"Hokage Assistant Danzo Shimura—how should the betrayal of a fellow village ninja be judged?"
Night Namikaze's opening sentence struck like a thunderclap in the silent office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's grip on his pipe tightened abruptly. He looked sharply at Night, his tone more severe than ever before as he scolded, "Chunin Namikaze! Mind your words. Accusing the Hokage's Assistant of betraying the village is a grave matter. Without substantial evidence, this is framing a high-ranking official, and the crime is not light!"
Tsunade also frowned slightly. Although she had no love for Danzo, she knew the weight of such an accusation.
However, it was inconvenient for her to intervene in this matter, so she could only watch quietly.
Night wasn't surprised by Hiruzen's almost reflexive defense.
He knew all too well the Third Hokage's complicated and unspoken attitude toward his old friend. If not for Hiruzen's deliberate or unintentional indulgence and compromise, how could Danzo's "ROOT" have grown to such an extent in Konoha's shadows?
He didn't dwell on this point. Instead, he threw out a second question, his tone calm but pointing straight to the core of the issue. "Lord Hokage, don't you find it strange? I infiltrated the Land of Water as a traveling merchant, and I've always been cautious. This was even my second trip; I had already greased the palms of many checkpoint guards.
Yet why was I suddenly exposed? Why were Mist ninjas able to set up such a precise ambush?"
Ignoring the slight change in Hiruzen's expression, he continued, "My movements, and even the infiltration mission itself, were classified within Konoha. If no one leaked the intel, how could the enemy lay a death trap specifically for me?
Even more suspicious is that the people who ambushed me used secret contact signs exclusive to our ANBU. How do you explain that?"
Hiruzen fell silent, smoke shrouding his face. He couldn't refute this logical chain. Aside from a leak by a high-ranking insider, it was indeed hard to find a more reasonable explanation.
Night knew when to stop. He didn't push to embarrass Hiruzen further. Instead, he threw out another key question: "So, back then, whose idea was it to send me specifically on this infiltration mission to the Mist?"
The office fell into dead silence again.
Tsunade genuinely hadn't known about this before. Her crossed arms tightened unconsciously, and she looked at Hiruzen with questioning eyes.
After a long time, Hiruzen replied slowly, "This matter... I will investigate it myself. But until there is conclusive evidence, you are not to mention this to anyone outside."
Night knew that with just his one-sided story and a lack of hard evidence, it was difficult to shake Danzo's position.
But the seed of doubt had been planted. If justice didn't come, he didn't mind taking it with his own hands later.
Then, changing the subject, he addressed the issue they were more concerned about. "I understand that what you high-ups care about more is how I managed to not only successfully hide under such strict searches in the Mist but also gain something from it."
"Correct."
Hiruzen took the out Night offered. He adjusted his sitting posture, his tone returning to its usual calm. "In that environment, surviving to this extent cannot be explained by mere 'luck'."
Night didn't answer directly. Instead, he looked at Hiruzen, his expression becoming serious. "What I am about to show involves my personal core secret abilities. I hope you can help me keep this confidential and not spread it."
Hiruzen frowned slightly but, seeing the solemnity in Night's eyes, said in a deep voice, "As long as it doesn't endanger the village, I can agree to your request."
Night nodded. He didn't form any hand seals; he just focused his mind.
The water vapor in the office air instantly became active. Like obedient spirits, it gathered in his palm, condensing in the blink of an eye into a crystal-clear water sphere with currents slowly rotating inside. The control was so exquisite it seemed like an innate instinct.
Immediately after, a golden light flashed behind him. Several golden chains formed purely of powerful chakra shot out.
It was the Uzumaki clan's secret technique, the Adamantine Sealing Chains. They wound out like living dragons, dancing and coiling around him, radiating a powerful sealing and binding force that made even the air stagnate.
"This is... the Adamantine Sealing Chains? And this near-instinctive Water Release control..."
Tsunade's pupils constricted slightly. As a top-tier ninja and the granddaughter of Mito Uzumaki, she naturally recognized this iconic ability. But the purity of Night's execution and his almost innate affinity for the water element far exceeded her expectations.
Hiruzen's vision was incredibly sharp. He immediately realized this wasn't just a simple Kekkei Genkai but a profound understanding of the nature of water chakra combined perfectly with the Uzumaki clan's top-tier sealing jutsu. The potential was astonishing.
Waves of shock crashed in his heart. Just this alone was enough to explain why Night possessed a certain degree of self-preservation capability amidst the Mist's chaos.
Of course, this was the result of Night deliberately holding back. So, Night prepared to give them a little "System-powered" shock.
Night casually dispelled the water sphere in his hand and the golden chains around him. He walked straight to a smooth wall on one side of the Hokage's office.
He extended his palm. With just a light touch, in the span of a breath, a complex jutsu formula mark was clearly branded onto the wall.
Although it was just a single formula mark, the complete, standard, and incredibly stable seal itself explained everything.
"This... this is?"
Hiruzen shot up from his seat, his hands slamming onto the desk to support himself. He didn't even notice his beloved pipe slipping from his hand and hitting the floor.
His eyes widened, staring fixedly at the incredibly familiar mark, his face full of disbelief.
"The Flying Raijin Jutsu formula?! Where did you learn this technique?"
"By chance. I found it in a hidden chamber within ruins in the Land of Whirlpools. I only barely mastered it recently."
His previous honesty now served as the perfect setup for this "explanation."
The Uzumaki and Senju clans had been allies for generations. Saying that the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, left some inheritance or research notes with his allies wasn't entirely impossible.
Moreover, this was a case where the dead tell no tales. Both the Uzumaki clan (as a political entity) and Tobirama Senju were gone. It wasn't like they could actually use the Impure World Reincarnation to bring them back just to verify a story, right?
Especially since the future spokesperson for Impure World Reincarnation, "Uncle Snake" (Orochimaru), likely hadn't received angel investment from Danzo yet and hadn't started his immortality research.
At this moment, looking at the young figure before him—possessing pure Adamantine Sealing Chains, unimaginable talent for Water Release, and mastery of his teacher Tobirama Senju's signature S-rank Space-Time Ninjutsu—Hiruzen's thoughts seemed to travel across time.
Leaving aside the golden chains, just the Flying Raijin formula and the absolute control over Water Release made Night's figure slowly overlap with the memory of the Second Hokage, the man known as the "Number One Speedster in the Ninja World" and the creator of countless Water Release jutsu...
A thought that even startled him popped up uncontrollably.
Could it be...?
No, perhaps—the student has surpassed the master.