Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded in agreement with the two Konoha Advisors.
At that moment, Orochimaru finally felt a huge weight lift from his shoulders.
"Thank goodness I handled this the right way," Orochimaru thought. "Otherwise, I'd have been dragged down by Danzo, inheriting several of his 'dirty secrets' and completely screwing up my business in the Konoha."
Once Hiruzen Sarutobi and the Advisors had made up their minds, a large number of elite Anbu quickly gathered to pass final judgment on Danzo.
…
Meanwhile, at the Root base:
Danzo was pacing back and forth, cane in hand, looking worried.
From where he stood, the elite Anbu had recently torn the entire village apart looking for Konohamaru but still hadn't found him.
"That means the Anbu will probably expand their search next," Danzo reasoned.
He planned to have some Root agents disguise themselves as Anbu search parties and slip Konohamaru out of the village.
"But once I get Konohamaru out, who should I team up with to unlock the secrets of his Wood Release?" he wondered, deep in thought.
After thinking it over, Danzo realized it was actually two separate tasks.
"Even though Orochimaru's probably too scared to betray me—since if I call him out as an accomplice, it'd wreck his future—" Danzo sneered internally, "the truth is, he was involved in a lot of my moves. There's no way he could deny all of it."
"Still, if Orochimaru loses his cool and drops hints that Konohamaru's with me, I'll be in deep trouble," Danzo told himself, growing more vigilant.
"So, right now, I've got to get Konohamaru out of Konoha first, then find someone else to help me crack Wood Release." A cruel glint flashed in his eye.
With that, he struck the ground twice with his cane.
Thump! Thump!
Two Root shinobi instantly appeared in front of him via the Body Flicker Technique.
"Lord Danzo, your orders?" they asked respectfully.
In a low voice, Danzo said, "Following our earlier plan, have one Root squad disguise themselves as Anbu and move our target to the Land of Rivers."
They hesitated a bit upon hearing that.
They knew "the target" was Konohamaru.
If they smuggled him out of Konoha, he'd basically be treated as disposable research material—far from ideal.
Originally, they assumed Lord Danzo would use Konohamaru to grab hold of Konoha's leadership and guide the village toward a brighter future.
Seeing their hesitation, Danzo said flatly, "Other Konoha ninjas are like the leaves on our village's great tree, enjoying the sunlight. We're its roots, buried in darkness, drawing in the nutrients that keep that mighty tree alive."
"When we finally master Wood Release, Konoha will be able to mass-produce Wood Release users, sending our power through the roof until we're unmatched in the ninja world."
"For such a grand goal, certain sacrifices are necessary. Everything is for Konoha!"
Hearing this, the two Root shinobi snapped to attention and answered, "Understood! Everything for Konoha!"
Yes, letting Konohamaru grow freely would definitely help Konoha down the line.
But if they used him as raw material for Wood Release research, Konoha might someday churn out Wood Release users in bulk—an even bigger prize.
Lord Danzo had already collaborated with Orochimaru on Wood Release research years ago, yielding a surprising success.
With that success, their accumulated know-how, and Konohamaru's near-perfect potential, fully cracking Wood Release was just a matter of time.
Once Lord Danzo got his hands on Wood Release, he could use that advantage to climb to the top of Konoha's power structure, training waves of powerful Wood Release ninjas for the village.
Eventually, as time went on, Konoha's overall power would keep going up, until it ruled over the entire shinobi world with no village able to threaten it.
So, for the big picture, sacrificing Konohamaru felt like a necessary step.
The two Root members left right away, following their plan to move Konohamaru out.
But just as they were about to leave Danzo's office, a cold voice barked:
"Hold it! You're not going anywhere!"
It was Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Behind him were Koharu Utatane on one side and Homura Mitokado on the other, both looking solemn.
They had heard every word of Danzo's conversation with the two Root members.
Though Danzo never mentioned Konohamaru by name, the three of them knew exactly who they'd been talking about.
Given Orochimaru's testimony, this was already more than believable.
Now, having heard it straight from Danzo, they basically had ironclad proof he masterminded Konohamaru's kidnapping.
Danzo's plan was to use Konohamaru as a research subject to crack Wood Release. Even if they didn't say "Konohamaru" outright, it was obviously him.
