A sharp swish cut through the still night.
Wearing only his night robes, the Third Hokage-Hiruzen Sarutobi-appeared beside the crying infant Naruto in an instant. His old yet steady hands pressed against the child's small belly, feeling for the seal while murmuring softly to calm him.
Gradually, Naruto's tremors eased. The sinister red light that had flared across his skin faded away, and the air in the room settled once more. Hiruzen checked the seal carefully-it was intact. Only then did he lay the exhausted child back onto the bed and release a long, weary sigh.
When he turned, the masked ANBU kneeling behind him lowered his head, awaiting orders. The Third's gaze sharpened with quiet fury.
"Explain," Hiruzen said coldly. "What happened?"
"Lord Hokage," the ANBU began, voice low but steady, "rumors have begun spreading near the market district. Word says that Uzumaki Naruto is the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox reborn. Also… the caretaker assigned to him, Kinoshita Hisachi, has abandoned her post. She fled the village tonight. It seems she could no longer bear to raise what she called a 'monster.'"
"Fools!" Hiruzen's voice cracked like thunder. "Why was I not informed immediately? And you-watch your tongue. Naruto is not the Nine-Tails. He is a child of Konoha, one of its precious leaves, not a beast!"
The ANBU pressed his forehead to the floor. "Apologies, Lord Third. The news seemed trivial at first. I did not think-"
"Did not think?" Hiruzen's tone turned icy. He stared at the kneeling ninja for a long time. The ANBU's apology sounded rehearsed. Even the way he said "Lord Third" instead of "Lord Hokage" told Hiruzen enough-resentment simmered behind the mask.
He sighed inwardly. Ordinary shinobi did not know Naruto's true parentage, but even so-they feared him. They might not be as ignorant as civilians, yet most still saw a jinchūriki as something less than human. To them, a person who housed a tailed beast could never truly be a comrade.
And in their eyes, the Third's constant watch over Naruto looked less like duty and more like favoritism toward an "abomination."
Inside the seal, Mo Ke-hidden deep within Naruto-watched Hiruzen's face twist between anger and helplessness and almost laughed aloud.
So it begins.
The great Five Villages were all the same. To their leaders, jinchūriki were weapons first, people second. Dangerous when unstable, unstoppable when perfect. To control them, every village had crafted the same poison-teaching its people to fear and despise their hosts.
It was elegant in its cruelty. If a jinchūriki became too beloved, too strong, what would stop them from becoming a rival to the Kage? Best to make them outcasts. Best to make them hate themselves.
Mo Ke's lips curved into a silent, mocking grin. Humans never disappoint.
Above, Hiruzen's expression darkened further. He already knew whose hand lurked behind the spreading rumor.
"Danzo…" he muttered, a vein pulsing in his temple. "You're stirring the shadows again."
It fit perfectly-this chaos was Root's work. The year before, after one bitter argument, Danzo had gone so far as to arrange an ambush against him on the road to the Fire Daimyo's estate. If not for a loyal young shinobi's warning, the Third might have died that day. Furious, Hiruzen had stripped Danzo of his authority and dissolved Root.
But the year since had broken Konoha's strength. Orochimaru's betrayal. The Fourth's death. Raikage's probing attacks from the Cloud. Hiruzen had grown old-and tired. To keep the village from fracturing, he had reluctantly allowed Danzo to return to his post.
Now he saw the price of that decision.
Hiruzen turned back to the ANBU, voice low. "Tomorrow morning, report to my office for reassignment. I'll have another take your place as Naruto's guard."
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
"As for his caretaker… let her go. Naruto is a year old now. He must learn to stand on his own feet-like the other children of Konoha." The Third's voice softened. "No, perhaps more than the others."
He knew the words sounded cruel. But deep down, he also knew-no one else would willingly take care of the boy.
When the ANBU vanished into the night, Hiruzen stood alone for a long while, gazing at the sleeping child. The faint moonlight traced Naruto's whisker marks like scratches on porcelain. Hiruzen reached out a trembling hand and brushed a lock of blond hair from the boy's forehead.
"Forgive this old fool," he whispered. "The world is colder than it should be."
Then he disappeared in a swirl of smoke, leaving the child to his dreams.
Inside the sealed darkness of Naruto's mind, Mo Ke chuckled softly. The Third Hokage's performance had been entertaining, but transparent. The old man wore his guilt like armor, using Danzo as his shadow hand so he could pretend his own were clean.
Hiruzen Sarutobi-the Professor. The "God of Shinobi." The so-called kind-hearted leader who clung to the sun while commanding the shadows to do his dirty work. His very personality was a battlefield of contradictions. Compassionate in speech, ruthless in silence.
He wants a perfect village, Mo Ke mused, but lacks the spine to stain his own halo.
So Danzo became his darkness. The two advisors became his excuses. And through their hands, the Third let Konoha rot from within-one "necessary" evil at a time.
Mo Ke sighed in mock sympathy. "Pitiful old man. No wonder your precious Will of Fire burns so dim."
Still, the situation worked in his favor. He couldn't act openly yet-Hiruzen would tighten the guard after tonight. But patience was a small price to pay.
Half a year, he decided. Give it half a year, and the real game begins.
He let his mind drift over the seal's great gate. A faint grin tugged at his lips. For now, he would play the sleeping fox-and watch the cracks in Konoha's mask grow wider.
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