"Let's pause the discussion about Kushina's delivery for now."
"Yes, Third Hokage-sama. Honestly, with this level of protection, it should already be enough."
"No. For Kushina, no amount of attention is ever enough."
Inside the Hokage's office, Minato Namikaze, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utatane, Shikaku Nara, and Murashima Taku were gathered around the table, discussing Kushina's situation.
Kushina had been pregnant for so ti. Her due date was October, and now, without anyone noticing, it was already September.
Less than a month remained.
When that day arrived, Minato and Kushina would gain a new identity—parents.
But Kushina's case was special.
She was the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki.
For a jinchūriki—especially a woman—the most dangerous mont was childbirth. She faced not only the inherent risks of delivery, but also the threat of the seal weakening and the tailed beast stirring.
Worse still, if outsiders learned the exact date, an attack at that mont would be catastrophic.
As Hokage, neither Minato nor Hiruzen had any room for petty disagreents now.
They might have differences in private. Their stances might not be the sa.
But when Konoha's core interests were at stake, they could set those things aside and align.
And Minato was even more tense than Hiruzen—because he wasn't just the Hokage.
He was a husband, and soon, a father.
What surprised him was how seriously Hiruzen was taking it. The security plan Hiruzen laid out was even heavier than Minato had expected.
They had arranged a large force.
The one overseeing the delivery would be Hiruzen's wife, Biwako Sarutobi. There would be elite ANBU on standby, along with a small number of sealing specialists.
Most importantly, Minato himself would be present.
This kind of lineup was excessive even for an ultra-secret mission.
"Alright," Minato said, organizing the reports on the table. "I understand, Third Hokage-sama. Then regarding the ANBU picks—do you have any thoughts? You know ANBU better than I do."
Hiruzen smiled mildly, his expression controlled.
"Not being familiar is normal. ANBU is a massive system—it takes ti. Don't rush. In the future, you'll have to personally manage and control all of this anyway, won't you?"
In the future.
A word full of hope—yet useless in the present.
Minato sighed internally, but he didn't show it.
Now wasn't the ti to argue over those nuances.
"Perhaps. But for now—what about the roster?"
"Within the limits," Hiruzen replied without hesitation, "we choose people with long service records and sufficient strength—without disrupting ANBU's normal operations."
It was a conservative answer.
If it were purely up to him, he'd even consider involving Root as extra insurance.
But he knew Minato likely wouldn't allow Root anywhere near this, so he didn't raise it.
"Alright," Minato nodded. "Then I'll rely on you."
"I'll deliver a list within two days, Fourth Hokage."
"Thank you, Third Hokage-sama." Minato hesitated, then asked, "By the way—Nightingale is still on leave, right?"
"Nightingale?" Hiruzen paused, then smiled and nodded.
"He is. He personally went to the Land of Hot Water recently. For a division captain to be that proactive… it was unexpected. But he's resting now. A month from now is another story."
"I think he can make ti," Minato said with a small smile. "This can be scheduled. And he's already proven his ability. With him involved, it would be safer."
"That's true." Hiruzen looked as if he were weighing it, then nodded. "He has proven himself. It's worth considering."
In truth, Hiruzen would have preferred Nightingale to stand even closer to Minato.
Nightingale's ambition was large—but Hiruzen could provide what the boy wanted.
Even if it was only an "IOU," it would keep him obedient for now.
As for later—
Later belonged to the young.
By then, Konoha would likely be Minato's world.
Hiruzen only needed to "train" Minato properly and pass on the context of his relationship with Nightingale. After that, soone else could deal with the boy's ambition.
For the present?
Hiruzen wanted to use him—and the closer he was to Minato, the better.
Minato didn't seem to notice Hiruzen's careful restraint. He was about to speak again—
When there was a knock at the office door.
Everyone else in the room quietly exhaled.
The two Hokage had drifted into territory that involved ANBU authority and power struggles—exactly the kind of thing most people didn't want to be present for.
Only Homura, Koharu, and ANBU Commander Murashima Taku remained outwardly calm.
They were all smart enough to sense Konoha's internal tension.
And precisely because they sensed it, it gave them headaches.
This kind of political ga was a cliff. One wrong step and you didn't "lose"—you died.
The door opened.
An ANBU operative rushed in, dropped to one knee, and bowed.
"Hokage-sama. Honored elders."
"What is it?" Minato asked at once.
"Hokage-sama—it's Captain Nightingale…" The ANBU operative swallowed, then continued. "Captain Nightingale… killed Root operatives."
"…What?"
The air in the office turned strange instantly.
Nightingale had killed Root?
What happened—what could have happened—to force him into that?
ANBU and Root clashing wasn't unheard of. Mission overlap caused friction. Argunts happened.
But they were all Konoha shinobi.
They had always maintained restraint.
They didn't openly kill each other.
Nightingale hadn't just crossed a line—he'd carved a new one into the ground.
"What happened?" Hiruzen asked, brows knitting.
