"Danzo-sama, the Sharingan have all been taken."
A member of the Root division materialized abruptly next to Danzo.
At that moment, Danzo was walking along the main street of the Uchiha clan compound.
His expression shifted slightly, but he dismissively waved his hand as if he didn't care. "What is the body count?"
He had already sorted out the arrangement regarding the Sharingan with Diarmuid. Diarmuid would take the lion's share, while that self-proclaimed Uchiha Madara would take a cut as well, though his amount wouldn't be very high.
As for his own share, he would also receive a portion. However, per their agreement, Diarmuid would transport the eyes directly to Orochimaru. Orochimaru would then conduct research on these Sharingan and eventually deliver the specific biological results Danzo 'required.'
Danzo had raised no objections to this dynamic. On one hand, he had no personal expertise in genetic research; on the other, he was currently being monitored around the clock by Hiruzen, making it impossible to recruit high-tier scientific talent to manage such delicate research within the village.
As for whether Diarmuid and his Yorozuya would simply hoard all the Sharingan and default on their end of the bargain? Danzo deemed that highly improbable. Surely, his long-term strategic utility to them was far more valuable than a mere collection of eyeballs.
"The body count is entirely accurate. There is only a single survivor within the Uchiha clan; everyone else has perished," the Root operative reported.
"A single survivor?" Danzo narrowed his brow, a wave of minor surprise washing over him. After all, according to his original parameters, the Uchiha clan was meant to be completely eradicated.
Right at that moment, the personal bodyguard who had been walking directly behind Danzo suddenly spoke up.
"I will be watching you, Danzo." As the bodyguard spoke, the eyes hidden beneath his porcelain mask instantly morphed into the intricate pattern of the Mangekyo Sharingan.
"You..." A flash of alarm surfaced in Danzo's eyes. He naturally recognized the voice immediately: Uchiha Itachi.
"From this moment forward, I will be keeping a constant eye on all of you, Danzo. If you dare to orchestrate anything against Sasuke, I will leak every single piece of this village's highly classified intelligence to enemy nations," Itachi threatened in a low, gravelly voice.
Though he had solidified a formal pact with the Hokage, he harbored absolutely zero trust toward an absolute snake like Danzo. Consequently, before departing the village for good, he had purposely infiltrated Danzo's immediate perimeter to deliver this precise warning.
With his piece said, and without waiting for Danzo to formulate a response, Itachi's physical form dissolved into a massive flock of black crows, taking flight and scattering into the night.
Danzo stared at the retreating murder of crows, his face a shifting mask of rage and dark calculation.
"Danzo-sama, this..." the Root ninja began tentatively.
"Hmph," Danzo snorted coldly. "He is nothing but a lone piece of surviving trash. There is no need to concern ourselves with him."
"Understood," the operative responded swiftly.
However, the moment the words left the ninja's mouth, his knees buckled and he collapsed limply onto the pavement, completely unconscious.
Son of a bitch, Danzo cursed internally. With a swift flick of his wrist, a kunai slipped into his palm. His single exposed eye darted around, hyper-vigilantly assessing the surrounding shadows.
Could that bastard Hiruzen be moving to tie up loose ends and silence him permanently?
That was Danzo's immediate instinct. After all, evaluating the situation through his own worldview, if he were the sitting Hokage, he would absolutely execute a clean, permanent wipe of everyone involved at this stage.
"There is no need to be so tightly wound, Danzo-sama," a familiar voice drifted into his ears.
Danzo recognized the voice immediately and tracked the sound to its source. Yet, rather than lowering his guard, his entire body stiffened as his anxiety spiked exponentially.
"Diarmuid," Danzo stated, locking his gaze onto the figure.
The silhouette stepped fluidly out from the solid surface of a nearby wall, behaving as though he possessed no physical mass whatsoever. It looked remarkably realistic, save for the entity's eyes, where a bizarre, ethereal luminescence radiated from the depths of his pupils.
"What exactly is your purpose here...?" Danzo questioned sharply.
"Well, I suppose I came to say farewell to an old friend?" Diarmuid mused thoughtfully.
Danzo's heart sank instantly. A farewell?
As I suspected, he has come to silence me permanently!
Being an incredibly reactive individual, the moment Diarmuid prepared to discuss the logistics of the Sharingan and mention his impending departure from Konoha over the next couple of days, Danzo acted.
Diarmuid had simply figured that since he wouldn't be seeking another formal meeting with Danzo before leaving, bumping into him here was the perfect opportunity to say a casual goodbye. But before he could utter another syllable, the kunai in Danzo's hand cut through the air, hurtling directly toward him with a sharp fshhh.
