Root's Report

"Lord Danzo, this is the mission report Fox submitted after he woke up!" In the dim Root Base, Danzo stood with his cane before a spiral staircase. Aburame Ryoma emerged from the darkness and handed him several pages covered in writing.

Danzo took the report and read it in stony silence.

After a while, he asked, "Ryoma, have you read this report?"

"I have, Lord Danzo," Aburame Ryoma replied.

"What do you make of it? They say Sasuke Uchiha is already far beyond an ordinary Chunin and is approaching Jonin level," Danzo said flatly.

After a pause, Danzo continued, "And then there's Neji Hyuga from the Hyuga Clan's Branch Family. Hound says Neji Hyuga may be even stronger than Sasuke Uchiha—firmly at the level of a true Jonin. The last person to reach that level at his age was Kakashi Hatake."

Danzo's voice remained calm. Aburame Ryoma considered it for a moment, then asked, "Lord Danzo, should we eliminate them?"

"The Uchiha Clan is inherently evil. My teacher, the Second Hokage, proved that. Sasuke Uchiha is no exception. I hadn't intended to do anything to him before, since he fell so far short of his brother, Uchiha Itachi." Danzo's voice turned chilling.

"Sasuke Uchiha used to be naive and foolish. Since growing close to Neji Hyuga, he seems to have become a little smarter." Danzo spoke coldly, without a trace of emotion.

"I understand, Lord Danzo." Aburame Ryoma stepped back, ready to issue the order.

"Stop, Ryoma." Danzo raised his voice slightly. "Sasuke Uchiha is Uchiha Itachi's only remaining attachment. We can't eliminate Sasuke Uchiha yet. Itachi would slip out of our control."

"Besides, Sasuke Uchiha growing stronger could be a good thing. One day, he might prove useful to me!" Danzo touched the bandages covering his eye and smiled knowingly.

Aburame Ryoma understood what Danzo meant. Danzo's right eye was one of Shisui Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan. It held a terrifying Dōjutsu—Kotoamatsukami!

Kotoamatsukami, a Dōjutsu, could directly control another person's thoughts without the victim ever realizing it.

After some thought, Aburame Ryoma said, "Lord Danzo, Uchiha Itachi has been inside that Mysterious Organization for so long without sending back any intelligence. Are we sure he hasn't leaked information about Konoha? Could his loyalties have changed? Should we let some news about Sasuke Uchiha reach him and prompt him to report back?"

Danzo glanced at Aburame Ryoma. "Ryoma, as long as Sasuke Uchiha is in Konoha, Itachi won't betray it. And Hiruzen's so-called Will of Fire has a much deeper hold on him than you think.

"He most likely hasn't sent any intelligence because he's had no chance to. If a report does come back, it will probably be the last one he ever sends Konoha."

Aburame Ryoma nodded and said quietly, "He'd die if he sent anything back? He must be watched closely if even someone with a Mangekyō Sharingan can't get intelligence out."

"Yes." Danzo nodded, his tone grave. "That Mysterious Man calling himself Madara Uchiha is a member of the organization. Uchiha Itachi had his help when he wiped out the Uchiha Clan."

Danzo's words reminded Aburame Ryoma of something that had happened a few years earlier. After the Uchiha Clan was destroyed, Danzo had led Root members into the clan's compound to collect Sharingan as spoils. There, they had encountered a mysterious Masked Man doing exactly the same thing.

"That man..." Recalling that night, Aburame Ryoma's face filled with apprehension.

Root had clashed with the Mysterious Man calling himself Madara Uchiha the moment they met. As far as Danzo was concerned, every Sharingan there belonged to him. He would not let an outsider take them.

The clash had turned into a one-sided slaughter of Root. None of their attacks had worked. The man had seemed not to exist in this world; he had simply ignored everything they threw at him, whether Taijutsu or Ninjutsu.

In the end, Root had recovered only a small fraction of the Sharingan they had planned to collect. The Mysterious Man calling himself Madara Uchiha had taken most of them.

Even that brief encounter had inflicted heavy casualties on Root. The man had finally withdrawn of his own accord, apparently unwilling to let the confrontation escalate further.

"If that's the case, Uchiha Itachi really would have trouble sending information back to Konoha," Aburame Ryoma said.

"The Mysterious Man calling himself Madara Uchiha is indeed a member of that organization. Uchiha Itachi told Hiruzen so himself before leaving Konoha. The price of Madara's help in wiping out the clan was for Itachi to join the organization," Danzo told Aburame Ryoma, revealing a closely guarded secret.

As Danzo's trusted right-hand man, Aburame Ryoma was involved in nearly everything Root did.

"I see! No wonder even Uchiha Itachi can't send any information back. Given what that man showed us, it would be difficult," Aburame Ryoma said, understanding at last.

Then he asked, "Lord Danzo, what should we do about Neji Hyuga? Should we notify the Hyuga Main Family and have them deal with him?"

Danzo shook his head. "He's just a bird in a cage. Besides, the Hyuga Clan has a low ceiling. Still, if he's already reached Jonin level, let him live and make some contribution to Konoha.

"Send someone to notify the Hyuga Main Family. A small lesson will do. Make him understand that a caged bird shouldn't entertain ambitions of its own. Tell him to behave."

"Yes, Lord Danzo." Aburame Ryoma answered, then vanished into the darkness.

Danzo wasn't particularly concerned about Sasuke Uchiha or Neji Hyuga. In his eyes, Neji Hyuga had little room left to grow; the Hyuga Clan's ceiling was too low. Its members weren't especially outstanding as individual fighters. Their real value lay in the strategic role they played during war. The Byakugan was simply too useful.

Danzo was the Hokage Advisor now, and Root wasn't his only responsibility. Hokage Advisor was more than an empty title. He had no time to concern himself with such minor matters.

Konoha was amassing funds to expand its ninja forces, and the problem had left Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi scrambling. As Hokage Advisor, Danzo was trying to secure funding from the Daimyō.

Compared with Sasuke Uchiha, Konoha's funding was the pressing issue. It could not be neglected.