10

In the Hokage's Office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the report in his hand, his brows slightly furrowed.

This was Uchiha Kagami's recent submission regarding the preparation progress of "Root". The personnel from the Ino–Shika–Chō clans and the Sarutobi main family were all in place, undergoing the first phase of screening and basic training.

And the ten young Uchiha Ninja recruited from the Security Force, personally approved by him to be part of the "Hokage's Direct Guard Unit" reserves, had shown astonishing enthusiasm and talent.

Under Kagami's personal guidance and ample resource allocation, their strength advanced by leaps and bounds, and they were even more loyal to him, who had given them new life and honor.

Everything was developing in a positive direction.

Only one person made him feel uneasy.

Danzo Shimura.

Since the last time Hiruzen had defeated him with a combination of overt strategies, Danzo had outwardly become much more subdued.

He came for work reports on time every week and strictly carried out Hiruzen's various arrangements, appearing like a tamed beast.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi knew that a person like Danzo, whose ambition and stubbornness were ingrained, would not change easily.

He was merely biding his time, waiting for an opportunity to prove the necessity of his "dark methods".

"I hope you don't do anything foolish," Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed inwardly.

He had too many things on his hands now and truly didn't have the energy to constantly watch Danzo.

As long as he didn't cross the line, Hiruzen was willing to give him, the leader of "Root," some face.

However, what he feared most came to pass.

Just as this thought flashed through his mind, a cold, mechanical voice sounded in his head without warning.

"Warning! Detected that the actions of key figure Danzo Shimura will have a severe negative impact on Konoha's future!"

"Initiate Future Simulation?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart sank sharply.

"Damn it! This guy!" he cursed inwardly, his face instantly turning grim.

"Simulate!"

"Initiating Future Simulation..."

"Simulation Scenario: Danzo Shimura acts on his own."

The scene before his eyes changed rapidly.

"Scene One: In a dark underground base, Danzo looked at a secret intelligence report, a cold sneer on his face.

The report indicated that a group of Iwagakure rogue Ninja, who had been defeated by Sarutobi's squad at the Land of Fire border some time ago, were connected to a high-ranking elder in Iwagakure, and they seemed to be planning a larger-scale border disturbance."

"Scene Two: Danzo believed this was an excellent opportunity to prove the value of "Root" and his personal capabilities, which he felt far surpassed Hiruzen's.

He decided to bypass the Hokage, without any reporting, and privately dispatch several of his newly trained confidants to infiltrate the Land of Earth border, attempting to capture the liaison between the rogue Ninja and the Iwagakure high-ranking official to obtain direct evidence."

"Scene Three: Half a month later, bad news arrived.

The people Danzo sent had walked straight into a meticulously set trap by Iwagakure.

Two members of "Root" were captured alive on the spot."

"Scene Four: Ōnoki, the Third Tsuchikage of Iwagakure, used the captured Konoha Ninja and the "Root" organization's tokens they carried to directly confront the Land of Fire Daimyo.

He accused Konoha of treachery, sending spies to gather intelligence on another country during peacetime, with the intention of provoking war."

"Scene Five: The Land of Fire Daimyo was furious and exerted immense diplomatic pressure on Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Konoha found itself in an extremely passive situation before the entire Ninja World, its prestige plummeting.

As for Danzo, the instigator, not only did he fail to achieve merit, but he became a criminal of Konoha, his credibility shattered, and the legitimacy of his establishment of "Root" was questioned by all high-ranking officials."

Simulation ended.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in the Hokage's seat, his fingers digging into the edge of the desk, veins bulging on the back of his hands.

"Danzo! You incompetent fool who only causes trouble!"

He could hardly believe that Danzo would be so foolish.

For the sake of claiming credit, to prove himself, he had even forgotten the most basic Ninja principles.

Acting on one's own, giving orders above one's rank—these were major taboos that no organization could tolerate.

This kind of thing could not be allowed to happen.

Hiruzen Sarutobi forced himself to calm down.

Getting angry now was useless; he had to act immediately to plug this enormous hole.

His mind raced.

Since Danzo had already obtained the intelligence, his actions should be within these two days.

A cold glint flashed in Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes.

"Someone."

"Hokage-sama!"

An Anbu instantly appeared in the center of the office, kneeling on one knee.

"Immediately summon Uchiha Kagami to see me!"

"Yes!"

The Anbu's figure vanished.

Less than five minutes later, Uchiha Kagami appeared in the office.

"Hokage-sama, you called for me."

"Kagami, I have an urgent mission for you." Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was extremely serious.

He spread a map on the table, pointing to a valley on the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth.

"According to reliable intelligence, the remnants of the Iwagakure rogue Ninja, whom I defeated some time ago, are still active here.

