Chapter 404 – Danzō’s Imprisonment

Chapter 404: Chapter 404 – Danzō’s Imprisonment

HOKAGE TOWER

Minutes earlier, outside the barrier raised by Riser, part of the village’s movement had already begun gathering around the tower. Some civilians watched from afar without understanding what was happening, but they were kept away by the ANBU, who completely blocked access to the area while the tension increased with every passing minute.

Kakashi remained standing before the invisible barrier, keeping his gaze fixed on the tower’s structure while trying to analyze it the same way he had done in the Uchiha district.

’The same feeling... so it was him again.’

His hand touched the invisible surface once more.

Nothing happened.

The barrier remained solid.

Sakura observed beside him, clearly restless while repeatedly glancing toward the tower.

"Kakashi-sensei... Tsunade-sama is still in there."

"I know." He answered without taking his eyes off the barrier. "And that’s exactly the problem."

Behind them, several ANBU continued trying to force their way through using strength, chakra, and even high-speed movement techniques, but none of them could cross even a single centimeter past the invisible surface surrounding the entire area.

Then it happened.

Kakashi’s hand sank in.

The touch no longer met resistance, slowly passing through the barrier as if it had simply stopped blocking him at that exact moment.

His eye narrowed immediately.

’I’m getting through...’

He did not advance immediately.

Instead, he slightly turned his head, observing the other ANBU around him. None of them seemed to have noticed any change in the barrier.

All of them were still blocked.

Kakashi slowly pulled his hand back and looked at Sakura.

Without explaining anything, he made a short gesture for her to try touching it as well.

Sakura frowned.

"I already tried before."

"Do it again."

She did not insist.

Her hand slowly advanced toward the barrier.

And passed through.

Her eyes widened instantly.

"What—"

Before she could finish speaking, Kakashi grabbed her arm and pulled her entire body forward at once, crossing the barrier together with her in one fast, direct movement.

"KA-KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

Sakura completely lost her balance from the unexpected pull, stumbling as she emerged on the other side before quickly stabilizing herself on the ground.

Outside the barrier, the ANBU reacted immediately.

"What?!"

"They got through!"

"How?!"

Two ANBU rushed forward instantly, trying to pass through the invisible opening as well, but slammed directly into the barrier’s surface, incapable of crossing even a single centimeter.

THUD

The impact forced both of them to step back, clearly confused after realizing the passage remained blocked for them.

Inside the barrier, Sakura was still trying to reorganize her thoughts after literally passing through something that had previously been impossible to touch, but Kakashi had already completely shifted his focus. His gaze quickly swept across the destruction surrounding the tower before stopping directly on Tsunade and Danzō.

’So it really worked...’ Tsunade thought while observing Kakashi inside the barrier.

Sakura finally snapped back to reality when she spotted the Hokage among the wreckage.

"Tsunade-sama!"

She immediately ran toward her master, unable to hide her relief after realizing she was alive. Kakashi followed shortly behind, but unlike Sakura, he was already analyzing the entire scene, including Danzō, Shizune, and the destroyed state of the surrounding area.

"Sakura." Tsunade kept her tone firm before she could start asking questions. "Go with Shizune and check the people inside the tower."

"But—"

"Are you going to disobey me?" Tsunade immediately cut her off.

"No!" Sakura answered instantly, correcting her posture. "I’m sorry... I was just worried."

Shizune had already started moving toward the destroyed entrance of the tower.

"Come on, Sakura. The elders are still inside."

Sakura quickly nodded before following Shizune into the structure, leaving only Tsunade, Kakashi, and Danzō outside.

Kakashi cast a brief glance toward Danzō, noticing the strange condition of his body, the destroyed bandages, and the unusual tension in the Hokage’s expression.

"What happened here?" He asked directly.

"Danzō is under arrest for treason." Tsunade answered without hesitation. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Kakashi showed no outward shock, only slowly nodding as he absorbed the information. The problem was that Danzō remained far too calm for someone in that situation.

Tsunade noticed it immediately.

