As Danzo was thinking this, a silver-haired child wearing round black-rimmed glasses and a plain light green short-sleeved top suddenly burst in and knelt directly before Danzo.
"Lord Danzo, please do not harm the people from our orphanage. I will be your experimental subject."
The Root Shinobi beside Danzo quickly grabbed the silver-haired child, preparing to drag him away to be dealt with.
Suddenly, a pale green chakra glow emanated from the silver-haired child's hands.
Danzo was somewhat surprised and called out to the Root members, "Wait, let him go!"
"Yes!"
Danzo asked the child, who could perform Medical Ninjutsu at such a young age, "What is your name?"
"My name is Kabuto, Yakushi Kabuto!"
That year, Kabuto had been rescued from the battlefield as a war orphan from Kikyo Pass by Nono, who adopted him as her son and gave him the surname 'Yakushi'.
Nono taught Kabuto Medical Ninjutsu. Kabuto was very talented and had learned it at a very young age.
Kabuto followed Nono onto the battlefield to treat Shinobi, thereby earning funds for the orphanage.
However, the two of them alone could not support so many people, so Nono returned to Root to work for Danzo again in exchange for the orphanage's operating funds.
Later, Madara was resurrected, and the situation in the Shinobi World changed drastically. It was filled with various Apocalypse and national-collapse theories, and the prices of goods in the small towns surrounding the orphanage skyrocketed.
Kabuto and the children of the orphanage could not afford to eat and could only go out to beg every day.
Because the Land of Rain was completely blockaded, Danzo's Root could not find experimental subjects, so they turned their gaze toward the civilians living around Konoha.
The Root members lied to the children of Nono's orphanage, saying that if they went there, they could eat their fill and even go to school.
When Kabuto and the others heard they could get free food and drink and even earn school credits, they followed along.
They could indeed eat their fill, and Root would take one of them away every day, saying they were teaching them Ninjutsu and training them to become Konoha Shinobi.
The children in the orphanage scrambled to go because Shinobi were the mainstream of this world.
As long as one became a Shinobi, they would no longer be taken advantage of and could achieve upward social mobility.
But Kabuto keenly discovered that the children who went never returned. After an investigation, he found out that the children from the orphanage were being used as sacrifices for Root's human experiments.
To protect his companions, Kabuto stepped forward to become an experimental subject for Root's human experiments.
Danzo stroked his chin, "Yakushi?!"
Danzo thought of his spy who had infiltrated Amegakure—Yakushi Nono.
A nearby Root member revealed, "This child is the Miko's adopted son! His Medical Ninjutsu was also taught by the Miko."
Kabuto listened intently to their conversation and immediately deduced that 'Miko' was the Director's code name within Root.
He asked anxiously, "Do you know the Director's whereabouts? Where did the Director go?"
Danzo said in a low voice, "Your Director is currently infiltrating a dangerous Village to complete an arduous mission."
Kabuto deduced, "Is it Amegakure? Lord Danzo, did you send the Director to Amegakure to scout for information on Uchiha Madara?"
Danzo looked at Kabuto with some surprise; from just a few words, he had deduced that Nono had been sent to Amegakure for a mission.
This child is a natural-born Shinobi!
Danzo did not answer.
Kabuto already had his answer from Danzo's silence, and he felt somewhat despairing. "Why? Why send the Director to such a place?"
Going to Amegakure, to Madara's territory to gather intelligence—that was the base of the ultimate boss of the Shinobi World.
Once one went, it could basically be declared that they wouldn't be coming back.
Danzo spoke his dark theory, "Ninjia are tools. No matter what the mission is, they are tools that must complete it."
"Only in this way can we protect the Village and the country!"
Kabuto pressed on with some indignation, "Since the Director is a hero protecting the Land of Fire, why did you capture us all for human experiments? Didn't you know the orphanage was run by the Director?"
Danzo did not speak, but the Root Shinobi beside him shouted, "You were all out begging for food; it was Root that gave you enough to eat."
"And this is your opportunity. As long as the experiment is successful, those who survive will become Lord Danzo's confidants."
Kabuto slammed a fist onto the ground, his heart filled with despair. This place called Root was full of darkness, with absolutely no trace of human sentiment to speak of.