Diarmuid blinked, completely dumbfounded. What?
Are your balls truly made of iron now, Danzo? You actually have the audacity to initiate a sequence against me?
Without making the slightest effort to evade, Diarmuid simply stood his ground as the kunai passed directly through his torso. Operating purely as a spiritual body via the Spirit Transformation Jutsu, conventional physical attacks were fundamentally incapable of inflicting harm upon him.
"What?!" A wave of shock flashed across Danzo's face. His hands instantly flew together to form a hand sign, barking, "Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique!"
However, before the jutsu could even materialize, a sudden, violent tremor rippled from the absolute depths of his soul, completely disrupting the flow of chakra within his pathway system. The gathering energy collapsed into nothingness right between his fingers.
"Did you... accidentally ingest the wrong medication tonight?" Diarmuid questioned, casually pacing forward toward Danzo.
Danzo suddenly found himself entirely paralyzed by an invisible, oppressive weight. More accurately, his spirit was being entirely suppressed. His physical body was trembling uncontrollably, reacting as though it were facing its ultimate apex predator. It was a visceral, raw terror originating from the absolute depths of his soul.
He literally could not move a single muscle.
Diarmuid raised his hand and reached directly for Danzo's throat. His fingers passed effortlessly through the physical skin and muscle, sinking deep into Danzo's neck.
Then, with a sharp, violent tug backward, Diarmuid forcibly dragged a spectral, pale-green translucent entity clean out of Danzo's physical vessel.
It was Danzo's actual soul!
Danzo's soul had never undergone any form of spiritual tempering or training. Faced with the overwhelming, monolithic density of Diarmuid's spiritual power, it was as helpless as a newborn chick, completely devoid of any capacity to resist.
Gripping Danzo's soul tightly by the throat, Diarmuid stated in a frigid tone, "If you harbor a burning desire to die, you can simply inform me directly."
"You... you explicitly stated you were here to execute me. Am I not permitted to launch a preemptive strike?!" Danzo's soul vibrated with frantic tremors.
This trembling wasn't purely born of intellectual fear; it was the instinctual, baseline reaction of a fragile soul confronting a vastly superior spiritual entity.
Diarmuid blinked, his expression a mix of genuine confusion and bewilderment.
Capturing that subtle trace of hesitation, Danzo's soul felt a sudden wave of confusion wash over itself as well.
"When exactly did I state that I was here to execute you?" Diarmuid asked.
"You literally just said... you came to say farewell to an old friend... Is that not the universal euphemism for a clean execution? Did Hiruzen commission you for this? That old man has truly grown a spine..." Danzo asserted.
Diarmuid scratched his head, then casually shoved his hand forward. With a lazy, unceremonious motion, he stuffed Danzo's soul straight back into his physical flesh.
"You absolute lunatic, do you suffer from a severe persecution complex? I simply intended to leave the village in a couple of days, and since I knew I wouldn't bother scheduling another formal meeting with you, I figured I'd say a casual goodbye when I spotted you here tonight," Diarmuid explained, his delivery laced with a healthy dose of dry amusement and mockery.
With his soul firmly re-anchored to his physical form, Danzo hurriedly patted down his chest and limbs. The sensation was entirely novel and deeply unsettling to his system. He had never experienced an astral projection before.
Simultaneously, his dread toward Diarmuid intensified to an all-time high.
What kind of monster is this guy? Danzo had operated within the darkest underbellies of the shinobi world for several decades, witnessing far more esoteric and mystical phenomena than any average ninja. Yet, he had never once encountered an ability that allowed someone to physically extract a living human's soul from their body with bare hands.
Furthermore, that bizarre pressure from moments ago... it felt as though his entire spiritual matrix had been placed in an absolute lock. Was that the true reason his physical body had failed to respond?
"My apologies. I was under the impression you had come to take my life," Danzo stated, regaining his composure and offering a stiff explanation.
Diarmuid didn't care enough to hold a grudge against the man, stating directly, "The Sharingan have already been sealed within storage scrolls. Your designated portion is currently in my possession. Once I return to our primary facility, Orochimaru and the team will immediately initiate a new phase of research. The moment the results you requested are finalized, they will be dispatched to you."
Danzo nodded, his demeanor shifting back to his standard political posture. "Naturally, I maintain absolute confidence in the professional integrity of the Yorozuya."
"Good. Glad we are on the same page," Diarmuid nodded. Then, he added casually, "Regarding that kid, Uchiha Sasuke... do not touch him."
A sharp light surfaced in Danzo's eye as he stared back. "Oh? Are you implying that you harbor an interest in him as well?"