Hiruzen and the Advisors' sudden appearance rattled Danzo, though he kept his face impassive.
Scowling, he said with annoyance, "So the Root base is a black market now? Today, the Anbu already turned this place upside down, and I cooperated fully. The result? Nothing. They found not a single clue about Konohamaru. And now you just barge in here again? Care to explain yourselves?"
Without enough proof, Danzo might've intimidated them with such words before.
But now they already had testimony and other evidence.
On top of that, Danzo's talk with his subordinates showed Konohamaru was still in Konoha—hence the plan to move him out.
As long as Konohamaru was in the village, no matter how well Danzo hid him, time would make it inevitable for the Anbu to find him.
Hiruzen had decided he was done messing around.
Wasting no time, he fixed Danzo with an icy look and asked, "Danzo, why'd you arrange Konohamaru's kidnapping? Do you admit your guilt?"
Danzo exploded. "Lies! Hiruzen, don't accuse me out of nowhere! When have I ever kidnapped Konohamaru?!"
Hiruzen scoffed. "Not long ago, Orochimaru personally saw Konohamaru in your hands. You still plan to deny it?"
No sooner had he said that than Orochimaru stepped forward from the crowd, standing behind Hiruzen.
His arrival struck Danzo like a hammer.
The moment Danzo laid eyes on Orochimaru, his pupils shrank.
He never imagined Orochimaru would actually drag both of them down this way.
But what Danzo didn't realize was that Orochimaru had done even more behind the scenes—he had already given the Konoha F3 a heads-up, clearing himself completely. Even if Danzo decided to pull a scorched-earth confession, they'd think it was just his last, desperate act.
Right now, Danzo was practically boiling with rage.
He'd played his cards wrong. In his mind, it was crazy that Orochimaru would do something that hurt both of them. That just wasn't the Orochimaru he knew.
But anger and regret were worthless at this point. He had to figure out how to survive this.
At that moment, everyone noticed a small snake slithering along the floor toward Orochimaru's hand, as if delivering a message.
Orochimaru gave a menacing grin, looking Danzo's way with a mocking tone. "Lord Danzo, I know where Konohamaru is."
He paused, then added, "When you came asking to partner up before, I guessed that if I said no, you'd want payback sooner or later. So I secretly had a little snake summon trail you. We've come this far—still want to keep denying it?"
Of course, Orochimaru was making all of this up.
He'd just dropped that little snake earlier when he entered the Root base.
But Danzo had no way of knowing the truth.
Sure enough, Danzo's face immediately went pale.
He had no clue if Orochimaru was bluffing. He really hadn't done a thorough check of where he'd hidden Konohamaru. After all, the village was searching nonstop, so he'd tried to keep contact to a minimum to avoid getting caught.
He would never have guessed Orochimaru would be so ruthless.
Even then, Danzo wouldn't confess.
He snorted, his stare cold. "Nonsense! I haven't even seen you lately! No idea what you're talking about!"
Hiruzen ignored Danzo's protests and directly told Orochimaru, "Orochimaru, bring Konohamaru here and settle all doubts."
Orochimaru: (O_O)???
He was dumbfounded. That snake was just for show; he really had no clue where Konohamaru was.
He and Danzo barely interacted, so even with his abilities, there was no way he could have snuck a tracker snake on Danzo, especially given Danzo's near-Kage-level strength.
But the show had started, so Orochimaru had to roll with it.
He decided he'd pretend to go look for Konohamaru. He was in the stronger position anyway, so he doubted Danzo could turn it around.
Meanwhile, Danzo was losing his grip.
On one hand, Hiruzen and the Advisors had overheard him talking to his men. On the other, he did approach Orochimaru for help, so Orochimaru could easily testify against him.
Worst of all, Konohamaru was still in Konoha—he hadn't been moved out in time.
Whether Orochimaru brought him over or the Anbu found him later, Konohamaru could identify Danzo as the kidnapper.
Even then, Danzo refused to back down. Glaring at Orochimaru in a near-frenzy, he said, "Hiruzen, this is Orochimaru's plan to kill me by someone else's hand! He and I have a ton of shady deals. He wants me dead so the secrets stay buried!"
