"Naruto, this is one of my secret bases. What do you think of it?"
Danzo's tone was full of pride, like a child showing off a shiny toy.
Naruto took a look around. They were standing on a circular platform made of dull gray stone. The surroundings were a messy sprawl of mismatched structures of varying sizes, clearly lacking any sense of design or beauty.
A few masked Root operatives were training in silence nearby. Naruto could feel their eyes linger on him briefly the moment he set foot on this ground.
In front of them, a crooked path twisted through the complex, made of some unidentifiable wood. The whole place was dark and dreary, the only spot of color being the eerie red railing along the path.
From every angle, this place was the opposite of pleasant.
At best, it could be described as a war-torn aesthetic.
The lighting was dim. A few slivers of sunlight crept in through narrow cracks, and the air was thick with the damp, musty smell of underground earth. The entire facility felt like a vast, hidden labyrinth—confusing, cold, and clammy.
Frankly, the only creatures that would enjoy a place like this were bugs, rats, snakes, and other reptiles.
This was one of the Root Division's secret underground bases—a training ground for Root operatives.
And Danzo had brought Naruto here.
> "Danzo-ojisan," Naruto said, looking around with a dead-serious face, "this place is awful. It looks like somewhere sewer rats would live."
Danzo's expression darkened instantly, like a cast-iron skillet left on high heat.
Faced with Naruto's innocent gaze, Danzo had no choice but to silently grit his teeth and chant in his mind:
> "Kids say the darndest things… kids say the darndest things…"
But Naruto wasn't done.
> "I read in a book once—staying too long in damp, dark places like this can cause something called rheumatism."
> "Danzo-ojisan, you've got all those bandages wrapped up tight like that. In a place like this? You really need to be careful, y'know?"
"I'm in perfect health! I'm not getting any damn rheumatism!"
Danzo's face was now darker than a lump of coal.
But Naruto just kept going, cheerfully rattling off every symptom he'd read about: joint stiffness in the morning, pain on rainy days, swelling and inflammation…
Danzo started thinking: Huh… come to think of it, my joints do feel kind of stiff sometimes. Especially when it rains…
He found himself—against all logic—starting to believe the kid.
And began considering treatments for rheumatism.
> As someone who aspires to be Hokage, I can't let something like this be a weakness that enemies could exploit…
> Wait… why did I choose an underground base in the first place?
> Wasn't it Sarutobi who helped pick the location…?
Danzo's paranoid mind spun into action.
> That damn Sarutobi… did he know this would make me sick? Is that why he picked it?!
In truth, shinobi in the Naruto world were far too durable to suffer from things like rheumatism. They were basically walking tanks of chakra and cellular regeneration.
But Danzo… was old. In his sixties. And when you're that age, your body will start to creak, chakra or not.
Then Naruto added:
> "Living under the sun would suit you much better, Danzo-ojisan."
Danzo's expression shifted slightly.
> A life in the sunlight...
> If it were possible… did I ever really want that for myself?
What Danzo had always truly craved was the seat of Hokage.
He'd spent so long lurking in the shadows that his yearning for the light had only grown stronger.
> If I become Hokage... I could finally—
But Danzo lacked the power to match his ambition. His dream would always remain just that—a dream.
Just then, a tall young man stepped forward and kneeled before Danzo.
He had orange-brown parted hair tied back in a short ponytail, wore the standard black Root uniform, and carried a half-meter blade across his back.
This was Yamanaka Fū.
One of the few Root operatives who survived the Uchiha massacre and the subsequent disbanding of Root by Hiruzen.
Oh, right—technically, Root was already disbanded. So now, Fū was simply Danzo's personal bodyguard. He wasn't even wearing the Root mask anymore.
Despite being just a teenager, Fū was one of Danzo's most trusted subordinates. His Mind-Body Switch Technique was incredibly refined, and his taijutsu and kenjutsu were formidable—easily able to contend with multiple jonin at once.
> "Fū."
Danzo nodded approvingly. Thank the heavens Fū and Torune had been sent on a separate mission during the Uchiha incident. Otherwise, Root really would've been reduced to a handful of stray cats.
Damn that masked man.
Not knowing the full details of that night, Danzo had placed all the blame for Root's destruction on Obito.
Then Danzo gestured toward Naruto and said:
> "From now on, treat him with the same respect you treat me."
> "Yes." Fū replied flatly. No emotion, no reaction.
This was a hallmark of Root training—the suppression of all emotions.
> "Danzo-ojisan, who is he?" Naruto asked curiously.
Fū's face twitched slightly when he heard the way Naruto addressed Danzo.
Danzo-ojisan?
What kind of nickname was that?
And the crazy part—Danzo wasn't even mad about it.
> "He's my guard," Danzo replied. "From now on, this place is open to you anytime. If I'm not around and you want to train or learn something, you can go to him."
Danzo was a busy man, after all. He'd had time to teach Naruto earlier only because he'd been under house arrest.
Just yesterday, Hiruzen had lifted that restriction and even asked Danzo to help rebuild Root.
There were certain things the Hokage couldn't do. Things the Anbu couldn't do.
But Root could.
And Danzo would.
Some tools, once used, were impossible to give up.
Hiruzen could never truly cut ties with Danzo.
He liked to maintain a "nice guy" image—Mr. Morality in public.
But someone had to wear the black gloves. Someone had to be the enforcer. The villain behind the scenes.
And for Hiruzen, Danzo was the perfect black-gloved hand.
Danzo may have been arrogant, but he was also easy to control. The clan elders knew all about Danzo's misdeeds. Without their support, Danzo would never become Hokage.
Just before leaving, Danzo added:
> "If you want to train, he can accompany you. He's very strong."
As Danzo's silhouette vanished into the darkness, Naruto watched him go, still smiling sweetly.
Then, once he could no longer sense Danzo's chakra presence, he turned slowly toward Yamanaka Fū.
His smile deepened into something more... playful.
> "Yamanaka Fū, huh?"
> "I heard... you're strong?"
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