansion."
"The Daimyō's Mansion?"
Danzō nodded. He had considered this long ago. If the village ever turned on him, his only way to survive—and to reclaim power—was to turn to the Daimyō.
The Daimyō maintained his own independent ninja forces. With Danzō's experience and credentials, he would surely find use there. With the Daimyō's backing, he might even find a way back to Konoha.
"Go. Prepare immediately. Mobilize every remaining Root Division operative."
"We must act before Kazuyama Gekkō and Minato Namikaze react."
Danzō understood the gravity of the situation. He could not afford even a moment's delay.
...
Meanwhile, Kazuyama Gekkō finally finished organizing the last of the documents after a long effort.
"Phew, that was exhausting."
"Who would've thought sorting files could be such a pain? No wonder every Kage needs secretaries and assistants."
"Doing this alone would kill me."
He glanced at the mountain of papers stacked as high as himself and couldn't help but marvel at how difficult being a Kage must be.
He hoisted the pile onto his shoulder and disappeared from the base with the Flying Thunder God.
As for the Root Division shinobi sealed in crystal outside, he'd send people to haul them back once the documents were secured.
"Hey, Minato, I'm back."
Kazuyama Gekkō appeared in the Hokage Building, dusty from his task. This time, however, he didn't crash through a window—mainly because the stack of documents was far too bulky for that.
"Kazuyama, how did it go?"
"Here. Got everything. Though it wasn't without complications."
He set the towering stack in front of Minato and recounted the Root Division ambush.
Minato Namikaze's expression grew grim.
Danzō, realizing his position, had chosen to gamble everything. Eliminating Kazuyama Gekkō would have crippled him, but the sheer audacity of turning on his own allies was staggering.
"What about the Root Division operatives?"
"Don't worry. I didn't kill them. Just sealed them all in crystal. We'll bring them back later."
Minato nodded, then immediately called in his trusted allies to review Danzō's files.
Before long, Midori, Shikaku, and Fugaku arrived in the office.
"Everyone's here?"
"Good. Let's begin."
These were the people Minato trusted most. Only with them could he ensure absolute security.
"Oh great, you called me here just to read files?"
"I'd rather be back in bed..."
Nara Shikaku nearly collapsed at the sight of the paperwork mountain. He was lazy by nature—and besides, this was supposed to be his time off.
"Shikaku, quit whining. You'll get your vacation days back later."
"Now help us sort all this."
Minato teased lightly before turning to the files himself.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke, known as Midori, had even come without his mask, and Fugaku was there as well.
The five of them began poring over the stack of documents.
And what they saw left everyone except Kazuyama Gekkō stunned.
"Damn it! Human experimentation?"
"So many deaths... How did I not know?"
The report in Minato's hands described human experiments in detail. Line after line of horrifying data made his blood boil.
The others were equally furious.
"Enough. Don't act surprised—you know what Danzō is like."
"What you're seeing is only the tip of the iceberg."
"Here, look at this. The First Hokage Cell Cultivation Project. Hmph, this proposal even has the signature of the previous Hokage!"
"Midori, aren't you going to have a word with him when you get back?"
Kazuyama Gekkō tossed a file to Sarutobi Shinnosuke, who could only sigh helplessly.
He already knew of the project—he had even sent people to the research facility himself. But the plan had supposedly been terminated long ago due to the excessive deaths.
"That bastard Danzō..."
"Targeting the Uchiha... stealing Sharingan..."
"He must die!"
By coincidence—or not—the file Fugaku Uchiha held detailed Root's dealings with his own clan.
It clearly recorded that Danzō had abused his authority, desecrating Uchiha corpses and extracting countless Sharingan.
During the war, the clan had suffered heavy casualties. They thought all had fallen honorably in battle—never realizing they'd been betrayed from within their own village.
"Darkness... I knew it existed. After all, he wasn't called the Darkness of the Shinobi World for nothing."
"But I never imagined it would be this severe."
"Lord Hokage, with these reports... are you planning to move against Root?"
Unable to stand it any longer, Nara Shikaku threw his file to the floor. His expression was heavy as he turned to Minato Namikaze.
He wanted to know his Hokage's decision.