The two guards at the door nodded slightly before taking the summons and heading inside.
After failing his mission, Kinoe was directly escorted back by Kakashi to face the Third Hokage.
Kakashi briefly explained the situation to Hiruzen but deliberately kept the details about the serpent's defeat vague.
There was no logical way to explain it. At the time, Kinoe had been inside the serpent and hadn't even noticed that person's presence.
And without any signs of chakra usage, there was no way to prove that anyone had actually been there.
Why did that person step in to help?
And how did they vanish so quickly?
Kakashi had no answers. There were no clues to follow.
Sarutobi Hiruzen focused entirely on Agent A and didn't seem to notice Kakashi's vague explanation.
"Technically, I shouldn't interfere with matters concerning Root," he said.
"But this situation is different. Summon Danzo immediately."
With Kinoe in their custody, whether Danzo wanted to or not, he had to show up.
Kakashi took a deep breath. After delivering the summons, he headed to the medical division.
"You smelled something familiar?"
It was a scent he knew well. If he caught it again, Kakashi was sure he'd recognize it.
Pakkun, dressed in his usual attire, sniffed around Kakashi's body.
"Nope. You just reek of mud from outside… and snake."
Pakkun circled Kakashi once before wrinkling his nose in distaste.
"But speaking of sweet smells—doesn't your brother always carry the scent of a dessert shop?"
"Him… ah…"
Kakashi rubbed his chin, thinking.
Hatake Satoru was almost the last person he would suspect.
A man with no chakra at all—escaping right under Kakashi's nose?
That just didn't seem possible.
But now that Pakkun mentioned it, the scent did resemble his brother's.
Since joining the Anbu, Kakashi had barely spent any time around Hatake Satoru.
For all he knew, the Uchiha clan members were more familiar with his brother than he was.
Feeling frustrated, Kakashi turned his head and stretched his stiff neck.
"There's no way that guy is capable of something like that."
"I'll look into it later."
Meanwhile, outside the Hokage's office, two groups stood on either side—one from Anbu, the other from Root.
A figure hidden in the branches outside the window kept a close watch on the people inside.
Everyone at the entrance wore masks, standing silently.
The moment anything happened inside, they were ready to act.
Behind the heavy wooden door, Kinoe stood between the two factions, looking a little lost.
On the way here, Kakashi had tried to drill some thoughts into his head.
Honestly, Kinoe was starting to think these missions that required killing comrades were completely pointless.
But what was going on now?!
The golden sunlight streamed in through the window, splitting Hiruzen and Danzo into two distinct halves.
After a brief pause, Hiruzen's aged voice broke the silence.
"You should know that Wood Release users are something the village has always dreamed of having."
"In the past, the village didn't hesitate to conduct dangerous experiments just to obtain this power."
"And now, when a Wood Release user finally exists, you're hiding him within Root."
"What's going on here?"
Before this, in order to regain a Wood Release user, the two of them had put the entire village's resources into researching Hashirama's cells.
However, many ninjas died during the experiments, and Hiruzen had no choice but to shut the project down.
Of course, he knew that Danzo was secretly continuing the research. But as long as it didn't become a well-known scandal, it wasn't a big deal.
That said, Danzo had successfully created a Wood Release user, yet he kept him hidden in Root for his own use. That was crossing the line.
Hiruzen had heard some rumors before, but he never had the right opportunity to demand anything.
Now that Kakashi had captured this boy and brought him in, this was the perfect chance to take him from Danzo's hands.
"I was the one who found him, protected him, and trained him," Danzo said.
"I wasn't hiding him. I just didn't think it was necessary to report it."
Danzo knew that at this point, there was no way he was getting the boy back. The best he could do was get himself out of trouble.
As long as he could come up with a reasonable excuse, Hiruzen would just go through the motions of punishing him.
No matter how strong Kakashi was, could two trained Root members really be no match for him?
Right now, the boy—code-named "Kinoe"—was in Hiruzen's hands, while "Otsu" hadn't returned at all.
What the hell had happened?
"The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is already four years old. The Wood Release sealing technique is becoming more and more important to the village," Hiruzen said.
"So, can you hand him over to me?"
"I'm going to assign him to the Hokage's Anbu unit."
This was a clear power move, taking away one of Danzo's key pieces. Danzo opened his mouth, wanting to protest.
But Hiruzen's tone softened as he continued, almost as if he were making a request.
"Please, Danzo."
"He may be a valuable subordinate, but for the sake of Konohagakure, let's transfer him out of Root."
"If you do that, I'll let everything else slide."
That last sentence was the final blow. If Hiruzen really decided to dig deeper, Danzo's past dealings with Orochimaru wouldn't stay buried for long.
The boy he had gone through so much effort to find and train was now being taken away by Hiruzen, just like that.
With both Root and Anbu members present, Danzo couldn't openly refuse.
He had no choice but to accept, swallowing his anger like bitter medicine.
And so, Hiruzen took the boy away.
When Kakashi stepped out of the medical unit, he saw Danzo leaving the Hokage's office with a dark expression.
As Danzo passed by, leaning on his cane, he shot Kakashi a cold, threatening glare.
Kakashi ignored him completely and walked past without a second glance.
Hiruzen stood at the doorway and waved Kakashi over.
"Take the boy to your brother. If I remember right, he teaches at the civilian school."
"A just came out of Root, and Danzo probably never taught him any basic knowledge."
"Let him study under your brother for a while."
......................................