“Itachi’s twelve now. It’s about time you did it.” Danzo looked down on Hiruzen, sitting at the Hokage’s desk. “With Shisui’s death, the only pawn we have against the Uchiha is Itachi. We can’t have him spending his days burdened with all these random missions as a member of the Anbu under your control.”
“Promote him to team leader, hm?”
“It’s just as I said before. Raise his official age by a year, and the issue of the rules resolves itself.”
Sighing, Hiruzen stretched his hands out on his desk, picking up his pipe and bringing a flame to the bowl. Purple smoke drifted up into the air. The creases around his eyes deepening, Hiruzen looked at Danzo, and said, “I can’t stop feeling sorry about Shisui’s death. That a ninja of his abilities would commit suicide …”
Danzo snickered in his heart. The poison Sugaru had used disappeared in the blood, so that there was no trace of it when the murder was later investigated. It was a technique befitting a member of the Foundation, where the bulk of their work was assassination. A group as dim-witted as the Military Police Force would never notice Danzo pulling strings behind the scenes.
If he had one worry, it would be Itachi. There was a possibility that he knew. The note Shisui left before he died bothered Danzo. It was hard to believe Shisui had had so much time that he had been able to leave a note in his room before throwing himself into the river. The most likely scenario was that Itachi had copied Shisui’s handwriting, and written the note. Still, Danzo could use Itachi’s desire for peace to handle even this situation.
He turned to the man who was meant to be his old friend. “The Uchiha were quiet for a time because of Shisui’s death, but recently, they’ve started to move again. We won’t be able to avoid an explosion.”
“I know that.”
“So, then?”
“I’ll approve Itachi’s promotion.”
The corners of Danzo’s mouth naturally curled up. “Then I’ll go ahead with the paperwork.”
“But this is at most a special case.”
Danzo responded with a nod. “When the dissatisfaction of the Uchiha clan is eliminated, I’ll release Itachi.”
“Once they settle down, there’s no need of Itachi. After that, you do what you want.”
Would that day actually ever come? In his heart, Danzo sneered at Hiruzen’s softness.
“In name, it’s the establishment of a new team due to the increase in the number of Anbu missions. And with a new team comes a new team leader. A position you were selected for,” Danzo recounted dispassionately, sitting tall before Itachi in the office of the Foundation mansion. Sugaru was standing behind Danzo, in his usual white tiger mask. “I’ve asked that the members of this new team come from the Foundation, and I’ve obtained Hiruzen’s approval.”
“So then, will I belong to the Foundation?” Itachi asked.
“You won’t be under the Hokage’s direct command, nor will you belong to the Foundation. Let’s just say this will be a special team, independent within the Anbu.”
“I don’t really understand what that means,” Itachi said firmly.
A smile crept onto Danzo’s face. “I’ll spell it out.” He stopped there, and stroked the area around his right eye, covered with a bandage. “The formation of a new team is just the official line. There are no new personnel. It’s simply something we came up with, to allow you to move freely. Even so, I think we’ll give you a couple of men.”
“For the sake of the Uchiha?”
“Precisely.” Danzo stood up, and walked around his desk. He came over to Itachi, and looked down on him with a lightless eye. “Saying the new members would be from the Foundation is also a means to keep the Anbu from becoming suspicious. Just like Uchiha Shisui worked for Hiruzen, you will work for me from now on.”
Danzo uttered the name of Itachi’s good friend, and in his smooth attitude, Itachi could see the depth of the darkness in the man standing before him. These two men had killed Shisui. Itachi had heard this directly from the dead man himself, so there was no mistake.
“Why did you kill Shisui?” Itachi asked, the pattern of the magatama popping up in his eyes.
Danzo took the sharingan in calmly and did not move, smile still on his face. “So, you did know?”
“Shisui was trying to stop the clan’s coup d’état for the sake of the village. Just as he was about to do that, you interfered, and he died.”
“Do you really think Shisui’s actions could have stopped the coup?”
Itachi, at a loss for a reply, was ashamed of himself for faltering.
“His actions would have gotten in the way of my own plan to prevent the coup. But Shisui of the Body Flicker … even if I had ordered him not to go forward, I doubt he would have been willing to listen, given that I’m not his superior.”
“And that’s why you killed him?”
“It is.”
Bloodlust glittered in Itachi’s eyes. In an instant, his right hand was clutching a kunai, and he was thrusting it at Danzo’s throat.
The man in the tiger mask blocked his way; Itachi’s kunai pierced Sugaru’s palm.
Over the shoulder of his loyal subordinate, Danzo started speaking. “You must have already realized it?”
“Shut up.”
“How can we protect the peace of the village? And who will do what needs to be done?”
“Did you not hear me tell you to shut up?”
“If you want to kill me, then go ahead and kill me. But killing me won’t stop the clan from exploding. In fact, once I’m gone, and no longer in their way, the clan will likely get more and more carried away. And the moment you kill me, a village official, you become a criminal. Even if you were to make it out of this house, you would be pursued until you were dead. You will not be able to help your clan like that. You’ll only be able to watch over the terrible spectacle from outside the village. If you wish to choose that foolish path, then go ahead and kill me.”
It was a clear provocation. Danzo didn’t have the slightest intention of dying. The only other person in this room was Sugaru, but scores of Danzo’s people were in hiding all around them. Even if Itachi did manage to kill Danzo, it would be very nearly impossible to take all of them on, and escape from the mansion.
“Every second we stand here like this, the window of opportunity to kill me shrinks. You don’t have time for questions and answers. Once decided, a ninja shifts to immediate action.”
Sugaru slowly pulled out the kunai and rotated his body. He positioned himself with one leg in front, and Danzo stood tall behind him.
“May I take your silence as your answer?”
I know …
Killing Danzo would solve nothing. Quite the opposite; the situation would most certainly deteriorate. Itachi had a bigger ambition that he had to put ahead of his personal grudge, and his desire to get vengeance for his friend. He tucked his kunai away in his vest.
“Now then, Uchiha Itachi.” Danzo nodded, seemingly satisfied. “Shall we return to the issue at hand?”
“I’m leaving,” Itachi said, and turned his back to Danzo.
“You can’t bear to listen to any more? So it appears you do see it, then.”
Itachi started walking toward the door.
“If someone from outside the clan did that, there would certainly be lingering ill will toward the village. Other clans would fear the Uchiha end, and one would inevitably become the next Uchiha. Which is exactly why …”
Ignoring the man, Itachi reached for the door.
“Someone from the clan must do it,” Danzo continued. “A mentally deranged young person of the clan. If this is what everyone believes, then peace can come to the village.”
Itachi opened the door with a trembling hand, and glared at Danzo over his shoulder.
“You are the only one who can fulfill this role,” Danzo asserted.
As if to reject Danzo’s declaration, Itachi left the room.