Danzo Shimura spun around sharply, the dim light catching the cold gleam in his lone exposed eye.
"Kushina was at Minato Namikaze's house… and she even met with a brat from the Uchiha clan?" His voice was low and biting, each word carrying restrained fury. "Absurd. What in the world is Hiruzen thinking?"
As he spoke, the tip of his cane slammed hard against the stone floor.
Thud.
The sound echoed through the underground chamber of Root like a warning bell.
This was no small matter.
The jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails was the village's most sensitive living weapon. Every movement she made should be watched, weighed, and controlled. And now she had entered Minato's home, spent hours there, and come into contact with one of his students—an Uchiha, no less.
To Danzo, that crossed a line.
In his mind, the Uchiha clan was a nest of instability wrapped in pride and ambition. Allowing them even the slightest chance to get close to the Nine-Tails was reckless beyond reason.
His face darkened.
"Prepare yourself," he ordered coldly. "You're coming with me. I'm going to the Hokage myself."
The masked Root operative bowed at once.
"Yes, Lord Danzo."
---
A short while later, Danzo arrived at the Sarutobi residence.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had already ended his work for the day and returned home. He was seated in his living room, pipe in hand, his posture relaxed in appearance—but only in appearance. The moment Danzo entered, the atmosphere in the room changed.
"Hiruzen!" Danzo snapped, not bothering with greetings. "How can you be so permissive with Kushina?"
Hiruzen looked up, calm and unreadable.
Danzo stepped forward, his voice growing sharper with every word.
"You allowed the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki to freely enter a civilian ninja's home. Not only that, she made contact with members of the Uchiha clan!" His cane struck the floor again. "You are gambling with the safety of the entire village. If anything happens to the seal… if the Nine-Tails is affected… if the Uchiha find some way to exploit this…" He narrowed his eye. "The consequences will be unthinkable."
For a moment, only the faint curl of tobacco smoke moved in the room.
Then Hiruzen exhaled slowly and spoke.
"Danzo," he said, his tone level, "you are overthinking this."
Danzo's expression twisted.
Hiruzen continued as if he hadn't noticed.
"Minato informed me about this dinner in advance. I approved it personally." He took another slow draw from his pipe. "Kushina is a comrade of the village, not a prisoner. A normal social life helps stabilize her emotions. Lady Mito once held the same view."
At the mention of Uzumaki Mito, Danzo's mouth tightened.
"As for Obito," Hiruzen said, "he is just a child. He hasn't even awakened the Sharingan. What threat could he possibly pose to Kushina?"
Danzo let out a harsh, humorless laugh.
"A child?" he repeated. "You still see them as children? Hiruzen, the ambitions of the Uchiha are known to everyone with eyes. They will seize any chance they can get." He leaned forward. "Today that boy is harmless. Tomorrow he awakens the Sharingan. The day after, he may be standing before the Nine-Tails with control in his eyes. You speak of trust while inviting disaster into your home."
His voice lowered, becoming even more dangerous.
"Your softness will one day destroy Konoha."
The room fell silent.
Then Hiruzen's expression changed.
It was only a slight shift, but it was enough.
The gentle old man vanished, and in his place stood the Hokage.
"Enough, Danzo."
His voice was no longer mild. It carried command, authority, and an edge sharp enough to cut through the air itself.
"I am the Hokage."
Danzo stiffened.
Hiruzen set his pipe down and met his old teammate's gaze directly.
"I decide how the jinchuriki is treated. I decide how this village interacts with its clans. I have heard your concerns, and I have considered them." His tone left no room for argument. "This matter ends here."
Danzo's face went dark with fury.
For a few long seconds, the two old comrades stared at each other, decades of history and disagreement standing silently between them.
Finally, Danzo turned sharply.
"Hiruzen," he said through clenched teeth, "you will regret this."
He swept his sleeve and strode out.
Bang!
The door slammed shut behind him.
Only then did Hiruzen sit back again.
The sternness left his face, replaced by quiet exhaustion. He reached up and rubbed his brow, eyes half-lidded as smoke drifted lazily into the air once more.
His gaze was deep, distant, and impossible to read.
