Caught between needing to undertake extreme risks and probes, while also striving to erase all traces and conceal his own involvement, the Takigakure ninja—forced into the role of Konoha's enemy—died just like that. Even though he was a Jinchuriki. Or perhaps, precisely because he was a Jinchuriki... It had to be said, Danzo Shimura was truly a professional when it came to internal strife. Once the Jinchuriki began releasing the Tailed Beast, his fate was sealed.
However, Danzo had originally intended for the man to become a "time bomb." This required gaining control over the Jinchuriki's seal. A complete Tailed Beast transformation and the full release of a Tailed Beast were two entirely different concepts. If not, Danzo would have likely arranged for the Seven-Tails to be completely separated from its host. That way, the Takigakure Jinchuriki would have died in a more secure manner, causing Danzo far less trouble.
Regardless, since the Jinchuriki had trusted Danzo's words and chosen to cooperate, the risks involved in the operation were manageable. Thus, it was an instance of "stirring up trouble" that adhered to safety protocols.
Of course, the Jinchuriki's sudden rampage had exceeded Danzo's expectations. Konoha's master of clandestine operations had arranged at least two attacks. The first was by a specialized Aburame ninja targeting Habara—likely another attempt by Danzo to eliminate the shinobi who remained entirely outside his control. Relying on this uniquely modified Aburame operative, with the element of surprise, the assault had a plausible chance of success. Had Habara been less cautious, he might very well have been taken down.
The second attack was intended to use the Jinchuriki's loss of control to target the Third Hokage. Few factors in the current shinobi world could pose a genuine threat to a ninja of Hiruzen Sarutobi's caliber. A Tailed Beast was one of the most suitable means, and also one that Danzo had the best chance of manipulating.
Unexpectedly, however, because certain red eyes were highly stimulating to Tailed Beasts, the trap Danzo had set for the Hokage was sprung prematurely. The two planned attacks collided, and Habara ended up bearing the brunt of both.
Unfortunately for Danzo, both orchestrated attacks failed. Although Habara had faced a severe threat to his life, he ultimately managed to withdraw safely. Subsequently, the combination of the Third Hokage, his direct ANBU subordinates, and the medical teams successfully eliminated the Jinchuriki... It could only be said that Danzo's assassination methods weren't particularly brilliant.
This lack of finesse, however, stemmed from Danzo's inability to directly utilize Konoha's resources when targeting the Third Hokage. After all, his ultimate goal was the Hokage seat. Even if he succeeded in eliminating Hiruzen, revealing his own involvement in such an incident would make achieving that goal impossible.
Perhaps it's better to say Danzo was a short-term investor; he certainly wouldn't engage in activities where the immediate losses outweighed the gains. This made him appear clever, yet in reality, he wasn't particularly so... True wisdom masking as foolishness is rare, but true foolishness masking as wisdom is rarer still.
The moment the Seven-Tails' massive form vanished, Danzo received the news.
"Lord Danzo, the Third Hokage has resolved the Jinchuriki situation. The Seven-Tails has disappeared..."
Within the subterranean Root headquarters, a ninja knelt before Danzo, delivering the report.
Theoretically, this should have been bad news, but Danzo's face remained impassive. After hearing his subordinate's report, he simply countered, "Resolved?"
"Yes, 'resolved'," the Root ninja confirmed, understanding the implication.
Danzo nodded slowly. "That's a good thing."
The Third Hokage had triumphed over a powerful Tailed Beast attempting to invade Konoha. Wasn't that a good thing? Of course, it was a good thing.
"The initial attack also failed. The target even participated in obstructing the Seven-Tails," the Root ninja reported the other matter, his head bowed.
He braced himself for potential punishment. Danzo's failure was, by extension, the failure of his subordinates, because leaders, in theory, did not fail... While the Jinchuriki's sudden rampage was unexpected, his death at the Hokage's hands wasn't entirely unacceptable; the Hokage was, after all, Konoha's strongest ninja. But if the target was merely a Jonin, and Root proved incapable of eliminating him, then whose fault was that?
