Root's base.
Although dawn was still more than three hours away, Root's base was already bustling.
After the Third Hokage had schemed him to death, Danzo had sent Root's ninja to buy Virtual Headsets-as many as they could get.
Originally, he had wanted to call on his trusted subordinates, Yamanaka Fū and Aburame Torune.
But... when he found those two, they had already registered their characters. And... neither had chosen the Ninja Region as his starting area.
Aburame Torune had chosen the Beastfolk Region and decided to become a giant bug...
As for Yamanaka Fū, he had gone to the Magic Region, which had piqued his curiosity.
Since both had already registered their characters, Danzo could only send the other ninja on duty at Root's base to buy headsets, then register accounts and enter the virtual world with him to settle the score with Hiruzen Sarutobi and seize territory.
Although it was the middle of the night, ten ninja were still on duty at Root: eight Chunin and two Jonin. They made a respectable elite squad.
After buying their headsets, all ten registered accounts, created characters, and entered the virtual world together.
Danzo was not the only one doing this.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had discovered that ninjutsu from the virtual world could be used in reality, had not forgotten that he still had the important business of claiming territory to attend to.
Like Danzo, he had called in reinforcements.
His reinforcements were, of course, the Anbu.
Unlike Root, only two Jonin from the Anbu were guarding the Third Hokage. One was Bluebird, Hyuga Shoyo, whom Naruto knew.
"Bluebird, Akainu, find eight people and have everyone buy a Virtual Headset. I have an important mission to carry out in the virtual world!"
Although the two Anbu were a little