Hearing that, Hiruzen Sarutobi blew up. "Enough, Danzo! We figured you'd stoop to this. It's come this far, and you still try to pin your crimes on Orochimaru? If you won't save yourself even a little dignity, then we'll do it for you!"
Danzo was just as furious.
Pinning it on Orochimaru? In his opinion, Orochimaru was "pitch black from inside out."
But he was out of time to argue.
Hiruzen, Koharu, Homura, Orochimaru, and the rest of the Anbu elites were all geared up to take him down.
Facing so many strong shinobi, Danzo knew he'd be dead in no time.
But in that critical moment, a silhouette appeared from the shadows—a young man, arms crossed, lazily leaning against a wall, speaking with an offhanded air: "Sorry, but you can't kill Danzo. He's my client, so I have to keep him alive."
Hiruzen Sarutobi: (O_O)???
Koharu Utatane: (O_O)???
Homura Mitokado: (O_O)???
Orochimaru: (O_O)???
Everyone was stunned.
No wonder Danzo acted so fearless—he'd already bought "insurance" from Senshi!
With Senshi guaranteeing his life, he was basically unkillable unless he died of natural causes.
Orochimaru was speechless.
He'd thought he had the upper hand, but it turned out Danzo had outsmarted him.
This old fox had gotten an insurance policy from Senshi—who could kill him now?
Even Danzo was panicking before, when Hiruzen and the others were about to strike, knowing he and Root couldn't fight the whole village. But then he remembered the insurance he'd bought from Senshi, and all that fear vanished.
Who could kill him? Who would dare?
Freed from mortal danger, Danzo cackled madly, "Who dares kill me?! Who dares?! Who dares?!"
That crazy arrogance made the Konoha F3 seethe, but they genuinely couldn't kill him.
From their intel, Senshi probably had the power to knock off even Kage-level ninjas instantly.
Though this was just a Wood Release clone of Senshi, the top brass of Konoha didn't dare provoke him.
They couldn't afford to break Senshi's perfect mission success streak.
So they had to swallow their fury for the time being.
But just when Hiruzen and the others were at a loss, the Wood Release clone of Senshi coughed lightly and spoke again: "Look, I only have to make sure Danzo stays alive. That just means he needs to keep breathing, if you get my drift."
Konoha F3: (O_O)???
They were stunned at first, then it clicked.
So that time Danzo had been beaten to within an inch of his life and left at the hospital doors wasn't him staggering there on his own—he had Senshi's insurance, ensuring he'd survive.
Putting two and two together, Hiruzen and the rest didn't hesitate anymore.
"All right, everybody—let's handle this. We can give him a 'nice outcome' by leaving him half-dead, then toss him into Konoha Prison for treatment!" Hiruzen said, and before he finished talking, he dashed toward Danzo like a fired arrow.
The others joined in just as fast, attacking Danzo simultaneously.
At the same time, tons of Root shinobi tried to get involved, but Hiruzen quickly commanded, "As Hokage, I order all Root ninjas to stand down! Danzo alone is responsible for these crimes. The rest of you will be treated leniently!"
Hearing the Hokage's command, the Root ninja froze, unsure what to do.
But soon they realized they had no direct orders from Danzo—he was instantly overwhelmed and couldn't speak—so there was no one telling them to fight back. They defaulted to Hiruzen's orders.
Danzo was beaten bloody, unable to utter a single command.
Seeing the Root ninjas just standing there, he raged inside: They've all turned on me! Even Root isn't following my orders anymore! And they're not lifting a finger to help while Hiruzen and the rest do this to me?!
His anger didn't last.
Hiruzen and the others went at him like a violent storm, ruthless and relentless.
Even "the ultimate human punching bag" Danzo soon passed out.
By the time he woke up again, he'd find himself behind bars instead of free.
With Danzo left clinging to life, Senshi quickly said, "Okay, okay, that's enough! He's basically one breath away from dying—someone call the medics!"
Senshi was already used to this sort of thing.
Last time, Danzo got pummeled the same way and ended up laid out in the hospital for a while before coming back to cause trouble.
At Senshi's words, Hiruzen ordered, "Lock Danzo up in Konoha Prison. Have the medical unit treat him there."
Once Hiruzen gave the order, Anbu immediately hauled off Danzo's unconscious body. Another Anbu member ran to get the medics to treat him in prison.