---
Outside the Sarutobi residence, Danzo's expression was so dark it seemed soaked in shadow.
Two Root operatives appeared beside him with soft rustling sounds, falling into step without a word. They had escorted him to the residence but had remained outside during the confrontation.
Danzo walked in silence for several moments before speaking.
"Continue monitoring the movements of the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki," he said. "And keep a close watch on the Uchiha clan as well. If there is any abnormal activity, report it to me immediately."
"Yes, Lord Danzo."
He walked a few more steps, then his thoughts shifted.
Minato's students.
Rin Nohara and Obito Uchiha were unimportant for now. One was a medic-nin in training. The other was loud, emotional, and still useless without awakened eyes.
But the remaining two…
His single eye narrowed.
"That boy Ren," Danzo said. "I hear he has been getting close to Tsunade."
"Yes," one of the Root operatives replied. "His father recently returned from the front lines with severe injuries. He is currently being treated at Konoha Hospital. Tsunade is overseeing the case personally, but the probability is high that he will be left permanently disabled and unable to continue serving as a ninja."
Danzo fell quiet.
Then, inwardly, he clicked his tongue.
So he survived.
How unfortunate.
Death created better cracks in the heart than survival ever could. True darkness took root faster in grief than in disappointment.
Still…
A household that relied on a shinobi father losing its pillar was no small blow, especially for a civilian family.
Danzo's mind moved quickly.
A gifted boy. A wounded household. A future narrowing before his eyes.
Even if Ren appeared calm on the surface, resentment had to be growing somewhere inside him. Anger. Helplessness. Frustration. Those things didn't disappear. They sank deeper.
And boys with talent plus buried anger…
Those were exactly the kind Root could shape.
A broken-winged eagle could either fall… or be reforged into a weapon.
Danzo's eye grew colder.
Perhaps it was time to make contact.
As that thought settled in his mind, his figure and those of the Root operatives gradually disappeared into the thickening night.
---
Far from Konoha, in a mountainous forest region roughly a hundred miles away, a crude bandit stronghold clung to the side of a slope.
It had been built with rough-cut timber and piled stone, ugly but functional. Sharpened stakes and makeshift barricades ringed the outer perimeter. Dirty banners fluttered above the walls, and within the camp, armed men lounged around fires, guards half-alert and undisciplined.
This place had become a blight on the region.
Merchants had been robbed. Travelers had vanished. Villagers lived in fear of raids.
Tonight, that ended.
Hidden within the darkness beyond the outer fence, four figures crouched in silence.
Kakashi's visible eye remained fixed on the camp.
Rin checked her gear one last time.
Obito rolled his shoulders, eager and tense.
Ren rested one hand lightly on the hilt of his sword, gaze sharp as a drawn blade.
The mission was simple.
Eliminate the bandit gang.
Rescue any captives.
Recover what could be recovered.
Kakashi gave the signal.
"Move."
The word had barely left his mouth before two shadows burst forward like arrows released from a bowstring.
Kakashi reached the outer defense first.
His short blade flashed in the moonlight.
A guard had only enough time to widen his eyes before Kakashi slid past him in a streak of silver. The man collapsed without even finishing his scream.
Another guard turned toward the disturbance—
Too late.
Kakashi was already there.
Fast, precise, merciless.
He moved like a sharpened wind through dry grass, every strike clean and efficient.
Beside him, Obito refused to be outdone.
He sprinted straight for the gate, hands flying through seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A massive fireball roared from his mouth, blazing through the night like a miniature sun. It slammed into the stronghold's main gate with explosive force.
Boom!
The wood shattered apart, splinters and flame spraying everywhere.
In an instant, the quiet camp was consumed by chaos.
"Enemy attack!"
"Ninja! There are ninja here!"
"Get your weapons!"
Panicked shouts erupted from every direction. Men stumbled from buildings, some half-armed, some barely awake, all of them too slow.
Kakashi was already among them, weaving through their formation with frightening calm. His blade struck once, twice, three times. Every motion was crisp. No wasted energy. No hesitation.
