Danzo's Urgency

Konoha.

Root Base.

Inside Lab One, Danzo, having just returned to Konoha, came here at once.

He carefully took Uchiha Keisuke's pair of Three-Tomoe Sharingan from the bottle and placed them inside a nutrient chamber as tall as a person for preservation.

"Not enough. I need more Sharingan."

After taking another look at the Sharingan inside the transparent glass chamber, Danzo thought to himself before walking out of Lab One.

"Sir, the test subject sent by the Hokage is in Lab Two."

Outside the laboratory, the Root squad captain left behind to guard the place spoke to Danzo as he emerged.

"Mm."

Danzo nodded and gave a soft snort. He showed no other reaction and had no intention of visiting Lab Two, instead heading straight back to his office in the Root Base.

For Danzo, the most urgent matter now was how to continue assassinating Uchiha Clan shinobi so he could seize more Sharingan from them.

As for what the Third Hokage had said about the test subject possessing a secret that made him immune to genjutsu, something that greatly countered the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan—

Danzo instinctively touched his left eye, then smiled.

Heh.

Immune to genjutsu?

With Kagami's Mangekyō Sharingan, why would he fear the genjutsu of mere Sharingan?

Compared to the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan, an ability like genjutsu immunity was not worth mentioning.

The true strength of the Sharingan had never been genjutsu.

It was the terrifying abilities inherent to the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Thinking of that purple figure, taller than a mountain, which he had once glimpsed from afar, Danzo's heart burned with excitement.

As long as he could keep Kagami's Mangekyō Sharingan, he could maintain strength equal to Hiruzen's, or even surpass him.

And overwhelming strength was the most fundamental prerequisite for becoming Hokage.

Strength was his greatest guarantee for overthrowing Hiruzen and taking the Hokage's seat.

Nothing was more important than continuing to possess the Mangekyō Sharingan.

But... feeling the constant stabbing pain from his left eye, Danzo's brows immediately drew together, and anxiety quietly rose in his heart.

Kagami's Sharingan was strongly rejecting his body.

Even though he had sealed it with a Sealing Jutsu Formula, he still could not stop the continued damage caused to the Sharingan by his body's rejection.

Danzo could feel that, at most, this Mangekyō Sharingan in his left eye would be ruined within a year.

If he did not want to lose this Mangekyō Sharingan, he had to solve the issue of the Sharingan rejecting his body.

Otherwise... he could only place his hopes on that Sharingan forbidden technique, which permanently destroyed a Three-Tomoe Sharingan with every use, and see whether it could change the reality of his body's rejection of the Sharingan.

But that forbidden technique also required many Sharingan experiments before he could uncover the secret technique residing within the Sharingan.

In short, no matter which method he chose, he needed many Sharingan for experimentation.

That was why Danzo currently needed to hunt down more Uchiha Clan shinobi and obtain more Sharingan.

After returning to his office, one of the two assistants the Third Hokage had assigned him was soon summoned inside.

"Who's the next target?" Danzo asked directly.

Sarutobi Hibiki wore Root's distinctive mask and held a notebook in his hand. He was a younger clansman of the Third Hokage and one of the people sent to monitor Danzo. Hearing Danzo's question, he opened to a page in the notebook and said, "Two somewhat renowned genius brothers of the Uchiha Clan: Uchiha Luffy and Uchiha Ace."

The brothers had humiliated the Third Hokage badly back then, so for Root's second target, the Third Hokage had specifically chosen them.

"Brothers?" Danzo frowned, then asked, "How is their relationship?"

Sarutobi Hibiki replied, "They lost their parents when they were young and grew up relying on each other. Their relationship should be very close."

Hearing that, Danzo's frown deepened.

"Then we'll have to strike at both of them at once," Danzo murmured.

The closer the Uchiha Clan members were to their companions, the greater the emotional shock when they lost them.

Uchiha Luffy and Uchiha Ace both possessed Three-Tomoe Sharingan and were known as geniuses. If one of them were killed first, the other would surely suffer tremendous mental trauma upon receiving the news, leaving the slightest possibility of awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan.

That possibility... had to be eliminated!

Danzo thought to himself.

Whether the Uchiha Clan possessed a Mangekyō Sharingan or not put their strength on entirely different levels.

