The air in the Hokage's Office was as thick as solidified sap. The last rays of the setting sun stabbed in obliquely, cut into fragments by the heavy smoke, ultimately collapsing weakly onto the rosewood desk piled high with scrolls.
Hiruzen's withered fingers hovered over the characters 'Uchiha Makoto' for a long time.
In the pipe bowl, the newly packed tobacco leaves sizzled, greedily sucking at the sparks, spewing more choking, gray-white smoke.
The intelligence sent by Fugaku was written extremely concisely: "Uchiha Makoto left home a few days ago and has not returned. His whereabouts have not been found within the entire Konoha village. Suspected to have been abducted by Kumogakure."
"Abducted!"
These two words were like red-hot branding irons, burning against Hiruzen's temples, making them throb.
Blood pressure roared through his aged blood vessels. He had to take a deep drag from his pipe, trying to suppress the dizziness rushing to the top of his head.
A pure-blooded Uchiha, and a boy at that, had fallen into the hands of those greedy thugs in Kumogakure.
What did that mean? It meant that those thugs in Kumogakure could soon use the dirtiest methods to force a young Uchiha to leave behind a large amount of Uchiha's bloodline.
It wouldn't take many years for Kumogakure to raise a Shinobi force flowing with Uchiha blood, to be used to attack Konoha!
What cast an even thicker shadow over Hiruzen's heart was Fugaku's attitude.
This intelligence was extremely brief, as if it wasn't his son, Uchiha Fugaku, who was missing. There were many puzzling aspects to this matter.
Kumogakure's near-suicidal mad destruction in Konoha the other night now also had a reasonable explanation, not hesitating to expose numerous spies to create chaos covering their retreat.
The target wasn't the Kyubi's Jinchuriki, but the Uchiha Clan's bloodline. This was something he hadn't anticipated.
Thud!
The pipe struck heavily against the hard edge of the desk. A few scorching sparks flew out, landing precisely on the blank space of the intelligence report.
Almost the instant the sparks flew, the figure of an Anbu's member was already kneeling on one knee in the center of the office, silent and unnoticed.
"Go quickly and call Danzo here!" Hiruzen's voice was like rotten wood soaked in thick smoke, dull, oppressive, every syllable carrying a heavy weight. "Tell him to come immediately!"
More smoke spilled from the gaps between Hiruzen's fingers and the corners of his mouth, blurring that old, deeply lined face. His turbid eyes flickered behind the smoke.
The storm within was forcibly suppressed, leaving only a bottomless exhaustion.
Before Danzo even arrived, an urgent knocking sounded on the office door.
"Enter."
Itachi practically stumbled in. The 'mask' of calm he usually wore, as still as water, was completely shattered. Sweat soaked the strands of hair on his forehead.
The eyes that always believed they could see through everything now held only unconcealable, near-crumbling anxiety.
Hiruzen's pipe paused at his lips. His gaze, from behind the smoke, swept over Itachi's disheveled state. He deliberately slowed his tone, adopting a customary, paternal warmth.
"Itachi, has something happened? Do you need my help?"
This gentle voice, for Itachi at this moment, was no less than a floating log grabbed by a drowning man. The string taut in his mind suddenly loosened.
'If the Hokage-sama helped... perhaps Makoto could still be saved.'
On the way here, he had carefully considered it. The night Makoto didn't return coincided with the time when Kumogakure's spies were causing trouble in Konoha.
Coupled with the fact that he had turned the entire Konoha village upside down these past few days without finding a trace of Makoto... He believed that Makoto had definitely been abducted by Kumogakure.
"Hokage-sama!" Itachi's voice trembled, "My brother... Makoto, he's been abducted by Kumogakure."
"Please... save him..."
Hearing this, Hiruzen's gaze slowly fell back onto the intelligence report submitted by Fugaku. The light in his pipe flickered uncertainly.
He tried his best to make his voice sound more certain and soothing. "Itachi, I am already aware of this matter."
He paused, weighing his words. "If the situation is true, Konoha will definitely not stand idly by. We will spare no effort to bring the person..."
Before he could finish, the door to the Hokage's Office was pushed open again. Danzo, dressed in black robes, walked in without even knocking.
Seeing this, Hiruzen said, "Itachi, you go back first. As long as Uchiha Makoto was truly abducted by Kumogakure, we will definitely not stand by and do nothing. You have my word."
Itachi's lips moved as if he wanted to say more, but seeing Danzo's cold single eye and Hiruzen's already averted gaze, he could only swallow his full belly of anxiety and words.
He took a deep look at Danzo before leaving.
