The Cloud Over The Leaf

The atmosphere of the room came to a standstill.

Danzo kept his back to the others, not letting them see his face grow tense.

'He shouldn't have too much to incriminate me. I can't seem suspicious.'

"If that's what you wish, Lord Hokage."

Danzo turned back around and sat back down at his seat.

Everyone watched him with a questioning gaze, but he only looked at Minato.

Minato looked coldly at Danzo while he pulled out a folder twice as thick as the first.

"Now we'll go into further details of the traitor that has been discovered."

Homura and Koharu couldn't help,but look at Danzo, but his expression gave away nothing.

"Well, let's begin."

Minato eagerly opened the file and began to read off the information. 

"It seems the traitor was very interested in the cells of Shodaime Hokage. He had many children tested to see if it could be brought back."

"I can see this being nothing, but a benefit if it's for the Leaf."

Danzo adamantly stated as he watched the others slowly nod their heads in agreement.

"That's true, but I do see something else in here that doesn't benefit the Leaf."

Minato placed a document on his desk from the folder.

The document was picked up by Hiruzen, who read it slowly and meticulously. 

He shook his head once he finished, passing it on to the other two for them to read. Homura took the paper while Koharu came beside him to read it as well.

Their faces held confusion as they couldn't understand why would this be something beneficial to the traitor.

"What does an arm made of the 1st Hokage's cells give the traitor? It's a death wish!"

The two could see from the data of the creation of Tenzo that no one could just hope to be able to handle the 1st Hokage's power. The death toll was in the hundreds only to get 1 who couldn't even have the same effect as the original.

"Indeed. By itself, it could be a death wish, but with this document, we can gleam some sense from it."

Minato put another document on the table from the file.

Hiruzen picked up the paper again, but his first reaction was to crush the paper in anger!

"Haaa."

He breathed in and continued to read in silence, alarming everyone besides Minato on what was on that paper.

He finally finished reading the document, handing it over to Koharu and Homura. 

When Koharu received it this time, she couldn't help standing up in shock.

"He took Kagami's eyes?!!"

Homura stood up as well and read the document. 

Kagami Uchiha was a comrade of the four. He was one of the most loyal members of Konoha, the two had no doubts about that.

The list showed the number of bodies from the Uchiha clan "found" by Root ninjas. The strong connection between them all was that the deceased were all reported to have a Sharingan, and their eyes were missing from their bodies.

"I could imagine if you used many Sharingans, you'd be able to stabilize the cells of 1st. I couldn't quite figure out why you would want an arm full of Sharingans, but Fugaku gave me an idea as to why."

Minato crossed his fingers in front of his face and pondered.

"He said there was an incredibly powerful technique that the Uchiha could use. The problem was that the eye used would be sacrificed."

Everyone understood now why so many eyes were taken.

'With that many eyes as back-ups, they could use that Jutsu however they wished.'

Homura started to sweat as the scale of difficulty this traitor presented increased more and more.

While Homura and Koharu still grasped the information, Minato and Hiruzen only stared at Danzo, eyeing his every twitch and change in expression.

Homura went towards the desk and looked through the files. The more he looked, the deeper and deeper into the Leaf this traitor appeared.

Homura kept glancing through the information until finally, it feel into place.

The final piece of information that brought it all together.

"The Kyuubi."

Homura murmured, but the silence in the room made it loud and clear. 

The document in Homura's hands stated the traitor knew that there were now two Kyuubis after the attack. 

This information,however, was top secret as only a few ninja knew.

Of those ninjas that knew this....

Homura straightened up as he looked at Minato's face, who continued to stare at Danzo.

'I've been a fool.'

Homura headed back to sit down, but instead of the side where Danzo sat, he sat next to Hiruzen.

He too, joined in staring at Danzo in disbelief. Once all the pieces came together, Homura could only hold his head in shame.

These changes didn't evade Koharu as she also dived into the folder, only to also figure everything out.

Four pairs of eyes found their way to Danzo as he finally changed his expression. His angry face confused the two advisors, but not Hiruzen and Minato. 

"So Danzo, I've always had a question for you. Why is your arm in a sling?"

Danzo looked down at his right arm and looked back at Minato.

"It was injured in a battle a long time ago. I kept it as a reminder of what hesitation can do for a ninja."

"I see. If you don't mind, I'd like to see it."

Danzo snorted as he stood up in front of Minato.

"Let's not beat around the bush, shall we?"

