At this point, Konoha Village was already illuminated by evening lights. Everywhere one looked, children were playing and cooking smoke curled into the air, forming a peaceful scene that stood in sharp contrast to the brutal fighting on the front lines.
Yuu stopped at an intersection and looked back at Asuma.
"Asuma, take this Root operative and explain everything to Lord Hokage."
"Leave it to me."
Asuma firmly nodded while carrying the human-shaped bundle containing the sealed Otsu.
"I'll make sure Father learns the truth! Are you going to find Lady Tsunade? Be careful on the way. Don't let Root's people notice you."
"I will."
After they separated, Asuma quickly returned home. At this hour, the Hokage Building had already closed for the day, so if he wanted to find Sarutobi Hiruzen, he could only go to his residence.
Yuu turned onto another road and headed straight toward Tsunade's home.
Before long,
Yuu stopped before a spacious, old-fashioned mansion inside the Senju clan grounds and raised his hand to knock on the courtyard gate.
After waiting for a moment,
he heard slow, dragging footsteps from within, accompanied by an impatient female voice thick with sleepiness.
"Who is it? It's already so late… yawn…"
After a brief silence,
the gate creaked open from the inside.
At this moment, Tsunade looked only half awake. She wore nothing but a thin silk nightgown that outlined her impressive curves. A loose beige robe had been carelessly draped over it, though it did little to conceal anything.
Her long blond hair hung messily over her shoulders.
Upon seeing Yuu, Tsunade froze. She rubbed her eyes and looked again before suddenly becoming alert, astonishment appearing in her gaze.
"Huh, Yuu? Why are you here?"
"Aren't you supposed to be on the southeastern front… Don't tell me Kirigakure has already surrendered to Konoha? Was it really that fast?"
"Teacher Tsunade."
Yuu raised his head, his expression serious.
"There is an extremely urgent matter concerning the very foundations and survival of the village. I must inform you immediately…
"This isn't a suitable place to talk. Let's go inside first."
"…"
Tsunade looked at Yuu suspiciously, then glanced around outside.
After a brief hesitation, she stepped aside.
"Come in."
Once Yuu slipped inside,
Tsunade casually closed the courtyard gate, folded her arms, and leaned against the wall.
The neckline of her nightgown beneath the robe had fallen slightly open, revealing part of her delicate collarbone. However, her eyes remained fixed on Yuu like blades.
"Speak. What exactly happened? You had better give me a reasonable explanation."
Yuu took a deep breath. His gaze briefly swept across the enormous peaks before him before he collected his thoughts and said,
"Danzō has betrayed the village."
"?!"
Tsunade froze for several seconds before reacting. Even then, her expression remained slightly confused.
"You said… who?"
Danzō?
The man who had studied under the same teacher as her own mentor… had betrayed the village?
Did that make sense?
Next,
Yuu concisely explained Root's actions along the southeastern border.
As Tsunade listened, her brows gradually furrowed.
In a certain sense, Danzō could also be considered one of Tsunade's elders.
As Senju Tobirama's disciple and Sarutobi Hiruzen's fellow student, he had once looked after Tsunade to some extent during her youth.
Although their interactions had decreased after Danzō took control of Root, their relationship remained outwardly passable because he was still, technically, her martial uncle.
But now…
if what Yuu said was true, then this was indeed a serious act of treason that had caused terrifying losses to the village.
"Shimura Danzō… What the hell is that man thinking?! To target the Uchiha, he disregarded the lives of every Konoha ninja and even dared sell such important defensive intelligence!
"No. I'm going to find the old man right now and make him deal with this properly!"
As Tsunade spoke, she started walking outside.
After taking several steps, she remembered that her current clothing was inappropriate and turned back toward her room to change.
At that moment, Yuu coughed lightly.
"Wait a moment, Teacher Tsunade. I haven't finished yet."
"Hmm? What else is there?"
Under Tsunade's gaze,
Yuu continued,
"According to our investigation, Danzō and Root's crimes are not limited to this one matter. There is something else even more shocking…
"I heard that the village once conducted Wood Release experiments in an attempt to reproduce the First Hokage's Wood Release kekkei genkai?"
"Ah, that did happen."
