Konoha Village, inside Kakashi's residence.
Right on the agreed time, Uchiha Itachi arrived and found the Wood Release clone Senju Haruto had left behind.
"The Third Hokage has already left the village. What's your plan?"
To his surprise, if Haruto hadn't warned him in advance that he would leave a Wood Release clone to assist, Itachi would never have been able to tell the difference between this clone and the real body.
Just to be sure, he activated his Mangekyō Sharingan.
He couldn't deny it — this left him astonished.
There were many techniques referred to as "true clones," with the most famous in Konoha being the Shadow Clone Technique, which evenly divides chakra to make detection difficult.
However, for someone with the Sharingan, ordinary shadow clones were easy to see through. The same went for other types of clones.
Yet, Haruto's Wood Release clone showed no flaws whatsoever.
Itachi even began to wonder: between the Haruto who stayed behind and the one accompanying the Third Hokage to the Land of Iron… which one was the real body?
Or perhaps… was it possible that the "Haruto" everyone interacted with in daily life had always been a Wood Release clone, while the real body hid somewhere in the shadows?
His eyes narrowed slightly as he stared, Mangekyō Sharingan spinning.
Even so, the Haruto standing before him felt entirely like the genuine article.
"What else is there to do? Danzō must die."
Haruto stretched his limbs, then took prepared clothing and a mask from the wardrobe.
Since Itachi was still in his Anbu uniform, Haruto only tossed him a mask.
"A Root mask," Itachi murmured, catching it and glancing at its markings.
Anbu masks were designed to resemble animals, while Root masks were not — an easy way to distinguish the two organizations.
"We're infiltrating Root?"
"That's right," Haruto nodded as he changed clothes himself.
It wasn't really for disguise — his real body wasn't even in Konoha right now but alongside the Third Hokage. Even if someone saw him here, it didn't matter.
The point of wearing a Root uniform was simply to get close to Danzō.
"Now that the Third Hokage has left the village, Danzō will definitely gather all of Root."
"I see…" Itachi glanced between Haruto and the mask in his hand.
In truth, after placing Tenzo under a genjutsu to knock him unconscious, Haruto had deliberately extracted intelligence on Root.
Before Tenzo left Root, Danzō was already fond of holding secret meetings.
Now, with only Koharu and Homura left among Konoha's top brass, Danzō wouldn't take them seriously at all.
Even if he didn't actively cause trouble, he would still call a secret meeting.
If Haruto and Itachi could infiltrate one of these meetings, they could get close to Danzō — and then he would die.
"Root's structure is strict. Getting in won't be easy," Itachi said without hesitation.
"Isn't that why I have you?" Haruto replied casually, putting on his mask.
"With your genjutsu, slipping in unnoticed is hardly a challenge. I've already convinced Yamanaka Fū to go act as the Third Hokage's bodyguard.
"With Danzō's sensory skills, by the time he realizes we're there, it'll be too late."
Haruto said this as he headed for the door.
"What about the Third Hokage? What's your stance on him?" Itachi asked quickly, following Haruto toward Root headquarters.
Along the way, he deliberately brought up the subject.
Itachi respected the Hokage deeply. "According to your plan, after eliminating Danzō… will you also remove the Hokage?"
"How should I put it…" Haruto glanced at him. "I honestly don't care whether the Hokage lives or dies."
"…Hm?"
"My plan is indeed to become Hokage and implement reforms — to turn the Fire Daimyō into a thing of the past and have the Hokage govern the Land of Fire directly — but I'm not in a rush."
If Itachi hadn't asked, Haruto wouldn't have spoken of this at all.
It was more a whim than anything.
Before becoming Hokage, his real body still had plenty to do — such as resolving the Uchiha clan's status as Konoha's hidden threat, and ensuring that the Hyūga, Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi, Inuzuka, Aburame, Sarutobi, and other clans would follow him.
Sure, raw strength could conquer everything, but he didn't want a fractured, fear-filled world… nor an endless illusion like Madara's Infinite Tsukuyomi.
"Why?" Itachi asked.
If Haruto intended to eliminate the Third Hokage, how was that any different from the Uchiha coup?
In other words, this was Itachi testing him.
But the Wood Release clone didn't even notice — not because Haruto lacked caution toward Itachi, but because he simply didn't care.
Test him if you want.
He didn't need to lay a hand on the Hokage — the man's death was already fated.
He would die sealing Orochimaru with the Reaper Death Seal.
Why bother targeting someone already doomed?
More importantly, at that time, Konoha would not only need a Hokage but also its strongest warrior to deter other villages.
That was why Koharu and Homura had pushed for Jiraiya rather than Danzō — because they thought Danzō was too weak for the role.
They had no idea about his arsenal of forbidden techniques like Kotoamatsukami, Wood Release, and Izanagi.
But now, why go searching for Tsunade when Konoha already had its strongest right here?
"I have no conflict with the Third Hokage. He trusts me — at least on the surface — and grants every request I make. He knows my value.
"So why would I remove a man who's going to die soon anyway?"
As for Sarutobi Hiruzen's potential suspicions, he could wave them away with some nonsense about fear and self-preservation — nothing anyone would believe seriously.
"We're here."
Haruto stopped. He and Itachi had arrived at Root headquarters, where the guards quickly spotted them.
As planned, Itachi immediately cast genjutsu on the guards.
"Lord Danzō is summoning all of Root," one of them said in a low voice, motioning for them to follow.
"Just as you predicted," Itachi said, realizing Haruto had no intention of staging a coup — only of succeeding the Hokage after Sarutobi stepped down.
"You've passed, Haruto."
Itachi rubbed his eyes but didn't say what test Haruto had passed.