"Oh?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up.
Spar with him?
Ever since the two of them had become Hokage and Hokage's advisor, they had rarely crossed hands. Back in their youth, though, it had been constant. A small fight every three days, a big one every five. If they weren't trading blows, they were nursing bruises.
Some matches had been dangerous. Others had gone smoothly.
But in the end, he had never lost.
"Danzo, what's your take on Hidden Grass Village?" Hiruzen asked suddenly, shifting the topic.
He was still thinking about one problem.
When Tobirama Senju returned to life, how would they handle his identity?
If he revived as an Uchiha, he could not appear as a native ninja of the Hidden Leaf. That would be exposed immediately.
An Uchiha who looked like Izuna Uchiha appearing out of nowhere would never make sense.
So the only option was to give Tobirama Senju a background outside the village. A war orphan from the Warring States era, perhaps. Someone who had been separated and raised elsewhere.
Maybe even frame him as a descendant of Izuna Uchiha?
Whether that arrangement would hold, Hiruzen did not know. He did not understand Izuna well enough. That discussion would have to wait until Tobirama Senju himself could weigh in.
For now, Hidden Grass Village was the birthplace Hiruzen had chosen for "Tobirama Uchiha."
"Two-faced, opportunistic fence-sitters," Danzo Shimura replied. He did not understand why the topic had changed, but when it came to work, he answered without hesitation. "They survive by studying other nations' jutsu and constantly shifting allegiances. Their style fits their name."
"That village is a threat to the Hidden Leaf."
"The Land of Grass borders the Land of Fire along a wide plain that's easy to advance across. But the side bordering the Land of Earth is mostly mountainous. Naturally, they'll lean toward infiltrating the Land of Fire."
"And I suspect they've started acting like battlefield hyenas again…"
Hiruzen frowned, though inwardly he felt a flicker of satisfaction. "Do you have evidence?"
"Battlefield hyenas" referred to what Hidden Grass had done during the great ninja wars. When major nations clashed, they would capture wounded or crippled ninja left behind on the battlefield.
On average, ninja from the great hidden villages far surpassed those from a small village like Hidden Grass. But even the strongest Jonin, if gravely wounded and on the brink of death, could fall to an ordinary Chunin.
Hidden Grass had long used nimble diplomacy and constant shifts in allegiance to gather intelligence. While the great villages tore each other apart, they hid in the shadows like hyenas.
Once the main battle ended, they would slink out and clean up the field, abducting severely injured ninja from the major villages.
Through that, they stole precious jutsu research and even bloodlines.
During the First Great Ninja War, this behavior had been discovered. In rare tacit agreement, the Five Great Hidden Villages had paused their fighting long enough to teach Hidden Grass a harsh lesson.
If Hidden Grass had not knelt quickly enough, crying out in desperate surrender, and if the fighting between the Five had not been so intense that four Kage had already died…
The village would have been wiped out.
"No hard evidence," Danzo said calmly. "But I have a feeling."
"Before we moved to deter the Hidden Cloud, Hidden Grass activity along the Land of Fire's border increased significantly. Root intercepted their movements several times."
"I reported that to you, Hiruzen."
"At the time, you said the Second Great Ninja War had only just ended. We shouldn't stir up unnecessary conflict." A hint of dissatisfaction crept into Danzo's voice.
Hiruzen's expression did not change. "That was my mistake."
"But fortunately, I have you as my advisor to keep me in check."
Danzo's lips curled upward before he could stop himself.
Of course. Whether it was Hiruzen or the village itself, they could not function without him.
He was indispensable.
"Forget it," Danzo muttered. "You carry the burden of many considerations. An occasional misjudgment isn't worth beating yourself up over…"
The moment he finished speaking, he paused.
Since when had he started making excuses for the Hokage?
But thinking about it carefully, perhaps it was not wrong. Recently, Hiruzen had handled internal affairs and diplomacy with impressive precision. There were things even Danzo had to acknowledge.
He should not sympathize with Hiruzen.
Yet not sympathizing somehow felt unreasonable.
Danzo felt a headache forming and decided to shelve that line of thought for now.
"As for Hozuki Castle," he continued, "I believe it's the den where they hide this hyena behavior."
"A prison environment is perfect for a closed compound."
Hiruzen nodded thoughtfully.
Hozuki Castle had been established with the tacit approval of the major villages, functioning as a kind of international prison. In theory, it served as a neutral holding facility for Rogue Ninja and wandering shinobi who had committed crimes across multiple villages and required joint trials.
The idea had been sound.
But as Danzo said, under Hidden Grass's hyena traditions…
It could easily become a kidnapping compound hiding in plain sight.
"Hiruzen, do we eliminate them?" Danzo asked.
"Given the current climate in the ninja world, any action we take might trigger a chain reaction. It may not be worth it."
Hiruzen shot him a curious look. "You're not running a fever, are you?"
His old friend was thinking cautiously for once?
No wonder he had come looking to spar. If his thinking had improved, perhaps his strength had as well.
"Don't underestimate me, Hiruzen." Danzo crossed his arms.
"Gather intelligence first," Hiruzen said.
Danzo nodded. Steady as always.
"We can either feign letting them infiltrate us or hire them to probe our defenses. In the end, everything goes to the Analysis Team. It will also serve as a test for our patrol and security forces."
"I want precise intelligence."
Hiruzen's tone was calm. "Handle it as you see fit. This is your field of expertise."
Danzo blinked.
Wasn't that his line?
Had they been working together so long that their styles were rubbing off on each other?
Hiruzen, you've been copying me.
"So we are moving against them?" Danzo mused. "Should we start shaping public opinion in advance?"
"If Hidden Grass has resumed hyena operations, the damage won't stop with the Hidden Leaf. Any village involved in the Second War could be affected. Even in peacetime, they won't stay honest."
"They'll scavenge at border skirmishes too."
Hiruzen's voice hardened.
"That means the ninja they've detained come from multiple villages. There's no need to create momentum. We march swiftly and take Hidden Grass in a lightning strike."
"Afterward, we notify the other nations to retrieve their materials and their people."
"What could they say? That the Hidden Leaf was wrong to rescue comrades who were ambushed?"
"They'll gain something back. We'll gain something too. Clearing the hyena off our border and being first on the scene lets us collect a little profit along the way."
"This is retreating in order to advance."
Danzo could not help but admire Hiruzen's reasoning.
Out loud, he snorted. "Hmph. I was thinking the same. Then that's the plan."
"Wait." Hiruzen called out as Danzo turned to leave and carry it out. He slipped off his Hokage robe. "What about that spar you mentioned?"
—
Hidden Leaf Village.
Third Training Ground.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura stood facing each other.
They met each other's eyes, adjusting their breathing. A faint trace of emotion stirred in both of them.
Time had passed.
The brothers who once sharpened each other through constant battle had not tested one another in years.
"Hiruzen!" Danzo suddenly shouted.
"Danzo!" Hiruzen grinned.
In the next instant, both of them burst forward and collided head-on.