Chapter 108: Danzō: I'm Not Taking the Blame!
Tsunade strolled leisurely through the forest.
She said she had come out to look for traces of Sarutobi Hiruzen, but in reality, she was mostly just taking the opportunity to go for a walk.
"Don't tell me that old geezer is copying that idiot Jiraiya and sneaking off to the pleasure district to have fun?"
Tsunade stroked her chin as she walked, lost in thought.
Hiruzen had been busy for most of his life. After stepping down as Hokage and retiring, it wouldn't be strange at all if he followed the logic of ''I fought wars my whole life, can't I enjoy myself a bit?'' and went to relax in the pleasure district…
Wait, no!
Tsunade suddenly realized something.
She had clearly told both the Third Hokage and Jiraiya about Shiromo, asking them to find ways to extract information from future Sasuke and Boruto.
Even the usually unreliable Jiraiya had stopped thinking about going out to play and had seriously begun gathering intelligence.
How could the Third, who cared even more about the village, possibly go fool around in the pleasure district at a time like this?
"Hm?"
Tsunade felt that she had stepped on something with an unusual texture.
Lowering her head, she saw that it was a patch of grass stained with a clump of blood that had already coagulated.
Tsunade let out a breath of relief.
After several days of psychological adjustment while teaching medical ninjutsu to Sakura and Ino, her hemophobia had gradually improved.
"Why is there blood here?"
Frowning, Tsunade followed the bloodstains forward.
As she walked, she suddenly stopped. Her legs began to tremble.
On a rock ahead was the last place where the blood appeared.
From behind the rock, a leg was sticking out.
Tsunade took a deep breath and walked over. When she saw what was hidden behind the rock, her vision instantly went black, and she collapsed unconscious.
Evening.
Sakura and Ino, who had been waiting for Tsunade-sensei in the medical department, failed to see her return. They went to the Hokage's office to look for her, but only found Shizune.
After learning that Tsunade was also missing, Shizune hurriedly took the two of them toward the forest outside the village.
"First the Third Hokage-sama goes missing, and now Tsunade-sama too… please don't let…"
Shizune ran frantically through the forest, constantly glancing left and right for any sign, her face filled with anxiety.
Fortunately, it wasn't long before she saw Tsunade lying on the ground and rushed over.
"Tsunade-sama!"
Shizune checked Tsunade's condition. After confirming that there was no danger to her life, and that she hadn't even been injured, she finally relaxed.
"Ahhh!!!"
"T-this… what is this?"
Sakura and Ino had also caught up, but the first thing they saw was something else, some distance away from Tsunade.
"That's…"
Shizune followed their gaze, and her pupils instantly shrank.
Now she understood why Tsunade had fainted here.
Her hemophobia had only just begun to improve, less than half a day ago, not even fully recovered, when she was confronted with the brutal death of someone close to her.
The mutilated body of the Third Hokage was collected and taken away, while Tsunade was sent back to the medical department.
Since she hadn't been injured, Tsunade quickly regained consciousness under Shizune's treatment.
Tsunade suddenly opened her eyes and sat up in bed, showing none of the weakness associated with a hemophobia relapse.
"Who did this?!"
Tsunade clenched her fists tightly.
"Tsunade-sama, the medical team has already examined and analyzed the Third Hokage-sama's body. Because there are extensive signs of animal gnawing on the wounds, they can only determine that the fatal injury was the heart being pierced and destroyed. As for what weapon or method the killer used…"
"It was definitely Danzō!"
While Shizune was still reporting, Tsunade hadn't listened to a single word. After spacing out for a moment, her expression suddenly hardened. She threw off the blanket and jumped out of bed.
"Eh?! Tsunade-sama…!"
Shizune stared in shock as Tsunade stormed out of the medical department, then hurriedly chased after her.
At the entrance to Root's underground base.
"Hokage-sama, do you need to see Danzō-sama? I'll go inform…"
"Heavenly Kick of Pain!" (Heavenly Foot of Pain)
"Ah!"
Tsunade didn't bother with another word and kicked her way straight in.
Root specialized in poison, but that was completely ineffective against her.
Shizune arrived in a hurry with ANBU, following behind Tsunade, only to see Root members sprawled all over the ground, groaning or unconscious.
