The moment he saw Danzō, Shinju immediately sensed that something was wrong.
"Wasn't the Hokage supposed to meet me here? Why is it you instead, Danzō?" Shinju asked.
The ANBU who had been following him this whole time suddenly changed his tone, becoming sharp and hostile:
"Danzō-sama isn't someone you can address so casually!"
Before Shinju could respond, Danzō, standing on the Naka Bridge, waved his hand.
"Buzz—"
A sealing formation instantly expanded!
A pale red barrier spread out, enclosing several hundred meters in every direction!
Shinju's gaze sharpened, and he tried to teleport using Flying Thunder God.
As expected, the barrier completely blocked all space-time ninjutsu!
And then—
Rustle, rustle!
From the distant forest, dozens of shinobi suddenly emerged, charging straight at Shinju and surrounding him in an instant!
Shinju frowned deeply.
He hadn't sensed them when he first arrived here.
They had deliberately stayed just beyond the range of his sensory field.
Clearly, this entire ambush had been carefully prepared in advance.
Before Shinju could speak, one of the shinobi surrounding him said:
"Danzō-sama requests your presence. Go on ahead."
Since there was no way to escape anyway, Shinju decided to face this head-on.
Might as well see what this old dog Danzō was plotting!
Under the pale moonlight, Shinju walked slowly along the trade road and stepped onto Naka Bridge.
Above his head, that mysterious crow was still circling in silence.
Ever since Shinju had arrived, Danzō's cold, dead eyes had been fixed on him.
When Shinju stepped onto the bridge, Danzō's lips curled into a faint, ambiguous smile.
Under the dim moonlight, paired with Danzō's corpse-like expression, even the usually fearless Shinju felt a chill crawl up his spine…
"Danzō-sama," Shinju spoke with forced respect, "you went to quite some trouble summoning me here tonight. What is this about?"
Danzō smiled faintly.
"Boy, do you know… I admire you greatly."
"You're barely in your teens, yet you've already reached a height that most people could never hope to achieve in a lifetime."
"Right now, with just one word, countless people would gladly support you becoming the Hokage."
"But the era I lived through was different. In those days, war never ceased. People died every single day… even my teacher, the Second Hokage, couldn't escape his fate."
"Before he died, he personally chose Sarutobi—the one you call the Third Hokage—to inherit the will of the village and continue protecting Konoha."
"If the Hokage represents the leaves basking in sunlight, then I am the root buried in darkness. The higher the leaves grow toward the sun, the deeper the roots must dig into the shadows."
"Light and darkness… must coexist."
After listening to his speech, Shinju immediately understood.
So Danzō was the one behind the infamous Root organization.
"If what you say is so noble," Shinju countered coldly, "then why does everyone in Root bear a cursed seal on their tongue?"
From his very first encounter with Root operatives, Shinju had noticed the sealing techniques they carried.
Later, when he met Sai, he sensed the same familiar sealing chakra and confirmed Sai's affiliation with Root.
Through his research in Konoha's archives, he learned that the mark on Sai's tongue was indeed the Seal of Absolute Silence—designed to prevent Root members from ever revealing its secrets.
Danzō, however, had his own justification:
"I told you—I exist in darkness. Naturally, there are secrets the outside world must never know."
With that, he turned and rested his hand on the bridge railing, gazing at the moonlight shimmering on the flowing Naka River.
"Enough talk. Let's get to the real matter."
He turned his head back, his one visible, cloudy eye locking directly onto Shinju.
"Will you join us… and swear your loyalty to me?"
For Shinju, even a second of hesitation would've been an insult to his own nindō.
His reply came instantly:
"No."
Danzō had expected this. He pointed down toward the river beneath the bridge.
"Years ago, there was another Uchiha prodigy… an exceptionally brilliant one."
"With his Body Flicker and genjutsu, he gained immense fame during the Third Great Ninja War."
"But later, he leapt into the Naka River. Not even his corpse was ever found."
"His name was—Uchiha Shisui."
Shinju thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"Never heard of him."
Danzō sneered softly.
"His name isn't important."
"What you should know… is that his Sharingan possessed the strongest genjutsu ever recorded—one capable of invading a person's mind completely undetected and altering their very will."
As he spoke, Danzō's left hand slowly reached up, tapping the bandages wrapped over his right eye.
"That genjutsu… is called—"
Seeing this, Shinju instinctively tensed, his left hand forming seals discreetly, ready to unleash Wood Release and retreat at any moment!
The next second, Danzō ripped away the bandages—
Revealing a blood-red Sharingan!
Three black tomoe spun rapidly around his pupil, then shifted—morphing into a pinwheel pattern!
Danzō's voice thundered:
"Kotoamatsukami!"
For the briefest instant, Shinju's movements froze.
A triumphant smile crept across Danzō's face.
Kotoamatsukami—the ultimate genjutsu. No defenses. No countermeasures.
It could overwrite a person's will entirely, turning them into nothing but a puppet of the caster.
And now, Shinju's consciousness had fallen under its sway…
Danzō stared at him with satisfaction.
"It seems you're not as talented as Shisui after all."
But just then—
The crow, the one that had been silently following Shinju, descended under the moonlight and landed atop the bridge.
In its eyes… a pinwheel-patterned Mangekyō Sharingan glimmered, identical to Danzō's!
Under the crow's gaze, the foreign influence within Shinju's mind shattered, and his original will instantly returned!
Shinju gasped heavily, his chest rising and falling.
"Haa… haa…"
That was close!
If not for the crow…
He would have fallen victim to that old Danzō's trick.
He would've become his puppet!
There was no time to think about where the crow had come from, or who had sent it to help him.
Right now, there was only one thing left to do—
Kill Danzō.
On the bridge, Danzō was still basking in his imagined victory.
It never even crossed his mind…
That Kotoamatsukami's control over Shinju's will could be undone by another Kotoamatsukami.
Still confident, Danzō barked an order at Shinju:
"Now I command you… kill the Fifth Hokage and the Third Hokage!"
If both the Fifth and Third died, the entire village would be thrown into chaos.
And then, he would rise as the next Hokage!
But Shinju stood motionless, unfazed by his command.
The bone blade at his waist caught the moonlight, glinting coldly.
A shadow flickered—
Squelch!
In an instant, the bone blade pierced straight through Danzō's chest!
Shinju's voice was icy:
"I think… the one who deserves to die right now… is you."