The moon hung high over Konoha, casting a pale silver glow across the tiled roofs of the village. The Hokage's tower stood tall and quiet, the building slumbering like the rest of the Leaf.
Tsunade stirred in her bed, wrapped in a light robe, half-asleep and grumbling from her paperwork-induced headache earlier that evening. A faint breeze slipped in through the slightly open window, brushing against her cheek.
Then, without sound or warning
Thud.
A soft weight landed on the wooden floor.
She snapped awake, eyes flying open, her hand darting for a kunai from under her pillow.
And froze.
Haji stood at the foot of her bed.
No smoke. No swirling chakra. No footsteps. One second, he wasn't there.
The next, he was.
Tsunade blinked twice, kunai still halfway drawn.
"…You teleported into my bedroom?" she asked flatly.
"I did," Haji replied, unbothered.
"…You're lucky I didn't punch you through the roof."
"I had reason."
"I'm sure you did," she said, rubbing her eyes. "Thunder God Technique?"
"No."
"Then how the hell, never mind." She stood up with a sigh, pulling on her outer robe. "If you're here at this hour, it's either a crisis… or you're sleepwalking."
"It's about Root."
Tsunade stilled.
Her hand dropped from the robe's collar. Her eyes focused. "Root is gone. Disbanded after the Uchiha Massacre. Hiruzen made sure of that. It's in every classified record."
"They never truly disbanded," Haji said quietly.
Tsunade's brow furrowed. "What?"
Haji turned toward the window and gestured. "Co. I'll show you."
She narrowed her eyes. "This better not be a prank." though she knows Haji won't joke about this.
He didn't answer.
With a pulse of his will, he vanished again, gone in an instant.
Tsunade clenched her teeth. "Damn it." She leapt out the window, chakra flaring faintly at her soles, and sprinted across the rooftops.
Seconds later, she landed in a small forest clearing at the edge of Konoha's outer districts. The wind was cool. The trees stood quiet.
Six bodies lay in a perfect circle.
Bound.
Unconscious.
Masked.
Her eyes widened. "Are these…?"
"Root operatives," Haji confird, standing at the center, his arms crossed.
Tsunade knelt beside one, flipping up the edge of the mask. Standard ANBU uniform. But the seal tattoo under the tongue, it wasn't ANBU.
No identification.
Just control.
"Where did you find them?" she asked.
"They were in the Land of Waves. Hunting soone I once knew. Civilians. Trying to use them as leverage to force my hand."
Her expression turned stone.
"I knocked them out," Haji continued, "and extracted so of their mories."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "That's a hell of a claim."
"I don't lie," Haji said.
He walked forward, his voice low.
"They weren't acting alone. They were following orders. From Danzo Shimura."
The na dropped like lead.
Tsunade's hands curled into fists.
"That fossil…" she muttered, her jaw tight. "I saw the sealed reports myself. After the Uchiha Clan was wiped out, Hiruzen claid he disbanded Root. Stripped Danzo of his authority. Locked the recruitnt networks. I believed him."
She stared down at the unconscious operatives, fury mounting.
"He lied to ."
"Or Danzo lied to him," Haji replied. "Or more likely, they both lied to each other. Two old n playing chess with real lives."
Tsunade turned toward him, her amber eyes blazing. "And now you're saying Root is still alive. Still active. Still operating under Konoha's nose."
He nodded once. "And I can sense their other locations."
Tsunade blinked. "What?"
"I read this one's mory," Haji said, nudging one operative with his boot. "They move between multiple hidden bases,so in the sewers, others beneath old buildings, and so disguised as storage rooms in ANBU sectors."
Tsunade didn't speak.
Her shoulders were tense.
Her voice low.
"My Teacher always said he believed in the Will of Fire. That Konoha protected its own."
She laughed bitterly. "anwhile Danzo trains orphans into weapons and sends them to abduct villagers."
She looked up, eyes sharp. "You want to move against him?"
Haji didn't hesitate. "Yes."
There was no anger in his tone.
Just certainty.
Tsunade stared at him. "Why didn't you kill them?"
"Because they're tools," Haji answered. "Disposable weapons raised without choice. Killing them fixes nothing. Using them, though, could add more Anbu, can more contribute to the village."
"And if he finds out they're captured?"
"He'll either retreat… or act."
Tsunade smirked coldly. "Either works."
She stood fully, arms crossed beneath her robes, eyes fixed on the masked n lying at her feet.
"For years, this cancer's been hiding in the veins of Konoha," she muttered. "Well… it's ti for a purge."
Haji stepped beside her.
Together, they stared down at the remnants of a lie.
"Tomorrow," Tsunade said, "we begin cutting the roots."
End of Chapter 72 – "The Weight of Roots"
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