Danzō: This Must Be Kirigakure's Trick! We Must Not Be Fooled!

It was also evening in Konoha.

One after another, the cold streetlights lined the roads, like moons rising in the sky, creating a path leading to boundless darkness.

Beneath the bustling streets teeming with people, dense and heavy shadows lurked.

"Thirty-first experiment, commencing."

Inside a vast, empty underground space, the lighting was as bright as day.

Here, there was also a laboratory with two-way glass, where several figures in white coats and masks were busily working, manipulating distillation flasks, test tubes, and various instruments.

Rows of glass freezers displayed a variety of materials, many reagents of unknown names, and petri dishes containing cell tissues.

Nearby, some glass containers held transparent green solutions, soaking strange plant specimens, as well as specimens of animal trunks, and bloody organs like eyeballs and kidneys.

On the other side of the two-way glass, a man in a black and gray kimono, with his head and right eye wrapped in bandages, stood there with a gloomy aura.

His narrow left eye was filled with deep darkness, staring intently at those busy figures.

No, he was staring at something on the experimental table.

It was a thumb-sized piece of white flesh, originating from the cell tissue of the First Hokage.

But soon, the researchers turned around and gently shook their heads at the man.

"Danzō-sama, the thirty-first experiment has failed."

Hearing this, Danzō's expression grew even darker.

Although he didn't expect these wastes to actually cultivate it, the slow progress was still frustrating.

If Orochimaru and Tsunade could help, the experiment would definitely be much smoother.

Tsunade was out of the question.

To reproduce the First Hokage's Wood Release, it was necessary to use the First Hokage's remains and extract cell tissue for experimentation.

Tsunade's personality would never allow such desecration of a sage's remains, especially her grandfather's, and it would be troublesome if she found out.

So, that only left Orochimaru.

Danzō could smell a kindred spirit in Orochimaru, and he could sense that he was getting closer and closer to the "darkness."

However, it would still take some time, and an opportunity.

"..."

After a moment of silence, Danzō said in a hoarse, low voice, "Continue."

Just as he finished speaking.

"Danzō-sama."

A masked figure suddenly appeared, holding a piece of paper in his hand, kneeling halfway behind Danzō, and said in a calm tone, "This is top-level intelligence from Kirigakure."

Top-level?

Danzō's expression froze, and he turned to take the decrypted intelligence, lowering his head and squinting as he scanned it.

As he read, his brows gradually furrowed.

Kirigakure had movements and was plotting against the Land of Whirlpools?

Why the Land of Whirlpools?

What was Kirigakure's purpose?

In some ways, the Land of Whirlpools was a buffer zone between the Land of Fire and the Water Country, and also a barrier for the Land of Fire.

However, because the Water Country and the Land of Fire faced each other across the sea, and were not contiguous like other major countries, the buffering effect of the Land of Whirlpools was negligible.

Therefore, Kirigakure's attack on the Land of Whirlpools did not pose a significant threat to Konoha.

"Is it for the Uzumaki Clan's bloodline, or for their sealing techniques?"

As soon as this thought emerged, Danzō shook his head and dismissed it.

Kirigakure was not lacking in Kekkei Genkai ninjas, the Uzumaki Clan's bloodline abilities were difficult to awaken, and their abilities were troublesome to deal with. Even Kirigakure would have to pay a great price to deal with them.

The Three-Tails and Six-Tails were not as strong as the Nine-Tails, and ordinary sealing techniques were sufficient. There was no need to force the Uzumaki Clan's sealing techniques.

Moreover, as far as Danzō knew, Kirigakure's Three-Tails and Six-Tails Jinchuriki were still alive, and there was no need to replace the Jinchuriki at all.

That meant the payout was not worth the cost.

"So, they really want to restrain us? Or have they already set a trap?"

Danzō fell into thought and suspicion, his expression growing increasingly gloomy.

Even though he and Sarutobi had arranged for Orochimaru to solve the problem of Kumogakure, Konoha still faced the joint threat of the Wind Country and the Earth Country, and Hanzo of the Salamander in the Land of Rain was not an easygoing fellow either.

And don't forget, Tsunade was still out of commission.

Konoha was now facing even greater pressure from Chiyo's puppet troops.

Also, the so-called lord of Dawn City seemed to be a kid named Tsukimiri Yun Chuan?

Someone under that kid was able to discover a spy with the Kekkei Genkai "Transparency Release," and even had the audacity to package the spy's head as a gift and send it to the Daimyo's mansion.

Thinking of the fear and regret etched on that head, and the daimyo's mix of shock, anger, and undignified cursing...

