Light and Dark

Konoha.

Danzo looked at the civilians and shinobi gathered before the village gates to welcome them. A rare smile appeared on his usually gloomy face.

"You've worked hard."

The village's representative was Mitokado Homura, a weakling with no real talent who had only survived until now through luck.

That was how Danzo had always judged this "companion" in his memories. In his eyes, among their generation, only Sarutobi Hiruzen and Kagami Uchiha were brothers he acknowledged. The rest were merely lucky survivors who had scraped through that cruel farewell.

"It's what I should do. Go entertain them. Hiruzen should have something to discuss with me."

Guo Wang viewed Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu differently from the originally gloomy yet arrogant Danzo. He had clawed his way up from the very bottom of the Dao Realm and particularly admired those two, who shared similar origins.

Those who began with nothing would naturally not give up power easily once they had seized it.

"Your eye..."

As someone who had experienced that incident, Mitokado Homura naturally knew about the Mangekyō Sharingan. But he had never expected Danzo, who had always detested the Uchiha, to transplant Kagami's eye into his own body.

"I got the idea from that kid Kakashi. And if Kagami's spirit can see this, he will surely be gratified that I used his eye to protect Konoha."

That was a lie. Even before the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, Danzo had been eager to try the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan. Having his right eye ruined by the Raikage was what finally made him resolve himself.

"White Fang's son..."

Mitokado Homura said nothing more. He passed Danzo at the front and offered a politician's smile to the Ino-Shika-Cho behind him and the army of over a thousand shinobi, beginning the performance expected of the village's upper ranks.

An exceedingly stirring speech about the Will of Fire entered Guo Wang's ears. Looking at the civilians behind the gates, holding flowers, food, and sake as they fell into revelry along both sides of the streets, a trace of mockery appeared at the corner of his mouth. Yet surrounded by Root Anbu, he was not seen by the civilians caught up in the festive atmosphere.

"So this is... Root."

At that moment, Guo Wang suddenly understood Danzo completely. The final trace of foreign spiritual power lingering in his Sea of Consciousness was refined away.

There was no longer a person named Danzo in the Shinobi World. Everything that constituted the Darkness of the Shinobi had been replaced by a visitor from another world.

"Sir, there are quite a few people in the Hokage Building."

Although Danzo's influence surpassed even the Hokage's during wartime, within the village, if Sarutobi Hiruzen called out, he could still rally seventy or eighty percent of the experts outside Root to deal with Danzo.

That was the authority of the Hokage, whose face had been carved into the rock wall.

"Where is Orochimaru?"

At the Jonin level, to the current Guo Wang and Sarutobi Hiruzen, people only mattered as a number of heads.

Only those beyond the Jonin level were qualified to take part in this clash between light and dark.

"He's still in the laboratory. He has already refused three summonses from the Hokage in a row."

By ordinary reasoning, this was naturally a stance of supporting neither side. After all, one was his teacher, while the other was nominally his superior. Orochimaru would be criticized no matter whom he helped. But only Guo Wang knew that the man truly did not want to waste time on such matters. He would rather spend that time conducting a few more experiments.

"Very good. No wonder he specifically ordered Namikaze Minato to be called back."

Once negotiations broke down, Sarutobi Hiruzen was confident he could suppress Danzo. But after reading the intelligence from the Land of Lightning battlefield, the Third Hokage had become deeply wary of the Mangekyō Sharingan's destructive power. Thus, he had brought in his designated successor to prevent the two from truly coming into conflict.

"Things should not have reached that point yet. The Third Hokage probably only wants to understand your eye, sir."

After Aburame Torune escorted the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki back to the village, he realized something was wrong. Root, which had always been his lord's foundation, now had Anbu members he did not recognize. Had he not acted cleverly and sealed off many places in advance, many secrets would likely have been exposed.

"Send word to Orochimaru. By my order, clear out the outsiders in Root. I imagine he doesn't want his experiments exposed either."

Root was Danzo's private domain. Even if the Hokage wanted to interfere, he had to obtain Danzo's consent. Otherwise, the Advisory Department and Jonin Squad would have to hold a vote to strip Danzo of his authority over Root.

While Guo Wang had been fighting outside, Aburame Torune had not dared to act ruthlessly when the Hokage's direct Anbu came to inspect the accounts. He could only conceal what he could, fobbing them off with minor matters such as embezzling public funds or misappropriating equipment.

"Yes!"

After that response, a stream of pitch-black insects flew out from his sleeve.

Though Guo Wang believed that, given Sarutobi Hiruzen's personality, he would never wage open war against him and would at most use the Hokage's authority to force him to hand over military command, he still narrowed his eyes in surprise when he entered the Hokage Building and saw the lineup before him.

"This is truly rare. Fatty, it's been nearly five years since I last saw you step in here, hasn't it?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat in the Hokage's seat, smoking a pipe, half his face hidden beneath the hat. Two more chairs stood to his left and right, a privilege reserved for elder advisors. One was occupied by Utatane Koharu. The other was not Mitokado Homura, but a towering giant nearly six feet three inches tall.

He wore an oversized Jonin vest with a huge character for "Food" embroidered across the chest. A horned forehead protector hood covered his head, and the fat on his cheeks quivered as though he was somewhat angry.

"Danzo, your mouth is still as foul as ever."

Torifu Akimichi, one of Senju Tobirama's surviving disciples and a former elder advisor, had applied for retirement five years ago. In Danzo's assessment, compared with Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, who clung to power and occupied their positions without accomplishing anything, this "companion" at least possessed some self-awareness.

Swish!

With a flick of his sleeve, Guo Wang unceremoniously sat down on the chair his subordinate had brought over.

Throughout the entire Hokage Building, apart from the four of them seated, every other Konoha shinobi could only stand with solemn, grave expressions.

"My Sharingan came from Kagami. I used his power to protect the village."

No matter what, after revealing the Mangekyō Sharingan, Danzo's former image as someone who hated the Uchiha had somewhat collapsed. Therefore, Guo Wang did not intend to fabricate excuses and simply told the truth. After all, he planned to alter his image somewhat during his future days in Konoha.

"That is good. You worked hard on the Land of Lightning battlefield."

After a moment of silence, Sarutobi Hiruzen exhaled smoke from his mouth and, just as everyone present had expected, gave his conclusion on the matter. Those words from him meant that the village would endorse Danzo's transplanted Sharingan and let the matter pass easily.

Then Guo Wang, understanding how to return the favor, gave him the answer he wanted.

"White Cat..."