The night was dark and oppressive.
Deep within a forest in the Land of the Moon, a middle-aged ninja with graying hair at his temples was rapidly leaping from tree to tree.
Not far behind him, explosions echoed continuously through the forest.
His expression was gloomy. Gritting his teeth, he pushed his speed even further.
That person was none other than Shimura Danzō.
Looking back on his life, Danzō felt that his greatest mistake had been trusting the nonsense spoken by his so-called friends.
When they were young, Akimichi Torifu had once told him, "I hate carrying snacks, but if you have too many to carry, I can help."
Seeing Torifu's honest smile, Danzō believed him without hesitation and handed over all his snacks.
After that...
There was no after that.
As he grew older, Danzō experienced his first love and developed feelings for Utatane Koharu.
Later, while writing her a love letter, Mitokado Homura discovered it.
Homura swore he would never tell a third person.
The very next day, every Genin in Konoha knew about it.
At that time, Danzō genuinely wanted to kill him.
Then there was Uchiha Kagami, who enthusiastically volunteered to help Danzō pursue Koharu.
Soon afterward, Koharu ended up liking Kagami instead.
Life was truly unfair.
If those incidents could still be tolerated, then Hiruzen was by far the most shameless of them all.
Back then, Hiruzen had clearly promised to help Danzō become the Third Hokage. He had even sworn he would vote for him.
In the end, Hiruzen became the Third Hokage himself.
Danzō felt that his entire life had been ruined by this group of scoundrels, especially Hiruzen.
It was Hiruzen who had convinced him to infiltrate the Akatsuki as a spy, promising that he would eventually clear his name and welcome him back to Konoha in glory.
Danzō's original plan was simple.
Work undercover for three years, then another three years if necessary, eventually rise through the ranks, and perhaps even obtain the Rinnegan.
Instead, he was now running for his life like a stray dog while being hunted down.
Half a year had already passed since Danzō joined the Akatsuki.
In the end, he still chose to defect.
Becoming the leader was impossible.
That man only knew how to exploit his subordinates, constantly sending them on missions.
Did he think collecting Tailed Beasts was easy?
Although the Hidden Cloud Village had suffered an attack from Hayashi, that very incident had only strengthened its defenses.
Danzō and Kakuzu had infiltrated Kumogakure and spent an enormous amount of effort planning their operation before barely managing to capture the Two-Tails Jinchūriki.
They had almost died in the process.
After enduring all that hardship without even resting for two days, the leader immediately ordered them to steal the Three-Tails.
The Three-Tails was also being kept in the Hidden Cloud Village now.
After just attacking the Two-Tails Jinchūriki, infiltrating the village again so soon to locate the scroll containing the Three-Tails was practically suicide.
Kakuzu could continuously replace his hearts to prolong his life.
Danzō could not.
His supply of Sharingan was limited.
How many times could he possibly use Izanagi?
Did they truly think he was immortal?
If the leader's exploitation was bad enough, Kakuzu himself was an even bigger problem.
Whenever Danzō lowered his guard, Kakuzu would try to kill him just to collect the bounty on his head.
This wasn't a teammate.
This was an enemy.
Danzō was exhausted.
On one side, he had to complete dangerous missions while being worked to the bone.
On the other, he constantly had to watch his back to avoid being killed by his own partner.
He was already over fifty years old.
How could he continue living like this?
After careful consideration, Danzō decided to defect.
He absolutely could not remain in the Akatsuki any longer.
Instead, he would seek out his former subordinates.
Although Orochimaru had purged much of Root during the past six months, Danzō had secretly dispatched a number of his subordinates before leaving Konoha.
As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows.
Long ago, Danzō had established numerous hidden bases.
Originally, they were intended as shelters in case Konoha was ever destroyed.
Now, they finally had a use.
Despite Kakuzu keeping a close eye on him, Danzō had already secretly contacted his remaining followers.
The moment he escaped the Akatsuki, he would rebuild an entirely new Root.
No.
He had already changed his plans.
If Konoha refused to let him become Hokage, then he would establish his own hidden village in a small country.
Most importantly, he desperately needed to replenish his supply of Sharingan.
His arm had originally contained seven Sharingan.
He lost four during the events in Konoha.
He lost another during his first battle against Kakuzu.
Then, while capturing the Two-Tails, he lost one more.
Now, only a single Sharingan remained on his arm.
His right eye housed Uchiha Kagami's Mangekyō Sharingan, which absolutely could not be damaged.
That was why he was so desperate to escape.
He needed more Sharingan.
Fortunately, he had already ordered his subordinates to gather replacements.
In that regard, he actually had Hayashi to thank.
Because of Hayashi's influence, many Uchiha clan members were now carrying out missions outside Konoha.
Although the frequency of Sharingan awakenings had increased, it also created opportunities for Danzō.
If the Uchiha Clan had remained in Konoha as the Military Police Force, he would never have had such a chance.
After running for a long time, Danzō gradually slowed down.
West of this forest lay the Land of Sound, where his loyal subordinates were waiting.
There was no hidden village there, making it an ideal hiding place.
Just then, a knocking sound echoed ahead.
Moments later, a tall ninja emerged from the darkness.
Danzō scanned his surroundings and found no one else.
He frowned.
"Kakuzu, you still refuse to let me go."
Kakuzu burst into laughter.
"It's not that I won't let you go. I told the boss long ago that both you and Fugaku were Konoha spies and that we should kill you for the bounty. He didn't listen."
"Now that you've defected, the leader ordered me to take your head."
Danzō narrowed his eyes.
"Just you?"
"Of course not."
Another voice suddenly sounded.
A figure dropped heavily from a tree and landed on the grass.
It was a short man with a large tail-like appendage, wearing a loose cloak and a Sunagakure forehead protector.
"Sasori..."
A cold sneer escaped Sasori's lips.
"Kakuzu is interested in your head."
"I'm more interested in your body."
"A former high-ranking official of Konoha would make a wonderful puppet."
Danzō glanced at him and frowned.
Among all the Akatsuki members, Sasori was one of the people he feared most.
Only the leader and Fugaku ranked above him.
After all, this was the man who had assassinated the Third Kazekage and turned him into a puppet.
Even now, the world still speculated about how the Third Kazekage had disappeared.
Very few people knew that Sasori had killed him when he was only fifteen years old.
And Danzō knew better than anyone how powerful the Third Kazekage had been.
"Hey, hey, Sasori, don't interfere."
"Otherwise, I won't be polite."
Before Danzō could respond, Kakuzu immediately began complaining.
"I hate people like you who turn valuable corpses into puppets."
"It's a complete waste of money."
"Do you know how much the Third Kazekage's corpse would be worth on the black market?"
"What a waste of a priceless treasure."
Before they had even captured Danzō, the two Akatsuki members had already begun arguing among themselves.
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