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  Hiruzen looked at the Genin in front of him and csped his fingers. "Speak your mind Daichi."

  The Genin looked at the Hokage's calm expression and he had a feeling the old man had an inkling as to what he was going to talk about. 'I o make sure this doesn't sound like a demand. I have to take the diplomatic approad see where that leads me.'

  "Naruto deserves to know the truth about his parents."

  'So he knows. I suppose that shouldn't e as a surprise to me.' Hiruzen calmly gazed at the boy and was quiet for several seds. Seeing that Daichi had a simir stoic face, the old man asked him a question. "I won't insult your intelligence by pretending not to know what you're talking about. I'm curious though. How did you find out?"

  "I did some… extensive research during the st few years. And I did study about the human body aics with Lady Tsunade. Ied traits such as eye color, hair color, shape of the cheek bones, earlobes. They're easy to identify. I found a few pictures of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki and he simirities between them and Naruto." Daichi decided to be straightforward and answered the kage.

  "You realize that their e to Naruto is a highly protected secret right?" Hiruzen's tone had a slight edge to it but Daichi stood firm and wasn't intimidated.

  "Yes. It's why I haven't shared this with a you since I found out." Daichi replied in a cool, calm tone.

  Hiruze out a deep breath of air and leaned ba his chair. After a few moments of silence he spoke. "You're right. He deserves to know the truth. But do you think this is the correct time? Do you think he's ready right now?"

  'He's testing me.' Daichi kept a calm fad after a couple seds of silence he replied. "Right now, tonight is not the time. He already has a lot to process. But excuses always be found to dey this versation with him. The sooner he knows the better."

  "Why do you think that?"

  Daichi looked at the old man and slightly narrowed his eyes. 'This guy. Asking me a question he already knows the ao.'

  Daichi kept his thoughts to himself and indulged the Hokage. "The secret about the ails was kept hidden from him. I'm assuming you were waiting to tell him about it after he reached a certain age or rank. But that didn't happen. He found out about it in one of the worst ossible. It was only luck that everything worked out in the end... If an enemy finds out about his lineage and uses it against him in the field like today, there is a ce he might not be so lucky that time. He needs information to make informed decisions about his life..."

  Hiruzen looked at the boy silently pting his move. "I'm aware of the situation and I uand your s Daichi. But right now, the truth about Naruto's parents must remain a secret. I will tell him when he bees stronger and more mature. This is for his own prote."

  "He is strong. He is strohan you think." Daichi said with a small tone. "Enduring the hatred of aire unity since childhood without even knowing the reason and the fact that he still genuinely smile and be good to others… It might not seem like much from an outside perspective but that takes an unbelievable amount of willpower and strength."

  Hiruzen internally sighed and his csped palms slightly tightehe secret about the ails getting out was one of his many failures i decade. As Hiruzen sat quietly, Daichi's words somewhat shocked him.

  "But I guess such is life for those like him. All Jinchuriki are hated by their vilges after all…" Daichi said, looking straight at the Hokage.

  The old kage didn't expect the boy to know so mubsp;'Jinchuriki arely a secret but ordinary people and most Genins and even some ins shouldn't know about it.'

  "How much do you know about Jinchuriki?" Hiruzen asked the boy

  "From what I found, I was able to paint a rough picture. They are used as ons of war. Have incredible power and ge the tides of battle. But despite all this they are feared and hated by their vilges. Some see them as walking time bombs."

  Daichi revealed a broad outline of his knowledge and nothing more. 'If I tell him specifics like their identity or that the Hidden cloud vilge treats Bee better he'll get a lot more suspicious and cautious. This vague answer is better.'

  Hiruzen narrowed his eyes as he looked at the boy. "I see you've been poking around where you shouldn't."

  "I did a lot more than just train mediinjutsu during my time at the capital. I wao know more about the world. About the life I was stepping into and the enemies I might e across. Information is a valuable tool after all…"

  "Did Kensei help you with this?"

  Daichi shook his head. "No. I found out about all this on my own."

