Inside the ROOT base, the last three guards had all collapsed. After confirming they wouldn't wake up anytime soon, Night Namikaze stepped over their bodies without a second glance.
As for the bloodied mid-level ROOT leader he had used as a prop? Well, Night just hoped he was tough enough to survive.
He didn't bother saving the man, despite being from the same village. The guy gave off a vibe eerily similar to Danzo's—probably a member of the Shimura clan. That alone made Night dislike him.
Night arrived at the core stone chamber. The heavy stone door was tightly shut, signaling that the master was away.
Touching the door, he could feel the intricate sealing barriers. Trying to force it open without the correct technique would not only fail but also trigger a chain of deadly traps.
But so what?
"Scan."
[Ding! Specially crafted door rigged with barriers... Valuation: 0]
"Confirm Pawn."
In an instant, the massive stone door vanished into thin air without a sound.
Night smirked. Danzo, you can calculate all you want, but against a player with cheat codes, your traps are useless.
He stepped into the core chamber cautiously, scanning his surroundings. A strange sense of déjà vu hit him.
"This... why does this look exactly like the Hokage's office?"
Night couldn't help but roast Danzo. The layout was nearly identical to Hiruzen's office, just with a gloomier, more "Danzo-esque" aesthetic.
"As expected of the 5.5th Hokage of Konoha. He's been planning this for a long time."
Night had a hunch. He walked straight to the desk and scanned the bookshelves behind it.
They were packed with scrolls. Searching through them manually would take days.
He suppressed the urge to look through them one by one. He was still in enemy territory; time was a luxury he didn't have.
"Scan."
[Scan Complete. Discovered ownerless pawnable items:]
[Ding! Intelligence Scroll x52 ... Valuation: 0]
[Ding! Blank Scroll x10 ... Valuation: 0]
[Ding! Forbidden Jutsu: Reverse Four Symbols Sealing ... Valuation: 50]
[Ding! Cursed Seal: Eradication of the Tongue ... Valuation: 50]
[Ding! Cursed Seal: Self-Cursing Seal ... Valuation: 50]
[Ding! Forbidden Jutsu: Flying Thunder God Technique ... Valuation: 100]
...
The list of jutsus scrolling down his vision was endless. Night was dazzled. Looking around this "Shadow Hokage Office," he could only sigh.
"Danzo, you old fox. I knew you played dirty, but you really hid the good stuff deep."
This collection of forbidden jutsus was terrifying. Even the Uchiha clan probably didn't have a library this extensive.
"Pawn all."
[Current Pawn Points: 2860]
"Beautiful."
In the blink of an eye, every scroll on the shelves—including the forbidden ones hidden in secret compartments—was scanned and pawned by the system.
Night even spotted things that shouldn't be here, things Hiruzen probably didn't even know existed.
Looking at the now-empty shelves and the endless list of redeemable items in his system, Night smiled genuinely.
He could just imagine the look on Danzo's face when he returned to find all his secret compartments empty, with the protective barriers still intact.
After confirming he hadn't missed anything on the shelves, Night turned to leave. Habitually, he expanded his Mind's Eye of the Kagura for one last sweep.
Suddenly, he noticed a strange section of the stone wall. It looked normal to the naked eye, easy to overlook.
But his sensory perception couldn't penetrate it. That piqued his interest.
estimating he still had a bit of time, Night walked over to the wall. Still nothing unusual to the eye.
"Scan."
[Ding! Wall made of Special Chakra-Conductive Metal... Valuation: 50]
"Serious? Pawn!"
A stone wall with a core of rare metal? That was an insanely expensive way to build a partition. Usually, tiny amounts of this metal were used in weapons to conduct chakra. Building a wall out of it was pure luxury.
Night was now very excited about what was hidden behind it.
Like the door before, the wall vanished, revealing a small, cramped secret chamber.
The air inside was stale, smelling faintly of decay. The room was simple, just a few niches carved into the rock, each holding an item.
With the metal wall gone, Night's senses could now penetrate the room. Confirming no traps, he stepped inside.
He picked up a glass jar from one of the niches. It had a label that read "Kagami." Inside floated a pair of rare Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
"???"
He looked at the other niches. Some jars contained floating scraps of flesh without labels, but their mere presence spoke volumes.
"Scan."
[Scan Complete. Discovered ownerless pawnable items:]
[Ding! Uchiha Bloodline Product (Three-Tomoe Sharingan) ... Valuation: 50]
[Ding! High-Concentration Senju Bloodline Tissue (Trace Amount) ... Valuation: 10]
[Ding! Forbidden Jutsu: Impure World Reincarnation (Edo Tensei) ... Valuation: 100]
"Holy crap. I really cleaned Danzo out."
Night suddenly remembered a detail he had overlooked. When he saw Danzo at the Hokage Tower earlier, the man still had both eyes intact and wasn't wrapped in bandages like in the anime.
He quickly sealed the three items into a scroll, deciding to figure out what to do with them later.
He exited the secret chamber and sprinted out of Danzo's office. Just as he was nearing the exit of the base, his Mind's Eye of the Kagura picked up a ROOT squad returning from the entrance!
No time to think. Just before they turned the corner, Night transformed back into the mid-level ROOT leader ("Nobumasa") he had impersonated earlier and strode confidently toward them.
The ROOT ninjas were surprised to see "Nobumasa" coming up from the lower levels. Night took the initiative, barking sternly:
"What is the situation in the village?"
"Lord Nobumasa." The squad leader bowed immediately. "The assassin hasn't been found yet, but current leads point to the Kaguya clan of the Mist Village."
"Nobumasa" exploded in anger. "Useless trash! Just because Lord Danzo is away, you let outsiders walk in and out of Konoha as they please?!"
The ROOT ninjas stayed silent, heads bowed. The squad leader hesitated, then asked, "Where are you going, sir? It's not time for your shift change yet."
"Nobumasa" didn't miss a beat. "Lord Danzo sent a secret order. I need to return to the Shimura clan compound immediately to handle it."
He waved the storage scroll in his hand as proof and walked past them without another word.
Seeing the scroll and hearing Danzo's name, the squad didn't dare question him further. They continued deeper into the base.
However, they hadn't gone far when a smell of burnt meat and fresh blood hit their noses. Following the scent, they found their unconscious colleagues sprawled on the ground, along with the real Nobumasa, who was barely breathing.
Realizing they had been duped, they spun around to chase, but "Nobumasa" had long since vanished.