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(knock!)

(Knock!)

(Knock!)

"Come in," Hiruzen said.

The door opened to reveal an old man with shaggy black hair, a bandaged right eye with a cross mark on his chin. He stood with a walking stick in his left hand while his right arm was covered with a black robe from his feet up to the right shoulder.

("Danzō!") Everyone stared at him.

Orochimaru, however, had an evil smile.

("It's Danzō huh…?") Naruto frowned.

"Lord First,"

"Lord Second,"

"I am most happy to see you two," Danzō bowed a bit towards the duo.

("The current Danzō is only worthy of the crime of forcing Itachi to murder his family,")

("As for the crime against Yahiko from the hidden rain, at that point, I think Danzō was taking a logical point as an emissary of darkness by preventing any alliance between ninja nations that might be detrimental towards the leaf village…") Tobirama thought.

"Danzō, What are you doing here?" Hiruzen asked.

The reason Hiruzen remained calm was because he had already lived with the truth for all these years, ever since Itachi massacred his clan and left the village.

"I'm just here to pay my respects to our dear first and second,"

"I hurried my way over after hearing the news of their revival," Danzō said.

"I see…" Hiruzen did not want to comment any further on the topic.

("Now is not the right time to deal with him since there are many plans we have to come up with considering that he has taken precautions for dealing with almost anything...") Tobirama thought.

"Danzō, Why don't you wait outside for a bit?"

"We have an important meeting here," Tobirama said.

"Okay,"

"I shall be waiting outside then,"

Danzō turned to face the door and started walking away with his walking stick.

*Door closes*

Everyone in the room continued to stare at the door for a few more moments before they finally looked away.

"Naruto, you were saying…?" Tsunade reminded.

"Oh Yeah,"

"About the old man, We should be cautious, since he possesses the Kotoamtsukami" Naruto warned.

"You may be right Naruto, but how long do we wait before we can afford to deal with him?" Tobirama asked.

"I have a certain person in mind; however, I am not sure how he would respond…" Naruto said.

"Uchiha Itachi, right?" Hiruzen asked.

"Mm!" Naruto nodded.

"Naruto, I must ask you to stop thinking of relying on such plan," Hiruzen warned.

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"Itachi is currently providing me with intel on Akatsuki and their plans,"

"Akatsuki usually roam around in pairs of two,"

"Even if Itachi came here, he would be followed by his partner as well,"

"At that time, if you still expect him to help, he would betraying Akatsuki's trust as a whole," Hiruzen said.

Naruto walked towards Hiruzen.

"I understand,"

"However, I want to meet with Itachi at any cost,"

"Can you please arrange for that to happen?" Naruto asked.

Hiruzen thought for a bit,

"I will send a request on your behalf to Itachi, however, meeting you or not will be entirely up to him," Hiruzen said.

"Doesn't matter!"

"As long as it can help me have a conversation with him face to face," Naruto said.

"Okay,"

"I'll let you know when Itachi contacts," Hiruzen said.

"Thanks, Old Man!" Naruto said.

"Mm!" Hiruzen nodded, following which he turned towards Tobirama.

"How do you plan to handle this now?" Hiruzen asked.

"I'll have Danzō handover the ANBU units under his command and take over his Root HQ," Tobirama said.

"…"

"Are you sure he will willingly hand it over?" Hiruzen asked.

"Well, It's better than just telling him to disband everything he had worked from the ground up," Tobirama said.

"What do you think?"

"Brother?" Tobirama asked.

"We can give it a try I suppose…"

"However, there is one problem," Hashirama said.

"What is it?" Tobirama asked.

"How do you plan to ask him?"

"There must be a reason right?"

"I mean, surely you can't just ask him to hand over something he has worked hard on for many years without a logical explanation unless you plan to tell him about his wrongdoings that would happen in the future," Hashirama said.

"Hmm…." Tobirama thought deeply.

"What is it?" Hashirama asked.

"It's not that I did not think about that in the first place, after all, I did have some plan in mind," Tobirama said.

"Which is?" Hashirama asked.

"Having the Root come to the surface as the new Police force," Tobirama said.

Naruto was shocked.

("Will establishing the police force trigger Sasuke's emotions?") Naruto thought.

"Lord second!" Minato called out.

"Hmm…?" Tobirama looked towards Minato.