Their liaison will appear in this valley three days from now, at the Hour of the Rat, for a secret meeting."

"I order you to immediately lead your Uchiha Special Response Squad to this location."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice was cold and left no room for doubt.

"There are two mission objectives."

"First, intercept that liaison, obtain all the intelligence he carries, and then make him disappear forever."

"Second, and most important." Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up, staring directly into Kagami's eyes, "Make the scene appear as if the rogue Ninja turned on each other due to an uneven distribution of spoils.

Erase all traces of our Konoha Ninja having been there."

"I want this matter, from beginning to end, to have absolutely no connection to Konoha."

Uchiha Kagami's heart trembled.

He instantly understood the seriousness of this mission.

This was no longer a simple pursuit of rogue Ninja; behind it lay a higher-level power struggle.

And the Hokage-sama choosing to entrust such an important mission to him and his squad was, in itself, an unparalleled act of trust.

"Yes! Hokage-sama! I guarantee the mission will be completed!" Kagami's eyes became incredibly firm.

"Go, and remember, act quickly and discreetly." Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand.

Watching Kagami's departing back, Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly sat back in his chair.

He knew that Kagami would absolutely complete this mission perfectly.

Now, he just had to wait for Danzo's show...

A week later.

Hokage Tower, small-scale high-level meeting.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Utatane Koharu, Homura Mitokado, and Danzo Shimura sat around a table.

The atmosphere of the meeting was somewhat subdued.

"...That's how it is." Danzo Shimura's voice was low, and he placed an intelligence report on the table, a subtle hint of triumph on his face.

"According to my Root's investigation, Iwagakure elder, Ishigawa, was colluding with the previous rogue Ninja, attempting to create chaos on our border.

I was already prepared to send people to investigate thoroughly and seize the evidence in one fell swoop, but unfortunately..."

Before he could finish, Hiruzen Sarutobi interjected.

"Unfortunately, you were a step too late." Hiruzen Sarutobi's face showed an expression of "regret".

He pushed another report to the center of the table.

"Just three days ago, a squad led by Uchiha Kagami, while on a pursuit mission at the border, unexpectedly discovered the trail of these rogue Ninja.

A fierce battle ensued, and the remnants of the rogue Ninja were completely annihilated."

"According to Kagami's report, traces of infighting among the rogue Ninja were found at the scene, seemingly due to an uneven distribution of spoils.

We found this on one of the leaders."

Hiruzen Sarutobi pushed over an evidence bag containing a secret letter addressed to Iwagakure elder Ishigawa.

Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado picked up the report and evidence, examined them carefully, and both breathed a sigh of relief.

"So that's what happened.

Fortunately, Kagami handled it in time, otherwise Iwagakure's scheme might have succeeded," Koharu said.

"Indeed.

Although we couldn't capture anyone alive, obtaining this letter is enough for us to leverage diplomatically against Iwagakure," Homura said, pushing up his glasses.

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled at Danzo and patted his shoulder.

"Danzo, although Kagami got ahead in this operation, your insight and Root's intelligence gathering capabilities are a treasure for Konoha!

You deserve praise!"

He praised Danzo greatly in front of Koharu and Homura.

Danzo's face flashed with a hint of surprise and unwillingness.

He couldn't understand why it was such a coincidence.

He had just been about to act, and Hiruzen's people had already taken care of it first?

Was it a coincidence? Or... did Hiruzen... know something?

An uneasy feeling spread in his heart.

Looking at Danzo's expression, as if he had swallowed a fly, Hiruzen Sarutobi was inwardly overjoyed.

You want to contend with me? You're still too green.

After the meeting, Hiruzen Sarutobi kept Danzo behind alone.

"Hiruzen, you..."

Danzo was about to ask something, but Hiruzen Sarutobi directly slammed the detailed field report, forged by Uchiha Kagami, about the "rogue Ninja infighting" onto his face.

Papers scattered across the floor.

The atmosphere in the office instantly dropped to freezing point.

Danzo's expression froze.

"Danzo."

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood up and walked step by step to stand before him, looking down at him.

The warm smile he had just worn was gone.

"Danzo, I am the Hokage!"

"Root is a blade, not your personal toy!"

"If you ever act on your own again..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice was not loud, but every word struck Danzo's heart.

Danzo's face turned from white to green, then from green to red.

He wanted to retort, to argue, but looking into Hiruzen Sarutobi's all-knowing eyes, he couldn't utter a single word.

Hiruzen knew everything.

A sense of defeat completely overwhelmed him.

After a long while, he squeezed out a few words from between his teeth.

"...Yes, I understand."

With that, he didn't even dare to look into Hiruzen's eyes again, turned, and left the office.

Watching Danzo's dejected back, Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly sat down.