The air in the subterranean corridors of Konoha's administrative underground was stagnant, smelling of damp stone and old secrets. Dan walked with a deliberate, rhythmic pace. He didn't use his Void-Step here. In the heart of the village's power structure, drawing attention to his peak speed was a tactical error.
He had been summoned. Not by the Hokage, but by the "Darkness of the Shinobi," Danzo Shimura.
[System Notification: High-Frequency Sensory Field Detected.]
[Clone Task 4: 'Sensory Dampening' active. Your chakra signature currently mimics a fatigued Chunin.]
Good, Dan thought. Let him see what he expects to see.
He reached a heavy iron door guarded by two masked shinobi. They didn't move, their presence as cold and inanimate as the walls themselves. They were ROOT—men whose individualities had been erased. Dan looked at them, and for a split second, his 3-Tomoe Sharingan flickered beneath his eyelids, analyzing their stances. He saw the flaws in their weight distribution, the slight lag in their breathing.
The doors creaked open.
Danzo sat behind a simple wooden desk, his right arm and eye swathed in bandages. The room was lit by flickering candles that cast long, dancing shadows.
"Dan Uchiha," Danzo said, his voice a dry rasp. "The child who turned the tide at the Land of Grass. Your growth is… anomalous."
"Hard work and the Uchiha bloodline often produce anomalies, Danzo-sama," Dan replied, his voice devoid of emotion.
"Hard work does not explain how a nine-year-old develops a Raiton-shunshin that rivals the Fourth Hokage's speed," Danzo countered, leaning forward. "Nor does it explain why you are suddenly taking an interest in the village's logistics, recruiting Shisui Uchiha, and—more concerningly—approaching the apprentice of the Sannin, Orochimaru."
Dan didn't flinch. He had anticipated this. In a long-term game of chess, you don't hide your pieces; you justify their placement.
"The Uchiha clan has been stagnant," Dan said. "We are warriors with no war left to fight. If we don't diversify our utility to the village, we become a liability. I am simply ensuring the clan remains an asset. As for Anko Mitarashi... her knowledge of sealing and poisons is beneficial for the security of our supply lines."
"You speak like a politician, not a boy," Danzo narrowed his visible eye. "I do not like variables I cannot control. The 'Shadow Architecture' you are building smells of a private army. In Konoha, there is only one will—the Will of Fire. Not the Will of the Uchiha."
"Is it a private army to ensure the Western Gate is rebuilt?" Dan asked, his tone sharpening. "Is it treason to clear bandits that the regular forces were too busy to handle? I am doing the work no one else wants to do, Danzo-sama. If you find that threatening, perhaps the 'Roots' of this village have grown too shallow."
The two ROOT guards shifted, their hands moving toward their blades. The killing intent in the room spiked, heavy enough to make a normal Genin collapse.
Dan didn't move. Inside the Eternal Mirror Space, his clone was currently simulating a battle against these three opponents simultaneously.
[Simulation Result: 100% Success Rate. Time to Neutralize: 4.2 seconds.]
"You have a sharp tongue," Danzo said, waving his guards down. "But you are still a child of this village. I will allow your 'Architecture' to exist—for now. But I require a gesture of loyalty. You will provide ROOT with the technical specifications of that electromagnetic jutsu you used against the Rain mercenaries."
"And in exchange?" Dan asked.
"In exchange, I will not have Anko Mitarashi investigated for treasonous contact with a clan extremist," Danzo replied.
Dan's eyes went cold. Blackmail. A classic move. But Danzo didn't realize he was trading a copper coin for a gold mine. Dan would give him a "version" of the jutsu—one that looked powerful but contained a hidden flaw that only Dan could exploit.
"Done," Dan said. "I will deliver the scroll within the week."
The Midnight Meeting
As Dan exited the underground complex, he felt the cool night air hit his face. He didn't go home. He headed to the tea shop basement.
Shisui and Anko were already there. Shisui was practicing leaf-concentration, while Anko was leafing through a stolen ledger from the Research Division.
"How did it go?" Anko asked, looking up. "Did the old mummy try to eat you?"
"He tried to collar me," Dan said, sitting down at the central table. "He wants the Electromagnetic Murder jutsu. I'm going to give it to him, but with a modified chakra frequency. If any ROOT agent uses it against an Uchiha, our eyes will be able to 'see' the charge before it even leaves their fingers."
Shisui looked worried. "Isn't it dangerous to play games with Danzo-sama? My father says he's the most dangerous man in the village."
"He is," Dan agreed. "That's why we're going to make him think he's winning. Anko, did you find what I asked for?"
Anko slid a scroll across the table. It was stamped with the seal of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. "It's a partial record of the Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God) research. Orochimaru-sensei has been obsessed with it, but he can't get the spatial coordinates to stabilize. He says it requires a 'calculation capacity' that no human brain possesses."
Dan took the scroll. A small smile played on his lips.
A human brain? Perhaps. But a System Clone that has been running for a hundred years of simulated time? That was a different story.
"This is exactly what I needed," Dan said. "Shisui, I have a new mission for you. Start mapping the chakra signatures of the Uchiha Police Force. I want to know who is loyal to Fugaku, and who is listening to the Elders' talk of a coup."
"You're preparing for a civil war," Shisui whispered, his eyes wide.
"I'm preparing to prevent one," Dan corrected.
The Inner Sanctuary: The Hiraishin Grind
When the others left, Dan entered deep meditation. He plunged his consciousness into the Eternal Mirror Space.
The space was no longer a void. It had become a replica of the Konoha forest, filled with thousands of floating black markers. His clone was moving between them at speeds that blurred reality.
[System Notification: Hiraishin Theory uploaded.]
[Initializing Calculation Sub-routine...]
[Estimated time to master 'Level 1: Basic Displacement': 12,000 Training Hours.]
"System," Dan commanded. "Allocate 80% of all processing power to Hiraishin. Divert the remaining 20% to Mangekyō Stability. I don't care about new fire jutsu or taijutsu right now. I need the ability to be anywhere at any time."
[Warning: High processing allocation will result in 'Mental Fog' in the real body. You will appear distracted and lethargic to outsiders.]
"Good," Dan muttered. "Let them think the genius has hit his limit. Let them think I'm burning out."
In the silver light of the Mirror Space, the clone began to flicker. It failed. It hit a tree. It disintegrated and reformed. But it never stopped.
While the village slept, and while Danzo studied the "flawed" jutsu Dan had given him, the Shadow Architect was beginning to master the ultimate technique of the Fourth Hokage.
He was nine years old. He had just blackmailed the head of ROOT, recruited the most talented Uchiha of the next generation, and started the path toward space-time mastery.
The board was set.