For as long as he rembered, Nightingale wore a gentle smile. He didn't act impulsively.
This felt unlike him.
"Third Hokage-sama," the ANBU operative said, regaining composure, "the situation is as follows."
"One week ago, Captain Kakashi led a team and took Sunagakure's Pakura—who was being held in prison—out for a mission. They returned recently. Captain Nightingale appears to have completed her recruitnt and was preparing to assign her a role."
"But then Root operatives entered ANBU headquarters. Under Danzō-sama's order—without Hokage authorization—they attempted to forcibly take Pakura."
He hesitated.
Then forced the words out.
"They also classified Captain Kakashi as a rogue and prepared to attack."
Silence.
"Captain Nightingale arrived. He classified the Root operatives as rogues in return."
"And then he acted."
"He killed them one by one—leaving no survivors."
The ANBU operative stopped speaking.
The office stayed quiet.
Now everyone understood what had happened.
And the more clearly they understood it, the more uncomfortable their expressions beca.
Shikaku Nara looked like he wanted to press his face into the table and pretend he'd fallen asleep.
This was no longer "a dispute."
This was ANBU versus Root at the deepest level—proof of how lawless Root could be.
Most people didn't like Root.
In this room, aside from Hiruzen's generation and those aligned with that structure, the rest likely felt the sa.
So might even have felt a secret satisfaction—Root had finally taken a hard loss.
But even if they felt that, they didn't want to know it.
They didn't dare.
So they did the only safe thing:
Act stupid.
Act deaf.
And watch what the two Hokage would do.
"Root… entered ANBU without authorization and tried to take soone?" Minato's face tightened. "On whose authority?"
Hiruzen's expression turned heavier too.
He could guess Danzō's motive.
He'd known Danzō since childhood. He had watched him beco what he was—so of it even shaped by Hiruzen's own choices.
Hiruzen had allowed Danzō power for reasons:
Because he understood him.
Because Danzō, in many ways, was his shadow—doing what Hiruzen couldn't openly do.
And because there was an elent of compensation:
Danzō wanted to be Hokage, and Hiruzen had pressed him into the darkness forever.
That was necessary politically.
But cruel personally.
So Hiruzen gave him room.
Even when Danzō pushed Hiruzen's bottom line, as long as it didn't endanger Konoha's core interests, Hiruzen sotis let it slide.
But this ti was different.
Danzō had shoved his hand into ANBU openly, triggered unprecedented bloodshed—
And Kushina's delivery was less than a month away.
Any internal chaos now was a knife against Konoha's throat.
If this leaked outside—
If enemies connected it to Kushina—
The risk multiplied.
Hiruzen's anger rose.
"You overstepped, Danzō…"
Minato's anger was even sharper.
To him, this was not only a political violation.
It was personal.
The man had dared to act as if the Hokage's authority ant nothing.
Minato forced himself to breathe slowly.
As Hokage, he had to be calm.
Only calm could handle sses like this.
Root Headquarters
Inside Root's base, Danzō sat thinking.
How to handle Pakura once she was brought back.
How to face Hiruzen and Minato afterward.
In his mind, taking Pakura wasn't a problem.
Hiruzen and Minato were in a eting—too busy to respond quickly.
If Danzō moved fast enough, he could seize Pakura before they reacted.
"Not inviting to a eting that important…" Danzō's anger simred. "How bold."
Protecting the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki during childbirth was a major Konoha priority.
It demanded coordination.
But this eting hadn't included him.
What did that an?
Either people didn't trust him—
Or soone was deliberately blocking him.
Danzō believed both were possible.
Root's thods earned hatred.
That wasn't new.
He didn't care.
He held life-and-death power. Why should he care about how others "felt"?
But the second point—that Minato was obstructing him—made his blood boil.
Minato kept proposing reforms, especially about the Uchiha, and Danzō and Hiruzen kept rejecting them.
Change would break the current power chain.
It brought no benefit to the old structure.
Not only Danzō and Hiruzen were involved—others lurked behind them too.
Minato might not dare confront Hiruzen directly.
So the one who beca the easiest target was Danzō—the man who vetoed Minato most often.
"That brat…" Danzō thought bitterly. "If I were Hokage, I wouldn't be reduced to this. Doesn't he understand everything I do is for Konoha?"
He would never understand the simplest truth:
The very thods he believed were "correct" were the reason he could never beco Hokage.
A leader needed legitimacy.
Support.
A bright public image.
But Danzō was loathed by clans and power holders.
To them, he was a rat in a gutter.
And no one would crown a rat.
Maybe Danzō knew.
But he didn't care.
He believed hatred was just fear in another form.
And fear was enough.
He didn't need trust.
He needed submission.
Fear created obedience.
And obedience created control.
In his worldview, power was everything.
With enough power, everyone would kneel.
A man like that becoming ruler would be disaster.
Even in the original history, when Danzō beca Acting Hokage, no clan even wanted to provide a Hokage Guard.
