In the Hokage Office, with a ripple in space, the three appeared out of thin air in front of the desk.
Shizune was organizing documents and stood up immediately upon seeing them return. "Tsunade-sama."
Tsunade raised a hand to signal Shizune.
"Shizune, how is the meeting preparation coming along?"
Shizune opened the notebook in her hand and reported, "Most of the Jonin in the village have arrived. The meeting room is ready, just waiting for you, Tsunade-sama."
"The intelligence from Kumogakure has also been organized and can be synchronized with everyone at the meeting."
Tsunade nodded. "Good, then the meeting will start now."
She turned to Naruto. "Naruto, are you going to attend?"
"Is there anything very important at the meeting?" Naruto asked curiously.
Tsunade shook her head. "It's not really anything important for you. It's mainly to determine Konoha's official stance on this provocation by Kumogakure, as well as the deployment of frontline personnel in case a war breaks out."
"Then I won't go. Since there's nothing else, I'll go see the Fourth Raikage and, by the way, take his hand."
Tsunade thought about it. This was an errand that could be handled by just sending an Anbu, but since Naruto wanted to go, she would let him.
With that thought, she shouted toward the door, "Tenzo!"
An Anbu wearing a cat mask appeared in the center of the office, kneeling on one knee.
"Hokage-sama, what are your orders?"
"Take Jonin Naruto to the prison to take one of the Raikage's hands. Everything is to be done according to Jonin Naruto's instructions."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
Tenzo turned to Naruto and bowed. "Jonin Naruto, please follow me."
Naruto nodded at Tsunade and Jiraiya, then followed Tenzo out of the Hokage Office.
After Naruto left, Tsunade straightened her Hokage robe, then walked toward the meeting room with Jiraiya one after the other.
On the way to the Konoha Prison, Tenzo led the way in front, while Naruto followed behind with a leisurely pace.
Tenzo didn't say a word the whole way but he couldn't help but glance back several times.
He was one of the three Anbu who had witnessed the entire battle at the border with his own eyes. Naruto, by himself, had crippled the Fourth Raikage and ten elite Kumogakure guards. Now this fierce person was walking less than two steps behind him, it was hard for him not to be curious.
"Tenzo, is it?"
Just then, Naruto suddenly spoke, breaking the silence.
Tenzo was slightly stunned, his tone carrying a hint of being flattered. "Yes, Jonin Naruto. You know my name?"
"Your Wood Release is not bad." Naruto nodded and complimented him.
"You recognized me?" Tenzo was stunned.
His Wood Release was highly classified information even within the Anbu, it was impossible for a regular Jonin to know.
"In Konoha, you should know better than I do what the words 'Wood Release' represent. So when I saw you using Wood Release to restore the battlefield at the border, I remembered this Chakra of yours."
Tenzo quickly whispered, "Jonin Naruto, you flatter me. My Wood Release is far inferior to the First Hokage's. At best, it can only do some auxiliary work."
Naruto asked, "Tenzo, are you interested in taking off your mask and becoming someone who stands in the sunlight?"
Tenzo's steps faltered. The lips under his mask moved, but in the end, he just bowed slightly.
"Thank you for the compliment, Jonin Naruto. But I don't have any plans to take off my mask for the time being. I'm already very used to Anbu's work, and some things are more convenient to do in the shadows."
Naruto nodded and said nothing more.
...
Soon, the two arrived at the Konoha Prison. This was a gray building half-buried in the mountainside.
A guard Anbu stood on each side of the iron door, and several layers of sealing barriers were embedded in the walls.
Tenzo handed the order signed by Tsunade to the guarding Anbu for verification.
After carefully checking the Hokage's seal, the Anbu returned it with both hands, turned, and pushed open the iron door.
Guided by the prison Anbu, Naruto and Tenzo walked down the dark stone steps. The cells on both sides were separated by thick iron bars. Most of those locked inside were prisoners of war from other countries captured during missions and ninjas from the village who had committed crimes.
After passing through two internal barriers, Naruto soon saw A, C, and Darui in the three special cells at the very end. The three were locked in three adjacent cells, each wearing Chakra-suppressing shackles, and the cells were separated by thickened sealing walls, allowing them to hear each other's voices but not see one another.
A was leaning against the innermost corner of the cell, his shoulders and chest wrapped in bandages.
When passing by a single-person cell, Naruto seemed to sense something and stopped in his tracks. Looking at the person inside, the corners of his lips turned up.