"Regarding the police force, I don't think it is such a good idea…" Minato said with an awkward smile.

"Why do you say so?" Tobirama asked.

"Minato's correct, ever since the Uchiha massacre incidence the village has been living without the police force and so far it has been doing well,"

"And there is also that issue from the nine tails attack," Hiruzen said.

"Mm!" Naruto also nodded in agreement.

"Then, there's only one option left!" Tobirama said.

"What is that?" Hiruzen asked.

"That is to absorb the remnants of the root into the regular ANBU units while having the younger ones in the root, start as genins," Tobirama said.

"That idea will still bring us back to square one," Naruto said.

"True,"

"To explain the problem to Danzō…" Tobirama murmured.

"Like I said, Why don't we leave this matter until I meet up with Itachi?"

"I am sure he can help me out by providing some tips,"

"After all, who better knows about the Izanagi and Shisui's Eyes?" Naruto suggested.

"Mm!" Hiruzen nodded in agreement.

"If you are worried about the Izanagi, Why not let the First handle it?"

"After all, the Sharingans on his right arm are held together by your cells," Orochimaru suggested.

Naruto wanted to laugh so badly after hearing Orochimaru's line, which reminded him of a terrible joke Shikamaru came up with when they had a late night drinking party.

'everyone wants a piece of the first's wood.'

However, it was not the time to joke about it now, as they were talking about Danzō.

"You are right!" Hashirama laughed out loud as he complimented Orochimaru's idea.

"Are you an idiot?" Tobirama asked.

"Huh…?" Hashirama looked at Tobirama.

"The Kotoamtsukami problem still remains," Tobirama said.

"Ah!"

"You're right as well," Hashirama felt like cold water poured over the fire.

"So, as I suggested, it would be the best to push this until Itachi pitches in some ideas, besides I think that Sasuke should be the one to deal with Danzō,"

"I hate people killing each other, but Sasuke will at least clear up his pent-up emotions over the matter," Naruto said.

Everyone agreed to Naruto's suggestion, except Tobirama.

"What if he kills Danzō again?" Tobirama asked.

"Don't worry; I intend to have Danzō achieve his life long dream,"

"To put his life on the line for the Hidden Leaf Village," Naruto said with a hint of anger.

"Naruto…" Tsunade stared at him with concern.

("What is the seventh thinking?")

("Is he going to manipulate Danzō….?") Tobirama thought

———————————

Jiraiya climbed up the stairs with Kakashi, Gai, and Kabuto who silently followed from the back.

"Hmm…?" Jiraiya looked up.

*Sounds of footsteps along with a walking stick*

Danzō appeared within the trio's view as he descended the stairs.

"Jiraiya," Danzō stopped at the staircase to take a look at Jiraiya.

Jiraiya, however, felt a bit complicated upon facing Danzō.

He may have joked about how the elders were running the village in the past, especially Danzō; however, after seeing Danzō in Naruto's memories, He no longer had such respect.

Jiraiya acknowledged Danzō's presence and continued to climb up.

Kakashi, however, noticed the change in the situation in that slight second.

("Looks like this meeting might have something to do with Danzō,") Kakashi thought.

Meanwhile…

Gai bowed down as he greeted Danzō with his utmost respect.

However, Danzō completely ignored it and continued to descend the staircase.

"Let's Go…" Kakashi pulled Gai up the stairs as he followed behind Jiraiya.

(Knock!)

(Knock!)

(Knock!)

"Come in!" Hiruzen said.

*Door opens*

Jiraiya, Kakashi, Gai, and Kabuto entered the room.

Hiruzen looked towards Naruto,

"Before we continue, should I call Shikaku over?" Hiruzen asked.

Naruto felt a bit uncomfortable after all Jiraiya had accepted his death, but he was alone, to begin with since he had no blood ties; however, Shikaku had his family.

Shikamaru his son, Yoshino-san - Shikaku's wife and not to mention his entire clan which he was currently in charge of.

Hiruzen also understood; however, what the future held for them was not something that could be avoided.

"Naruto, Shikaku is intelligent enough to understand this kind of problem,"

"So don't worry about the little things," Hiruzen said.

Naruto thought for a bit…

"Let's bring Shikaku-san in," Naruto said.

"Good!" Everyone else nodded.

Soon Shikaku also arrived, and the next round of meeting began.