Misawa Bridge.
Konoha Encampment.
"Minato, what the hell is going on?! What exactly happened in Higashimatsuyama?!"
Inside the command tent, Danzo, who had just arrived at the front lines, was loudly questioning Namikaze Minato. His face, usually shadowed and cold, now looked as black as a storm cloud.
Minato sat silently, his expression weighed down with sorrow. Seeing him like this, Kushina couldn't bear it any longer. She yelled at Danzo, "You old fossil, can't you see Minato is injured?! What are you shouting for?!"
"You—!"
Danzo was so furious that his nostrils flared. In all of Konoha, few dared speak to him like that.
"What, you? If it weren't for Minato, the frontline would've already fallen to the Hidden Mist! Who the hell are you yelling at?!"
"Enough, Kushina..."
Minato's hoarse voice broke through the tension. He was in bad shape. Though his frostbite had been treated, he was utterly exhausted in both body and spirit. His once-clear sky-blue eyes were now bloodshot and dull.
He slowly stood up and bowed deeply toward Danzo.
"I'm truly sorry, Lord Danzo."
"I don't want apologies. I want a battle report. I want intelligence analysis!" Danzo's voice was like ice. "I need to understand what happened in Higashimatsuyama. Who was the enemy? How did it come to this?!"
The entire Konoha contingent stationed in Higashimatsuyama had been wiped out. Not just the people—the entire base had been frozen solid, like a tomb of ice.
Hundreds of Konoha shinobi died there. Among them… was Sarutobi Shin'nosuke, Hiruzen's eldest son.
He was a remarkable young man—resilient, sharp, full of potential. Every time Danzo saw him, he couldn't help but think of a younger Hiruzen. And that boy… he always called him "Uncle Danzo."
Unlike Hiruzen's youngest—dull, lazy, gluttonous, and already addicted to cigarettes at his age...
"It was Yuki Yoru."
Minato spoke in a low voice. "Yuki Yoru froze the entire area. And there was another enemy—someone wielding both Wood Release and a special version of the Sharingan."
"The Hidden Mist released the Three-Tails at Higashimatsuyama. We managed to defeat the Jinchuriki, but Yuki Yoru and that other one..."
Minato quickly outlined everything that had occurred during the battle.
Even though it was only verbal, the names and abilities he listed made everyone present furrow their brows.
The Three-Tails. Wood Release. A unique Sharingan. An entire battlefield frozen over with Ice Release...
Any one of those terms alone would be shocking enough. But all together?
"Wood Release... and a Mangekyō Sharingan?"
Danzo's body stiffened. His lone eye fixed sharply on Minato. "Do you even know what you're saying, boy?!"
As a direct disciple of the Second Hokage, Danzo was one of the few people in the shinobi world who had actually witnessed those powers firsthand. The legendary abilities of the God of Shinobi and the Shura of the Shinobi World—the very forces that helped establish Konoha.
But ever since those two passed, both powers had all but vanished. The Uchiha had not produced a Mangekyō in generations, and no new Wood Release users had emerged from the Senju.
To preserve these powers for Konoha's future, Danzo and his Foundation had conducted countless experiments, pouring in resources and sacrificing lives. Only recently had they seen even a glimmer of success.
And now Minato was telling him that someone out there already wielded not one, but both of those powers?
How could Danzo possibly accept that?
"There should still be traces of the Wood Release at the site—frozen in the ice. As for the Sharingan... I don't know if it's the Mangekyō you speak of, but it's definitely beyond a regular three-tomoe eye," Minato said grimly. "What's more, the enemy also possesses an extremely dangerous space-time jutsu. They can turn intangible—completely avoiding all attacks. It's terrifying."
Not just Wood Release and Mangekyō—but space-time ninjutsu as well...
"A monster like that exists in the Hidden Mist...?"
Danzo's face grew darker.
Yuki Yoru. And now this fusion of Wood Release and Mangekyō Sharingan.
It seemed the isolated, blood-soaked nation of the Hidden Mist harbored secrets no one could have imagined...
"What are we supposed to do now, Lord Danzo?"
Minato's voice was filled with helplessness and despair. Once called Konoha's Yellow Flash, he now looked more like a dying sunset.
"I don't know what to do anymore... First it was Jiraiya-sensei, then Shin'nosuke, and then everyone else..."
"I watched them die, one by one, in the snow. I saw Yuki Yoru slaughter them right in front of me... and I couldn't do a thing. I just watched... I... I..."
SMACK!
Danzo's cane struck Minato squarely, knocking him to the ground.
"Danzo! What the hell are you doing?!" Kushina shouted angrily.
"Silence!"
Danzo's single eye glared at Minato. "Is this all it takes to break you? You're already falling apart?!"
"I thought you were Hokage material. I thought you could carry this village forward. But now I see Jiraiya taught you nothing! If you'd spent even two years in Root, I'd have broken that soft heart of yours long ago!"
"War has always been cruel—you know that. Death, slaughter... but it's all for the sake of a better, peaceful tomorrow!"
"Just like my Root."
"There are countless things in Konoha that must be handled in the shadows. Dirty work. Assassinations. Secrets. It's the Root that shoulders that burden, so that the Tree of Konoha can grow tall and strong!"
"If you can't even endure this small setback—this minor defeat—then go back to Konoha and hide behind the walls!"
"I..."
Minato looked up at Danzo, his fists clenched tightly. After a long breath, he said, "Then please teach me, Lord Danzo. What should I do?"
"Teach you?"
Danzo's voice turned colder. "Didn't the Hidden Mist already give you the answer? Or do you still need me to spell it out?"
"W-What?"
Minato froze—but quickly understood. His face paled. "You mean..."
"Think of your fallen comrades. Think of frozen Higashimatsuyama. Think of your teacher." Danzo turned and walked out of the tent, his voice echoing like a chill wind:
"This is war. A war where either you die... or they do."