Hiruzen sat inside his new office, or rather, the office that had belonged to every Hokage before him, waiting for Danzō to arrive. The more he thought about what he had discovered, the angrier he became. He felt like nothing more than a puppet. His teacher had never truly considered him the future Hokage.
The scroll containing Tobirama's plans had been updated not long before his death. It clearly stated that if Tobirama died unexpectedly, Hiruzen would replace him temporarily and keep the village stable while the true successor was prepared.
Kagami Uchiha.
Five years.
That was all Tobirama had planned for him. Five years sitting in the Hokage's office while Kagami gained more experience, strengthened his reputation, and gathered enough political support to take over.
Hiruzen slowly clenched his fists. Now he also understood why Uzumaki Mito had defended him so strongly when the Senju questioned his legitimacy. She probably knew. Maybe she had known about the entire plan from the beginning.
"Who else knows?"
That question refused to leave his mind. What would happen once those five years passed? Would they simply ask him to leave? After stabilizing Konoha, facing its enemies, and carrying the burden of being Hokage, would he simply be thrown away like a piece of paper that was no longer useful?
While those thoughts continued to build inside him, the door finally opened and Danzō entered.
Back then, their relationship was very different from what it would become decades later. Danzō was still bitter about not being chosen as the Third Hokage, but he believed his chance would eventually come. In his mind, Hiruzen would hold the position for several years and, once he retired, Danzō might finally become the next Hokage. Because of that, even though there was rivalry between them, their relationship remained relatively harmonious. They were still friends, and more importantly, they still trusted each other.
Years later, that relationship would deteriorate to the point where Danzō would even be willing to send assassins after Hiruzen, but they had not reached that point yet.
Remembering those days from the present, Hiruzen could not stop a faint, bitter smile from appearing on his face. Deep down, he knew part of his old friend still existed. He also knew exactly who had started changing him.
Himself.
For years, Hiruzen had given Danzō the tasks he did not want to handle personally. Secret missions, assassinations, experiments, political manipulation. Whenever Konoha needed something done that was too dark for the Hokage to be publicly connected to it, Hiruzen turned to Danzō.
Little by little, that changed his friend.
It was similar to what had happened to his favorite student, Orochimaru. Once Orochimaru became involved with Root and entered that world of experiments and secrets, he became increasingly corrupted by it. Perhaps that was one of the reasons Hiruzen had tolerated so much from Danzō over the years.
He felt guilty.
Strangely enough, Danzō was one of the few people who could make him feel that way. Hiruzen had not felt true guilt when he ignored the Uzumaki's call for help, nor when he allowed experiments involving the few hidden Senju who were still alive, and not even over what happened to Sakumo Hatake. In his mind, all of those decisions had been made for Konoha.
But Danzō was different.
Because Hiruzen knew he had been the one slowly pushing him deeper into the darkness.
His memories returned to that day. Once Danzō arrived at the office, Hiruzen showed him the documents and explained what he had discovered.
Danzō began reading, and his expression changed almost immediately.
"Kagami?"
Hiruzen remained silent.
Danzō kept reading until he fully understood Tobirama's plan. If Hiruzen was only supposed to rule for around five years before handing the position to Kagami, then when would Danzō get his chance? After Kagami, decades might pass. By the time his turn came, he might already be too old to move properly.
Or simply dead.
Anger began growing inside him as well.
Hiruzen watched that reaction and smiled slightly.
Danzō was feeling exactly what he was feeling.
That was when Hiruzen told him what he had in mind.
Kagami had to die.
Or rather, Danzō had to kill him.
"No."
The refusal came almost instantly.
Danzō could be jealous of Kagami. He could hate the idea that Tobirama had considered making an Uchiha Hokage before him, but Kagami was still a fellow shinobi of Konoha. More importantly, he had been one of their comrades under the same teacher. They had fought together, escaped together, and at one point trusted each other with their lives.
