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  Hearing Danzo's question, Hiruzen recalled the reports his agent had given him about the i. "Kabuto Yakushi. Adopted son of Nono Yakushi. Remember her?"

  Danzo's attention sharpened after hearing her name. "What do they have to do with this?"

  "You sent them to kill each other after they became a liability to you and you had Orochimaru waiting to up the survivor. Except all you did was force Kabuto to kill his mother and make him turn against the vilge. He's now w for Orochimaru. He's still alive."

  Danzo's first ched in anger. "My mistake was trusting that snake. I should have sent someone else to finish the job."

  "You shouldn't have forced them to kill each other to begin with." Hiruzen was ahat Danzo learhe wrong lesson from his mistake. "You still don't uand! You don't value the lives of the people who serve this vilge. Your paranoia got the better of you and now we have a powerful enemy because of that. This is exactly why I 't let you bee Hokage. You'll only create more ehan allies."

  Danzo was silent for a while as his mind recalled all the things he had done as the leader of the Root forces. He looked at his rival and a small smile grew on his face which took the Hokage by surprise.

  "It wasn't easy, you know… Being wo." Danzo's words felt heavy to the old Kage. "You are the leaf glowing in the light… while I was the foundation hidden in darkness… I had to go far to protect this vilge. And that meant plunging my hands into the filth to do what o be done."

  Hiruzen's eyes slightly softened. "I'm sorry I couldn't share your burdens... I regret so many things. But I 't let you tih your work."

  Danzo looked at his old rival and gave a small nod. "Let me end it on my terms. Will you give me that, Hiruzen?"

  The Hokage was relieved and saddened as he heard those words. "Yes. But before that there are a few things I o know. And there is someone you o meet. He insisted."

  "Who?" Danzo was sure that whoever it was wouldn't be anyone ordinary.

  "It's a bit of a plicated answer. He'll be joining us soon."

  "Hmph!" Danzo lightly snorted. Danzo's face remained impassive, but a flicker of curiosity crossed his eyes.

  At that moment three Anbu appeared hem. The three masked ninjas were weary but seeing as the fight between the Hokage and the Root leader ehey internally breathed a sigh of relief.

  "Go inform the others that the battle has ehe Root ninjas that surreake them into custody. And make sure we're not interrupted." Hiruzen ordered, looking at his old rival.

  "Yes sir." The three loyal followers of Hiruzen took an Danzo and vanished with the body flicker jutsu. They respectfully left the room, giving space to their Hokage and his old friend turned foe.

  Danzo sighed as he knew his end had e. "I have to give you credit."

  "Hm?"

  "You had your men infiltrate my anization, you studied me, identified my strengths and weaknesses and you waited patiently to exploit it… At the st moment, just when I thought I had the upper hand, you redirected my forces away from the vilge and unched your attack… Tobirama sensei would certainly approve." Danzo spoke with a soft sigh.

  "I do."

  The suddenly familiar voice that came from the shadows startled Danzo. 'It 't be…'

  He swiftly turned around and saw a man dressed in bbu gear with no identifiable marks. He was wearing a dull gray colored mask and had a bck hood c his head.

  Danzo quietly watched with wide eye as the man walked closer to them. Once he was near, he slowly took off the hood c his hair and the mask obstrug his face.

  The air grew heavy as the tall man with a anding presence, white hair and red markings on his face made himself known. Danzo's eyes widened in shod disbelief.

  "Tobirama-sensei…?"

  The Sed Hokage, Tobirama Senju, looked at Danzo with sternness and disappoi. His voice, even after death, carried the authority of a leader and the weight of a teacher addressing a wayward student.

  Hiruzen stood silent but his eyes were tinged with the burden of what was to e.

  "Danzo," Tobirama began, his tone severe, "it has been a long time. And it seems much has transpired since I st saw you."

  Danzled to find his voice. "Tobirama-sensei… I… How is this possible?"

  "I was brought back by the Reanimation Jutsu," Tobirama expined. "A jutsu I created for battle, now used on myself for purposes beyond my inal i."

  "But who-" Danzo suddenly turned his attention to the Hokage standing behind him. "You." He almost whispered in disbelief.

