Chapter 1: Danzo, is Root a Branch of the Shimura Clan now?
Konoha. The Hokage Office.
Sarutobi Hiruzen sat in his high-backed wooden chair, the iconic pipe held between his teeth. He was focused, leaning over a stack of documents with an intensity the office hadn't seen in years.
In the depths of his eyes, there was a flicker of profound curiosity.
He hadn't been reading long before the door handle was twisted violently. Without waiting for a response to his perfunctory knock, a man wrapped in bandages and leaning on a cane strode into the room.
Shimura Danzo was fuming.
Recently, Hiruzen had been struck by a severe illness, confined to his bed with a high fever for days, leaving much of the village's administration in limbo.
The Second Great Ninja War had only ended a few years ago; the village hadn't fully recovered from the smoke and ash. To Danzo, this period of recovery was no time for weakness. Hiruzen's recent behavior was—in his mind—unacceptably slothful.
As a "Hokage's Assistant," Danzo felt it was his duty to give his old friend a harsh wake-up call.
Danzo opened his mouth, ready to bark "Hiruzen!"—triggering the same verbal sparring routine they'd used for decades. But he stopped dead.
The man behind the desk looked up. His gaze was... playful.
Danzo felt a chill. He instinctively halted his stride.
Something is wrong.
Hiruzen, supposedly just recovered from a life-threatening illness, looked younger. His posture was straight, his shoulders broad, and his presence far more commanding than the weary man Danzo remembered.
Was it an illusion?
"I was wondering who would dare enter without permission," Hiruzen said slowly. He tapped his pipe against the edge of the desk to clear the ash, pausing for a deliberate beat. "So, it's the... Hokage's Assistant?"
He put a heavy, mocking emphasis on the word Assistant.
Danzo's expression soured.
During that brief silence, his heart had actually skipped a beat. Hiruzen never addressed him by his official title; they were "Hiruzen" and "Danzo."
For a split second, a wild, tiny hope had flared in Danzo's chest: Has the Monkey finally realized he's unfit for the throne? Is he going to step down and name me the Fourth Hokage today?
But the weight Hiruzen put on "Assistant" shattered that delusion. This wasn't a resignation. It was a reprimand.
"Hiruzen..." Danzo furrowed his brow, his grip tightening on his cane. "What is the meaning of this?"
"The meaning is that you've been doing quite the job lately," Hiruzen replied, a thin, satisfied smile playing on his lips. "Root's scale is expanding rapidly. Your per-capita funding and equipment specs have already surpassed the standard Anbu."
He leaned forward. "Long coats, masks designed to look more menacing than the Hokage's own guard... you've got them following your every word without question."
Hiruzen's smile vanished. "Danzo... tell me. Does Konoha's 'Root' have the last name Shimura now?"
Danzo's mind raced.
Something was wrong. Extremely wrong.
Logically, Danzo was currently conducting the forbidden Wood Style experiments in secret. Hiruzen shouldn't be picking a fight now. Usually, the Third Hokage would wait until the results were clear, then "reluctantly" take the fruits of that research for the village while giving Danzo a slap on the wrist.
In their years of "Light and Shadow" cooperation, that was the unspoken contract: Danzo expanded his power as payment for doing the village's dirty work.
Was Hiruzen tearing up the contract?
"Hiruzen, everything I do is for the sake of the Leaf!" Danzo barked. "Root operates in the darkness! We face the most brutal environments and missions—naturally, we require more men and materiel!"
"As Hokage, you should be focused on the future of the village and the inevitable next Great War, not nitpicking over Root's budget. This is meaningless infighting!"
In response, Hiruzen stood up slowly. He walked around the desk, pipe in hand, until he was standing directly in front of Danzo.
He exhaled a thick cloud of pungent smoke right into Danzo's face.
Danzo's fists clenched. This was an insult! Even as Hokage, he shouldn't treat a founding elder like—
"You think I'm accusing you?" Hiruzen interrupted, shaking his head. He reached out and patted his old friend's shoulder with surprising strength. "I'm telling you that you've lost your way, Danzo."
Danzo narrowed his eyes. "What way have I lost?"
Hiruzen waved his hand dismissively. "Your desire to be Hokage is the worst-kept secret in the Five Great Nations. Even the smallest ninja hamlets know your ambitions. But look at yourself. How could a man like you ever lead?"
"You walk in the shadows for so long that you've become them. As the head of a black-ops division, you enjoy privileges that make ordinary shinobi fear you. But the further you walk down that path, the further you get from the Hokage's seat."
Hiruzen paced. "Tell me, why did Lord Second (Tobirama) give the Uchiha clan sole control over the Police Force?"
Danzo's face shifted through a kaleidoscope of emotions.
He knew the answer, of course. For the power players of Konoha, standing in the "Light" had always been Hiruzen's exclusive privilege. There cannot be two suns in the sky.
Because Hiruzen claimed the light, Danzo had been forced to grab as much of the darkness as he could. Power is power, after all. Being the "Darkness of the Shinobi" still made him the second most powerful man in the world.
"I know the history!" Danzo hissed. "Whatever you're implying, Hiruzen—I have willingly embraced the darkness for the village! A shinobi must be prepared to sacrifice everything, including his reputation!"
"I'm going to ask you once, Danzo," Hiruzen said, his voice suddenly dropping to a low, serious tone. "And only this once. Do you want to be Hokage?"
Danzo froze.
In his mind, he thought he knew Hiruzen better than anyone. But today, he couldn't read the man at all.
Do I want it? I think about it every waking second! I dream about it! I want that damned hat more than life itself! Danzo roared internally.
