Chapter 21

Tsunade said nothing. She stared at him coldly for several seconds before speaking, her voice like a blade scraping across ice. "Today is just a small lesson. If I find out you really did those things, if I find the evidence—watch your life."

With that, she turned and left without even sparing the Third Hokage a glance.

The Third Hokage: "..."

Had Danzo taken that blow for him, or had Tsunade been targeting him from the start?

The Third Hokage pondered it for a moment and decided it was the latter.

Yes, definitely the latter.

After all, he was Tsunade's teacher. She would not go so far as to attack him.

At that moment, Danzo spoke in an icy voice. "Hiruzen, are you satisfied now? Is this the fine disciple you taught? Does she still have any respect for me, the Hokage's advisor?"

"Enough."

The Third Hokage leisurely pinched some tobacco from his pouch and stuffed it into his pipe. With a rub of his fingers, he used chakra nature transformation to light it, then took several puffs.

Then he sat down on the sofa and looked at Danzo. "We both know exactly what this is about."

"You brought this on yourself. No matter how unhappy you are, you'll have to endure it."

"You should be grateful Tsunade has no evidence and held herself back from killing you. Otherwise—"

Halfway through, the Third Hokage glanced at Danzo's face, dark enough to drip water, and shook his head. "In any case, I'm warning you one last time. Stop, Danzo. The Wood Release experiments won't work. We tried this thing back then."

"Don't stay obsessed with it."

"Return the First Hokage's ** obediently, and I can pretend nothing happened."

Never mind that Danzo might not succeed; even if he could, the Third Hokage could not allow it.

He did not want Danzo to have another Wood Release at his disposal.

If it really came to that, it would not be so easy for him to keep Danzo in check.

Danzo suddenly stopped, turned to glare at the Third Hokage, his eyes bloodshot and his voice rising. "You don't believe me? You actually don't believe me?"

"I told you, I didn't do it! I didn't!"

With that, he turned and left, his strides quick and heavy.

Who knew whether he was truly furious, or merely using the opportunity to leave in a hurry and cut the subject short.

The Third Hokage watched his retreating back, his brows tightly furrowed as he sighed inwardly.

"Danzo, I hope you can turn back. Stop stirring up these matters."

Lately, he had increasingly felt that the number of times he argued with Danzo was becoming somewhat abnormal.

How had things become like this?

On his way home, Danzo's face was as black as the bottom of a pot, his gaze so gloomy it seemed ready to drip water.

"Who's plotting against me behind my back?"

He suddenly thought of the four Root jonin he had sent to capture Uchiha Yan.

They still had not returned.

"Could it be that brat?"

He narrowed his eyes, then shook his head.

"No. No matter how talented that kid is, he's only a little over three years old. Uchiha Senichi must be behind this!"

"I didn't expect that ** to look so rough and uncouth, yet hide such schemes. Just as expected of that clan's bloodline."

"A clan like that should never have existed."

"Just wait. I'll wipe all of you out."

His hatred for the Uchiha deepened another layer.

As for whether his guess was right, he did not care in the slightest.

Either way, the blame belonged to the Uchiha.

One week later.

[You analyzed the Color Calamity Eradication Seal formula and gained greatly, mastering the methods of casting and undoing it.]

[You deeply studied the Color Calamity Eradication Seal formula and, combined with your own sealing technique knowledge, gained sudden insight into a new technique: Mental Sealing Technique: Slave Seal.]

[Slave Seal: Condense spiritual power into a slave mark and implant it into the target's spiritual sea. Those with spiritual power lower than the caster's have a very high chance of being enslaved, and over time, they will unknowingly be ** into the caster's utterly loyal followers.]

As Xuan absorbed the information from this new technique, he could not help drawing in a sharp breath.

"Tsk, tsk. This technique is truly vicious."

But he soon smiled.

"It's perfect for dealing with enemies and those evildoers."

"Paired with the Soul Refinement Art, it's practically a divine technique."

In terms of spiritual power alone, he had already surpassed most Kage-level experts.

In a few more years, there probably would not be many people in the entire Ninja World who could contend with him in spiritual power.

"Since I comprehended it from you, I'll test it on you first."

Looking at the four tightly bound Root ninjas before him, he directly mobilized his spiritual power, condensed a Slave Seal, and raised a hand to drive it into one of their spiritual seas.

"Aah—!"

The ninja suddenly convulsed and howled in agony.

After a long while, his emotions gradually calmed. His eyes still clearly held unwillingness and struggle, but he lowered his head and bowed to Xuan. "Turtledove greets Master."

"Not bad. Very good."

Xuan naturally saw the emotions in his eyes, but he still nodded in satisfaction. He knew that before long, the Slave Seal would completely take control of Turtledove.

Unless Turtledove was capable of breaking free of the mark.

But given the gap between his and Xuan's spiritual power, that possibility was almost nonexistent.

The other three Root ninjas had watched the entire process. Their hearts immediately turned cold.

This method was too ruthless, even more scalp-numbing than Danzo's Tongue Eradication Seal.

Yet they did not even have a chance to struggle or resist.

"Aah—"

After several screams, Xuan quickly planted Slave Seals in all four of them.

After finishing, Xuan thought for a moment and then altered the Tongue Eradication Seal marks on their bodies. He directly removed all the restrictions and control Danzo had imposed, doing so without anyone noticing and ensuring Danzo would not sense it.

Then he raised a hand and slapped each of them on the abdomen, undoing the chakra seals on their bodies.

Xuan instructed the four, "Afterward, find a way to return to Danzo's side and keep a close watch on his every move."

"Act in secret. Do not expose yourselves. Use every possible means to gather evidence of Danzo's crimes. When the time is right, hand it over to me."

"Also, you must never reveal any information about me or my family."

"You were already doing this kind of work. I shouldn't need to teach you how to make up a reasonable excuse, right?"

He was not sure whether sending these four back would make Danzo notice something was wrong and lose trust in them from then on.

This could only count as a test.

"Yes."

Turtledove accepted the order along with the other three. However, Turtledove quickly added, "Master, this subordinate suggests leaving two people behind to take on new identities and serve at your side. Crow and I can return."

"This will make it easier for Danzo to believe us."

"After all, we've already been delayed for more than a week. If all of us return completely unharmed, Danzo will become even more suspicious."

"Even if only Crow and I return, we'll need to pretend to be injured if we want any chance of getting past him smoothly."

The Slave Seal had not been in place for long, and Turtledove did not truly submit to Xuan in his heart. He obeyed only because the mark was forcibly suppressing him.

However, as Xuan had said, he was a genuine expert in this field.

So he knew how to complete the task Xuan had given him while also ensuring his own survival.

Though they had been enslaved, they had not completely lost their own consciousness.

As long as there was even a sliver of hope, they naturally still wanted to live.

"Oh?"

After hearing him out, Xuan's brows twitched slightly. A look of understanding appeared on his face, and he nodded. "That makes sense. Then we'll do as you say. Go quickly."

"Yes."

Turtledove and Crow immediately took their leave. Xuan's shadow clone led them away from the underground base first. Before long, the two disappeared completely into the Uchiha clan grounds.

Xuan looked at the two who remained and asked, "State your names. What are you skilled at?"

"Master, my name is Turtledove. I specialize in Earth Release and swordsmanship."