It was evening in Konoha as well.
One cold streetlamp after another lined the roads, like moons rising one after another in the sky, forming a path toward boundless darkness.
Beneath the bustling streets crowded with people lay dense, heavy shadows.
"Thirty-first experiment, begin."
Inside a vast, empty underground space, the lighting was as bright as daylight.
There was also a laboratory with two-way glass. Several figures in white lab coats and masks busied themselves with distillation flasks, test tubes, and instruments before them.
Rows of glass refrigeration cabinets displayed all manner of materials, countless unidentified reagents, and petri dishes containing cell cultures.
Nearby stood several glass containers filled with transparent green liquid, soaking strange plant specimens, as well as samples of animal torsos, eyeballs, kidneys, and other bloody organs.
On the other side of the two-way glass stood a man in a black-gray kimono, his head and right eye wrapped in bandages, emanating a gloomy aura.
His narrow left eye was filled with profound darkness as he stared fixedly at those busy figures before him.
No, rather than them, he was staring at the thing on the experiment table.
It was a thumb-sized piece of white flesh, cell tissue from the "First Hokage."
But soon, the researchers turned around and gently shook their heads at the man.
"Lord Danzo, the thirty-first experiment has failed."
At those words, Shimura Danzō's expression darkened further.
Though he had not expected this bunch of trash to actually succeed, such slow progress still irritated him greatly.
With Orochimaru and Tsunade's help, the experiment would certainly have gone much more smoothly.
Tsunade was impossible.
To recreate the First Hokage's Wood Release, they had to use the First Hokage's corpse and extract cell tissue for experimentation.
Tsunade would never agree to such desecration of her ancestor's remains, especially when it was her grandfather's corpse. If she found out, it would become very troublesome.
That left only Orochimaru.
Danzo could smell the scent of his own kind on Orochimaru. He could sense that Orochimaru was drawing ever closer to "darkness."
However, he still needed time. He still needed an opportunity.
"..."
After a moment of silence, Danzo said in a hoarse, low voice, "Continue."
Just as his words fell—
"Lord Danzo."
A masked figure suddenly appeared, holding a sheet of paper. Kneeling on one knee behind Danzo, he said calmly, "It came from Kirigakure. It is top-level intelligence."
Top-level?
Danzo's expression stiffened. He turned and accepted the decrypted intelligence report, lowering his head and narrowing his eyes as he scanned it.
As he read, his brow gradually furrowed.
Kirigakure was making suspicious movements and plotting against the Land of Whirlpools?
Why the Land of Whirlpools?
What was Kirigakure's objective?
In a sense, the Land of Whirlpools was a buffer zone between the Land of Fire and the Water Country, as well as a shield for the Land of Fire.
However, since the Water Country and the Land of Fire faced each other across the sea rather than sharing a continental border like the other great nations, the Land of Whirlpools' role as a buffer was practically negligible.
Thus, Kirigakure attacking the Land of Whirlpools posed little threat to Konoha.
"Is it for the Uzumaki Clan's bloodline, or for their Sealing Techniques?"
The moment that thought surfaced, Danzo shook his head and dismissed it.
Kirigakure did not lack bloodline Ninja, and the Uzumaki Clan's bloodline abilities were difficult to awaken. Moreover, their abilities were troublesome; even Kirigakure would have to pay an enormous price to deal with them.
The Three-Tails and Six-Tails were not as powerful as the Nine-Tails. Ordinary Sealing Techniques were enough, so there was no need to covet the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Techniques.
Furthermore, as far as Danzo knew, Kirigakure's Three-Tails and Six-Tails Jinchuriki were still alive. There was no need to replace their Jinchuriki at all.
Which meant the cost and reward were completely disproportionate.
"So, they really want to tie us down? Perhaps they have even already laid a trap?"
Danzo sank into thought and suspicion, his expression growing darker and darker.
Even though he and Sarutobi had arranged for Orochimaru to deal with the trouble in Kumogakure, Konoha still faced the combined threat of the Wind Country and Earth Country. Hanzo of the Salamander in the Land of Rain was not a friendly or easy person to deal with either.
And do not forget, Tsunade was still incapacitated.
Konoha was now under even greater pressure from the puppet forces led by Chiyo.
And there was that so-called Lord of Dawn City, a brat named Tsukimiri Yun Chuan?
One of that brat's subordinates had actually discovered a spy with the Kekkei Genkai known as Transparency Release, and had even dared to package the spy's head as a gift and send it to the Daimyo Estate.
Thinking of the fear and regret written across that head's face, along with the Lord's furious, flustered cursing and complete loss of composure...
"No matter how mature they are, they are still only two brats."
