The Establishment of Root

"Don't celebrate too soon."

The Third Hokage exhaled a puff of smoke, glanced at his excited old friend, and said flatly, "I'll only grant Root the staffing of two squads—eight people in total. You'll build it yourself. In addition, I'll assign you two deputies to help manage Root."

Danzo frowned at those words and looked at the Third Hokage with displeasure. Those two deputies aren't here to help me manage Root. They're here to keep an eye on me, aren't they?

That's right, they were there to watch him.

He couldn't trust Danzo to do whatever he pleased with such an important and shady department.

The Third Hokage shot Danzo a glare, plainly conveying his thoughts.

Danzo understood his old friend's meaning. Though dissatisfied, he could only accept it. But he would not yield. Sooner or later, Root would belong to him alone.

"Later, I'll gradually ease the restrictions on the Uchiha Clan accepting missions. You need to establish Root as soon as possible," the Third Hokage reminded him pointedly.

Danzo understood instantly and smiled. "Don't worry. I won't forget Root's greatest purpose. Here is my list of eight members. You only need to give me the two people you've arranged to monitor me."

As he spoke, Danzo took Root's list of eight members from his clothes and handed it to the Third Hokage.

To establish Root, Danzo had long prepared everything. He had even prepared all the facilities, including its headquarters.

As for Root's personnel, he had begun assessing and selecting them five years ago. He had even predicted the initial staffing arrangement for Root. All he had been waiting for was this moment.

It could only be said that the two truly were friends who had grown up together. They even knew the color of each other's diapers.

For Root to be established, all that was missing was the Third Hokage's approval. Danzo had long prepared everything else.

The Third Hokage calmly accepted the list from Danzo and began reading it. He was not surprised that his old friend had prepared Root's personnel list so quickly.

After all, Danzo's preparations had been made with his tacit approval.

"Hmm..."

The Third Hokage suddenly frowned. He stared blankly at one of the names on the list, blinking despite himself. Once he confirmed he had not misread it, he looked up and glared angrily at Danzo. "Did you write this wrong? Why is Orochimaru on here?"

Danzo smiled faintly. "He is well suited to Root's darkness."

"Bullshit!" the Third Hokage snapped. "He is my disciple, the future Fourth Hokage—not some Root hidden in the darkness."

Besides, how could his disciple possibly be a member of a dark organization like Root?

If everyone found out Orochimaru had once joined Root, how could he run for Hokage?

"The Fourth Hokage?"

Danzo frowned at that, surprise flashing through his eyes as he looked at the Third Hokage. He had not expected the Third Hokage to hold such great expectations for Orochimaru.

Orochimaru had displayed the reputation of a genius since childhood, and he had already turned that genius into strength. At such a young age, he possessed the formidable power of a jonin.

But placing the expectations for the Fourth Hokage on Orochimaru already was a bit... well, too much.

And besides... why did the Fourth Hokage have to be another disciple of the Third Hokage?

Why couldn't it be Shimura Danzō?

The more Danzo thought about it, the more displeased he became.

He did not understand why, in the Third Hokage's eyes, a civilian genius ninja like Orochimaru—someone with no parents or ninja clan to rely on and who could only rely on the Third Hokage as his teacher—was the most suitable successor for the Fourth Hokage.

Only if Orochimaru inherited the Hokage position could the Third Hokage's power in Konoha be extended to the greatest extent and the interests of the Sarutobi Clan be best protected.

The Third Hokage would never allow anyone to disrupt the extension of his Hokage authority.

Because only he could steadfastly uphold Second Hokage Tobirama's plan to eliminate the Uchiha Clan.

That was what the Third Hokage had always believed. Who else could it be but him?

"Heh!"

Danzo sneered. The less the Third Hokage wanted Orochimaru in Root, the more Danzo wanted him there. Originally, submitting Orochimaru's name had merely been a test of how much the Third Hokage valued Root. Now, he wanted to fight for Orochimaru.

Danzo's eyes shifted as he smiled. "Trust me, Hiruzen. That child Orochimaru is better suited for Root. He isn't the kind of bright ninja who stands in the sunlight and accepts the villagers' cries of 'hero.' He is the dedicated kind who silently protects Konoha from the shadows."