"Danzō, you beast! You actually murdered the Third Hokage!!!"
Tsunade kicked open the door to Danzō's chamber.
"?"
Danzō looked at the furious Tsunade, utterly confused.
Which time was she talking about?
The time he sent Yamato to assassinate him, or the time he colluded with Orochimaru?
Was this new Hokage digging up old matters, preparing to use him as a scapegoat?
Danzō frowned.
"Tsunade, don't accuse people without evidence."
"Without evidence? On the day that old man appointed me Hokage, you didn't show up. Didn't you say to him, 'Hiruzen, you'll regret this'?!"
Tsunade smashed the desk in front of Danzō with an enraged punch. "There are no enemies attacking the village right now, yet the old man died in a forest just outside the village. If it wasn't done by someone inside the village, who else could it be?!"
"..."
Danzō was speechless.
''Danzō, I am the Hokage'', ''Hiruzen, you'll regret it'', wasn't that basically their standard conversation?
This counted as evidence?
"Wait, you're saying Hiruzen is dead?!"
In the single eye Danzō exposed, countless emotions flashed in an instant.
Grief and sadness. Relief and joy. Regret and mockery.
Danzō and the Third had always been a pair of bitter rivals bound by both affection and hatred.
"Who killed him?"
After calming himself, Danzō asked coldly.
"You're still pretending?!"
Tsunade clenched her fists again.
"If I wanted to be Hokage, I should've killed 'you', Tsunade! What use would there be in killing a retired Hiruzen?!"
Danzō's gaze sharpened as he retorted harshly.
"..."
Tsunade had no answer. She staggered back a step.
Just then, Shizune arrived with the ANBU and supported her.
"Hiruzen was pitiful too. If he had died at Orochimaru's hands, perishing together with him, he could've gone down in history as a heroic Hokage of Konoha."
"But now? He was killed quietly, without a sound. We don't even know who the murderer is. He died lighter than a monkey's hair."
Danzō snorted, his tone dripping with mockery.
And resentment as well.
After all, if Hiruzen had died at Orochimaru's hands, Danzō might've had a chance to become Hokage himself.
Instead, Hiruzen didn't die back then, directly appointed Tsunade, and Danzō didn't even have room to maneuver.
Tsunade left Root's underground base in humiliation.
"Tsunade-sama, if you suspect Danzō, you can have the Interrogation Division question him," Shizune suggested as she supported Tsunade.
"It wasn't him."
Tsunade looked utterly fragile now, her body limp, completely lacking the fierce presence she'd had earlier.
In truth, she knew very well that it wasn't Danzō. She just wanted to escape.
Escape from a conclusion that could already be drawn, even without knowing the killer, if she hadn't acted on her own initiative, her sensei would not have died.
If she hadn't tried to hide the arrival of future Sasuke and Boruto, she wouldn't have sent her sensei and Jiraiya to investigate, and none of this would have happened.
Taking a step back, even if she had informed Shiromo, and Shiromo had been in Konoha, then even if her sensei had been pierced through the heart, judging from the methods Shiromo used to remove the Caged Bird Seal from Hinata, methods she'd learned from Sakura, he could've restored him instantly.
Just like that.
Tsunade, who had only just regained her fighting spirit for a few days, fell again, shutting herself at home, drinking and sleeping every day.
Fortunately, before this, in order to slack off, she had already delegated much of the Hokage's authority. Others handled the administrative work for her, and Konoha continued to function as usual.
The Third Hokage's death couldn't be hidden for long.
After the medical team found no more information to extract, they began notifying the family.
Konohamaru, who was in the village, was the first to learn the news. As for Sarutobi Asuma, he wasn't in the village, he was out on a mission with Chōji and Shikamaru.
Someone had to be sent to inform him as well.
"Please, Jiraiya-sama."
Shizune handed the mission scroll to Jiraiya.
"Let's go, brats."
Jiraiya had lost his usual carefree expression. He turned back to look solemnly at the three-person team he was leading this time, Konohamaru, Naruto, and Boruto.
He had gained the chance to leave the village.
But the price was his sensei Sarutobi Hiruzen's death, and his close friend Tsunade's collapse into despair.
(End of this chapter)