Three days later.
In one of Konoha's secret underground prisons, Lock sat alone in a dimly lit cell. Since his return to the village, he had spent an entire day here — waiting.
Three days earlier, after Lock had killed the operatives sent by Danzo, he remained at the battlefield. Over an hour later, to his surprise, the Chūnin who had escaped the fight returned with reinforcements from nearby outposts.
When Lock saw them, suspicion immediately flared — for a moment, he even wondered if Jun might have been part of Danzo's scheme. But when Jun brought back other loyal Konoha shinobi to aid him, that doubt faded.
The shock on their faces, however, was unmistakable.
Corpses littered the clearing — twenty in total. Only Lock was still standing, blood-soaked and silent. Instinctively, the Konoha shinobi surrounded him with drawn weapons.
Lock didn't resist. He laid his kunai down and raised his hands. Only then did the tension ease.
They asked him what had happened. He said little — only that they'd been ambushed and that the attackers were already dead. He refused to give further details until he could speak directly with the Third Hokage.
For a boy barely in his teens, that silence made him look both suspicious and dangerous.
When the recovery teams found Cloud Village headbands among the bodies, their unease deepened. The escorts tightened their formation around him immediately.
Three squads — twelve shinobi — escorted Lock back to Konoha in secret, without a single word leaking to the public. Upon arrival, they turned him over to Anbu, who transferred him into the underground detention sector used for high-security cases.
During questioning, Lock said only one thing:
"I'll explain everything to the Hokage."
It wasn't defiance — it was precision.
The situation was serious. Twenty-one shinobi dead, including three Jōnin and several Chūnin. The only survivor was a single young genin. Worse, the evidence pointed toward a foreign village.
The political weight of it was enormous.
Until the Hokage could hear his testimony, Anbu could do nothing but hold him. They did, however, treat him carefully — med-nin were sent to treat his wounds, and he wasn't mistreated. For now, his only prison was time.
Meanwhile — Root Headquarters
Danzo slammed his hand against the table.
"Useless! More than twenty men — and they couldn't even capture one boy!"
His voice echoed coldly through the chamber. The failed mission had cut deep. He'd planned it meticulously, even dispatched his most capable operatives. Yet again, Lock had survived.
Worse — those twenty men represented nearly half of Danzo's personal Root forces. Losing them wasn't just a setback — it was a blow to his entire network.
"Father," said a calm voice beside him. A man in his twenties stepped forward — Danzo's son, a shadow unknown to most of Konoha.
"Why go so far for one boy? You've lost too many people."
Danzo's single visible eye flicked toward him, cold and sharp.
"You wouldn't understand. That boy's potential is beyond anything the village has seen in years. Even during the Chūnin Exams, he killed two of my men without detection. Do you realize what that means?"
The young man frowned. "But to lose so many Root operatives—"
Danzo cut him off with a sharp breath.
"If I could bring him under Root, he could become our greatest weapon. A future asset worth any cost."
He leaned back slowly, voice cooling.
"Even Hiruzen sees his value. He's placed the boy under Jiraiya's tutelage. That alone proves how important he is to the Hokage."
Danzo had gathered every scrap of information on Lock — from his academy days to his missions — enough to understand the kind of threat, and opportunity, the boy represented.
His son hesitated. "But this time, even disguised as Cloud shinobi… someone might notice the flaws."
Danzo waved his hand dismissively. "I've covered the tracks. But now that Hiruzen has hidden him, opportunities will be harder to come by."
He fell silent for a long moment. The failure had cost him dearly — and for the first time, doubt crept into his thoughts.
To lose more men chasing one boy might weaken Root beyond recovery.
Finally, he spoke again — voice low and controlled.
"Keep eyes on Hiruzen. I want to know exactly how much he knows… and whether that boy suspects anything."
Because if Lock had pieced together the truth —
Then even Danzo Shimura would be in danger.
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