Meanwhile, deep inside the Root Base.
Shimura Danzō had also received an intelligence scroll containing almost the exact same information. Unlike Hiruzen Sarutobi's worry and helplessness, the only eye in Danzō's face glinted with icy killing intent—and a trace of fear he refused to admit even to himself.
"Slay the Raikage, rout Iwagakure's hundred-thousand-strong army, and come away... unscathed?!" Danzō slammed the scroll onto the desk. The veins on his withered hand bulged with the force of it. "How is that possible?! Power on that scale must come at a cost!"
He couldn't understand it, and he couldn't accept it.
In Danzō's mind, the greater the power, the greater the price.
How could Uchiha Ling remain in perfect condition after fighting at such intensity for so long?
"It's a front! It has to be!" Danzō snarled under his breath, trying to convince himself. "He must be all bluster and no strength, just putting on a show! That indecisive fool Sarutobi will definitely fall for it!"
But the words "no obvious signs of exhaustion" and "departed without incident" in the report stabbed at his heart like poisoned needles.
What if... what if it was true?
The thought sent a bone-deep chill through him. If an Uchiha with such power, and old grievances against him, became Hokage, then Danzō and his Root would have nowhere left to stand! And his dream of becoming Hokage after all these years would surely be shattered!
"I can't wait any longer! He absolutely cannot be allowed to return to the village alive!" A trace of desperate madness flashed in Danzō's eye. "Whether he's putting on an act or not, we have to strike the moment he's 'most likely' to be weak! This is our last chance!"
Danzō abruptly pressed a hidden switch. A wall slid open