"Who the hell… leaked this?!"
Inside Konoha's Root headquarters, Shimura Danzō slammed the intelligence report onto the table with such force that the wood cracked clean in half.
The surrounding Root operatives glanced at each other but kept their mouths shut in unified, wordless silence.
This morning had started like any other—Danzō had gone out on his usual reputation rounds, still laying groundwork for his eventual rise to the position of Hokage. Sure, the Fourth—Namikaze Minato—was still young, but Danzō believed his chance would come. After all, Minato had already come close to death once. If the Yellow Flash ever died, the path would open.
So Danzō continued his PR routine with single-minded focus.
Only this time, things went sideways.
He'd walked past the Konoha Orphanage just in time to hear a group of clueless brats energetically debating something that made his blood freeze:
"If Elder Danzō hadn't chickened out back then and stayed behind to cover the retreat, would he have become Hokage?"
It hit him like a gut punch.
That was his greatest regret—the defining humiliation of his life. The moment he replayed again and again in sleepless nights, wishing he could go back and change just that one decision.
If every person's life had one searing regret, for Danzō, this was it.
And now those damn kids were gossiping about it like it was trivia.
Just the thought made his skin crawl. That pain—exposed.
"…Only a few people knew about this. Sarutobi…" Danzō clenched his teeth. The ones who'd witnessed it firsthand were either six feet under or halfway there. In his mind, only his old "friend" Hiruzen Sarutobi could've spilled it.
But what would Sarutobi gain from this? The man had stepped down. His power waning. His control over Root pried from his hands. Why dig up this ancient shame now?
Danzō wasn't one to wait and see. He ordered an investigation—he would find out who had dared to stab a pipe into his lungs.
"Didn't think there was that kind of history," Kakashi murmured, crouched atop a tree stump. He tossed a bottle of lemon soda toward Nara Kazuki, who caught it with one hand and glanced at the label.
"Yeah. Who knew Elder Danzō almost became Hokage once?" Kazuki popped the cap and took a sip.
The cold sweetness lifted his mood a little.
Of course, this whole "leak" had been his doing. It hadn't made Danzō cough blood yet, but Kazuki still had moves left to play.
Danzō had kept his claws deep in Konoha's inner circles not because of seniority, and certainly not because of some "my bestie is Hiruzen Sarutobi" nonsense. No—the man wielded Root, a covert faction similar to Anbu, but nastier. Darker.
If Kazuki wanted to strike Danzō where it hurt, he had to go after Root.
Cut the snake at the heart—not the tail.
Root had done plenty of dirty work. Kazuki had a plan to exploit that, but he still needed proof. More digging. More dirt.
"How are your two new teammates?" Kakashi asked with a grin.
Kazuki's lip twitched. Trust Kakashi to bring up the most annoying topic.
"They're… manageable. Shisui's a bit of a goof, and Uchiha Itachi? Kid barely talks. Arrogant little punk." Kazuki smirked. At his current age, he could absolutely call Itachi a kid.
"You, though," Kazuki jabbed back. "I heard from Byakko you've got a new female teammate."
Kakashi sighed. Just hearing about it made him tired.
That had been Minato's doing. The Fourth Hokage had slipped a girl into the team roster—not just to fill a vacancy, but probably with another motive too.
Like trying to get Kakashi to open up. Maybe even… date.
Kakashi wasn't that old, but in the shinobi world, it was already an acceptable age to start settling down. Some clans even arranged earlier marriages if their bloodline was dwindling. And Konoha tolerated it—so long as everyone was legally of age.
Minato, who'd survived the Kyuubi incident this time, clearly still cared deeply for his student.
"She's skilled. Knows medical ninjutsu," Kakashi deflected, shifting the topic to work.
Kazuki gave him a lazy glare. Typical Kakashi. Every time things got personal, he'd steer the conversation into mission territory.
"You seriously don't have anyone you're interested in?" Kazuki was genuinely curious.
Kakashi had reached Hokage level in the end—and never got married. Some Boruto-era extras suggested he had a partner later, but Boruto was unwatchable trash, so Kazuki had skipped it.
"Nope," Kakashi answered flatly. No hesitation. No flicker of doubt.
"Women would just slow down your Lightning Release combos, huh?" Kazuki chuckled.
Kakashi actually paused to consider that. Then nodded solemnly.
Yeah. Women would slow down his Lightning Release.
"Speaking of which, how's your development with the Sharingan?" Kazuki asked, eyeing Kakashi's left socket. The Sharingan still sat there, quietly spinning. No sign of Obito trying to take it back yet.
"Not bad," Kakashi said, forming hand seals before unleashing a taijutsu technique from the Hidden Cloud. Kazuki watched, visibly impressed.
Damn. No wonder people called the Sharingan the ultimate plug-and-play cheat code. The Mangekyō's powers even changed depending on the user's deepest desires. That kind of personalization? Insane.
Kazuki, unless he pulled a Kakashi and got transplanted, had no way of getting one… not while the Uchiha Clan still lived.
But if his plan succeeded…
Kazuki glanced skyward, thoughts returning to his original scheme. If he played his cards right, maybe he could get his hands on a Sharingan through more… legitimate means.
If everything went smoothly.
If not, he'd have to dig it out himself.
"Captain!"
Just as Kazuki was refining his plan, Shisui burst onto the scene.