  "Yes. Orochimaru has been dabbling in forbidden reanimation jutsu. And with you making whatever sort of deal with him, I needed an ace up my sleeve." Hiruzen nodded and answered the unasked question.

  Danzo turned his attention back to the former Hokage. "Sensei… Why did you want to see me?"

  Tobirama looked at the man and crossed his arms. "After everything that's transpired, I o speak with you, o time."

  Danzo ched his fists. "Speak with me? About what?"

  "About your as," Tobirama replied sharply. "The ails' attack, the Uchiha massacre, and your atta Tsunade. All of it... You have perverted the ideals I instilled in you, using them as justification for your deeds."

  Danzo's face torted with a mixture ret and defiance. "My as towards Tsunade could be sidered treasonous but regarding what happened with the Uchiha …? It was necessary. I did that for the vilge. To protect it and es survival."

  "Is that really what you believe?" Tobirama asked, his gaze pierg. "Have you truly vinced yourself of this lie just so you could justify your as?"

  Danzo's expression hardened. "The Uchiha were a threat! They o be trolled."

  "trolled?" Tobirama's voice grew cold. "Or eradicated? You pushed them into a er, left them with no options. With how the vilge marginalized them, a coup was iable."

  Hiruzen looked at the exge silently, his heart heavy as he recalled that i.

  "The ails attack-"

  "The Uchiha was i!" Tobirama cut off his former student.

  "What?!" It wasn't just Danzo who was surprised by that answer but Hiruzen as well. The Hokage looked at his former sensei and he slightly tensed. 'What did he find in that tomb?'

  The weight of Tobirama's words hung in the air, and for a moment, Danzo could only stare. Tobirama tinued, his tone clipped and ced with disappoi. "The ails attack. It was ahat should never have happened, a did. And in its aftermath, you both allowed the vilge to spiral into suspi and mistrust. The bme fell on the Uchiha , but now I have reason to believe you were wrong."

  "But- but the ails… It was uhe influence of the Sharingan. There are several witnesses." Danzo spoke as he looked at his teacher but Hiruzen was silent.

  Tobirama sighed and looked at the two. "I'm not saying it's not an Uchiha behind the attack. I'm saying it's not the Uchiha ."

  Danzo's eyes widened while Hiruzen stood still shocked as he uood what those words truly meant. He began to slowly piece together the truth about that night.

  Tobirama, seeing the silence of the two, tinued. "The ails' attack was orchestrated by aernal force, but your paranoia led to the marginalization of the Uchiha . Your fear sowed the seeds of distrust and discord."

  Danzo's eye narrowed, fusion evident on his face. "An Uchiha was responsible but not the ? What do you mean, sensei?"

  Tobirama sighed and replied. "Madara Uchiha. I paid a visit to his tomb. We all assumed he perished at the Valley of the End, but ret findings suggest he might not have died there. His survival ges everything. The ails attack might have been orchestrated by him, not the Uchiha we had under suspi."

  Hiruzen's face tightened with realization. "We wrongly bmed them… and that bme led to the seeds of their rebellion."

  Danzo, despite his injuries and the situation, scoffed. "Even if Madara lived, the Uchiha were allotting. They were pnning a coup."

  Tobirama's eyes locked onto Danzo's. "And how did you ha? Through secrecy, through violence? You pushed them further into the shadows, isoted them, until their rebellion became iable."

  Hiruzen spoke, his voice heavy. "We misha. I see that now… But what could we have done differently, Tobirama-sensei?"

  "The massacre was the only solutio." Danzo said not believing his course of a to be wrong.

  Tobirama nodded slowly. "I ot say if there was a better path, Hiruzen, Danzo. Not at the end. The Uchiha had already decided on their course of a. However, your mistakes pushed them to that brink. Your failure to properly ie them, to trust them, led to this tragedy. Perhaps it was iable, but such a drastic a should have been your st resort, not your first."

  The three fell silent for several moments before the Sed Hokage spoke again. "I'm still not sure how Madara came back to life. I'm certain it's a forbidden jutsu but I'm not sure what?"

  "Izanagi." Danzo spoke in a soft tone and he had the attention of both kages.

  Hiruzen frowned, unfamiliar with the term. "Izanagi?"

