Watching Fugaku and Shinya leave, Danzō Shimura’s expression immediately changed.
He turned toward Hiruzen Sarutobi and roared,
“Hiruzen!
This is all because you’ve been too soft!”
“Now the Uchiha have produced another Mangekyō Sharingan.
For all we know, Fugaku could become the next Madara Uchiha!”
“You bear full responsibility for this!”
The more furious Danzō became, the more determined he was to eliminate the entire Uchiha clan.
That clan was simply too dangerous.
An uncontrollable power like the Sharingan would only be truly safe for Konoha once it was firmly in his own hands!
He would be the one to fulfill their teacher’s vision!
Hiruzen was already furious himself.
He had never imagined that one day he would actually be forced into a corner in the very field he considered himself most skilled at—political negotiation.
Then Danzō suddenly started shouting at him.
With no outsiders left in the office, Hiruzen finally stopped holding back and vented all his anger directly at him.
“Oh, now you know how to raise your voice?”
“Why didn’t you talk like that when Fugaku was standing here?”
“Go on, then.
They haven’t gone far yet.”
“If you’ve really got the courage, chase them down and tell Fugaku to his face that you refuse their demands.”
“If he doesn’t cut you into several pieces on the spot, I’ll admit you’ve got guts!”
Danzō was stunned by the barrage.
For a long moment, he couldn’t even respond.
It wasn’t because he had run out of arguments.
It was because of Hiruzen’s attitude.
Hiruzen…
you actually dared yell at me?!
This was the first time Hiruzen Sarutobi had ever chewed him out so mercilessly.
Danzō’s aging face turned bright red.
But asking him to chase after Fugaku and fight a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan head-on?
Absolutely not.
He had only recently begun cooperating with Orochimaru, and their research into Wood Release hadn’t progressed very far yet.
He still hadn’t received a right arm implanted with Wood Release cells.
At present, all he had was the single three-tomoe Sharingan in his right eye, which could be sacrificed to activate Izanagi.
Taking on a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan with a single ordinary Sharingan would be nothing short of suicide.
“Hiruzen, you…
Hmph!”
This time, Danzō seemed genuinely wounded.
He didn’t even throw out his usual parting line of You’ll regret this.
He simply slammed the door behind him and left.
Hiruzen, meanwhile, rubbed his temples hard.
He felt exhausted.
More importantly, he had to figure out how to deal with the problem now sitting directly in front of him.
Fugaku, the man he had always considered easy to pressure, had actually awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan…
For the first time, Hiruzen realized that events seemed to be moving toward a situation he could no longer control.
…
After returning to Root, Danzō couldn’t shake the anger boiling inside him.
He had never been particularly good at swallowing grudges.
If someone offended him, he usually preferred to settle the matter that very same day.
“Someone, come!”
Several Root shinobi wearing animal masks appeared behind Danzō and dropped to one knee.
“You.”
“Go kill the Uchiha clansman who’s been making the most noise lately.”
“Bring his eyes back to me.”
Danzō knew this was probably exactly what Hiruzen wanted to do as well.
It was merely a warning to the Uchiha, who had been getting far too arrogant lately.
It wouldn’t exactly be the first time.
Hiruzen simply cared too much about his reputation to personally order it.
As long as they didn’t touch Fugaku’s immediate family, that spineless Fugaku would probably endure it in silence like always.
“Yes!”
The Root shinobi disappeared instantly with the Body Flicker Technique.
That was Danzō’s entire philosophy when it came to training shinobi.
They existed solely to complete missions.
They were tools in the purest sense of the word.
As far as Danzō was concerned, those shinobi only needed to risk their lives on the front lines.
But he was the leader of Root—and the future Hokage.
Naturally, he had far more important matters to consider.
…
After obtaining control of the Police Force and receiving Fugaku’s complete backing, Shinya had effectively become the second-most influential person in the entire Uchiha clan.
As for becoming clan head himself?
Shinya honestly wasn’t all that interested.
The authority of the Konoha Police Force already allowed him to mobilize nearly eighty percent of the Uchiha clan’s elite shinobi.
The only people outside his authority were a handful of highly respected elders and clan members who hadn’t awakened their Sharingan.
The clan head, meanwhile, had to deal with practically every aspect of the Uchiha clan’s daily affairs.
Shinya had no interest in wasting his time managing all of that.
Besides, his mission only required him to raise his prestige within the Uchiha clan.
It didn’t require him to hold the highest position.
And earning prestige among a clan full of red-eyed battle maniacs was actually very simple.
All he had to do was display overwhelming strength.
While Shinya was still thinking about how he could put on a sufficiently impressive performance in public, he unexpectedly encountered a spirited young woman with wildly upturned hair on the streets of Konoha.
Orochimaru’s disciple—
Anko Mitarashi.
Anko wore a black mesh bodysuit, black thigh-high stockings, and shinobi boots.
Over them, however, she had thrown on a cropped tan trench coat.
Its purpose was to conceal the Cursed Seal of Heaven on her neck.
At that moment, Anko had just bought a skewer of three-color dango and was about to take a bite.
It was obvious that she had a particular weakness for sweets.
The moment Shinya saw Anko, he immediately thought of a certain man who treated the shinobi world like his personal scientific laboratory.
So he stepped forward and blocked her path.
“Who are you?”
Anko frowned irritably after having her sweets interrupted and looked Shinya up and down.
At this point, Anko was still a young girl in the prime of her youth, and her personality was considerably more outspoken and energetic.
Orochimaru had not yet defected from Konoha, so the darker side of her personality had yet to emerge.
Overall, she was still fairly bright and cheerful.
Unfortunately, Orochimaru had always treated Anko largely as a test subject for the development of his cursed seals.
When he eventually defected, he would even seal away part of her memories.
That would leave Anko spending much of her later life trapped in resentment.
Not because she hated Orochimaru for betraying Konoha.
But because she couldn’t understand why, when he left, he hadn’t taken her with him.
Turning such a perfectly normal girl into someone like that…
Orochimaru really had committed every kind of terrible deed imaginable.
Anko glanced at the Uchiha fan crest on Shinya’s clothing and immediately became wary.
She casually pulled her coat a little higher, concealing the cursed seal on her neck.
Her teacher had specifically warned her not to get involved with the Uchiha clan unless absolutely necessary.
Shinya said,
“Let me introduce myself.
I’m Shinya Uchiha.”
Anko crossed her arms and kept a cautious distance.
“I’ve heard of you.”
“What do you want?”
“Can you contact your teacher?”
“I’d like to meet Orochimaru.”
The instant that name left Shinya’s mouth, Anko’s expression changed.
The caution in her eyes immediately deepened.
“What do you want with Sensei?”
“And let me make one thing clear first.
If this is about whatever mess the Uchiha are dealing with, Sensei can’t help you.”
Practically everyone in Konoha knew that the Uchiha wanted one of their own to become Hokage.
Strictly speaking, Orochimaru had also once been one of the strongest candidates for the position of Fourth Hokage.
However, Hiruzen had considered Orochimaru too gloomy—and, more importantly, too difficult to control.
In the end, he had chosen Minato Namikaze as the Fourth Hokage instead.
Anko clearly suspected that the Uchiha wanted to join forces with Orochimaru and stir up something major within Konoha.
Shinya shook his head.
“This time, I’m approaching Senior Orochimaru solely on my own behalf.”
“It has nothing to do with the Uchiha clan.”
“All you need to do is pass along a message.”
“Whether he wants to meet me or not is something your teacher can decide for himself.”