"Heh, you could say that. I simply wish to observe exactly how far his Sharingan can mature when pushed to the absolute limit. At any rate, keep your hands off him. He is the absolute last seed of the Uchiha lineage; his existence won't disrupt your long-term ambitions, will it?" Diarmuid smiled faintly.
Danzo naturally had no intention of declining a minor stipulation from a powerhouse like Diarmuid, especially since he had already independently weighed the pros and cons of the boy's survival.
"Out of professional courtesy to you, that will naturally not be an issue," Danzo stated with absolute sincerity.
"...I'd have to be an absolute fool to believe a word out of your mouth," Diarmuid let out a soft laugh.
Danzo's jaw tightened slightly.
"Now that the Uchiha have been systematically eliminated, Konoha will enjoy an extended period of domestic stability. Consequently, I anticipate we won't be engaging in any joint operations for quite some time..." Diarmuid remarked with a hint of dramatic flair.
Hearing those words, Danzo's expression turned into a mixture of helplessness and lingering frustration. Unable to contain his deep-seated resentment any longer, he blurted out, "Back then... you explicitly promised to back my bid to become the Hokage. Where is that support now?"
"Did I fail to support you?" Diarmuid looked back at Danzo with an expression of pure, unadulterated shock, as if deeply offended by the accusation.
Danzo stared back blankly. What exactly did you support?
When I asked you to assist me in assassinating Hiruzen, you flat-out refused the contract!
"The tragedy of the Nine-Tails presented the ultimate window of opportunity, yet you entirely failed to capitalize on it yourself. Are you suggesting that is my failure as well?" Diarmuid countered, ruthlessly tearing open Danzo's oldest psychological wound.
The memory of his own disastrous tactical blunders from that fateful night flooded Danzo's mind. His face flushed a deep crimson as he coughed awkwardly. "Ahem... let us refrain from re-hashing the past. What exactly are your current thoughts on the matter?"
"I am naturally still backing you, my friend!" Diarmuid clapped Danzo firmly on the shoulder, adopting the persona of a fiercely loyal comrade.
Pausing for a brief beat, Diarmuid added, "However, you must wait for a statistically viable opportunity to present itself. Next time... next time for certain. The moment a viable window opens, simply notify me, and I will absolutely show up to lend you some muscle..."
Danzo was far from an idiot; he could easily discern the total lack of genuine commitment behind Diarmuid's words. Nevertheless, he forced a strained smile onto his features and nodded. "Very well. I shall hold you to that promise."
"Yeah," Diarmuid offered a half-hearted confirmation, turning around to take his leave.
However, before he could take more than two steps, he paused and looked back at Danzo. "Oh, by the way."
Danzo's chest tightened instantly as he blurted out, "What is it now? I have entirely settled the compensation for this operation. Our prior covenant explicitly dictated that the Sharingan would serve as—"
"It has nothing to do with that," Diarmuid waved his hand dismissively. "It's regarding the Tailed Beasts. If my memory serves me correctly, I transferred custody of the Three-Tails to you years ago, correct?"
Danzo nodded cautiously, his posture turning defensive. "I have absolutely zero intention of returning it to you..."
"I am not asking for a return. That transaction was finalized long ago," Diarmuid stated, waving his hand again. "I simply received intel that a clandestine group of unidentified operatives has recently begun targeting the Tailed Beasts, actively sourcing data on their locations globally. Out of professional courtesy, I figured I'd pass the warning along."
Danzo let out a heavy breath of relief. However, he didn't particularly internalize the weight of the warning, simply nodding casually. "I appreciate the insight. I will maintain proper vigilance."
Every single year, countless rogue factions and mercenary units emerged seeking to exploit the power of the Tailed Beasts or cause complications for the Jinchuriki. Behind almost every single one of these factions stood the covert financial backing of a rival Great Nation.
In fact, Konoha's Root division routinely sponsored similar black-ops initiatives themselves...
Therefore, this type of data wasn't inherently alarming to him. Danzo truly didn't invest much thought into the matter.
"Right..." Diarmuid responded softly. Then, out of nowhere, he posed a sudden question: "You didn't happen to convert yourself into a Jinchuriki, did you?"
The abrupt question caused Danzo's heart to skip a beat. Forcing a rigid smile onto his face, he replied, "Haha... how could that even be statistically possible? Surely you jest."
Diarmuid cast a deeply meaningful look at him, his lips splitting into a wide, sharp grin. "As long as you say so. Hehehe..."
The moment the words left his lips, Diarmuid didn't squander any more time. He turned and dissolved into the darkness, departing the area completely.
———————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over here ——— pa-tre-on.c-om/AlexandrusTL [remove the hyphen for normal access]