Shimura Danzō's Response

In the shadowy Root Base, curses rang out from time to time.

"Damn Uchiha Itachi! The wretched brat!"

"No, this won't do. Kotoamatsukami's Mangekyo has fallen back into the hands of the Uchiha Clan. Who knows what those evil Uchiha will do with it!"

"And now the evil Uchiha Clan has another Mangekyo wielder... I'd better tell Hiruzen first! This is all because he, as Hokage, failed to act. That's why the Uchiha Clan has grown so powerful!"

This was one of Shimura Danzō's old tricks. As the man working behind the scenes, he sometimes botched things. When that happened, Hiruzen Sarutobi, as Hokage, was supposed to clean up after him.

After all, Shimura Danzō and Root had plenty of dirt on the Hokage. Hiruzen Sarutobi, unlike Shimura Danzō, the Darkness of Konoha, couldn't afford to ignore his reputation.

So no matter what, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't let Shimura Danzō fall.

Otherwise, if Root's dirt ever came to light, Shimura Danzō wouldn't be the one to suffer. A man who'd already fallen into a cesspit wouldn't care if he got any dirtier. Only someone spotless would fear getting splashed with mud.

It was just that this time, the crash had been a bad one. Uchiha Itachi had awakened the Mangekyo and obtained Shisui's Kotoamatsukami. Who knew what he was thinking?

Uchiha Itachi had once been as easy to manipulate as Uchiha Shisui. But this time, Shisui's death had clearly affected him. He'd even awakened the Mangekyo because of it.

—Everyone knew that Uchiha who awakened the Mangekyo went crazy. Who knew whether this guy would change completely and become hell-bent on destroying Konoha?

Given Uchiha Itachi's standing in the Uchiha Clan, and the power of his Mangekyo, he really could destroy Konoha!

"My lord, Orochimaru sent a reply!"

Just as Shimura Danzō was preparing to go find Hiruzen Sarutobi, a Root Ninja suddenly appeared and knelt with his head bowed. He held up a scroll in his palm.

A reply from Orochimaru? Shimura Danzō paused, and a risky idea occurred to him.

Going to Hiruzen Sarutobi for help dealing with the Uchiha would be tantamount to admitting his own incompetence. It would also mean he could forget about getting his hands on Shisui's Mangekyo and Kotoamatsukami.

Not only that, if he really clashed with the Uchiha, Root would certainly be the first to the front lines. Given the Uchiha Clan's current strength, even if Konoha Village managed to wipe them out, Root would probably be left with barely any ninjas.

On the other hand, if he acted as though nothing had happened and the Uchiha Clan launched a rebellion, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the Konoha ninjas would naturally go suppress it. Root wouldn't have to lift a finger.

Shimura Danzō had no idea what Uchiha Itachi was thinking. Judging him by his own standards, Danzō naturally assumed Itachi had lost control and might already be rallying the Uchiha Clan to overthrow Konoha and seize power for himself.

"The only problem is, Uchiha Itachi might lead the Uchiha straight here to attack Root. If that happens, Root could be wiped out before Konoha's ninjas arrive to help!"

"Perhaps... I should take some of Root's elite and go straight to Orochimaru. Even if every Root Ninja left behind is killed, Root's foundation will remain intact."

In the original story, Shimura Danzō's Root seemed to have power over everything. In reality, Root had only seventeen actual members.

The official databook, The Book of Formation, stated that Konoha's Anbu had seventy members: a commander and deputy commander, with four squads of seventeen under them.

Danzō's Root was essentially an Anbu squad, led by its commander, Danzō, and made up of four teams totaling seventeen members. Minus Shimura Danzō, that meant Root had only sixteen officially appointed ninjas.

Of course, under Shimura Danzō, Root had long since exceeded its official numbers. But for those extra recruits, Danzō couldn't approach the talented heirs of Konoha's clans—or even the ninjas of Konoha Village. He could only select and train orphans.

The talent of those Root ninjas trained from orphans went without saying. The sixteen officially appointed Root Ninjas were Danzō's true elites; the rest could only be considered cannon fodder.

Losing that cannon fodder pained Shimura Danzō, but at least he'd preserve the seeds of a comeback.

He opened the intelligence scroll and took a brief look. Shimura Danzō was a little surprised. Orochimaru had actually invited him to meet at his base?

Was this just what he needed? Although Shimura Danzō and Orochimaru had worked together behind the scenes, Orochimaru had never let Danzō get close to his base.

Could it be a trap? The thought circled through Shimura Danzō's mind, but then he shook his head. He knew Orochimaru quite well. Compared to old conflicts, Orochimaru cared more about practical benefits.

And Danzō's Root could bring Orochimaru plenty of those benefits. Whether it was sharing intelligence, providing precious test subjects, funding his experiments, or supplying the most advanced equipment, there was more than enough for Orochimaru and Root to work together happily.

In the original story, Orochimaru had even made Danzō a Cthulhu-style Qilin Arm covered in eyes. Never mind how much Orochimaru had ripped Danzō off for that arm; the sheer number of extra lives it gave the old man, already in his seventies or eighties, had made him quite a bit harder to deal with.

The fact that Orochimaru had made such an arm for him showed, in a way, just how much he valued Shimura Danzō, that gullible investor with money to burn.

Given all the funding, test subjects, and equipment Root had supplied Orochimaru over the years, Shimura Danzō didn't think Orochimaru would be stupid enough to offend his benefactor.

Besides, what Orochimaru coveted most from Root was probably the former Wood Release Experiment Subject Kano. Now that Orochimaru had already captured even that Wood Release experiment subject, he had no reason to make trouble for Danzō.

Once Shimura Danzō made up his mind, he acted quickly. Just a few minutes later, he had gathered Root's core members and led them out of Konoha as fast as possible.

At that moment, two figures were chatting at Orochimaru's Base.

"Will Shimura Danzō come?"

"He will. That's just how he is. Whenever he botches something and it blows up, he hides and lets all of Konoha take the fall for him."

"Knowing him, once his eye was taken, he probably suspected Uchiha Itachi would move against Konoha. Naturally, he'd pull Root's ninjas out as quickly as possible."

"At a time like this, your base is the perfect place, Orochimaru. If the Third Hokage asks, Shimura Danzō can claim he's investigating you, the rogue ninja—even without the Third Hokage's permission."