"Lord Danzo, even if it was for the village, attacking innocent Leaf shinobi like that… I still think it was wrong."
Just a short while ago, Hiruzen Sarutobi had told Minato Namikaze with absolute certainty that Rin Nohara's death had nothing to do with Danzo. Danzo had looked him in the eye and sworn it wasn't him. The Anbu investigation had backed that up.
But now this suicide note changed everything.
"Was it really Danzo after all?"
"If it wasn't, how the hell do I explain this note?"
"Someone trying to frame him on purpose?"
"Unlikely. The guy was about to kill himself. This reads more like genuine guilt from someone who actually took part."
"If it is a frame job, either someone controlled him… or he made a deal to protect his family. But that last one seems too risky. Who would dare cross Danzo like that?"
Hiruzen sat in silence for a long time.
Finally he spoke.
"Send for Danzo. Tell him to come here right now."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
Danzo arrived quickly.
"Hiruzen, you wanted to see me? Don't tell me this is about that headline in the Ninja World Big Events Weekly again. You already know the truth. The Sand Village is doing this on purpose. It's revenge. They're just trying to make me and the Leaf look bad."
"Just make a public statement as Hokage and clear it up."
Hiruzen stared at him, expression cold.
He had believed Danzo. He had told Minato with full confidence that Rin's death wasn't Danzo's doing. If that turned out to be a lie, then Hiruzen had straight-up lied to Minato's face. What would that do to his image? To Minato's trust in him?
"Danzo, you'd better explain this."
Hiruzen tossed the suicide note onto the desk in front of him.
Danzo picked it up. The moment he read it, his face went white.
Same reaction Hiruzen had.
"This is slander! Pure slander!"
All the previous rumors had come from other villages—Sand or Mist. But this time it was coming from inside the Leaf. A dead shinobi had left a suicide note. Even if the guy had been nobody special, the fact that he killed himself and left this behind made it stick.
How was Danzo supposed to deny it now?
It felt like an invisible hand was pulling strings behind the scenes, all aimed at destroying him.
"Does this bastard have a screw loose? He's dead—why the hell is he still trying to drag me down with him?"
Danzo wanted to dig the corpse up, bring the man back to life just so he could scream at him, then kill him again.
"Hiruzen, this man hated me. That's why he used his death to frame me."
Hiruzen shook his head.
"Danzo, do you even believe that excuse yourself?"
"He hated you so much he killed himself over it? Then why didn't he come report you to me while he was still alive?"
"Why is the note so vague?"
"Why didn't he defect to the Mist?"
"Danzo… you've disappointed me."
Danzo: "..."
"Hiruzen, believe me. I'm telling the truth. If I had anything to do with Rin Nohara's death, may lightning strike me dead right now and scatter my soul."
Hiruzen looked at him for a long, heavy moment.
"Fine. Then I'll give you a chance. Danzo, I want you to investigate Rin Nohara's death. Thoroughly. Every single detail. No mistakes. No omissions."
Danzo let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and nodded hard.
"I will."
The second he stepped out of the Hokage Tower, Danzo's face turned black with rage.
"Who the hell is coming after me?"
"Using such filthy tricks… it's probably the Mist again. Yagura's shamelessness knows no bounds. He's even worse than the Third Mizukage. Does he really think I won't strike back?"
Danzo snorted.
A figure came running toward him.
"Clan Head! Bad news!"
It was a member of the Shimura clan.
"Hm?"
"One of our merchant caravans was attacked outside the village. Everyone's dead. They cut off all their heads and strung them up in the trees like some kind of sick decoration. There was a note next to them."
Danzo's expression darkened further.
"What did the note say?"
"'Those who murder their own villagers—feel the pain!'"
Danzo's face twisted into something ugly and feral.
"Who the fuck is it?!"
"What kind of grudge does this person have against me?"
If the suicide note could still be blamed on the Mist trying to shift internal pressure, this caravan massacre didn't make sense for them. Mist needed the Leaf to look like the ultimate villains. But hitting the Shimura clan gave them nothing.
"Sand Village?"
"Impossible. That doesn't benefit them either. And with Rasa's greedy personality, he would've looted the caravan, not just killed everyone."
"This person… they just hate me. Pure hatred."
"But who?"
Danzo thought hard, but no name came to mind.
Until a blond young man walked past in the distance.
It wasn't Minato Namikaze. But the golden hair made Danzo think of him anyway.
"Could it be Minato? Is he suspecting me of killing Rin and taking revenge for his student?"
"That doesn't match Minato's personality at all."
"But who's to say the face he shows the world is the real one? Even Minato might have a dark side."
"Last time, if Minato had arrived just a little earlier, I wouldn't have lost my arm to Rasa."
Another possibility hit him.
"Or the Uchiha?"
"They definitely hate me. They'd jump at any chance to get back at me. There are still Uchiha inside the village and plenty outside."
"Honestly… this ninja world would be better off without the Uchiha in it."
More deaths followed. More Shimura clan members slaughtered. Danzo set traps, posted guards, did everything he could, but not a single clue turned up. It was like the killer was a ghost.
Every time another body dropped, another note appeared with the same message. And with each one, the rumor that Danzo had orchestrated Rin Nohara's death spread wider than ever.
...
Sunagakure.
A figure sprinted into the Kazekage's office.
"Kazekage-sama! The first section of the Sun Disk is complete!"