And when he later died, Konoha didn't mourn him.
It stayed quiet.
At that point, not setting off celebratory firecrackers was practically restraint.
Then—
A frantic voice interrupted him.
"Lord Danzō!"
Danzō's brow twitched.
He lifted his head, staring coldly at the Root mber who rushed in and fell to one knee.
Danzō made no move.
But a mont later—
The Root mber collapsed, convulsing violently.
Sweat soaked his clothes.
He didn't scream.
He didn't roll on the floor.
He forced himself back up, trembling, kneeling again.
He endured in silence until only the sound of dripping sweat remained.
Finally, Danzō spoke.
"There will be no next ti."
"If there is a next ti, you will end yourself."
"Yes… Lord Danzō. Thank you."
The pain vanished.
The man looked like he'd been reborn.
He didn't dare resist.
Danzō was his master.
A tool didn't resist its master.
"Speak," Danzō said. "What is it?"
"Lord Danzō… seven packages were delivered to our gate." The man hesitated, then forced it out. "They appear to contain… heads."
"Seven?" Danzō's face changed instantly.
He stood up sharply and strode out.
The Root operative struggled to follow.
They moved fast.
Soon they entered a hall packed with Root mbers.
On a long table lay seven packages—and blood seeped through the bottoms.
A shinobi could tell what they were at a glance.
Danzō's anger surged.
He had sent out seven people.
So what was in those packages was obvious.
"Open them."
"Lord Danzō…" soone began, hesitant.
"OPEN THEM!" Danzō snapped.
"Yes, Lord Danzō."
Seven Root mbers stepped forward and began unwrapping.
The first layer revealed blood-stained masks.
Hands paused.
They looked at Danzō.
His face stayed blank.
Only his grip tightened so hard the wood of his cane creaked.
They continued.
When the packages were fully opened, they stepped back.
Danzō stared.
And when he saw Abura Ryoma's dead eyes—
his control finally cracked.
Snap.
His cane broke in his hand.
His people were dead.
His mission had failed.
Soone had dared defy him inside Konoha—
and had sent this as a ssage.
"Nightingale…"
The na surfaced in his mind.
If anyone could do this, it was that boy.
Danzō had the reports from Sunagakure.
He knew the boy's strength was abnormal.
He also believed he understood the boy's "personality"—always smiling, always polite.
Danzō had dismissed it as weakness.
He had dismissed the boy's ambition too—because Danzō believed he would never allow the boy room to grow.
But now…
The boy had grown beyond his expectations.
Danzō's fist clenched, then loosened.
Again and again.
Finally he turned away, furious but forced to swallow it.
He knew he couldn't retaliate right now.
Not at this ti.
Not with Kushina's childbirth so close.
"Wait," Danzō thought darkly. "After the Nine-Tails jinchūriki gives birth…"
Just then, commotion erupted.
An ANBU operative arrived and stepped forward.
"Lord Danzō. Apologies for the interruption. The Hokage requests your presence in the office imdiately…"
Hokage's Office
"Hokage-sama. This is what happened."
Hikaru stood before Minato and Hiruzen, calmly recounting everything.
After leading ANBU to execute the Root operatives, he imdiately sent a report to the Hokage's office.
And at the sa ti, he had delivered a "gift" to Root's front gate—making his position unmistakable.
He knew what consequences it might trigger.
But knowing didn't an he wouldn't do it.
He wasn't the old Hikaru anymore—the one who hesitated and held back.
His "persona" had to remain consistent…
But his actions could shift.
If soone shoved their hand into his division, and he didn't bite back, then his subordinates would never trust him again.
"You went too far," Hiruzen sighed. "They're Konoha shinobi. It didn't need to go that far."
"Hokage-sama," Hikaru replied, lowering his head slightly. His eyes didn't et anyone's. His voice was steady—neither arrogant nor ek. "ANBU belongs to the Hokage."
"Without Hokage authorization, no one's orders matter."
"And Pakura is my operative now."
Hiruzen smiled faintly.
He could see Hikaru's small trick—but it didn't matter.
ANBU is the Hokage's ANBU.
Hiruzen supported that completely.
This was both justification and declaration of loyalty.
This kid… his thods are getting sharper.
Minato nodded too—though with visible restraint.
"My thinking is the sa as the Third Hokage's," Minato said. "You went too far. They were still Konoha shinobi. The way you did it was too bloody."
"But—given they had no authorization, they slandered an ANBU captain as rogue, and tried to forcibly take your operative…"
"They deserved it."
"I apologize, Hokage-sama," Hikaru said softly. "I couldn't control my anger. If this causes trouble, I'm willing to accept punishnt."
"Punishnt is inevitable," Minato replied. "I can overlook provocation, but the beheading and ssage-sending crossed a line. This must be punished."
"But before that—I have a task for you. A classified mission."
"Hokage-sama, please give your order."
"One month from now," Minato said, gaze sharpening, "you will join my personal security detail and protect soone."
"Understood?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama…"
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