Hashirama Cells and the Sharingan

Root's research facility was as gloomy as ever.

The cold steel walls shut out the sunlight outside. Only dim lights cast wavering shadows along the narrow corridors, stretching people's silhouettes into long, eerie shapes.

"Orochimaru, I'm glad you came of your own accord."

"The future of Konoha ultimately belongs to young people like you."

Danzo sat in the seat of honor, a formulaic smile on his face. Yet his deep-set eyes revealed not a trace of genuine emotion.

"Lord Danzo, I think we can dispense with the pleasantries."

Orochimaru casually pulled over a chair and sat down. His golden, snake-like eyes rested calmly on Danzo as he spoke in an even tone.

"Oh?"

"Then, Orochimaru, have you made peace with stepping into the darkness?"

The smile on Danzo's face faltered slightly before fading. His expression grew serious.

He leaned forward a little, and an invisible pressure filled the room.

"Darkness?"

Orochimaru repeated the word, as if savoring its meaning.

"The more luxuriant Konoha's great tree becomes, the more tangled its roots must grow deep underground, drawing nourishment from places hidden from the light."

"Lord Hokage stands in the sunlight, the face of Konoha and the light all the villagers look up to."

"Then someone must do the work in the shadows and shoulder the necessary evils."

"I am Konoha's root—the darkness beneath this land."

Danzo gave a cold snort. His gaze sharpened, and though his voice was quiet, it carried an unquestionable resolve.

"I understand."

"Some experiments and methods really aren't suited to being done in the open."

"I'm prepared to accept that."

Orochimaru gave a slight nod and replied.

"Excellent! I knew I was right about you!"

"You and I are more alike than Sarutobi and I..."

A flash of approval crossed Danzo's eyes. He seemed quite satisfied with Orochimaru's "candor."

He waved his hand, signaling the Root shinobi standing in the room to leave.

"Come with me."

Danzo rose. His hunched silhouette looked somewhat forlorn in the light.

He led Orochimaru deeper into the facility.

Their heavy footsteps echoed through the empty corridor, and the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.

"Orochimaru, you should know that much of my research was inherited from my teacher, the Second Hokage."

As they walked, Danzo spoke slowly, his voice hollow in the corridor.

"After the battle between the First and Madara Uchiha at the Valley of the End, my teacher noticed something was amiss."

"The First had an unusual wound on his arm."

Danzo paused, seeming to recall what had happened back then.

"When my teacher asked him about it, the First said only that Madara Uchiha had cut off a piece of his flesh."

"That put my teacher on alert."

"The wound wasn't in a vital spot. With the First's almost freakish healing ability, an injury like that should have healed instantly."

"And my teacher knew Madara Uchiha well. That man would never make such a pointless attack."

"Hm?"

Orochimaru was taken aback. A faint ripple passed through his pupils.

Could it be...

"So..."

Danzo stopped before a heavy metal door.

"My teacher secretly went to dig up Madara Uchiha's grave without telling the First."

"You can guess what he found."

Danzo turned his head and fixed Orochimaru with a piercing stare.

"The grave was empty."

"Madara Uchiha hadn't died in that battle."

"Moreover, the true purpose of his battle with the First was probably to obtain the First's bodily tissue..."

Orochimaru drew a deep breath, then slowly delivered the conclusion in step with Danzo's account.

He thought to himself, Tobirama Senju really was frighteningly perceptive.

He managed to deduce such an astonishing truth from a mere handful of clues.

That would perfectly explain why Danzo, who inherited the Second Hokage's research, would risk public outrage to study Hashirama Cells and the Sharingan so obsessively.

His real goal was to figure out Madara Uchiha's plans and what might happen when those two powers were combined.

Wait...

A flash of inspiration crossed Orochimaru's mind.

If that's true, could Madara Uchiha, who was lurking in secret, also have had something to do with the Second Hokage's death?

After all, people who know too much rarely live long.

And if you accepted that premise, then the Konoha High Command's later decision to eliminate the Uchiha Clan seemed all the more justified.

The Night of the Nine-Tails was likely Madara Uchiha's handiwork. After all, before then, the only person capable of controlling a Tailed Beast with the Sharingan was Madara Uchiha.

Danzo also knew Madara Uchiha had fought the First to the death in order to obtain the First's cells.

He may even have learned through his research that combining the First's cells with the Sharingan would trigger a strange reaction.

That would undoubtedly magnify the potential threat the Uchiha Clan posed to Konoha.

After all, no one could guarantee that the vanished Madara Uchiha wouldn't suddenly reappear one day and implant Hashirama Cells into every member of the Uchiha Clan.

Who knew what would happen then?

"Exactly."

Danzo seemed to have read Orochimaru's thoughts. He spoke in a low voice:

"That was why I founded Root."

"To inherit my teacher's will and eliminate at the source anything that might threaten Konoha!"

His gaze grew feverish and fanatical.

"So... help me, Orochimaru."

"I can provide all the research materials and equipment you need."

"We have the same goal, don't we?"

Danzo slowly raised a hand and pressed it against the identification device beside the metal door.

"Click—"

The heavy metal door slid open with a grating scrape.

Blinding white light poured through the widening gap. Even Orochimaru, accustomed to the dark, instinctively narrowed his eyes.

Beyond the door lay a massive laboratory, far more spacious than the corridor outside.

All kinds of sophisticated instruments, their names unknown to him, glimmered faintly and emitted a soft hum.

The air was thick with the pungent smell of formalin mixed with blood.

Several enormous glass tanks stood in the center of the laboratory.

They were filled with pale yellow nutrient fluid.

Several indistinct clumps of pale flesh, gently writhing, floated in the liquid.

Even more horrifying, several blood-red eyes were embedded in those writhing masses of flesh!

Three Tomoe slowly revolved in each crimson eye, radiating an ominous, eerie aura...