After Hiruzen's outburst, there was a couple of seconds of silence. No one in the room had seen the third Hokage this angry before.
Jiraiya broke the silence first. His voice carried a mix of frustration and sadness. "Sensei, I have told you and warned you about him many times, but you did not listen to me."
Hiruzen looked down at the floor for a long moment. When he finally spoke, his words came slowly, as if each one hurt to say. "And I had told you that Danzo was necessary for Konoha. He and his Root were essential in ways most people never understood. Do you have any idea how many Konoha shinobi he indirectly saved through his activities?"
"He made the other villages fight against each other so they would not unite against us. He eliminated foreign threats before they could grow strong enough to attack our gates. He did everything he believed was needed to protect the village, even when the rest of us could not or would not do those things."
Hiruzen paused. His shoulders sagged slightly, and a deep sigh escaped his lips. "But it seems Danzo's ambition has led him astray. His hate for the Uchiha, a hatred that he might have picked up from our own sensei many years ago, caused him to turn against his fellow Leaf shinobi. His desire for more power, especially after he lost his arm to the Tsuchikage in battle, pushed him toward bloodline theft and even experimenting on the body of Lord First himself. That is something I cannot forgive."
The old Hokage lifted his head. A determined and serious expression settled over his wrinkled face. "I will personally deal with him."
Minato shook his head gently but firmly. "As the current Hokage, it is my responsibility to deal with him, Lord Third. I have already given orders to the Anbu. They are preparing themselves right now for what may come. I need you and Jiraiya-sensei to make sure that the casualties on our side stay as low as possible. Shikaku, I need you to create the strategy for how we will attack the Root bases."
He looked around the room at each man. "I would also like to save as many Root shinobi lives as we can. After all, they are still shinobi of Konoha too. Many of them were taken as children or orphans. They followed orders without knowing the full truth. I do not want to slaughter our own people if there is another way."
Shikaku nodded slowly. He rubbed the back of his neck as he thought. "For any plan to work, we need accurate information first. Lord Third, among all of us here, you are the one who knows the most about the main Root bases. Please tell us exactly where they are located so I can build a solid strategy. To keep Root casualties low, the smartest move might be to go straight for Elder Danzo himself. If we capture or neutralize him quickly, the rest may stand down without a long fight."
He leaned back in his chair and continued. "We also cannot wait for days or even until tomorrow to act. Elder Danzo is an experienced man. He already knows that Suna has learned about some of his dealings since he sent assassins after their prodigy, Shota Aizawa, he must suspect that word has reached us too. He might already be prepared. He could have escape routes ready or countermeasures in place. If we give him too much time, he will slip away. We have to strike in a couple of hours at most."
Everyone in the room nodded in agreement. The decision was made. There would be no more delays.
Shikaku took a short pause. He looked uncomfortable, as if what he was about to say was not part of the main plan but still important. "Before we move forward, I also want to report something. I do not think it is good news, but I do not believe there will be another chance to bring it up soon."
Jiraiya raised an eyebrow and stepped away from the wall. "What is it, Shikaku?"
Shikaku rubbed his temples with two fingers, clearly not happy about what he had to say. "Shota Aizawa, the one they call Eraserhead in Suna... I am afraid he is a half Nara."
Surprise showed clearly on the faces of the other three men.
Hiruzen leaned forward. "Are you sure about that?"
Shikaku gave a small nod. "One of my cousins, during the final months of the Second Great Shinobi War, had a short relationship with a receptionist at an inn in the Land of Wind. His team was staying there for several months while they carried out a long mission in the Land of Earth. When he came back to Konoha, he told me about her. He said the woman was pregnant with his child. He wanted to return to the inn and bring her and the baby to the Leaf Village so they could live together as a family. But he was too late."
Shikaku's voice grew quieter. "Iwa shinobi who had been tracking his team attacked the inn. They killed everyone there because they believed the people were collaborating with Konoha. We assumed the child was either never born or had been killed along with the mother. The news broke my cousin completely. He lost all his will to fight. Not long after, he died on another mission. He never got over it."
He looked up at the others. "This boy, Shota Aizawa, looks exactly like my cousin did when he was young. And since the inn was in the Land of Wind, there is a good chance that someone found the baby after the attack and took him to Suna's orphanage. That would explain how he ended up in the Sand Village."
Jiraiya let out a low whistle. "Now that is one of the saddest stories I have heard in a long time. But at least your cousin would be happy to know that his son is alive and has grown into a strong shinobi."
Hiruzen stared at the floor again, thinking deeply. "The boy is now part of Suna. Rasa is grooming him to be one of their future pillars. I do not think it would do the boy any good if we told him about his Nara parentage right now. It could confuse him or even be used against him by others in Suna who do not trust Konoha. He might feel torn between two villages."
Minato agreed with a quiet nod. "It would be better to inform him at a later time, when he is older and more settled in his own path. For now, we have a more urgent problem to solve. We must deal with Root and Danzo before anything else."
Shikaku pushed aside the heavy topic and returned to the plan. He began outlining the strategy in clear, simple steps. He would deploy small, elite Anbu teams to each of the main Root bases hidden inside Konoha.
The teams would move in silence and search quickly. If any of them located Danzo or found strong signs that he was present, they would release a special signal.
Minato, with his Flying Thunder God technique, would teleport to that location instantly and take charge.
The goal was speed and surprise. Hit hard, capture Danzo if possible, and convince the Root operatives to stand down once their leader was gone. Casualties would be kept to a minimum on both sides.
Everyone agreed to the plan. They spent the next hour going over every detail. Hiruzen shared the exact locations of the known Root bases.
Shikaku adjusted the assignments for each team. Jiraiya offered to take one of the riskier locations himself. Minato prepared the marked kunai he would need for teleportation.
When everything was ready, the four men left the office together. The village outside was quiet under the night sky. Most people were asleep, unaware of the storm that was about to break inside their walls.
The operation began exactly as planned. Anbu teams slipped through the shadows like ghosts. One by one, they sent their reports back through secure channels.
But the news was the same every time.
Every single Root base had been emptied.
--------Author Notes---------
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