  Hiruzen was keeping a close wat Daichi's chakra and realized that he was telling the truth. He inwardly groaned as he gazed at the boy. 'Kids today. They think they know everything.'

  "We're getting off topic. About his parents… Are you going to tell him?" Hiruzen asked the Genin.

  "I will after he passes the Graduatio with his team." Daichi replied, looking straight at the kage.

  "And if I told you not to…?"

  "Are you making it an order?"

  Hiruzen was silent for a few moments and then spoke. "Yes. Let Naruto focus on himself first. He already has enough on his pte. Don't tell him anything."

  Daichi looked at the stern face of the kage and sighed. He nodded his head and spoke. "I will obey your orders."

  "Good… Now about Mizuki. What have you learned from yht with him?" The Hokage asked ging the topic.

  "He's definitely in tact or had tact with Orochimaru. I'm pretty sure he's the one who gave him the formu to create the drug that induced such a transformation."

  "It could also be someone else… That's a possibility isn't it…?"

  "It is possible but Mizuki himself fessed that his power was Orochimaru's doing. If I had to make a guess I'd say Mizuki wahe Forbidden scroll as an so he could join Orochimaru's prote after leaving the vilge."

  "I see… What about his ditiht now? Will he survive?"

  At that question Daichi was silent for a few moments before answering. "His cells have suffered serious damage and his lifespan has severely decreased. He won't live past a few months in his dition. If additional stress is pced on his body then that time frame dwindles even more."

  "I uand." Hiruzen nodded. He would o tell Ibiki and Anko to adjust their interrogation tactibsp;'It seems Inoichi will be better suited for his interrogation.'

  "Is that all Daichi?" Hiruzen asked, seeing the thoughtful expression on the boy's face.

  "No sir. There is one more matter I would like to speak with you about. It's more of a request."

  The kage was silent and nodded his head.

  "Kakashi sensei. I think it would be best if you assigned him to Sasuke's team."

  Hiruzen sighed hearing that. "I take it this is because he awakened his Sharingan during the fight."

  Daiodded. "Yes. There is no one else that teach Sasuke to utilize the Sharingan. I've already learned plenty from Kakashi sensei. But now I think he would be better suited to lead Sasuke."

  Hiruzen looked at the Genin's fad uood that Daichi gave this matter a serious forethought. "Are you sure about this?"

  "Yes." Daiodded with a resolute gaze. 'After everything that happened in the forest, I know for sure this old man will pce Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura together. But right now there is no Jonin I trust with them other than Kakashi. He's the key that made Team 7 special. And after a whole year of sparring with me, he's a lot strohan his terpart. So even if something ued happens I t on him to protect them. If today has taught me anything it's that I should be prepared for the worst case sario.'

  Hiruzen was silent and then nodded his head. He had been thinking along those lines ever sihe i ended. "I'll speak with Kakashi and make a decision in a few days."

  "I uand."

  "If that's all, you're dismissed. I have much to attend to."

  Daiodded ahe room. Outside he saw Sasuke waiting for him.

  "Did everyone else leave?" Daichi asked his friend.

  The Uchiha nodded. "Iruka seook everyone home. I said I'd wait for you here."

  Daiodded. "e o's finish that report so I get some sleep."

  Sasuke smirked and the two left the tower.

  —-

  Leaf Correal Facility.

  'I thought someourraitor and helped them escape but this… Still, I 't rule out that possibility.' The member of the Hokage's guard ptoon looked grim as he surveyed the se.

  Special Jonin Raido and several of his colleagues examihe bodies of Kirai and the two uards in the ground. 'Why did the prison have such a small number of guards? Shouldn't there have been more?'

  A medija examining the bodies spoke up. "Kirai died with his throat sshed and from examining the wound I'm sure a sharp ninja wire with Wind chakra running through them was used. The other toison in their system but they came from another dire."

  Raido nodded and stood from his spot. As he looked arouiced several more bodies around the prison. But these were prisoners based on their outfits. "Get me the logs for the prison."

