Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
June, x787.
By the time Danzo arrived in Hiruzen's office, the other two advisors, Koharu and Homura had already arrived. Currently, Hiruzen was discussing the two attacks that took place not long ago. And it was obvious to see that Hiruzen was somewhat distraught about what they would mean to the alliance Tsunade worked so hard to foster with Fairy Tail.
Listening to the conversation between Hiruzen, Koharu, and Homura, Danzo understood that his Root shinobi had been defeated. That was enough to surprise him greatly, as he had seriously underestimated the three Fairy Tail wizards and their maid.
Danzo's underestimation was not completely his fault, however. Elicia's power was completely unknown to anyone outside of the Fairy Tail guild. So, he never would have guessed that she alone would be able to detain the ten shinobi he sent to capture her.
On top of that, Irene's breakthrough happened earlier that morning and Alfonzo was not exactly forthcoming with the information, classifying it as a Fairy Tail guild secret when he was questioned before he left to start his work on the training ground. So, he never had any idea that on the off chance Elicia was not able to subdue the attackers, Irene would have been able to do so.
"What are you going to do about this, Hiruzen?" Koharu asked in a slightly worried tone. "Twenty shinobi with unknown affiliations attacked our guests. And I'm sure they will want an explanation when they arrive."
Instead of responding immediately to Koharu's question, Hiruzen took a toke from his lit pipe. Then, he held the smoke in his lungs for a moment before releasing it along with a sigh.
"*Sigh* And compensate them, we shall." Hiruzen said in a tired tone. "But there are more important things to think about in this case. For example, who are these shinobi that infiltrated our village..."
As Hiruzen reached that point, he shot a discreet glance at Danzo. Though he had no proof, he had a sneaking suspicion that Danzo was the culprit behind the attacks that took place not long ago.
'Danzo, oh Danzo, I pray that there was a hole in the village's security… for your sake my old friend.' Hiruzen thought to himself as he returned his attention to Koharu. 'And if there isn't, I pray that you covered your tracks as well as you always do. Because I don't think I can save you this time.'
"… And how did they get into the village without anyone knowing?" Hiruzen continued. "More importantly than that, how did they know our guests were here? Their presence was supposed to be top secret."
Hearing that, Koharu and Homura exchanged glances. Meanwhile, Danzo stared at Hiruzen with an impassive expression that did not give away his thoughts on the matter.
'Hiruzen, you truly have grown soft.' Danzo thought to himself while watching his old friend. 'I know you suspect me… No, I know you're sure I'm behind this incident. And we both know the correct thing to do in this situation is to have me arrested and interrogated before handing me over as compensation. Instead, I can see you giving away one of the village's secrets as compensation so that this incident does not spark a war with Fairy Tail. Just like you did with the Hyuga and the Cloud.'
And Danzo's thoughts were correct on the matter. Hiruzen was indeed thinking of compensating Alfonzo and Elicia with something that would be considered a village secret. Unfortunately, Danzo did not know that half of his shinobi were captured alive. Even if he did, though, he would only be minimally worried, as the [Seals] he put on all his subordinates meant that no one would be able to get any information out of them.
Once again, however, Danzo had underestimated Alfonzo due to having incomplete information. However, he would come to find out the consequences of his actions sooner rather than later.
"That's not something we can figure out right away, Hiruzen." Homura said as he adjusted his glasses. "Those wizards from Fairy Tail are going to want an explanation. And right now, we don't have anything to tell them."
"*Sigh* We'll just have to tell them the truth." Hiruzen replied while massaging his temples. "Until we have any information about the attacks, we can't give them an explanation."
"Then, there was no point in calling us here." Danzo said in his usual tone.
"Of course there was, Danzo." Hiruzen said while turning his attention to Danzo. "I want you to lead the investigation into the infiltrators entry point. I'll assign you a squad of Anbu as support."
'Hopefully this will keep you busy enough that you won't be able to cause any more trouble.' Hiruzen thought to himself.
At the same time, Danzo was smirking internally.
'I knew it.' Danzo thought to himself. 'You really did act just as I thought you would, Hiruzen. The only thing you're doing is giving me a chance to falsify a weak point in the barrier surrounding the village. And with that, I'll have everything I need to put another one of my plans in motion.
