Hiruzen hurried into his office, the weight of urgency pushing his old body faster than usual. His robes swayed as he entered, his eyes immediately darting to the scene before him. Homura and Koharu were already waiting, their faces grave and tense. They had served by his side for decades, but even in all those years, he had rarely seen them look this shaken.
"What happened?" was the first thing he asked after entering his office. Even the Anbu hadn't directly told him what the matter was.
This could only mean the matter was grave, and they didn't wish to say it outside. He could have ordered the intel out of them, but he chose to go back to his office first.
The air was heavy, the silence strained, until one of the Anbu kneeling before them finally spoke.
"Lord Hokage… Root has been completely destroyed."
The words hung in the room like a hammer crashing down. Hiruzen froze for a moment, almost as if he had misheard. Homura's mouth opened, then closed, his face pale. Koharu's voice broke the silence.
"Destroyed? What do you mean destroyed? Speak clearly!" she snapped.
The Anbu bowed his head lower. "The entire base was reduced to ashes. Every structure, every record—gone. Not a single survivor was found."
"What? How is that even possible? If something so big were to happen, how come we didn't know this… And what—what about Danzo?" Hiruzen's mind felt like mush.
"We have no idea. We only found out just an hour ago, by one of our scouting teams. As for Elder Danzo…"
The pause from the Anbu was enough to answer. "No sign of him. Either dead… or missing."
The room erupted like a storm then.
"This is outrageous!" Homura slammed his hand on the desk, his voice trembling with both anger and fear. "Do you understand what this means, Hiruzen? Someone has attacked one of our most secretive, most fortified bases! Under our noses!"
"This is bad, Hiruzen…!" Koharu's shrill voice cut in. "No one knew more about our hidden defenses than Danzo himself. If he's gone, then it's clear! He betrayed us! He took everything with him!"
"That's nonsense!" Homura barked, turning on her. "Danzo may have been stubborn, but he would never betray the Leaf. Never!"
"Then what do you call this?" she retorted, her eyes flashing. "A foreign invasion? The Sand? The Stone? Perhaps the Cloud finally decided to finish what they started? Who else could do this… Hardly anyone knows of Root." Koharu glared.
"Don't be ridiculous," Homura shot back. "If it were a foreign army, we would have sensed their movement long before they reached the village borders. No, this is something internal!"
"Internal?" Koharu spat. "Are you suggesting one of our own dared to strike Root? Who would even have the power to do this?"
"Perhaps the Uchiha…" Homura muttered to himself. However, it was loud enough that the others heard him.
"Are you going senile? If this was the Uchiha before what Itachi did, they would have been the prime suspects, but now they're just a broken shell of their past glory. It can't be them."
"But what if they really had Shisui's Mangekyo… it's possible then."
The office grew silent after those words. The possibility was there, and if that was indeed the case, they couldn't even imagine what else the Uchiha could do. However, it was just suspicion. No proof.
"Perhaps Orochimaru!" Homura shouted suddenly, pointing a finger as though the man stood right there.
"What! Why would Orochimaru have any reason to attack the Root base?" Hiruzen was numb at this.
"You already know both Orochimaru and Danzo worked together in the experiments, Hiruzen. There could be many reasons why Orochimaru would attack the base. Who else knows about the base if not Orochimaru?"
"What about Itachi? He knows too."
That brought another pause.
Hiruzen, still standing at the center of the chaos, finally raised his voice. "Enough!"
But his advisors did not stop.
"Don't dismiss this fact, Hiruzen. We all know it was Danzo who gave the order to wipe out the Uchiha clan. If anyone had more reason to kill Danzo and had the means to do it, then it has to be Itachi. The entire place was burned, as you heard—who else but a Uchiha has the powerful fire-style jutsu to accomplish that?" Homura barked.
Hiruzen's head throbbed. He honestly didn't believe Itachi would do something like that, but his advisor's words had a point.
However, now wasn't the time to think about these things.
"This is not the time to point fingers without proof!" Hiruzen roared, his voice shaking the room. For the first time, the shouting died down, though the tension still buzzed in the air like a swarm of bees.
