Chapter 4: "The Toad Sage and the Hidden Truth"
Location: A quiet hot spring village on the edge of Fire Country
The steam curled into the sky like drifting memories.
Jiraiya was exactly where Galen said he'd be — lounging in a hot spring with a grin, notebook in hand, clearly "researching" his next novel.
Tsunade walked up behind him silently, eyes cold.
Whack!
The notebook flew out of Jiraiya's hands as she slammed her fist down on the rocks beside him, cracking the surface.
Jiraiya nearly fell out of the spring. "Wha—?! Tsunade?!"
"You knew, didn't you?" she said through clenched teeth.
Jiraiya blinked, confused. "Knew what?!"
Galen stepped forward from the trees, cloak billowing behind him.
"She's not talking about your peeping. She's talking about Danzō."
Jiraiya's smile faded instantly.
"What about him?" he asked, voice low.
Galen's voice was calm, but piercing. "He's the reason Tsunade's clan was weakened. The reason the Uchiha were cornered into a massacre. The reason the Leaf's darkness continues to spread — all in the name of control."
He tossed the black scroll onto a nearby bench. "That's from Root. Real intel. Unaltered. The Force doesn't lie."
By the time they returned to Konoha, whispers turned into waves.
Tsunade Senju had returned.
Jiraiya the Toad Sage was at her side.
And with them — the stranger with no chakra, but limitless power.
Tsunade walked straight through the gates like a queen returning from exile. No one dared stop her. Not after the energy she carried — rage, purpose, and truth.
The Hokage's seat was still empty. The elders were preparing their nominations.
But Tsunade wasn't interested in politics.
She was interested in justice.
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed. He picked up the scroll slowly, scanning it.
Each word drove a stake deeper into his heart.
Orders. Secret meetings. Authorized leaks of Senju positions to enemy villages. Psychological operations to manipulate Itachi. Plans to turn the Leaf into a machine — cold, efficient, and utterly heartless.
He dropped the scroll like it burned.
"No… This can't be…"
Tsunade's voice broke.
"He took my clan. He fed them to the war. He turned Itachi into a weapon. He let the Uchiha rot in fear."
She stepped forward, fists clenched. "And we just let it happen."
Jiraiya looked between her and Galen, for once completely at a loss.
"I thought… Hiruzen said Danzō was kept in check."
"Hiruzen was trying to keep the peace," Galen said quietly. "But peace based on silence isn't peace. It's control. And now Konoha's on the edge of crumbling from the inside."
Jiraiya ran a hand through his hair, staring into the dirt. "The Uchiha…"
Galen nodded. "Sasuke will find out eventually. And when he does… you'll wish you stopped it sooner."
Silence.
Then Tsunade spoke.
"I'm going back to the village. I'm taking the hat. And I'm going to bury that bastard Danzō if it's the last thing I do."
Jiraiya looked up at her — eyes filled with respect and guilt. "You're not doing it alone."
Location: Deep beneath the Senju compound — a long-abandoned war council chamber
The room was quiet.
Candles lit only the center table, casting long shadows on the carved stone walls. Around that table sat the most powerful clan heads in Konoha, gathered under one condition:
Secrecy.
Hyuga Hiashi.
Inuzuka Tsume.
Akimichi Chōza.
Aburame Shibi.
Nara Shikaku.
Sarutobi Hiruzen — in his robe, silent, weary.
And standing at the head of the table: Tsunade, with Jiraiya and Galen Anthony at her side.
Hiashi spoke first. "We were told this was about Danzō."
"It is," Tsunade said. "And about the future of the Leaf."
Galen stepped forward, calm and centered, his voice quiet but resonating in the room like thunder about to break.
"I've seen how Danzō operates. The Force reveals truths not even chakra can. He's manipulated this village from the shadows for decades. Sacrificed the Senju. Orchestrated the Uchiha's downfall. Twisted the Root into a weapon of suppression."
Aburame Shibi adjusted his glasses. "Those are serious accusations."
"They're backed by proof," Jiraiya said, throwing a thick black binder onto the table. "Root intel. Directives. Evidence of the manipulation of Itachi, the sabotage of clan missions, even secret experimentation on orphans."
Hiashi's face remained unreadable — but his jaw clenched.
"Why bring this to us?" Shikaku asked, brow furrowed. "Why not the council?"
"Because the council is part of the system he's corrupted," Tsunade said. "You're the only ones who still hold power outside that structure. Your clans are the village."
Chōza frowned. "What do you want from us?"
Galen looked each of them in the eye — steady, unwavering.
"Your support. When we expose him, he'll retaliate. He'll mobilize Root. Try to discredit Tsunade, assassinate dissenters, maybe even cause chaos inside the village."
"He'll call it a coup," Jiraiya added. "And claim it's for 'the good of the Leaf.'"
"But if we stand united," Tsunade said, voice low and strong, "we can end his reign. Permanently. And rebuild the village from truth, not fear."
For a moment, the room was quiet.
Then Tsume Inuzuka growled. "He's had Root tailing my clan for years. He's lucky I haven't torn his throat out myself."
Hiashi nodded. "The Hyuga do not forget what he tried to do to my brother."
One by one, heads began to nod.
Shikaku leaned forward, thoughtful as ever. "Then we'll need a plan. One that doesn't plunge the village into civil war."
"That's why we brought him," Jiraiya said, nodding toward Galen. "He sees things before they happen."
All eyes turned to him.
Galen simply closed his eyes… and the Force responded. Visions rippled behind his closed lids — shadowed hallways, flickers of ambushes, a village in chaos — and the rising calm of resistance.
When he opened them again, they glowed faintly with energy.
"I'll lead the charge," Galen said. "But we do this clean. No children involved. No collateral damage. We expose Danzō — publicly, undeniably. We cut the rot out with a light that can't be denied."