Minato's face turned pale, the color draining from it in an instant. This time, he thought, his heart pounding, my son is in real trouble. He knew his duties had kept him busy, that he hadn't spent enough time with Naruto, and that his absence had made his son rebellious. But he had never imagined Naruto would have the audacity to go to the forbidden archives and steal the Scroll of Seals itself.

"Minato, what is going on? Why would Naruto do this?" Sarutobi's eyes were probing, a hint of suspicion beneath the surface.

"I… I don't know," Minato stammered. "There must be some misunderstanding. Do not worry, Lord Third, I will give you an explanation! I placed a Flying Raijin mark on Naruto. I can find him immediately!"

Without another word, Minato vanished in a flash of yellow light, leaving the Hokage's office in a stunned silence.

"Sigh-~…" Sarutobi Hiruzen put down his pipe and sighed helplessly. "You may go," he said to the chunin.

"Yes, sir!"

Just as the chunin was about to leave, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado suddenly returned. "You," Koharu instructed the chunin, her voice sharp, "take your team and follow Minato. You are not to interfere. Simply observe his every move and report back to me."

The chunin was stunned by the order, but he quickly stammered, "Uh… yes, my lady. I understand."

"Hmph." After the chunin left, Homura and Koharu returned to the sofa, their faces grim masks of disapproval. "Sarutobi," Homura began, "did you see Minato's expression? This must be related to him! Wake up and stop protecting him!"

"Yes," Koharu added, her voice dripping with suspicion. "He probably wants to learn a powerful forbidden technique to regain the position of Hokage! He might even attack you in the future!"

Hearing this, Sarutobi's expression hardened. "You two," he said sternly, "I have told you many times not to think so poorly of Minato. There may be a misunderstanding here."

"A misunderstanding?" Koharu sneered. "I have never misjudged a person in my life. From how close he was to the Uchiha clan, I knew he harbored hidden ambitions!"

"Alright, that's enough," Sarutobi said, waving his hands with irritation. He changed the subject. "You came back so suddenly. Was it just to complain about Minato again?"

"Of course not!" Homura threw a scroll onto Hiruzen's desk. "This is an urgent mission report from Gekko Hayate in the Land of Lightning. See for yourself."

"Oh?" Sarutobi was stunned. For the Chunin Exams, Konoha had also sent an invitation to the Hidden Cloud. The ninja in charge of that delivery was Hayate. The man had not yet returned, but the information had been sent ahead. The contents must be of great importance.

Hiruzen quickly opened the scroll. As expected, the Raikage had rejected Konoha's invitation. That was no surprise, given the strained relationship between the two villages. The crucial information was at the end. The Fourth Raikage, A, was once again holding Konoha accountable for an incident. The reason, however, shocked Sarutobi to his core.

It was about Danzō.

According to the report, Danzō had been ridden like a common beast of burden by an Uchiha child, and the two had disrupted an S-rank mission being carried out by the Hidden Cloud. Because of their interference, two elite Cloud shinobi had been killed.

"???"

Sarutobi Hiruzen read each word on the scroll. He understood them individually, but when strung together, they formed a sentence of such absurdity that his mind reeled. If what the Cloud claimed was true, did that mean Danzō had disappeared all those years ago to join forces with the Uchiha? How was that possible? But the scroll clearly stated that these words had come from the Fourth Raikage himself. As the leader of a great village, he would have no reason to lie about such a thing.

At that moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen's face became extremely dark. After a long, heavy silence, he finally spoke.

"Koharu, Homura," he said, his voice low and grave, "you are right. We must take advantage of the Uchiha's visit to investigate their current situation."

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