Orochimaru, what do you think of my suggestion?
When Danzo finished speaking, an eerie silence fell over the entire underground base.
The fervor on the faces of the Root ninjas gradually faded, replaced by a deep, heartfelt fear and rejection.
Orochimaru!
That name is a taboo for Konoha, especially for these elite members of the Anbu!
He was the most brilliant genius in Konoha's history, and also the most ruthless traitor!
He treated human life as worthless, and for the sake of his research, he did not hesitate to use his colleagues' bodies for experiments, committing countless crimes!
To cooperate with such a complete madman is tantamount to asking a tiger for its skin!
Lord Danzo! Please reconsider!
One of the most senior Anbu Captain couldn't help but step forward, his voice trembling slightly with excitement.
" Orochimaru has absolutely no bottom line! He won't help us; he'll only use us! Once he masters the forbidden technique ' Impure World Reincarnation,' he will become an even more terrifying disaster than Uchiha Gen'yō!"
"That's right! Lord Danzo!" another ninja chimed in, "We can't trust that madman! He betrayed even the Third Lord Hokage without hesitation, how could he possibly help us sincerely?!"
Immediately, dissenting voices arose one after another.
They are willing to die for Konoha, but they cannot accept entrusting Konoha's future to such a notorious rogue missing-nin!
This is an utter insult to their very "roots" and will!
"Shut up, all of you!"
Danzo suddenly slammed his cane on his hand and let out a sharp shout!
The chilling aura emanating from someone who had long held a high position and controlled life and death instantly suppressed all the commotion.
He slowly turned around, his single eye sweeping across everyone present with the sharpness of a hawk's.
Do you think I don't know what kind of person Orochimaru is?
His voice was cold and full of sarcasm.
Do you think I want to deal with that madman?
"But tell me!" His voice suddenly rose, exploding in everyone's ears like thunder, "Who else but him can perform this technique?! Who else can bring the First Hokage back to this world?!"
Is that you?!
He pointed with his cane at the captain who had been the first to object.
"It's you?!"
He then pointed to another person.
Those he pointed to instinctively lowered their heads, not daring to meet his gaze.
Yes, besides Orochimaru, who else can they rely on?
The people who have studied the forbidden technique " Impure World Reincarnation " the most in the entire Shinobi World are the Second Hokage, who developed it, and Orochimaru, who "made it famous"!
"A bunch of useless trash!"
Danzo looked at the silent crowd, a hint of undisguised contempt flashing in his eyes.
You only see the risks, but you don't see the opportunities!
"You only know how to fear Orochimaru, but you don't realize that the enemy we're facing now is a true 'god' who is ten thousand times more terrifying than Orochimaru!"
He took a deep breath, his tone softening slightly, but the madness within it was even more chilling.
"When faced with two evils, choose the lesser! Don't you understand this principle?"
" Orochimaru is a venomous snake, but Uchiha Gen'yō is a dragon capable of devouring the entire world! To defeat the dragon, we must first learn to dance with the venomous snake!"
"As long as we can kill Uchiha Gen'yō, as long as we can preserve the roots of Konoha! What does it matter if Orochimaru runs rampant for a few more years?"
"Once we welcome back the First Hokage, with the God of Shinobi overseeing things, Orochimaru will be easily subdued!"
Danzo's words, like the whispers of the devil, once again bewitched everyone.
Their already wavering stance began to falter.
Yes, Lord Danzo is right.
Compared to Uchiha Gen'yō, who had already conquered the world, Orochimaru's threat seemed to be tolerable for the time being.
Seeing the struggle and softening on everyone's faces, Danzo knew the time was almost right.
He played his last and most crucial card.
"And do you really think Orochimaru would refuse me?"
Danzo's face revealed a confident, knowing smile.
"I prepared a 'gift' for him that he absolutely couldn't refuse."
"A 'gift' that would make him willingly serve us!"
Yamanaka Fū's heart skipped a beat; he knew this was Danzo's true trump card.
" Lord Danzo, what have you prepared?"
Danzo did not answer directly, but slowly walked to the other side of the base.
There were three cryogenically frozen coffins made of a special material, emanating a chilling aura.
He walked to one of the coffins and gently stroked the cold lid with his wrinkled hand, his eyes revealing a complex sense of remembrance and awe that even he himself did not notice.
"What Orochimaru pursued throughout his life was nothing more than 'truth' and 'immortality'."
"And to reach the truth, one needs the most powerful force as the object of study."
He coveted Uchiha Gen'yō's power, but he dared not touch it. Because he knew that touching it would mean death.
"So I'm going to give him another option."
Danzo suddenly raised his head, his single eye flashing with a mad light that chilled everyone to the bone!
"I want to present the 'God' who once stood at the pinnacle of this Shinobi World as a gift to him!"
He slammed his hand on the coffin in front of him!
"This contains the complete genetic sample of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, which I painstakingly collected over half my life!"
He then pointed to another coffin next to it.
"And this is Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage who died for the village. His ' Flying Thunder God Kunai ' still bears the purest imprint of his space-time Chakra!"
" Tobirama Senju, the master of Space-Time Ninjutsu, and the developer of forbidden techniques!"
" Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash ' who has mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique!"
"What do you say—"
Danzo's voice, like a devil's temptation, rang in everyone's ears.
What will Orochimaru's expression be when he sees these two "gifts"?
"When he learns that he can not only resurrect the First Hokage, but also simultaneously resurrect the Second and Fourth Hokage, forming an unprecedented ' Hokage Legion,' will he refuse?!"
"He won't!"
Danzo answered the question himself, his tone resolute and full of absolute confidence!
"Not only will he not refuse, he'll even kneel down and thank me for giving him this opportunity to touch the 'realm of the gods'!"
"With these three legendary Hokage, plus the full power of our 'Root', we might not be without the strength to fight Uchiha Gen'yō!"
Dead silence.
The entire base fell into a deathly silence once again.
But this time it wasn't fear, but a madness called "hope" that had been ignited to its extreme!
Resurrect the three Hokage!
Form the Hokage Legion!
To fight against the God of Uchiha!
How insane! How daring! How thrilling!
All the Root ninjas' breathing became heavy.
They could almost see themselves, led by the three legendary Hokage, storming the Moon Palace and tearing that damned Gunbai banner to shreds!
"So, now--"
Danzo watched all this with satisfaction, then slowly turned to face Yamanaka Fū and gave his final command.
"Go contact the 'mole' we've planted in Otogakure."
Tell Orochimaru that his old friend Shimura Danzō.
"I need to know which lair he's in now."
Yamanaka Fū shuddered and immediately obeyed, "Yes, sir!"
However, just as Yamanaka Fū was about to turn and leave, Danzo suddenly called him back.
"Etc."
Yamanaka Fū stopped and looked at Danzo with a puzzled expression.
An unprecedented solemnity appeared on Danzo's face.
"Tell 'the mole' to make sure he confirms one thing."
"What's up?"
Danzo's voice became incredibly low, as if it were being squeezed out from between his teeth.
"Ask him if Orochimaru has been researching the genes of anyone other than the Hokage lately?"