A figure sat in the cell with their back to the door, right shoulder empty. Hearing footsteps stop at the door, the figure turned around.
"Long time no see, Elder Danzo." Naruto stood at the cell door.
"Naruto, why are you here?" Danzo's voice was somewhat hoarse.
He looked at Naruto with his only remaining left eye, then his gaze fell upon Tenzo, a flash of inscrutable emotion crossing his eyes.
"Kinoe, it seems you have lived the life you wanted in the Anbu."
Tenzo's body trembled, subconsciously wanting to call out "Danzo-sama." But he immediately stopped, forcing himself to stand straight, his tone returning to professional. "Elder Danzo, you are currently a detainee under trial in Konoha. Also, Kinoe no longer exists. My codename is Tenzo."
"Heh, is that so?"
Danzo's eyes moved away from Tenzo, falling back onto Naruto.
Naruto interrupted Danzo's reminiscence, "Enough, Elder Danzo. I'm curious why you're still alive. Do you really think the things you've done will allow you to survive?"
"Naruto, my style of doing things is indeed more decisive and ruthless than you people. But everything I have done has been for the sake of Konoha." Danzo looked straight into Naruto's eyes.
After finishing, he closed his left eye, adopting a posture of not intending to continue the conversation.
Naruto took a Kunai from his Ninja tool pouch and tossed it through the gap in the cell bars.
Clang!
The Kunai landed on the stone floor at Danzo's feet.
Danzo opened his left eye, staring fixedly at Naruto. "Naruto, what is the meaning of this?"
Naruto said, "Danzo, don't even think about making a comeback. Honestly, the things you've done are enough for you to die a dozen times over. I'm giving you this Kunai now so you can choose how to end it yourself. Ending it yourself, you can at least keep some dignity."
"I would end it myself? What a joke. No one can judge me, not even if you are a Jonin directly under the Hokage." Danzo snorted.
"Heh, I am giving you a chance."
Naruto leaned down slightly, bringing his line of sight level with Danzo in the cell, his voice dropping very low. "If you refuse, once Granny Tsunade's investigation is finished, everything you have done will be made public. By then, you will be executed while the whole village watches, your body hung on the scaffold for public display, and your name nailed to Konoha's pillar of shame forever."
"You wouldn't want to be executed while the whole village watches, would you?"
"You..."
Upon hearing this, Danzo's pupils contracted.
He lowered his head, looking at the Kunai. Then he reached out with his left hand, trembling, to pick up the Kunai.
The Kunai was cold to the touch. This chill traveled up his palm all the way to his heart, dredging up a scene Danzo had kept sealed for half his life from the depths of his memory.
At the moment they were forced to stay behind, Tobirama told them to choose who would stay.
He hesitated for a moment and Hiruzen spoke up first. From then on, his life was suppressed by Hiruzen, all the way until the day Hiruzen died.
He had thought that with Hiruzen dead, his own era was finally going to come. But then, Naruto appeared out of nowhere.
It was the same multiple-choice question, just like back then.
To choose is to die, the outcome was already predetermined.
"I..."
Danzo's lips quivered, and the hand holding the Kunai trembled slightly.
"Danzo, what are you hesitating for?"
"You are truly the same coward you were back then, not a single bit changed."
"You are still you, still the vermin hiding in dark corners, never daring to stand in the sunlight." Naruto's voice rang out, full of disdain.
"Shut up!"
Still struggling in his memories, Danzo was jolted by these words from Naruto and stood up abruptly from the ground.
The dusty images in his mind were shattered, leaving only the Kunai before him and the contemptuous gaze of the black-haired boy in front of him.
Danzo's teeth gnashed together and his face turned bright red from the rush of blood.
"No one can judge me! Not even you, Naruto! To hell with Heaven!"
Having said that, he gripped the handle of the Kunai and aimed the blade at his own heart, stabbing it in with all his might.
Pfft!
The moment the Kunai pierced his heart, Danzo's body jerked.
Blood gushed from the wound, dripping down the blade of the Kunai onto the stone floor.
In a trance, he saw Hiruzen standing before him, his face wearing the exact same smile he had in life, reaching out a hand toward him.
Danzo's lips moved. "Hiruzen... You see, don't you? This time... I made a choice."
As soon as he finished speaking, his body fell straight forward, crashing onto the stone floor, his blood rapidly spreading beneath him.