Ascendance Of The Flash

Chapter 9- Root

LAST TIME ON DRAGON BALL Z
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He left the clearing after that, leaving her frozen.

Flashback end
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"And the next thing I know, I have a bingo book entry," Naruto finished with a clap of his hands.

Hiruzen had his eyes narrowed in thought. "I see...the scars from the wounds that your father gave Iwa run deep."

Naruto spread his hands in the universal gesture of 'how does this even work?'. "Why would they be holding out on a grudge for a dead man? Isn't it just easier to move on?"

Hiruzen rubbed his forehead. "You must know that Iwa lost a lot in the third war, Naruto. Majority of it because of your father. Never had a hidden village suffered a loss of this magnitude in history. And wiping out a thousand shinobi drastically weakened their military strength, which takes years to rebuild. Even now, I suspect that they still may not have replenished those numbers. It's hard to forget such things, Naruto."

Naruto pursed his lips and looked down. What would he do if someone did that to him? Would he keep on hating, or would he let go?

"I don't know what I would do."

Hiruzen gained an understanding glint in his eye. "It's hard to put yourself in the shoes of the enemy to understand them, Naruto."

Naruto tilted his head sideways, arching an eyebrow. "Well, this sounds like something I wouldn't want to think about."

They sat in silence for a few moments, each lost in their thoughts. "It was Danzo who offered the replacement, wasn't it?"

Hiruzen looked up in surprise. "How did you know?"

"Tsunade didn't look so happy when she thought she already had a replacement," Naruto answered.

Hiruzen sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Yes."

"But every shinobi must only obey the Hokage. If some are working for him, doesn't that make him look suspicious? You could launch an investigation into him!"

"My old friend is far too careful for that," Hiruzen revealed with a tiredness he felt every time he talked with or about Danzo. "Root still exists, I'm sure of it. But we have no evidence."

Naruto remained silent, not revealing about his plan to take out the root member as soon as he met him or her. He wanted jiji to have deniability on this.

Hiruzen looked at Naruto with utmost seriousness, causing the blonde to straighten in his seat. "I advise you to be careful, Naruto. Danzo wants to keep an eye on you, for what reason I can only speculate. Don't give away too much information."

Naruto nodded back. He wouldn't expect anything else from the bandaged mummy.

"Well well, if it isn't Raijin no te."

Naruto turned his head around to see a bearded man enter the room, hands in pockets and like majority of the Sarutobi, a cigarette in the mouth. He waved at him with a grin. "Yo Naruto!"

Naruto smiled, getting up to greet the man. With some smugness he noticed that he was only a little shorter in height than the bear like jonin. Shaking hands, he remarked, "As smoky as ever, Asuma-san."