A brand-new, completely unscathed Danzo appeared so bizarrely and so openly, sitting on that blackish-red stone chair covered in bloodstains, his expression exceedingly grim.
The two Root members at the door immediately stiffened. If not for the horrifying bloodstains in the office reminding them, they would have thought everything they had just witnessed was a false Genjutsu.
Shimura Danzō seemed to notice the disturbance at the door. He raised his gloomy single eye, and the two Root members instantly trembled before hurriedly dropping to one knee in salute.
"Dan... Lord Danzo..."
The two swallowed at the same time, their faces tense.
Danzo ignored them. He merely withdrew his gaze expressionlessly and said coldly:
"Get out. Have the sensory ninja remaining in Root immediately spread their detection outward from my office. Do not leave a single gap unchecked, and do not let the detection range extend into my office itself. For the next half hour, no one is to approach this place without permission."
"Y-Yes!"
The two nodded and swiftly departed.
As the sound of their footsteps faded, Danzo's expression turned incomparably ugly once more. His cane creaked under his grip, as though it would explode with just a little more force.
"Damn it! If I hadn't engraved Izanagi into this eye beforehand using a Transcription Seal, I truly would have died at the hands of that Uchiha brat!"
As he spoke, Danzo's hand involuntarily rose to the position of his left eye beneath the bandages.
He had obtained this eye and those two secret techniques on the same day. Thinking of that man's face, a trace of guilt rose in Danzo's heart.
But that guilt was immediately replaced by viciousness.
"Uchiha Mo... That bastard is far too dangerous! He actually infiltrated Root without anyone noticing, and even put a blade to my throat without revealing a single abnormality!"
As he spoke, Danzo's expression darkened further, and his cane cracked with a sharp snap.
He sat motionlessly in the chair, his single eye narrowed viciously as he pondered something unknown.
After a long while, Danzo closed his eye and slowly rose. He lifted his foot and forcefully shoved the stone chair aside, revealing the floor beneath it.
"Forget it. That brat has already begun to grow into his own and must be dealt with carefully over the long term. For now, restoring my combat strength is the priority. With Orochimaru's help, this time should be much simpler and smoother."
As he spoke, he jabbed his cane into a spot exposed beneath the moved stone chair.
Crack—!
The tip of the cane sank into the floor. When Danzo raised it again, a sound like turning gears rang out. The floorboard then rapidly retracted, revealing a hidden compartment within. Danzo bent down and reached into it.
When that hand emerged again, it held an exquisite glass bottle. Inside, a Three-Tomoe Sharingan soaked in pale green liquid slowly revolved.
Danzo raised it, staring deeply at the Sharingan as he stood motionless.
"Kagami, I suppose I've returned one life to you..."
Danzo had acquired these two Sharingan through despicable means, yet in a certain sense, they had also been justified.
Back then, after Hiruzen Sarutobi's position gradually stabilized, it became time for everyone to divide the cake. But there was only so much power to go around, while the Hokage Guard Team had six members in total.
At that time, Danzo set his sights on Kagami, who was born into the Uchiha Clan...
During a mission in the aftermath of the Second Shinobi World War, Shimura Danzō leaked Kagami's intelligence to the enemy. To be safe, he then pretended to receive news and personally led a team to reinforce him.
And the final result was...
Kagami Uchiha died.
He died before Danzo's eyes, entrusting his own eyes to the teammate he believed he could give everything to—to the murderer who had killed him!
After that, Torifu Akimichi seemed to receive some sort of information as well and quietly withdrew from the core circle of power.
Danzo did not know what he had felt back then, but now, as he looked at the only remaining right eye in his hand, his emotions were complicated.
"Kagami..."
He stared at the Sharingan and uttered the name in a somewhat heavy voice.
Screech—!
Splurt!
Danzo's body trembled, and the rest of his words caught in his throat. He blankly lowered his head.
A palm wreathed in lightning pierced through his chest where his heart lay. Crackling arcs of electricity exploded through the silent chamber.
"Go repent in hell."
A cold whisper sounded beside Danzo's ear, and then he felt his body being shoved away.
His consciousness rapidly began to fade, and all sensation in his body quickly vanished. In his final moments, Danzo struggled to turn his head.
The scene before him rapidly swayed as blood drained from his brain. Through the haze, he seemed to see the man who appeared in his dreams every midnight.
Curled short hair, downward-slanting eyes, and a sunny smile unlike that of ordinary Uchiha... Huh? A sunny smile... No, Kagami's expression wouldn't be this cold...
The illusion dispersed, replaced by Uchiha Mo's completely different, icy face.
Bang!
Danzo's corpse hit the ground with a dull thud. Mo glanced at it before quickly looking away and raising his hand to catch the glass bottle in midair.
Wind Release Proficiency +5.26% Yin Release Proficiency +1.54%
"A full seven percent of Yin Release proficiency. I knew there was something wrong with you, you rat."
Mo said coldly, not in a hurry to flee as he carefully began examining the glass bottle in his hand.
After proficiency reached twenty percent, further improvement became exceptionally difficult. Mo had tested it roughly; the difficulty was at least twice what it had been before twenty percent. Yet one of Danzo's lives had instantly raised Mo's Yin Release, which had long surpassed twenty percent, by another seven percent.
Danzo was indeed an expert, but Mo did not believe he could possess such profound mastery of Yin Release.
Combined with that old dog's performance in the original story, it was difficult for Mo not to worry that he might come back from the dead.
So before leaving, he had left behind a Lightning Clone hidden in the secret chamber. The Lightning Clone could be dismissed at any time, so it cost Mo nothing.