  A in o Raido's orders and disappeared. As they iigated the area the iurned and handed Raido what he wanted.

  'Kirai was the oh the most senior authority in the prison. He must have known or at least suspected something was wrong.'

  Raido examihe dot ahrough everything with a keen eye. 'Kirai was the one who put in the request for minimal guards on this day and he also made the request for the new recruits to be assigoday… That 't be a ce… So that means he knew…'

  Raido turo the Anbu ninjas near him. "Kirai is involved in this prison break. I'm not sure how… I'm going to his home to iigate."

  The Anbu ninja nodded and turo his colleagues. "Let's bring his friends and uards for questioning. We o find out if anyone else is promised."

  Raido and a small team of ihe prison and soon reached Kirai's home. He quickly sed the area and made sure there were no hidden traps and theered the building.

  "Search every inch of this pce." The in under Raido nodded and began going over everything. Raido looked around and as he was about to head into Kirai's bedroom a in called out to him. "I found something."

  'That was fast.'

  "It's not a trap. I've checked." The in said, holding up a small scroll.

  "Where was it?" Raido asked the man.

  "It was in his desk. It wasn't locked. The note on top of it that says 'If anything goes wrong'..."

  Raido took the scroll and ope. He examined what was written and his eyes widened as he kept reading. "That fool." He couldn't help but curse as he finished reading. .

  "What is it, Raido?"

  "That idiot Kirai is one of the reasons we're in this mess. He helped Mizuki." He turo the in and handed him the scroll. "Take this to Lord Hokage and update him ouation."

  The in nodded and vanished with the body flicker jutsu.

  —-

  Interrogatioment.

  In a rge room, the prisoners who fought Iruka and his students were unscious and strapped to a table. Several Yamanaka members were going through the memories of Seijo, Haroshi and Zefrek with Ibiki and Inoichi Yamanaka overseeing the whole process.

  "It's still surprising that those kids were able to subdue these three without getting seriously injured. It seems the new crop of graduates might be better than I thought." Ibiki said as he looked at the three ninjas who were having their minds read.

  Inoichi had a small smile as he recalled the se of hugging his daughter at the Hokage tower. "Yes. You know, I was worried for a while about my daughter's graduation and Genin days but now… Those fears are somewhat gone."

  Then Inoichi's smile slowly left his face. "I still 't believe Mizuki would have the guts to do this. He was a teacher at the academy. We should have caught him sooner."

  "There was already suspi about his involvement in a death during a mission he participated in, a few years ago. We had no crete evide Lord Hokage felt that limiting his movements was the best option at the time." Ibiki replied in his gruff voice.

  "There are rumors among the Jonins that he's ected to Orochimaru."

  Ibiki had a grim expression as he nodded. "You'll o find that out and anything else he knows. Due to his poor dition I 't employ my best tactics so Lord Hokage has asked you for this. We o know if Mizuki's attad everything else that happeonight was just a distra or not. If he's pnning an atta the vilge, things could spiral out of trol quickly."

  "Lord Hokage has already put the vilge on Level 1 emergency alert and increased the patrol units and Anbu teams stationed around the vilge. Mizuki is being prepped for interrogation as we speak. I'll head over and begin once I have a report from the team here."

  At that moment the Yamanaka member going through Zefrek's memories ended his jutsu ao Inoichi and Ibiki.

  "Report." Ibiki ordered and the shinobi told them what he had found out. After sharing what he khe ninja went back to work.

  "So he's been preparing for months…I have something special in mind for Zefrek for all the mess he made." Ibiki said with a chilling grin.

  Just then a in came into the room and bowed. "Captain Ibiki, Master Inoichi. Lord Hokage has ordered all team captains of in rank and above to vene iower as quickly as possible. He also specifically asked for two of you."

  "We uand." Ibiki nodded and g his friend.

  The i and Inoichi sighed. "This hasn't happened in a while. But then again with everything that happeoday, it's not surprising. It seems the Anbu squads will be keeping an eye on things till this meeting is over."

