Chapter 407 – Danzō’s Mind

Chapter 407: Chapter 407 – Danzō’s Mind

KONOHA INTERROGATION ROOM

The environment was cold, silent, and enclosed enough to make every sound feel heavier than it actually was. The dark walls absorbed part of the light while Danzō remained seated in the center of the room, his hands restrained and his gaze filled with growing irritation.

"What do you think you’re doing, Ibiki?" Danzō spoke without hiding the contempt. "I am Danzō Shimura. Leader of the Root. You can’t do this to me."

"Actually, he can." Tsunade answered before Ibiki even opened his mouth.

Danzō immediately turned his head.

"Hime—"

"Hokage." Tsunade cut him off instantly. "That is how you will address me from now on."

Silence fell for a few seconds after that.

Danzō’s expression darkened, clearly containing his reaction while the atmosphere in the room grew even heavier.

Ibiki remained standing near the wall, observing everything without haste. The face marked by scars stayed practically motionless, but his eyes were already analyzing Danzō like someone dismantling a defective mechanism piece by piece.

"May I begin?" Ibiki asked calmly.

"Yes." Tsunade answered without hesitation.

Ibiki took a few slow steps until he stopped directly in front of the table. He did not raise his voice or try to intimidate theatrically. That made his presence even worse.

"Before anything else..." Ibiki pulled out a chair and sat directly across from Danzō. "I’ll give you a simple opportunity."

Danzō did not answer.

"You can cooperate now." Ibiki continued in the same controlled tone. "Tell us everything voluntarily. Root, experiments, Sharingan, outside contacts, political manipulation, any relevant information."

His eyes never left Danzō for a single second.

"And if you do that, we avoid more unpleasant methods."

Danzō let out a low laugh through his nose.

"Do you really believe I’ll open my mind to some random interrogator?"

Ibiki did not react.

"The man who kept Konoha alive from the shadows will not be broken sitting in a chair."

"So you refuse to cooperate?" Ibiki asked.

"Completely."

Ibiki slowly nodded as if the answer had been expected from the beginning.

"I understand."

He stood from the chair without any hurry and started slowly walking around Danzō while continuing to speak, his footsteps echoing softly through the silent interrogation room.

"Do you know the problem with men like you?" His voice remained calm. "You spend so much time controlling the fear of others... that you start believing you no longer feel anything."

Danzō let out a dry laugh through his nose, clearly irritated by Ibiki’s almost casual tone.

"Spare me your speech." He answered without hiding the contempt. "Everyone here knows I’m not going to talk."

Ibiki did not react to the provocation.

In fact, the absence of reaction seemed to be part of the psychological pressure he was slowly building inside the room.

"And all of us know that." Ibiki answered in the same steady tone. "But my job isn’t listening to what you want to hide."

He stopped behind Danzō’s chair.

"My job is to make you talk."

Silence weighed over the room again for a few seconds before he continued.

"And honestly?" His voice became even lower. "I want this to take a very long time."

The sentence crossed the room far heavier than any direct threat.

Danzō understood immediately.

This had never been about speed.

Never about extracting information in a few minutes.

Ibiki wanted exhaustion.

He wanted constant pressure.

He wanted to destroy resistance little by little until the mind itself started failing.

The worst part was realizing something else right afterward.

Tsunade would not stop him.

She remained standing near the wall of the room, silently observing everything without any intention of interrupting the interrogation or easing his situation. Her expression no longer carried doubt or hesitation at that point. As Hokage, Tsunade needed to watch until the end.

At that moment, nobody in that room was on Danzō’s side.

Nobody was coming to save him.

Danzō lightly clenched his teeth while his own reasoning finally started accepting a simple reality. Control of the situation had completely escaped his hands, and for the first time in a very long time there was no Root, political influence, or authority enough to reverse it quickly.

Even so, Tsunade kept part of her attention on Ibiki.

’Even he may not be able to extract everything from Danzō.’

The old man was too paranoid, trained, and dangerous to break easily. Tsunade knew that better than anyone. The problem was that Ibiki knew it too.

And he seemed willing to turn that into a war of attrition.

Ibiki silently observed Danzō while organizing his tools on the side table without any unnecessary haste. His eyes carried neither anger nor satisfaction.

Only experience.

’We’re going to find out what exists inside that rotten mind.’

Danzō slowly raised his face toward him, trying to recover part of his authority even trapped in that situation.

’This pain is insignificant... I’ll still get out of here.’

The thought remained firm while the hatred grew alongside it.

’Ibiki... Tsunade... and those traitors Koharu and Homura.’

The torture continued progressing slowly and methodically, far more psychological than physical at that initial stage. Ibiki was not merely trying to extract information. He was destroying resistance, breaking mental rhythm, dismantling emotional stability, and making Danzō understand that time now worked against him.

Tsunade watched everything without interrupting.

In practice, whether Danzō would speak or not was already starting to lose political importance. With Koharu and Homura officially supporting the arrest, her position within the village had strengthened far too quickly.

