Danzo’s eyes lit up, a sinister smile creeping onto his lips.
“Just surveillance?” “Just surveillance.” Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at him intently, enunciating every word.
“Without my orders, you are absolutely forbidden from provoking them, stepping foot into the Uchiha compound, or starting any conflicts.
I want you to watch their every move and report any anomalies to me immediately.
Is that clear?” The smile on Danzo’s face faded slightly, but he ultimately gave a cold snort and agreed.
“Understood.” He turned and walked out of the office, his hand beneath the bandages clenching tightly into a fist.
He couldn’t care less about Hiruzen Sarutobi’s concerns.
After waiting all these years, he finally had a legitimate excuse to encircle the Uchiha.
No matter what Hiruzen thought, this time, he was absolutely going to wipe the Uchiha from Konoha completely.
Meanwhile, inside the clan head’s estate in the Uchiha compound, Fugaku set down the bounty notices in his hand.
He looked across at Kain and offered a helpless smile.
“This move of yours has completely shut Hiruzen up.
No matter how angry he is, he can’t find a single fault with it.” Kain picked up his teacup and took a sip, a glint of coldness flashing in his eyes.
“This is just the appetizer.” He glanced out the window.
On the outskirts of the compound, the black silhouettes of Root ninja could already be seen silently setting up their perimeter.
“Two more days.
In two days, he’ll realize that all this surveillance he’s deploying is nothing but a useless decoration.” The moment Danzo stepped out of the Hokage building, the late autumn night wind whipped dead maple leaves harshly against his face, but he didn’t even bat an eyelid.
His single eye beneath the bandages narrowed slightly, churning with decades of suppressed hostility and killing intent.
Like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows, he had finally waited for the moment his prey exposed a fatal flaw.
He didn’t return to his own estate.
Instead, he turned directly into a hidden alley behind the Hokage building, following a secret passage all the way down to the Root base located dozens of meters beneath Konoha.
There was no bright illumination here like in the Hokage building.
Only the eerie blue luminescence embedded in the rock walls cast a deathly chill down the entire corridor.
Root ninja wearing various animal masks moved silently through the passages.
There was no conversation, no sound of footsteps, and even their breathing was suppressed to the absolute minimum.
The entire base was like a precision killing machine, and Danzo was its sole master.
He walked all the way to the command room at the deepest level.
The moment he pushed the door open, the six Root squad captains stationed inside immediately dropped to one knee.
Dressed uniformly in black tactical gear, their masks hid all expressions.
The only visible parts were their eyes, which held not a shred of human emotion—only absolute obedience.
These were the death-sworn operatives he had personally trained.
In their eyes, there were only his orders.
There was no so-called Will of Fire, let alone Konoha’s rules.
“Rise.” Danzo walked over to the main seat and sat down, his hoarse voice carrying undisguised ruthlessness.
“The Hokage has finally lost his patience with those Uchiha scumbags.” He raised a hand and tapped the desk.
The arm beneath his bandages tensed slightly, clearly revealing the grotesque outlines of the Sharingan embedded beneath the fabric.
“Hiruzen has been shackled his entire life by that ridiculous Will of Fire.
He is indecisive and soft-hearted.
He saw through the Uchiha’s rebellious intentions long ago, yet he still clings to the so-called bigger picture, refusing to strike the killing blow.” Danzo sneered, the malice in his single eye practically overflowing.
“But things are different now.
He personally ordered Root to tightly encircle the Uchiha, forbidding even a single fly from escaping.
That is enough.” He leaned forward slightly, his gaze sweeping over the six squad captains before him as he issued his orders word by word, each syllable dripping with a bone-piercing chill.
“Pass down my orders.
All Root members are to enter the highest state of alert immediately.” “Double all the outposts originally stationed around the perimeter of the Uchiha compound.
At all four entrances and exits, set up three layers of blockades.
The outer layer will be the combat teams, the middle layer the sensory teams, and the inner layer the barrier teams.
Even the area ten meters underground must be covered by sensory barriers.
Do not let a single Uchiha out, not even a rat.” “Maintain a twenty-four-hour uninterrupted watch.
Any slight fluctuation of chakra within the compound, any gathering of personnel, any action that falls outside their daily routine—consider it an anomaly.” “The moment an anomaly is detected, there is no need to report to the Hokage building, nor is there a need for any additional instructions.
Immediately activate the encirclement protocol and seal off the entire Uchiha compound so tightly that not a drop of water could leak through.” Pausing abruptly, a flash of crazed killing intent crossed his single eye.
“Once the encirclement is complete, you are authorized to strike immediately.
Any Uchiha who resists with a weapon—regardless of age or gender—is to be killed on sight.” “Priority targets—Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Kei, and the elite jonin in the clan who have awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan.
Slay them first.
Leave no survivors.” A deathly silence filled the command room, broken only by the faint buzzing of the cold fluorescent lights.
Without a moment’s hesitation, the six squad captains bowed in unison, their voices perfectly synchronized and devoid of any fluctuation.
“Yes!
We obey Lord Danzo’s command!” “Also,” Danzo raised a hand to stop them as they were about to turn away, adding, “keep a strict watch on the Naka Shrine.
If there is any movement inside, storm it immediately.
Bring back all the ninjutsu scrolls, forbidden jutsu inheritances, and the Sage of Six Paths’ stone tablet.
Especially the underground secret chamber—leave no stone unturned.
Do not let a single item slip away.” He had waited for this day for far too long.
Ever since the Second Hokage’s reign, he had been convinced that these cursed Uchiha would sooner or later become Konoha’s greatest disaster.
For decades, he had watched the Uchiha be marginalized step by step, pushed to the edge of the cliff, while he meticulously laid out his own schemes.
He had already obtained one of Shisui’s Mangekyo Sharingan.
Now, all the Sharingan of the Uchiha, the entire foundation of a clan passed down for over a thousand years, were about to fall into his hands.
He would be the shadow of Konoha, using the most ruthless methods to excise all tumors that threatened the village.
Even if his hands were stained with blood, even if he had to bear eternal infamy, he would not hesitate.
The squad captains retreated silently.
Like ripples on water, the orders instantly spread throughout the entire Root base.
The Root ninja, originally lying dormant in the shadows, surged out like a tide, mobilizing toward the Uchiha compound.
What was once a single-layered surveillance outpost transformed overnight into an impenetrable fortress.
In the darkness, countless pairs of eyes stared fixedly at every inch of the Uchiha compound.
Their kunai were already drawn, waiting only for a single command to pounce and tear the entire Uchiha clan to shreds.
Danzo stood before the floor-to-ceiling window of the command room.
Separated by dozens of meters of earth, he gazed distantly toward the lights of the Uchiha compound.
The corner of his mouth beneath the bandages curled into a sinister, greedy smile.
The end of the Uchiha had arrived.
As long as they dared to show even the slightest hint of rebellion, he would make these cursed wretches disappear from this world completely.