Tsunade nodded and admitted it.
"The original concept came from Lord Tobirama. Later, Orochimaru initiated the project and conducted theoretical verification and clinical experiments. Someone I knew also participated.
"But the success rate was far too low and there were severe safety risks, so the project was quickly halted…
"Why are you suddenly asking about that?"
As she spoke, Tsunade suddenly felt an ominous premonition.
Could it be…
That premonition was immediately confirmed.
"In truth, the experiment was never stopped. Root has continued conducting it secretly all this time.
"Most of the test subjects were orphans kidnapped from inside and outside the village. Nearly all of them died on the operating table. The number of victims… was probably in the hundreds."
Yuu paused.
"Furthermore, Danzō appears to have been attempting to transplant the Uchiha clan's Sharingan and the First Hokage's cells into his own body, allowing him to obtain both powers…"
"?!!"
Tsunade's pupils trembled violently.
The latter pieces of intelligence had not come from Otsu or Shin, but from Yuu's foreknowledge as a transmigrator.
There was little doubt about the Wood Release experiments. At this point in time, Yamato was probably already around eight years old.
However, the transplantation of the First Hokage's cells was more difficult to determine.
After all, the Uchiha massacre had not yet occurred. Whether Danzō currently possessed the Sharingan of deceased Uchiha, such as Uchiha Kagami, remained unknown, so Yuu could not be certain that the transplantation had already been performed.
But the related research had definitely begun long ago.
For Tsunade, who came from the Senju clan, this news was even more shocking than the sale of military intelligence.
"Grandfather… the First Hokage's cells… Wood Release… betraying his comrades…"
"DANZŌ!!"
"As Granduncle Tobirama's disciple, how dare he…?!"
At that moment, Tsunade's breathing abruptly became heavy.
Her fair fists clenched hard enough to crack, while her chest rose and fell violently with her accelerating heartbeat, tracing a breathtaking curve beneath the loose neckline of her nightgown.
Yuu's gaze was instinctively drawn toward the surging waves for an instant before he quietly looked away, observing only from the corner of his eye.
On the other side,
Tsunade finally calmed herself and turned back toward her room.
"Wait here. I'm changing clothes!
"That damned old bastard… I want to see with my own eyes exactly how much filth he has hidden inside Root!"
Bang—!
The door slammed loudly enough to shake the room.
A short while later, it opened again.
Tsunade had changed into a practical short shirt and fitted trousers. Her long blond hair was tied into neat twin tails behind her head.
Every trace of sleepiness had disappeared from her face, leaving only an icy, murderous aura.
She glanced at Yuu, then strode toward the courtyard gate.
"Let's go!"
"Coming."
Yuu immediately followed.
The two left the Senju clan grounds one after another and headed north, their figures quickly merging into Konoha's deepening night.
…
At the same time,
inside the study of the clan head's residence deep within the Sarutobi compound,
the atmosphere was so heavy that it seemed capable of dripping water.
"…Lord Hokage, it has been confirmed."
"The intelligence brought back by Young Master Asuma is essentially true. This man's codename is Otsu, and he is indeed a member of Root.
"Under Shimura Danzō's secret orders, he visited an underground bounty exchange along the Land of Fire's border three days ago and traded a scroll containing our defensive deployment information to a black-market member…"
The speaker was named Yamanaka Shingen.
He was currently in his forties, the head of the Yamanaka clan and the father of Yamanaka Inoichi. He had been summoned on short notice to serve as the interrogator.
Fine beads of sweat covered his forehead, suggesting that the memory search had placed an enormous burden on him.
At the head of the room,
the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, felt his mind buzz and his vision darken.
He was so shocked that he nearly crushed the pipe in his hand. The joints of his right fingers turned white from the force of his grip.
"Danzō…"
"He actually…"
He had truly done it!
Sarutobi Hiruzen found it difficult to believe and even more difficult to accept that the old teammate who had graduated from the Ninja Academy with him, studied under the Second Hokage with him, and fought beside him through countless life-and-death battles would commit treason, collude with the enemy, and harm his own comrades.
Although suppressing the Uchiha was a shared policy among Konoha's leadership, Hiruzen had also guessed that Danzō might make certain small moves on the Kirigakure battlefield.
