The autumn wind dragged thick clouds over the Forest of Death. The water below, moments ago dazzling gold, was swallowed by shade and turned into a pool of black ink.
"So Root was something you and Danzō built together, specifically to suppress major clans like the Senju and Uchiha when they refused to fall in line."
Listening to Hiruzen Sarutobi recount the past between himself and Danzō, Konome Taketori finally understood what gave Danzō such enormous power in Konoha.
When the First and Second Hokage were still alive, the Senju clan controlled medicine and education. The Hyūga handled sensory and reconnaissance. The Uchiha ran the police force.
And beneath that?
Every large and small affair in the village, every scrap of authority, had been carved up by the mid and minor shinobi clans. Even ANBU, which supposedly obeyed the Hokage alone, was quietly controlled by the great clans from the shadows.
The Third Hokage had been hollowed out, nearly a figurehead.
Root, the organization Danzō founded, had actually been Hiruzen's idea.
He couldn't purge the key figures inside ANBU, so he simply built a second ANBU from scratch, one that would answer to him.
Under the banner of "training personnel for ANBU" and "supplying fresh blood," he created a parallel force.
That force became Root.
Root's structure mirrored ANBU's exactly: seventy official members, all chūnin or above, plus more than a hundred auxiliary staff.
Secret-technique archives, ninja tools, resources, all poured in at full power. Even forbidden jutsu were available to browse freely, all to lure in more civilian prodigies and shinobi from small clans.
After that, Hiruzen worked with the Nara, Yamanaka, and other mid-tier clans.
He sold prime land in Konoha's central streets, golden real estate, to those families at low prices. He also handed crucial departments like reconnaissance and command to their clan heads.
The Nara herbal shop, the Yamanaka flower shop, the Akimichi barbecue place on the main avenue, those businesses sat on top-tier plots that had been sold to them back then.
They ate those benefits.
In exchange, they had to provide Root with talented shinobi.
Yamanaka Fū and Aburame Torune were "contributions" born from that political transaction.
Everyone knew Root was not a place you wanted to go. Following Danzō was a coin toss with death.
But nothing in this world is free.
If their clans took profit from Hiruzen, then they paid the price that came with it.
In the end, those civilian geniuses and secret-technique users officially answered only to Shimura Danzō, the Root Commander.
But in the shadows, they eliminated enemies for Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Danzō was Hiruzen's black glove.
All the dirty work, all the hatred, fell on Danzō and Root. As Hokage, Hiruzen maintained stability. He treated the mid and small clans with warmth and care, and he smiled gently at the great clans harmed by Danzō, offering humanitarian comfort with sympathetic eyes.
If Danzō went too far, Hiruzen would "put on a show" of anger, raise the hammer high, then set it down lightly.
One played the villain. One played the hero.
Red face, white face.
Together, they disciplined Konoha's clans until they behaved, preserving stability in a village that once teetered on the brink of civil war.
The Uchiha rebellion and extermination, setting aside Danzō's covert sabotage, was still exactly what Root existed to do.
Even now.
They held Konoha's power tightly in their palms. The once-arrogant great clans could only survive by breathing through the nostrils of the Hokage's faction.
"He sacrificed everything for Konoha, and for me," Hiruzen said, staring up at the sky. "He buried himself in darkness so deep that even his own clan refused to stand with him, afraid the great clans would drag them down."
It was the first time he had ever spoken about his history with Danzō.
For years, whenever people asked why he favored Danzō so heavily, he would say nothing.
Now the Senju and Uchiha were gone. The Hyūga bowed their heads, obedient and compliant.
Facing this last disciple of his, a disciple who had entered Root, he finally allowed himself to say some of the truth.
"I made him a promise," Hiruzen continued. "Even if the whole village hated him, even if everyone spat on him, as long as he did not betray Konoha for a single day, I would always be his strongest support."
"Even if he wanted to kill you?" Konome couldn't understand Hiruzen's logic at all.
Wasn't the common sense to throw away the black glove once you were done using it?
Why was he keeping it like a treasure, worshiping it on a shelf?
"You don't understand. He's only forcing me," Hiruzen said quietly. "And Root can never be erased. Even if Danzō dies, Root won't disappear."
Konome's brows tightened.
"Why?"
"Because ANBU now is what Root used to be."
What?
Konome's pupils contracted sharply, like thunder striking inside her skull. In an instant, everything connected.
"The 'ANBU training division' was never an empty phrase," Hiruzen said, as if he could feel the storm rising in her heart. He turned and looked at her, calm.
