Once again, an unfamiliar chakra signature is present in his ANBU. Ever since the Uchiha massacre, Hiruzen had kept a close eye on Danzo and his organization. He thwarted his many attempts of assigning Akari Uchiha on missions with his agents as her partners, and he is quite sure that the warhawk has no idea, too overcome with paranoia regarding everything and everyone around him, thinking the Hokage to be too spineless to sabotage himself. This led to him investigating and spying on every important political figure residing in Fire Country aside from a scant few, including him.
Well, up until now. Danzo has always placed a few ROOT agents masquerading as his ANBU agents to keep watch over him and the council members, but now the number of ROOT agents replacing the ANBU has more than doubled, with the bat mask now taken by one of Danzo's most trusted and skilled subordinates. Kakashi has reported that the unique chakra signature belongs to Torune Aburame, which has access to unique insects for combat.
The Aburame has been sent by Danzo on multiple S-rank assassination missions and has defeated and claimed the bounty of many S-rank and A-rank threats. His presence surely means that Danzo has finally started suspecting Sarutobi Hiruzen of sabotaging his attempts to kill Akari Uchiha due to an unjustified grudge. You would think that convincing Itachi to massacre his entire family would be enough to quell his rage reserved for the Uchiha, but the man is adamant in wiping out one of the founding clans of Konohagakure.
He can't protect Akari Uchiha as blatantly now, with Danzo's men monitoring his every move. Luckily, she is a capable ninja in her own right, earning an A-rank assessment by most major villages with the exception of mist. But with the civil war tearing the country apart, their information gathering network must have been heavily affected so Akari isn't even present in their bingo books. He supposes that it is also pleasant news that Danzo hasn't truly pushed for Akari's downfall. Hiruzen doesn't know the reason for Danzo seemingly taking it easy on her after Akari's injury and recovery, but he certainly will welcome the unlikely change. Perhaps he simply has more pressing matters to take care of.
Sensing the Aburame closing in, he quickly seals off some of the more confidential files regarding his efforts in disbanding ROOT. He has already gotten a list of all highly ranked members of the organization, and is currently scouting the locations of its many outposts scattered among the world. He has numerous bases near Konohagakure, but what shocks him and his agents is the number of ROOT bases in other countries. Amegakure is home to many defunct ROOT training sites, which are now theorized to be abandoned since little to no information leaks out from the secluded village. Even his spymaster, Jiraiya, cannot gather much intel about the mysterious group in charge of that place, only obtaining their name, Akatsuki. There are also countless active bases near major or minor villages alike which need to be dealt with soon, or many civilian children with potential might be forcibly recruited.
A knock on the door interrupts his thoughts, and he absentmindedly replies with a permission to enter. In comes Torune Aburame, handing him some more sensitive information regarding the Fire Daimyo. It seems that Torune takes his fake identity very seriously, as he has completed several important missions as an ANBU agent, often shining in subversion and sabotage, or information gathering missions. With the report submitted by Kakashi and Tenzo, it seems that this ninja has a chance of successful integration back to normal ninja forces once ROOT has been disbanded. He can even be an addition to the ANBU forces under Kakashi, since being a former ROOT agent himself, can help him adapt to his new life.
Danzo had failed to completely brainwash this particular agent, with Torune's attachment to Shino Aburame still clear as day. It gives him some more hope that most ROOT agents aren't completely loyal to Danzo, and that the chances of not killing more brainwashed child soldiers are not as miniscule as he initially thought.
He waits until Torune leaves, and then slams his head onto the table. It really is telling when one is relieved by the option to kill less children rather than not do so at all. His only solace is that he will finally be putting an end to Danzo's reign in the shadows. His days of playing puppet master will soon be over.
He muses over the possibilities of passing the hat to Shikaku Nara after dealing with his former friend. He has made a name for himself in the previous war, forming a deadly trio with his teammates and is feared by many as the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Paired with his genius intellect, he can surely guide Konohagakure to a better future, and as a fairly large clan's clan leader, he already has alliances and connections with important figures in the village, and already has the support of many ninjas as he is the the Jounin forces commander. He is a prime candidate for the hat, God knows that he was already too old for the title of Hokage the moment Minato became the fourth.
But then again, Shikaku will definitely shy away from this troublesome job, as any proper Nara should. Why can't God just drop a motivated Nara into his lap? It would certainly help a lot having a hard-working genius by your side, and not a clan full of people fascinated by the shape of clouds.
He sighs. It seems like he needs to wear the hat for a while longer, and either wait for the wayward Senju princess to come back or for Kakashi to be more stable and responsible. Either events happening are extremely unlikely, and he cannot afford to make Jiraiya Hokage while he has his spymaster duties to attend to. Luckily, teaching Akari seems to be extremely helpful in helping Kakashi recover from his traumas effectively. Perhaps he needs to teach a Genin team of his own, and not just a short apprenticeship…
With that thought, he makes a mental note to sort through the academy students for him to teach. As the only Jounin alive with a Sharingan, he will need to take on Sasuke as a student, but which two others should be put under his wing?
He thinks back to an energetic boy with blonde hair and makes up his mind for the second person part of the team. After all, with Kakashi's guilt of not being able to take care of Naruto because of Danzo's interference, it is finally time to let Naruto have someone to look up to as a teacher, or maybe a leader. With Kakashi's strength, Naruto will be in capable hands.