Hidden Leaf Village, the Hokage's Office.
Danzo Shimura, the leader of the Root and the man known as the Darkness of the Shinobi, arrived here early in the morning to meet his old friend, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Hiruzen, the Land of Rain is becoming more and more presumptuous. In just one month, five Leaf squads have gone missing there!"
Danzo's tone was filled with dissatisfaction. The Land of Rain had always been respectful toward the Leaf. Now, they actually dared to allow their people to act against the Leaf?
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at his fuming friend and said calmly, "Two of those were Root squads, weren't they?"
Danzo fell silent immediately. Indeed, Hanzo's request for assistance had been sent directly to him, and he had dispatched two squads to provide support. However, those two squads had already been turned into experimental subjects by a certain leader of the Jashin believers. This was the reason for Danzo's agitation.
"Don't think I don't know what you've been up to, Danzo."
Hiruzen Sarutobi lightly tossed a document in front of Danzo and continued, "I have already had someone initiate negotiations with the Land of Rain. Hanzo's response was that the Land of Rain is currently in the midst of a civil war. He has sealed the borders and can no longer provide protection for Hidden Leaf ninjas."
As an old politician, Danzo immediately understood the underlying meaning.
"Hanzo means that from now on, regardless of which village a ninja comes from, they are responsible for their own life and death if they enter the Land of Rain?"
Hiruzen took a puff of his pipe and nodded slowly. "That is correct."
Danzo frowned. His first thought upon hearing this was whether Hanzo was planning to rebel again. But after a moment's reflection, he felt it was unlikely. That man was old, and his strength was a shadow of its former self. Furthermore, the Hidden Mist Village had not produced any ninjas capable of standing on their own. Hanzo had no reason to abandon their cooperation at this time.
Could he really be so busy handling internal strife that he can't maintain our partnership?
Although Danzo was puzzled, he had no way to verify the situation. All his connections with the Hidden Rain Village had been severed. Every Root ninja sent to gather intelligence had vanished without a trace, bringing back no news at all. He couldn't exactly go to the Land of Rain himself.
The Hidden Rain's reply had been blunt: they were in a civil war, and if he insisted on going, he couldn't blame them if something happened. If the Leaf remained dissatisfied, their only option would be to send troops to attack the Land of Rain. However, given the Leaf's current situation, they hadn't even resolved the internal threat of the Uchiha Clan yet. How could they spare the resources for external conflicts?
With no results, Danzo had no choice but to take his leave.
After he left, Kakashi Hatake appeared before Hiruzen Sarutobi, his face masked as usual. Compared to his treatment of Danzo, the Third Hokage's attitude toward Kakashi was much warmer.
"Kakashi, what is the status of that boy brought back from the Hidden Steam Village?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi crossed his hands, a hint of expectation in his voice. After the Hidden Steam Village was wiped out and the Leaf ninjas had retreated, Hiruzen had dispatched border troops back to the Hidden Steam Village out of humanitarian concern. They managed to bring back a survivor to the village. In truth, there was only one: a one-armed boy with golden hair. Kakashi had been in charge of this matter recently.
Upon hearing the Hokage's inquiry, Kakashi immediately reported, "Lord Hokage, the boy's name is Arima Kushan. He is currently out of danger, and his arm has stabilized. Dr. Katasuke is beginning further research."
Hiruzen nodded slightly and instructed, "Do not tell anyone about this for the time being, including the advisors. Understood?"
Kakashi's eyes flickered as he replied, "Understood."
After leaving the Hokage's Office, Kakashi immediately went to a research facility. He placed a bowl of ramen in front of Dr. Katasuke, who was deeply immersed in his experiments.
"Ah? Kakashi."
Katasuke, wearing square-framed glasses and a white lab coat, snapped out of his trance and smiled at Kakashi.
"Is tonight's dinner ramen? It smells wonderful."
Despite the compliment, Katasuke had no intention of savoring the meal. He finished the ramen in a few bites. If Kakashi hadn't held him back, the man would have immediately plunged back into his research.
"How is Arima's condition?" Kakashi asked with concern.
Even though over a month had passed, he still occasionally dreamed of that terrifying eye at night. As a survivor of that disaster, Arima likely felt even more fear in his heart.
Hearing the question, Katasuke pointed toward the inner room. "Arima's physical recovery is excellent, and his mental state is quite good. He even started performing self-rehabilitation training today."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow in surprise. Is this kid's will really that strong?
"I'll go take a look."
He walked directly toward the laboratory inside. Through the glass door, he could clearly see a thin, blonde-haired boy struggling to do push-ups with his remaining arm. Large beads of sweat dripped from his face. Even though his arm was trembling, he showed no intention of stopping.
"Such hard work."
Kakashi's arrival interrupted Arima's almost self-harming training. He flipped over and lay on the ground, saying weakly, "So, when can I start practicing ninjutsu?"
Clearly, this was not the first time he had spoken with Kakashi. Through their conversations, the young Arima had come to understand his current situation clearly. He was in the Hidden Leaf Village of the Five Great Shinobi Nations, valued by the Leaf high-levels because of the unique changes in his body. To be precise, they valued the research potential of those changes.
Arima knew that if it weren't for the desire to study him, the Leaf might have simply healed him and used him as a promotional case for the "Will of Fire" before letting him live out a quiet life. But he was not satisfied with that. He wanted to become strong. He wanted revenge.
Unlike others, the thought of revenge did not make him go mad; it only made him calmer. He calmly identified his goal and then set out to implement it.
"As long as you cooperate with Katasuke's research, there will be opportunities to learn ninjutsu."
Kakashi neither promised nor refused. In a sense, he did not have the authority to decide this matter. Arima said nothing more. After resting for ten minutes, he began training desperately again. However, this time, he replaced the push-ups with a long sword—a long sword made of Kagune.