Chapter 68: Danzo Shimura Strengthened Once More
As the days of training went by, the strength of Naruto and the other two improved steadily, but the one with the greatest progress was not Narutohimself, but Uchiha Sasuke.
As for Hyuga Hinata, although her performance was commendable, due to her personality, her progress was clearly not enough. While she had reached Naruto's expectations, Naruto always felt something was missing.
Naruto still had no clue what Hyuga Hinata was missing, but one thing made him very excited: Orochimaru had replied!
"Want to meet me?" Naruto held the letter in his hand, a smile curling on his lips. "I think you want to know my identity and, while you're at it, test me out!"
Naruto couldn't say he understood Orochimarudeeply, but the wealth from his third life experience game remained. Having spent many years in the Anbu during the life where he replaced Uchiha Itachi, Naruto had investigated Orochimaruquite a bit.
"But it doesn't matter. If you don't keep someone like Orochimaru in check, he won't work for me properly. After all, I have no talent for scientific research, nor do I have the time!" Naruto took out a small sealing scroll; inside were all the props he had used for his disguise last time.
...
"Hokage-sama, the Anbu Ninja guarding the sealing scroll were taken away by Danzo Shimura, and more than half of the Hokage Guard personnel have been suspended."
An Anbu Ninja who had not been affected knelt halfway before Hiruzen Sarutobi's desk, reporting the recent situation. Overall, the situation was very grim.
"I know..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was still puffing on his pipe without pause. His face, buried in the swirling smoke, made it impossible for anyone to see the expression etched upon it, but from his tone, one could tell that Hiruzen Sarutobi was not in a good mood.
This "Flying Thunder God attack incident" had caused Hiruzen Sarutobi a lot of trouble. The investigation of some Anbu personnel and the suspension of most of the Hokage Guard were only superficial losses. The most critical aspect was the vacancies left by these implicated Anbu and Hokage Guard members; that was the most crucial part.
Although Danzo Shimura had said at the time that he, the two Konoha Advisors, and Hiruzen Sarutobiwould jointly send personnel to fill these vacancies, by now, most of these vacant positions were filled by Danzo Shimura's people.
Clearly, Danzo Shimura had taken this opportunity to extend his tentacles into Hiruzen Sarutobi's core sphere of influence, and Hiruzen Sarutobi was completely helpless against it.
The Hokage's power in Konoha was indeed unique, but Konoha was not a dictatorship. The Hokagewas constrained in many aspects, and when external forces worked together, they could indeed influence the Hokage's decisions.
And this time, it was Hiruzen Sarutobi's former teammates, the current leader of the Konoha Rootand the Konoha Advisors, the three of them uniting to pressure Hiruzen Sarutobi, further encroaching upon the Hokage's power.
"You may go..." Hiruzen Sarutobi waved his hand wearily. "While investigating the internal situation, allocate more manpower to investigate that mysterious person from the Akatsuki Organization. This is the second person related to Konoha since the Sharingan; just thinking about it makes one shudder!"
"Understood!"
After the Anbu Ninja withdrew, Hiruzen Sarutobilooked out the window. His face, reflected in the window glass, was uncertain, and it was unknown what exactly he was thinking about.
...
The Root base was as damp, gloomy, quiet, and eerie as ever.
Danzo Shimura, sitting in the leader's chair, was rarely less gloomy today and had more genuine joy, even reducing much of his harsh criticism toward the Root Ninja who were training.
"Has Orochimaru sent any news?"
"Intelligence has already been transmitted!"
The Root Ninja responsible for the contact between Danzo Shimura and Orochimaru stepped forward. After kneeling halfway on the ground, he held the object in his hands high above his head. Resting in his palm was, surprisingly, a thick scroll.
"It seems that this time, besides intelligence, Orochimaru has also sent quite a few good things."
Taking a slight look at the thickness of the scroll, Danzo Shimura knew that there were quite a few things sealed within it. He immediately and impatiently took the scroll from the Root Ninja's hands, formed a few hand Seals, and unlocked the sealing scroll.
As a puff of smoke rose, besides a thin sheet of letter paper, the rest were all bottles and jars, containing a wide variety of things that made one's head spin just looking at them.
But Danzo Shimura didn't mind. He found what he needed right away: the Hashirama cells, modified by Orochimaru, contained in a long test tube!
"I really can't wait!" Danzo Shimura held the test tube in his hand, his eyes filled with anticipation.
The benefits Danzo Shimura obtained on the night of the Uchiha clan's annihilation were not insignificant, the greatest of which were the Three-Tomoe Sharingan of the Uchiha clansmen.
Although these Sharingan were only Three-Tomoeand indeed could not compare to the Mangekyo Sharingan in terms of ocular power and might, they were more than enough to activate Izanagi.
The minimum standard to activate Izanagi was a Three-Tomoe Sharingan, but after activation, the eye would go blind. Naturally, Danzo Shimurawould not be foolish enough to put these Three-Tomoe Sharingan into his own eye sockets; instead, he transplanted them all onto his right arm!
After transplanting ten Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Danzo Shimura's right arm could be described as the most terrifying, disgusting, and evil right arm in the world!
But everything has pros and cons. What Danzo Shimura exchanged his arm's aesthetics and conscience for were ten extra lives; no matter how you calculated it, this deal was not a loss.
Although this deal was worthwhile, after the transplant, the Mental Energy brought by the ten Three-Tomoe Sharingan was a bit too vast. Besides interfering with Danzo Shimura himself, controlling these Sharingan had also become a major problem.
"I hope this dosage is just right..."
Danzo Shimura placed the test tube into a metal syringe. After hesitating for a moment, he drove the needle hard into his right arm. As the syringe plunger slowly advanced, Danzo Shimura's expression became increasingly painful.
"Urgh... Ah..."
A muffled low roar escaped from Danzo Shimura's mouth; this was the necessary process to neutralize the Mental Energy influence brought by the Sharingan.
Although Hashirama cells and the Sharingan had the characteristic of mutually suppressing and advancing together, while absorbing the Hashirama cells, their aggressiveness was only suppressed, and the remaining pressure they exerted on Danzo Shimura's body was definitely not small.
Fortunately, Danzo Shimura's body had transplanted Hashirama cells more than once, and with the assistance of numerous Sharingan, although this injection was still painful, no major incidents occurred.
"Huu..." Danzo Shimura let out a long sigh of relief. After moving his right arm, a feeling of being invincible in the world welled up. "What a wonderful feeling. The only thing left before I reach the Peak is the position of Hokage!"
The Hashirama cells and the Sharingan mutually constrained and promoted each other within Danzo Shimura's body. This not only allowed the two to reach a balance but also strengthened Danzo Shimura once again, giving him significant progress in vitality, Chakra volume, and Mental Energy.
Danzo Shimura could even use a small amount of Wood Release, and its power far exceeded that of that semi-finished experimental subject—Yamato.
This feeling of instantaneous strengthening gave Danzo Shimura a false sense of invincibility. Of course, it also sowed the seeds of disaster for the future Danzo Shimura, and time would prove all of this.