"The veterans of ANBU died off, or retired. Most of the senior ANBU now were once Danzō's people, old hands who acted under him.
ANBU and Root look like two separate departments, but in the shadows they've already mixed together. You have me inside you, you inside me. There's no cutting it apart anymore.
Only Danzō can unify those people into one.
I need him to continue controlling Root and ANBU to preserve stability. Konoha needs someone to do things that can't be done in daylight.
And you need him too, don't you?"
Konome's gaze flickered. She didn't answer.
Without Danzō supplying Hashirama Cells and Sharingan, without the massive amount of Yin Yang research materials, her Reverse Eight Gates would still be nothing more than a beautiful fantasy.
In some ways, Danzō had helped her more than Hiruzen ever had.
And how had those things been acquired?
Everyone knew.
Raids. Clan purges. Murder for loot. Capturing foreign shinobi, even civilians, for human experiments.
A catalog of filth.
She didn't want to dirty her own hands, so she stole the fruits of Danzō's crimes. Fundamentally, she wasn't any different from Hiruzen, who enjoyed the benefits too.
If Danzō died, someone would still have to inherit Konoha's rot and grime. Hiruzen had no suitable replacement. Add decades of friendship, and naturally he could only open one eye and close the other.
Because there was no substitute.
Root was a historical debt.
How many clans had been pressed down by Root in the past, that was how much blood interest Konoha would pay now.
"I have a way to solve the Root problem."
The Yang Release clone hesitated, seeing both Konome and Hiruzen fall silent. At last she raised her hand, like a well-behaved student unsure of her answer but still eager to respond.
"You have a way?" Hiruzen asked.
Not only Hiruzen, even Konome froze.
She'd been buried in jutsu development for so long that she hadn't synced memories with the Yang Release clone in ages. By habit, she'd assumed the clone spent her days siphoning chakra in Root and studying the Mangekyō.
"What way?" Konome asked, curiosity tugging at her despite herself.
"I have a perfect candidate," the clone said. "Someone who can manage Root and Danzō's old faction, and also handle Konoha's dirty work."
"Who?" Hiruzen's interest rose too.
Root and Danzō had grown too large to rein in. He'd been searching for a way to restrain them for years.
But Konoha couldn't live without Root's darkness. Trying to curb it while needing it created a contradiction, and the results were always negligible.
If there were someone trustworthy, willing, and capable of taking over Root, someone a bit gentler than Danzō in practice, that would be the ideal solution.
"I don't know if you've heard of a Root member named Aburame Ryūma."
Hiruzen's eyes turned thoughtful. A moment later he remembered a man who always stood behind Danzō, face cold behind dark glasses.
"The Aburame with the purple marking on his face?"
"That's him," the Yang Release clone said quickly. "He's Danzō's right-hand man. Everyone in Root calls him 'Captain,' a rank equivalent to an ANBU squad leader.
Danzō's old faction will all recognize him. When Danzō isn't in Root, Ryūma handles everything. If he becomes Root's leader, it's the most natural transition imaginable."
"I know him," Hiruzen said. "Danzō mentioned him before. Efficient. Clean. Few words. Elite jōnin level, extremely reliable. If I remember correctly, he's Danzō's loyal retainer."
As someone who benefited from Root's existence, Hiruzen had clearly studied the organization's key personnel systematically.
Aburame Ryūma, as Root's number two, had long been on his list.
A loyal retainer.
Someone who, in his dreams, wished Danzō would die.
The Yang Release clone complained inwardly, then pushed on.
"He's effectively my subordinate now. If Danzō disappears, Ryūma can naturally take control of Root. Then we can gradually reform it and return it to what it was meant to be."
Boom!
The waterfall smashed into the rocks below, bursting into pale foam.
Hiruzen's cloudy eyes sank into stillness. His fingers rubbed together slowly. For a long time he didn't speak.
Konome's expression darkened slightly.
So Hiruzen could talk in circles all day, but in the end he still couldn't bear to kill Danzō.
The older people got, the more they clung to old bonds.
Back then, when he let Orochimaru go, he'd been like this too.
Still, everything had two sides. If Hiruzen were as cold-blooded as Danzō, he would truly be hard to deal with.
"Danzō has to be dealt with," Konome said, deciding to lay it bare. "If one day he orders me to assassinate you, we will clash. It's only a matter of time.
If you can't bring yourself to do it, then I will.
Just don't interfere at the crucial moment."
Danzō had to die.