He looked at Danzo angrily, "Lord Danzo, what kind of human experiment is it exactly? Five people from our orphanage have already been killed."
Danzo said, "Fusing Orochimaru's cells!"
Kabuto was startled, "Lord Orochimaru?!"
Danzo looked at Kabuto, "You know Orochimaru?"
Kabuto nodded, "I once treated him. Lord Orochimaru took an interest in my Medical Ninjutsu and wanted me to be his subordinate, but I didn't agree."
Danzo sneered, "That fellow Orochimaru really won't release the hawk until he sees the rabbit!"
Kabuto kowtowed before Danzo, "Lord Danzo, please let the people from the orphanage go. I will be your experimental subject."
Danzo gave Kabuto a choice, "Kabuto, I'll give you a choice. Join my Root, don't worry about this matter, and let those unrelated to you be the experimental subjects."
Danzo had taken a liking to Kabuto's talent—he had Medical Ninjutsu and such a sharp mind; he was a natural for becoming a spy Shinobi.
After Nono was used up, her adopted son could be used to replace her.
It would be a bit of a waste to use him as a high-risk experimental subject.
Kabuto shook his head, "Please grant me this, Lord Danzo. I will never abandon my brothers and sisters!"
"..."
Danzo fell silent for a moment. "Fine, arrange the fusion experiment for him!"
"Yes!"
The Root researchers looked at Kabuto with pity, then went to prepare the cell fusion experiment for him.
Kabuto took off his clothes and asked Danzo one last time, "Lord Danzo, if the experiment on me is successful, can you let the Director return?"
Danzo nodded. "Yes. As long as you can fuse with Orochimaru's cells, I will let Yakushi Nono return!"
Kabuto was immediately heartened.
The researchers injected him with an anesthetic, and Kabuto fell into a deep sleep.
Danzo set aside the matter of the Orochimaru cell fusion and went to his office to handle other affairs.
"Take a photo of Yakushi Kabuto and send it to the Priestess. Tell her to find a way to kill Uchiha Ryou, or else her adopted son will be killed!"
"Yes!"
"Go spread the word that Uchiha Ryou's defection was pushed by the Uchiha Clan, and that Uchiha Madara's resurrection also has the shadow of the Uchiha Clan behind it. Deepen the impression in the Shinobi World that the Uchiha are the Root of trouble."
"Yes!"
Danzo gave out orders one by one, finally taking out a document and handing it to Aburame Ryoma.
"Ryoma, give this document to Hiruko. Have Hiruko deliver it to Ryūchi Cave for Orochimaru. Tell him this is intelligence on Uchiha Madara's Rinnegan and have Orochimaru come up with a way to counter it as soon as possible."
"Yes!"
After all matters were arranged, Danzo stayed alone in the darkness, letting out a low, somber sound.
"Uchiha—"
A Root member burst in, sounding somewhat anxious. "This is bad, Lord Danzo. Lord Jiraiya has taken Uchiha Shisui as his apprentice."
"Nani—"
...
At the Konoha BBQ restaurant, the Uchiha had booked the entire place to celebrate Jiraiya taking Shisui as his apprentice.
Shisui served Jiraiya a cup of tea and respectfully addressed him as Sensei.
Jiraiya laughed heartily. "Good, good, good. Shisui, I don't have much I can teach you, but if anyone takes advantage of you in the future, just tell your teacher and your senior brother Minato."
Shisui looked at Minato, who gave him a gentle nod.
Minato approved of Jiraiya taking Shisui as an apprentice.
At the time, only the two elders, Koharu and Homura, had disagreed, but Jiraiya was determined to take Shisui as his apprentice.
The Third Hokage had also agreed.
The political significance of Jiraiya taking Shisui as an apprentice was greater than the practical significance. Jiraiya was the Third Hokage's disciple and one of the Village's Sannin.
His status was only below the four high-level officials, and most importantly, he was part of the Senju Faction.
As long as one was within the lineage of the First and Second Hokage's mentorship, they were considered part of the Senju Faction.
Jiraiya taking Shisui as an apprentice represented the Senju Faction truly accepting the Uchiha Clan.