The Darkness of This Era Bears the Shimura Name

Deep beneath Konoha, the Root Base's narrow corridors crisscrossed, weaving the village's passageways into an airtight web.

The candle lamps set into the walls gave off a soft glow, stretching the shadows of every passing Root shinobi into long shapes.

In a cavernous training ground, more than a dozen Root candidates underwent nearly brutal training.

An Anbu Ninja wearing a Root mask flashed past from the shadows, leaving behind only a brief black streak.

"Lord Danzo!"

Mukai Hyuga wore a Monkey Mask as he used the Body Flicker Technique to appear outside the room, dropping to one knee.

"Something unusual has happened at the Hyuga Clan Compound! A mysterious figure in a black robe infiltrated the compound and clashed violently with a Main Branch elder. The commotion was enormous!"

The report reached the room, making Danzo—who was immersed in the agony of fusing with Hashirama Cells—go rigid.

He was bare-chested. The tissue on his right upper arm writhed uncontrollably, its surface gradually turning white. A blurry human face was beginning to take shape near his shoulder.

Agonizing pain felt like countless steel needles stabbing into his marrow as the Hashirama Cells rampaged through his meridians.

But he forced down his body's tremors and asked in a low voice, "What about Hyuga Qinglan?"

"Lord Danzo," Mukai Hyuga replied, his head lowered and his words coming quickly.

"I originally intended to bring Hyuga Qinglan to Root to meet with you in person. But before I could take him away, people from the Hyuga Main Family showed up."

"I didn't dare alert them, so I could only observe from hiding."

"But not long after, another mysterious figure in a black robe suddenly appeared. That person used just one move—a hand-seal-free golden energy orb—to knock Hyuga Qinglan unconscious."

"Also... the black-robed figure mentioned the Ninjutsu Sect of the Sage of Six Paths!"

A mysterious black-robed figure? A hand-seal-free golden energy orb?!

One move had defeated a Branch Family prodigy with the strength of an elite jonin?

And the Sage of Six Paths from mythology was somehow involved?

Whoosh!

Danzo sprang to his feet, not even bothering to suppress the Hashirama face about to emerge from his right arm, and urgently asked, "How is the battle going?!"

"The aftershock was immense. Several parts of the Hyuga estate have been destroyed! The intruder's chakra signature is extremely strange—nothing we've ever seen before!"

Another Yamanaka shinobi assigned to reconnaissance appeared with the Body Flicker Technique and added, "Also, Advisors Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura have sent people to inquire about you, Lord Danzo..."

"..."

Danzo fell silent for a few seconds, his gaze shifting uncertainly to the bottle of emerald-green special medicine on the table.

In the end, he downed the special medicine Orochimaru had prepared.

He had some misgivings about the medicine, but there was no time to worry about that now. This sudden upheaval immediately brought to mind the Hyuga Clan's recent strange behavior and the little moves they thought they had kept secret.

"Hmph, Hyuga Hiashi... I haven't even had the chance to deal with you, and you've already caused trouble again?"

"The Hyuga Clan, huh..."

Even so, Danzo prepared for battle. The Hyuga Clan was still extremely useful on the battlefield, after all.

Even if the Hyuga Clan had to be dealt with, only he, Shimura Danzo, could do it.

He pushed open the door. In the dim corridor light, the bandages wrapped around his face were caught between shadow and glow, making him look like an evil spirit crawling out of hell.

"All of Root, assemble!"

"Target—the Hyuga Clan Compound!"

His gaze passed through the dark tunnels, as if he could already see the raging flames of battle aboveground.

"Hiruzen is still on his way back, but the credit for resolving this crisis will surely fall to me."

"I can use this chance to completely crush the Hyuga Clan's audacity to challenge the leadership. And in these turbulent times, I can establish my absolute authority..."

Danzo strode at the head of the group, ambition burning in his eyes.

As for the black-robed figure?

"Heh. Since Konoha was founded, no one has ever dared run wild in the village."

"Even Madara Uchiha died at the hands of the First..."

"Let alone some nameless stray dog."

"Even if this really has something to do with the Sage of Six Paths, I'll make sure they understand."

"The darkness of this era bears the Shimura name!"

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

The once-elegant, tranquil Hyuga estate had become a living hell.

Scorching flames burned fiercely through the steady drizzle, as if by some miracle, while the acrid stench of blood swept through the whole district on the night wind.

Golden energy orbs had blasted enormous craters into the ground. Hyuga Clan members hung from the ruins wherever one looked.

The worst off were the Main Branch shinobi and guards who had heard the commotion and rushed to help.

Some were dead; the rest were crippled.

Without exception, their eyes had been brutally gouged out, leaving only blood-soaked sockets.

"The Hyuga Clan... Heh..."

The black-robed figure's voice was deep, sounding as though he were mocking them—or perhaps lamenting.

"You can't even manage the most basic question-and-answer exchange..."

He gripped the Great Elder by the throat with one hand and lifted him into the air.

The Great Elder's old face had already turned purplish. Through the shadow cast by the hood, his murky Byakugan finally made out the other person's features.

A face as pale as snow, with long, waterfall-like silver hair.

And a pair of mysterious eyes, filled with dazzling starlight and shimmering with a dreamlike radiance.

The Great Elder's breathing stopped. He used the last of his strength to pat the other person's arm. The grip on his throat loosened for a moment, and the Great Elder struggled to force a few words out.

"Your... eyes... Are those... the Tenseigan?!"

The moment he noticed the black-robed figure's movements pause.

The fear in the Great Elder's heart miraculously vanished, replaced by a surge of frenzied excitement!

Just as he thought!

He had guessed right!

This man was the owner of that scroll!

And those eyes were the Tenseigan, the Byakugan's ultimate evolution!

He completely forgot about the losses suffered by the Hyuga Clan members around him. His heart was filled with curiosity and fervor over the Byakugan's evolved form.

If...

If the Hyuga Clan could master this power...

If every Byakugan could evolve into the Tenseigan...

The Hyuga would no longer be just the Hyuga of Konoha.

The Hyuga would become the true gods of the Shinobi World!

"That... scroll..."

His lips trembled as he tried to speak. He had wanted to say the scroll was in Danzo's hands, offering that information as proof of his allegiance in exchange for the method of evolving the Tenseigan—or perhaps to kneel at the other person's feet and pledge himself to them.

But—

Before he could get the words out, the hand gripping his lifeline suddenly tightened!

"Guh... guh..."

His lips quivered. The words he had tried to say turned into garbled gasps as the pressure increased.

"Answer my question. Where is the scroll?!"

The Great Elder's eyes bulged so far they seemed about to burst from their sockets.

Just let go!

How was he supposed to talk with his throat in a chokehold?!

He screamed frantically inside. But his throat was squeezed shut, and all he could manage was a muffled, rasping wheeze.

Suffocating, he kicked wildly in the air, like a dying old fish flung onto dry land, thrashing violently.

But at that very moment, with death only a breath away—

A furious shout erupted from the edge of the ruins.

"Stop! You scoundrel! How dare you run wild in Konoha!"

Boom—!

Accompanied by a flurry of whooshing sounds, Shimura Danzo arrived with the two Hokage Advisors and a mass of elite Root shinobi bristling with killing intent.

At last, they descended upon the ruins.