Third Hokage: It's all Danzo's doing

"Obito Uchiha! I will investigate the attempt on your life thoroughly and provide you with a satisfactory answer! Konoha is a united family; no one shall ever be assassinated simply because of their surname! This is absolutely intolerable! However, that is no excuse for you to trespass into the headquarters of Root and commit violence!" the Third Hokage declared, stepping forward with righteous indignation.

Danzo, you useless fool, you've created a mess that only you can take the fall for.

"Very well, I shall tentatively trust that the Third Hokage will provide me with a satisfactory answer. As our shared home, Konoha must never tolerate the sinful behavior of those who, out of selfishness and private gain, exclude others and plot against their own kin! The Hokage serves as the representative of the entire village and the embodiment of justice, not the representative of a single clan. I look forward to the Hokage delivering justice to me and to the Uchiha clan!"

"As for why I came to this Root base, the Hokage might as well ask Danzo what he has been doing!"

"...Damn it! Since when did the Uchiha clan produce such a monster!" The Third Hokage's face was as dark as water. In his heart, he was cursing Danzo to high heaven. He looked at the surrounding Uchiha clansmen, whose eyes were gleaming with excitement, and realized the situation had become incredibly difficult.

The shock and pressure Obito had brought him today were unprecedented. His strength was beyond imagination—so much for the nonsense about "young geniuses." This genius was so young he was practically tearing the sky apart! And that intellect and tactical maneuvering were far beyond his years.

Still, it was for the best. Danzo had become increasingly unscrupulous, no longer holding the Hokage in his eyes, and was practically itching to kick him out of the seat. Root had become his private militia! Using Obito's power to suppress Danzo and bring Root under his own control could be considered a timely stop-loss.

There are no eternal enemies, nor are there eternal allies! Everything is for the prosperity of Konoha; a few personal sacrifices are entirely worth it! Danzo should have the awareness to sacrifice himself for the prosperity of Konoha.

The Third Hokage never intended to disband Root, as there were too many dark and dirty affairs in the ninja village that required it. Replacing Danzo with someone who would reliably follow his orders was the most beneficial outcome for both him and the village.

Hiding underground, Danzo naturally heard the Third Hokage's words, and a sense of foreboding filled his heart. As playmates, classmates, and colleagues who had grown up together, he knew exactly what kind of man Hiruzen was.

Over the years, he had taken the fall for so many of Hiruzen's dirty deeds that he couldn't even count them! But since he was the Hokage, without those black pots, there would be no Root, and no immense power for Danzo!

He didn't need to think twice to know what the "satisfactory answer" the Third Hokage spoke of would be. It would certainly be a massive black pot dumped squarely on his head! I have had enough! If you are heartless, don't blame me for being unrighteous!

Danzo formed hand seals and vanished from the spot.

A massive, high-profile incident was eventually dismissed by official channels: last night was merely a fire drill, so everyone should remain calm! Konoha remains prosperous and stable! Everyone, continue the music and the dancing!

However, within the upper echelons of Konoha, it was a different scene. Although Koharu and Homura had mediated, Danzo was stripped of all his duties for the assassination of innocent villagers. Orochimaru, one of the Sannin and a disciple of the Third Hokage, became the new leader of Root.

Danzo disappeared that very night, and no one knew where he had gone.

In his secret negotiations with the Hokage, Obito obtained what he wanted. He gained official Konoha support for his business ventures and, as compensation for the assassination attempt, received two plots of land in Konoha for free.

Most importantly, he won the hearts of the Uchiha clansmen and secured his voice within the family! He had gone from a nobody to one of the few who held real influence in the Uchiha clan! From this day forward, no one would ever treat him like a child again.

The Third Hokage didn't seem to have lost, either. His position as Hokage remained secure, and he reached an agreement with Obito: Obito would restrain his clansmen from staging a coup in exchange for official commercial support. He had suppressed the increasingly bloated Danzo, and most importantly, Obito, a powerful ninja, remained in Konoha! A sword has two edges, but Obito would serve as a nuclear deterrent against other ninja villages. If he could be brought fully under his control, it would be even more perfect—a powerful guarantee that the Will of Fire would continue to be passed down in Konoha!

Outside the village of Konoha, in a hidden cave, lay the secret base where Orochimaru conducted his forbidden experiments.

In the prime of his youth, Orochimaru's skin was deathly pale, and his purple eyeshadow gave him a sinister, malevolent air.

The base was fully equipped with various electronic instruments and medical supplies. Transparent cultivation tanks, each the height of a man, held various experimental materials...

The world of Naruto was one with a very skewed technological tree; it had electricity, home appliances, televisions, and even computers...

Yet, biological research seemed simple and crude... You could just gouge out an eyeball and plug it in, and it would work...

Madara simply bit off a piece of Hashirama's flesh and grafted it onto himself to gain the cells of Hashirama...

It was simpler than grafting a fruit tree.

It wasn't until Lu Ming had been in this world for a year that he understood why it was like this.

Because chakra was simply too useful!

It could be called a panacea; chakra of different natures could accomplish far too many things.

The advancement of the Naruto world was the advancement of the ninja world, while ordinary people still lived relatively backward lives!

This was why the world felt so fractured; ordinary people and ninjas truly lived in two different worlds.

At this moment, Orochimaru was focused on adding a tube of purple reagent into another tube of green reagent; these were genetic fluids he had extracted from different species. Orochimaru was most interested in genetic research.

In his view, genes determined everything! Innate deficiencies and acquired damage could be compensated for through genetic modification! Some people were born extraordinary, their bloodline advantages allowing them to easily obtain supernatural abilities, while others were born unremarkable! He, Orochimaru, wanted everyone to be equal!

A year ago, with Danzo's help, Orochimaru had obtained 60 newborns as experimental materials.

He injected the cells of Hashirama into the 60 newborns, but the experiment failed; not a single child survived. This made Orochimaru realize the difficulty of transplanting the cells of Hashirama, so he took a step back to first study cell fusion between other species before returning to the cells of Hashirama.

What Orochimaru did not know was that one of those 60 children had survived—Yamato—who had been secretly taken in by Danzo... He was the very person who would later use Wood Release to handle the village's landscaping.

Orochimaru's movements suddenly paused. His vertical pupils turned toward the entrance behind him, and his long, thin tongue flicked out to lick his lips. He smiled with disdain:

"Danzo... you shouldn't have come here."