Konoha's Forest of Death, a quiet and mysterious place, is one of Konoha Village's important areas, and most of the time it is used as the venue for the Chunin Exams.
Of course, what is unknown to outsiders is that this is also the location of Konoha's secret department—the Root Headquarters.
However, because the Root Headquarters is surrounded by a hidden barrier and is located underground, it has never been exposed to outsiders.
Moreover, this area is usually a dangerous zone where outsiders are prohibited from approaching, which further conceals the location of the Root Headquarters.
And now.
Danzo Shimura, this immensely powerful figure in Konoha, was now suppressed by Hiruzen Sarutobi, who, as the Hokage, forcibly confined him. He returned to his old lair in an extremely depressed mood, filled with anger and resentment, raging powerlessly.
"Damn it!" Danzo Shimura roared furiously, his voice echoing through the silent headquarters.
The Root Ninja on both sides silently lowered their heads, kneeling on the ground, not daring to make any movement to disturb Lord Danzo's familiar rage.
Because they couldn't bear that kind of consequence!
At this moment, Danzo Shimura felt immense resentment towards Hiruzen Sarutobi's actions, believing that confining him at such a critical moment before the war was utterly foolish.
"Hiruzen, to confine me at such an important time, this is simply a joke!" Danzo Shimura said through gritted teeth, his whole body involuntarily agitated, "Teacher, choosing you to be Konoha's Hokage was a complete mistake; only I am worthy of becoming Hokage!"
He constantly encouraged himself, firmly believing that he was the best candidate for Hokage. However, no matter how much he self-hypnotized at this moment, reality was cruelly laid out before him.
Now, he was merely a confined person, stripped of freedom and power. And the one truly giving orders outside was Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, who was the only known master of the entire Konoha Village.
In contrast.
Although Danzo Shimura acted in the shadows and made many contributions to Konoha Village, these were all unknown.
He was like the Root of Konoha, deeply buried underground, silently supporting the operation of the entire Konoha Village, yet unable to enjoy the sunlight and the praise of the masses. Even though everyone knew he held high power, this so-called power only came from the tacit approval of Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, and with just one word from him, all his power would vanish into thin air.
Even if he secretly expanded his forces through Root, cultivating Ninja who only pledged loyalty to him.
He couldn't openly use them within Konoha Village.
Because these Ninja, who only obeyed him, had no Konoha identification; if they were killed, they were simply killed.
No one would stand up for them.
They would not receive any punishment.
And it was impossible for them to participate in Konoha's power.
How could such a him contend for the Hokage position!
Originally, Danzo Shimura was full of ambition. He possessed important intelligence about the impending war and intended to use this advantage to make Konoha take action in advance. He believed that with his leadership abilities, he would surely achieve great military merits in this war, thereby adding strong leverage to his candidacy for Konoha's Fourth Hokage.
Even without the opportunity to act in advance, Danzo Shimura firmly believed that with the intelligence he had gathered externally and his many secret arrangements, he would surely stand out in Konoha's meetings. This way, Konoha's Ninja would look at him with new eyes, especially the younger generation of Ninja, who would recognize his foresight.
However, reality dealt Danzo Shimura a heavy blow. Due to his dispute with Hiruzen Sarutobi, he was confined, which meant all his plans had come to naught.
Although Danzo himself felt that even without these disputes, based on his understanding of his old friend Hiruzen Sarutobi, he would definitely suppress his rise to prevent him from achieving great merits, but he wouldn't be confined like this.
"…Could it be that on the eve of war, I can only remain confined here, unable to do anything?" Danzo Shimura's heart was filled with unwillingness and anxiety.
"Can I only let that monkey give orders? If that's the case, when the war truly begins, even if I take action in secret, no matter how great my contributions, they won't be known to the people of Konoha, right?" The more he thought, the more frustrated he became, as if his future was shrouded in darkness, and the Hokage position was getting further and further away from him.
Danzo Shimura clenched his fists tightly.
Absolutely not.
Such a thing.
I will never allow it to happen.
"But how can I break this deadlock!" Danzo Shimura muttered to himself, his voice echoing in the empty Root Headquarters, sounding somewhat desolate and helpless. He slowly walked to his Root leader's throne, as if every step carried a thousand pounds.
When he finally sat on the throne, his body leaned back slightly against the chair, and his gaze involuntarily looked up at the top of the tower. That tower was distinctly different from other buildings in Konoha Village; it did not stand above ground, but rather rooted itself inversely deep within Konoha Village's underground. This tower was like Danzo Shimura's own Root will, buried deep underground, never seeing the light of day.
Just then.
A sudden sound from outside broke the silence of the Root Headquarters. It was a dull thud, accompanied by faint shouts and angry roars, as if someone was fiercely fighting.
"Hm? What's going on!" Danzo Shimura's brows furrowed tightly, a hint of anger in his voice. He quickly rose from his throne, his eyes fixed on the direction of the sound, "Who is it? Who dares to cause trouble in my Root Headquarters? Do they think they are the Third Hokage!"
The anger that had been suppressed by Hiruzen Sarutobi for a long time, now, in the face of this approaching enemy, was like a lit powder keg, no longer suppressible. The fury in his heart erupted like a volcano, burning fiercely.
"If I can't fight Hiruzen Sarutobi, can't I fight you?" Danzo Shimura said through gritted teeth, his voice filled with resentment and unwillingness. As a high-ranking elder of Konoha Village, his status and power were not to be underestimated by anyone, and now someone dared to cause trouble on his territory; this was simply a provocation and insult to him.
With the accumulated foundation of the entire Konoha Ninja Village, relying on Konoha Ninja Village's strength, after plundering countless resources throughout the Ninja World by taking advantage of the chaos, Danzo Shimura's strength had also risen to the "Top Kage" level. He believed that his strength was not inferior to Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi and that he was fully qualified to become the next Hokage.
Therefore, facing the enemy appearing at the Root Headquarters, Danzo Shimura was eager to vent.
Although this so-called enemy might possibly be a Konoha Ninja who came here by some accident.
But so what!
"Daring to approach Root without authorization already makes them suspicious enough to be outside spies, and they need to be thoroughly interrogated!"
Danzo Shimura narrowed his eyes, saying sinisterly.
...
Outside.
"Stop! I really am a Root Ninja…"
In mid-air.
Sai controlled his ink hawk to soar into the sky, looking at the several Root Ninja constantly approaching him, and felt a headache. He hadn't expected that, relying on memories from another world, he could easily open Konoha's barrier in secret and arrive at the Root Headquarters.
After requesting to meet Lord Danzo from these Root Ninja, he was attacked by them.
What was going on?
At this moment, Sai was unaware that the number of Root members before the Third Shinobi World War was not large.
And the location of the headquarters was a place that only Root members who had been there for many years could access.
Outside Root members had to be led in by internal members.
Therefore, facing Sai arriving alone, the Ninja present immediately treated him as a spy gathering intelligence and attacked.
Fortunately, although the Ninja present were strong.
They were ultimately just gatekeepers.
Therefore, against a genius like Sai, who had reached Elite Jonin strength at a very young age, they were still insufficient.
They didn't cause him any harm!
Thump, thump, thump!
With a slow series of footsteps, Danzo's figure slowly emerged from the dark tunnel. He surveyed the figure rapidly swooping down from mid-air, just about to make his move.
But then he heard…