Minato also stood up and leaned against his desk.

"I guess that would be a good idea. I'm just debating with a decision now.".

"A decision regarding what?"

"Whether I throw you in prison, or just kill you here."

Danzo chuckled as he stood unfazed by Minato's killing intent.

"You can attempt to kill me, but I might not die."

"I've heard that might be the case."

"I have a question as well then."

Danzo raised his head and shook it.

"What gave me away?"

Minato suddenly smiled at the question.

"Nothing really. Just a really observant bystander."

Danzo couldn't help scrunching his face as he couldn't see where he made an error.

"That doesn't matter much now though. You will be removed from the council and Root will be disbanded."

Danzo looked straight into Minato's eyes and smiled.

"I refuse."

Koharu and Homura gasped as they couldn't believe what they heard.

"You know that this could be considered mutiny, right? It's punishable by death."

"I will not let some young punk casually end all that I've created!"

"....So be it."

Minato sat back down leisurely as he picked up the scattered documents.

*tssuu*

Minato disappeared from the office,leaving Danzo confused.

"Danzo."

Hiruzen's haggard voice filled the room as he slowly stood up. Danzo turned towards him and eyed his "old friend".

"Did you really do this for the village, or for Your village?"

"......"

Hiruzen shook his head lightly as his stance seemed to become firmer suddenly. 

"I see. How unfortunate."

*tssssuu*

Minato flashed back into the office, with smile on his face.

"Where did you go, Lord 4th?"

Homura couldn't help asking with how bright his smile was.

"Checking the damage. It looks like it's pretty bad."

"Lord 4th?! Do you mean the four clans have been decimated?"

Minato shook his head as he looked at Danzo. 

"The Roots headquarters had been destroyed."

"What?! How is that possible?!"

Danzo was furious. He just stated he wouldn't lose his creation, only to hear it was destroyed?!

"You should've been careful with your list of candidates. You managed to get one mom very upset."

Danzo grit his teeth as he watched Minato slowly approach him.

"Don't worry. We found quite a few Root members who were quite happy to talk about you after their seals were removed."

If looks could kill, Danzo would've eradicated Minato at this point.

Minato patted Danzo's shoulder and looked towards Hiruzen. 

"Are you ready?"

"....Yes. I've delayed this long enough."

Minato reached out and grasped Hiruzen's shoulder as well.

*tttsuuu*

The three ended up in a large coliseum that was used for the Chuunin exams.

Minato let them both go and disappeared into the stands. 

Danzo looked around,seeing multiple Jounin,Chuunin, and Anbu watching the center of the arena.

Kaya sat near the edge, eyeing Danzo with a dangerous glint in her eyes. 

Fugaku and a few other Uchiha watched Danzo with radiant hatred, a gathering of Sharingans all directed at one point.

Danzo also saw his group tied up in wood shackles as Tenzo and Kakashi watched over them.

Danzo finally couldn't help but cackle out loud in surprise and madness!

"Hahaha! Is this my welcome party?!"

"Not quite."

Hiruzen took off his robe and revealed his black shinobi battle outfit.

He stood a distance away from Danzo as he prepared himself.

"If you are going to eye the village as your own with no regard to me, it's only right I get to fix my mistake in letting you go rampant first."

Danzo grew excited as he had long wanted to be rid of Hiruzen. His self control didn't matter anymore as everything was out in the open.

 Danzo used his free hand to unlock the seals on his right hand. 

*Clank Clank Clank*

The three locks on his arm were released as a pale arm covered in red irises appeared.

Hiruzen had read about the arm, but seeing it was an entirely different thing.

Fugaku's eyes started to spin rapidly as he counted the missing eyes of his clansmen.

"Is the crowd here just to bear witness to you losing your life, Hiruzen?"

Danzo finally felt he was a match for Hiruzen. For so long, he held his inferiority and gathered his strength. He could finally let out his long held grudge of not being fast enough to sacrifice his life.

Hiruzen shook his head with a wry smile.

"No, they're just waiting for their turns to come. Don't think you'll get out of here alive, Danzo."

"Hmph. Show me if the God of Shinobi is still around or if he's now just another myth." 

The two look towards each other. The bonds before the arena all disappeared as the two raced towards each other. No longer were they friends, rivals, leaders, or even protectors of the same village. 

They were only ninjas on a battlefield, clashing at each others throats with everything they had.

*Clank*

The battle of the older generation had at long last begun!