I Want to Be the Hokage's Dad!

Because Danzo had undergone research related to Hashirama Cells, Orochimaru was very familiar with one of the samples.

He could be 99% sure that this sample belonged to Danzo.

This made the origin of the other sample extremely interesting.

As everyone knows, Danzo's father died on some unknown battlefield long before the Second Shinobi World War, and Danzo himself has no record of being married...

Which means--

The person who died on the battlefield wasn't Danzo's biological father, and Danzo, through his own efforts, found his real father--this possibility was out of the question.

"Things are getting interesting." Taking out the report, Orochimaru pulled out a communication scroll, infused it with chakra, and soon a Root ninja appeared outside the base.

"The results are in." Throwing the item to the other party, Orochimaru received no reply.

The Root ninja immediately shunshined out of his sight.

The results were delivered to Danzo as quickly as possible.

Upon receiving the report, Danzo didn't open it immediately. Instead, he dismissed everyone and went alone to a secret room.

He placed the report on the table in front of him, pulled over a chair, and sat down, his index finger knuckles tapping the table with a rhythmic crisp sound.

The only light source in the room was a freshly lit candle. The dim, yellow glow illuminated Danzo's face, flickering on and off, making him appear particularly ferocious.

"Hmph, when did I become so indecisive?" He gave a self-deprecating shake of his head, stopped his small movements, and picked up the report, reading it by the dim candlelight.

"As expected..." Seeing the line on the report confirming a blood relationship, the weight in Danzo's heart finally lifted.

Although it seemed a bit cowardly, an Ice Release Kekkei Genkai...

If cultivated properly, it could indeed fulfill his long-cherished wish.

Pressing a hidden mechanism, Danzo opened the door to the secret room and reappeared before the Root ninja.

As soon as he emerged and saw the dim Root base, Danzo frowned deeply and shouted sternly:

"Bing!"

Following Danzo's shout, Bing reappeared before him.

"Why is the base so dark? Didn't I tell you to install electric lights?"

"...It is my subordinate's negligence." Bing lowered his head and admitted his mistake.

"Then go do it. Ding Yi, go and call Ryoma." Seeing that Bing admitted his mistake, Danzo's tone softened. He then gestured to another Root ninja to go find Aburame Ryoma.

At the same time, Danzo's gaze fell upon Oto, who was not far away:

"Oto, from today onwards, you will resume your real name, Yamanaka Zen."

Upon hearing this, Yamanaka Zen strode to Danzo's side and knelt on one knee, "Yes, Lord Danzo."

"In a moment, you and Ryoma will wait in the secret room for my orders." Having planned the next course of action in his mind, Danzo issued his commands and strode away from the scene.

When Aburame Ryoma, who was protecting Kazashiro, received the message and returned to the base in a timely manner, he happened to encounter Bing, who was redecorating the base.

Although he was puzzled by the other party's actions, all the Root ninjas only obeyed Lord Danzo's orders. Therefore, Aburame Ryoma did not suspect anything and went straight to Danzo's secret room.

At the entrance, Yamanaka Zen was standing straight, waiting for Ryoma's arrival.

The two exchanged glances and walked into the secret room together.

"You're here, Ryoma." Looking at his most capable subordinate before him, Danzo's attitude was much better than when he treated others.

"That kid, no, what is Kazashiro doing now?" Danzo's change in how he referred to Kazashiro made Aburame Ryoma sense something different. Recalling Oto's performance--

"Kazashiro is currently fishing by the river with Hatake Sakumo and his only son." Aburame Ryoma truthfully reported the other party's actions.

Fishing? What a waste of ambition.

How could Konoha's White Fang participate in children's make-believe games?

Could this also be Hiruzen's scheme?

Danzo immediately thought of his old friend.

This guy is indeed harboring ill intentions.

It seems I need to make my stance clear as soon as possible.

Danzo pondered for a moment and revealed his plan: "First, temporarily halt the assassinations targeting the village's opposition faction."

"I understand." Aburame Ryoma did not ask for the reasons but unconditionally obeyed Danzo's orders.

"Also, some experiments in the Root base need to be gradually suspended, especially those involving human experimentation, which should be stopped first." Weighing the gains and losses in his mind again, Danzo finally made the painful decision to stop the experiments.

"Understood, what about Orochimaru--" Aburame Ryoma could guarantee that the experiments in the Root base would be stopped immediately. However, although Orochimaru was nominally a subordinate dispatched to Root by Hiruzen Sarutobi, due to his reputation as one of the Sannin and the Third Hokage behind him, even Danzo treated him as a collaborator.

"Just cut off his funding." Danzo had his own way of handling Orochimaru.

Although he could not directly command Orochimaru, he could cut off the funds provided to him.

At this time, the only human experimentation Orochimaru was conducting was with Hashirama Cells, and that experiment had been declared a failure a long time ago.

Even that experimental base--

As for his proposed plan to merge Sharingan and Hashirama Cells, it was only in the initial drafting stage.

In other words, it was still perfectly fine for him to cut ties with Orochimaru now.

"Are you giving up on Orochimaru?" Aburame Ryoma keenly sensed Danzo's intention.

Ever since Danzo and Orochimaru got together, Danzo had promised to help Orochimaru become the next Hokage, and in return, Orochimaru would grant Danzo more authority.

Their cooperation had been harmonious, but now Danzo was suddenly unilaterally cutting ties with Orochimaru—

"Kazashiro is my son." Seeing Aburame Ryoma's confused expression, Danzo calmly dropped this bombshell.

So that's how it is!

Aburame Ryoma looked at Yamanaka Zen, who had already guessed the truth, with a somber gaze.

No wonder he had acted so strangely back then.

"You're going to support Young Master Kazashiro..." Aburame Ryoma's address to Kazashiro immediately changed.

"That's right. He possesses the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai, and with me behind him, along with Root's support, he has a good chance of aiming for that position as long as his strength is sufficient." Danzo narrowed his single eye, seemingly already picturing his son sitting in that position.

If he couldn't be Hokage, then he'd be the Hokage's father!

Rather than supporting an outsider like Orochimaru, especially since he was Hiruzen's disciple, it was better to support his own son!