The forest lay silent after the rain, dark and damp.
Danzo strolled through the woods. Following the directions he remembered, he took a winding route to the entrance of a well-hidden cave.
Dark and damp, with faint cries echoing from within.
Sensing Danzo's arrival, several venomous snakes slithered out of the cave, winding across the ground as they flicked their tongues and closed in on him, trying to keep him from entering.
Don't think this is just an ordinary cave. Plenty of people have died inside—The Grave Robbers' Chronicles.
A few shuriken flew out, pinning the snakes to the ground.
Danzo ground their bodies beneath his foot, then entered the cave. Beyond the dim entrance, the passage opened into a vast chamber.
It was a naturally formed cavern, though there were signs of later excavation. All sorts of equipment filled the space.
Corpses and organs sat in various containers, and the cavern reeked of nutrient solution and formalin.
At a stone table, Orochimaru was dissecting a corpse, his long hair hanging low. Hearing a sound from the entrance, he looked up, his dark golden, slit-pupiled eyes turning toward Danzo.
When he saw Danzo enter, he licked his cheek with his long tongue and gave a sinister smile. "Looks like your plan failed, Lord Danzo.
"I heard this morning that Rasa of the Magnet Release had killed Hanzo."
"Hmph. That useless Hanzo was caught off guard and still got killed. Seems his strength has declined a lot since ten years ago."
Danzo's expression soured. He knew Hanzo's strength hadn't improved, of course. Then he let it go. "All the same, this works out.
"The orphans we planned to give Hanzo can be assigned to my Root instead."
Orochimaru's golden eyes narrowed slightly. Root must have taken a heavy loss.
He grinned.