Half an hour later.
Kinoe stopped his report, while Danzo closed his eyes.
He began replaying everything he had just heard in his mind, linking it with every piece of intelligence he had gathered on Qian in the past, deducing every possibility.
His fingers tapped lightly on the tabletop, making intermittent tap, tap sounds.
Time ticked by, second by second.
At a certain moment, the sound stopped.
Immediately after, Danzo opened his eyes.
A sharp glint flashed through them at once, carrying with it a greed that was hard to conceal.
But very quickly, he hid that greed away and muttered, "I can't rush. Not yet. I need to probe a little more."
Hearing Danzo's murmur, Kinoe said, "Sir, should we prepare for the next operation?"
Danzo came back to himself at those words and was just about to agree when Sarutobi Hiruzen's warning suddenly came to mind.
It was easy to foresee that the Anbu must be watching him very closely right now. If his guess was correct, then that Uchiha brat's value was simply too great.
Danzo lifted his right arm with some difficulty and touched the right eye sealed beneath the bandages, thinking, A single Three-Tomoe Sharingan already has this kind of power. If it were a Mangekyō Sharingan, then...
That was right. Just as Qian had expected, although his actions this time had been clean and decisive, they had still aroused Danzo's suspicion.
If Danzo's previous suspicion that he had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan had been a "1," then now it was at least a "10."
That instantly stirred his greedy nature.
However, in the end, Danzo still restrained himself. He looked at the two Root ninja below and said in a grave voice, "Kinoe, from this moment on, halt all operations targeting Uchiha Qian."
"Yes,