Underlying Currents

Konoha, Root.

"Lord Danzo, please bear with it a little longer. It'll be finished soon."

A Root shinobi was attaching a strange white arm to Danzo's body.

Nearby, Obito Uchiha watched the Konoha Root with complicated feelings.

Even though Obito had turned to darkness, he still yearned for Konoha.

Konoha really is beyond saving. The roots of this great tree have completely rotted away. How much longer can the tree survive? Obito thought silently.

This world really was a living hell!

The agreed deadline was almost here. Obito still decided to strengthen Itachi's side and give their plan a tiny, negligible boost in its chances of success.

This time, he had brought Danzo a White Zetsu arm. In exchange, Danzo's Root would all be deployed on the "Night of the Clan Massacre," along with a few insignificant Sharingan.

As for Danzo—

This man who called himself Uchiha Madara had brought him the power of Wood Release.

The culprit behind the Night of the Nine-Tails... At the thought, Danzo's chakra stirred slightly.

Danzo was indeed utterly wicked, but he truly did act for Konoha's sake. His methods were simply extreme.

If this mysterious enemy was Konoha's enemy, then he was Danzo's enemy too.

But unlike Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo didn't mind cooperating with the other side first. As long as he achieved his goal, he would use any means necessary.

[Wood Release]

At last, he had obtained the ability he had yearned for so desperately.

Danzo flexed his newly attached right hand and spoke to Obito before him.

"Uchiha Madara, I'll call you that for now. I'll honor our agreement, but I'll decide how the Sharingan are distributed."

Obito chuckled. "It doesn't matter, as long as they're Three Tomoe. But..."

Obito slowly approached Danzo. A Root member stepped in front of Danzo to block him.

But it was useless. Obito passed effortlessly through everything and came to stand before Danzo.

His one scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan glared at Danzo's only remaining eye.

"...If you dare break our agreement, Danzo, you'll face the consequences."

With that, Obito vanished on the spot.

Danzo was left staring darkly at his pale right hand.

Testing it had revealed a problem.

Like the arm Orochimaru had made before it, this one still needed the power of the Sharingan to keep it in balance. And while the arm's power did grant him [Wood Release]—

This [Wood Release] was nowhere near the level of the First, Senju Hashirama.

It couldn't even compare to Jia, the only survivor of the previous Wood Release experiment—though perhaps he should be called Yamato now.

Orochimaru... Just thinking of him made Danzo grit his teeth in anger.

Why had that snake vanished without a trace four months ago, no longer contacting him through any channel?

If not for that, he would never have accepted this arm.

Because Orochimaru had disappeared, Danzo had been forced to make his subordinates start conducting research on their own.

The result was that he suffered severe Wood Release infiltration.

To balance the Wood Release and Sharingan powers within his body, Danzo had been forced to begin cruel experiments. He had even started abducting some of Konoha's orphans...

Fortunately, Danzo no longer had to worry about that. With [Wood Release], even his subordinates could slowly research something useful, no matter how inadequate they were.

Everything was ready now. All that remained was for Uchiha Itachi to arrive, and the Uchiha clan's internal strife, which had lasted more than fifty years, could finally end.

Once again, Danzo thought of his teacher, Senju Tobirama.

This time, he wouldn't hesitate. He would put an end to everything Uchiha.

Konoha, Hokage Office.

"Lord Third!"

A Barrier Team shinobi knelt on one knee, his voice low but firm. "The Konoha barrier has been fully adjusted. The soundproof barrier around the Uchiha Compound has also been deployed, ensuring that no sounds will leak out."

Immediately afterward, a Sealing Squad shinobi stepped forward and reported, "All Anbu members have mastered the chakra Sealing Technique. We're ready to carry out the bomb-disposal mission at any time."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded slightly, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the desk.

To keep casualties to a minimum, he had to contain this internal conflict entirely within the Uchiha Compound.

Faced with this unprecedented crisis, he had even made an exception by having Anbu and Root work together.

The pipe between his fingers trembled slightly. The Third silently murmured to himself, Itachi, while you carry out that arduous mission, let us share some of the... "necessary sacrifices" for you.

"Among the thousand or so Uchiha clan members, who can guarantee that none of them inherited that forbidden technique?"

Everything is for Konoha... He closed his cloudy eyes, his throat bobbing with difficulty.

A name suddenly surfaced in his mind—Chuanhe.

Just thinking of the instigator made the Hokage's fingers clench until his knuckles turned white.

It wasn't only Konoha's Anbu and Root taking action this time.

More troublesome still, the border forces had to remain on the highest alert.

The moment they made their move, there was a high likelihood that Kumogakure would officially declare war on them.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had to coordinate and plan for all of it. He had lost quite a bit of hair lately.

Fortunately, it would all be over soon.

Hiruzen Sarutobi silently watched his subordinates leave.

Then a familiar voice sounded in his ear. "Morning, old man!"

Jiraiya leaped straight in through the window, greeting Hiruzen Sarutobi with a grin.

Hiruzen Sarutobi said helplessly, "Jiraiya, can't you use the front door?"

"Never mind. Have you got any good news?"

Jiraiya had returned to Konoha after receiving a letter from Hiruzen Sarutobi.

He had learned something that shocked him: his teacher was plotting to wipe out the Uchiha clan.

After investigating for some time, he had indeed found that something was very strange about Chuanhe's family.

He could use Senjutsu. Through his sensory abilities, Jiraiya could tell that Chuanhe and Uchiha Hui sometimes seemed almost as if they weren't in this world.

It unsettled him and brought the Great Toad Sage's prophecy to mind, but he still couldn't be completely certain.

The letter Jiraiya had received earlier had only said that Hiruzen hoped he would return to the village to protect Konoha, as they were facing a major crisis.

Jiraiya's expression suddenly turned serious. "Old man, is there really no way to break that technique? Not even for you?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi drew deeply on his pipe and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke.

"You've seen that technique yourself. I really have no way to counter it. I still haven't figured out over these past few months how it can produce that effect."

"But even now, I find it hard to believe that Kumogakure developed it."

"Jiraiya, did you find anything in Kumogakure?"

Jiraiya fell silent. The thought of killing comrades from an entire village was something he simply couldn't bear.

So as soon as he learned the full truth, he had volunteered to go to Kumogakure and investigate what had really happened.

However, Jiraiya had found nothing about Chuanhe this time. It was impossible to obtain information that didn't exist.

But he had confirmed the known information: he had seen that Chakra Cannon with his own eyes.

The details of it had left Jiraiya shaken.

After a long silence, Jiraiya finally spoke. "I can only confirm that the weapon Chuanhe has is almost identical to Kumogakure's cannon."

"That Chakra Cannon is even more powerful than I imagined."

Jiraiya described the cannon's power in detail. Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been puffing on his pipe, stopped mid-drag.

That Chakra Cannon seemed even more extraordinary. If war broke out, they had virtually no way to withstand its bombardment head-on.

Only the [Four Red Yang Formation] could hold off the weapon.

But he was the only one who could barely manage to perform that technique. Any other shinobi would need at least four people.

Taken together, all these factors only made Hiruzen Sarutobi more certain of the [Flame Explosion Technique]'s effect.

After taking another drag from his pipe, Hiruzen Sarutobi shared another piece of information with Jiraiya.

"Some time ago, Uchiha Itachi sent word that Chuanhe and Uchiha Hui seem to be able to use Space-Time Ninjutsu."

Jiraiya stared at Hiruzen Sarutobi in shock. He was now quite certain that Chuanhe was the person in the Great Toad Sage's prophecy.

"[Heavenly Transfer Technique]? Then he really is..."