But with Hiruzen watching him like a hawk, the words were hard to spit out. His mind flashed back to their youth—the moment Lord Second asked who would stay behind as a decoy.
Back then, I was too afraid to raise my hand...
Am I too afraid to even say I want the position now?
Danzo took a deep breath. "Yes!" he spat out, the word hard and sharp.
"Well. That's progress," Hiruzen said with a chuckle.
The tone made Danzo's skin crawl. It was the tone a teacher uses for a child. Do you think you own me, Hiruzen? You think you're my superior?
"If you want it, I can help you," Hiruzen said, returning to his desk. "But I won't simply appoint you. Let's be clear on that."
He took a sip of tea. "From now on, I will provide official authorization and 'Light' coverage for certain Root activities."
Danzo's breathing became heavy. Confusion swirled in his mind.
Hiruzen... is going to take the heat for me? Since when did the Sage of the Six Paths start handing out miracles?
Danzo waited for the catch, but Hiruzen just kept sipping his tea. He tilted his chin up slightly.
The message was clear: I've shown my sincerity. Your turn.
Danzo's mind whirled. Should I tell him about the Wood Style test subject? That boy is the only survivor of the Hashirama Cell experiments... he's priceless.
But Hiruzen's calm, "I-already-know-everything" posture was unnerving.
"At Orochimaru's request, I assisted in some Wood Style research," Danzo said, weighing every word. "It was costly, but the results are promising. We found a subject who survived the integration of the First Hokage's cells."
"I was actually coming here to report that to you today."
A lie. He had come here to scream about the budget.
Hiruzen simply waved him toward a chair and poured him a cup of tea. He didn't seem surprised by the "Wood Style" revelation at all.
Danzo frowned. Is he playing hard to get? Trying to lower my bargaining power by acting uninterested? Or does he really know?
The tea tasted bland against Danzo's mounting anxiety.
Hiruzen smiled. "Anything else?"
"I... recruited a talented shinobi from the Aburame clan a few days ago," Danzo added, his voice growing defensive. "Hiruzen, surely this isn't an issue? If I don't take talent from the clans, Root has no teeth! How can we enforce the Will of the Hokage without strength?"
Hiruzen laughed. "See? Always so defensive. We're two old friends sitting down for tea. I'm just asking about your life and work."
"You've had it hard all these years, Danzo. Truly."
Danzo scoffed internally. The Monkey is playing the sympathy card now? Yet, despite himself, the tension in his face softened slightly.
"Sometimes, when I see you building up your private army in Root, trying so hard to hide it from me..." Hiruzen's voice turned sharp. "I'm not angry. I'm disappointed."
"You know you aren't in the natural line of succession for Hokage. You think that if I die, a coup d'état is your only path to the hat. You want the First Hokage's power because you think Might equals Right. In Konoha, that's a dangerous delusion. You've forgotten what Lord Second taught us."
The atmosphere in the room turned heavy enough to crush a Genin. When a Hokage accuses a subordinate of planning a coup, it's usually the last thing that subordinate hears.
Danzo remained silent for a long time.
"I never thought of it that way," Danzo said slowly. "Hiruzen... just tell me what you want."
"After all... you are the Hokage."
To his shock, Danzo didn't receive a lecture. He received a promise.
"Danzo, by my honor as a student of Tobirama Senju, I promise you this: From this day forward, I will view you as an official candidate for the position of Fourth Hokage."
The weight of that promise hit Danzo like a physical blow. "Hiruzen... are you serious?"
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes and pointed to the portrait of the Second Hokage on the wall.
Danzo's heart began to race.
"But if you want to walk the path of a Hokage, you must step into the light," Hiruzen said, sipping his tea. "Keep a few trusted agents for Root. The rest? I'm folding them back into the standard command structure."
"Don't worry. I'll have a new, prestigious position ready for you."
There it is, Danzo thought. The hammer drops.
He calculated quickly. Hiruzen wasn't being "kind"—he was stripping Danzo of his private army. But the price was fair. If Hiruzen really meant to give him a shot at the succession, it was worth it.
Besides, if it came to a fight... Danzo hated to admit it, but the Monkey was still the "God of Shinobi." Between the Three Sannin, the White Fang, and the clans, the entire village would side with Hiruzen in a heartbeat.
Staying in Hiruzen's good graces was the only way to stay alive.
"I understand," Danzo said. He placed a scroll on the desk. "These are the details on Orochimaru's side projects. I'll handle the transition for Root."
"But your promise..."
He gave Hiruzen one last, long look before turning to leave.
As he walked out, Danzo paused at the open door. Instinctively, he wanted to leave it wide open—a final act of petty defiance. But he stopped. He turned back and quietly, respectfully, pulled the door shut.
It was a small gesture of respect he hadn't shown Hiruzen in years.
Inside the office, the man known as Hiruzen watched the door close and smirked.
He wasn't the original Sarutobi Hiruzen.
In his past life, he was Arata, a high-level government official who had climbed the cutthroat ladder of modern bureaucracy until a terminal illness took him. He had spent his final days reading history and watching "Naruto" lore videos to pass the time.
When he woke up, he was the Third Hokage. He possessed a body with power beyond his wildest dreams.
And he had a "Cheat."
With a thought, a formal document appeared in his mind—red-bordered and white-paged.
[Authority] — [Diplomacy] — [Economy] — [Education] — [Military]
The five metrics sat there, clear and cold.
As the door clicked shut, the word [Authority] began to glow with a faint, golden light. The progress bar was moving.