Chapter 607: The Promised Future of Konoha
[Name: Danzo Shimura]
[Chakra: 146000]
[Skills: Wind Release Chakra Nature Transformation (Mastery: 6100 / 15000), Wind Release: Vacuum Wave (Mastery: 2900 / 15000)… Wood Release (Proficiency: 1200 / 3000)]
[Potential: SS- (Basic Talent + Six Paths Bloodline)]
Mugetsu looked at the appraisal data and fell into thought.
Danzo's stats had improved almost across the board.
His Chakra, skills, and potential had all increased. There was no need to even mention the Chakra. An increase of tens of thousands like this clearly did not come from normal training.
At the same time, Danzo was one of the few Ninja whose potential value had changed among all the people Mugetsu had appraised.
The sudden surge in Chakra, the appearance of Wood Release among his skills, and the increase in potential instantly made Mugetsu think of Hashirama cells.
Danzo's stat increase perfectly matched the effects of Hashirama cells.
The Chakra increase came from obtaining a Sage Body-like constitution, and Wood Release was an essential ability derived from Hashirama cells.
"Danzo shouldn't have the ability to transplant Hashirama cells at this stage, and this level of enhancement doesn't look like a normal Hashirama cell transplant either."
Mugetsu closed the panel and used Flying Thunder God to return to his home in the main district.
He had specifically sent a Shadow Clone to retrieve White Zetsu earlier because he was worried that White Zetsu's body might fall into Danzo's hands, allowing Danzo and Orochimaru to prematurely master the Hashirama cell technique.
He had not expected Danzo to somehow undergo a Hashirama cell transplant during his time away from Konoha.
In the current Ninja World, Danzo had only two possible ways to transplant Hashirama cells.
One was through cooperation with Orochimaru. The two of them had been diligently conducting Hashirama cell experiments.
The second was through Uchiha Madara and Black Zetsu.
In the original work, Orochimaru and Danzo's research into Hashirama cells at this time had not yet reached a deep enough level. A transplant surgery was almost equivalent to murder, and among all the test subjects, only Yamato had survived.
Due to Mugetsu, a transmigrator, intervening, the plot had already undergone significant changes, so Mugetsu could not be one hundred percent certain that Danzo and Orochimaru's research progress on Hashirama cells was the same as in the original work.
However, after thinking it through further, Mugetsu still ruled out the first possibility and believed that Uchiha Madara and Black Zetsu were behind it.
Even if Orochimaru had overcome various difficulties and made a major breakthrough in Hashirama cell research, with Danzo's cautious nature, he would not immediately apply it to himself.
Moreover, Danzo's improvement was too significant. Achieving this effect shortly after transplantation did not seem like a normal Hashirama cell transplant.
Once one of the only two possibilities was eliminated, the remaining one was undoubtedly the truth.
"Is it you, Uchiha Madara, Black Zetsu?"
Mugetsu lightly tapped his finger against the desk as he thought.
Uchiha Madara and Black Zetsu were the ones with the deepest research into Hashirama cells in the current Ninja World. If it was their doing, then every question could be explained.
Mugetsu could even easily guess Uchiha Madara and Black Zetsu's motives.
If Danzo killed Sōsuke, then they would not need to find another method to eliminate Sōsuke later, and deceiving Nagato would become much simpler.
If Danzo failed and was killed by Sōsuke, the result would still shake Konoha, and the Ninja Villages with designs on Konoha would seize the opportunity.
If Danzo and Sōsuke perished together, it would be a double blessing for Uchiha Madara and his group.
"Perhaps they also intended to drag me into it."
Uchiha Madara and his group had not seen through Mugetsu's alias, and Danzo was Mugetsu's secret superior.
As Mugetsu thought this through, he realized that Danzo was indeed a very useful chess piece for Uchiha Madara's side. Whether Danzo lived or died, he would have value.
"Let's see what Danzo is planning."
Mugetsu decided to wait and observe the situation.
Mugetsu was not afraid of schemes targeting him because he had many methods now and did not fear being plotted against.
The more covertly Uchiha Madara acted, the more it proved that Uchiha Madara was weak.
If Uchiha Madara was still capable of fighting, he should have confronted him directly, because Uchiha Madara was not suited to being a schemer.
What Mugetsu truly worried about was his disciples. Obito and the others were currently at a stage where they were stronger than some but still weaker than others. They could not fight truly powerful opponents, but could easily defeat ordinary Jōnin.
That level of strength was not enough to overcome the schemes of Uchiha Madara and Black Zetsu.
