Pale threads of light hung from the air, wrapping the entire space like a spiderweb. Scattered black phantoms floated between the threads, pairs of scarlet eyes slowly opening and closing, glimmers shifting within them.
Beneath the countless shadows, a tall, slender figure stood silently in the depths of the darkness, his voluminous outer robe trailing across the ground.
His body half melded into the darkness, his outline blurred and indistinct. Only an inescapable gloom and desolation clung to him.
"Everyone loathes nightmares, seeing them as inner demons and shackles. To me, nightmares are the most honest advisers. They reveal every hidden danger and expose all the rot beneath gentle appearances. Only by abandoning fantasies of sweet dreams and accepting the trials of nightmares can one cast aside pointless pity and make decisions that safeguard the greater good.
"Hiruzen, judging by the results now, my decisions have always been right. In the end, you were wrong yet again... A Mangekyō Sharingan like Kagami's. That power has appeared in the Uchiha Clan once more."
Shimura Danzō quietly watched the dream fragment before him and spoke with an impassive expression.
The dream fragment displayed the dream of an ordinary jōnin from Iwagakure. Within that dream was a scene of Ōnoki ordering people to spread the news that Uchiha Gen had awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Do you need our help, my dear... other self?"
As Shimura Danzō spoke, a mass of thick black mist slowly drifted around him, then transformed into a grotesque humanoid monster that stopped behind him and spoke with a giggle.
"Nightmare Wraith, you... seem to have grown a little bolder."
At those words, Shimura Danzō tightened his grip on his cane slightly, then turned and quietly stared at the monster before him as he spoke coldly.
As his words fell,