Danzo Had Pulled Off Another Outrageous Scheme

Konoha, Root Organization Headquarters.

It was located three hundred meters underground, carved out with Earth Release ninjutsu.

Just like its name suggested, this was the deepest part of Konoha. Massive pipes connected every part of it, stretching in all directions like roots burrowing deep into the earth.

Darkness and oppression were the Root Organization's unchanging atmosphere.

"Five days have passed. Have you found out anything about that damn brat?" Danzo asked the Root members gathered below, struggling to suppress his anger.

Aburame Ryoma hurried forward, his right hand wrapped in bandages. "Lord Danzo, I've spent the past few days tracking down everything about that brat. Please take a look."

He respectfully presented a scroll, a trace of lingering fear in his eyes.

The assassination mission had failed.

Against Kisame Hoshigaki, he had only supported Shisui Uchiha. Apart from using up his chakra, he hadn't suffered any serious injuries.

The wound he'd sustained had come after his return, when an enraged Danzo struck him with a Vacuum Blade.

With a single blow, his entire right hand had been severed.

If Konoha's medical team hadn't been so capable, he would have become a one-armed ninja.

Danzo's "swapping one child for another" scheme should have come full circle according to plan. But now, an outsider had learned the secret.

And he, Aburame Ryoma, had failed the assassination mission, making him directly responsible for the leak.

Having an outsider learn a core secret was like having a sword of Damocles hanging over Danzo, a man with an abnormal need for control.

Danzo hadn't slept well in days.

Fortunately, they had now finished gathering information about the man who had pretended to be Orochimaru's subordinate and tricked him into taking part in the Hyuga coup.

He took the scroll with a dark expression and scanned it.

"Kazama Kaguya, a surviving orphan of the Kaguya Clan Rebellion in Kirigakure. He encountered Orochimaru while fleeing and traded information for the Ryūchi Cave Summoning Contract and a way to contact me? His goal was to use me to obtain a Byakugan from the Hyuga Main Family?"

"When he came to Konoha, he brought another Kaguya Clan brat with him. That child is now at Nonō's orphanage?"

Danzo looked up, his expression turning even uglier.

No one would be happy to learn they'd become someone else's pawn, least of all a schemer like him.

His eyes filled with murderous intent, and he thumped his cane against the ground.

"Go bring Nonō here."

"Lord Danzo, Nonō is already outside." Aburame Ryoma had anticipated Danzo's move and prepared in advance.

Soon, a woman wearing a white cloak appeared in a flash, radiating a gentle, maternal warmth.

She knelt on one knee and bowed her head. "Lord Danzo, Kimimaro is only seven years old. He's very immature. I've already questioned him, and he knows nothing about Kazama Kaguya's plans in Konoha."

Nonō instinctively wanted to protect Kimimaro.

After spending several days with him, she'd realized he was a child who had never received enough love.

Especially after learning that he'd been locked in a dungeon since childhood, never knowing a father's or mother's love or enjoying a normal childhood, her sympathy for him had only grown.

Danzo, however, had none of those unnecessary sentiments.

He was always inclined to assume the worst of others.

He stared at Nonō coldly. "Nonō, remember where your loyalties lie. You belong to Root today, and you'll belong to Root for the rest of your life."

"I let you become the orphanage's director so you could find talent for Root, not indulge in your ridiculous, overflowing maternal instincts. But look at what you're doing now. How long has it been since you sent Root any new recruits?"

The deep creases on Danzo's face looked dark and sinister as he continued, full of discontent:

"Starting next month, the orphanage's funding will be cut by another fifty percent. Konoha doesn't need orphans with no talent for being shinobi. That money will go to other things that benefit Konoha more."

"Lord Danzo..."

Nonō was alarmed. She wanted to plead with him, but his cold gaze stopped her.

With another fifty percent cut, the children at the orphanage would go hungry next month.

She knew Danzo's character. Nothing she said would matter now. The only way to change his mind would be to offer up two exceptionally talented children to join Root.

But she'd held on for so long. How could she give in now?

She stammered, her eyes reddening. She looked meek and fragile, but inside, she was stubborn as a mule.

Danzo found Nonō's "fierce mother" act an unbearable headache.

He had discovered her years ago. She had a remarkable talent for Medical Ninjutsu.

The problem was that she had far too much compassion and maternal love. Even Root's ultimate trial hadn't been able to eradicate her capacity to care.

If Sarutobi Hiruzen hadn't poached outstanding talents like Kakashi and Tenzo, leaving Root desperately short of personnel, Danzo would have executed the woman before him long ago.

Still, the thought that Nonō hadn't sent Root a single recruit in two whole years only made him angrier.

"Bring that Kaguya Clan brat here. Kirigakure's Shikotsumyaku is the most powerful of all Taijutsu bloodline limits. Even if he never awakens it, he can still become a breeding tool for Root."

What a monstrously cruel order.

"Lord Danzo, please don't..." Nonō cried out.

Danzo remained expressionless, ignoring her as he gave Aburame Ryoma a look.

Ryoma got the message and was about to use Body Flicker to leave when Danzo stopped him at the last second.

"Wait."

Danzo had thought of something.

He gazed at the helpless Nonō, a sinister light flickering in his eyes.

"Leave the child alone for now. He may still be useful."

Danzo ran his hand over his cane as countless dark ideas sprang into his mind.

He looked at Nonō. "You've spent time with them both. What's the relationship between that child and the damn brat?"

"They're very close, Lord Danzo. When he brought Kimimaro here, the concern in his eyes was genuine," Nonō answered honestly.

"Is that so..."

Danzo's lips curled into an evil smile. "In that case, leave the child alone for now. Keep him under surveillance and don't let him leave the orphanage. If that brat brought him all the way here from Kirigakure, their bond must be very important. He'll make a useful pawn. We shouldn't waste him."

Then he gave orders to the Root members:

"Tanuki, go post a bounty at the Underground Money Exchange. Set it at thirty-five million ryō. Let those bounty hounds test what that man can do."

"Leopard, contact Orochimaru again. Tell him to spread the information that I have the child. And warn him that I'm very unhappy with what he did. From now on, the price of any precision medical equipment he needs will go up by thirty percent."

"As for you..."

He turned to Aburame Ryoma. "Give me a detailed account of that man's abilities. The rest of you are dismissed."

Soon, only Danzo and Aburame Ryoma remained inside the Root Organization headquarters.

Ryoma reported in detail everything he had seen while pursuing Kazama Kaguya.

He focused on how the All-Killing Ash Bones had crippled Susanoo, spending a long time describing it and even adding some of his own speculations.

After hearing everything, Danzo felt his plan coming together more and more. He gave a cold laugh.

"Shikotsumyaku, Byakugan, flight, and a way to erase the limits of the eyes' power and forcibly shut down the Mangekyo. A natural enemy of the Uchiha has appeared."

"Kazama Kaguya, now that you know my core secret, you have only two paths."

"Die, or join me."

"That child, Kimimaro, will be the most effective bridge between us."

"Bonds, huh? Ha! They really are a wonderful thing!"

Nearby, Aburame Ryoma listened to Danzo's sinister laughter, and goosebumps rose all over his body.

Danzo had raised him from childhood. Fear and obedience toward Danzo were already ingrained in his bones.

He didn't dare blame Danzo. He merely touched the arm that had been reattached only a few days earlier and seethed inwardly:

"Damn you. You should've just let yourself be killed. You made me go through all this pain. Hmph, just you wait."