Late at night ~ Uchiha Clan Compound
After taking Kurenai home, Uchiha Gen returned to his own place alone. They'd only just gotten together, and bringing her home for the night before even meeting her parents would look bad. For all he knew, Yuhi Shinku might show up on his doorstep the moment he took her home.
"Phew~ It's time to teach our dear Danzo a little lesson. You foolish Shimura Danzo~ Tonight is destined to be a night you'll never forget for the rest of your life. From now on, you'll live out your days in fear of Hiruzen Sarutobi's dominion!" Uchiha Gen changed into a black outfit and put on a fox mask just like Azu's!
Konoha ~ Western edge of the Forest of Death! Root Base!
Danzo had poured his heart and soul into Root. He hadn't even put this much care into his own clan! That was why the Shimura Clan remained a second-rate family even after producing a Konoha elder. They were much like the Inuzuka Clan in the original story, except they were even worse when it came to secret techniques! After all, no matter how bold Danzo was, he wouldn't dare hand the contents of the Scroll of Sealing over to his clan members!
Even Hiruzen Sarutobi, the strongest Hokage of all time, wouldn't dare do something like that so openly! The Scroll of Sealing was a treasure belonging to all of Konoha. Most of the techniques in it had been created by Senju Tobirama, but some had been invented by other clans or individuals. The Spirit Transformation Technique was one such example!
Even the Hokage needed a pretext to pass the forbidden techniques in the scroll on to someone else. Handing them straight to clan members to learn was blatant self-enrichment, plain and simple! In the original story, Naruto Uzumaki was only able to learn the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique from the Scroll of Sealing thanks to the Fourth Hokage. Given the Fourth Hokage's accomplishments, getting his son a secret technique from the scroll was well within reason!
On that front, you had to admire Hiruzen Sarutobi's keen eye. The Multi-Shadow Clone Technique could practically be called Naruto's signature technique. For Naruto, it was the perfect match, just like Flying Thunder God was for Namikaze Minato!
Rather than saying that Naruto happened to learn the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique after stealing the Scroll of Sealing, it would be more accurate to say the Third Hokage had chosen the technique specifically to suit Naruto's abilities. In that respect, the Third Hokage had treated Naruto pretty well!
But his actions in other areas seemed completely absurd. On the one hand, he kept Naruto's identity as the Fourth Hokage's orphan under wraps. On the other, he let the people of Konoha know that Naruto was the incarnation of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox! The problem was, everyone from the Konoha High Command and the major clans to the enemy villages knew Naruto's background. So, was this so-called secrecy only meant to protect Naruto from ordinary Konoha civilians who might hurt him? What was the point?
If villagers called him the Nine-Tails day after day and treated him differently, then unless an enemy spy was someone like Stephen Chow, even a fool could figure out Naruto's identity, right? By that logic, those ordinary villagers who hurt Naruto served as nothing more than a foil! Their vicious faces only made Hiruzen Sarutobi's kind smile shine brighter! Little Naruto couldn't possibly withstand a trial like that. He'd rush straight into the Third Hokage's arms...
Everything that seemed unreasonable was just a way to indulge the Third Hokage's selfish desires! After all, a deterrent weapon like the Nine-Tails was only safe in his own hands! With nothing more than a few spiteful remarks from ordinary civilians, he could win the loyalty of a future powerhouse like Naruto, a man who would decide the course of wars. Hiruzen Sarutobi had hit the jackpot! It was all for Konoha (and his own selfish interests)!
Then again, Danzo was actually far more selfish than the Third Hokage. Hashirama Cells, the major clans' secret techniques, human experiments, Sharingan—anything he thought was useful, he dragged back to Root. And yet, with all that going on, the Sarutobi Clan behind the Third Hokage continued to thrive!
By contrast, Danzo never brought a thing back to his own clan. He even expected them to subsidize Root. If the Shimura Clan hadn't been riding Danzo's coattails and throwing their weight around thanks to his influence, and if the Third Hokage hadn't looked out for them because of his relationship with Danzo, they probably wouldn't even qualify as a second-rate clan now!
In that respect, Danzo was far better than Hiruzen Sarutobi. No matter how dirty and despicable his methods were, as long as the things he gathered stayed in Root, then after Danzo died, those achievements would still belong to Konoha, not the Shimura Clan!
But none of that had anything to do with him. Konoha was rotten, and there was no longer a ship there big enough to carry the Uchiha!
If the Uchiha wanted to be great again, they had to start over and take charge themselves!
"Zhixiang, have your bugs stay alert at all times. Judging by the report Kurama Rokumo brought back this afternoon, that guy has probably caught on!" Danzo clenched his bandaged arm. Evil Uchiha, sooner or later, I'll send you to meet Teacher Tobirama!
"Yes, Lord Danzo!" Aburame Zhixiang replied coldly. (At first, I'd written Torune here, but after checking, it turned out that Torune and Shino were about the same age. In the original story, Torune joined Root in Shino's place. Given the current timeline, Aburame Torune should still be a three- or four-year-old brat, so I just used a character from another fanfic as a stand-in.)
Danzo dreamed of killing Uchiha Gen, that freak, but the problem was, he didn't have the strength to pull it off. That brought us right back to the predicament faced by the Third Hokage in his old age. But unlike the Third Hokage, Hiruzen knew how to protect his reputation: he let Danzo do his dirty work while he stayed behind the scenes! Like now!
Danzo, on the other hand, was like some reckless greenhorn in this regard. He charged straight ahead, used whatever means necessary to achieve his goals, and had no sense of the bigger picture. He never thought about the consequences!
When he first arranged for Kurenai's assassination, he didn't think things through. Now that he felt the truth might come out, he was getting nervous! Looking at the original story, Danzo had pulled quite a few stunts like this...
"Hello~ Are you all waiting for me?"
In the gloomy Root Base, a group of Root shinobi stood guard around Danzo. A flippant male voice suddenly rang out in the tense atmosphere, sounding completely out of place!
"Who?!"
"Where?"
"Protect Lord Danzo!"
"Hmph! Evil Uchiha brat, since you're here, why hide your face!" Danzo tried to provoke him, but his lone eye contracted sharply, betraying his unease!
"What the hell is Uchiha? I have no idea what you're talking about. I came to Root today for just three things: fairness, fairness, and damn fairness! We were all disciples of the Second, so why did Hiruzen Sarutobi become Hokage and you get to lead Root, while our Utatane Clan got stuck with nothing but an elder's seat? That's damn unfair!" Uchiha Gen spouted nonsense. So what if Danzo called him that? Even if he knew Uchiha Gen was behind the mask, what could he do as long as Gen himself didn't admit it?
After he finished speaking, Uchiha Gen revealed himself. Before the Root shinobi could react, an overwhelming presence, fueled by tens of millions of units of ocular power, surged out! A single glance was enough to freeze everyone before him in place, Danzo included!
"Evil Uchiha brat, don't make up rumors here! What Utatane Clan? You haven't even changed your voice! Get to the point! What do you want today?" Danzo glared at the terrifying man before him, his eyes wide with fury!