Following day...
Present time, Hokage building...
"Is there still no news from the ninja we sent yesterday?" (Tsunade)
"I'm afraid there isn't lady Tsunade, he might have been noticed and dealt with before he could relay to us any information he had gotten." (Shizune)
"Then... what about the body? Did you find it?" (Tsunade)
"Uhm.... h-his b-body hasn't been f-found yet milady, at this point ma'am, I don't think he left any proof of the ninja's presence it's like he never existed." (Shizune)
Silence was met in the room, Shizune was baffled at the disappearance of the ninja she had assigned to fulfill Tsunade's orders... it was a simple recon, but it suddenly went south with his disappearance and no response was given at the schedule time.
If it wasn't because of the schedule time to respond periodically she might not have had even notice his disappearance, immediately she alerted lady Tsunade of the bizarre situation that had happen... she immediately sent the Anbu to find him, but they couldn't which was strange because she had sent a specialized unit suited for this type of situation.
This would only mean they underestimated how Menma would react to being followed and for that they found out the hard way. she was well aware of this mistake now.
"Call back everyone... that ninja, he's dead... contact his loved ones and alert them to his disappearance." (Tsunade)
"But milady he cou-" (Shizune)
"No! ... Don't you get it, if he was alive, we would have found him... even if he was killed the body should have been found by now. Do you get wha-" (Tsunade)
~Swoosh~ the conversation was interrupted by the sudden appearance of an Anbu Black Ops... they knelt down in front of the Hokage table as a sign of respect.
"Reporting Lady Hokage, we've found the body." (Anbu ninja)
"Thats wonderful news." (Shizune)
"Is he alive or dead? Where did you find the body?" (Tsunade)
"Dead. We found him hanged between two tombstones with a message carved imbedded on his stomach." (Anbu ninja)
"What?" 'So, he's dead after all' "The two tombstones have you found out their identity? And what was imbedded on his stomach?" (Tsunade)
"We were able to decode the message and it translated, "quid pro quo" meaning "something for something" or "a favor for a favor"." (Anbu ninja)
"Thats peculiar I wonder what he meant by that. But you still haven't answered lady Tsunade's other question, what are the identities of the two tombstones?" (Shizune)
Hesitant at first the Anbu waited for a few seconds then answered.
"The two identities are lady Tsunade's younger brother and Shizune's uncle." (Anbu)
Flustered and shocked by this news Shizune drops the documents in her hand, then slowly her facial features began to change and her killing intent was gushing from her profusely. Tsunade on the other hand was taken aback by the answer was given, she was enraged just Shizune but she couldn't show her weakened state... so outwardly she remained calm and collected to everyone's perspective but inwardly she was raging uncontrollably.
"I-is that so... This was what he meant by the message." (Tsunade)
"Get rid of the body and place the tombstones back in their original location, relay my message to every jonin level ninja; proceed with caution with anything relating to Menma Uzumaki, threat level is between A or S rank. Affiliations: Root." (Tsunade)
(The organization led by Danzo Shimura is known as Root. Root was a secretive branch of Konohagakure's Anbu training subdivision that Danzo Shimura founded and led.)
"Yes ma'am." (Anbu)
~Swoosh~and like that they vanished into thin air leaving no trace that they were there. Shizune wanted to interject and asked why she was being this cautious and how could she stay calm in situation where her love and brother was used in such a way.
She wanted to act but seeing Tsunade's reaction stunned her, this reaction wasn't something she has ever seen in her life of being around as a friend, student and as family... so she stood there waiting until everything had been handled to ask her question.
"W-why? How can you stay calm after what he did? Tell me lady Tsunade... is he really deserving of such caution?" (Shizune)
She fell silent awaiting Tsunade's response, while Tsunade contemplated, what she'd do after this? How should she handle the situation? What are to be expected in the long run? All these questions plagued her mind for she understood the hidden message he sent for them.
1. He's not afraid of the consequences of what he did.
2. This is a warning... if she was to send anyone to target him in any way, he would go after the people they loved and cared for.
3. He has extensive information on them while they didn't.
Sighing Tsunade rubs her forehead in an utterly frustrated manner then looked at Shizune reflecting on the question she had just asked and responded.
"It's because I would be playing in the palms of his hands if I did so... he calculated everything from the moment he made his appearance, everything played out how he wanted it to be, and we fell for it blindly. If I had proceeded with the way you wanted it'd have been another trap." (Tsunade)
Shizune bowed her head in shame as Tsunade continued pointing out her shortcomings, all she could do was listen and learn from this mistake and not fall for his schemes again.
"I found some information about Menma after digging up his past." (Tsunade)
This revelation caught Shizune off guard for she tried her best to get info but couldn't find any, so she was curious to how Tsunade did it, but she knew it wasn't the time to ask that, so she waited eagerly for Tsunade to continue.
"It seems that after the nine tailed incident there was a Kohona council meeting about Naruto and Menma... on how to handle their situation, it was settled with the third Hokage watching over Naruto and Danzo, Menma. " (Tsunade)
"After that everything relating to him was cut off, but it was rumored that growing up under his tutelage was anything but civil and that he was forced to participate in numerous experiments and sent out to the field at a young age." (Tsunade)
"None of these rumors were confirmed when inspected, what is confirmed is that during the period of his arrival, an extraordinary Anbu black op appeared and wherever he appeared there was only corpse and carnage... that ninja went by the code name Seraph." (Tsunade)
"Lady Tsunade, you don't mean to say tha-" (Shizune)
"Yes, there is a strong possible that he is that individual." (Tsunade)
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Somewhere else....