40. Suspicion

Inside the Hokage Office,

"Any clues on who is the culprit behind those incidents?" Hiruzen stares at the group of Anbus in front of him.

"H… Hokage-sama, we… we unable to catch him." One of the anbu dogeza and apologizes.

Hmm…

Hiruzen narrows his eyes and glares at the kneeling Anbu.

"How many years?"

Ah!

"How many years has been it since you joined the anbu?" Hiruzen questions him.

"Umm… Hokage-sama, I…"

"Just answer me!"

"Yes, Hokage-sama! I have been in the anbu since it's founding days. So, it's almost fifteen years." The anbu leader replies.

"Fifteen years… so it has been this long." Hiruzen closes his eyes.

"Alright, you are dismissed from the anbu." Hiruzen opens his eyes and stares at the anbu leader.

"Eh… but Hokage-sama, I…"

"You will retire from your position as the Anbu leader and join the patrol forces at the border as a senior officer. Is that clear?" Hiruzen glares at him.

"Yes, I understand!" The anbu nods his head.

"Alright… the current deputy leader will become the new leader." Hiruzen dismisses them.

After the anbu departs, Hiruzen slams his palm on the table.

"How? How could they not even catch a single person? An injured one at that." He gnashes his teeth.

"It has been six months since the first person went missing and yet… and yet there is no clue of them. Although, most of the missing people are civilians, but now even an academy student is involved in the incident. And one of the most talented ones to boot at that.

If this situation is left as such, then will a genin disappear tomorrow and a chunnin after that? The civilian elders in the village elder council are already creating a ruckus and even the Daimyo has been alerted to this situation."

Hiruzen stares at the notice from the Daimyo.

"These kidnapping incidents are so blatant. This is a slap to the face of Konoha's anbu and police force. Not only that, the skirmishes between the anbu and the police force have become a common site because of the breach of interests and credits."

Hiruzen sits on his seat and calmly analyzes the situation.

"There has been no success on my end. Perhaps I should ask Danzo. His Root might have found some clue or trace of the culprit. Hmm… that seems like a good idea."

Hiruzen writes on a scroll and passes it to one of his shadow guards.

"Deliver this to the Root headquarters."

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" The shadow guard bows and flicker away with the scroll.

"Too many things are happening at the same time, the increasing conflict at the borders, the skirmish with the Sand shinobis, the suspicious activity of the Kumo shinobis near the borders of the Land of Fire, and the rising ambition of the new second Mizukage to annex more resources for the Kirigakure.

Not to mention the external conflicts, even the internal situation of the village, the kidnapping of the civilians, the skirmishes between anbu and the police force, and the lack of manpower for missions since most forces are deployed at the border. With all these incidents, I don't even have enough time to spend with my family. Biwako is pregnant and is expecting soon. Sigh…"

Hiruzen sighs and stares at the Hokage monument from the window.

"Sensei, I hope I will be able to stand up to your expectations."

An hour later,

Inside a meeting room, beside the Hokage Office.

"Hiruzen, you summoned me?" Danzo enters the room.

"Please take a seat!" Hiruzen gestures him. He pours tea for himself and Danzo.

Danzo takes a sip of the tea and turns his attention to Danzo.

"I am sure you didn't call me just to have some tea, right?"

"I am not that free to do something like that. This Chamomile Tea is from the Land of Tea. It's helpful to relive stress and relax sore muscles." Hiruzen takes a sip and closes his eyes.

"Mm…" Danzo also takes a sip.

"Good tea!"

He places the teacup on the table and turns to Hiruzen.

"So, what's the matter? Hmm… If I have to take a guess, then it must be about the recent kidnapping in the village."

"You are right!" Hiruzen pours more tea from the kettle.

"It has been six months since the first incident. Since then, the anbus has been frantically tracking the trails of the culprit. However, the culprit is quite slippery and manages to escape every time. His kidnapping pattern is erratic, and the whereabouts of the kidnapped people are unknown. Even the sensors are unable to locate him." Hiruzen has a helpless expression on his face.

"That's indeed worrisome!" Danzo remarks.