  The two interrogation specialists headed to the Hokage tower and soon saw numerous ninjas gathering.

  —-

  With Kakashi and his group.

  "We mao capture most of them. The remaining few are hiding in the forest. The trag teams will find them soon." The copy inja said as he handed over an unscious prisoo the patrol squad.

  "Man, I was looking forward to a rexing day before the team assigs started but I guess it 't be helped." Asuma said as he secured his knuckle dusters into his pouch.

  The Jonins suddenly heard the sound of a hawk flying above their heads and quickly began making their way back to the vilge.

  "You know, I'm actually looking forward to teag. They have potential." Kurenai gave her thoughts as she jumped through the trees.

  "Well, they are heirs and they've had better training. I guess a certain level of skill is expected… But still… They sure did surprise me." Asuma said with a chuckle. He was looking forward to taking the Ino-Shika-Cho team under his wing.

  The fuardian twelve ninja then turo the silver haired Jonin who was engrossed in his e book. "Hey Kakashi. I overheard the kids talking earlier. They said Sasuke's Sharingan awakened. You think dad's gonna switch you to his team?"

  "Hmm… I'm not sure what Lord Hokage's decision is going to be… Guess I'll find out in a day or two." The silver haired ninja replied with a nont shrug.

  "But do you think that's fair to Daichi? Switg you with someone else right now… Would that affect his performan the field?"

  "Kurenai makes a valid point Kakashi. You've known him for a year now. What do you think?"

  At Asuma and Kurenai's questions Kakashi became silent and thought about his student. He had a small smile as he knew Daichi could ha. "He'll be fine. He's a mature kid and knows that it's the logical thing to do. Even if it's another Jonin leading him, it won't affect his performan the field."

  The Jonin's quickly reached the Hokage tower and made their way to the meeting room. As Kakashi ehe small hall, he saw the Hokage at the front with the two elder cilors behind him. He also he presence of Ibiki, Inoichi and other majures including the Anbu captain.

  'There are a lot of people here but they must be squad captains. To call for this meeting so quickly... It looks like Lord Hokage wants to make sure no one spreads the wrong narrative and no bme falls upon Naruto.'

  Asuma, Kurenai and other Jonins looked around and he presence of several important individuals. 'This meeting will either be short or really long…' Asuma inwardly sighed as he stood and looked at his father.

  Hiruzen looked at the people present and decided to get started. "Thank you all for ing on such short notice. I'll be quick. I've called you all here to update you on the curres that took p the vilge. The in Mizuki was the one responsible for all the chaos tonight."

  All the ninjas paid close attention to the kage's words. Most of them only knew bits and pieces of information so far.

  Hiruzen turowards Inoichi's dire. "Tell us what you've found out from the prisoners."

  The head of the Yamanaka stepped forward and revealed his findings. "From reading Zefrek's mind and going through his memories it looks like Mizuki approached him months ago. He wanted Zefrek's help to take trol of the prison on this day and cause chaos in the vilge while leaving with the Forbidden scroll. Their pn was to go to Orochimaru and hide under his prote. This was all Mizuki's pn. He deceived a prison guard to get access to the prisoner and Zefrek killed that guard. Zefrek also found a couple of people and formed a team. The explosions that occurred around the vilge were the doing of anroup of prisoners. Mizuki supplied them with ninja gear shortly after the Genin exams were over and Zefrek had four prisoners set off the explosives to divert our attention."

  Hiruzen nodded and turo Raido. "Share with us what you have found."

  The Elite bodyguard nodded and began speaking. "Kirai was the prison guard who was promised. I've searched his house. He had a vea against Naruto and agreed to help Mizuki. They began pnning this si October. Kirai was the one who requested minimal guards at the prison today. Mizuki would have Naruto steal the scroll and have him e to the Eastern yohe escaped Zefrek would kill him and Kirai would capture Zefrek. But obviously things didn't go that way. Kirai noted dowails in a scroll as a tingen case anythi wrong and we'd know what happened. As far as he knows there aren't any uards involved. I don't think he knew about Mizuki's e to Orochimaru."

