In a secret underground base beneath Konoha Village, Shimura Danzo strode grimly into the main hall.
The Root Organization members, sensing his foul mood, didn't dare even breathe audibly as they bowed their heads in greeting.
Though he had once fallen from power and been stripped of his positions as Elder and Advisor, and the Third Hokage had ordered the disbandment of his Root Organization, many of his former subordinates still served in the Anbu, remaining loyal to Root.
Moreover, like a clever rabbit with three burrows, Danzo had established hidden bases throughout Konoha to gather Root members and conduct unspeakable research.
"Hiruzen, you'll regret this!"
Sitting alone in the dimly lit room, Danzo's eyes flashed with dark resolve as he muttered to himself.
After uttering these words, he seemed to release a long-held tension, his mood calming considerably.
Danzo's feelings toward Sarutobi Hiruzen, his longtime comrade, were complex and conflicted.
Though he had long since seized Uchiha Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan and its Heavenly Hand technique, he had never intended to use it against Hiruzen.
First, while Uchiha Shisui had claimed that the Kotoamatsukami allowed him to subconsciously manipulate others and permanently and completely alter their thoughts and will, Danzō remained skeptical.
Whether this discrepancy stemmed from his inability to fully harness the Mangekyō Sharingan's power or Shisui's exaggeration, Danzō, by nature suspicious, cunning, and treacherous, never fully trusted Shisui's words.
He had previously discovered that the First Hokage Cells implanted in his arm could drastically shorten the cooldown time for Kotoamatsukami.
After obtaining Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan, Danzō didn't immediately use it on Sarutobi Hiruzen, nor on the village's advisors or clan leaders. Instead, he tested it on his own subordinates.
Through experimentation, he found that the Kotoamatsukami was far less potent than Shisui had claimed.
The purported ability to subconsciously manipulate others was immediately detected by a Hyūga Branch Family member of the Root Organization.
Moreover, it failed to permanently and completely alter the target's thoughts and will.
Instead, it could only modify their consciousness for 10-15 days, with the duration varying depending on the individual's mental fortitude.
This was one of the reasons why Danzō never used the Mangekyō Sharingan on Sarutobi Hiruzen to turn him into his puppet.
Secondly, deep down, he had no desire to alter the will of his old comrade.
Just as he had often said to the Third Hokage:
"You are Konoha bathed in sunlight, while I am Root, buried in darkness!"
What gnawed at him most was his defeat at the hands of the Third Hokage—the Konoha bathed in sunlight.
He could use any underhanded scheme, any shady tactic, to oppose the Third Hokage, even kill him.
But that only applied to the Third Hokage bathed in sunlight, not the Third Hokage who had become his puppet, transformed into a root of darkness.
Defeating or assassinating such a puppet Third Hokage would bring him no satisfaction whatsoever.
"This eye is too much of a burden," Danzo murmured, snapping back to reality and touching the bandages covering his right eye.
The Sharingan exacted a tremendous toll on non-Uchiha users and couldn't be deactivated at will.
Even a prodigy like Kakashi struggled to bear the eye's drain in his prime; how much more so for Danzo, now nearing seventy?
Yet...
Danzo unwrapped the bandages from his right hand, his face darkening with ominous intent.
From palm to elbow, Danzo's arm had completely necrotized, transforming into a woody, petrified state.
The woody growth continued to spread relentlessly, visible as it encroached further up his limb.
'Even the Mangekyō Sharingan can't stop the First Generation's cells from invading my body?'
Danzo felt deeply troubled.
He knew the First Hokage was immensely powerful; he had witnessed the legendary battle at the Valley of the End from afar under his teacher Senju Tobirama's guidance, witnessing two figures wielding power akin to gods.
Yet he never imagined the Mangekyō Sharingan would be unable to suppress the First Hokage's cells. After all, Uchiha Madara's Sharingan was merely a Mangekyō as well.
Uchiha Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan now placed a tremendous burden on his mind, but to barely resist the First Hokage cells' encroachment, he had no choice but to transplant it into his right eye—a desperate measure, like drinking poison to quench his thirst.
He had to find a solution quickly!
Danzo could sense that within a decade at most, even if he didn't die of old age, the First Hokage cells would consume his entire body, leading to his demise.
With a dark glint in his eyes, Danzo rose and strode toward the biological research laboratory within the hidden base.
"Lord Danzo!"
As Danzo entered the room, a group of researchers in white lab coats immediately knelt in reverence.
Danzo nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the corpses preserved in formalin and the pairs of crimson eyes submerged in nutrient solution. He spoke coldly:
"Has there been any progress in the research on Uchiha corpses and Sharingan?"
His words caused the researchers to break into a cold sweat, stammering incoherently.
"Hmph! Worthless fools!"
Danzo's icy voice cut through the silence as he observed his subordinates' performance. He had already gleaned the answer from their behavior.
Their research on First Hokage Cells had yielded virtually no progress. After losing Yamato, they had lost all direction entirely.
To resolve his own physical problems, Danzo had been forced to shift his focus to the Sharingan.
His request to the Third Hokage for Uchiha Sasuke tonight was genuine. He didn't intend to kill the boy, but rather to observe and study him up close, hoping to unlock the secrets of the Uchiha bloodline and the Sharingan.
Though Danzo possessed numerous Uchiha corpses and Sharingan, only two living Uchiha remained in the world: the rogue Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke, the one residing in the village.
The dead were fundamentally different from the living.
As for Uchiha Itachi's threat to Danzo before leaving—that if he dared harm Sasuke, he would sell Konoha's intelligence to enemy nations—Danzo remained utterly unfazed, even feeling a slight urge to laugh.
In the original timeline, Konoha had faced annihilation three times, even being completely destroyed once, yet Danzo had never emerged from the shadows.
Moreover, Danzo himself had countless clandestine dealings with foreign villages, selling intelligence for profit.
How could Uchiha Itachi's threat possibly intimidate him?
'You're selling information about Sarutobi Hiruzen's Konoha—what concern is that to me, Shimura Danzo? Fool!'
Danzo sneered inwardly, slowly scanning his subordinates who dared not even breathe. "I expect results from you as soon as possible," he said coolly. "Otherwise..."
He left the sentence unfinished, but the implication was clear to all present.
Now that his Root Organization had been disbanded, he had few reliable subordinates left.
But if anyone dared to slack off on tasks he assigned, he wouldn't hesitate to make an example of them—slaughtering a few chickens to warn the monkeys, sending a chilling message to any who might follow suit.
"Yes, Lord Danzo! We will exert every effort!" A research team leader immediately stepped forward and declared loudly.
"Hmph!"
Danzo nodded slightly, just as he was about to speak again, a knock sounded at the door.
"Enter!"
"Lord Danzo! Confidential document!"
A Root ninja, masked and kneeling on one knee, presented a sealed document with both hands.
Danzo took the document, opened it, and read for a moment before a look of surprise crossed his face. He murmured, "Orochimaru?"