A few months later
"Repeat what you just said." Mito spoke, her voice somewhere between brittle and angry.
The 2 Jonin in front of her cowered - this woman was the Matriarch of both the Uzumaki and Senju clans, the wife of the First Hokage too, and her rage was not something they wanted to see anytime soon - or ever.
Meanwhile, Katsuro looked on, agape, at the expression on Mito's face. He had never seen such a look of fury on his normally calm, kind albeit sassy Granny before.
"We - we are sorry, Lady Mito. Uzishogokagure has fallen. It were attacked by Kumogakure, Iwagakure and Kirigkure, together. We have confirmed it wit-"
"I don't care what you have to say. Where is Sarutobi? Where is Danzo?" she hissed at them with venom.
The Jonin on the left gulped.
"Unfortunately, Lord Third is quite busy at the moment, and-"
"Busy?" Mito bore into their eyes with a quiet yet unforgiving endless stare. It took everything the 2 shinobi had not to draw their weapons before the immense chakra bursting from the elderly woman in front of them. Even in her old age, she was an Uzumaki who had seen the rise of the very village they stood in…
"Sarutobi Hiruzen is busy, while my home lies in ruins? While my people have been massacred? While the village they swore allegiance to is destroyed!" she roared, and without another word, her body flickered away.
"Granny!" Katsuro called after, but it was futile - Mito had already disappeared. Luckily, Katsuro had a decent idea of where she had gone but could sense her regardless, and he too body flickered away, much to the chagrin of the 2 shit-scared Jonin at the Senju complex doorway.
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As Katsuro arrived at the Hokage's office, as expected, he heard the shrill voice of Granny Mito, arguing with another deeper voice.
"Lady Mito, I truly do understand your anger, but-"
"Bullshit, boy! You forget, I've watched you grow since you were a child! You didn't send aid to Uzishogokagure on purpose! You let my people - the people you had a sworn agreement to protect - die!"
Hiruzen clenched his jaw. He did not like how this conversation was going, nor did he like the tone of the woman before him. Has she no respect for the Hokage?
"Please, Lady Mito, try to understand. Danzo had only received the call for help recently, and before we could send reinforcements, it was too late. The destruction of Uzushiogakure is truly a trag-"
"You're saying Uzishogokagure sent a message out too late? Are we not their closest and most powerful ally?" Katsuro interrupted, suddenly stepping into the room, defiantly ready to back his eternal guardian.
Hiruzen's eye twitched. Why is this child here? He's not even a shinobi!
"Yes, that's corre-"
"Third Hokage, if Konoha was to come under attack right now, and you had an ally even stronger than us, what would your first move be?"
How dare you, child?
"Of course I would send out a message for help-"
"So how is it that the Uzumaki clan, masters of Fuinjutsu, failed to send out a message for help?" Hiruzen's face turned red as Katsuro continued, "And more importantly, are you suggesting that our village is so inept they could not see the large-scale mobilization of 3 whole villages against our closest allies?"
"So, which is it, Hokage?" Mito asked, barely keeping her voice from shouting.
Hiruzen quickly recollected himself, and spoke, his tone strained.
"Konoha is also suffering the pressure of numerous enemy villages probing our borders, and we simply do not have the manpower to investigate the movements within the Land of Whirlpools! It is truly unfortunate that we received their distress call so late, perhaps the suffocation of Kumo, Iwa and Kiri was simply too much. Danzo is doing what he can to ensure Uzishogokagure's secrets do not end up in enemy hands."
"So, not only did you fail to help the allies who stood by us from the moment of our founding, but you also rob the grave of my people, with the excuse of keeping it away from enemy hands?"
"So you do have the manpower to spare to fill the gaps within the village's sealing knowledge then, Lord Third?" Katsuro asked with sarcasm, "It seems that the Root should be inspected carefully, and Danzo should be punished - his gross ineptitude has left Konoha now without allies, after all."
How does this brat even know about the Root?
Despite his inward shock, Hiruzen replied with the firmness of a man who had grown accustomed to wearing the hat of the Hokage and all the politics that came with it.
"Danzo did all he could, and everything he does is for the good of this village!" Hiruzen spat back as he flared his chakra and slammed his desk, "And if he did something wrong, it would be up to me, as the Hokage, to punish him! Not you- a boy who refuses to even become a shinobi and fight for the village!"
Katsuro was silent. But the last statement by Hiruzen truly set Mito Uzumaki off. "YOU DISGUSTING LITTLE MONKEY! TOBIRAMA WAS WRONG TO MAKE YOU THE HOKAGE! YOU'RE A DISGRACE! HOW DARE YOU SPEAK ILL OF MY GRANDSON! I SHOULD BURY YOU WHERE YOU STAND!"
Mito's grief and anger had compiled to the point where Katsuro had to physically hold her back from attacking the Hokage. But he was touched, seeing the extent his grandmother would go for him.
"Come on, Granny. We'll accomplish nothing by being here," Katsuro firmly stated.
Mito looked at the young man to protest, but changed her mind upon seeing the look on his face.
But before they could try to leave, the smug, sly voice of Hiruzen held the tension in the air.
"I will also request that you hand over Uzumaki Kushina to the care of the village- for the sake of her security."
This time, it was Katsuro that got angry, and Mito, who had just calmed down, seeing the look on Katsuro's face, smiled, realising the situation would be handled. The last time I saw that look, a spy within the clan compound was literally erased from this world.
This little Monkey thinks he's so clever, trying to take Kushina away from us, so the next Jinchuriki favours the village over the Senju clan, Katsuro thought, before saying coldly, "I think you'll find that won't be happening."
"Boy, you don't know what you're playing with here, Kushina will be the next Jinchuriki! She nee-"
Katsuro swiftly cut the Third Hokage off, "No, Kushina is a member of the Uzumaki clan, the sister clan of us Senjus. It would do her good to be around family, especially when her whole clan has been wiped out."
Exactly why I want to get her right now, thought Hiruzen.
"The Senju clan is in decline, and you cannot protect such a vital asset of the village- she will have many enemies targeting her in the future," Hiruzen explained.
"The Senju clan, no matter how in decline," Katsuro flared his chakra and continued, "will have the power to protect their own. It is best you remember that, Lord Third."
What is this chakra? Hiruzen was visibly shocked at the chakra of the young Senju, which had even managed to suppress his own. He had not seen chakra like this since he was a child, and only from the man they called the God of Shinobi.
The cold glint in Katsuro's eyes, radiating faint killing intent, and his display of power, registered him as a threat that Hiruzen had overlooked. Those eyes weren't the eyes of a mere civilian or doctor - those were the eyes of a Shinobi.
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