A cold gleam flashed through Danzo's narrowed pupils. In an indifferent tone, he ordered, "Deliver this intelligence to the Third Hokage tomorrow. I will write a recommendation explaining the stakes to him."
He understood his old friend too well, just as Sarutobi understood him.
With Sarutobi's increasingly indecisive and timid nature, once he saw the stakes Danzo laid out, he would surely find himself caught in a dilemma. Then he would convene a high-level meeting, followed by endless arguing, wrangling, and shirking of responsibility.
But Danzo no longer wished to spend his energy on such matters. He had to seize every moment to make himself stronger.
Otherwise, anyone would be able to ride roughshod over him.
"This..."
The Root Ninja could not help freezing at those words. Hesitantly, he said, "Lord Danzo..."
"At a time like this, forcibly pulling out troops to support the Land of Whirlpools, scattering and depleting our limited forces, and going to war with the Water Country would not be wise."
Before the Root Ninja could finish, Danzo coldly interrupted, "How about this? To be safe, take several Root Ninja and head for the border of the Land of Whirlpools. Find out whether this is a trap laid by Kirigakure and the other Ninja villages."
"I will have the Third Hokage arrange for some people to guard the border between the Land of Whirlpools and the Land of Fire. That way, no matter what happens, they can rush over to provide support in time."
"If they still fail to make it in time, then help our allies collect their corpses. After all, we and the Uzumaki Clan have been friends for generations..."
At this point, he paused before saying in a low voice, "Remember! Everything is for Konoha!"
"Yes!" The Root Ninja lowered his head without the slightest hesitation and replied solemnly, "Everything is for Konoha!"
The Root Ninja retreated into the darkness and silently departed.
Danzo lowered his head and stared at the intelligence report, the light in his eyes constantly flickering.
Though he still did not believe the intelligence was genuine, he now found himself hoping that Kirigakure truly meant it.
If Kirigakure really fought the Land of Whirlpools, then regardless of whether they won or lost, the severely weakened Kirigakure would no longer be able to intervene in the coming war.
That way, Konoha would only need to face Sunagakure and Iwagakure...
Furthermore, his Wood Release experiments also needed the assistance of Sealing Techniques.
"My apologies, Lady Mito," Danzo said quietly. "Everything is for Konoha!"
Yet as he spoke, the image of that regretful head surfaced in his mind.
What kind of person—or what sort of event—could make a veteran spy with a family and children regret his own actions?
Inside the Mizukage's office in Kirigakure.
"Hahaha, this is simply hilarious."
White Zetsu laughed with great delight and sneered mockingly, "Those scouts were all Root operatives. The intelligence was delivered right into Danzo's hands, yet he has made no move at all."
"Lord Madara, your former companion seems not to be very..."
"Shut up."
Madara shot White Zetsu a frigid glance, frightening the smug White Zetsu so badly that he trembled all over, covered his mouth, and nodded obediently.
Ignoring that brainless fool, Madara looked up at the dim moon shrouded in mist beyond the window, then lowered his gaze to his chest. A complicated look flashed through his eyes.
He recalled his final battle with Hashirama, as well as their final meeting.
'I will protect our... no, protect my village. No matter what happens, I firmly believe that protecting the village is the highest priority. To protect it is to protect the people, the Ninja, and the children.'
'Whether they are my friends, my brothers, or even my children, as long as they stand against the village, I will never spare them!'
"Tch! To protect the village, you would spare no one who stood against it? Good. Very good indeed!"
As he thought of this, Madara felt a faint pain in his chest. A mocking smile tugged at his lips as he murmured, "You are remarkable. You are noble. You possess great love. But do you think everyone is like you?"
"Just as I said, your misplaced priorities would sooner or later become the village's darkness. Can you see it now? That is the Konoha you wanted to protect, the disciple taught by that bastard Tobirama Senju."
"For Konoha's interests, he can sacrifice everything—sacrifice the Shimura Clan, sacrifice the Senju Clan, and now sacrifice the Uzumaki Clan."
"From beginning to end, he has carried out the twisted ideals you left behind, has he not?"
"But is this truly what you wanted?"
White Zetsu listened to Madara's murmuring from behind him and awkwardly scratched his head.
Lord Madara was quite imposing when he was normal, but whenever that man named Hashirama came up, he seemed to turn into an ordinary old man.
He always liked reminiscing about people and events from the past. It seemed to be a common ailment among elderly humans.
"Um, Lord Madara, sorry to interrupt..." Seeing that Madara was still muttering with no sign of stopping, White Zetsu could only cautiously raise his hand and say, "Actually, there is one more matter I need to report."
"It concerns the Land of the Sky."
Before you continue