Orochimaru's News

"Hiruzen, you will regret this!"

"Danzo, I am the Hokage!"

The more actively Shimura Danzo involved himself in the matters of Orochimaru and Yamato, the heavier Hiruzen Sarutobi's suspicions grew. In the end, the two naturally parted on bad terms.

As he was leaving, Danzo wanted to slam the door shut. He pressed his hand against the wooden door, only to realize the thing was fixed in place—Yamato himself possessed Wood Release, and this wooden house was entirely under his control, able to open and close at will. No one else could manage the door.

With a crack, Danzo directly tore the wooden door off its hinges. This was about saving face even in defeat—he tossed the ripped-down door to the ground and stormed out in a huff, looking very much like a beaten dog.

Hiruzen Sarutobi watched the wooden door, now shattered into splinters on the floor, and sighed helplessly as he took a drag of his pipe. He waved his hand, and several Anbu ninjas quickly gathered up the debris.

As for Shimura Danzo, after stepping out of the room, the more he thought about it, the angrier he grew. Sure, his Root had done plenty of dirty work, but that didn't mean every black pot should be shoved onto his head!

This time, he really hadn't laid a hand on Yamato! He had even deliberately concealed Yamato's information, never once telling Orochimaru about it.

After all, hiding the results of the experiment from the start had been a shoddy move. Telling Orochimaru now would only make the man resent Root even more. Danzo wasn't about to do something that stupid.

But the fixed impression was already set. Every Konoha ninja knew that Shimura Danzo and Root were no good.

When you tossed every nameless black pot in Konoha at Root, over ninety percent hit the mark. Under those circumstances, who could believe a word Danzo said?

Not only did ordinary Konoha ninja refuse to believe him, but the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, clearly didn't either.

Of course, Hiruzen Sarutobi had forbidden Danzo from contacting Orochimaru. But the Darkness of Konoha wasn't the type to obey orders so easily. Or rather, the things Hiruzen Sarutobi forbade Danzo from doing had rarely ever succeeded.

Some of those were staged by Hiruzen for outsiders to see—the two understood each other tacitly. After the deed was done, Danzo would be punished with a slap on the wrist, and the matter would be settled.

Others were genuine strict prohibitions from Hiruzen, but Danzo could still act in the shadows, as long as he was careful enough to hide it from the old man.

"Orochimaru... actually, it's not bad that Yamato has fallen into his hands. At least the Hashirama Cells fusion plan can continue to move forward. In Hiruzen's hands, he'd just be ground down into an ordinary ninja!"

"Hmph, Hiruzen is far too weak. Konoha can only truly flourish under my leadership."

"As long as I can obtain the method for creating Wood Release ninja from Orochimaru, I can use that power to become Hokage and make Konoha Village rule the entire world!"

With that thought, Danzo's heart burned with fervor. He firmly resolved to contact Orochimaru.

And so, not long after, Uchiha Shūichi received intelligence from Orochimaru.

"That Shimura Danzo contacted Orochimaru, wanting to share research data on Wood Release ninja?"

"As expected of Shimura Danzo. I guessed this might happen from the start, but I'm still a bit surprised it succeeded so easily."

To be honest, when Uchiha Shūichi had captured Yamato back then, he deliberately left traces of the giant serpent from Ryūchi Cave, all to steer Konoha's attention toward Orochimaru.

Originally, Yamato was a Wood Release ninja created by Orochimaru. It was only because Orochimaru mistakenly thought the experiment had failed that Danzo managed to pick up the leftovers. If Orochimaru himself learned of this intelligence, he would definitely want to recapture Yamato.

Moreover, as one of Konoha's Three Sannin, a former second-in-command of Root, and one of the most troublesome Kage-level ninja in the world, snatching Yamato from Konoha Village without a sound was hardly beyond his ability.

Motive established. Capability established. Add in the evidence left at the scene—for a ninja, that was enough to close the case.

This way, it also concealed Uchiha Shūichi's own existence. His actions had proven successful; neither the Third Hokage nor Shimura Danzo had ever suspected the inconspicuous Shūichi.

As for whether Danzo would use this opportunity to contact Orochimaru again, Shūichi had guessed at the possibility, but he couldn't be certain.

"Since that Shimura Danzo has contacted you, go ahead and agree to him. At the very least, after cooperating with Root, you won't have to worry about funding or materials for your experiments."

"As for the results? First, give him some flashy-looking but ultimately useless, low-cost-efficiency outcomes to string him along. I doubt Danzo has much time left to be arrogant."

"Don't meet with Danzo in person for now. That man has a Kotoamatsukami Mangekyo in his possession. I can't rule out the possibility that he intends to completely control you."

"Understood, Shūichi-sama."

Uchiha Itachi was currently investigating Root's intelligence. Based on his recent communications with them, he was close to uncovering the truth behind Uchiha Shisui's death.

Once he learned that Shimura Danzo was the one who had moved against Shisui, Itachi—who had not received any final instructions from Shisui—might not show Danzo any mercy.

Even if Itachi considered the bigger picture and refrained from striking at Danzo, given Danzo's personality, once he sensed something was off, he would absolutely make a move against Itachi first. At best, that would drain Danzo's Kotoamatsukami.

Even without awakening his Mangekyo, Itachi's current strength was already brushing against Kage-level.

And while his raw power was only at the very bottom of Kage-level, his combat experience and tactical intelligence were astonishingly high, bearing a strong resemblance to the "Kakashi of the Sharingan" from the original timeline.

As for Shimura Danzo, he no longer had his infinite-revive Sharingan arm or the Hashirama Cells prosthetic. Even if he originally possessed Kage-level strength, the combined effects of aging and disability had reduced him to at most a pseudo-Kage-level.

Worse still, burdened by Shisui's Mangekyo, even with the ultimate technique of Kotoamatsukami, his conventional combat power had actually weakened further. If he truly faced Uchiha Itachi, he had almost no chance of winning except through Kotoamatsukami.

As for the Root ninja, their strength was decent, and they wielded many sinister and bizarre secret techniques. Their first-strike kill potential was formidable—against an ordinary Kage-level ninja, they might actually cause a wipeout.

But the key was that Itachi himself had come from the Anbu. Even if he didn't know the exact effects of those Root ninja's secret techniques, he at least had a general understanding of them. Paired with his top-tier combat intelligence, the chance of him falling for them was negligible.

Without the advantage of a first-strike kill, the strongest Root ninja were only at Jonin level. In a battle between Itachi and Danzo, their impact would be minimal.