Inside a secret underground base somewhere beneath Konoha.
Shimura Danzō entered the hall with a dark expression. The Root members coming and going seemed to sense his foul mood and did not even dare breathe loudly, merely lowering their heads in salute.
Although he had once fallen from power and been stripped of his positions as elder and advisor, and his "Root" organization had been ordered disbanded by the Third Hokage, many of his subordinates still served in the Anbu and even remained loyal to "Root."
Moreover, he was the sort of man who kept several escape routes open. He had left hidden bases throughout Konoha, using them to gather Root members and research certain unspeakable things.
"Hiruzen, you will regret this!"
Sitting alone in a dim room, Shimura Danzō's eyes flashed with gloom as he muttered to himself.
After saying that, Shimura Danzō seemed to have finally let out something he had been holding in for a long time. He instantly felt relieved, and his mood settled considerably.
His feelings toward Sarutobi Hiruzen, his longtime old companion, were exceedingly complicated.
Although he had long since taken Uchiha Shisui's Kotoamatsukami Mangekyō Sharingan, he had never intended to use it on Sarutobi Hiruzen.
First, although Uchiha Shisui had claimed that Kotoamatsukami could unknowingly manipulate others at will and permanently, completely alter a person's thoughts and will—
He did not know whether it was because he could not perfectly wield the Mangekyō Sharingan and bring out Kotoamatsukami's full power, or because Uchiha Shisui had exaggerated.
By nature suspicious, sinister, and cunning, he had not fully trusted Uchiha Shisui's words. After all, he had previously discovered that the First Hokage Cells in his body could greatly shorten Kotoamatsukami's cooldown.
After obtaining Shisui's Mangekyō, he had not used it on Sarutobi Hiruzen first, nor on the village's advisors or clan heads. Instead, he had used it on his own subordinates.
After testing it, he discovered that Kotoamatsukami was nowhere near as powerful as Uchiha Shisui had claimed. Its supposed ability to unknowingly manipulate others at will had been spotted at a glance by a Root member from the Hyuga Branch Family.
Nor could it permanently and completely alter a person's thoughts and will. It could only change the victim's will and thoughts for ten to fifteen days, with the duration varying according to the individual's strength of will.
This was one reason why, after obtaining the Mangekyō, he had not used it on Sarutobi Hiruzen and turned him into his puppet.
Second, deep down, he did not want to change his old companion's will.
Just as he often said to the Third Hokage—
"You are the leaves of the tree bathed in sunlight, while I am the root buried in darkness!"
What he had lost to back then was the Third Hokage, the leaf bathed in sunlight. That was the greatest knot in his heart.
He could use every kind of conspiracy and underhanded method against the Third Hokage, even kill the Third Hokage.
But that was only if it was the Third Hokage, the leaf bathed in sunlight—not the Third Hokage turned into the root of darkness after becoming his puppet.
Whether he defeated or assassinated such a Third Hokage, he would find it utterly meaningless.
"This eye is too much of a burden on me..."
Coming back to himself, Danzo touched his bandaged right eye and muttered.
The Sharingan placed an enormous strain on non-Uchiha users and could not be freely deactivated. Even a heaven talent like Kakashi had struggled to bear the Sharingan's consumption in his prime, let alone Danzo, who was now nearly seventy.
But...
Danzo unwrapped the bandages around his right arm, his expression turning incomparably grim.
From his palm to his elbow, his arm had completely necrotized and turned woody. Judging from the arm, the wooden portion was still continuously spreading and encroaching.
"Can not even the Mangekyō Sharingan stop the First Hokage's cells from eroding my body?"
Danzo was deeply frustrated. He knew the First Hokage had been powerful, because under the guidance of his teacher, Senju Tobirama, he had watched the battle at the Valley of the End from afar.
He had witnessed two men wielding power like something out of myth!
But he had never expected that not even the Mangekyō Sharingan could suppress the First Hokage's cells. Uchiha Madara's Sharingan had only been Mangekyō as well.
Uchiha Shisui's Mangekyō now placed a tremendous burden on his mind, but to barely resist the erosion of the First Hokage Cells, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and transplant it into his right eye.
It was truly drinking poison to quench his thirst!
He had to find a solution quickly!
Danzo could feel that in another ten years at most, even if he did not die of old age, the First Hokage Cells would erode his entire body and kill him.
Thinking of this, Danzo rose with a gloomy gaze and headed toward a biological research laboratory within the base.
"Lord Danzo!"
After Danzo entered the room, a group of people dressed in white lab coats and looking like researchers hurriedly knelt to salute him.
Danzo gave a slight nod, glanced at the corpses soaking in formaldehyde and the pairs of scarlet eyes immersed in nutrient solution, then spoke flatly.
"Has there been any progress in the research on Uchiha corpses and Sharingan?"
At those words, all the researchers immediately broke out in cold sweat, stammering without being able to say a single thing.
"Hmph! Useless trash!"
Seeing his subordinates' reactions, Danzo already had his answer and coldly berated them.
Their research on the First Hokage Cells had already made virtually no progress. After losing Yamato, they had even less direction than before.
To solve his body's problems, Danzo could only shift his efforts toward the Sharingan.
Danzo's request for Second Pillar from the Third Hokage tonight had naturally been sincere. He did not want to kill him, but to observe and study him up close, hoping to uncover the secrets of the Uchiha bloodline and the Sharingan.
Although he possessed many Uchiha corpses and Sharingan, the only living Uchiha left in this world were that traitor Uchiha Itachi and Second Pillar in the village.
The dead were ultimately different from the living.
As for Uchiha Itachi threatening Danzo before he left that if he dared harm Sasuke, he would sell the village's intelligence to enemy nations?
Danzo was not worried in the slightest. He even found it a little amusing.
In the original timeline, Konoha had faced three village-destroying crises, and on one occasion had even been directly reduced to ruins, yet Uchiha Itachi had never shown himself.
Let alone the fact that Danzo himself had colluded with other villages and sold intelligence more times than he could count. How could Uchiha Itachi's threat possibly threaten Danzo?
You were selling out Sarutobi Hiruzen's Konoha intelligence. What did that have to do with me, Shimura Danzō?
Idiot!
Danzo sneered inwardly, slowly sweeping his gaze over the subordinates who did not even dare breathe loudly. "I hope you can give me a result as soon as possible. Otherwise..."
Danzo did not finish the rest, but surely they all understood.
Now that his Root organization had been disbanded, he did not have many useful subordinates left. But if anyone dared to handle the matters he assigned carelessly, he would not mind killing a few to make an example of them.
"Yes, Lord Danzo! We will certainly give it our all!"
A researcher who appeared to be the group leader hurriedly stepped forward and answered loudly.
"Mm."
Danzo nodded slightly. Just as he was about to say something else, there came a knock at the door.
"Come in!"
"Lord Danzo! A secret dispatch!"
After entering, a masked Root ninja dropped to one knee and presented a secret dispatch with both hands.
Danzo accepted the dispatch. After opening it and reading for a moment, surprise appeared on his face as he muttered,
"Orochimaru?"
Before you continue