Night fell within the Land of Fire.
Inside a dimly lit cave somewhere deep in the mountains—
"Ugh—!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi bent over and suddenly vomited a large mouthful of dark, clotted blood.
After spitting it out, his breathing immediately became much smoother.
"Third Hokage-sama, are you alright?"
Standing nearby, the masked Tenzō watched with clear concern in his eyes.
"I'm fine," Hiruzen said weakly, waving his hand.
"Getting that stagnant blood out helped."
Leaning against the cave wall, he continued to breathe heavily.
Earlier during the day, it had looked as though Hiruzen had escaped the battlefield unharmed.
But the truth was far from that.
Hiruzen had taken eight or nine heavy blows from Kakuzu, each reinforced with ninjutsu.
Three of his ribs were broken.
His forearm bones, skull, and several other bones throughout his body had hairline fractures.
Several internal organs had also been damaged.
He was already suffering from severe internal injuries.
During the day he had merely forced himself to endure, relying on sheer willpower to keep fighting.
Now that he had relaxed, his entire body felt like it was falling apart, and he couldn't muster even the slightest strength.
After resting for a while, Hiruzen slowly spoke.
"This place isn't far from Konoha. The Cloud shinobi who were chasing us haven't appeared for quite some time."
"They probably won't catch up."
Tenzō remained silent.
He didn't know what to say.
Originally, he had been working together with those Cloud shinobi.
Yet now—
He had become their target.
And the man he had been sent to assassinate—
Hiruzen Sarutobi—
Was the one who had saved his life.
Tenzō truly didn't know what to do anymore.
Hiruzen looked at him for a moment and chuckled softly.
"You don't know what you should do next… or how you're supposed to face Shimura Danzō, do you?"
Tenzō froze for a moment.
Hiruzen had immediately seen through him.
After all, the Third Hokage was an extremely shrewd old man.
"You feeling lost right now is perfectly normal," Hiruzen continued calmly.
"With Danzō's personality, now that this mission has failed, he will definitely try to erase all traces of it."
"In other words—"
"He'll kill you to silence you."
Tenzō lowered his head.
He didn't refute it.
Hiruzen continued:
"You are a shinobi of Konoha."
"You were merely misled by Danzō."
"So if you're going to hate someone or direct your anger somewhere…"
"It should be toward Danzō, not yourself."
Tenzō looked up in surprise.
"Third Hokage-sama… you don't hate me?"
"I just participated in the ambush against you. I caused you so much trouble…"
Hiruzen shook his head slowly.
"It would be a lie to say I'm not angry."
"After all, I survived today…"
"But my son and daughter-in-law died there."
For a brief moment, a trace of cold fury flashed deep in his eyes.
But his expression quickly returned to normal.
"However," Hiruzen continued calmly, "there are differences in responsibility."
"That rogue ninja Kakuzu accepted money to kill."
"The Cloud shinobi acted out of deeper strategic interests."
"And you…"
"You were simply following orders."
"The nature of those actions is not the same."
He paused for a moment before continuing.
"And besides—"
"If it weren't for your Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence, which held back most of the enemies…"
"I might have died there as well."
Tenzō fell silent again.
Hiruzen smiled faintly.
"To be honest, your personality doesn't resemble a Root shinobi at all."
"You're not as cold-blooded as they are."
Hiruzen had actually noticed Tenzō's difference long ago.
He lacked the hardened experience of Root operatives.
Nor had his humanity been completely stripped away.
If not for that extremely distinctive Wood Release, Hiruzen would never have connected him with Danzō.
After a moment, Hiruzen asked:
"Can you tell me about Danzō's plan this time?"
Tenzō shook his head.
"I can't."
He pointed to his mouth.
"Lord Danzō placed a curse seal on me. I can't speak about anything related to him."
He stuck out his tongue slightly.
A seal formula was clearly visible on it.
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes.
"The Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal…?"
This was one of Root's control methods.
Once the user attempted to reveal secrets about Danzō, the seal would immediately activate.
Hiruzen sighed softly.
"The Wood Release experiments actually began during the time of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju."
"I supported those experiments at the beginning as well."
"But the losses were too great and the results too small."
"So I eventually ordered the research to stop."
He paused.
"Later I heard that Danzō and Orochimaru secretly restarted the experiment."
"The first batch of thirty test subjects all died."
"When I discovered it, I forced them to stop again."
Hiruzen's gaze slowly moved across Tenzō's body.
"But now it seems…"
"Danzō lied to me back then."
"The experiments were not completely without results."
Tenzō was silent.
After all—
To use Wood Release, one must rely on the cells of Hashirama Senju.
Wood Release was the unique kekkei genkai of the First Hokage, the power that once ended the era of war.
Even in the thousands of years of the Senju Clan's history, no second user had ever appeared.
Tenzō was the only surviving test subject.
The only person in the ninja world capable of using Wood Release.
Because of that, Danzō naturally could not train him like ordinary Root operatives.
In fact, to hide Tenzō's existence, Danzō rarely even sent him on missions.
That was why Tenzō still retained some of his humanity.
Hiruzen took a deep breath.
"Young people making mistakes is inevitable."
"What matters is whether you can turn back."
He then looked at Tenzō seriously.
"Join the ANBU."
"A shinobi like you should not remain in Root."
"I will help you deal with Danzō."
In truth, Hiruzen had another reason for recruiting Tenzō.
If he could bring Tenzō to his side—
He could open a breakthrough against Danzō.
And collect evidence of Danzō's crimes.
More importantly—
Wood Release carried an extremely symbolic meaning in Konoha.
If used properly—
Tenzō could become a sharp blade against Danzō.
After a long silence—
Tenzō finally nodded.
"…Alright."
He accepted Hiruzen Sarutobi's offer.
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