Chapter 69 (Patreon)

“A shinobi’s body holds all kinds of secrets. That’s true whether they’re an ally or an enemy.”

Kushina knew Roy was right. Still, it left them with a serious problem.

If everything they had found became public—especially the Second Hokage’s involvement—the damage wouldn’t stop with Hiruzen and Danzō.

It could tear Konoha apart from within.

The other hidden villages would move the moment they sensed weakness. At worst, it could trigger the Fourth Shinobi World War.

“Then we only reveal what we need,” Roy said. “Enough to bring Danzō down without throwing the village into chaos.”

He handed Kushina the Root reports and Danzō’s correspondence.

“These reports, the letters, and those eyes should be enough. We should keep the Hashirama Cells out of it.”

Kushina opened the first scroll, curious to see why Roy believed the evidence would be enough to destroy Danzō.

The report detailed an incident from not long ago.

When Hiruzen traveled to the Fire Daimyō’s residence to request an official appointment, Danzō had sent shinobi to assassinate him.

Kushina stared at the scroll in disbelief.

Hiruzen had never mentioned the attack after returning to Konoha. He hadn’t even taken action against Danzō.

Aside from the handful of ANBU who had accompanied him, it was likely that no one in the village even knew the Hokage had been attacked.

Kushina already knew Danzō was bold enough to order Hiruzen’s death.

What she couldn’t understand was Hiruzen.

Someone had tried to assassinate him, yet instead of arresting Danzō, he had buried the entire incident and pretended it never happened.

The more Kushina read, the worse it became.

During Konoha’s confrontation with Kumogakure, Danzō had even planned to hand over information on the village’s defenses.

He intended to increase Kumogakure’s pressure on Hiruzen until the Third Hokage had no choice but to place the Nine-Tails jinchūriki under Root’s control.

The records from the Third Shinobi World War were just as bad.

“Are we sure Danzō isn’t an enemy spy?”

“He’s worse than any spy,” Roy replied. “A foreign agent would never have had enough influence to drive the White Fang of the Leaf to his death.”

They had proof of Danzō’s crimes now, but they couldn’t simply announce everything to the village.

Danzō would deny it.

Root’s base was currently under ANBU control, and Kushina had no authority to enter it. If she suddenly produced documents taken from inside the base, the first question would be how she had obtained them.

If they couldn’t explain that, Hiruzen could dismiss the evidence before anyone had a chance to investigate it.

But if they admitted they had slipped past the Hokage and ANBU to search the base themselves, Danzō could turn the accusation against them and claim the evidence had been planted.

“Maybe we should bring the Uchiha into this,” Roy said after thinking it over.

As the Konoha Military Police Force, the Uchiha had the authority to investigate crimes within the village.

Even if they acted before the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force or ANBU, it wouldn’t seem suspicious if they claimed to have obtained information from a captured spy.

That information could then give them grounds to request an official search of Root’s base and the Shimura compound.

Once the evidence was “discovered” during that search, its origin would no longer be a problem.

The plan wasn’t perfect, but it could work.

If Hiruzen wanted to prove Danzō’s innocence, he would have no reason to refuse the Uchiha’s request.

In fact, he would probably approve it without hesitation.

ANBU had already searched Root’s base and removed almost everything inside. As far as Hiruzen knew, there was nothing left to find.

He had no idea that Danzō had hidden chambers protected by sealing barriers.

ANBU had searched the rooms.

Roy had walked through the walls.

After discussing the remaining details, Kushina asked Nono Yakushi to deliver a message to Fugaku.

However, Nono returned much sooner than either of them expected.

She had come back so quickly that Roy wondered if she had even reached the Uchiha compound.

“Nono-san? Did you deliver the message?”

Nono shook her head. Disbelief was still written across her face.

“I didn’t get the chance. The moment I reached the main street, I saw ANBU and the Konoha Military Police Force sealing off the village.”

“Sealing off the village?”

“Someone attacked the Hokage Building. Several ANBU guarding the Third Hokage were badly injured and taken to the hospital. The Third Hokage was wounded too, but his injuries are minor.”

Kushina and Roy both froze.

Someone had attacked Hiruzen in broad daylight?

“Did ANBU capture them?”

“The attackers were killed at the scene. But they entered the village without setting off the barrier, so ANBU suspects someone inside Konoha helped them. They’re investigating it with the Military Police.”

Roy raised an eyebrow.

“Then there’s nothing left to investigate. Danzō did it.”

Kushina had reached the same conclusion.

However, Nono couldn’t hear Roy, and Kushina couldn’t accuse one of Konoha’s elders of treason without evidence.

Just then, she sensed someone enter the courtyard.

“ANBU? Why are they here instead of searching for the traitor?”

Still puzzled, Kushina stepped outside.

“Kushina-sama,” the masked ANBU said. “Hokage-sama has summoned you.”

Kushina followed him to the Hokage Building.

Thin trails of blue smoke still rose from the damaged structure, and part of the outer wall had collapsed.

Whoever had launched the attack was no ordinary shinobi.

At the very least, they had possessed the strength of a jōnin.

“Kushina, you’re here.”

Hiruzen stood beside a shattered window with his pipe in hand.

When he saw her enter, he gestured toward several bodies lying nearby.

“I believe these men belonged to the same group that attacked you.”

Each of them had demonstrated strength around the jōnin level.

Yet none of them had suffered a fatal wound. They had simply collapsed and died during the battle.

There were no signs of poison, nor was there any evidence that they had used a suicide jutsu.

Hiruzen had immediately recognized their condition.

It was exactly the same as the men who had died in the courtyard of the First Hokage’s former residence.

That was why he had summoned Kushina. He wanted to know whether she could find another clue connecting the two attacks.

Kushina glanced at the bodies but didn’t move any closer.

Roy, however, examined them carefully.

The traces left behind by their souls carried the same unnatural distortion as the previous attackers.

They felt nothing like the souls of ordinary humans.

A figure suddenly appeared inside the room using the Body Flicker Technique.

Kushina recognized him immediately.

It was Yan, an ANBU captain and one of Hiruzen’s personal guards.

He dropped to one knee.

“Hokage-sama, Danzō-sama isn’t at his residence. We questioned his family, but none of them know where he went.”

Kushina and Roy exchanged a glance.

Neither of them showed any reaction, but they had reached the same conclusion.

Danzō had fled Konoha.

The reason was almost certainly the evidence Roy had taken from Root’s base.

Danzō must have sensed that the seal protecting his secret chamber had been breached. Once he realized his secrets had been discovered, remaining in the village had become too dangerous.

That also explained the attack on Hiruzen.

It had been a diversion.

The moment the Hokage was attacked, ANBU, the Military Police, and every available shinobi nearby would rush to protect him.

The village lockdown and investigation would only begin after the immediate threat had been dealt with.

That brief opening would have given Danzō enough time to escape.

“What about Root?” Hiruzen asked. “Has there been any unusual activity?”

He had clearly made the same connection.

The relationship between Hiruzen and Danzō had deteriorated far more than Kushina and Roy had realized.

This wasn’t the first time Danzō had moved against Hiruzen.

Now he had vanished on the same day the Hokage Building was attacked.

Even Hiruzen could no longer believe that was a coincidence.