"Understood." Danzo said. "Then, I'll go and make preparations for the investigation."
In the next instant, Danzo turned away from Hiruzen's desk. Then, at his usual pace, he started walking towards the door.
*Knock!* *Knock!* *Knock!*
Before he could get too far, however, the sound of someone knocking on the door from the other side echoed throughout the office.
"Lord Hokage, Kakashi Hatake, Alfonzo Marcus, and an Anbu Captain are here to see you." Hiruzen's secretary said from the other side of the door.
"Allow them to enter." Hiruzen replied.
A moment later, the door to Hiruzen's office was opened before Alfonzo, Kakashi, and the captain of the Anbu squad that was assigned to watch Alfonzo while he was in the village entered the office. Meanwhile, Danzo continued walking towards the door with no intention to greet the new arrivals.
While Kakashi and the Anbu Captain did not pay much attention to Danzo, used to the way he carried himself, Alfonzo watched Danzo pass them from the corner of his eye. And had anyone familiar with him been present, they would have known that Danzo was not going to have a good time in the short term.
'You know, had you just targeted me, I would have definitely kicked your ass.' Alfonzo thought to himself as he let his gaze leave Danzo. 'In fact, you probably would have ended up dead because of what you tried. But trying to kidnap Lici, as ineffective as that plan was, was a really fucking bad idea, Danzo. And for that, just dying isn't enough.'
Alfonzo then let his gaze rest on Hiruzen.
'And for your sake, Old Man, I hope you weren't in on Danzo's schemes.' Alfonzo continued his thoughts. 'Because if you were, the village is gonna need a new Hokage even earlier than the canon.'
In Alfonzo's past life, there were many debates whether Hiruzen and Danzō were working together to cause all the atrocities that Danzo perpetrated. Some said that Hiruzen was in on it, letting Danzo do all the dirty work. Then, there were some that thought Hiruzen just let Danzo do what he wanted while remaining ignorant and cleaning up any fallout as necessary. Then, there were all sorts of theories that fell between those two extremes.
"Alfonzo, allow me to extend my apologies for what happened today." Hiruzen said as he stood up from behind his desk. "I'm not sure how those shinobi got into the village to attack you and your companions, but I assure you we will be doing everything in our power to find out how this happened."
"I'm sure you will, Lord Hokage. Alfonzo said in a steely tone. "It's just a good thing that nothing happened to Lici and our child. Otherwise, I don't know what I would have done."
At the same time as those words left Alfonzo's mouth, his magic power began leaking, putting pressure on everyone in the room. And while Hiruzen and Kakashi seemed to be fine, more or less, the pressure almost caused Koharu, Homura, and the Anbu Captain to fall to their knees.
Meanwhile, Hiruzen could not help opening his eyes wide.
'This young man's magic power is almost as strong as my own.' Hiruzen thought to himself. 'And considering my age and the fact that my body is far from its peak, I'm under no illusion that I could stop him if he were to go on a rampage. Luckily, nothing happened to his wife. Otherwise, I don't know what would happen. Still, I'd better have Jiraiya return just in case.'
"Calm down, Alfonzo." Kakashi said, patting Alfonzo on the back as he spoke. "Since you were able to bring in those captives alive, the T&I Department will be able to get something out of them. Then, we'll be able to find the people responsible for those attacks."
Taking a deep breath, Alfonzo reeled in his magic power, allowing Koharu, Homura, and the Anbu Captain to breathe a sigh of relief. And although Alfonzo was only exerting his pressure as an intimidation tactic, the anger he showed at the thought of anything happening to Elicia or their unborn child was real.
"*Sigh* I know, Kakashi, I know." Alfonzo replied.
"You were able to bring in the attackers alive?" Hiruzen asked in a surprised tone. "Excellent."
'Even if they were brought in alive, there isn't much we'll be able to do with those captives.' Hiruzen thought to himself without changing his expression. 'If they are Danzo's men as I suspect, they probably have [Seals] on them that will not allow them to speak or have their minds read. And if the T&I Department tries to do so forcefully, they'll only end up dead..'
