"It's driving me mad!"
Danzō's eyes were bloodshot.
Not because he was activating the Sharingan—he was furious.
On this night of the clan's extermination, he could be called the most diligent.
He forged an order from Hiruzen Sarutobi, tacked on a written test at the Ninja Academy, and delayed Sasuke's dismissal time.
He also tacitly approved a day off for the entire Konoha Police Force, sending them home and giving Itachi the perfect chance to wipe them out in one go.
At the same time, he deployed Root operatives to set up barriers.
Maybe not merit, but certainly hard work.
Yet after an entire night, he hadn't gotten a single pair of Sharingan.
Next, he'd have to take the blame and face Hiruzen's interrogation.
Thinking of this, he immediately put on a mask of agony.
Orochimaru was faring a little better.
The previous talent tests on Uchiha had netted him several pairs of Sharingan.
And he possessed an experimental subject named Uchiha Shin.
He wasn't actually a member of the Uchiha clan, but a very special human.
He showed no rejection reaction to any transplanted tissue.
The new arm Orochimaru gave Danzō was actually his arm.
With powerful cloning technology on top of that, acquiring Sharingan wasn't a big problem.
But getting Mangekyō Sharingan might take an extremely long time.
Seizing them directly would be fast and convenient.
Unfortunately, every attempt had failed.
Orochimaru concluded he must be cursed when it came to Mangekyō Sharingan.
Every encounter spelled trouble.
Especially with Natsume.
Orochimaru gradually calmed down.
He had a fallback, so he wasn't flustered.
Only Danzō was badly burned.
Without Sharingan, he couldn't use Izanagi with impunity; his strength would drop by half.
Reduced to an ordinary jōnin.
He couldn't stomach that.
After all, he intended to be Hokage.
"Lord Danzō."
A Root operative appeared, kneeling on one knee to report: "We've tallied the corpses of the dead Uchiha. Around three hundred are missing."
"What did you say?!"
Danzō suddenly turned, a look of joy on his face. "Where are they now?"
Three hundred people.
Heaven never shuts every door!
Even if many are ordinary civilians, there have to be a few ninja, right?
Scraping together a few sets of three-tomoe Sharingan should be no problem.
Orochimaru sneered inwardly.
For that mysterious man to snatch so many pairs of eyes in an instant, he must possess some terrifying method.
Why would he leave three hundred people for you?
Itachi, brainwashed by the Will of Fire.
Danzō, mind clouded by the Hokage's seat.
Two fools!
"You handle the rest yourself."
Orochimaru couldn't be bothered to stick around to face Hiruzen.
"Don't forget your promise."
Danzō turned his head, only to find Orochimaru already gone.
He frowned.
This guy didn't give him an ounce of face.
If not for valuing his human experimentation skills, he would have wanted to get rid of him long ago.
"Based on the traces, possibly at the Naka Shrine."
The Root operative answered.
"I actually forgot about Naka Shrine."
Danzō's eyes lit up.
Orochimaru's intel said Sarutobi Seinosuke's corpse was at Naka Shrine.
This indicated the location would have quite a few Uchiha ninja guarding it.
"Half of Root stays to search for valuable Uchiha items; the other half comes with me to Naka Shrine."
Danzō gave immediate orders.
"Lord Danzō."
Another Root operative flickered into view. "Lord Hokage is on his way here."
Danzō was slightly startled.
To be honest, he was a little nervous.
But then he thought of Sarutobi Seinosuke, waved a hand, and said, "You go first. I'll follow shortly."
"Yes."
The two Root operatives moved out at once.
They only took orders from Danzō.
As for others—even the Hokage—couldn't command them.
"Danzō!"
The voice arrived before the man.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face was livid, anger barely contained.
The moment he appeared, he demanded, "Look at what you've done! I told you to wait for me. Why did you act on your own?!"
"Hiruzen, hesitation means defeat."
Danzō said coldly, "So many jōnin—if a rebellion were allowed to run its course, it would inflict unprecedented damage on Konoha. But now, without a single injury on our side, I've perfectly resolved the Uchiha clan."
"Bastard!"
Hiruzen pointed at the corpses in the distance and asked, "You keep saying it's for Konoha—then where are their eyes?"
I want to know that too!
Danzō's temper flared, and he snapped, "Taken by a mysterious powerful individual. It wasn't me."
"A mysterious individual again?"
Hiruzen let out an exasperated laugh. "Can you tell the truth for once?"
Our Konoha is one of the Five Great Villages, not some place any Tom, Dick, or Harry can waltz into.
Where are all these mysterious individuals coming from?
If you're going to make excuses, at least make good ones!
Hiruzen was certain Danzō had swallowed those Sharingan.
He'd been coveting them for ages; now that an opportunity arose, he wouldn't let it slip.
"It truly wasn't me!"
Danzō repeated darkly.
"Fine—let's say it wasn't you."
Hiruzen took a deep breath and asked, "Where is Itachi?"
"He killed all members of the Uchiha clan and has defected."
Danzō delivered his prepared line.
"What?!"
Hiruzen found it absurd.
He had assumed Root did it, but it turned out to be Itachi.
Thinking it over, Root didn't have the capability.
Only Itachi, with Mangekyō Sharingan and his status, could silently wipe out the entire Uchiha clan.
A hint of guilt flashed in Hiruzen's eyes.
What was the point of this?
He could roughly understand Itachi's thinking.
What a good child.
Hiruzen's aged frame seemed even more stooped.
With the Uchiha clan gone, Konoha would fall into decline again, and other villages might start stirring.
This was why he had always been reluctant to resort to force.
"Hiruzen, there's one more thing."
Danzō tossed out a planted bombshell: "During Root's search of Uchiha records, we found they orchestrated the kidnapping of Seinosuke. He is currently at Naka Shrine."
"What?!"
Hiruzen's head snapped up, his expression changing. "Utterly brazen!"
Danzō thought to himself: You were just looking guilty—now you can finally stop pretending to be the good guy, huh.
Hiruzen could keep Danzō in check. He wasn't pure evil, but calling him good would be insulting the Hero of the Shinobi.
Plenty of shinobi had died by his hands.
"We'll know once we go to Naka Shrine."
Danzō lifted a hand. "Given the Uchiha's character, after Seinosuke's Wood Release was exposed, it's highly likely they kidnapped him."
Hiruzen nodded silently.
He should have thought of this earlier—he just didn't want to stir up more trouble at this moment.