…
"Wood Release: World of Trees Advent!"
In a secluded, uninhabited area outside Konoha, Danzo quickly formed hand signs, condensed a large amount of Chakra, and transformed it into Wood Release Chakra.
More than a dozen saplings burst from the ground and rapidly grew into large, leafy trees capable of providing shade.
"As expected, it's not that easy."
Danzo showed a dissatisfied expression.
This was clearly a failure. The Wood Release: World of Trees Advent performed by Hashirama could instantly create a forest with thousands upon thousands of trees.
Danzo had not even produced twenty trees, let alone thousands.
However, Danzo did not lose heart. Even Hashirama had not been born the God of Shinobi. He had become strong through training and eventually reached the peak.
Danzo had only recently acquired Wood Release. A small failure like this was nothing.
Danzo did not continue practicing immediately. Instead, he took out the Wood Release secret Ninjutsu scroll left behind by Hashirama and began to read.
This was one of the reasons he had returned to Konoha. Konoha possessed a large amount of Wood Release data, and he could use this data to train and strengthen himself during this month of preparation.
Although it was only one month, Danzo was not a beginner who had just started learning Ninjutsu. One month was enough for him to master quite a few Wood Release techniques.
"Wood Release: Wood Clone!"
"Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!"
"Wood Release: Silent Killing Binding Technique!"
After failing with Wood Release: World of Trees Advent, Danzo began practicing simpler Wood Release techniques.
A few hours later, Danzo looked at the traces of destruction left by Wood Release on the ground and smiled.
It had been a long time since he had felt this sensation of growing stronger through training.
On one hand, work had kept him from having much time to train. On the other, his strength had long since reached a bottleneck.
After finishing his training, Danzo began clearing away the traces of his practice.
Because he was worried about being discovered by Hiruzen, he did not even dare to train inside Konoha, so naturally, he would not leave any traces behind.
Then, Danzo quietly returned to Konoha's Root Base before heading to the Hokage Building.
He had not shown his face in front of Hiruzen much recently, so he needed to make his presence known.
Creak.
Danzo pushed open the wooden door of the Hokage Office and walked straight in.
Hiruzen looked up. Seeing that it was Danzo, he quietly watched him.
What Danzo was about to say would determine how important knocking was.
"Hiruzen, I believe it is necessary to strengthen the Root and Anbu forces. The war with Iwagakure fully exposed the deficiencies in our intelligence capabilities," Danzo said, placing a document on Hiruzen's desk.
This was a proposal he had written long ago, but Danzo felt that Hiruzen would most likely not approve it, so he had never shown it to him.
Now, it could be recycled.
After all, Danzo could not simply come to chat with Hiruzen empty-handed, could he?
That would only make Hiruzen think Danzo was acting strangely, making it easier for problems to be discovered.
"How many times have I told you? Knock before entering the office. How can you, the Hokage Assistant, fail to set a good example?" Hiruzen said, tapping the desk in dissatisfaction.
The moment Danzo spoke, Hiruzen understood what he was thinking.
Strengthening the Root and Anbu forces. Wasn't he only adding Anbu because he was worried that strengthening Root alone would be directly rejected?
Danzo's expression became displeased, but he said nothing.
He had already obtained the key to becoming the strongest. He would not bother arguing with Hiruzen over such a trivial matter.
Hiruzen picked up the document on the desk and began reading.
After reading for a while, Hiruzen shook his head and said, "This would waste too many resources, and your Root does not need such a large establishment."
In fact, the most important reason was that Hiruzen simply did not want to strengthen the Anbu forces.
Because strengthening the Anbu would create a problem: the Hokage's power and influence would increase.
Anbu was a department that obeyed only the Hokage. If Anbu became stronger, it would naturally reflect on the Hokage.
Although strengthening Anbu was beneficial to Hiruzen as Hokage, Hiruzen already had enough say in Konoha and did not need to increase his authority through Anbu.
Moreover, Hiruzen was worried that a stronger Anbu would create an imbalance of power among the higher-ups, turning the future Hokage Assistants and Advisor Elders into mere figureheads.
"Our intelligence war did indeed lose to Iwagakure. This is not a matter of personnel numbers, but a matter of technical suppression.
"If I give you another squad's worth of personnel, can you guarantee that you will research the same results within two years?" Hiruzen asked.
If Danzo could truly research the disguise methods used by Iwagakure spies, then Root's expansion would be acceptable.
After all, the methods used by those Iwagakure spies were foolproof in the current Ninja World and could play a huge role in war.