Until the sound of Itachi's footsteps disappeared at the end of the corridor, the Hokage's Office felt extremely oppressive.
Hiruzen didn't speak, just silently, forcefully smoked his pipe, until the fire in the pipe bowl burned fiery hot once more.
He pushed that seemingly lightweight but heavier-than-a-thousand-pound intelligence report in Danzo's direction.
Danzo snatched up the intelligence. His single eye scanned the few brief lines like a hawk, his already gloomy face instantly darkening enough to drip water.
He was just about to recruit Makoto, and now he was being told the person was gone?
Danzo's tone was extremely angry: "Hiruzen! Now that it's confirmed Uchiha Makoto has been abducted by Kumogakure, why haven't you dispatched troops to get him back?"
"Those bandits from Kumogakure, do they think Konoha is easy to bully?"
"They provoked first. Konoha must see this through to the end!"
As his words fell, Danzo took a step forward, a cold and ruthless glint flashing in his single eye.
"The Hyuga Clan… perfect to let them atone for their crimes through merit! Make them the vanguard. It's the perfect time when they're keeping their tails between their legs, they won't dare not charge forward desperately."
"Then raise the banner of 'Rescue Uchiha Makoto', tie that inherently evil Uchiha Clan to the war chariot as well, make them also fight at the front!"
Speaking to this point, Danzo's voice lowered a few degrees. "This way, we can both strike Kumogakure and weaken both clans... killing two birds with one stone!"
"Enough!" Hiruzen slammed his pipe on the desk with a dull thud. "Words that are not beneficial to Konoha's unity must not be spoken!"
Weakening the Hyuga and Uchiha, the two great Shinobi Clans, was a consensus among all of Konoha's higher-ups. But such things could only be done quietly, not spoken of openly.
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes, tapped his pipe, a look of displeasure on his face. "Konoha can no longer endure war!"
"So we just swallow our anger? Watch helplessly as Kumogakure gains a nest of Sharingan? To attack Konoha in the future?!"
Danzo let out a sharp, cold laugh, the sound filled with naked contempt for Hiruzen's indecisiveness. He felt extremely dissatisfied inwardly.
"Hiruzen, you truly are no longer suited to be Hokage!"
Hearing Danzo's words, the smoke from Hiruzen's pipe cast shifting shadows on his face. He was silent for a few breaths, seemingly weighing options, or perhaps brewing something.
Finally, he slowly spoke: "Uchiha Makoto is still young. It will take at least a few more years for him to be able to leave behind a bloodline. The village has plenty of time and opportunities to rescue him."
"Danzo, I know Root has planted many spies in Kumogakure. It's your turn to contribute to Konoha."
As the words fell, Hiruzen took a deep drag from his pipe. His turbid gaze passed through the smoke, locking deeply onto Danzo.
"Spare no expense. Bring the person... back." The last few words, Hiruzen said exceptionally slowly.
The pupil in Danzo's exposed single eye contracted sharply. He instantly understood the meaning of that old fox Hiruzen.
'Bring back' was the best strategy. But if the cost was too high, or if an 'accident' occurred during the rescue, then 'permanently resolving Uchiha Makoto' was also an acceptable outcome for Hiruzen.
The core was: absolutely must not let Kumogakure get their hands on a live, fertile Uchiha bloodline.
Hiruzen was once again shoving the dirtiest work onto Root, and making him, Shimura Danzo, bear the risk and blame for mission failure.
Hiruzen, who originally thought Danzo would refuse, saw the former nod and say: "Fine."
Although rescuing Makoto from Kumogakure would require Root to pay a huge price to have a chance of success...
The gains and rewards were clearly proportional. After secretly rescuing him, of course he wouldn't return Makoto to the Uchiha Clan, but to his Root.
In the future, his Root would also have the opportunity to possess a formed contingent of Uchiha bloodline.
Hiruzen's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly. The agreement came too readily. This didn't seem like his old friend. He added weight to his tone, carrying a hint of warning: "This matter must be handled with utmost effort!"
"I know how to handle this matter, there's no need for you to teach me! Hiruzen."
Hiruzen was choked by this impolite retort. His tone held barely suppressed anger: "You will regret this!"
"Regret?" Danzo, who was originally about to leave, turned around sharply upon hearing this word and said loudly: "I am the Root Leader!"
Bam…
With these words, he directly slammed the door and left.
Hiruzen watched Danzo's departing figure, feeling that something about today's conversation was a bit off...
When Danzo left, his steps were even somewhat lighter. Thanks to that big argument over half a year ago, his eloquence was getting better and better.