While the Anbu were busy, Hiruzen turned to the Root ninjas again: "Gather every Root member here—I need to talk to you all."
Hearing that, they quickly gathered everyone together.
With Danzo behind bars, Root would obviously come under the Hokage's direct command.
Root moved fast; before long, they were all assembled in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He swept a stern gaze over the group and said, "What I said before stands—forever. Danzo bears primary responsibility for all his crimes. Any Root ninja involved will either be handled lightly or not at all."
He paused, then continued, "Now, bring Konohamaru here and cooperate with the Anbu for the investigation."
Hearing this, the Root ninjas sighed in relief.
While the cursed "Tongue Eradication Seal" prevented them from spilling secrets, they weren't idiots. For ages, Root had worked under a policy of 'the mission matters more than anything,' even if it meant sacrificing innocent people.
That approach was questionable to begin with. And Danzo's most recent ventures had all ended in failure—like stealing a billion ryō from the treasury and getting nothing in return, or kidnapping Konohamaru and causing chaos for no real gain.
Stuff like this had happened repeatedly throughout Root's history.
So, with Danzo locked up, the Root ninjas were understandably uneasy about what'd happen to them.
As some of them went off to retrieve Konohamaru, the Konoha F3 stepped aside to discuss Root's future.
Hiruzen didn't give his own opinion straight away but looked at Koharu and Homura. "Got any ideas on how to handle Root now?"
After thinking for a moment, Koharu said, "Let's merge Root with the Anbu under direct Hokage command."
In her view, Danzo had built up Root shinobi into elite forces, and merging them with the Anbu would help them serve Konoha more effectively.
Homura hesitated, then said, "Might not work. The Anbu has its own missions, and Root has a role too. Some tasks that normal shinobi or even Anbu can't handle are better suited to Root."
Everyone there knew exactly what kind of 'tasks' he was talking about—secret missions necessary to keep a village stable, though they never see the light of day.
Once Homura was done, Hiruzen peered over at Orochimaru standing among the crowd, then turned back to Koharu and Homura and said, "How about letting Orochimaru take charge of Root?"
Koharu and Homura mulled that over.
In terms of cunning, Orochimaru was at least Danzo's equal—maybe even sharper—and he still had room to grow.
As for strength, he was definitely stronger.
Management-wise, if Minato hadn't been so outstanding back in the day, Orochimaru might have become Hokage himself, running the entire village.
And regarding loyalty, after watching Orochimaru for so long, plus these recent events, they saw he was absolutely dedicated to Konoha. Even if Danzo tried a final confession blaming Orochimaru for half of it, Orochimaru still turned him in, which said plenty about his loyalty.
Overall, Orochimaru was just better than Danzo in nearly every category.
Hence, putting Orochimaru in charge of Root seemed like the best move.
After weighing it carefully, Hiruzen, Koharu, and Homura all confirmed they had no issues and gave their stances:
Hiruzen spoke first: "I think making Orochimaru the head of Root is our best option right now."
Koharu hesitated before saying, "Root's a huge responsibility with a lot of power. Let Orochimaru lead it for a while as a test run."
She thought Orochimaru was a good pick, but Root was super critical to Konoha, so she couldn't fully trust him at once.
Homura gave a small nod. "I'm fine with Orochimaru taking over, but we need proper oversight, so nothing goes wrong when the power shifts, and he doesn't end up going down Danzo's path."
After all this time, Hiruzen Sarutobi was quite impressed with his pupil Orochimaru.
Koharu and Homura also valued Orochimaru but stayed cautious.
Since none of them objected, Orochimaru becoming head of Root was decided.
Once they finished talking, they called Orochimaru over.
He was feeling pretty good—Danzo's downfall seriously lowered the risk that Orochimaru himself would be dragged down. But he was still curious why Hiruzen and the two Advisors had summoned him now.
Stepping up to the three, Orochimaru asked politely, "Sensei, Advisors, is there something you need from me?"
Hiruzen waved a hand, looking quite pleased. "Orochimaru, we talked it over and decided to name you the new head of Root. From now on, you'll run the Root base and all its members. But for any major Root mission, you have to let me know and get my approval first."
~~~
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