For a long while, silence lingered.
Finally, Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, let out a tired sigh. His expression was dark, his brow furrowed with frustration as he rubbed his temples and muttered, "I miscalculated. I didn't expect things to end up like this."
"How am I supposed to explain this to Danzo?"
But then, after a moment of reflection, he waved his hand dismissively. "Forget it. There's no explaining to do."
"This whole mess was his doing. Sure, I promised him it would all be fine, but how could I have foreseen Mito-sama stepping in with such force and demanding so much?"
"Danzo will have to take the fall for this. It's his own fault."
With that, Hiruzen summoned an Anbu and ordered him to fetch Danzo immediately.
Ten minutes later.
Danzo arrived in a hurry. As soon as he stepped into the room, his eyes darted around, scanning for any sign of Uzumaki Mito. Only after confirming her absence did he relax and address Hiruzen with some relief.
"Hiruzen, you called? Is it done? Has everything been resolved?"
Hiruzen gave him a weary nod. "Almost…"
Before he could elaborate, Danzo clapped his hands and grinned. "Great! Finally over. I'll just have to be more careful next time. By the way, what were you about to say?"
"…But," Hiruzen resumed, his tone more serious, "the conditions Mito-sama laid out were far harsher than we anticipated."
Danzo narrowed his eyes. "What conditions?"
"She demanded not only the removal of your Hokage advisory role and the disbandment of Root, but also that the Senju, Uzumaki, and Uchiha clans each be given a vice-minister position in the Mission Department."
"What?!"
Danzo's face contorted in outrage. "Hiruzen, how could you agree to that?! We worked so hard to suppress the Senju influence. The Uzumaki were just welcomed into the village, and we practically saved them!"
"It was bad enough that we handed them control of the barrier corps, and now this? And you let the Uchiha into the Mission Department?"
He was livid.
"Have you forgotten our teacher's rules? The Uchiha are only to handle the Security Force and nothing more. We agreed never to give them power elsewhere!"
His anger flared, accusing Hiruzen of betraying their former sensei's vision.
Hiruzen's own patience was thinning.
"Danzo! Do you think I wanted to agree to this?"
"This happened because you acted without informing me. You plotted against Ren Takashi and Uzumaki Kushina behind my back. You got caught, and now I've had to bend over backward to clean up your mess!"
Danzo's face stiffened. His anger gave way to an embarrassed silence—briefly.
Then he retorted, "Yes, I should have told you, but let's be honest. Don't you share some of the blame?"
"Why did I target Kushina? To weaken Ren Takashi."
"And why target him? Because that brat is a threat!"
"If you had handed him over to me when I first asked, none of this would've happened!"
Hiruzen stared at Danzo in disbelief. "You still say such things... Do you really think the Uchiha clan would've stood idle if you abducted Ren Takashi?"
"They would've gone to war!"
Danzo scoffed. "So what? Better than sitting here watching the Uchiha grow stronger, the Senju revive, and the Uzumaki dig in their roots."
"All of this is because of him—Ren Takashi!"
"If I had captured him back then and placed the Binding Tongue Curse on him, we could've controlled him. Even if Uchiha revolted, they wouldn't dare go all-out if he was still alive and in our hands."
"You're too cautious, Hiruzen. You missed your chance."
Hiruzen flinched. For a brief moment, doubt flickered in his eyes.
Had he made a mistake when he encouraged Tsunade to take Ren Takashi as her student?
Without that, the boy wouldn't have bonded with Tsunade, wouldn't have gained Uzumaki Mito's favor—or Kushina's heart. Without that, the fragile alliance between Uchiha, Senju, and Uzumaki would never have solidified.
Now the three clans moved as one, a unified front against the old regime.
It gave Hiruzen headaches just thinking about it.
Danzo, observing his inner conflict, smirked. "Regretting it now, are you?"
Hiruzen exhaled slowly. "Maybe."
"But you should brace yourself. Mito-sama's demands didn't end there."
Danzo's smile froze.
"What else did you agree to?!"
Hiruzen hesitated, then said quietly, "She also asked that you be imprisoned—for three years."
"What?! Prison? You actually agreed to that?!"
Danzo exploded. "Are you trying to destroy me?"
Hiruzen's voice grew sharp. "She wanted you imprisoned for life. I bargained it down to three years. You should be thanking me!"
Danzo was livid. "Three years?! Do you know what that means? In three years, Ren Takashi could become Konoha's most powerful ninja!"
"And you let him delay his graduation, didn't you?"
"…Yes," Hiruzen admitted reluctantly. "I had no choice. Mito-sama, Nobuhiko, and even Ren Takashi himself opposed it. What could I do—force them?"
"But listen: The three-year term doesn't have to be literal."
"We'll fake it. You stay hidden, assign a double to serve your time, and continue operating from the shadows. You'll wear a mask and stay out of sight, but you'll still pull the strings."
That calmed Danzo somewhat. "And Mito?"
Hiruzen's tone grew grim. "She's dying. I can sense her life force fading. She probably won't live more than one or two years."
Danzo's eyes gleamed.
If Mito died, their last major obstacle would be gone.
Uchiha, Senju, Uzumaki—none of them would stand a chance without her.
And Kushina, the next Jinchūriki… would fall right into their hands.
With her under their thumb, they could control Ren Takashi.
"Excellent," Danzo grinned. "Once Mito's gone, we'll seize the new Jinchūriki—legitimately. Then we'll use Ren Takashi's bond with her to control him."
"Make him surrender all his secrets."
"Keep him busy, deny him training time, and exploit his talents to serve our rise."
Hiruzen nodded with cold satisfaction. "Exactly. We won't kill him—he's too valuable. We'll milk every last bit of genius from him for the glory of the Sarutobi clan."
"And finally… we'll rise to the top of the shinobi world."