Back home, Hinata lay on her bed, unable to sleep.
What occupied her mind now were the materials she had seen in Root.
Could different Bizarre Creatures really fuse together?
Even if they could, would the fused Bizarre Creature pose a threat to her...
After thinking for a while, Hinata still decided not to risk her life researching the fusion of Bizarre Creatures.
The fundamental reason was that Hinata had not found a way to use the power of those bizarre creatures.
Like the method Hidden Leaf Village had developed—sealing Bizarre Creatures inside people and using their power.
That was only possible because they were all brainless idiots. If those Bizarre Creatures had even a little instinct, Hidden Leaf Village would be a very different place by now.
"This is outrageous!"
The Third Hokage slammed the table in anger, making it bang loudly.
Danzo's death was such a major matter that it naturally alerted the two Hokage advisors. They had sought out the Third Hokage immediately, but they had not expected...
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, standing nearby, looked equally grim.
What enraged them so much was a document on the table.
Now that Danzo was dead, Root should rightfully be taken over by the Hokage. Some documents that the Third Hokage had previously been unable to access were now placed on his desk.
One of them was an experimental record concerning the fusion of Bizarre Creatures.
"Did Danzo know what he was doing!?"
How much had the village paid to capture those Bizarre Creatures that were slaughtering people outside?
Even after sealing them away, they had worried about the Bizarre Creatures breaking free and arranged several ninjas skilled in Sealing Jutsu nearby.
Yet Danzo had actually wanted to fuse multiple Bizarre Creatures together. He was courting death!
"Fortunately, Danzo's experiment did not succeed. We should stop this experiment first."
"Koharu is right. These materials must also be sealed away. They cannot be allowed to spread."
The Third Hokage's anger subsided slightly, and he sat back down. "This is the only way."
As the saying went, misfortunes never came alone.
Just then, someone knocked on the office door.
Normally, when the Hokage and the two Hokage advisors were discussing matters, no one would knock on the office door over trivial business.
"Come in."
"Hokage-sama, Lady Utatane, Lord Mitokado."
A male ninja entered. Upon seeing Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, he hesitated, unsure whether he should speak.
"How did Danzo's autopsy go?"
Seemingly noticing the man's discomfort, the Third Hokage spoke first.
"My lords, it cannot be explained clearly in a few words. Please come with me."
Soon, the group arrived at a dim room somewhere beneath the Hokage Building.
An operating table stood in the center of the room, surrounded by surgical instruments. The room's only source of light was a bulb hanging above the operating table.
The whole room felt somewhat cramped.
At that moment, aside from the Third Hokage and the others, there was no one else in the room.
"My lords, please look..."
The ninja unwound the bandages around Danzo's head and lifted Danzo's eyelid.
!!!
The pupils of the Third Hokage and the others contracted. It was unmistakably a Sharingan!
That was not all. After removing the bandages from Danzo's head, the ninja removed the bandages from Danzo's right arm as well. Beneath them, the arm was covered in bulges the size of eyeballs, each with a slit on top.
"Could this be..."
With such obvious features, combined with Danzo's right eye, they had already guessed what those bulges were.
As the bulges were opened one by one, scarlet Sharingan appeared before them.
"What did Danzo do!?"
Utatane Koharu murmured quietly.
Mitokado Homura could not speak. Danzo's audacity had left him stunned as well.
The Third Hokage's expression darkened terribly.
"No, the Sharingan places such a huge burden on the body. How could Danzo withstand so many Sharingan?"
The Third Hokage realized something was wrong.
"Hokage-sama, that is also what I am about to explain."
The ninja took a deep breath. "Hokage-sama, this arm—Lord Danzo's arm... is still alive!"
"What?"
"That is impossible!"
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura cried out.
Sarutobi Hiruzen said, "What exactly is going on? Explain it to me!"
"Yes. We discovered that Lord Danzo's arm possessed astonishing vitality. Even though Lord Danzo was already dead, it was still alive."
"Perhaps that was why Lord Danzo could transplant so many Sharingan."
"After discovering how astonishingly vital Lord Danzo's arm was, we took a drop of blood from it."
"To our surprise, the moment that drop of blood came into contact with Chakra, it turned into a sapling and began growing wildly."
The ninja brought over a cultivation tank containing a small sapling.
The Third Hokage and the others exchanged glances, confirming each other's thoughts.
"Thank you for your effort. I have a task for you now."
"Yes! I am willing to serve Hokage-sama!"
The unnamed ninja dropped to one knee.
"I intend to establish a team, with you as its leader. Your task will be to study the secrets of Danzo's body. Do you understand?"
"Yes! I will not disappoint Hokage-sama!"
The Third Hokage nodded. "Rise. I believe you will not disappoint me."
Afterward, the Third Hokage and the others left and returned to the Hokage's office.
After closing the office door, Utatane Koharu could not help saying, "Sarutobi, those must have been First Hokage's Cells. Only First Hokage's Cells could possess such powerful vitality!"
Mitokado Homura said nothing. He shared Koharu's thoughts.
"It seems we did not collect all the materials from Root's bases."
The Third Hokage immediately summoned the Anbu forces and sent them to every Root base to gather all the materials.
Early the next morning, when Hinata arrived at the Hokage's office, she found the three of them bent over the documents in their hands.
The heavy dark circles beneath their eyes made it clear that they had not rested all night.
That was indeed the case. In order to find Root's research materials on First Hokage's Cells as quickly as possible, they had stayed up all night.
They were so focused that even when Hinata entered, they kept their heads lowered over the documents.
Seeing how absorbed they were, Hinata felt too embarrassed to disturb them.
She looked around the office, and her eyes lit up.
She spotted a tin of tea leaves that her teacher had placed in a cabinet. That tin had been given to the Third Hokage by Hinata's father.
Hinata immediately took out the tea leaves and brewed some tea.
"Teacher, please have some tea."
Faced with the cup of tea handed to him, the Third Hokage accepted it without even looking up and took a sip.
At once, a bitter taste filled his mouth.
He glanced at the tea in his cup, and the corner of the Third Hokage's eye twitched.
"You used too many tea leaves!"
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