That Mangekyō that could rewrite a person's will was a threat. The moment Kotoamatsukami existed, it was like a blade held to her throat.
Shisui revealed it and was immediately targeted by Danzō. She couldn't allow such a technique to remain.
Root also held dozens of three-tomoe Sharingan. If those were used for Izanagi, that was dozens of lives.
That Senju Tree's vitality was a perfect match for the Reverse Eight Gates.
And there was also the agreement the Yang Release clone had just transmitted, her arrangement with Aburame Ryūma.
There was no room for compromise between her and Danzō.
Feeling the steel in Konome's words, Hiruzen was trapped between disciple and old friend.
He thought of Orochimaru, the traitor.
He thought of Jiraiya and Tsunade, still outside the village, unwilling to return.
And now it seemed he might be walking toward a break with his last disciple too.
How many times could a man fall in the same place?
Four?
He didn't want to.
He refused to.
The memory of an old friend's gentle smile surfaced in his mind. Something clogged his throat, and he couldn't speak.
Danzō was like this because of him.
Anyone in the world could condemn Danzō.
Only Hiruzen Sarutobi had no right.
He shook his head and let out a helpless sigh. His shoulders sagged. He turned and began walking back the way he had come, leaving Konome only a bent back.
"Don't do anything that endangers Konoha. Don't use Konoha shinobi as human test subjects. Don't harm civilians or comrades. Try not to let Root and ANBU erupt into large-scale internal slaughter. Avoid casualties.
Your struggle from here on, don't report it to me.
No matter who wins or loses, as long as you don't cross those lines, I won't interfere anymore."
His voice was heavy beyond words, and it felt as though he had aged ten years in a single breath.
But a flicker of joy flashed through Konome's eyes. She and the Yang Release clone exchanged a look, then watched that lonely figure recede under the sunlight.
From today onward, she would have no obstacles in dealing with Danzō.
That was enough.
She'd never expected Hiruzen to kill Danzō with his own hands anyway. Decades of friendship weren't fake. Asking him to do it would be like asking Naruto to personally cut down Sasuke.
The difficulty was simply too high.
"Konome!"
Hearing her name, Konome lifted her head in surprise, looking toward Hiruzen in the distance.
He stood bathed in gold, his face turned slightly to the side. His aged features showed no expression, as if he had buried every emotion inside those deep grooves carved by time.
"From now on, the Forest of Death will be listed as a forbidden zone by the village. No one will enter except you. You can treat your Bloodline Sickness here without worry.
If you run into any problems during your jutsu development, you can come to me at any time.
And one more thing.
If you inherit Root and sink into darkness the way Danzō did, then as long as you don't commit a fundamental crime, I won't strike you down either.
But as your teacher, I hope you can hold on to your original heart, and not end the way Danzō did."
Hiruzen's voice was low. His eyes were complicated, yet bright.
And Konome could see the sincerity there.
"Thank you, Sensei."
Konome clasped her hands and bowed deeply, genuinely grateful.
They were master and disciple, yes, but the foundation was still interest.
Hiruzen admired her talent. He wanted her to protect Konoha in the future, to support this half-rotten great tree and keep it moving.
And she coveted Konoha's secret techniques and knowledge. Becoming his disciple made her own cultivation easier.
But in this purely transactional bond, some thread of feeling had finally been woven in.
Hiruzen looked her over, that still-young frame, and sighed.
"Then thank your senior brother and senior sisters instead," he said. "I've been taught enough lessons already."
With that, he didn't linger. He leapt into the dead trees, and after a few bounds he vanished without a trace.
Dry leaves spun in tight circles across the ground. Withered grass pressed close to the earth, like a sheet of dark green moss.
In this dead domain, only Konome and her clone remained.
"So in the end," the Yang Release clone said, lowering her head as she retied the black cloth over her eyes, "Hiruzen and Danzō keeping that storm-tossed Konoha intact until now really is… a huge contribution."
This Mangekyō was simply too frightening. Anyone who recognized Kotoamatsukami refused to meet it. In a pinch, it could even be used like a flash bomb.
"Merit and sin split down the middle," Konome said. "Without those two fools, Konoha would've collapsed long ago. But because of them, Konoha also isn't what it used to be.
Forget them."
She tipped her chin at the clone.
"Where is it?"
"Right here."
The Yang Release clone reached into her clothes and pulled out a pale sphere, neither metal nor jade. Under the sunlight it gleamed with a soft, warm sheen.
It was the treasure of the Kaguya clan.
The very thing they had seized from Uchiha Obito.
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