The moment that image appeared on the black-bordered screen, Konoha's F4 all felt the same chill crawl up their backs.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
If the footage had reached this point, then what came next would not be a vague overview. It would be detailed. Specific. Enough to strip them bare in front of the entire ninja world.
They were finished.
One problem was the intelligence leak. The other was even worse. How could Konoha's F4 possibly not know what was usually said in those private meetings?
Cold sweat rolled down Hiruzen Sarutobi's forehead in fat, heavy drops.
Orochimaru's eyes lit up.
Now this was getting interesting.
Deep inside Root's underground base, Danzo's expression shifted in and out of shadow.
Then he remembered what he had just said in the chat.
All at once, his nose seemed to sting.
Nearby, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado exchanged a glance. Both saw the same panic in the other's eyes, and neither of them could hide it.
"Hmph."
In an unnamed tavern on Tanzaku Street, Tsunade slammed her bottle down hard enough to rattle the table.
"A bunch of rotten old bastards!"
"Lady Tsunade, you can't drink anymore," Shizune said quickly, hugging Tonton tighter as she moved in to stop her.
"I'm not drunk!" Tsunade snapped, shoving her away.
Then she turned her face aside.
She had been staring at the chat room the whole time, especially whenever Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju spoke. Just hearing their voices again had been enough to stir something inside her.
And yet, the two people she wanted to hear most still hadn't spoken.
That stung more than she wanted to admit.
Or maybe they wanted to speak and simply couldn't.
Shizune looked at her helplessly, then sat down quietly beside her with Tonton in her lap.
On the screen, the scene continued.
"Hiruzen, we still need an explanation for this."
After giving Danzo the faintest of glances, Koharu Utatane spoke first.
"The jinchuriki should be supervised within a controlled framework."
"If we let him live in Konoha like this, who knows what could happen? If something like that happens again... Konoha, in its current state, cannot bear the risk."
As soon as Koharu finished, Homura Mitokado followed in a heavy voice.
"He should be placed under stricter control."
Hiruzen Sarutobi, however, looked completely unruffled. He even lifted his pipe and took a slow, leisurely puff before speaking.
"Danzo. What about you?"
Then he looked at Danzo, clearly signaling him to get to the point.
Danzo's face remained cold and expressionless.
"Hiruzen, Koharu and Homura are right."
"The jinchuriki belongs to Konoha, not to you alone. Yet you acted without consulting the rest of us."
"By any moral or rational standard, a jinchuriki should not be allowed to slip beyond our control."
"So?" Hiruzen asked, lifting a brow.
"Hand him over to Root." Danzo's voice sharpened. "The way he behaved when he left makes me uneasy. If you cannot guarantee his absolute loyalty to Konoha, then don't play with fire."
The moment those words landed, Onoki immediately pounced.
"The darkness of Konoha truly lives up to its name!"
There he went again.
Danzo snorted and shot back without hesitation. "Everything I do is for Konoha's sake. This is Konoha's internal matter. What exactly is your purpose in constantly slandering me?"
Hiruzen said nothing. He simply kept smoking.
"Handing him over to Root is a sound decision," Koharu added. "At the very least, it will ensure the jinchuriki's absolute loyalty to Konoha."
"Oh?" Hiruzen turned his eyes on her. "Loyalty? To Konoha? Or to Root?"
Koharu, who had only just spoken up, shut her mouth immediately.
"This matter is already decided," Hiruzen said flatly. "There is no need to discuss it further."
"Danzo, withdraw your people. I don't want Naruto coming into contact with Root."
"Hiruzen!" Danzo's tone turned icy. "Do you understand how much damage that brat could cause Konoha if he loses control? Can those few ANBU you assigned really guarantee absolute safety?"
Hiruzen set down his pipe.
"That's enough. Pull your men back. This ends here."
"Hiruzen! You—"
Before Danzo could finish, Hiruzen cut him off.
"Danzo. I am the Hokage."
That one sentence froze Danzo in place.
His face turned so ugly it was like he'd swallowed filth whole.
