Things had not gone Danzo's way in a long minute. He tempered himself as much as it pained him to when Hiruzen failed to choose Orochimaru as a successor but that failure was nothing compared to what he had faced the past month.
Danzo, as a youth, was never a patient man, but life and it's many turns had instilled that virtue and he'd embraced it enough to take a step back and let the Yellow Flash revel in his 'authority'.
He wasn't sure where it had gone awry but Danzo laid the blame on his incompetent operative, Kinoto. The fool somehow botched the entire operation to Kirigakure and even managed to raise suspicion in the tagalongs Minato had sent along with him.
What was meant to be a simple information gathering mission— with a side of diplomatic espionage if it could be helped— turned the tables such that Danzo had to wait an entire war for the contents of the Fourth Mizukage's letter to the Hokage be revealed.
His wooden cane clacked out of rhythm and he breathed to still the anticipation driving him forward. The scroll with the Mizukage's letter had come first and foremost to him and though he considered himself well-read in Fuinjutsu, he couldn't risk disabling the measures the Mizukage had placed on his message.
If the letter destroyed itself in defence or a single trace of tampering had been discovered by the Yellow Flash's far keener Fuuinjutsu eyes would spell a dicey situation for he and his agent, especially since Kirigakure closed itself and the Land of Water off even tighter than they had during the last war.
And so, even though it found his hands first he allowed the Hokage to be the first to read it, making himself conveniently present at the time of its delivery. But the twist in the Yellow Flash's face spelled doom as he read, thought and decreed that the message would be sealed off for Hokage Eyes Only until Kirigakure and the Mizukage came out of their war.
As he neared the Hokage's office his nose crinkled in disgust. Hiruzen. The man, in technical terms, still counted as Hokage and thus was certainly ahead of the game this turn. As tempted as Danzo had been to ask throughout the month, he would not dare stoop so low as to allow Hiruzen a true sense of superiority. All that man is…a failure.
And though Danzo initially thought the Yellow Flash more sensible, it seemed that thought would need to be re-evaluated. He came upon the door and twisted the knob without knocking, they would have long sensed his approach.
When the door swung, Danzo was surprised to see not only Hiruzen and Minato in conversation but Jiraiya of the Sannin as well. Heavily outnumbered, Danzo cursed inwardly. He'd been so consumed by Hiruzen's presence he failed to anticipate another thorn.
They turned to him, Minato with a small, welcoming smile. Hiruzen with his lips pursed the way they would anytime he ached to service that addiction and his wayward but at least loyal student with a stupid grin that hid the dangerous shinobi beneath.
"You have returned." Danzo simply said, breaking the silence of his entry before it could set. He began to suspect how much of the Sannin's return had to do with the Mizukage's message and how he'd arrived in Konoha without his knowing.
"A break from pressing research to help my favourite student. It's good to see you too." The Sannin folded his arms, grin waning into something less concealing of his nature.
Danzo hmph'd and walked over to the open seat beside Hiruzen clearly reserved for him as the Sannin preferred to stand. As he sat he glanced at Hiruzen, "Given up on the Snake?"
All three generations flinched and Danzo's pleasure grew. Hiruzen shifted uncomfortably in his seat but it was Minato that spoke first, "The ANBU will locate the traitor wherever he's went, for now, I thought Jiraiya-sensei should be here to learn what the Mizukage offered as well. Sandaime-sama and I just briefed him on the situation so far."
The Hokage's voice was stern and strong, not weighed even by both his predecessor's and teacher's muddled feelings about the biggest traitor to all of Konoha since Uchiha Madara. It was clear Minato wanted to kill the subject before Jiraiya had a chance to speak on it.
Danzo nodded, giving no indication of the haste building up in his bones as Minato retrieved a scroll from amongst a pile, the one Danzo already had his eye on.
Rather than read it himself he handed it to Jiraiya who unfurled and read as Minato briefed, "Yagura wants to visit Konoha."
Danzo's eyes went wide. He found a similar reaction in Jiraiya as he read the scroll and a knowing look of concern on Hiruzen's— confirming he'd already read it.
"He believes it would suit us best, he and I, as the Fourths of our generation to meet in person and discuss the future of our villages, as well as the world." Danzo felt Minato's gaze linger and grow heavy on him as he spoke then next words, "He obviously feels that our liaisons are lacking or can't be trusted in some way to communicate facts from fiction."
Damn Kinoto.
"This is…" Jiraiya murmured, trailing off with the scroll in hand.
Impatient, Danzo growled, "Give it here"
Minato continued as Danzo's eyes scanned and skimmed every letter of the Mizukage's writing, "He also believes we share a common threat, one stemming from discoveries his shinobi made in the Hidden Rain. He's offering to share information on this threat but…"
The words left hanging were obvious as Danzo read the last sentences of the letter, "But is there truly such a thing or is this another trap?"
Minato's students had not too long ago fallen victim to a vicious trap that cost him the life of Rin Nohara, a promising shinobi. Danzo would have shaken his head at the thought of such attachment and loss clouding the Hokage's judgement if he weren't trembling already.
"That is why Jiraiya is here. He has spent time in Amegakure, he would know if there is something to fear." Hiruzen said, as if reading Danzo completely.
He calmed his thoughts with an inhale, "Aren't you getting ahead of yourselves already? You want to allow a foreign Kage and Jinchuriki to set foot in Konoha? Do you believe Kirigakure will not sacrifice anything to set loose their weapon on their enemy?"
If there was one thing Kinoto's visit to the watery village was good for it was the knowledge of the current Three-Tails vessel— none other than Yagura Karatachi himself, the Mizukage.
Jiraiya scoffed, "Yagura has been Mizukage even before Minato reached out to Kirigakure. I doubt this is some elaborate ploy Kiri has been concocting to blow us up."
Danzo almost failed in keeping his voice level, the Sannin could truly be dense at times, "They do not need to have concocted it before then, this could merely be a new batch of betrayal. Konoha will be in ruin for it."
The Yondaime at least looked conflicted by his words, a beacon of hope in the room clouded by idiocy and incompetence. Danzo prayed the potential to be sensible was still in him.
"I agree with Jiraiya." Danzo's stomach sunk, "Yagura is of a prominent clan within their castes, a decorated war veteran and prodigy. He is everything Kirigakure would want for their Kage and perhaps even the reason they'd take the leap in making a Jinchuriki their Kage."
The more the Hokage mused the more Danzo dreaded for the great tree. He's thinking of his wife…does he…does this boy sympathize with Yagura? His aged heart skipped a beat and he looked around, suddenly feeling more as cornered as a rat. How do I stop this?
"He has certainly proven capable to his Daimyo, ending a civil war in a month." Hiruzen stroked his beard.
"Yes, he must be cracking down on every perceived enemy to his authority but I wonder what that has to do with Amegakure. In the first place, we never understood why they went there or even how they slipped through enough to return with information of this…threat to Konoha and Kiri." Minato said, crossing his fingers under his chin.
The Hokage's eyes flickered to Danzo, "I understand what you're thinking, perhaps even more than you do, but if there is a viable threat against Konoha, wouldn't it serve us to work together to defeat it?"
Danzo sat silent for a moment before raising an eye to Jiraiya who'd been lost in thought, "Well then, Toad Sannin, is there a power in Amegakure strong enough to threaten two Hidden Villages?"