  Hiruzen nodded and Raido stepped back. He then addressed everyone. "Mizuki and his three aplices were defeated by Iruka and the new Genins along with Daichi. The forbidden scroll is secured. He's currently in interrogation."

  Homura, who was standing to Hiruzen's right, looked at the Captain of the patrol squad. "Have all the prisoners beeured?"

  "Almost. We were able to catch most of them. But there are still a few in hiding. But the trag squads are on them. It's only a matter of hours before we have everyone under custody." The squad captain replied.

  "What about the civilians?" Koharu asked.

  "They're safe. Sihe damage the explosions caused are minimal we're also in the process of rebuilding the destroyed structures. It'll be pleted before m."

  Hiruzen nodded and then gazed at the head of the Leaf vilge barrier division. "Has aered or exited the barrier?"

  "Aside from the few prisohat escaped, no one has left. And no one suspicious has entered. We're keeping a close eye on it."

  The man replied and Hiruzen turned his attention to the rest of the ninjas. "Good. I'll be keeping the vilge on high alert. As you may have heard, Mizuki has ties to Orochimaru. We don't know if he's directly involved in this or if he pns to do anything in this chaos. So be on high alert. I'll lift the emergency protocols in the m if nothing happens. Until then be prepared for anything. Dismissed."

  As everyo, Hiruze back to his office. As he opehe door he saw Danzo standihe window. The old kage had a frown as he looked at the man. Danzo was gazing at the vilge through the gss window and he had a stoic gaze.

  "Danzo. This is a surprise. I didn't think you'd be here." Hiruzen spoke with a slight edge as he gazed at the man.

  "Circumstances have ged…" The old warhawk said nothing more as his eyes roamed the vilge. He saw many teams moving about and slowly turo face his old teammate. "If Mizuki had escaped with that scroll, it would have had terrible sequences for the vilge. I'm gd he was stopped in time."

  "Why are you here?" Hiruzen asked calmly.

  "Despite what you may believe, I have the vilge's is at heart."

  The old kage visibly sighed and shook his head. "I don't have time to hear this. I have a lot to deal with." He went to his seat and started going through the dots.

  "I'm aware…" Danzo said with a slightly narrowed eye. "I know you have my men in custody. I would like you to release them."

  The old kage raised an eyebrow as he looked at the one-eyed man standing in front of him. "I have no idea what you're talking about? And since when do you have any ninjas under you? I thought I ordered Root to be disbahat night all those years ago."

  Danzo looked into Hiruzen's eyes and realized that the man was angry beh his calm facade. "Let's not waste anymore of each other's time. You know that Root is still active. You'd have to be pletely inpetent if you didn't. There is a reason I sent those two to sabotage that mission."

  Even without the specifics, Hiruzen knew what he was talking about. "Are you here trying to justify your as? Justify why you refused a direct order from me?"

  "Yes."

  Hiruzen was slightly taken back by the calm yet firm reply. His gazed steeled as he stared at the man. "You have some nerve... Give me one good reason why I shouldn't have you in s and in interrogation alongside that traitor Mizuki right now?"

  "I'll give you twht now you have more important things to focus on than me and the Root. Orochimaru is a dangerous man. You'll o keep your attention on him."

  Hiruzen ched his jaw as he heard the man. Danzo then slowly took out a scroll from his sleeve and pced it atop the desk. "That's the sed reason. Read it when you have the time. You'll uand why I do what I do… I won't take up any more of your time… Lord Hokage."

  Hiruzen's eyes were on the pin scroll that was in front of him even as Danzo left the office. He reached out and slowly ope and began going through. His eyes widened and he gritted his teeth as he looked at the information in the scroll but soon he calmed down and he had a stoic gaze.

  'He always has an excuse... I'll o find out ahe authenticity of this information before I make a decision. But that wait.'