As Tobirama recounted his encounter with Menma in Hidden Sound and the urgent need to continue the sealing plan, chaos erupted inside the Sarutobi Clan compound. The familiar sound of shattering objects echoed from within the mansion.
Sitting in his wheelchair, Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head frantically, smashing every decorative item on the tables with his face and forehead. Pieces of pottery and wood rained down onto the floor.
"Hiruzen, you look terrible right now," Danzo's voice rang out, dripping with schadenfreude.
While his remaining Root ninja hadn't returned, compared to Hiruzen—who had lost another massive chunk of his elite forces—and Homura and Koharu, who were now confined to wheelchairs, Danzo felt he got off easy. Hell, he was actually pleased.
"Your performance is unlike the Third Hokage I once knew," Danzo continued, channeling chakra into his custom wheelchair. He rolled slowly forward toward Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, who lay on stretchers, their limbs broken and useless. "The Hero of the Ninja? You look like a wreck."
They had just been treated. The prolonged blood loss and agony left them pale and weak, unable to even speak.
"Shimura Danzo, this is my house!" Hiruzen roared, his face twisted with rage. "Shut your damn mouth!"
Gone was the humble, amiable Third Hokage. He looked like a laid-off husband with nowhere to vent his anger but his family.
"Over four hundred chunin! More than ten Elite Jōnin!" Hiruzen spat, saliva spraying onto his collar. "Just like my fourteen hundred clan elites, all gone the second they were conscripted! And in the end, they shove these two crippled good-for-nothings here with me—just like you, a useless piece of trash!"
"What, is your whole family dead? Is theirs?" He leaned forward, his eyes burning. "You want the Sarutobi Clan to wipe their asses for the rest of their lives?"
Danzo's face instantly darkened. "Hmph. Don't take your failure out on me, Hiruzen. I paid my dues before joining you. Not a single member of Root returned, and you were the one who sent them. Now you owe me an explanation."
"An explanation?" Hiruzen laughed, a cold, humorless sound. He chakra-charged his wheelchair and launched it forward like a battering ram.
CRASH!
Danzo's chair spun out of control, slamming into the wall. Only the safety harness kept him from being crushed.
"Are you satisfied with that explanation?" Hiruzen asked, his smile promising more violence if the answer was no.
Danzo steadied his chair, eyes dark with fury, but remained silent.
Then, Homura Mitokado spoke up, her voice raspy. "Hiruzen... stop. Koharu and I severed ties with our clans. If you won't take us in, just leave us to die out there. Cough—"
The effort exhausted her, triggering a fit of coughing.
They had begged to come here. Their clans weren't as large as the Sarutobi Clan to begin with. After Menma's rampage, only a handful of ordinary chunin and genin remained. To prevent their families from becoming commoners, they had severed all ties before the battle, asking to be conscripted.
Tobirama had agreed because, frankly, they had nothing left to lose. If it had been Hiruzen, he would have refused. The Sarutobi Clan had grown too big. They needed to downsize back to the two or three hundred members they started with.
"Cough... Hiruzen, we've been friends for decades," Homura rasped. "Please. Don't abandon us."
Koharu added, her tone laced with sarcasm, "Don't feel guilty, Hiruzen. We won't make things difficult for you."
If Hiruzen kicked them out, they would literally beg on his doorstep. They had chosen their clan's survival over their pride.
"You... fine. Fine!" Hiruzen shouted, his face turning purple. "You're good. You're very good!"
He wanted to strangle them. He wanted to throw them out and watch them beg. But looking at their broken, pathetic state, his anger hit a wall. He just glared at them, his eyes red, before turning to the terrified branch family servants standing by the door.
"You lot! Get in here! Clean this mess up, then take these two to guest rooms and get them proper wheelchairs. Now!"
The servants scrambled to obey, terrified of setting him off again. Homura and Koharu sighed in relief, expressions shifting to gratitude.
"I knew you wouldn't abandon us, Hiruzen."
"Thank you, Hiruzen. We'll stay with you until the end."
Their grateful words made his chest tighten until he could barely breathe. With nowhere else to direct his rage, he rammed his wheelchair into Danzo's one last time before storming off to his room.
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