It was only just past lunchtime, but Shimura Danzō was already seating himself at his desk with a plain, well-worn book, an ink pen, and a cup of hot tea. He sighed, taking a moment to inhale the scent of the tea, before picking up the pen and considering the blank page of his journal. After some silent thought, the old man began writing.
I had believed that the Fourth Hokage merely intended to follow his predecessor's example in allowing Root to act as it needs to, Danzō mused, reading his words as he wrote them down, neat columns of black characters. Keeping journals was a good way of organising his thoughts. It seems, unfortunately, that Namikaze Minato has merely previously chosen to tolerate our activity, and no longer wishes to do so.
Those of my agents which have escaped detection tell me that certain members of the Military Police, with the proper warrants signed by the Hokage, are quietly moving to detain suspected Root operatives, as well as locate and search facilities connected to us.
The Fourth has always been foolishly well-disposed towards the Uchiha Clan, but I had not thought their influence over him was such that he would move against Root so thoroughly; no doubt he intends to disband it and remove what weight I still carry in the system. He will be the death of us all, in so many ways: the jinchūriki question, for one.
That Minato will not allow his son to be guarded as he should be is a lesser concern for now; the younger jinchūriki appears to be quite stable, which cannot be said for the older. He ought to remove himself before something unfortunate should happen, yet such an action seems unlikely, and it would be difficult for me to attempt to remove him.
He resisted the urge to grit his teeth in frustration. Withdrawing to a more favourable locale to reassess the situation from there is also an unwise course of action; the Fourth, however misguided, is capable, and such preparations as will be necessary are certain to draw the attention of his people, especially since one agent was successfully shadowed as he returned to our main base of operations.
Koharu and Homura are backing Minato's decisions, such as they are, so no assistance will be forthcoming from them. Orochimaru returned from his mission this morning, having been away for the past week; a small blessing, as it meant that he could not take advantage of the immediate fallout from the Kyūbi's attack. His assistance would be helpful, but whether he will choose to do so is hard to predict.
Loath as I am to admit it, it seems I will have to wait for Minato's next move, and ready myself to deal with any eventuality.