Konoha was unusually active these days. Every clan was busy dismantling Root bases, and ninja were either on missions or resting after them. Even civilians noticed something was amiss. The village's constant activity felt like the movements of wartime, causing tension among its residents.
"I think this has something to do with those blasts a few days ago," an old man said.
"Yeah, even the Hokage came to visit the site, but nothing was disclosed about the attack. Now, Anbu ninja are raiding places all over the village," another man added.
"Maybe they're searching for whoever was responsible for the attack?"
"I hope they clarify the situation soon," the last one of the group said.
Such discussions were happening all around Konoha, and everyone was tense about the situation. However, the person most affected by all this was...
"What a drag. That old geezer was really thorough and shrewd. Not only are Root bases spread throughout the world, but he also made sure no one in Konoha could act against him without risking those bases turning into a sword that strikes Konoha down. I don't think he ever trusted anyone other than himself," Shikaku said.
"Don't tell me what I already know and focus on your work, Shikaku. There are still ten bases left for us to close," Hiruzen replied.
"I haven't slept for two days, Lord Third. I need some time off. I'm sure you can handle this much better than me," Shikaku said, shamelessly evading work.
"Yes, but I want you to be trained for when I'm not around. You can rest after making sure everything is taken care of," Hiruzen said, using his age as an excuse.
Both of them were equally shameless, making them a perfect team. This was why Hiruzen was confident they could manage without Danzo. Shikaku had enough intelligence to do so; he just needed someone as shameless as Hiruzen to make him work.
"At least give me a short break. I want to see my family," Shikaku made his last effort.
"I can call your wife here if you miss her so much," Hiruzen said with a smile.
"No, I can't let my feelings obstruct my work. Let's focus on the remaining bases, Lord Third," Shikaku said, finally becoming fully alert.
'Hah, everyone needs to have such a wonderful wife,' Hiruzen thought.
...
The Root bases, once spread across the ninja world, were now a thing of the past. Some of the bases, located in small villages far from Konoha, were left for last because they had minimal contact with Konoha. However, when Hiruzen and Shikaku learned what was happening in those bases, they decided to destroy them along with their residents. The ninja there had become monsters, experimenting on pregnant women to create super ninja, strong from birth—similar to clan ninja.
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It would be a lie if Hiruzen and Shikaku said they weren't interested in the results of these experiments. However, two things were certain: the experiment was not complete, and the children died along with their mothers a month after delivery.
The number of women and children who died to reach this stage was sickening, and continuing the experiments would require the same amount of sacrifice. One reason Danzo never informed Hiruzen about these experiments was that they didn't have the resolve to kill so many innocent people, including children and women, for a little strength.
During the war, Hiruzen had to make many tough decisions, resulting in the deaths of innocent people. But at that time, the safety of his village was at risk. He had to choose between the lives of his ninja or those civilians and did what any leader would do. Even then, he tried to save as many young ones as possible and gave women a chance to save themselves.
Hiruzen wouldn't say his hands weren't covered in the blood of innocents, but he was still not a monster. If Danzo had informed Hiruzen about these experiments, Hiruzen would have surely stopped them.
...
The discussion on how to handle those bases and whom to send went on for an hour. Finally, the last question, which none of them wanted to discuss, came up.
"What should we do about the results of those experiments, the findings they made?" Shikaku asked.
"You already know the answer. We can't just burn them. That would make those deaths meaningless. Even if we aren't going to continue those experiments, it doesn't mean we can't use the results of the ones already done," Hiruzen said.
Even on Earth, there have been hundreds of cases where people or companies conducted research on humans to make cures for diseases or treatments for once incurable diseases. People would most likely question if those researchers were even human if they knew what they did.
However, would humanity stop using the medicine developed after those experiments? No. Even if they don't do it now, not using already built medicine just because it was developed at the cost of many lives and letting more people die would be utter foolishness. Humans were everything but foolish when it came to survival.
Using similar logic, Hiruzen didn't want all that research to go to waste. Many ninjas from all the great villages and many civilians from major and minor villages lost their lives because of those experiments.
"What about the civilians in those bases?" Shikaku asked.
"Just bring them here. I'm sure they don't know anything about the Root ninja stationed there, let alone Konoha. From what they've experienced, they won't be able to go back to their usual lives anymore. Even if the village has to stretch its budget to manage such a number of people," Hiruzen sighed, thinking of the additional number of civilians who came to Konoha in the last couple of weeks.
He could even form a new clan from the people who became part of Konoha coincidentally. It should be noted that every normal person in the world dreamed of becoming either rich or connected enough to get the opportunity to live in one of the five great villages. Konoha was the first location that came to the mind of every civilian.
The five great ninja villages were the safest places in the world during wartime. Sure, they would have wars, but it never reached the main village as they would make some agreements before that. During such times, every civilian outside those villages was at the mercy of thousands of Shinobi.
They could kill them just because they were tense and wanted to relieve their stress. That's why everyone wanted to live in one of the five great ninja villages. Since the village normally focused on ninja, one way was to have a very talented ninja, and you might get recruited into the village.
Second, become rich enough to get land in the village, which was very costly compared to outside, almost ten times the amount even for the cheapest property in the village.
Lastly, you could somehow become useful to ninja, like a plumber, gardener, or chef. However, there was heavy competition for such roles. In short, getting to live in the village was very much dependent on luck.
Those people would get this for free, but if someone asked them if that torture was worth it for this price, the answer would most likely be,
'Are you mad? I'd rather live in the streets of a war-torn village than face that.' But beggars can't be choosers. Now, getting to live in a safe place for the rest of their lives should be enough for them to find some peace with life.
"I don't think the budget will be a problem for the coming years, Lord Third. For some reason, Danzo had stored twice the village budget in his funds," Shikaku said.
"I know what you want to say. Yes, I already knew about his plan to remove me from my position and become Hokage. But come on, I am still stronger than him, and there is no way he would have gone to war with me. In the end, I didn't want to lose one more friend.
I should have done something from the start, and I didn't. I've acknowledged this a thousand times, so don't bring it up again. This is an order," Hiruzen said, his tone becoming stricter by the end of the sentence.
"Yes, sir," Shikaku said, his lazy attitude vanishing. The order was from the Hokage, not the friendly old man everyone knew. Shikaku could act any way he wanted because of his mind and talent, but only until Hiruzen allowed him to do so.
With the plan ready, Hiruzen called Eagle, the head of the Anbu guard, and gave him a scroll.
"Arrange the teams as mentioned in the scroll," Hiruzen said. Only that much was needed; Eagle understood the task and left the office.
"Can I go now, sir?" Shikaku asked.
"Yes, but I will call you when the reports about other missions come," Hiruzen said, once again smiling as if his little outburst never happened.
'What a drag,' Shikaku thought but didn't say anything. He just nodded his head and headed towards his house.