"No matter how precocious, they're just two kids."

Danzō's narrowed eyes flashed with a cold glint as he calmly ordered, "Give this intelligence to the Third Hokage tomorrow. I'll write a recommendation, outlining the stakes."

He knew his old friend too well, just as Sarutobi knew him.

With Sarutobi's increasingly indecisive and timid nature, he would inevitably be caught between a rock and a hard place upon seeing the stakes he presented, followed by high-level meetings and their various buck-passing.

But Danzō no longer wanted to waste his energy on such matters; he needed to seize the time to become stronger.

Otherwise, anyone could ride roughshod over him.

"This..."

Upon hearing this, the Root ninja couldn't help but be taken aback, hesitating, "Danzō-sama..."

"At this time, forcibly drawing out troops to support the Land of Whirlpools, dispersing our limited strength, and starting a war with the Water Country is not a wise move."

Before the Root ninja could finish speaking, Danzō interrupted coldly, "Let's do this. To be safe, take some Root ninja and head to the border of the Land of Whirlpools, to find out if it's a trap set by Kirigakure and other ninja villages."

"I'll have the Third arrange for some people to guard the border between the Land of Whirlpools and the Land of Fire, so that any anomalies can be addressed in time."

"If we still don't make it in time, then help our allies 'clean up the corpses.' After all, we and the Uzumaki Clan have been friends for generations..."

Here, he paused, then said in a low voice, "Remember! Everything is for Konoha!"

"Yes!" The Root ninja didn't hesitate, lowering his head and saying in a deep voice, "Everything is for Konoha!"

The Root ninja retreated into the darkness, leaving quietly.

Danzō looked down at the intelligence report, his eyes flickering with light.

Although he still didn't believe the authenticity of the intelligence, he now somewhat hoped that Kirigakure was serious.

If Kirigakure really fought with the Land of Whirlpools, whether they won or lost, the heavily damaged Kirigakure would no longer be able to interfere in the upcoming war.

In that case, Konoha would only have to face Sunagakure and Iwagakure...

Moreover, his Wood Release experiment also needed the assistance of sealing techniques.

"I'm sorry, Mito-sama," Danzō said in a low voice, "Everything is for Konoha!"

As he said this, the head with the look of regret came to his mind.

What kind of person, or what happened, could make a seasoned spy with a family and children regret his actions?

Inside the Mizukage's office in Kirigakure.

"Hahaha, that's really hilarious."

White Zetsu laughed very happily, sarcastically mocking, "Those spies are all from Root, and the intelligence has been sent to Danzō, but he hasn't taken any action at all."

"Madara-sama, your former companion doesn't seem to be very..."

"Shut up."

Madara glanced coldly at White Zetsu, instantly scaring the complacent White Zetsu into a shudder, covering his mouth and nodding obediently.

Ignoring this brainless guy, Madara looked up at the dim moon shrouded in mist outside the window, then looked down at the position of his chest, a complicated look flashing in his eyes.

He remembered his last battle with Hashirama, which was also his last meeting with Hashirama.

'I will protect our... no, protect my village. No matter what happens, I firmly believe that protecting the village is the top priority. Protecting it is equivalent to protecting the people, protecting the ninjas and the children.'

'Whether it's my friend, my brother, or even my child, as long as they are enemies of the village, I will never let them go!'

"Tch! To protect the village, anyone who is an enemy of the village will not be spared? Good, very good!"

Thinking of this, Madara felt a faint pain in his chest, a mocking smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as he whispered, "You're great, you're noble, you have great love, but do you think everyone is like you?"

"Just as I said, your putting the cart before the horse will sooner or later become the darkness of the village. Now do you see it? That is the Konoha you wanted to protect, the disciple taught by that bastard Tobirama Senju."

"For the benefit of Konoha, he can sacrifice everything, sacrifice the Shimura Clan, sacrifice the Senju Clan, and now he wants to sacrifice the Uzumaki Clan."

"From beginning to end, he has been implementing your distorted philosophy, hasn't he?"

"But is this really what you wanted?"

White Zetsu listened to Madara's muttering behind him, scratching his head awkwardly.

Madara-sama is quite domineering when he's normal, but as soon as he mentions that man named Hashirama, he feels like he's turned into an ordinary old man.

He always likes to reminisce about the past, which seems to be a common ailment of elderly humans.

"Um, Madara-sama, excuse me..." Seeing that he was still muttering and showed no signs of stopping, White Zetsu could only tentatively raise his hand and say cautiously, "Actually, I have one more thing to report."

"It's about the Land of the Sky."