Obito followed like a second wave of destruction, hurling Fire Release techniques into clusters of bandits and forcing them apart. Explosions of heat and light lit up the camp, turning the open ground into a shifting battlefield of screaming men and burning debris.
The bandits' so-called defenses collapsed almost immediately.
Some tried to rally.
Most tried to run.
A group of terrified men broke from the side of the stronghold and fled toward the rear exit, abandoning their companions without a second thought.
But someone was already waiting there.
Rin stepped out from behind a stack of crates, face determined.
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
A surging torrent blasted from her mouth, powerful and focused. It struck the fleeing bandits like a battering ram, sending them tumbling across the ground in a heap of curses and screams.
Before they could recover—
Ren moved.
He formed seals with practiced speed.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
More than a dozen fireballs shot forward in a brilliant arc.
But these weren't merely standard flames.
Each one curved subtly, tracking movement like a hunter locking onto prey.
To the terrified bandits, they looked less like ninjutsu and more like a swarm of explosive shells.
The fireballs smashed into heads, shoulders, chests—
And detonated.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The rear of the stronghold erupted into chaos.
Smoke, fire, and shattered bodies filled the air.
The few men who had dreamed of escape never made it past the gate.
Ren lowered his hands.
"…It's over."
And it was.
The entire battle had lasted less than ten minutes.
Ten minutes to erase a gang that had terrorized the region for months.
Flames crackled among the broken buildings. Blood darkened the dirt. The smell of smoke mixed with iron in the air.
Rin looked over the battlefield and let out a soft breath.
A trace of pity flickered in her eyes.
But only for a moment.
These men had murdered innocents, robbed the helpless, and treated human lives like loot. Whatever sympathy remained in her heart was quickly overtaken by resolve.
This was a mission that needed to be done.
And they had done it.
After regrouping, the team began a thorough search of the stronghold.
They checked every shack, every cellar, every hidden corner.
No survivors among the bandits.
No escapees.
In the innermost part of the camp, they found several young boys and girls bound with rope, dirty and frightened but alive. Nearby were crates of stolen goods—coins, jewelry, medical supplies, merchant wares, and even a few sets of ninja tools taken from unfortunate travelers.
The sight darkened everyone's expression.
Obito clenched his fists.
"Bastards…"
Kakashi unrolled the mission scroll, checked its contents, then looked around the ruined stronghold one final time.
"C-rank mission," he said calmly, "eliminate the bandit group occupying Black Wind Mountain… complete."
"Alright!"
Obito pumped a fist into the air at once, his earlier anger turning into triumph.
"When we get back, I'm eating ten extra-large bowls at Ichiraku!"
Ren gave him a flat look.
"You should clean the cut on your arm first," he said. "If it gets infected, ramen won't help you."
Obito blinked.
"My arm?"
He looked down and finally noticed the slash across it. The wound wasn't deep, but blood had soaked into the sleeve. In the heat of battle, with adrenaline flooding his body, he hadn't felt it at all.
"Oh…"
Rin immediately set down her pack and pulled out iodine and bandages.
"Sit," she ordered.
Obito obeyed almost instantly.
She cleaned the wound with practiced hands, her expression focused despite the faint annoyance in her eyes.
"You really need to pay more attention to yourself," she muttered.
Obito hissed when the iodine touched the cut.
"Ow! Rin, be gentler!"
"I am being gentle."
Watching the scene, Ren felt the corners of his mouth lift slightly.
Two or three weeks had passed since the dinner at Minato's house.
During that time, Team Minato had continued training, continued taking missions, and continued growing stronger.
But tonight felt different.
Not because of the bandits.
Not because of the success.
Because somewhere beneath the surface, Ren could already feel it—
The calm around him was beginning to crack.
Kushina had stepped into their world.
Danzo had taken notice.
And once Root set its sights on someone, peace never lasted for long.
The night wind swept through the mountain camp, carrying away the last drifting sparks of battle.
Ren stood silently amid the smoke and ashes, his eyes reflecting the dying firelight.
The mission was over.
But something bigger—
Something darker—
Was just beginning.
And in the shadows of Konoha, unseen hands had already started to move.
---------------------------------------------------
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