But the "small moves" Hiruzen had imagined were no more than placing greater pressure on the Uchiha, forcing them into brutal fighting against Kirigakure, and allowing several of them to die…
Yet Danzō had actually dared sell such important intelligence to Kirigakure, causing the entire southeastern defensive line to pay with so much blood and so many lives!
This was unforgivable!
An emotion called disappointment seized Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart, making it difficult for him to breathe.
"Father…"
Asuma called softly.
Not far away, another strongly built young ninja dressed in black also looked worried.
This man was Sarutobi Shinnosuke, Hiruzen's eldest son and Asuma's older brother. He currently served as the deputy commander of ANBU.
Naturally, he needed to be present for such an important matter, and as a result, he had heard a completely unexpected secret.
"…Shinnosuke."
Sarutobi Hiruzen closed his eyes, calmed himself, then opened them again and looked toward his eldest son.
"Present."
Sarutobi Shinnosuke immediately straightened his back.
Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke one word at a time.
"Immediately mobilize ANBU's First Division. In my name, bring Shimura Danzō here.
"Remember, you are to 'bring' him here!
"If he shows any intention of resisting… you may use force if necessary!"
"!"
The order slightly shocked Sarutobi Shinnosuke and Yamanaka Shingen.
However, considering Danzō's actions, it was reasonable.
If he was capable of committing treason of this degree, then whether he harbored ambitions to control his private military forces and openly rebel…
was difficult to say.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke acknowledged the order, immediately turned, and left to carry out the arrest with his ANBU subordinates.
Then,
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked toward his younger son.
"Asuma, I'll trouble you to immediately visit Advisor Utatane and Advisor Mitokado's homes. Ask them to come here.
"Tell them there is an urgent matter concerning Konoha's very foundations that requires their participation."
"…Yes!"
Asuma looked deeply at his father before accepting the order and leaving.
With that, only Sarutobi Hiruzen, Yamanaka Shingen, and the unconscious Otsu remained in the study.
Yamanaka Shingen stood silently with his hands lowered, his eyes fixed downward.
Sarutobi Hiruzen leaned back in his chair somewhat weakly and rubbed his throbbing temples with a wrinkled hand.
Memories of the past flashed through his mind, and he released a long, heavy sigh.
"Danzō…"
…
Elsewhere,
deep inside a remote and somewhat gloomy forest on the outskirts of Konoha,
Tsunade and Yuu stopped before a square concrete building surrounded by layers of dense bushes.
"…Halt!"
A Root ninja wearing a gray mask emerged from the shadows beside the building and spoke coldly.
"This is a restricted Root facility. No one may enter without Lord Danzō's permission… Huh, Lady Tsunade?"
On this side,
Tsunade sneered and did not slow her steps.
"Heh, a restricted area? What, is this not Konoha's Root but Danzō's private territory?
"Does Root belong to the Shimura clan now?
"Move aside! There is no place in Konoha that I, Tsunade, am forbidden to enter!"
"This…"
The Root ninja was overwhelmed by Tsunade's presence. Knowing both her identity and strength, he was momentarily left speechless.
Tsunade could not be bothered to argue further and simply strode past him.
Yuu followed closely behind.
After passing through the entrance, they saw a broad passage sloping downward.
The walls were a mixture of cold metal and rough stone. Pipes covered the interior, the lighting was dim, and a faint smell of mold drifted through the air, creating an unpleasant atmosphere.
This was Yuu's first time visiting the place.
But it probably was not Tsunade's.
She moved rapidly down the main passage with a clear destination, heading ever deeper underground.
During the process, Yuu activated his sensory ninjutsu and monitored the chakra fluctuations around them.
He also noticed that one of the two Root ninja at the entrance had quietly departed, seemingly to notify Danzō.
That made sense.
Root's base was essentially an office facility.
Besides being Root's leader, Danzō was also the head of the Shimura clan. He might remain here during the day, but at night he would still return home to sleep.
Therefore, he was probably absent right now.
That was good news for Yuu and Tsunade.
With Danzō gone, no one dared block the path of Konoha's princess.
The two advanced without obstruction toward the deepest sections of Root's base.
~~~
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