"His talent does not lie in combat, either, but in ninjutsu research. He possesses the same genius for developing new ninjutsu as the Second Hokage."

Danzo had once met Orochimaru, the Third Hokage's most prized disciple.

With just one look, he had seen the same thick darkness within Orochimaru as within himself... ah, no, it should have been a steadfast temperament willing to protect Konoha to the death.

Afterward, the two continued to interact. Orochimaru's thirst for ninjutsu made Danzo certain that he was well suited to researching forbidden techniques.

Root was absolutely suited for a ninja with research talent like Orochimaru.

Danzo also needed such a ninja to join.

"Impossible. Give up on that idea."

The Third Hokage tossed the list away. There was no room for negotiation. He would never agree to let Orochimaru enter Root.

If Danzo insisted, then Root's establishment could only be postponed.

"Fine. I'll change it."

Faced with the determination in the Third Hokage's eyes, Danzo did not persist. He picked up a pen from the table and crossed out Orochimaru's name on the spot, replacing it with another.

He had also thought it through. The most important thing now was establishing Root. As for how to drag Orochimaru into this later, there would be plenty of time.

After all, based on what he knew of Orochimaru—

That child would never be able to refuse the temptation he offered. Drawing him into the darkness was inevitable.

The Third Hokage wanted Orochimaru to become the Fourth Hokage?

Heh!

Danzo would make sure that did not happen.

Danzo sneered inwardly.

The Third Hokage picked up the list again. Seeing that Orochimaru's name had been crossed out and replaced with another, he found no issue with it. He took out an application to establish Root from a drawer, signed his name, and stamped it with the Hokage's seal.

Thus, Root—the troublemaking organization of the Naruto world whose motto was "Wherever there is darkness, there is me"—was established.

Danzo picked up the application approving Root's establishment and let out a long breath. His longing of many years had finally been fulfilled, and a passion he had not felt in a long time ignited within him.

"Then I'll be leaving first, Hiruzen."

With that, Danzo turned and left. He could not wait to establish Root as quickly as possible.

"Wait."

The Third Hokage suddenly called out to Danzo. He frowned, considering whether to let Danzo intervene in Li Yao's matter. In the end, he asked, "The research equipment from the Wood Release Revival Project back then should still be intact, right?"

"It has all been preserved very well."

Danzo answered instinctively as he turned back. Then he suddenly realized what the Third Hokage had asked. His eyes immediately lit up, and he turned around to stare at the Third Hokage with burning intensity.

"Hiruzen, are you going to restart the Wood Release Revival Project?"

"No, I was merely asking."

The Third Hokage immediately shook his head. Without even thinking, he promptly extinguished Danzo's thoughts of restarting the Wood Release research project.

Not long after Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, died following the Battle of the Valley of the End—

With the entire ninja world no longer restrained by the First Hokage's godlike power, a Ninja World War even crueler than the endless chaos at the end of the Warring States Period soon began.

During that war, Second Hokage Tobirama, who possessed the strongest instantaneous movement technique in the ninja world, the Flying Thunder God, died while covering the Third Hokage and the others as they escaped.

Although the Third Hokage and the others rose to prominence afterward, demonstrating to the ninja world that Konoha, even without the First and Second Hokage, still possessed strength that firmly surpassed any of the Five Great Hidden Villages, ultimately bringing the Ninja World War to an end—

When they thought of the grand age when the First Hokage, the God of Shinobi, had been alive and the entire ninja world had submitted to the might of Wood Release—

The Third Hokage and Konoha's higher-ups were deeply unwilling to accept it.

Furthermore, after the Ninja World War, the Uchiha Clan's strength had suddenly surged until it became Konoha's strongest clan, making the Senju Clan deeply wary.

After all, the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan were hereditary enemies entangled for over a thousand years. The hatred between them could not be so easily cast aside.

How could the Senju Clan, without powerful figures like the First and Second Hokage, not be wary of the Uchiha Clan?

The Senju Clan was unwilling to accept this. They wanted to restore the glory they had enjoyed when the First Hokage was alive and keep the Uchiha Clan firmly beneath their feet.

Thus, the Senju Clan joined forces with the Third Hokage and Konoha's higher-ups to secretly launch the Wood Release Revival Project.