The air inside the room seemed to solidify.
Danzo walked to the desk, leaned on his cane, and looked calmly at Hiruzen: "Is there something, Hiruzen?"
Hiruzen didn't answer immediately.
He stood up, walked to the window, his back to Danzo, gazing out at the view of Konoha.
The morning sunlight fell on his white hair, but couldn't dispel the heaviness upon him.
"Danzo—" After a long while, Hiruzen finally spoke, his voice low. "For the time being, just stay in your Root. Don't go anywhere."
Danzo's eyebrows raised slightly.
"Are you worried about that Missing-Nin, Uchiha Shisui?" He sneered, his tone carrying sarcasm.
"Or are you afraid I'll do something to him, destroying your 'great peace plan'?"
Hiruzen spun around, for the first time showing anger on his face: "Danzo! Didn't you notice just now how dissatisfied the other clan heads are with you?! The way they looked at you, don't tell me you couldn't feel it!"
His voice echoed in the office, carrying long-suppressed emotion.
Danzo's expression didn't change, but the light in his single eye grew colder: "So what? I act for the sake of Konoha!"
"Shisui led the Uchiha Clan in defection back then, and now he's swaggering back as an envoy of the Land of Stars. This is an insult to Konoha! If we don't deal with him, what will the other villages think of us? Where will Konoha's dignity be?!"
"You and I both know what really happened back then!" Hiruzen clenched his fists.
"You were the one who attacked Shisui first! You were the one who took his eye! If you hadn't forced him, how could he have..."
"I did that to prevent the Uchiha Clan's rebellion!" Danzo interrupted him, his voice also rising.
"Uchiha Shisui's Kotoamatsukami is too dangerous! If he used that technique to control you, the consequences would be disastrous! I did that for Konoha's safety!"
"And for your safety!"
"And then what?" Hiruzen stared at him, his eyes sharp as knives. "You took his eye. And what was the result?"
"The Uchiha were driven to defect as a clan! The Hyuga branch family also took the chance to defect! How many of Konoha's elite Ninja died that night?!"
Even his own son and daughter-in-law died that night.
"Is this your so-called 'for Konoha'?!"
Their gazes collided in the air, seemingly sparking.
The office was filled with a tense, at daggers drawn atmosphere.
On that [Night of the Uchiha and Hyuga Branch Family Defection], Shisui had loudly exposed how Danzo had persecuted him and taken his eye. Countless Konoha's Ninja who participated in that battle heard Shisui's accusations against Danzo.
Danzo's darkness was exposed so nakedly before everyone for the first time.
Although Hiruzen later used the excuse that 'Shisui is a Missing-Nin' to forcibly suppress public opinion and temporarily dismissed Danzo from his post as Root's Commander, this undoubtedly planted seeds of distrust in the hearts of other clans.
If you could do this to the Uchiha, the strongest clan of the Ninja World, you could do it to us too.
If you could take the Sharingan, you could covet other Kekkei Genkai.
Once this suspicion took root, it was hard to eliminate.
Later, due to the need for Root's intelligence network and because Konoha needed to support Sunagakure in the war between the Land of Stars and the Land of Wind, Hiruzen had no choice but to urgently reinstate Danzo, restoring his control over Root.
But this undoubtedly made the other clans even more dissatisfied.
Now, Shisui had returned as the leader of the Land of Stars' delegation, like a resounding slap in the face to Danzo, and to Hiruzen who had acquiesced to all this, in front of all the clans.
"Danzo, I'm warning you." Hiruzen took a deep breath, trying to calm his voice. "During the Chunin Exams, you are not to lay a hand on Shisui, or anyone from the Land of Stars. That's an order!"
A cold smile curved at the corner of Danzo's mouth: "What if I don't listen?"
"Then I will use my authority as Hokage to temporarily strip you of your power over Root." Hiruzen said, word by word. "I mean what I say."
Their gazes faced off again.
After a few seconds, Danzo snorted softly: "Hiruzen, letting that Missing-Nin roam freely in Konoha will sooner or later lead to disaster."
"Better that than you directly starting a war!" Hiruzen slammed the table and roared.
Danzo stared at Hiruzen for a long time. His gaze was complex and hard to read, holding anger, unwillingness, sarcasm, and a hint of barely perceptible disappointment.
Finally, he turned, leaned on his cane, and walked step by step towards the door, leaving behind only one sentence:
"Hiruzen, you will regret this!"
"Danzo! I am the Hokage!"
Bang!
The sound of the slammed door echoed in the office.
Hiruzen stood there, his chest heaving violently.
After a long while, he slumped back into his chair, rubbing his temples with one hand, and sighed deeply.
Tired.
Endless tiredness.
He suddenly felt very, very weary.
"Come out." After a long time, Hiruzen lowered his hand and spoke to the seemingly empty office.
"You've been eavesdropping for quite a while."
A rustling sound came from the window.
Then, a white head popped up from beneath the windowsill, followed by that familiar face.
The 'oil' character on his forehead protector, the red markings on his cheeks, and that head of fluffy white hair.
Jiraiya clambered over the windowsill, grinning as he jumped inside: "Yo, Sensei, you look tired. Had a fight with Danzo?"
After landing, he sauntered over to the desk, pulled up a chair, and sat down.
Hiruzen didn't answer, just looked at him, his gaze complex.
Jiraiya, made uncomfortable by the look, scratched his head: "What's wrong, Sensei? Is there something on my face?"