  Danzo looked betweewo Hokage, a bitter smile f on his lips. "It's an Uchiha teique. A forbidde allows the user to rewrite reality at the cost of losing their Sharingan. A way to cheat death, to turn a fatal wound into an illusion."

  Tobirama's eyes narrowed. "I see… That expins a lot. Madara must have known I wouldn't destroy his body. He was ting o away his remains. It must have been a deyed jutsu he impnted into one of his eyes, with the trigger to activate a short time after his death."

  "How do you know about this jutsu Danzo?" Hiruzen asked him.

  Danzo was silent for a few moments. "Because I've used it… On more than one occasion."

  Hiruzen's eyes widened in shobsp;'That means he's had multiple Sharingan.'

  Tobirama sighed. He looked at the one eyed man with disappoi. "That teique is another symbol of what's wrong with your methods, Danzo. Instead of fag the sequences of your as, you found a way to escape them."

  Danzo's fists ched. "I did what I had to. I sacrificed everything for the vilge."

  "And in doing so, you lost sight of what truly mattered," Tobirama replied, his tone softening slightly. "The vilge isn't just a pce or an idea; it's the people. Their trust, their willio work together despite their differences. You've eroded that trust, Danzo. And look where it has brought you."

  Danzo slumped, the weight of Tobirama's words pressing down on him. Hiruzen watched with sadness in his heart as he saw his old rade finally began to realize the full extent of his as.

  "There's more," Tobirama tinued, his voiow a mix of sorrow and anger. "Orochimaru's betrayal… Hatake Sakumo's death. These were not isoted is. They were symptoms of a deeper problem, ohat festered under your noses."

  Hiruzen looked down, guilt evident in his eyes. "I failed them both… Orochimaru was my mistake and I could not stop him. And Sakumo… he was driven to his death by the very vilge he gave everything to protect."

  Tobirama nodded grimly. "Orochimaru was always ambitious, your failure was not in guiding him, or to keep him close. You failed in stopping him and that allowed his ambitions to grow stronger and to turn into something monstrous… As for Sakumo… the vilge turs ba him because we valued success over the lives of our rades. That is a failure we must own, Hiruzen."

  Danzo remained silent, the full weight of his as now crushing him. He had believed himself to be the vilge's protector, but in his zeal, he had bee something else—something that had tributed to the very problems he sought to prevent.

  The three were silent before Danzo looked at his teacher. "So what now?"

  "Danzo, as have sequences. More than anyone, you should uand what that means, right?" Tobirama looked at his student with a knowing gaze.

  "I uand sensei." Danzo replied with a steel gaze.

  The sed Hokage turo look at the other. "As for you Hiruzen, after we rescue Tsunade and ensure her safety, yoing to step down from your position. The in exams will be held here right? You will officially step down and appoint your successor at that time."

  That news was shog to Danzo, but Hiruzen looked calm. The old Hokage had anticipated su a. Tobirama tinued. "The vilge needs fresh blood and I've decided… Tsunade or Jiraiya. One of them will make a suitable 5th Hokage…"

  Lord Third looked at his reanimated teacher and nodded. Danzo couldn't believe that Hiruzen wouldn't be Hokage for much longer.

  Hiruzen g his old rival and a small sad smile formed. For some reason the weight on his chest lightened as he thought about handing over the burden of the vilge to someone else but at the same time it grew at the thought of Tsunade in danger from Orochimaru.

  "I'll do everything I to rescue her quickly, sensei." Hiruzen spoke and the e obirama then turo Danzo.

  "Before I leave, I have a few more questions for you, Danzo?"

  The Root ander was silent as he waited.

  "Where is Shisui Uchiha's eye? What business did you duct with Orochimaru when you went to visit him outside the vilge and finally… Who was here before us? Who did you fight?"

  Author's Note:

  I hope I got their personalities right.

  Now, just so there isn't any fusion, I'll expin the sed hokage's attitude towards the uchiha.

  Now that Tobirama knows most of the facts about the massacre and knows that madara was brought back to life, he would work to avoid bcklisting the d f them into a er.. as a strong like the uchiha beiroyed weakens the vilge, from his perspective. but if the uchiha still moved forward with the coup then tobirama would have killed most if not all of them. At least this is what i think he would do. if you have any different thoughts, feel free to ent and share.

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