"Even my root anbus are investigating this case after yesterday's incident, since it involved one of my Root operatives."

"Huh! Involvement of a root operative." Hiruzen is surprised.

"Yes, the incident took place near the Konoha orphanage and one of its caretakers is my subordinate." Danzo continues.

"She didn't see the face of the culprit, but is confident enough to recognize the person if she came across him. So, I decided to form a team with her as a core member to investigate the case."

"I am assured. With the anbus, police force, and the root working on the case; the culprit won't be able to escape anymore." Hiruzen heaves a sigh of relief.

"Alright enough of this issue. What's the situation at the Amegakure border? I heard from the latest intel that a new leader has taken over the leadership of the Amegakure." Hiruzen remarks.

"Mm… the current leader of the Amegakure, Hanzo, killed the previous leader in a direct confrontation. From my spies in the Amegakure, I received the intel that he challenged the previous leader to a duel since he wasn't satisfied with the current state of Amegakure. Both of them fought a duel and Hanzo killed the previous leader with his poisoned laced blade.

My anbus did some investigation into his background and discovered that Hanzo was raised as a weapon by the previous elders of the Amegakure. During his childhood, his body was experimented upon and the venomous sac of a black salamander was implanted in his body to create a venomous shinobi capable of killing a large number of shinobi just from a breath. The experiment was a success, and Hanzo obtained the venomous trait of the black salamander. However, because of this experiment, soon, he was isolated from the rest of the village since the surrounding air become too poisonous for other people to breathe.

Later, he showed some results during the First Shinobi war. He fought against the Iwagakure shinobis and wiped a platoon of shinobis from Sunagakure with his poison breath. It's not a remarkable achievement, but he made enough contribution for Amegakure to spread his influence in the village.

After amassing enough power and experience, Hanzo bared his fangs against the higher-ups of the Amegakure for his brutal treatment. After killing the previous leader, he viciously slaughtered his entire family and then poisoned the previous village elders and their family members.

Now, he is suppressing the refuge shinobis with an iron fist from other villages and is aiming to expand his army. He increased the defenses of Ame and has effectively isolated the village from outside influence."

Danzo summarizes the entire life history of Hanzo.

"Hmm… so, he is consolidating his position as the new village leader. Are there any chances of conflict against him? How should Konoha treat him?" Hiruzen ponders.

"Hanzo hasn't declared any stance again Konoha, but we must always keep our guard since Amegakure is a village surrounded by three different great nations and thus is a place of strategic importance. Given the current tension at the border, we must secure a foothold around that area." Danzo remarks.

"That's true! So, did you attempt to communicate with him to form friendly ties?"

"Unfortunately, he declined our request." Danzo shakes his head.

"Huh! So did he ally with other villages?"

"No! He even declined Iwa and Suna's requests. Not only that, he is expunging spies from Ame and wants complete control over the village." Danzo adds.

"Hmm… the situation isn't favorable for us, but it's the same for other villages. I hope Ame doesn't turn into a volatile factor." Hiruzen picks up the kettle to pour some tea.

"It's over!" He shakes his head and places it back.

"Continue to scrutinize Hanzo's movements. Also, if possible, I want you to look into the suspicious activities from Kumogakure. Recently, lots of their shinobis are spotted at the shared border of Land of Fire and Land of Hot water."

"I will look into it!" Danzo nods and prepares to leave.

"One last thing. How is the wood release experiment progressing?" Hiruzen makes a nonchalant remark.

A foul expression appears on Danzo's face. He turns around and glares at Hiruzen.

"Are you suspecting me?" He narrows his eyes.

"No… no… of course not!" Hiruzen shakes his head.

"I almost forgot; I ordered you to scrap the project."

"Fine! Also, it was something that wasn't meant to be. Ask Lady Mito to look for a new jinchuruki. With the power of Nine-tails on our side, it won't be difficult to solidify our position after the losses from the previous war." Danzo reminds Hiruzen before exiting the room.

Phew…

Hiruzen heaves a sigh of relief.

"Looks like I was suspecting him for nothing!"

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