She did not like that expression.

"I want to see you keep that calm when Ibiki starts digging through your mind."

Danzō did not avert his gaze.

"I am not an ordinary prisoner." His voice came out cold. "Without the consent of the elders, you cannot do anything against me, Hime."

The response died the next instant.

"Yes she can."

Everyone turned their heads at the same time.

Koharu and Homura appeared at the tower entrance beside Shizune, both seemingly exhausted, but completely conscious.

"This traitor must be imprisoned." Homura continued without hesitation.

"It’s the bare minimum." Koharu completed in the same tone. "Danzō went too far."

The silence that followed became far heavier than any previous shouting.

Danzō stared at the two of them without understanding.

"What... did you say?"

"You heard us." Homura answered dryly. "You betrayed the village and must be treated as such."

"Enough covering this up." Koharu kept her gaze firm. "Konoha has already lost too much."

Danzō remained motionless for a moment, clearly trying to understand why the two of them were acting that way. Tsunade also noticed the abrupt change, but unlike him, it completely favored her position.

So she did not question it.

"Excellent." Tsunade stepped forward, immediately taking control of the situation. "Now that the council agrees, we’re going to verify everything inside your mind."

Danzō tried to respond.

He was ignored.

"We’re tired." Koharu interrupted before he could continue. "We want to leave."

"This mess has already gone too far." Homura added. "We’re returning to our residences."

Tsunade considered contesting it for a second.

"Shizune, accompany the two of—"

"That won’t be necessary." Koharu cut in immediately.

"We can return on our own." Homura spoke in the same tone.

Tsunade observed the two of them for a few more seconds before giving a slight nod. It still felt strange, but at that moment she had a much bigger problem standing directly in front of her.

And that problem was called Danzō Shimura.

"There’s something wrong with them." Danzō spoke immediately, irritation beginning to slip beyond his control. "They don’t act like this, Hime."

"Funny." Tsunade answered coldly. "In my opinion, this is the first time in a very long while they’ve actually been right."

Her gaze hardened even further.

"The only one wrong here is you." She stepped forward. "And you still have a lot to explain about those Sharingan."

Kakashi turned toward her instantly.

"Sharingan?" He repeated, clearly surprised.

"Yes." Tsunade confirmed without hesitation. "He had several Sharingan implanted into his body."

Danzō’s expression immediately darkened.

"That is none of your business." His voice became heavier. "Everything I did... was for Konoha."

"And now you’re going to keep serving Konoha." Tsunade answered without hesitation. "Only this time from inside a prison."

Silence fell for a few seconds while she finally looked around at the destruction caused by the fight. Part of the tower had been destroyed, the ground was marked by deep cracks, and practically the entire surrounding area carried traces of the confrontation.

Tsunade let out a tired sigh.

She still had to deal with reconstruction, the ANBU, the council, Danzō’s imprisonment, and the public explanation for all of this.

"Let’s go." She finally spoke, already out of patience for prolonging the situation. "We still have a lot of work ahead of us."

’Riser destroys everything... and then disappears, leaving the rest for me to solve.’

Danzō remained silent, but his thoughts continued racing behind the controlled expression. Nothing about the situation made sense. Koharu and Homura would never turn against him like that without a greater reason behind it.

’No... this isn’t right.’

His gaze briefly shifted toward the direction the two elders had left moments earlier, trying to reorganize the possibilities inside his own head.

’Unless this is also part of some plan.’

The hypothesis began gaining strength far too quickly.

If the two of them were pretending, then they were probably trying to gain freedom of movement outside this place. They could warn Root, reorganize contacts, hide information, or even prepare a political response before Tsunade consolidated total control of the situation.

The problem was that Danzō did not know one thing.

Koharu and Homura were no longer on his side.

Both of them had already been turned into Riser’s pieces inside the Kamui dimension, and at that moment the only genuine thing in their words was the real exhaustion after everything they had gone through.

While Danzō still tried finding logic in the sudden change, Tsunade had already begun fully taking control of the situation around the Hokage tower.

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