At once, Koharu and Homura both fell silent. Neither dared to say another word.
"Hmph!"
Danzo's eyes darkened.
"Hiruzen, you'll regret this."
Bang!
He turned and strode out of the office, slamming the Hokage's door so hard the whole room seemed to shake.
The Fourth Raikage's laughter rang through the chat room almost instantly.
"What a wonderful scene!"
Hiruzen's expression turned stiff with embarrassment.
Far below, in Root's hidden underground base—
Bang!
Danzo smashed a fist down onto his desk.
"Damn Hiruzen!"
"Despicable!"
For a moment, Hiruzen and the others almost breathed easier.
Then the footage on the black-bordered screen kept going.
The instant they saw that, their hearts dropped again.
After Danzo stormed out, Homura and Koharu exchanged another look.
The two of them had always been like that—hovering in the middle, indecisive when it mattered, swaying whichever way the wind seemed strongest.
"Hiruzen, leave the jinchuriki matter aside for now."
"The Uchiha clan has been somewhat unstable lately."
The moment those words were spoken, Sasuke's head buzzed.
What?
No... don't tell me—
Could the Uchiha clan's affairs be tied to these old bastards too?
Madara Uchiha let out a cold laugh.
"As expected of the useless fools who inherited Tobirama's will."
"Come on. Is there no one from the Uchiha left? Tell me—was the clan wiped out?"
"What a pack of idiots. If Izuna hadn't made me promise him before he died, do you think I would have wasted so much time on Konoha?"
"Onii-chan, stop talking," Uchiha Izuna said at once.
Tobirama Senju's face darkened.
"The Uchiha clan was wiped out?" he demanded. "Monkey, don't tell me that's true."
This was not some battlefield of the Fourth Great Ninja War.
And the one facing him now was no inexperienced junior.
Tobirama wasn't testing anyone with a trap. He was voicing his genuine thoughts.
Hiruzen replied almost immediately.
"Tobirama-sensei... by the time I discovered the truth, it was already too late. Alas... I had already removed Danzo from the post of Hokage's assistant."
Tobirama Senju fell silent.
No.
More than silence, it was regret.
He regretted it.
He regretted speaking up for Hiruzen earlier. Regretted staying behind to cover for them back then. Regretted entrusting Konoha to people who had twisted his intentions into something unrecognizable.
Inside, Tobirama was practically roaring.
"Did I tell you to do this?!"
What he had created was meant to restrain the Uchiha, to keep a balance, to prevent a greater disaster if one ever came.
Exterminate the entire clan?
You people are unbelievable.
No wonder Konoha had fallen this far.
This is the village I entrusted to you?
Danzo panicked.
"Slander!"
"Hiruzen, how can you be this shameless?"
"I know nothing about the Uchiha clan. And besides, who can prove that the black-bordered world is exactly the same as ours?"
The message appeared in the chat almost the moment those thoughts crossed his mind.
Orochimaru glanced at it and sneered.
"Heh. The Uchiha clan was wiped out."
"I still remember it quite clearly."
"Orochimaru, shut up!" Hiruzen barked, glaring daggers at him.
Orochimaru only gave him a dismissive sideways glance, the corner of his mouth curling upward in mockery.
Then he said it anyway.
"Itachi Uchiha slaughtered the Uchiha clan."
Just as he was about to continue, another voice cut in—one that felt unfamiliar, yet carried a weight Sasuke would never mistake.
"That's enough, Orochimaru. Don't say any more."
Fugaku Uchiha, who had remained hidden in silence until now, finally spoke.
He did not want Sasuke to uncover the whole ugly truth here and now.
At this very moment, Sasuke was still alive in Konoha. They, meanwhile, were all dead.
If the last fig leaf was torn away completely, then Danzo—humiliated and cornered—might throw all caution aside and send Root after Sasuke without hesitation.
"Dad..."
Sasuke's eyes turned red.
Even his voice trembled.
On the other side, Izuna sounded utterly baffled.
"He destroyed himself? What kind of beast does that?"