"But we have too many opponents. Even from this perspective, we should strengthen our intelligence capabilities," Danzo said, refusing to give up.
If he could be convinced by Hiruzen so easily, then he would not be Danzo.
"Intelligence Ninja are not the same as Root and Anbu Ninja." Hiruzen shook his head and continued.
The two argued for a while, eventually ending with Danzo leaving the Hokage Office with a dark expression, saying nothing.
"This Danzo. Next time, I'll make him pay for the office door repairs."
Looking at Danzo's figure after he slammed the door shut, Hiruzen shook his head.
Recently, Hiruzen had been in a good mood, so he did not dwell too much on Danzo.
Konoha truly had a bright future now.
Among the younger generation, there were young powerhouses like Mugetsu and Minato, who were young but already able to shoulder great responsibility, even more outstanding than the Sannin at their age.
Looking further down, there were genius youths like Kakashi, Obito, and Might Guy, who were clearly super geniuses capable of succeeding Mugetsu and Minato's squad.
Looking higher up, the Sannin were all in their prime. Each of them was capable of directly becoming Hokage, and aside from the unexpected case of Tsunade, they were all very strong.
Looking a little higher up, Konoha still had people.
Hiruzen's hair was completely black, without a single strand of silver, and he was still at the peak of his strength.
His classmate and good friend, Homura Mitokado, was not in as good a state as him, but was not too far behind either.
As for Danzo, as a former good friend and rival, his strength was naturally not bad. He was a master of Wind Release.
If the strength threshold was lowered slightly, Konoha also had Teacher Chen, the former Ino-Shika-Chō, and other powerful elite Ninja.
If they won the war and developed for ten years, Hiruzen felt that Konoha could return to its peak.
Although there might not be an absolute powerhouse like Hashirama, Konoha's overall strength would significantly surpass the other Great Ninja Villages.
…
After leaving the Hokage Office, Danzo's originally grim expression instantly calmed, even revealing a hint of disdain.
"Hiruzen, what does it matter if you are Hokage now? I have already mastered the Wood Release you desperately desired but could not obtain," Danzo thought to himself.
His performance in the Hokage Office just now had merely been a disguise, intended to mislead Hiruzen's perception.
He wanted Hiruzen to mistakenly believe that he was still racking his brains to develop Root's power.
After obtaining Wood Release, Danzo felt a sense of transcendence.
He had mastered the Bloodline Limit of the God of Shinobi and was no longer on the same level as a Ninja like Hiruzen.
"Once I completely master Wood Release, the Fourth Hokage can only be me!"
Infinite confidence surged within Danzo.
He no longer thought about supporting Orochimaru to become Hokage.
Compared to him, Orochimaru was not worthy of being Hokage.
When Danzo was sacrificing himself for Konoha, Orochimaru was nowhere to be found.
Thinking of his contributions to Konoha over the years, Danzo felt that Konoha owed him the Hokage position.
It was just that Tobirama had needed to stay behind and cover their retreat back then, leaving him no time to think too much. Under normal circumstances, Danzo should have been the Third Hokage.
After leaving the Hokage Building, Danzo did not return to the Root Base. Instead, he went out to continue training.
Although he felt in his heart that he was practically universally acclaimed, Danzo knew how much pressure he would face if he wanted to become Hokage.
If he wanted to become Hokage, he could only use Wood Release to make his case, then suppress all opposition with overwhelming strength.
Although he was strong now, he was not yet strong enough to suppress all opposition.
At night, Danzo returned to the Root Base and said to a Root Ninja, "Call Mugetsu over. I want to see him."
Danzo had only three goals in returning to Konoha.
The first was to master Konoha's Wood Release secret Ninjutsu and strengthen his power.
The second was to deceive Hiruzen and prevent his actions from being exposed.
The third and final reason was Mugetsu.
"Uchiha Madara" kept everything hidden, which made Danzo feel very insecure. He always felt that "Uchiha Madara" would discard him once his purpose was served, not only refusing to give him the Shinobi Sect inheritance, but also trying to kill him.
Therefore, Danzo wanted Mugetsu, who had already stepped into the open, to become his trump card.
This would not only ensure his safety, but if "Uchiha Madara's" power was not as strong as he imagined, he could also contend for ownership of the Rinnegan.
That was the legendary Six Paths Sage's eye. How could Danzo willingly hand it over to someone else?
Moreover, to Danzo, that was not only the Six Paths Sage's eye. It was also a piece of the puzzle he needed to become Hokage.
.....
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