Chapter 143: Infiltrating Root — The Sharp-Eyed Old Fox Danzō!
Terumī Mei had never been intimate with anyone before, so even though she spoke of topics she thought she could handle calmly, she still felt a deep sense of shyness.
Especially when she saw the obvious wicked grin in Oborotsuki's eyes, her cheeks burned even hotter, and she felt completely flustered.
"I believe that day won't be too far off."
"And when it comes… I'll make sure you remember it forever!"
Oborotsuki gave her a meaningful smile, staring at the already blushing Terumī Mei for a moment before casually tossing out:
"I'm going to capture the Eight-Tails."
Then he activated Flying Thunder God and disappeared.
Of course, Oborotsuki wasn't actually going after the Eight-Tails.
He had returned to Kirigakure briefly to confirm that the village hadn't yet been attacked by Obito or Nagato, then immediately went back to Konoha.
The moment he arrived in the village, Oborotsuki noticed ANBU monitoring the Uchiha clan compound.
But this wasn't Hokage-direct ANBU—it was a member of Root.
Without hesitation, Oborotsuki subdued the operative and captured him for interrogation.
Danzō had placed a curse seal on the tongue of every Root member.
The Tongue-Twisting Root Destruction Seal prevented them from leaking secrets about Danzō to outsiders.
However, they were not restricted from revealing other information.
For example: the location of Root headquarters, the number of guards, specific routes, and so on.
Oborotsuki quickly obtained all this through "peaceful and friendly communication."
After casually disposing of the Root ANBU, Oborotsuki suddenly had a flash of inspiration—he now had a way to infiltrate Root's heavily sealed headquarters.
He immediately changed into the Root operative's clothes and put on the mask.
Then, quietly following the information he had acquired, he infiltrated Root headquarters.
…
Root headquarters.
Danzō was currently brainwashing his subordinates.
Some of them had begun to waver and even voice doubts about the recent operation against the Uchiha clan.
In their view, while the Uchiha clan had indeed harbored rebellious intentions, their crimes did not warrant total extermination.
Moreover, during this mission, Root members had slaughtered every Uchiha—men, women, children, the elderly—even those who were powerless and had taken no part in any rebellion.
They hadn't even spared infants, young children, or teenagers…
Several squad-leader-level subordinates expressed dissatisfaction with Danzō's actions and, speaking on behalf of multiple combat teams, raised their concerns and questions to him.
Danzō had just been harshly criticized by Hiruzen Sarutobi and the two advisors, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado.
He had even received a joint warning from the three of them.
Right now, he was already seething with anger.
Upon returning to Root headquarters and hearing these squad leaders questioning him as well,
Danzō's rage boiled over.
He no longer bothered with his usual dignified, hypocritical facade for brainwashing.
This time, he directly activated his Sharingan genjutsu, hypnotizing the subordinates into supporting his decisions.
However, after using the Sharingan's power, Danzō felt his vision blur slightly.
"Recently, as the number of times I've used this eye's power has increased, my eyesight has deteriorated severely. Several times I've almost gone completely blind."
"Could it be… that your eye has reached its limit too, Kagami…?"
Danzō thought silently to himself.
The secret of this right eye was known only to him.
It belonged to his former teammate Uchiha Kagami. After stealing it, Danzō had wrapped the right half of his face in bandages for years, claiming his right eye was injured.
Over the years, this eye had done many useful things for him and achieved many goals.
Whenever his subordinates disobeyed or questioned his orders, Danzō would use the right eye's Sharingan to cast genjutsu and hypnotize them.
In the past, he hadn't realized that the Sharingan's risk of permanent blindness increased dramatically with overuse.
This time, Danzō clearly felt it.
He began to entertain crooked thoughts: before this right eye went completely blind, he wanted to acquire more Sharingan as backups—or even stronger ones!
This was one of the reasons he had ordered the total extermination of the Uchiha clan.
Eliminating the threat forever was only part of the reason.
Collecting Sharingan was another major goal.
By now, through arranging for the disposal of the Uchiha corpses, Danzō had already collected quite a few Sharingan.
He now planned to recklessly exhaust the last of the power in Kagami's right eye, then replace it with a new one.
After using his right eye to silence the subordinates who had dared to question his decisions,
Danzō suddenly sensed a strange, unfamiliar chakra signature.
As a battle-hardened ninja, he instantly realized someone had infiltrated.
Without changing his expression, he slowly raised his head and looked toward one of the dozens of subordinates in front of him—a seemingly unremarkable figure wearing a patterned mask and black hair.
The operative's code name was "Chō" (丁).
Danzō was intimately familiar with the chakra signatures of his subordinates.
An enemy might use Transformation Technique or other disguises to mimic appearances, but a person's unique chakra signature could never lie.
At this moment, Danzō already knew the subordinate before him was an imposter.
"You must understand one thing: everything I have done is for the sake of this village—for the better protection of Konoha."
"If anyone still has objections to me, you may stand up now and voice your thoughts."
Danzō's sharp gaze swept across every subordinate's face.
He continued to calmly observe the one emitting the unfamiliar signature.
After waiting a long time and hearing no further objections, Danzō finally rose from his chair.
He casually walked toward the Root member impersonated by Oborotsuki.
It looked as though he were simply preparing to leave.
But the moment he drew close, Danzō suddenly struck—launching a lightning-fast sneak attack aimed at Oborotsuki.
In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of Oborotsuki, reaching for the mask on his face.
"Tch… you actually noticed?"
Oborotsuki reacted extremely quickly. He leaped backward with perfect timing, evading Danzō's attack by a hair's breadth. He clicked his tongue in mild annoyance and casually removed the mask himself.
"Who are you?"
Danzō asked coldly, staring at the unfamiliar man before him.
At the same time, the dozens of Root members around them finally reacted to the intrusion and immediately surrounded Oborotsuki.
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