Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression changed, and he immediately looked outside—just in time to see the Four Violet Flames Formation rise.
"Danzō, you know exactly what you're doing, don't you?" Hiruzen glared at his former friend.
"Of course I know. The one who isn't thinking clearly is you, Hiruzen!" Danzō shot back without backing down.
Hiruzen understood that things had come this far — Danzō wouldn't stop no matter what he said. He simply left him with one last line:
"Starting now, until I return, you are not permitted to take a single step out of this room. That is an order from the Hokage."
With that, Hiruzen issued a command, and several Anbu appeared in the office.
"You two keep an eye on Danzō."
As for himself, he took a squad of elite Anbu and headed toward the Konoha inn.
Danzō stared at Hiruzen's departing back, mumbling to himself:
"This time… this time, the victory is mine, Hiruzen."
…
Right now, Hiruzen regretted one thing above all: why he had allowed Danzō so much power.
Even if Konoha refused the peace talks and continued the war against Kirigakure, it wouldn't have been impossible. Konoha still held the advantage.
But the situation now was different — Konoha had already agreed to Kirigakure's proposal for peace. Kirigakure had even sent an envoy group all the way to Konoha to conduct negotiations — showing extreme sincerity.
Who knew how many eyes across the entire shinobi world were fixed on the Konoha–Kirigakure talks?
If the Kirigakure envoy were to die inside Konoha…
His name, Hiruzen, would be dragged through the mud. Even the authority of the Hokage and the Fire Daimyō's political reputation would take a severe blow.
The consequences—direct and indirect—would be tremendous.
Wait.
Running across the village, Hiruzen suddenly realized something:
"Could it be that Danzō is intentionally trying to destroy my reputation by attacking the envoy?"
Unbelievable.
"I hope I'm not too late…" Hiruzen muttered internally.
…
Meanwhile, inside the conference room, Mitsuki was still observing the situation unfold.
He had already sensed that Hiruzen was moving. But judging from Hiruzen's current speed, he wouldn't make it in time.
Danzō had deployed an overwhelming number of Root operatives — more than enough to crush a handful of Kirigakure shinobi.
And even if Hiruzen arrived, dispelling the Four Violet Flames Formation would take time — time in which Mei and the others would already be dead.
It was clear that Danzō had been planning this for a long time.
At that moment—
Someone unexpected was rapidly approaching Root's operation site.
"…Ruri? Why is she—"
Remembering the dōjutsu Ruri had told him about, Mitsuki made a decision.
…
"Shikaku, I've been faintly hearing the sounds of battle for a while now."
Kisame suddenly stood up.
"Forgive me, but we must pause today's negotiations. I need to confirm the safety of my comrades."
Without waiting for Shikaku's reply, Kisame marched out with his subordinates.
He couldn't be entirely sure it was their people who were under attack, but he had a feeling—the peace talks were going to fail.
Someone in Konoha didn't want the war to end. As he left, Kisame shot a sideways glance at Mitsuki.
"Was it him? Or someone else?"
There wasn't enough information yet to draw a clear conclusion.
After the Kirigakure envoy rushed out, Shikaku lowered his head, thought quietly for a moment, and reached the obvious conclusion:
Danzō had targeted the Kirigakure shinobi staying at the Konoha inn.
He had even hinted earlier—albeit subtly—to the Third Hokage that the "Advisor" had been acting suspiciously, distancing himself from the peace process.
Now, it was clear. Danzō had kept a low profile recently precisely to lower the Hokage's guard.
"This is bad…" Shikaku sighed bitterly inside the conference room.
No one understood Konoha's current strategic situation better than he did. Kumo wasn't too troublesome, but Iwa… after sending out two Jinchūriki, the battlefield had tilted heavily.
Konoha needed to extract itself from the war with Kirigakure and redeploy its limited forces to the other fronts. That was the optimal move.
And even if they were going to crush a major village, Kirigakure was the worst option—the Land of Water's isolation made counterattacks nearly impossible.
They should finish the war, then choose either Kumo or Iwa for an all-out offensive, maximizing their advantage.
But Danzō didn't understand. His eyes were fixed only on the glory of destroying a great nation—blinded by ambition.
…
"Water Dragon Bullet!"
Mei rapidly formed hand seals, expending a huge amount of chakra to force back the Root operatives surrounding them.
Clang—clang—
Zabuza was also struggling, barely holding off two Root ninja.
Following Mei's advice, the Kirigakure shinobi stayed together and focused solely on defense, retreating step by step until they were backed against the barrier.
There was nowhere left to run.
"Your fates are already sealed. Resistance is meaningless."
With a rhythmic fluttering of wings, Tatsuma unleashed a massive swarm of destruction bugs—descending like a cloud over the Kirigakure envoy.
"Damn it." Zabuza spat, cursing.
If not for the barrier, they could've kept running, could've stalled longer.
At the brink of death, Mei knew this wasn't the time for secrecy.
Forming seals once more, she spewed a torrent of acidic liquid directly onto the barrier.
Melting Apparition Technique!
Szzzzzz—
The corrosive sound echoed sharply as the thick acid ate through the violet flames, melting a large opening in the barrier.
"Go! Zabuza-senpai—move!" Mei shouted.
She didn't even need to say it — Zabuza and the others had already shot out of the opening the moment it appeared.
Watching their silhouettes vanish—leaving her behind without hesitation—Mei gritted her teeth internally.
"Damn it… have all the good men in Kirigakure gone extinct?"