Jiraiya's appearance undoubtedly gave the Third Hokage, who had already been pushed into a corner by Danzo, the illusion that he could turn the tide. He went so far as to ignore the glaringly obvious signal of Orochimaru's appearance during the Chunin Exams.
As the Daimyo, nobles, and wealthy merchants from various nations gathered in Konoha, the old man focused all his attention on displaying the village's prosperity and strength. He intended to use this opportunity to sweep away the negative impact of the Uchiha Clan Downfall, ensuring everyone recognized that Konoha remained a powerful ninja village with the strength to repel any invading foe.
It must be said that in terms of internal affairs and diplomacy, he indeed possessed a vision and finesse that most shinobi lacked. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to complete the reconstruction and fully restore economic prosperity in a mere ten years after the Nine-Tails' attack nearly leveled the village.
However, the Third Hokage forgot one thing: the ninja world had always been a place where the strong preyed on the weak. Without military force to match economic power, even the best development would become a mere mirage; a single war or sneak attack could easily reduce it to ashes.
As the night before the final round of the Chunin Selection Exams arrived, Allen finally lost his patience. Driven by a desire for Danzo's arm, which was transplanted with the First Hokage's cells, and Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan, he used the cover of darkness to move silently toward the Root underground base.
Unlike his last visit, he could clearly sense that the security level had risen several notches. Even the barriers that usually remained in a dormant state were now fully activated.
There was no doubt about it. Under Danzo's orders, the entire Root organization had entered a state of total war. Even through their masks, one could detect the faint murderous intent emanating from the members.
"Speak. To come see me at such a critical moment, do you have important intelligence?" Danzo asked in an icy tone, devoid of any emotion.
"I obtained the complete data on Reanimation Jutsu from Orochimaru!"
Allen threw out the bait he had prepared beforehand without hesitation. Just as he expected, the moment Danzo heard the news, a flash of naked, unshielded ecstasy burst from his eyes. He pushed past his two personal bodyguards and stepped forward, impatiently extending his left hand. "Give it to me! Hand over the Reanimation Jutsu data."
"Please, take a look."
Allen reached into his robes, pulled out a scroll containing the records of the Reanimation Jutsu, and offered it with both hands.
"Hahahaha! Good! Excellent! You truly haven't disappointed me!" After scanning the contents of the scroll, Danzo laughed aloud. At this moment, he was completely captivated by the powerful Kinjutsu. He didn't even notice that a strangely shaped hat had appeared atop Allen's head.
The next second... Gnomish Mind Control Cap activated!
The "Darkness of the Shinobi" didn't even have a chance to react; he was instantly controlled. At this point, whether it was the arm he prepared for Izanagi or the Mangekyō Sharingan in his eye socket, they were all rendered useless. Even Izanagi required the caster to possess their own subjective consciousness to trigger.
The Gnomish Mind Control Cap, however, directly controlled the target's brain and thoughts. Until the effect wore off, the victim wouldn't perceive anything was amiss.
Under Allen's control, Danzo waved his hand and dismissed the remaining guards. Within two or three seconds, only two people remained in the dim underground chamber.
"This was easier than I imagined."
Allen smiled, reclaiming the Reanimation scroll from Danzo's hand. Simultaneously, he summoned the Red Dragon, which tore off Danzo's bandage-wrapped right arm in one bite and swallowed it. The Mangekyō Sharingan in the eye socket was also carefully extracted using a Chakra Scalpel and placed into a test tube filled with preservative solution.
Just as he finished, Danzo broke free from the Mind Control Cap's influence.
When he discovered his right arm and right eye were gone, and saw the Mangekyō Sharingan in Allen's hand, he instantly realized what had happened. His face turned so dark it seemed it might drip ink. He questioned through gritted teeth, "You betrayed me? Why? Were you seduced by that fellow Orochimaru?"
"Betrayal?" Allen tucked the Mangekyō Sharingan into his waist bag and shook his head gently.
"No, you're mistaken. I was never loyal to anyone from the start, not to you, not to the Third Hokage, and certainly not to this village called Konoha. It was your own naivety to think I would be like those fools, sacrificing my value and life for the sake of a so-called 'ninja' identity.
"In my eyes, these so-called ninjas and villages are nothing more than tools used to maintain a decaying, vested-interest group, the attack dogs kept by the Daimyo and the nobles. Even more ridiculous is that you clearly possess the power to overthrow or even change the entire world, yet you gloat over a bone tossed by your masters. You even resort to killing one another just to seize a pathetic bit of power and profit.
"It's too unsightly. These twisted values and this worldview must be corrected!"
"You... are you insane?"
Danzo's face was filled with utter horror as he listened. To a traditional ninja like him, these words couldn't just be described as rebellious; they were a total subversion of everything. It subverted the five-nation system established by the First Hokage after the Warring States period! It subverted the cooperative model where the Daimyo and nobles ruled while the ninja villages protected the country!
What he found most incomprehensible was: if the Daimyo and nobles were gone, who would rule the nations? Where would the ninjas and their villages go?
"Heh, in my view, I'm not the crazy one. It's this twisted, sickly world. Farewell, Danzo."
As the final word left his lips, Allen vanished from his spot. In the next second, he pulverized the man's head, giving Danzo zero opportunity to trigger the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Jutsu.
To some extent, this was the advantage of knowing the plot and the opponent's abilities. While other organizations were still desperately trying to gather intel, Allen already knew exactly what Jutsu his next target excelled at and what trump cards they held.
After killing Danzo, he quickly cleaned up the blood and sealed the corpse, intending to hand it over to Orochimaru for Reanimation. He believed the Third Hokage would be moved to tears when he saw his old friend during the Konoha Crush.
Before leaving, Allen didn't forget to leave a Shadow Clone transformed into Danzo to ensure no one would discover the leader of Root was dead in the short term.
He returned to his residence satisfied, silently feeling the genes extracted from the First Hokage's cells and the numerous three-tomoe Sharingan integrating into his body. Within half a minute, his own Sharingan evolved from two-tomoe to three-tomoe, and his Chakra surged like a flood breaking through a dam, instantly multiplying several times over.