"Jiraiya," Hiruzen suddenly said, "How much do you know about Shura?"
Alarm bells rang in Jiraiya's mind.
'Why the sudden mention of Shura?'
"I don't know much. It's all basically in the intelligence scrolls I gave you, old man," Jiraiya answered cautiously.
"Ah... your travel journal from the Land of Stars. I've read it over and over again." Hiruzen looked into the distance, Konoha Village awakening in the morning light, wisps of smoke rising from chimneys.
"He changed the landscape of the Ninja World, brought unprecedented change in a thousand years."
"Some say he's a demon, others say he's the savior of the Ninja World."
"But regardless, he's doing... things we've never even considered."
Jiraiya frowned.
His teacher's words were strange.
"Jiraiya," Hiruzen spoke again, his voice somewhat hoarse, "How about accompanying this old man for a walk?"
Jiraiya was about to refuse.
But the words caught in his throat.
Because he keenly sensed that his teacher's mood wasn't right.
It wasn't the usual fatigue from being busy with government affairs, but a kind of bewilderment, as if some belief of his had been shaken.
"Sure." Jiraiya maintained his usual joking expression, nodding. "Where does the old man want to go for a stroll?"
A little later, the Konoha Public Cemetery.
This was one of the quietest places in the village.
Rows of neat tombstones lined the hillside, each representing a life sacrificed for Konoha.
The morning sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the tombstones. A gentle breeze carried the scent of grass and earth.
Hiruzen walked ahead, his pace slow.
Jiraiya followed half a step behind him, having also shed his earlier frivolity.
Coming here, anyone would become solemn.
They walked past row after row of tombstones.
The grave of Hiruzen's son, Sarutobi Shinsuke.
The grave of Hiruzen's wife, Sarutobi Biwako.
And many, many more. Once-vibrant lives, now only cold stone and the names carved upon them.
Jiraiya's gaze swept over the tombstones. His eyes darkened slightly.
Many of his good friends were also buried here.
Hiruzen, walking ahead, finally stopped.
He stood before the grave of the Fourth Hokage and his wife, quietly looking at the names and photographs.
In the photo, Minato smiled warmly, and Kushina's red hair blazed like fire.
Jiraiya walked to his side and also looked at the tombstone.
They were silent for a long time.
"Jiraiya," Hiruzen suddenly spoke, his voice very soft, "If Minato hadn't died back then, what kind of Hokage do you think he would have become?"
Jiraiya was stunned.
He turned to look at Hiruzen, noticing that his teacher wasn't looking at him, still staring at the tombstone, his eyes dazed.
"Sensei... why are you suddenly asking this?" Jiraiya asked cautiously.
Hiruzen didn't answer, instead continuing as if to himself: "Minato... that child was exceptionally talented, kind-hearted, responsible, and wise. During the year he was Hokage, though brief, Konoha showed the vitality of the morning sun under his leadership..."
"If he hadn't died, what would Konoha be like now?"
Jiraiya thought for a moment and said seriously: "Minato... would definitely have been a good Hokage."
"He had a special charm that made people around him trust him and follow him. And his strength was sufficient. If he were still alive, forces like the 'Akatsuki' probably wouldn't dare be so arrogant."
"Yes..." Hiruzen murmured. "He would definitely have been a good Hokage. Better than me..."
Jiraiya was shaken.
He had never heard his teacher say such things.
"Sensei, don't say that..."
"Jiraiya." Hiruzen interrupted him, finally turning his head to look at his student.
Those aged eyes were now filled with complex emotions: guilt, self-blame, bewilderment, and deep unease.
"I've been thinking," Hiruzen said, his voice very soft, as if afraid of disturbing the cemetery's peace, "If back then... I had been able to do better, would many things not have happened? The Uchiha Clan wouldn't have headed towards destruction, the Hyuga branch family wouldn't have defected, Minato wouldn't have died, Kushina wouldn't have died... Naruto wouldn't have grown up so lonely... Minato's other child wouldn't have been abducted by that mysterious person..."
Jiraiya opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.
He had never seen his teacher so vulnerable, so melancholy.
This old man, called the [Professor of Ninjutsu], the 'Strongest Hokage', who had led Konoha through three Great Ninja Wars, now seemed like an ordinary old man at the end of his life, filled with regret.
"Sensei," Jiraiya finally sighed. "The past can't be changed. We can only... try our best to make the present and the future better."
Hiruzen was silent.
After a long time, he nodded, but his eyes remained heavy.
"Jiraiya." Hiruzen suddenly turned around, looking directly into his eyes.
"If... I say if."
"One day you discover that someone you know, a close friend, actually hides a huge secret, and might even... threaten Konoha, what would you do?"
Jiraiya's heart skipped a beat.
But he forced himself to stay calm and asked in return: "Sensei, who are you referring to?"
Hiruzen didn't answer.
He just looked deeply at Jiraiya, his gaze complex and hard to read, as if there were a thousand words to say, but in the end, they just turned into a sigh.
"Nothing."
Hiruzen turned and walked towards the cemetery exit: "Let's go back. The Chunin Exams are about to start. There's still much to do."
Jiraiya watched his teacher's back, a strong sense of unease rising in his heart.
'Something had definitely happened.'
'There must be some major secret that had shaken Sensei so deeply.'
He looked one last time at the tombstone of the Fourth Hokage and his wife. In the photo, Minato still smiled warmly, Kushina's red hair still blazed like fire.
"Minato..." Jiraiya whispered to himself. "If you were still here, what would you do?"