Satoru Gojo had nothing to do. He had scoured Konoha for anything even remotely interesting and had failed. Ichiraku's ramen was good, yes, but it wasn't enough for the strongest man. It was then that his ever-active Six Eyes noticed something peculiar.
It wasn't chakra in the traditional sense, but a massive concentration of energy, and a very familiar one at that. That of the Sharingan.
He perceived them, not as a chakra user would view a network, but as an amalgamation of information: the history of their owners, traces of their abilities, the very essence of their existence. And they were clustered together. On one arm.
"My, my. What do we have here?" Gojo muttered to himself, an amused smile beneath his blindfold. He materialized effortlessly in front of the entrance to the dark, well-guarded Root complex, Danzo Shimura's headquarters. The Anbu guarding the entrance tensed, their faces covered by animal masks.
Danzo, who was just leaving, stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Gojo. His one visible eye narrowed. "What are you doing here, Gojo Satoru?"
"Oh, nothing in particular," Gojo said, his tone deceptively casual. "I just... sensed something interesting around here. Something to do with eyes."
Danzo stiffened, his bandaged hand tensing unconsciously. "I don't know what you're talking about. This is a restricted area."
"Of course you do," Gojo retorted, taking a step forward. "You're the old man with the armful of Sharingan, aren't you? My, my, collecting eyes? That's a little creepy, even by my standards. So what? You use them to see in 360 degrees or something?"
Gojo's audacity, his knowledge of something as closely guarded as the secret of Danzo's arm, left the elderly leader speechless. The Anbu surrounding him stood on guard, ready to attack.
"Don't you dare meddle in Konoha's affairs," Danzo hissed, regaining his composure. "This doesn't concern you."
Gojo burst out laughing, a genuine laugh that echoed in the air. "Hahahaha! 'None of my concern'? I nearly died of boredom around here! An armful of eyes is the most exciting thing I've seen in days! Come on, are you going to show me your collection? Maybe you have a Rinnegan hidden somewhere? That would be a level of rarity!"
Danzo braced himself for the attack, his eye blazing with fury. But before he could move, Gojo snapped his fingers. The space around Danzo distorted for an instant.
When he straightened, the bandage covering his right arm had completely unraveled, revealing the terrifying array of Sharingan embedded in its limb.
The Anbu gasped. Danzo's secret had been exposed, not by an attack, but by Gojo's simple curiosity.
"There it is! I knew it!" Gojo exclaimed, with the excitement of a child finding a toy. "Wow, that's quite a few. Are they all Uchiha's? How efficient! I wonder if they all work at once. Doesn't it give you a headache?"
Danzo was paralyzed. No one had ever dared to expose him in such a way. Control, his greatest weapon, had been taken away in an instant.
"Get off my arm!" Danzo shouted.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to take it away from you," Gojo shrugged. "It's just... I get bored when people hide interesting things. And now, I need something to do."
Suddenly, Gojo turned, his blindfolded gaze fixed on Naruto Uzumaki, who had come running, attracted by the commotion, with Sasuke and Sakura hot on his heels.
"Ah, blondie! Just in time!" Gojo said, grinning broadly. "I'm going to give you an offer you can't refuse."
Naruto blinked, confused by the sudden attention. "Uh, offer, Gojo-san?"
"Yes," Gojo said, approaching Naruto, completely ignoring Danzo's furious glare and the Anbu's stupefaction.
"I've decided that if this world isn't going to give me the fun I need, I'll have to create it. And you, Naruto, with your loud personality and unbreakable spirit, are the perfect candidate!"
Gojo placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Starting today, I will take you under my wing. I will teach you to be the strongest. No, not just 'strong.' I will teach you to be overwhelming. You will be my student. Get ready for some fun, because the great Satoru Gojo is going to be your sensei!"
Naruto gasped in astonishment. Sasuke and Sakura stared at him in disbelief, while Kakashi, who had arrived and witnessed the scene, held a hand to his head.
Danzo, with his arm exposed, watched as Gojo Satoru, the most dangerous and powerful man he had ever met, had just claimed the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki as his pupil. The power game in Konoha had just become infinitely more complex and, for Gojo, much more fun.