Danzo Movement

The underground chamber was nothing but ruin.

The air reeked of burnt parchment, molten steel, and scorched flesh. The explosion had not simply destroyed the laboratory—it had erased it. Stone had caved in, entire sections of the research facility buried beneath collapsed debris. What once stood as a vault of forbidden knowledge was now nothing but smoldering wreckage.

Hanzo stood at the edge of the destruction, motionless.

The dim glow of embers flickered across his armored form. His breath was slow, measured—but beneath the iron stillness, his fingers flexed, tightening imperceptibly. A lifetime of war had carved restraint into him, but there was no mistaking the weight in the air.

Decades of work. Buried in an instant.

The shinobi around him stood stiff, silent. They had served under him long enough to recognize the signs—the tension in his shoulders, the way his grip rested just a little firmer against the hilt of his blade.

A scout dropped to one knee beside him, still breathless from his desperate return.

"Lord Hanzo," he reported. "The laboratory is gone. The explosion was set with precision—every key area was targeted. Nothing remains."

Hanzo exhaled, slow and silent.

"Survivors?"

"None, sir. The enforcers stationed here were eliminated before the blast. Cleanly, efficiently."

A long, suffocating silence followed.

Hanzo's gaze swept over the ruins. This was not an act of reckless destruction. This was control. A cold, calculated execution.

His grip flexed once more. Just for a moment.

Then, his voice—calm, absolute. "A trail?"

A shinobi stepped forward, voice measured but tense.

"Our scouts have picked up movement. Someone fled before the detonation. They're moving north—fast. They know we're coming."

Hanzo turned.

His presence alone sent a ripple through the gathered shinobi. A hundred Ame-nin stood ready—elite hunters, silent, waiting.

Lightning cracked somewhere far above. The cavern ceiling trembled from the distant storm.

Hanzo's voice did not rise. It did not need to.

"Move."

And like the coming storm, they vanished into the tunnels.

---

The candlelight flickered in the depths of Root's underground chambers. Silence hung heavy in the air, broken only by the steady tap of Danzo's fingers against his armrest.

The air was thick with the scent of old parchment and ink, mingling with the faint traces of damp stone. Before him, kneeling on one knee, were Torune and Fū.

The room was shrouded in darkness, yet Danzo's single visible eye gleamed with cold calculation.

Torune was the first to speak, his voice composed, unwavering. "Danzo-sama, we have received confirmation. The explosion originated from the laboratory."

A slow exhale escaped Danzo's lips, unreadable as ever. He had already suspected as much. The destruction of that facility was not a minor setback—it was an insult. Decades of research, secret projects buried beneath the war, gone in an instant. And the one responsible?

A single, nameless ghost.

Fū's voice followed, equally disciplined. "Hanzo has already mobilized his forces. He is in pursuit."

Danzo did not react immediately. Instead, his gaze lingered on the candle's flame, watching it sway, bend, submit. Hanzo was a fool, a warlord clinging to power in a crumbling state. Strong, but predictable. He had taken Danzo's suggestions, followed the threads of manipulation like a loyal hound. Now, his own hands would be drenched in blood while Danzo remained in the shadows.

But this—this was unforeseen.

"Hanzo underestimates him." Danzo's voice was cold, absolute. "That boy should not have survived this long."

He had moved in secret, ensuring that the remnants of the experiment were erased. Yet, like a vengeful phantom, this unknown factor had resurfaced, not only surviving but actively dismantling his work.

Torune adjusted his posture. "Shall we deploy additional Root operatives?"

"No." Danzo's response was immediate, decisive. "This is no longer a matter for Root alone. If I act directly, it will draw the attention of the Hokage. We will use the chaos to our advantage."

Fū's gaze sharpened slightly. "You intend to redirect Konoha's forces."

A faint smirk ghosted across Danzo's lips. "Amegakure is already a battlefield. The Third War has ensured that. Konoha's forces near the border are prepared for conflict… They merely lack direction."

The two shinobi listened intently as Danzo continued.

"We will not point them at Hanzo—he is still useful. Instead, we will spread intelligence of a rogue shinobi operating within Amegakure, one responsible for the destruction of a highly valuable facility. One who possesses knowledge of experimental techniques deemed dangerous to the balance of power."

Torune immediately understood. "Konoha's forces will see him as a threat."

Danzo nodded. "A missing-nin with unknown abilities, hiding within an enemy state? It is only natural for them to seek and eliminate him."

Fū's lips barely parted, his mind already working through the intricacies of the deception. "Which division will you manipulate?"

"The detachment stationed nearest to Amegakure. They will receive falsified intelligence, reports of an enemy operative who has ties to the remnants of rogue Uzumaki research." Danzo's voice never wavered. "Word will be sent to key individuals who are loyal to Konoha's stability above all else. Those who would rather eliminate an unknown factor than risk it falling into enemy hands."

He turned his gaze toward Fū. "You will ensure this information reaches the right ears."

Fū bowed slightly. "Understood, Danzo-sama."

Danzo leaned forward slightly, his fingers interlacing. "Let Konoha believe they are acting in their own interests. They will hunt him with their own forces, and when he is forced into the open, Hanzo will do the rest. Either way, he will be erased."

Torune's voice was steady. "And if he survives?"

Danzo's single eye narrowed, the weight of his judgment absolute. "If he survives this…" His voice was edged with finality.

"Then he has exceeded even my worst expectations."

The candlelight flickered, shadows dancing over his scarred features. His grip on his cane tightened. "I had already deemed him a threat long ago—that is why Hanzo was set upon him. But if even Hanzo fails…"

A slow exhale, measured and calculating.

"Then he is not just dangerous. He is uncontrollable."

Danzo's gaze hardened. "And those who cannot be controlled… must be destroyed."

"No shadow escapes my reach."

Silence stretched between them. The shadows of Root's chamber seemed to deepen, swallowing the edges of the flickering light.

Danzo closed his eye briefly, then exhaled. The game had shifted, but the board was still his.

Hanzo hunted. Konoha would soon follow. And in the end, whether by storm or blade, the nameless would be buried beneath the war he never saw coming.

With a flick of his wrist, Danzo dismissed them. "Go."

Torune and Fū vanished, shadows slipping into shadows.

And Danzo remained, still as a statue, waiting, watching.

Always watching.