Danzō wanted to protest, but the Third Hokage didn't give him the chance.
It was obvious Hiruzen meant to take this opportunity to cleanse Root. Danzō's face grew darker.
Still, he forced his anger down. "Very well. I'll leave Root in your hands for now—you are the Hokage, after all."
Not long after Hiruzen left, the ANBU took over the guard and surveillance of Danzō's residence.
The remaining fourteen Root operatives were summoned to Root's base by the Third.
Without any lengthy discussion, Hiruzen immediately ordered ANBU operatives to detain all fourteen members for investigation.
What Danzō didn't know yet was that, before the assassination attempt on him, two reports had already landed on the Hokage's desk—one from Orochimaru, and the other from Nara Shikaku.
Orochimaru's report detailed only one thing: the discovery of a facility—a laboratory, suspected of being used by Danzō for human experimentation. The lab was within Konoha itself.
Hiruzen had already dispatched ANBU to investigate the site listed in the report and had indeed found signs of a functioning lab.
Before he could act on it, the incident with Danzō had already erupted.
As for Shikaku's report—it made Hiruzen's brow furrow even deeper. It claimed Danzō had leaked intelligence about Ishiki Kujo's squad to Amegakure, Iwagakure, and Kusagakure.
The intel came from Kusagakure itself—evidence that, with enough ryo, could be purchased through its "professional channels," known for their transactional but reliable nature.
Especially considering Inuzuka Zawa's report, which stated their team had been ambushed shortly after crossing the border. Though the captured attackers had revealed little, Orochimaru's own account mentioned that Danzō's Root operatives had claimed custody of the prisoners—claiming they'd attempted to frame Root.
With all this mounting evidence, Hiruzen's expression grew increasingly grave.
He changed into his battle gear, summoned four ANBU, and left the Hokage Tower, heading straight for the northeastern sector of the village.
Before long, he arrived at the lab mentioned in Orochimaru's report.
The place had already been under surveillance by ANBU, so the infiltration was smooth.
The lab was underground. Though the defenders had begun to destroy evidence the moment the intrusion began, Hiruzen had prepared for this—together with ANBU, they secured the base in under ten minutes.
Inside, rows of glass cultivation chambers awaited.
Each tank held a child—none older than ten.
When the lab's logs were recovered, they contained notes on Hashirama cells, Wood Release, and other grim terminology.
Hiruzen closed his eyes. His face was etched with sorrow.
Even though all the evidence pointed squarely at Danzō's depravity, he couldn't help but feel personally responsible.
After all, the plan to "revive the Wood Release of the First Hokage" had been his idea.
And after entrusting the project to Danzō, he had never once followed up on it.
That Danzō had come this far—Hiruzen believed half the blame rested on his own shoulders.
"Perhaps... I really am unfit to be Hokage anymore," he thought for the first time.
Images flashed through his mind: Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Uchiha Shisui... and Kujo Ishiki.
They were the ones most suited to inherit the Will of Fire.
But before he could consider a successor, Danzō had to be dealt with.
…
Danzō knew he had been played.
The moment Hiruzen told him to stay home and surrender control of Root, he realized it.
But he still didn't know who had orchestrated it—or how deeply they'd anticipated his moves.
He didn't act immediately. He waited—for intelligence.
His Root operatives weren't so easily broken. They'd send him the intel he needed as soon as possible.
"Oh, Lord Danzō, you seem troubled," came the grating voice of Yo-Yo Ma.
In the distance, the Barrier Team was no more. Two corpses and a lone, hooded figure stood in their place.
"You're here. What's the situation?" Danzō kept his eyes on Yo-Yo Ma, but the question was directed at the hooded figure.
He'd already figured it out: as long as he kept Yo-Yo Ma within his sight, it couldn't pull anything.
It was obnoxious as ever—but useful. A loyal, albeit grotesque, servant.
"Lord Third has discovered Lab Seven. All Root personnel have been detained. He'll arrive here soon," came the low voice from under the hood.
"I see." Danzō sighed. "You did well. Did you find out how he discovered Lab Seven?"
As he spoke, he rose to his feet, thoughts racing.
There were few people who knew the locations of those facilities. After he'd destroyed most of them, only a handful remained.
If one of the last hidden labs had been found—there was a rat.
"Orochimaru."
As expected.
"Let's go," Danzō said, offering no more commentary. But at the seat he had just left behind, he left a thick file.
Yo-Yo Ma glanced at it but didn't touch it. Instead, it waddled after Danzō obediently.
…
When the Third returned to Danzō's residence, the place was in chaos.
The ANBU and medical-nin were all unconscious. The Barrier Team—dead. The Interrogation and Cipher teams hadn't even entered the building yet.
Clearly, Danzō had anticipated Hiruzen's approach and vanished in advance.
But did he understand what this disappearance meant?
Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane had already arrived. Seeing the empty house, their faces twisted in disbelief.
Even more shocking were Hiruzen's next words.
"List Shimura Danzō as a missing-nin. Dispatch elite squads to pursue. If he resists, kill him on sight."
"Hokage-sama!" the two elders cried out in unison.
But Hiruzen didn't answer with words. Instead, he threw a file at them.
The dossier detailed all of Danzō's forbidden human experimentation within Konoha.
Ignoring their pale faces, he strode to the spot where Danzō had left the file.
He picked it up and opened it.
The deeper he read, the darker his expression became.
Not only did it list Danzō's crimes in full detail—it implicated Orochimaru as an active participant.
Outside the main report, a secondary document lay waiting: Danzō's personal investigation into the Kujo Clan.
It contained everything he had unearthed about them.
Many parts of it were marked—highlighted heavily.
Shimura Danzō had been digging. And whatever he found about Kujo Ishiki's origins... he thought it was worth underlining.