Hiruzen took a deep breath, his pipe untouched on his desk. His voice dropped, heavy with the weight of the moment.
"Whoever did this… has not only destroyed Root. They have shaken the very foundation of Konoha. If Danzo is dead, then everything he knew, everything he kept hidden… could now be in the hands of another. This is… catastrophic."
Internally he was fuming. While both he and Danzo hadn't seen eye to eye on many things—and over the years their differences had only increased—he still considered Danzo his friend.
But Konoha came first. He could mourn his old friend's death later. Right now, he had to act like the Hokage.
The silence after his words was deafening. Homura and Koharu exchanged grim looks, their earlier shouting giving way to something far more dangerous—fear.
And for the first time in many years, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt it too.
"Find out who did this," he ordered coldly to the Anbu. "No matter what it takes."
The Anbu bowed and vanished, leaving only the suffocating silence of dread.
From that day on, the village entered another complete lockdown. This was even more serious than the last one.
Everyone was affected, and many ninja and civilians alike who didn't know why this lockdown was implemented were worried.
Some thought that this was the prelude to another war. They were afraid.
The academy was closed, and Sukuna now had nothing else to do. He had thoughts about going out on a bounty hunt again, but with the lockdown in place, worries about someone noticing his absence lingered.
So, he turned his attention to what he could do while remaining inside the village—from annoying his little sister to perfecting his Genjutsu and talisman creation.
As for performing another bounty hunt, that could wait. He had a feeling that this village-wide lockdown was going to go on for a while.
At least running off on the very first day didn't feel safe. As for whether he could do it later on—perhaps.
He would, if he felt it was safe.
…
Izumi sat on the engawa of the Uchiha compound, legs swinging lightly as she watched the afternoon sun dip lower. Kiyomi walked up with her usual stern look, but even she seemed distracted. Finally, Izumi broke the silence.
"Have you noticed?" Kiyomi asked softly.
Izumi raised a brow. "Noticed what?"
"Sasuke. He's… different."
Izumi frowned. "Different how?"
Kiyomi leaned forward, her voice low. "Ever since that last fight in the academy, when he lost, he's not training anymore. No kunai practice, no taijutsu drills. Nothing."
Izumi crossed her arms, her gaze distant. "I know. I saw him this morning. He was just… sitting under the tree. Meditating. Not even reading scrolls."
"That's what I mean." Kiyomi's tone carried a mix of worry and confusion. "This isn't like him. He used to be so stubborn, always pushing himself until he dropped. He was especially pushing himself after what happened."
Izumi at this just smiled. "Then it's a good thing, isn't it? He's finally taking things slowly."
Kiyomi shook her head quickly. "No, I don't think it's just that. It feels… different. Like he's thinking about something?"
Izumi softened her eyes slightly at the thought. "…It's alright, Kiyomi. It's been hard on him as well. Think of it this way—while you were kidnapped, he had to see that enemy nin take you. If anything, it would be even harder on him. Just give him some time."
Kiyomi gave a small nod but quickly asked again. "Do you think Sasuke's okay? I mean… it almost feels like he's lost."
Izumi was quiet for a moment before finally sighing. "He should be alright, don't worry. Just keep an eye on him. I will too."
Kiyomi smiled faintly. "Hmm hm."
Kiyomi glanced toward the training ground where Sasuke usually was. She intentionally didn't bring Sukuna's name up, but she was a little worried seeing the huge change in Sasuke after he last met Sukuna.
What could that boy possibly have said to Sasuke to change him this much?
Even after Izumi's reassurance, she was worried. She would have asked Sasuke himself, but it was pointless—he wouldn't say. So she had only one option: ask Sukuna himself.
She was determined to get an answer from him after this lockdown ended.
Sasuke, on the other hand, was doing exactly what Sukuna told him.
"Before readying your body you need to ready your mind. Take a small rest, enough that you stabilize your mind and thoughts. And your body is completely rested.
Then follow the grind."
So in this time, Sasuke was meditating. Pondering over what he had done wrong so far, reflecting on his own actions and Sukuna's words.
xxx
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