Alfonzo's next words, however, would flip that notion on its head.
"Yeah, and hopefully getting information out of them won't be too hard." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "While checking them for any identifying features, I noticed they all had some kind of sigils on their tongues that would keep them from speaking about their superiors. So, I took the time to dispel them."
Had Danzo been present to hear that, he would have definitely begun to panic. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought that an outsider to the village would ever be able to remove the [Seals] on his Root shinobi. Unfortunately for him, he thought there were more important things to deal with than this situation.
Hiruzen, on the other hand, opened his eyes even wider. However, he was not the only one who was surprised, as Koharu, Homura, Kakashi, and the Anbu Captain could not help but look at Alfonzo with surprise, as well.
"You know the [Art of Sealing]?" Hiruzen asked in dumbfounded amazement. "But how is that possible? There aren't many who practice it. And the number that practice it outside of the Hidden Villages is even fewer."
As he spoke, Hiruzen's body tensed in the case that he would have to attack. Hearing that Alfonzo was able to remove [Seals] made him consider that Alfonzo had stolen some classified information from the village during his stay.
"Calm down, Lord Hokage." Alfonzo said after noticing Hiruzen's change in demeanor. "I know exactly what you're thinking. But I didn't steal anything from the village."
Hearing that, everyone, other than Hiruzen, wore confused expressions. Then, they turned their attention to Hiruzen and noticed that he was in a battle ready state.
"The [Seals] your village uses are a type of [Word Magic]." Alfonzo continued. "And I'm pretty damn good when it comes to [Word Magic], you know. I mean, I'd have to be to be so good when it comes to magic item creation. And although its different than the sigils I'm used to, it wasn't that hard to figure out."
Just then, Hiruzen remembered Alfonzo's proficiency with magic item creation. And when he did, he realized that what Alfonzo said was most likely true. And Alfonzo's next words made him relax even further.
"And if you're still having trouble believing me, you can check the prisoners." Alfonzo said with a shrug. "The sigils I used to dispel the [Seals] on the prisoners' tongues are there for everyone to see. I had to carve them into their tongues, though. So, it won't be too pretty to look at."
As Alfonzo said, he used the sigils he was familiar with to dispel the [Seals] on the Root shinobi rather than removing them. So, the original [Seals] were still present on the backs of the Root Shinobi's tongues. Those [Seals] were just surrounded by the dispelling sigils he carved.
"I see." Hiruzen replied. "Then, I suppose I should thank you for making the job easier for the T&I Department."
'Still, I think I'll make a trip down to the T&I Department to make sure for myself.' Hiruzen thought to himself.
"Still, the village owes you compensation for what happened today." Hiruzen continued. "And if what you said was true, then we owe you even more."
'Danzo, for your sake, I pray this was done by a village who found out about our guests.' Hiruzen said while shaking his head internally. 'I've been able to look the other way for all the things you've done in the past because there was no evidence. But if you were the one behind this and what this young man said is true, I can't and won't save you.'
At the same time, Danzo had just returned to the Root Headquarters. And just as he was making the preparations to fabricate a weakness in the barrier surrounding the village while leading the investigation, another one of his Root Shinobi appeared in front of him. And just like the last time, the shinobi appeared down on one knee with his head bowed respectfully.
"Lord Danzo, I have something to report." The shinobi said in an emotionless tone.
"Speak." Danzo ordered without stopping his footsteps.
"Our agent in the T&I Department just reported that the shinobi sent to capture Alfonzo Marcus were brought in to be interrogated." The Shinobi said.
Hearing that, Danzo froze for an instant.
"It is of no consequence." Danzo replied. "With the [Seals] I applied, it will be impossible to get anything of worth out of them."
With that said, Danzo casually dismissed the shinobi and continued with what he was planning to do. Unfortunately, the agent Danzo planted in the T&I Department was not high enough in rank to know that the [Seals] Danzo spoke of had been dispelled. Especially when you consider that Alfonzo, Kakashi, and the Anbu Captain brought the prisoners directly to Ibiki Morino, the Head of the T&I Department, and Inoichi Yamanaka, the Hidden Leaf Village's foremost expert in mind-related arts.