Danzō was ambitious, but he was not yet the man he would become decades later.
Hiruzen had expected that response, so he slowly began persuading him. He did not speak only about Kagami. He spoke about Konoha's future, about the need for an organization capable of acting in the shadows, and about missions the Hokage could never publicly acknowledge.
Then he introduced an idea.
An organization under the direct authority of the Hokage, but led in practice by Danzō.
Root.
Danzō would command a special force dedicated to protecting Konoha from the shadows. He would possess political and military authority greater than almost any clan in the village and answer to only one person.
The Third Hokage.
Hiruzen.
Danzō began considering the offer. The power was tempting, but that was not the only reason he eventually gave in.
Hiruzen was his best friend.
If Hiruzen had to carry the burden of being Hokage, then Danzō could help him from the shadows. They could share that burden. One would stand before the village, while the other would do what no one else was willing to do.
Then Hiruzen gave him one final promise.
"When the time comes for me to retire, you will be the next Hokage."
Danzō accepted.
He never imagined that promise was a lie.
And so Root was born.
With it, both men slowly began to change.
Hiruzen started giving Danzō more and more morally questionable missions, actions that could completely destroy any Hokage's reputation if they ever became public. Danzō handled them.
Meanwhile, Hiruzen remained clean.
Little by little, the two began occupying completely different roles in the eyes of Konoha. Hiruzen was the light. Danzō was the darkness. Hiruzen was the leaf that received the sunlight, while Danzō was the root buried beneath the earth, feeding that leaf while remaining unseen.
And the darker Root became, the brighter Hiruzen appeared before the village.
Danzō never realized how much all of this would affect his personality.
The first major line he crossed was Kagami.
He completed the mission Hiruzen had given him and killed his former comrade when Kagami had lowered his guard. Kagami trusted the people close to him too much. It was the same weakness that, years later, Shisui would inherit.
Both of them placed too much faith in their fellow shinobi of Konoha.
And because of that, they never expected to be attacked by them.
Once Kagami was dead, Hiruzen continued increasing Danzō's responsibilities. Each mission became darker than the last. Helping finish the weakening of the Senju, abandoning the Uzumaki, reducing the power of certain clans, and above all, keeping the Uchiha under control.
Little by little, the two of them settled perfectly into their roles.
The good cop.
And the bad cop.
Hiruzen appeared publicly as the kind, understanding, protective leader, while Danzō carried the weight of every cruel decision. As the years passed, Hiruzen became known as one of Konoha's brightest lights.
While Danzō became increasingly hated.
The plan worked.
Too well.
Then eventually came the moment when Danzō remembered that old promise.
Hiruzen retired.
Which meant, according to what they had agreed, Danzō should become Hokage.
But Hiruzen could no longer allow that. Danzō had too many dark things tied to his name, too many enemies, too many questionable decisions. Hiruzen believed his old friend would understand. After all, both of them had done everything for Konoha.
Danzō should understand that becoming Hokage was no longer possible.
But Hiruzen never expected just how much damage that decision would cause.
For Danzō, it meant finally understanding the truth.
He had spent his entire life doing Hiruzen's dirty work. He had killed, manipulated, sacrificed people, and allowed the entire village to hate him because he believed that one day he would finally have his chance to become Hokage.
And in the end...
Hiruzen had never intended to keep his promise.
Danzō realized he had been used.
In exactly the same way Hiruzen had once felt Tobirama had used him as nothing more than a temporary piece.
A puppet.
From that moment on, their relationship almost completely shattered.
In the present, Hiruzen understood perfectly well why Danzō still tolerated him. He also understood something much more dangerous.
If Hiruzen ever became weaker than Danzō, his old friend probably would not hesitate for long. He might kill him, cripple him, or simply find some way to remove him permanently and finally take the position he believed had been promised to him his entire life.
Maybe he would do it to become Hokage.
Or maybe simply to get revenge on the man who had turned his entire life into that of a puppet.