Danzo Would Fool Himself

The air in the stone chamber had practically solidified.

The Root ninja who had led the way already had his hand on his sword hilt, his muscles taut as dried meat. Only one thought filled his mind: This brat probably won't make it out of here today. I might get silenced too, just because I heard something I shouldn't have.

Danzo's single eye was nailed to Naruto, radiating pressure that seemed ready to skin him alive.

Yet just as the Root ninja thought Danzo would give the order to "dispose of him" the next second, the old man on the stone seat let out a raspy, bellows-like chuckle.

"Ha... hahahaha!"

The laughter echoed through the empty stone chamber, especially grating.

"An underground kingdom? What an underground kingdom!" Rather than getting angry, Danzo sounded as though he had heard an exceptionally amusing joke. "Naruto, your words and ideas are the sharpest I have ever encountered. That arrogance, that fearlessness... those are exactly what I admire most."

He slowly rose to his feet and paced back and forth before the stone seat, carrying himself like someone about to teach a lesson.

"You are right. I am centralizing power. But you do not understand why!" Danzo's voice grew impassioned. "Konoha is a great ship sailing the open sea. A storm is approaching, with danger on every side! At a time like this, can there be two voices aboard? Can we let a pack of clamoring sailors give orders at random?"

He slammed his cane against the floor.

"No! Zetsu—absolutely not! A ship needs only one voice: an experienced captain who uses an iron hand to cut through the waves and correct the course. Even if a few disobedient sailors must be sacrificed, it is to preserve Quan—the entire ship!"

He stopped and fixed Naruto with his blazing eye.

"I, Shimura Danzō, am that captain, willing to bear every accusation and take the helm alone! The Monkey's mercy will only sink this ship. My darkness is the only route to dawn!"

His speech was stirring and impassioned, enough to move even himself.

Naruto listened calmly, without the slightest ripple in his heart. He even felt like laughing.

[Target: Shimura Danzō. Ideology has entered a closed logical loop. Self-perception is severely excessive. External correction is impossible.]

[Assessment: Possesses no value for cooperation.]

[Plan revision: Abandon the original "cooperative reform" plan. Initiate backup plan: "eliminate and take over."]

One final thought flashed through Naruto's mind. I thought I might dig up a barely usable part from this garbage heap. Turns out it was just a greedy worm that thinks it's a dragon.

When dealing with someone so utterly pleased with himself, direct debate was the least efficient option. You could never wake someone pretending to sleep, nor persuade an old man living in his own heroic script.

Having understood that, Naruto decided to change the game.

His target was Root—the violence machine and intelligence network represented by the organization. Who currently managed that machine was not important.

So he put away the aggressive edge he had shown earlier and changed the subject.

"Your theory is outdated and riddled with flaws." Naruto gave it a poor review before continuing. "But the tools you have trained... are indeed sharp."

He glanced at the Root ninja beside him, who had been tense from beginning to end.

The ninja stiffened, feeling as though he had been labeled "premium tool, sharp and durable." His feelings were complicated.

"I also acknowledge the necessity of darkness," Naruto continued. "I simply do not agree with your management model of 'captain and sailors.'"

Danzo's single eye flickered.

He could hear that the brat's attitude had softened. He believed his speech, full of righteous conviction, had finally moved this unruly boy.

Good. The fish had taken the bait.

"Oh?" Danzo followed the step Naruto had offered him, his tone carrying a hint of appraisal. "Then what kind of management method do you consider reasonable?"

"A system," Naruto answered calmly. "A Zetsu-absolutely rational system, unaffected by personal emotions, selfish desires, or the aging of the flesh—a system capable of self-optimization and iteration."

"In this system, there are no so-called 'captains' or 'sailors,' only different 'modules' and 'components.' Even the highest decision-maker is merely a part of the system. His decisions must be based on optimized rational analysis, not personal heroism."

"I can join Root." Naruto extended an olive branch, but his next words froze Danzo in place.

"But I am not here to become a blade in your hand. I am here to become this system's 'calibrator,' responsible for correcting errors, optimizing procedures, and ultimately... ensuring the system's Zetsu-level stability."

The stone chamber fell silent once more.

Looking at the boy before him, Danzo felt for the first time that the understanding he had built over decades was being hit by an unprecedented force.

This brat was not here to submit to him. He was here to... seize power?

"Your ambition is even greater than I imagined," Danzo said in a low voice.

"This is not ambition, Lord Danzo. It is a blueprint," Naruto corrected. "And to realize this blueprint, the first step requires Zetsu-level trust."

At last, he stated his condition.

"I will not accept any form of cursed seal."

The moment those words left his mouth, the Root ninja beside him nearly crushed his sword hilt.

Refuse the Cursed Tongue Zetsu Eradication Seal? That had never happened in Root's history! It was the very foundation of what made Root, Root! It was the iron law of Zetsu-level control!

"My loyalty does not need such a crude method to guarantee it," Naruto continued. His tone was calm, yet carried undeniable weight. "It depends only on whether our goals align. If you cannot grant even this much trust, then your so-called 'for Konoha' is, at its core, still only for your own desire to control."

"Our cooperation would then have no value whatsoever."

With great skill, he elevated his refusal of the cursed seal from "refusing management" to "a test of your bearing" and "the ultimate challenge to your ideals."

Now, the ball had been kicked hard back into Danzo's court.

If he agreed, it meant breaking the iron law he had established over decades and taking the enormous risk of being unable to control Naruto.

If he Zetsu-refused, he would be personally admitting that his impassioned speech just now had been nothing more than a lie wrapping his private desires. Before this "successor" he thought so highly of, he would completely lose the moral high ground.

Danzo fell into a long silence.

His single eye flickered uncertainly in the darkness as his mind weighed the options at high speed.

An uncontrollable Nine-Tails jinchūriki. A monster whose thoughts were even more extreme than his own...

But at the same time, a vessel capable of fully harnessing the Nine-Tails' power, a weapon capable of perfectly carrying out dark missions, and a... possibility for the future that could lead Root to a higher level.

Should he gamble or not?

In the end, his desire for power and greed for the future overwhelmed his seasoned caution.

He would gamble. He wanted to see what this brat who called himself Konoha's political commissar could truly bring him.

"Fine."

A single syllable left Danzo's mouth.

"I agree."