"Lord Danzo!"
Danzo's guards hurried forward to rescue Shimura Danzo.
"I'm fine."
Danzo sneered.
"You think you can master the strongest technique just by taking someone else's eyes? How conceited!"
Blood ran from the socket where Shimura Danzo had lost an eye.
He simply installed another Sharingan in its place.
There were plenty of good eyes on this arm to keep him supplied.
"I won't lose. If Tsunade is so willful, she'll hand the Hokage Position over to someone else. So I'll definitely recommend you for Hokage."
Danzo said it with a smile, without even realizing there was anything wrong with what he was saying.
Huh?
The guards beside him were all dumbfounded.
What should they do?
Had Lord Danzo misspoken?
Hadn't they come here today to deal with the troublesome Naruto Uzumaki?
Why was he recommending him?
"Hm?"
Danzo realized that something about what he had just said wasn't right.
He rolled his neck and said disdainfully,
"Naruto Uzumaki, today is the day you die, because tomorrow you'll take on the mission of becoming the Fifth Hokage! You'll be reborn!"
Huh?
Danzo touched his throat.
Something wasn't right.
How could his mouth say something so caring about a younger ninja?
"What's happening to me?"
Danzo wanted to resist, but a will he could not defy stirred within him.
His mind was filled with everything Minato Namikaze and his wife had done for Konoha.
The Sannin's support for Naruto Uzumaki, and Hiruzen Sarutobi's secret ninjutsu inheritance.
The credit he'd earned for defeating Orochimaru, reuniting the Sannin, defeating the One-Tail Jinchuriki Gaara in the Chunin Ninja Exams, and aiding Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Naruto Uzumaki's unyielding composure in the face of everything he'd endured since childhood.
The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, mastery of the Flying Thunder God Technique, Jiraiya's inheritance, Hiruzen Sarutobi's inheritance.
What was there to object to when it came to his strength?
Danzo gradually found it more and more reasonable.
He even remembered often watching Naruto Uzumaki's lonely silhouette.
Eating ramen with Naruto, chatting with him, grilling fish together by the river.
It seemed to have all come back to him!
Shimura Danzo smiled. So that was it.
The genjutsu of Kotoamatsukami, which completely changed a person's will and turned them into a puppet.
It was all fake.
Danzo thought, I haven't been under any genjutsu. This is how things have always been.
"Naruto!"
Danzo reached out and rewrapped the bandages around his head.
A rare smile appeared on his face.
"That eye was prepared for you all along."
"To restore Konoha to its former glory, you must possess the powers of both the Senju and Uchiha Clans."
"The Uchiha's power is, of course, the Kekkei Genkai, the Sharingan. I also have a secret research project concerning the Senju Clan's power."
"I'll have Orochimaru work with me to develop a way for you to successfully transplant Hashirama Cells. That will be my mission!"
Danzo dropped to one knee.
"I've waited a long time for this day. I've regretted for years that I failed to get the Uchiha Clan to aid the Fourth Hokage, Lord Minato Namikaze."
"For years, Hiruzen Sarutobi and I have secretly watched you to see if you possess a ninja's resilience and the Will of Fire!"
Shimura Danzo patted his chest.
"Naruto!"
"I came here today to introduce my subordinates to you. They're all Root's finest!"
"From now on, you can command them! Everything for Konoha, everything to end all the wars!"
What!
This was completely insane.
Root's guards and ninjas looked at one another as if they were about to fall apart.
Had Danzo been hiding his true intentions all this time?
"There were too many people in the village just now. Naruto, I, Danzo, am kneeling before you here! Please, protect Konoha!"
Danzo, that monster!
What a shock!
The Root members who were about to fight Naruto.
It all culminated in this utterly terrifying scene.
"I know. You've been preparing for this day all these years. Finish the research as soon as possible. I'll have Orochimaru work with you."
One of Naruto's Mangekyō Sharingan eyes seemed a little dim, probably because it was still recovering.
"Two eyes just aren't enough."
Naruto removed the Mangekyō and put his own eye back in.
