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Danzō stormed out of the Hokage's office, his expression dark and furious after being denied trol over the ails' Jinchūriki.
Hiruzen sighed as he watched him leave. He knew Danzō well enough—he never had any genuine solutions. His only goal was to seize the ails for himself, no matter the sequences.
Now that he was gone, Hiruzen was left to figure out how to hahe iable. But after running through every possible sario, he came to a single clusion—there was nothing he could do. He could only wait.
Shin wasn't here to take the ails, just some of its chakra. That much was clear from his previous visits to other vilges. As long as that remairue, perhaps Konoha could avoid unnecessary flict.
....
Meanwhile, Shin and his group arrived at the Senju pound—only to find it pletely abandoned.
It was no surprise. Some of Konoha's s had oried g the nd, but Hiruzen had stopped them. He koug the Senju's aral home would only provoke Tsunade's erhaps even Shin's.
Still, it had been over six months, and without anyone maintaining the property, weeds had overtaken the once-proud estate. Tsuared at the sight, her fareadable. Even Shi out a soft sigh.
The Senju , co-founders of Konoha, had all but vanished.
Aside from Tsunade and Nawaki, there was no o. Even the Uchiha—whose numbers had dwindled—were in a better position.
After doing a bit of quick tidying, Shin and the others decided to stay there temporarily, though they had no iion of lingering long in Konoha.
"It's already te," Shin observed. "We haven't had dinner yet. Let's check out Konoha's food stalls, yeah?"
He led Tsunade, Kushina, Mikoto, and Konan toward Konoha's bustling ary district. Havi Konoha for so long, he felt a twinge of nostalgia at the local delicacies.
They browsed the ereet, eating a small portion at each stall until they were happily full.
"I thought we'd be watched the momeered Konoha," Kushina muttered, surprised. "But no one's following us."
She had Kagura's Mind's Eye, so if anyone were nearby, she would have sehem.
"That's because the Sandaime wants no trouble," Shin replied. "He knows pissing me off leads nood."
After all, even if they did try to keep an eye on him, what could they do?
"By the way, the ails Jinchūriki here is Uzumaki Akikht?" Kushina noted, refleg that she hadn't seen Akiko in quite some time. They shared a ame, though they'd never been especially close.
Tsuuro Shin, her expression firm.
"Tomorrow, I pn to talk with the Sandaime," she said. "You guess why."
Shin could indeed guess—she wanted answers regarding Nawaki's situation. He nodded.
"Fiomorrow, we'll see Hiruzen first. Then we'll find Akiko."
....
They spent the night in the Senju pound. The m, after grabbing a quick breakfast, they headed straight for the Hokage's office.
Despite their status as non-Konoha shinobi, no one dared bar their path—Hiruzen had explicitly ordered they should not be hindered, for fear of provoking a frontation.
....
Stepping into the familiar office, they found little about it ged. Tsunade fixed Hiruzen with a frosty look. He, in turn, studied Tsunade, Shin, and the rest, f a strained smile.
"That's a terrible attempt," Kushina ely.
It was indeed painfully forced—like a man smiling under duress.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen," Tsunade said coldly, "I want to know something. Why did Nawaki bee a missing-nin?"
She didn't call him 'Hokage.' Didn't call him 'sensei.' He was no longer worthy of the title.
Hiruze out a resigned sigh, as though expeg this frontation.
"Tsu's not as though I wanted Nawaki to gue," he began. "But he killed his own rades. You know Konoha's stariking down fellow shinobi is unfivable."
Tsunade snorted, her eyes filled with mockery.
"What if he acted in self-defense?" she shot back. "All of Konoha thinks he's a murderer. And you? You just let them believe it—because that was more ve, wasn't it?"
Fury flickered in her golden eyes.
"Tell me, Hiruzen. Did you have any hand in this?"
"If it's the truth you want," Shin interjected quietly, "You don't o ask him. You ask me instead."
He locked eyes with Hiruzen. In that moment, Shin's pupils morphed into the three-tomoe Sharingan.
Arm fshed across the Hokage's features—he reized the danger, but As, it was far too te.
Shin ensnared him in a genjutsu with nothing more than a gnce.
Hiruzen's advanced reflexes didn't matter. Shin's Potent ocur power now dwarfed most shinobi. Capturing Hiruzen was child's py.
In that instant, the truth unraveled.
'Danzō had orchestrated everything, framing Nawaki for murder. His inal pn was to have him killed, but when that failed, he turned Nawaki into an outcast.'
Hiruzen discovered the truth, he had effectively allowed Danzo's scheme to stand, doing nothing to clear Nawaki's name.
It might not have been Hiruzen's plot personally, but his silend approval had allowed Nawaki's betrayal status to stick.
This came as a searirayal to Tsunade.
Her grandmother had championed Hiruzen for the Hokage seat, letting him stabilize his power in the vilge.
Her grand-uobirama Senju, had been Hiruzen's teacher. And this was how he repaid the Senju ?
Shin forced Hiruzen to reveal details about the 's dee, too—'there had been sabotage and manipution behind the ses, with Hiruzen plicit.'
Tsunade's rage boiled over. Chakra fred around her, crag the floor in a violent burst.
"We should just kill him," Kushina said, throwing Tsunade a meaningful gnce. "Nothing else would ease that anger."
Tsunade drew a shaky breath, her swirling chakra gradually settling.
"Shin, release him from the genjutsu," she anded softly.
Shin shrugged. He ehe illusion, freeing Hiruzen. The Hokage blinked, beads of sweat on his brow, heart thudding at the memory of being helpless.
He knew he'd just been uhe Sharingan's trol, but not what secrets he'd spilled. The mere fact that Shin subdued him so effortlessly was terrifying.
He looked up, seeing Tsuill trembling with fury, a a pang of dread, fearing what had just been exposed.
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