Beneath the spiral staircase connecting the Root Base to the surface, Danzo stood on the stone bridge leading into the base, accompanied by two Anbu Ninjas.
Five masked Root ninjas stood guard at the junction ahead of the bridge. They hadn't drawn their weapons, but their cold, hostile attitude was unmistakable.
Looking at these once-loyal subordinates, Danzo felt a faint pang of regret.
If possible, Danzo still wanted to bring them back under his command.
But he knew all too well how loyal these ninjas were to him after his brainwashing—and how hostile they were toward the Hokage.
The sound of soft footsteps drew closer. Danzo pulled his wandering thoughts back and his gaze sharpened.
Under his watchful eyes, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Orochimaru emerged from the shadowy passage, crossed the platform, and stepped onto the stone bridge.
Hiruzen had just witnessed his student's dark side with his own eyes. His mood was dreadful, and his expression was grim.
Orochimaru stood behind and to his side, wearing the faintest of smiles, as if anticipating something interesting.
"Danzo, effective today, Orochimaru is relieved of his duties in Root. I have other plans for him." Now serving as Hokage, Danzo spoke first and issued his order without hesitation.
Hiruzen, standing in front of Danzo, grew even more displeased. "Hiruzen, what do you mean by this?"
"Orochimaru, come with me!" Danzo ignored Hiruzen and looked directly at Orochimaru.
Orochimaru regarded the two men before him, his expression calm, though he found the situation increasingly amusing.
He thought of the familiar look Danzo had worn in the room earlier, the regret in his expression, then glanced at his teacher's unusually forceful attitude.
Orochimaru felt as though the scene were both familiar and strange.
The familiar part was how the two behaved when they were at odds. The strange part was that their behavior had been completely reversed.
A bold suspicion surfaced in Orochimaru's mind.
"Hiruzen, Orochimaru and I still have something to discuss. Once we're done, I'll have him come find you," Hiruzen said quietly, his eyes carrying a note of warning.
"Danzo, I'm the Hokage!" Danzo snapped.
Ever since being reincarnated as Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo had said those words to Hiruzen's face countless times.
Yet he still hadn't tired of them. On the contrary, each time he said them, he felt an indescribable rush of satisfaction.
Decades of obsession with becoming Hokage, and the frustration of being constantly suppressed by Hiruzen, had gradually twisted Danzo's mind.
"You!" Hiruzen's feelings were the complete opposite of Danzo's. Even after all these days, whenever he heard Danzo use those words to put him down, his body couldn't help but tremble.
He had often used that line to put Danzo in his place. He had never imagined it would come back to haunt him in such an absurd way.
Danzo was such a bastard. He'd gone too far!
"Orochimaru, come with me." Danzo looked at Orochimaru, but kept Hiruzen in the corner of his eye. Seeing him tremble with anger made Danzo feel even more satisfied.
Orochimaru's lips curled higher. He stepped out from behind Hiruzen and, as he passed him, said quietly, "Sorry, Elder Danzo."
Then Orochimaru looked at the "teacher" before him with a smile and deliberately provoked him. "Teacher, let's go."
At those words, Orochimaru clearly felt the "Danzo" beside him jolt.
Watching from the corner of his eye, Orochimaru saw anger flash across "Danzo's" face, but the man quickly reined it in, keeping it buried.
Meanwhile, the "teacher" standing before him showed a hint of triumphant satisfaction, though it quickly vanished.
This discovery made Orochimaru even more certain of his suspicion.
Though he didn't know what method Danzo had used while they were at the front, the two of them had most likely switched bodies.
The thought made the situation even more interesting to Orochimaru, and filled him with curiosity about the Secret Technique Danzo had used.
Orochimaru stepped in front of Danzo and gazed at the Third Hokage with a trace of amusement hidden in his eyes. His lips curled once more.
Danzo looked at Orochimaru as well and nodded with a smile. "Let's go."
With that, Danzo led Orochimaru out of the Root Base, leaving Hiruzen standing on the stone bridge, calm once more, his gaze fixed on the direction they had gone.
After leaving, they didn't go to the Hokage Building. Instead, Danzo took Orochimaru to the Observation Deck above Kage Rock.
"Orochimaru." Danzo stood with his back to Orochimaru, gazing at the village before them. "You've figured it out, haven't you?"
Orochimaru gave a twisted smile, stuck out his tongue, and licked the corner of his mouth. "The old man made it far too obvious in front of me."
"That man isn't a proper ninja," Danzo said disdainfully, turning to look at Orochimaru, who stood nearby.
"How did you do it, Danzo?" Orochimaru stepped closer, his eyes bright with intense curiosity as he stared at Danzo.
"Do you want to know?" Danzo smiled.
"Making two people with no physical connection whatsoever switch souls, without even changing their Chakra—that's a technique I've never seen before." Orochimaru's curiosity and thirst for knowledge grew stronger. He could hardly wait to figure out how it had been done.
"Help me complete an experiment, and I'll tell you," Danzo said, using the opportunity to set his terms.
"What experiment?" Orochimaru didn't refuse. He only asked out of curiosity.
"A cloning experiment. Follow my instructions and make me a body," Danzo said.
"A cloning experiment?" Orochimaru seemed to realize something, and his eyes lit up with excitement. "Have you found a way to keep reincarnating the soul into new bodies?"
Orochimaru pursued immortality with fanatical devotion. To achieve his goal, he had conducted forbidden experiments that could only be described as inhuman.
He had been working on this research for years. Now, he had found a promising direction: abandon the body and reincarnate his soul into a new one.
Orochimaru had already confirmed that this approach was viable. But many challenges remained in making it work in practice.
For instance, how to ensure the soul remained safe and intact during reincarnation, and how to make it compatible with the new body.
In short, at this stage of his research, Orochimaru was certain his approach was sound. The only problem was how to overcome the practical difficulties.
Now, Danzo's behavior and the fact that the two of them had switched bodies both made Orochimaru suspect that Danzo had found a way to achieve immortality through the reincarnation of the soul.
Danzo didn't directly answer Orochimaru's question. He simply smiled calmly and said, "Once the cloning experiment is complete, I'll tell you what you want to know."
"If I'm not satisfied..." Orochimaru's voice turned cold, and his words carried an implicit threat.
"I won't disappoint you," Danzo said confidently.
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