The Closed Sharingan

Deep within the Root, the space was dark and gloomy.

Shimura Danzō stood alone in the center of the room, his posture straight, yet his expression betrayed a hint of confusion.

He had just drifted off into a nap while standing, a situation that was undoubtedly bizarre for someone who maintained a state of high alert year-round.

Even stranger was that in that brief dream, he seemed to have seen glimpses of a future he had never imagined.

In particular, that youth with the Rinnegan from Amegakure, who was staring at him coldly with deep-seated hatred and fury.

Those purple eyes seemed to pierce through the deepest defenses of Danzō's heart, causing an indescribable fear to rise within him in an instant.

In the dream, Danzō even vaguely felt as if he had been ruthlessly killed once by the owner of those Rinnegan.

Yet, the moment after he fell into this deathly hallucination, he jolted awake, his entire body soaked in cold sweat.

The instant he opened his eyes, Danzō's breathing became somewhat rapid, his chest heaving violently.

Before the fear in his heart had fully subsided, he noticed that among the Sharingan implanted in his right arm, one had closed without warning, its ocular power completely dissipated.

It wasn't just the loss of ocular power and the closing of the Sharingan; even the condition of his skin appeared younger...

Looking at himself in the mirror, observing how his wrinkles were receding, Danzō pondered the cause.

Could it be the Wood Release Cells constantly revitalizing his body?

But why would a Sharingan close?

He knew clearly that these Sharingan he had transplanted into his body would never lose their power for no reason unless he encountered a fatal injury and activated Izanagi.

Yet he had only closed his eyes for a brief moment; it was impossible for him to have encountered any fatal threat.

Could it be that the strange and realistic dream just now was not an illusion, but a reality that had truly occurred?

Had he really been killed once?

A chill ran down Danzō's spine; the more he thought about it, the more inconceivable it felt.

This feeling of extreme unease made Danzō feel an unprecedented sense of irritability and anxiety.

He calmed himself slightly, forcing his thoughts to clear.

Danzō quickly replaced the spare Sharingan, but his heart remained unsettled.

"Lord Danzō!"

At that moment, an Anbu ninja of the Root appeared silently before him, kneeling respectfully on one knee to report the emergency intelligence he had just obtained.

"Speak."

Danzō spat out the word coldly, struggling to mask the anxiety and confusion in his heart, his face returning to its usual cold and gloomy state.

"There are two pieces of intelligence. First, Uchiha Sasuke has gone missing from the Konoha Hospital and his whereabouts are currently unknown; second, Jiraiya has just left the village, heading for Amegakure."

Upon hearing the first piece of intelligence, Danzō's brows furrowed tightly, a flash of malice crossing his eyes.

Uchiha Sasuke had actually gone missing?

Relying on his years of experience in the Shinobi World and his keen intuition, Danzō immediately focused his suspicions on Orochimaru.

Orochimaru had a near-pathological craving for the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan, and Sasuke, a young Uchiha with such extraordinary talent, was an irresistible temptation for him.

"Hmph, that guy, he really couldn't help but make a move, could he?"

He knew deep down that Orochimaru's ambition would never stop at the surface, nor would he be content to wait quietly. Sasuke's disappearance this time was almost certainly the work of Orochimaru.

But the second piece of intelligence...

Jiraiya, that guy, actually went to Amegakure?

Danzō knew well that Jiraiya's trip was surely to investigate the situation of the Akatsuki and that mysterious leader who possessed the Rinnegan.

"Amegakure..."

Danzō whispered to himself, recalling the pair of hate-filled Rinnegan he had seen in his dream, and a surge of intense unease rose in his heart.

Regarding the conflict between Amegakure and the Akatsuki...

He naturally remembered it very clearly...

The killing intent and hatred the Rinnegan held for him in the dream were by no means groundless; they represented some kind of immense threat and warning.

"Jiraiya, you really are a busybody."

Inside the Hokage's office.

At this moment, Tsunade was sitting at the desk opposite Hiruzen Sarutobi, the table covered with various files and documents, the most eye-catching of which was the detailed record regarding Uchiha Yuan.

However, as Tsunade carefully flipped through these materials page by page, her brows gradually furrowed, and a sense of indescribable unease and doubt arose in her heart.

"Strange..."

Tsunade's fingers paused as she flipped through the files: "Old man, why is it that as I look at these files, I feel like something isn't quite right?"

Hearing this, Hiruzen was slightly startled; he did not respond immediately, remaining silent for a moment.

"You are right, Tsunade..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi finally sighed, admitting with a rather complex expression...

"As for Uchiha Yuan, I am actually not entirely unfamiliar with him..."

Tsunade's eyes flashed with surprise at these words, and her expression grew noticeably more serious: "Old man, you actually know him?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded slowly, opened his drawer, and took out a stack of documents, his entire being lost in the recollection of events from many years ago.

A moment later, the Third Hokage made up his mind and spoke: "In fact, back when Uchiha Yuan was still studying at the Ninja Academy, he had written quite a few letters to us."

"Letters?"

Tsunade was slightly stunned at the news...

"But I've combed through his entire file and didn't see any relevant records at all? Just one short essay..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head with a bitter smile: "Actually, he wrote many articles like that... because they were hidden within his school assignments and diaries, conveyed to us in a very cryptic manner."

"Assignments...?"

"Are you saying that this child intentionally used his schoolwork to convey his thoughts to the village leadership?"

"That's right. At first, we didn't take it to heart, simply dismissing them as the ramblings of a young, lonely child who wanted to attract attention."

Mentioning this, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt deeply ashamed...

"We were far too negligent back then..."

"If we had paid even a little more attention, perhaps the current situation wouldn't be so thorny."

Speaking of this, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a tinge of regret...

Those letters...

Just like that short essay from before, Uchiha Yuan at that time still held a great deal of trust in the Konoha leadership.

Therefore, he had tried to use this method to change the fate of the Uchiha Clan that he had foreseen.

Yes...

A long time ago, Uchiha Yuan had already predicted the end of the Uchiha Clan and actively proposed many suggestions...

It was just that these things were ignored back then...

And even, we ourselves... were truly very unfair... to him.