That very night, after Kai had left, Danzō returned to Konoha empty-handed after failing to locate Orochimaru.
The moment he received the emergency report, he rushed back to the village.
When he saw the Root headquarters that had been almost completely destroyed, along with Yamanaka Fu’s headless corpse, even the usually composed Danzō flew into a rage.
“What the hell happened here?!”
A Root shinobi kneeling nearby immediately reported everything to him.
“Lord Danzō, this is what happened…”
After listening to the entire report, Danzō leaned on his cane and lowered his head, falling into deep thought.
Someone managed to infiltrate Konoha without triggering the village’s barrier.
They entered Root’s underground headquarters.
Their body was immune to physical attacks and ninjutsu.
They possessed a space-time ninjutsu even more troublesome than those of the Second and Fourth Hokage.
And that ominous chakra cloak covering their body…
There’s no doubt.
That must have been the legendary Susanoo.
Of all the people I can think of, there is only one possibility…
Uchiha…
Madara?
Danzō’s grip tightened around his cane.
But then he reconsidered.
No.
Madara was a figure from the Warring States period.
No matter what methods he used to prolong his life, he shouldn’t still be alive.
It must be an Uchiha who inherited Madara’s will.
He can use Wood Release.
And he specifically targeted Kinoe, the one who inherited the cells of Lord Hashirama.
What he seeks is the combined power of the Uchiha and Senju.
In other words…
He wants the Nine-Tails!
And Orochimaru just happened to disappear at the same time.
This…
probably isn’t a coincidence.
“Immediately report this incident to the Fire Daimyō,” Danzō ordered.
“Lord Danzō, this happened inside Root’s own headquarters.”
“If word gets out, it will damage Root’s reputation.”
“Why would we report it?”
The subordinate was confused.
“Heh.”
“What does reputation matter?”
“This incident can actually demonstrate how weak and incompetent Konoha has become under the Fourth Hokage.”
“An enemy was able to exploit our weakness and inflict enormous losses on Root, which has worked tirelessly to protect Konoha.”
“The Fourth has only just taken office, and his position isn’t stable yet.”
“This blow will weigh heavily on him.”
“And that is exactly what I want.”
“But the Fourth Hokage was recommended by the Third, and he’s also a hero of the Third Shinobi World War.”
“Wouldn’t it be unrealistic to bring him down just like that?”
“At the very least, it will make the situation more favorable to me.”
“For example…”
“Giving me a legitimate reason to place the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki under Root’s supervision.”
The subordinate’s eyes lit up.
“Lord Danzō is truly wise!”
Danzō’s expression remained deep and calculating.
Kushina’s chakra is exceptionally powerful, even among the Uzumaki.
That’s why she was chosen as the second Jinchūriki after Mito.
And now she’s pregnant.
Her seal will gradually weaken as the time of childbirth approaches.
Once the Nine-Tails falls under my control, I can place the blame for the Jinchūriki’s death on the Uchiha.
That way, I can undermine the Fourth Hokage’s rule while simultaneously eliminating the unstable factor that is the Uchiha clan.
“Hiruzen…”
“In the end, the one who becomes Hokage and leads Konoha to stand above the entire shinobi world…”
“Will be me.”
“Shimura Danzō!”
Danzō’s ambitions and schemes ran far deeper than anyone could have imagined.
In the forest outside Konoha, Kai raced through the trees.
He could have immediately returned to the hideout using Kamui.
But he deliberately chose not to.
He wanted to mark more locations throughout the surrounding area with his Sharingan.
That would make it easier for him to travel back and forth using Kamui.
Later in the original story, Obito was able to use Kamui to travel to almost any corner of the shinobi world.
The reason was simple.
His footsteps had taken him everywhere.
“Kai, since you’ve gone all the way to Konoha, why didn’t you capture the Nine-Tails while you were there?”
“Didn’t you say you wanted to become the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki?”
Spiral Zetsu asked.
Kai shook his head.
“Things have to be done one at a time.”
“You can’t become fat by eating an entire meal in one bite.”
“Besides, Konoha’s strength can’t be underestimated right now.”
“The Yellow Flash is stationed there.”
“The Third Hokage is also at the peak of his strength.”
“Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin is there, along with numerous elite jōnin.”
“Without sufficient preparation, capturing the Nine-Tails wouldn’t be easy.”
“Well, that’s true.”
“Besides, the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki still has another six months before giving birth.”
“We can wait until the seal weakens further before making our move.”
Spiral Zetsu nodded.
Kai said nothing.
But there was another, more important reason why he had no intention of attacking now.
He didn’t want to attack a pregnant woman.
Attacking Kushina during childbirth, forcibly extracting the Nine-Tails, and causing her death had been one of Obito’s few stains that could never be washed away.
Kai wasn’t going to follow Obito’s path.
He wouldn’t attack Kushina while she was giving birth.
He would capture the Nine-Tails openly and directly.
Even if extracting the Nine-Tails ultimately resulted in Kushina’s death, that would be another matter entirely.
It was a matter of principle.
“I’ve marked enough places.”
“We should head back.”
Kai looked around.
Rustle…
rustle…
Suddenly, he heard movement nearby.
Kai looked over.
In front of a stone and a target, a tall boy was teaching a shorter boy how to throw shuriken.
The one concentrating on throwing the shuriken was none other than five-year-old Uchiha Itachi.
The person teaching him was his eight-year-old senior, Uchiha Shisui.
Under the moonlight, three tomoe were embedded within Shisui’s crimson eyes.
They looked completely out of place on his youthful face.
Kai’s eyes lit up.
Uchiha Shisui.
Known as Shisui of the Body Flicker.
The greatest genjutsu prodigy in the history of the Uchiha clan.
Yet few knew that Shisui had awakened his Sharingan even earlier.
He had awakened it at the age of seven.
After only a year of training, he had already mastered it to the point where he possessed the three-tomoe Sharingan.
Tap!
Tap!
Tap!
Itachi’s shuriken accurately struck the center of a target ten meters away.
“Itachi, I’ll teach you how to hit targets that are completely out of sight.”
Shisui smiled.
“Out of sight?”
“Wouldn’t that require the shuriken to turn in midair?”
“How could that even be possible?”
Itachi looked astonished.
“Like this.”
Shisui placed two shuriken together, offsetting them by a slight angle.
Then he casually threw them.
Clang!
Clang!
The two shuriken collided with each other in midair.
Their trajectories changed.
They flew around the stone and struck the hidden target perfectly.
“Amazing!”
“As expected of you, Shisui-nii!”
“When will I be able to do something like that?”
The young Itachi looked at him with admiration.
“With your talent, you’ll be able to do it with a little practice.”
“Actually, when I was your age, I hadn’t even…”
“Hmm?”
Shisui suddenly stopped.
His pupils flashed.
He looked up as though he had sensed something.
Whoosh…
A gust of wind swept through the forest, sending leaves swirling through the air.
“Shisui-nii, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“It was probably just my imagination.”
Shisui stared at the empty treetop and muttered.
“Hehehe.”
“Impressive perception.”
“Kai, if I may say so, the potential hidden within those eyes isn’t inferior to yours.”
Spiral Zetsu praised him from the shadows.
Of course.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t have chosen him.
“Shisui…”
“I’ll be waiting for those eyes of yours.”
“Because you’re worth waiting for.”
“Only your Kotoamatsukami is worthy of being fused with my Kamui.”
“Together, they’ll create the strongest Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan the world has ever seen!”
A strange light flickered within Kai’s eyes beneath the mask.
Whoosh!
Accompanied by a space-time vortex, he disappeared beneath the night sky.
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