After a moment of silence, Danzo spoke. "The Eight Branches Technique... That ninja's connection to Orochimaru is much closer than I imagined... No matter. His trump card has been revealed."
Evidently, Danzo was paying extremely close attention to the Chunin Exams, receiving timely updates from more than one informant.
Hearing Danzo's assessment, the tense Root operative finally relaxed slightly.
"The implicated... what about the remaining Takigakure ninja?" Danzo inquired further.
Danzo's connection with the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki was supposed to be secret from both Konoha and Takigakure. Yet, who could guarantee the Jinchuriki hadn't disclosed information to his comrades? At the very least, the Taki contingent had provided overt cover for the Jinchuriki's clandestine activities within Konoha.
"Because the Jinchuriki attacked Konoha, they will soon commit suicide out of fear and guilt," the ninja replied.
"Soon?" Danzo's gaze sharpened, becoming severe.
"Soon... I mean, right away... Immediately," the Root ninja quickly corrected himself, understanding the unspoken order.
Danzo waved him away, issuing a more explicit command. "Act before ANBU does. Understand?"
"Yes, Lord Danzo."
After the ninja departed, Danzo tilted his head back, his gaze seemingly penetrating the layers of earth and rock above, striving towards a sky he couldn't possibly see. The fact that the Third Hokage hadn't suffered 'severe injuries' filled him with a strange mix of profound regret and distinct relief.
Truthfully, among the Second Hokage's disciples—or rather, his direct subordinates—despite the Third's sometimes underwhelming appearance, Hiruzen Sarutobi was the only one truly capable of shouldering the village's burden. A man like Danzo would never consciously admit such a thing, but... what about his subconscious thoughts?
Ultimately, people know themselves.
How to handle the messy aftermath of the battle, whether the Chunin Exams could continue, how to deal with Takigakure as the origin of the incident—these matters could be set aside for the moment. For now, Habara had indeed arrived at the Konoha Hospital first.
"Right, it's nothing major. I just sustained some minor injuries, don't worry about it... Your actions were correct. Prioritize protecting the organization's core. There's no need to get involved in conflicts outside Konoha; that's the Third Hokage's responsibility... I'm leaving Naruto in your hands for now as well."
Having already received prompt treatment from medical ninja, Habara lay calmly on the hospital bed, holding a simple communication with Daigo.
During the current "trial phase," the roughly one hundred shinobi participating in the experiment essentially functioned as Daigo's information terminals. Her intelligence-gathering efficiency was incredibly high. If even one operative was present at an incident, she would know what transpired. With three or four operatives present, she could basically reconstruct the event's entirety from multiple perspectives. In terms of information integration, Daigo possessed an almost absurd advantage.
Seeing as she held such an advantage, Habara had delegated a task to her... yes, precisely watching over the resident problem child.
Regardless, Habara was now hospitalized. The duty of protecting—or perhaps, supervising—Naruto had to fall to someone else. And among the available 'someone else's, Daigo was the most trustworthy.
Concerning the events that had just unfolded, Habara hadn't yet pieced together the critical elements. He could only be certain that the initial attack was aimed specifically at him. As for the subsequent Tailed Beast rampage—what exactly happened, and whether it was connected to the first assault—he couldn't confirm at this time.
Regarding that first attack, although Habara hadn't made any statements about the assailant's identity, there was one thing he could be sure of:
Since his opponent had already resorted to rather extreme measures, what would they do next? Would they simply give up after one failed plan? Or would they...
Become even more extreme?
Compared to the former, Habara felt the latter was far more probable. He certainly wasn't naive enough to believe in Danzo Shimura's integrity.
Forget believing in Danzo's integrity; the very words "Danzo" and "integrity" placed together felt fundamentally awkward, a contradiction in terms.
As expected, Habara thought wryly. One cannot escape reality.