Three Days Later – Second World, Konoha Village, Hokage's Office
Click—
Newly promoted Fourth Hokage (World #2) Danzō sat with his head bent over a stack of documents, seemingly oblivious to the fact that someone had just entered.
"You sure are taking a bold risk," muttered Danzō #1 from the Main World as he settled into the chair across from him, his gaze scrutinizing his older counterpart.
"The village is in dire straits, the Alliance's rules forbid ninjas from fighting each other at will…"
A sneer curved across Danzō #2's lips. "You and I both know best what the ninja profession is really like."
"Standing in my position, what would you do?"
"Times have changed," Danzō #1 replied without dodging the question, pressing a file he held onto the desk. "There's no need for the Enforcement Squad to come drag you to prison, right?"
"Unless, of course, you intend to defy the Alliance Enforcement Squad as the Fourth Hokage?"
From his perspective, there was no doubt that if he were operating under the Alliance's constraints, he'd do exactly the same—secretly cultivating an organization to handle dirty work while avoiding direct involvement himself. When you're clearly at a disadvantage, relying on honest competition alone is something only a fool would do.
Rogue ninjas made ideal tools. As the top brass of Konoha #2, fully aware of parts of the Hokage Chronicles, you'd easily recruit certain "useful" individuals—like the Third Mizukage, like Kakuzu.
But if you failed, the outcome was obvious. Victory was something everyone could live with; failure was only bearable if you had real power. And here in the Alliance, Danzō #2 wasn't strong enough.
In fairness, things were just unlucky. Under normal circumstances, Stone Temple's antics might not have led to an immediate meltdown; they could have covered their tracks, then silenced Kakuzu afterward, and that might have been the end of it. Instead, the Iwagakure–Stone Temple conflict escalated first, then fatefully Uchiha Sasuke stumbled onto their gathering near the lab where Link was sleeping. That triggered a chain of events, leading the Alliance to investigate. Truly a case of misfortune piling up—like choking on cold water.
Of course, some of it wasn't mere coincidence. Why else would certain witnesses survive, stirring up more trouble…? Heh.
The only pure coincidence was Sasuke turning up unexpectedly.
Danzō #2 closed his eyes, took a slow breath (abandoning any thought of using force), and reopened them. "I had Stone Temple provoke Iwagakure because they were trying to incite the Hyūga clan to leave our village."
He tapped the Rownet console to send over some evidence to his counterpart.
"You realize none of that would truly harm Iwagakure, right?" Danzō #1 said, scrolling through the files.
Not really. Some Iwa nin messing around trying to sway the Hyūga clan wasn't the same as Ōnoki himself. And if it came down to assigning blame, at worst it would result in a fine or some scapegoat taking the fall.
Anyway, that Iwa ninja was killed by the Anbu before leaving Konoha, or how else would they have extracted the memories? Likely Iwa was prepared to smear Konoha, carefully deleting all traces leading back to their top brass. Ōnoki could just claim the rogue acted alone. So in the end, all they could do was penalize him slightly.
"Huh?" Danzō #1 feigned surprise as he reached the latter part of the evidence.
It contained not only the Iwa ninja's memories but also some from a certain Hyūga…
That gave the material more leverage after all—something they could potentially use against both the Hyūga and Iwagakure.
So, it was a deal, then?
He understood: the other Danzō wanted to exchange benefits for a more favorable verdict from the Alliance.
Danzō #2 lowered his gaze. "I can volunteer my own memories, proving I never intended to harm Link."
"You're not in much trouble personally," Danzō #1 answered earnestly. "The Yamanaka clan has already read through the minds of all Stone Temple members who were arrested. Their gathering at Kishō-ji was pure coincidence, but their deliberate attacks on Iwa ninja—and repeated assaults on Alliance personnel during rescue missions in the Third World—must be punished."
Approaching Link's location had simply triggered the memory scan, which in turn revealed all the dirty work Stone Temple had done for Konoha—attacking other villages' ninjas and organizations, stealing rare resources and jutsu from the Third World in blatant violation of Alliance rules.
The major powers had always fought discreetly, letting casualties in the Third World pass as "accidents," much like the old Chūnin Exams. But in this case, Stone Temple messed up by leaving survivors who took the story to the media. Probably even Ōnoki never wanted it to blow up, but once it hit the news, he had to lodge a complaint, since he was technically in the right.
"Most of them will face sealed chakras and prison sentences of ten to thirty years," Danzō #1 went on, citing the Executive Committee's internal discussions. Speaking to the criminals, it was presumably a form of intimidation about the length of the sentence. "As for you, given the severity, you'll likely stay locked up for life."
"However, since you show signs of remorse, the Enforcement Squad can grant you a week to disclose everything, plus a month to choose your successor as Hokage. If you demonstrate additional 'good behavior,' for instance by helping us crack certain cases, you may earn a reduction in your sentence."
Danzō #2's eyes widened in brief shock. He understood the hint. By "good behavior," they meant exposing the crimes of other ninja. Indeed, the Alliance had countless rules—banning violent conflicts among ninja, restricting interference with civilians, and forbidding battles in populated areas.
Yet they couldn't watch everyone around the clock. With Rownet covering the Second World, any ordinary person could be an informant, but the Third World remained lawless. All the villages and organizations tacitly agreed to settle disputes there. Deaths went unreported, just as in the old Chūnin Exam days.
Now the Alliance was basically telling him to blow the whistle on that tacit arrangement, to accuse other violators. They'd even give him some time to gather proof. Could it be…?
Danzō #1 smiled faintly, saying nothing, posting nothing on Rownet. "That's the Alliance Executive Committee's provisional handling of Fourth Hokage Shimura Danzō's case."
With that, he turned and left.
(They still haven't realized the real issue, huh.)
He mused as he walked away. The age of ninja-as-tools was over. The Alliance had put all these rules in place and given them so much time to adapt. Now it was time for a final cleanup.
(The era has changed. The old way of the ninja will never return.)