“That was terrible,” Danzo said quietly, his voice heavy with exhaustion.
“Yes.
It was a mistake to let our old friends lead us by the nose back then,” the Third Hokage replied in the exact same tone, tearing his eyes away from a mission report and throwing a heavy cloth over his crystal ball.
“We are just as much to blame.
There is no point dumping all the fault on those two overly cautious fools,” Shimura added, causing his oldest friend to choke on his own breath.
“I never expected to hear that from you,” Hiruzen answered honestly.
“Heh.
I may be a paranoid old fool who takes things too far, but that doesn’t mean I am incapable of admitting my mistakes.” The habitually cold mask on Danzo’s face cracked, revealing a sliver of dry irony.
“True.
Especially since everyone else just considers you an old…” “…bastard.
And the insulting part is that, for some of my actions—even if done for the sake of the village—it is entirely deserved.
But mistakes must be left in the past.” Danzo’s expression hardened again.
“What do you intend to do about the village’s weapon?
Although, what kind of weapon is he?
I wouldn’t even call him a shinobi larva at this point.
Judging by his written test, the only thing he knows about shinobi is that we exist.” “Yes, it is an awkward situation.
We spent too long dividing him up.
And the clans…
I would still like to know why he wasn’t taught anything at the orphanage.
It seems your agents went a bit overboard turning the civilian populace against him.
And my observers have been doing their jobs half-heartedly,” Sarutobi sighed.
“We only have ourselves to blame.
We intentionally built a ring of alienation around him, and now we must clean up the mess.
It is a good thing the boy takes after his father—and a shame he didn’t end up in Root.
He managed to glean a lot of information from books on his own.
The problem is that he didn’t have access to the right books, which the test made painfully obvious.” Danzo wrinkled his forehead in deep dissatisfaction.
“He is well-read, but in completely the wrong direction.
We need to drastically bring his knowledge and skills up to standard.
Over the last month out on those training grounds, he looks more and more like one of those fist-fighters the Daimyo are so fond of…
what is it called?
Boxing, I believe?” “That isn’t important right now.
What do you suggest we do regarding Naruto?” The Hokage began packing his pipe with tobacco.
“Assign him two handlers.
One from your side, one from mine.
Let them train him, guide him, and develop his potential.
And while they’re at it, let them provide him with some warmth.” Danzo offered a dangerous smirk—or perhaps just a crooked one; it was always notoriously difficult to read exact emotions on his heavily scarred face.
“Is it just me, or would allowing someone from Root—with those cursed seals of yours—near the young Uzumaki be a terrible mistake?” his companion noted with deep disapproval.
“I have a specific candidate in mind.
You know my ‘honey trap’ kunoichi have loosened emotional limiters…” “I will not let whores anywhere near the Fourth’s son!” the Third snapped fiercely.
“Listen to the end before you let your youth get the better of you,” Danzo huffed.
“Yes, their seals are weakened so targets don’t complain about the girls being overly stiff or detached.
However, I have one operative in particular whose cursed seals were applied incorrectly.
Frankly, she would be written off as defective material if not for her sheer skill.
Their interaction would genuinely benefit the village: not only would she provide him with a mother’s warmth, but he would become an emotional anchor for her.” “Everything for the good of the village, is it?
Very well.
I will answer in kind.
I suppose I should find a lonely woman or older girl within my own ranks.
One mother is good, but two is better!” “Yes, your youth is definitely acting up.” The “Terror of Konohagakure” facepalmed.
In truth, both men knew they could only truly relax around each other.
They were old friends bound by shared secrets.
To the rest of the world, they were fierce opponents—and not just politically.
To many, one of them was little more than a tyrant and a butcher.
These private, entirely unguarded conversations were the only outlet either of them had left.
“Speaking of which, I believe it is time we throw the clans a bone as well,” the Hokage added.
“Let us say we will turn a blind eye to anyone brave enough to initiate contact with him.
Though, we still shouldn’t let him near the Uchiha, or the Hyuga for that matter.” “On your own head be it.
If I had my way, I’d brand every single clan head with a loyalty seal to the village!” Danzo’s eye twitched; he clearly hadn’t recovered from the headache of the last Council meeting.
“Yes, the Uchiha certainly turned up the heat on us.
But they were right about some things, considering even Tsume supported them.
And by the way, given our future ward’s frankly fantastical bad luck, we absolutely need to assign guards to him.
Two encounters with enemy shinobi in less than a month!
And that incident with the drunk Chunin…
it was amusing, certainly, but he could very realistically have been killed.
And then what?
No last Uzumaki, no legacy of the Fourth.
Nothing left at all.
Even those old friends of ours wouldn’t be able to argue against that logic,” the Hokage said seriously, taking a long drag from his pipe.
“Indeed.
By the way, did you read the report on his morning workout at the hospital?” his companion asked, showing a rare sliver of genuine curiosity.
“I watched it myself.
I’ll need to ask around to see what kind of style that was.
It doesn’t look like he was copying anyone or ‘remembering’ anything specific.
I hope he truly is a genius on par with his father, just completely untrained.
Though we shouldn’t rule out influence from the tenant inside him.
It’s too early to panic, regardless.
Perhaps I will speak with him tomorrow,” Hiruzen concluded, having made his decision.
“That is reasonable.
Though if I were you, I wouldn’t wait until tomorrow,” Shimura said in a completely different tone, signaling that the serious part of their discussion was over.
If the young Jinchuriki had any idea what was waiting for him, he would have preferred to hang himself and restart the world right then and there, rather than receive the “fun” new quests the System was already preparing to throw at him as a result of this conversation.