He activated Sage Mode Double. His flesh, bones, and organs were all turning into Senjutsu Chakra.
A faint white glow surrounded him, making him look like a sage.
His skin was as white as snow, and even without using the Wild Lion's Mane Technique, he already had long hair.
"Kurama, use your chakra to help me build this from the inside. I'm going to awaken an eye!"
Naruto drew on the Nine-Tails' chakra as well.
Beneath the Forehead Protector at his brow.
Where the Yin Seal had been, Naruto forcibly opened a gash.
The Nine-Tails Chakra surged through him, throwing his chakra pathways into disarray while also giving him a powerful ability to heal.
Kurama had absolutely refused to do this before, but this was chakra Naruto had taken from him in the past, so he could use it however he wanted.
The Senjutsu Chakra from Sage Mode Double could practically regenerate his organs and bones.
Naruto thrust a finger into the gash in the Yin Seal, forcing open a new chakra pathway.
Blood ran down from his forehead.
The pathway extended from there.
He placed the Mangekyō Sharingan directly in his brow and connected it to the pathway.
In an instant.
The Yin Seal hid behind Shisui Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan, and the wound healed.
Naruto now had a third eye!
As the Mangekyō Sharingan closed, the Yin Seal formed a pattern resembling two fish.
Naruto put his Forehead Protector back on, waiting for the next time he needed to unleash his power.
"Brilliant. If I can reach Sage Mode Triple one day, I'll have a truly immortal body."
After returning to everyone's view, Naruto had also exhausted the Senjutsu Chakra he'd used this time.
"Congratulations, Lord Naruto!"
Danzo bowed his head and stood up.
Only then did the Root members behind him follow suit.
No one could guess what Shimura Danzo was thinking.
Besides, Kotoamatsukami completely changed a person's will.
From now on.
Everyone present was Naruto's subordinate!
Danzo had truly tried to steal a chicken, only to lose an entire granary of rice.
"Naruto!"
Tsunade arrived a little late.
She quickly stepped in front of Naruto.
Shizune followed close behind, holding a little piglet in her arms.
"Danzo! You're a senior, no matter what. Are you really going to fight here?"
A large part of Tsunade's hatred for the village came from Danzo.
Danzo would resort to any underhanded means to achieve his goals. More often than not, his victims were his own fellow villagers, to say nothing of all the vile things he'd done outside the village.
"You've got it wrong!"
Danzo glanced at Tsunade, visibly impatient and disdainful.
"Go establish your Medical Ninja Department. I'll personally use my organization, Root, to send Naruto to the Hokage Position!"
Danzo tapped his cane and turned back toward the village, arrogant as ever.
Send Naruto to the Hokage Position!
Tsunade turned to look at Naruto, completely at a loss.
"Is your way of the ninja really that powerful? He's Shimura Danzo!"
Tsunade had also been opposed by Danzo, but the problem was that Naruto had his support.
"I guess it's because I'm a good person."
Naruto spread his hands.
"Speaking of which, Kakashi and the others are still in the hospital. We should go check on them."
"Right, but Konoha's about to hold another meeting!"
Tsunade looked thoroughly reluctant.
Ten minutes later.
The meeting room in Konohagakure.
Danzo had been waiting for quite some time.
The Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire, Hokage Advisors Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru, who Jiraiya had personally taken into custody, were all present.
Tsunade had just entered when she saw that everyone else looked troubled.
"At the very least, we need to pick someone! It's bad enough that Tsunade is being unreasonable. We should at least have an Acting Hokage!"
The Feudal Lord felt that Konoha couldn't go on in such disorder.
"Danzo! What do you think?"
At the Feudal Lord's question.
The Hokage Advisors and the Sannin all perked up their ears.
If Tsunade wasn't willing, Danzo would most likely become Acting Hokage.
"I choose Naruto to be Hokage!"
Danzo said, interlocking his fingers.
"Ah!"
Not only Jiraiya, but even Orochimaru was stunned.
The same went for Danzo's old friends, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura.
The Feudal Lord's hands trembled. Was Danzo going to give up on everything?