Thus, he quietly watched as the two Root members arrived in the chamber, only for Danzo to resurrect and drive them away.
Mo had originally considered giving up on another assassination and dismissing the Shadow Clone several times. After all, Root had entered a state of alert, and Danzo had already suffered once.
The best choice was undoubtedly to wait for another opportunity.
But who would have thought that these two sensory-type ninja would freeze after seeing Danzo's corpse? Before they could use their sensory abilities to investigate the surrounding space, Danzo simply rose from the dead.
Afterward, Danzo directly ordered sensory abilities to cover the entirety of Root, yet deliberately excluded his own office.
It was truly baffling, but Mo quickly got his answer.
Because Danzo had taken a Sharingan from the mechanism beneath the stone chair...
No one would likely imagine that there could be such a bold lunatic—someone who, after successfully assassinating a Hidden Leaf elder advisor, not only failed to run but remained right where he was.
However...
"In a situation like this, you still dared to lose focus without checking your surroundings. I'm almost impressed by your courage..."
Leaving After Success
With the Lightning Clone's speed, it was basically impossible to complete an assassination while Danzo was on guard.
But Danzo had actually stared at the Sharingan and spaced out. In Uchiha Mo's eyes, that was no different from offering up his own neck for the blade. How could he possibly let such an opportunity pass?
Mo frowned at the glass bottle in his hand. Nearly the entire Root Base was now enveloped by sensory abilities, with only Danzo's office spared. Because of Danzo's order, even though Mo had erupted with chakra again just now, the Root members outside had shown no reaction.
But relatively speaking, that also meant it was nearly impossible for Mo to escape under normal circumstances, much less take this Sharingan away. Furthermore, if the eye remained here, it might bring trouble to the Uchiha Clan.
And even without this Sharingan, the Uchiha Clan would most likely be targeted anyway...
After thinking for a moment, Mo decided to take a risk.
He put the bottle containing the Sharingan into his Ninja Tool Pouch, then suddenly raised his right hand and bit his thumb open before slicing across his left palm.
Boar—Dog—Rooster—Monkey—Ram
"Summoning Technique!"
Bang!
Black markings spread outward, followed by an explosion of smoke. A Ninja Cat with snow-white fur appeared.
(PS: The blood created by Impure World Reincarnation and Shadow Clones is simulated with chakra, so Shadow Clones can also use the Summoning Technique. Feel free to ask if you have questions; I can make an explanation post if needed.)
It turned to look around before raising its head toward Uchiha Mo and asking in confusion:
"Huh? Only one person died this time. Mo, have you turned over a new leaf, meow?"
Uchiha Mo shook his head without further explanation, instead handing the glass bottle containing the Sharingan to the white Ninja Cat.
"Mai, deliver this bottle and the corpse on the ground to the original body."
The Ninja Cat lowered its head to lick the fur on its right front paw, then raised its head and balanced the glass bottle atop it.
"The original body? Whatever... I can take the bottle, but that corpse is too large. I can't carry it away, meow."
Mo frowned slightly. "What if I chop him into pieces? Can you take him then?"
"..."
The Ninja Cat's crystal-clear, glasslike eyes stared straight at Uchiha Mo. After remaining silent for quite some time, she suddenly blurted out:
"Are you an idiot?! Look at my size, then look at this dead guy! Even if you minced him into meat paste, I still couldn't carry him, ah... meow."
The Ninja Cat belatedly added her verbal tic before looking at Uchiha Mo with some annoyance.
After thinking for a while, Mo nodded.
"Understood. You can leave first."
The moment he finished speaking, Mai said nothing more and instantly exploded into white smoke, vanishing from the spot.
Mo stared at Danzo's corpse in silence for a moment. Then a bloody flame suddenly ignited in his palm, and he slowly stepped toward it...
About fifteen minutes later.
A loud shout suddenly rang out from Danzo's office.
"Someone come!"
The voice carried out, and soon a Root member wearing a purple-patterned mask and armor appeared before the doorway.
He looked up. Shimura Danzō was sitting on the stone chair with his cane planted before him, his posture no different from usual.
"Lord Danzo!"
The man dropped to one knee and lowered his head as he called out solemnly.
Hearing this, Shimura Danzō slightly lifted his eyelid and spoke while leaning on his cane:
"Have the people outside maintain their sensory abilities until tonight. If they lack chakra, have them take Soldier Pills. Also, what happened in Root today is not to be discussed. Understood, Dog?"
The Root member codenamed Dog immediately nodded solemnly.
"Understood. I will inform Tiger."
"Mm."
Danzo nodded and waved his hand. "Go."
As soon as he finished speaking, Dog immediately turned and left. But just as he was about to reach the doorway, a deep voice suddenly called him back.
"Have someone investigate Orochimaru's whereabouts, especially what he did after leaving Root today. Report back to me once you find out..."
Danzo's single eye narrowed slightly. Faint killing intent radiated from him, while a dangerous glint flickered within his eye.
Dog's body stiffened before he answered solemnly, "Yes!"
"..."
The sound of footsteps gradually faded away. Then Shimura Danzō's eye on the chair suddenly began to contract slightly.
This Danzo was naturally Mo disguised with the Transformation Technique. Though it was far inferior to Orochimaru's Vanishing Facial Copy Technique, Mo's Transformation Technique was not something ordinary people could see through at a glance.
The brief contact involved some risk, but not much.
After using Clairvoyance to confirm the surrounding situation, Mo glanced down at the floor. Danzo's ashes were hidden in the compartment that required the cane to open, but Mo had already destroyed the cane.
After confirming everything one last time, Mo exploded into smoke with a bang and vanished from the secret chamber...
Before you continue