Falling into the Trap

After his secret talk with Nawaki, Orochimaru quickly agreed to Danzo's request for cooperation according to the plan and told him about Shin's flaws, as well as the plans for cloned humans and modified-human corps.

When Danzo learned that Shin was under Nawaki's protection and that even reckless, consequence-free overuse could not produce large quantities of transplantable organs, he felt some regret but developed a keen interest in Orochimaru's cloning plan.

Just as Nawaki had predicted, Danzo still completed the first transaction with Orochimaru exactly as promised, without making any cuts. His main purpose had always been to win Orochimaru over, and now that the cloning project had displayed enormous potential value, it was worth investing in.

After the first transaction was complete, Danzo made further efforts to recruit Orochimaru. Orochimaru accepted every benefit Danzo offered without hesitation, and that reaction made Danzo believe their relationship was growing closer.

As time passed, Danzo felt the time was ripe and decided to take the next step in his recruitment plan. He personally approached the Third Hokage and proposed having Orochimaru join Root to assist him with his duties.

The Third Hokage did not know about Orochimaru and Danzo's private cooperation. He therefore assumed Danzo had made the request because he was getting old and, like himself, was beginning to struggle with his workload and wanted someone to share his responsibilities.

Moreover, although the Third Hokage thought highly of Orochimaru's abilities, he believed Nawaki was better suited to inherit the position of Hokage. He thus saw Orochimaru joining Root as an opportunity to ease the relationship between the two sides and specifically convened a high-level meeting to discuss the matter.

At the meeting, most of the higher-ups agreed with the proposal. Only Nawaki put on an unhappy expression and objected on the