She still did not completely understand the sudden change in the two elders.

But honestly?

At that moment, it no longer mattered that much.

Because now she could finally act against Danzō without half of Konoha trying to stop her.

"Tsunade, you bitch..." Danzō raised his face even while restrained to the chair, his voice filled with hatred while blood slowly dripped down the side of his body already marked by the previous session. "You’ll pay for this. I have an army... this entire situation is your fault."

"Do not insult the Hokage, Danzō." Ibiki answered without altering his tone while adjusting one of the instruments on the metal table beside him. "Or your list of crimes will only grow."

Danzō let out a twisted laugh right before another cut tore across his skin, drawing another muffled sound of pain while his body tensed against the chair restraints.

"AAAHHH—!"

Tsunade looked away for a moment.

’Worse than his words... is this blood.’

Even knowing perfectly who Danzō was and everything he had done from the shadows of the village for years, the scene still bothered her. The metallic smell spreading through the room, the accumulated cuts, and the absolute coldness of the interrogation were beginning to wear even her down.

Ibiki remained standing in front of Danzō without any emotional change.

"All you need to do is talk."

Danzō slowly raised his face, breathing heavily while staring directly into Ibiki’s eyes.

"Go fuck yourself."

Silence dominated the room again for a few seconds.

Ibiki silently observed Danzō, analyzing the irregular breathing, the mental resistance still intact, and especially the complete absence of real hesitation despite the accumulated pain up to that point.

Then he let out a small sigh through his nose.

"It seems physical pain won’t solve this."

Tsunade had reached the same conclusion several minutes earlier. It did not matter how many cuts, how much blood, or how much physical exhaustion happened there, Danzō remained far too attached to his own paranoia and pride to break that way.

He would endure it for days if necessary.

Ibiki slowly started putting the instruments away on the side table while reorganizing his thoughts.

"Men like him get used to physical pain far too early." His voice came out calm while he cleaned one of the blades. "Especially someone who spent decades living in the shadows."

Danzō maintained the contemptuous gaze.

"You’ll never enter my mind." He answered firmly despite the condition of his body. "Never."

Ibiki finally looked directly at him again, and for the first time since the interrogation began, a slight smile appeared on the scarred face. That was worse than any direct threat because it carried no anger, haste, or exaggerated aggression.

Only conviction.

"Who said I need to enter your mind?"

Silence immediately weighed over the room. Danzō held Ibiki’s gaze for a few seconds, but something in that response made part of his irritation diminish for the first time since the interrogation began. Because at that moment he understood one simple thing: Ibiki was not merely trying to extract information. He was trying to destroy the man.

Tsunade realized the same thing almost immediately. The true purpose of that room was no longer just uncovering all of Root’s secrets or dismantling every hidden operation Danzō had.

Even if he never revealed everything... even if he kept resisting until the end... it would still have value.

Because there was an enormous difference between a dangerous man and a broken man.

Ibiki slowly pulled another chair and sat in front of Danzō once again, now without blades, without instruments on the table, and without any immediate need for violence. His eyes remained fixed while his voice came out calm, almost casual.

"You still don’t understand the situation." Ibiki rested his arms on the table before continuing. "This doesn’t end tomorrow."

Danzō remained silent.

"Not even after a week."

Ibiki’s eyes did not move away for a single second.

"I have time."

The sentence hit differently. Because it finally became clear that this was not a normal interrogation, fast or limited to a few hours. There was no short deadline, emotional explosion, or urgent need to obtain immediate answers.

This was absolute attrition.

Slow, controlled, and constant.

Without stopping.

Tsunade observed Danzō for a few seconds before letting out a tired sigh. His condition was already visibly worsening, but there was still enough resistance to sustain his arrogance even restrained to that chair.

’Ibiki will destroy him little by little.’

And honestly? Maybe that was necessary.

She no longer had the mental energy to remain in that room any longer. The political chaos of the village still needed to be resolved, Root needed to be dismantled, and probably half of Konoha’s upper ranks were still trying to understand what had really happened over the last few hours.

Her work there was over.

Just like Danzō.

Tsunade slowly turned toward the exit.

"Ibiki."

He immediately raised his eyes.

"Don’t let him die." Her voice came out firm without room for interpretation. "There are still things we need to confirm."

"Understood."

Danzō immediately followed Tsunade with his eyes.

"Hime."

She stopped at the door.

But did not turn around.

"Do you really think you can sustain this village without men like me?"

Silence lasted only a few seconds before the answer came.

"I think Konoha will breathe better without you."

The door opened immediately afterward.

And closed.

Now there were only two men inside that room.

Ibiki remained seated in silence for a few seconds before once again resting his arms on the table and staring directly at the former Root leader. There was no visible haste, irritation, or satisfaction in his expression. He almost looked relaxed.

Which made everything worse.

Danzō realized that immediately because at that moment a simple truth finally settled inside his own mind. The Hokage had left.

But Ibiki was staying.

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