The air in the stone chamber was almost solidified into a physical entity.
The Root Ninja who led the way already had his hand on his sword hilt, his muscles taut like a piece of dried meat.
He had only one thought: this kid probably wouldn't leave this door today, and he himself might also be silenced, just for hearing things he shouldn't have heard.
Danzo's single eye was fixed on Naruto, a pressure that felt like it wanted to flay a person alive.
However, just as the Root Ninja thought Danzo was about to order him to "handle it" the next second, the old man on the stone throne let out a dry, raspy laugh, like a broken bellows.
"Haha... Hahahahaha!"
The laughter echoed in the empty stone chamber, sounding particularly jarring.
"An underground kingdom? What an underground kingdom!" Instead of getting angry, Danzo seemed to have heard an extremely amusing joke.
"Naruto, your words and thoughts are the sharpest of anyone I've ever met.
This arrogance, this fearlessness... is precisely what I admire most."
He slowly stood up and paced back and forth in front of the stone throne, adopting a "let me teach you a lesson" posture.
"You're right, I am centralizing power.
But you don't understand why!" Danzo's words began to grow impassioned.
"Konoha is a large ship sailing on the high seas, and now a storm is coming, full of hidden dangers!
At such a time, can there be two voices on the ship?
Can we listen to the chaotic commands of those noisy sailors?"
He struck the ground heavily with his cane.
"No! Absolutely not!
The ship only needs one voice, one experienced captain, who uses his iron-fisted methods to cut through the waves and correct the course, even if it means sacrificing a few disobedient sailors, it is for the preservation of the entire ship!"
He stopped, his single eye burning as he looked at Naruto.
"I, Danzo Shimura, am that captain willing to bear all the infamy and steer the ship alone!
The monkey's benevolence will only sink this ship, and my darkness is the only route to dawn!"
His speech was impassioned and self-pitying.
Naruto listened calmly, his heart unmoved, even feeling a bit like laughing.
"Target: Danzo Shimura.
Thought process has entered a logical loop, self-perception is severely inflated, unable to be externally corrected."
"Assessment result: Possesses no cooperative value."
"Plan change: Original 'cooperative transformation' plan abolished, activate backup plan 'eliminate and take over'."
Naruto's last thought flashed through his mind: "I thought I could find a barely usable part in a junk heap, but it turns out to be just a greedy worm that thinks of himself as a dragon."
For someone so utterly self-satisfied, direct debate is the least effective approach.
You can never wake someone who pretends to be asleep, nor can you convince an old man living in his own heroic script.
Understanding this, Naruto decided to change his approach.
His target was Root, the violent machine and intelligence network that this organization represented.
As for who the current administrator of this machine was, it wasn't important.
So, he put away his previous aggressive sharpness and changed his tone.
"While your theory is outdated and full of loopholes," Naruto first gave a negative review, then continued, "your cultivated tools... are indeed very sharp."
He glanced at the Root Ninja beside him, who had been in a state of high tension the entire time.
The Ninja's body stiffened, feeling as if he had been labeled "quality tool, sharp and durable," his emotions complex.
"I also agree with the necessity of darkness," Naruto continued, "I just don't agree with your 'captain and sailor' management style."
Danzo's single eye flickered.
He heard it; the kid's attitude had softened.
He believed that his grand and righteous speech had finally moved this unruly youth.
Good, the fish was on the hook.
"Oh?" Danzo followed the steps Naruto had laid out, his tone carrying a hint of examination, "Then, in your opinion, what kind of management style is reasonable?"
"A system," Naruto replied calmly, "a perfectly rational system, unaffected by personal emotions, selfish desires, and physical aging, capable of self-optimization and iteration."
"In this system, there are no 'captains' and 'sailors', only different 'modules' and 'parts'.
The highest decision-maker himself is only a part of the system; his decisions must be based on optimal rational analysis, not personal heroic complex."
"I can join Root," Naruto extended an olive branch, but his next sentence made Danzo's movements freeze.
"But I am not here to become your blade; I am here to become the 'calibrator' of this system.
Responsible for correcting errors, optimizing processes, and ultimately... ensuring the absolute stability of the system."
Silence once again fell in the stone chamber.
Danzo looked at the young man before him.
For the first time, he felt that his decades-long understanding was being impacted in an unprecedented way.
This kid wasn't here to pledge allegiance; he was here to... seize power?
"Your ambition is even greater than I imagined," Danzo's voice deepened.
"This isn't ambition, Lord Danzo, this is a blueprint," Naruto corrected, "And to realize this blueprint, the first step requires absolute trust."
He finally stated his condition.
"I will not accept any form of cursed seal."
As soon as these words were spoken, the Root Ninja beside him almost crushed his sword hilt.
Not accepting the Tongue-Sealing Curse Mark?
This had never happened in the history of Root!
This was the cornerstone of what made Root, Root!
It was the iron rule of absolute control!
"My loyalty does not require such crude methods to guarantee it," Naruto continued, his tone calm but carrying an undeniable weight, "It only depends on whether our goals are aligned.
If you cannot even grant this much trust, then it proves that your so-called 'for Konoha' is essentially still for your own desire for control."
"Our cooperation would also be worthless."
He cleverly elevated the act of "not accepting the cursed seal" from "disobeying management" to "a test of your magnanimity" and "an ultimate questioning of your ideals."
Now, the ball was kicked firmly back to Danzo.
Agreeing meant he would have to break an iron rule he had established for decades, risking the enormous danger of not being able to control Naruto.
Refusing meant he would personally admit that his impassioned speech just now was nothing more than a lie to package his selfish desires.
In front of this "successor" he most favored, he would completely lose the moral high ground.
Danzo fell into a long silence.
His single eye flickered in the darkness, his brain weighing options rapidly.
An uncontrolled Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, a monster with even more extreme ideas than himself... But at the same time, also a vessel that could fully utilize the Nine-Tailed's power, a sharp weapon that could perfectly execute dark missions, a... future possibility that could lead Root to a higher level.
To gamble, or not to gamble?
Ultimately, the desire for power and greed for the future outweighed his cunning caution.
He would gamble; he would see what this kid, who called himself Konoha's Political Commissar, could bring him.
"Good."
A syllable escaped Danzo's mouth.
"I agree to it."
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