Even with Kagami Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan at his disposal, Danzo was not confident he could deal with an Uchiha who possessed a Mangekyō Sharingan.

So these Uchiha brothers had to be killed simultaneously.

That would eliminate the possibility of a Mangekyō Sharingan being awakened.

At the same time, he could obtain two pairs of Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

Smiling inwardly, Danzo asked directly again, "When will the assassination happen?"

The assassination operations against the Uchiha Clan were assigned by the Third Hokage, who still did not trust Danzo.

Moreover, the newly established Root did not yet possess the necessary intelligence-gathering capabilities. Danzo could only act with the Third Hokage's cooperation.

Sarutobi Hibiki replied, "After the brothers complete five missions, we will begin drafting a detailed assassination plan."

"No." Danzo frowned in displeasure. "That's too long. Hurry it up."

Five missions?

By the time they completed five missions, at least half a year would have passed.

Kagami's Sharingan did not have that much time to wait.

Only by obtaining enough Sharingan sooner would it be possible to research a way to weaken or even eliminate the Sharingan rejection issue sooner.

"Lord Danzo."

Sarutobi Hibiki explained, "Our intelligence on Uchiha Luffy and Uchiha Ace is incomplete. The brothers have few recorded engagements, and we have no accurate information on the ninjutsu they excel at. We can only send them on several more missions, then carry out the assassination plan once we understand their abilities. That is the only way to ensure nothing goes wrong."

"Two." Danzo raised two fingers. "I'll give you no more than two missions to gather intelligence."

"I'm sorry, Lord Danzo, but that can't be done." Sarutobi Hibiki shook his head.

"Mm!" Danzo's eyes narrowed at once as he stared fixedly at Sarutobi Hibiki. It had been a long time since anyone had dared refuse him like that, aside from Hiruzen.

"Those are the Hokage's orders." Facing Danzo's hostile gaze, Sarutobi Hibiki felt immense pressure, as though a demon lurking in the darkness were staring at him. A chill ran through his entire body, and he could only hurriedly invoke the Third Hokage's name.

Unexpectedly, it would have been better if he had not mentioned the Hokage. The moment he said they were the Hokage's orders, the pain in Danzo's aching heart intensified.

The words, "I'm the Hokage," seemed to ring beside his ears.

"Hiruzen's orders?"

A mere younger member of the Sarutobi Clan dared use the Hokage's title to pressure him. Danzo was truly enraged. In a fury, he snapped, "Then how does Hiruzen handle things? Hasn't intelligence on Uchiha Clan shinobi been gathered all along?"

"How can you not even have intelligence on two Uchiha brats? You still need the time of five missions? Do you know how long five missions take?"

"Ah... do you know?"

Danzo stood up and unleashed a torrent of abuse right in Sarutobi Hibiki's face.

He did not accept Sarutobi Hibiki's explanation at all. In his view, as the Hokage who had inherited the Second Hokage's will, the Third Hokage should have had firm control over intelligence on every powerful member of the Uchiha Clan.

Rather than waiting until the need arose and using assigned missions to gather it.

That would waste far too much time.

Besides, he knew Hiruzen. He was not the type to scramble at the last minute.

The intelligence on Uchiha Luffy and Uchiha Ace was definitely not as incomplete as this brat Sarutobi Hibiki claimed.

At the very least, it did not require as long as five missions to gather.

Faced with Danzo's anger and distrust, Sarutobi Hibiki had grievances he could not voice. With a bitter smile, he said, "Lord Danzo, powerful Uchiha Clan shinobi with Three-Tomoe Sharingan are not so easy to assassinate."

"Without detailed intelligence, trying to kill a Three-Tomoe Sharingan wielder from the Uchiha Clan in a short time could easily lead to an accident."

"Once an accident happens..."

Sarutobi Hibiki looked at Danzo without finishing his sentence, but his meaning was clear.

If an accident happened, then no matter how carefully they concealed their identities during the operation, the Uchiha Clan would become wary.

And it would not take them long to guess that they had been responsible.

After all, the Uchiha Clan had once dominated the Shinobi World alongside the Senju Clan for centuries during the Warring States Period. No one could underestimate their intelligence.

Therefore, every assassination of an Uchiha Clan shinobi had to be guaranteed to succeed without fail.