Danzo nodded.
At that moment, the door of the laboratory was pushed open.
Aburame Ryuma, wearing sunglasses and a black trench coat, walked in.
He approached Danzo, glanced at the corpse of the man on the operating table, and understood why the man had died.
Such horrific corpses he had seen many of here.
It's not exactly pity, but for Root, it undoubtedly deepens the darkness here even more.
"Looks like the Enhancing Medicine still isn't complete."
Aburame Ryuma sighed.
"Yes, Lord Ryuma, unfortunately."
The Medical Ninja nodded in greeting, also replying with a sense of regret.
Danzo asked, "How are the negotiations going over there?"
Danzo didn't join the Hokage and the Advisors because he didn't want to see a group of Renegade Ninjas flaunting their power over him.
This was an indignity that Konoha couldn't allow to exist.
However, the already defeated Konoha had no room to refute the conditions from the other side.
All because of a lack of power.
Due to insufficient power, they were humiliated to this extent by the Renegade Ninjas who left the village.
Especially among these Renegade Ninjas was that surname he especially detested—Uchiha.
Danzo was even less willing to go and see things he didn't want to see.
"It's going smoothly, currently in the process of transitioning."
Ryuma smiled bitterly.
Who would have thought the war with the Land of Wind would end in such a manner?
Despite dispatching such an elite force and joining forces with the Fourth Kazekage of Hidden Sand, they still suffered a bitter defeat.
The Third Hokage's eldest son and daughter-in-law were sacrificed; Might Duy, who was supposed to be one of Konoha's trump cards, also died in battle.
Numerous Konoha Jonin were also killed in the battle.
Although Konoha's losses didn't surpass Hidden Sand's, they were certainly not light.
This made them realize more directly that the military power of the Land of Demons, or the power of those few Renegade Ninjas, was no longer something they could easily control.
Konoha had no choice but to take it seriously, and compromise and retreat became unavoidable actions.
"Hiruzen is getting more and more useless."
Danzo snorted coldly.
"You can't blame the Third Hokage for this; after all, no one expected things to turn out this way. But being able to bring Jiraiya back, the village can still avert some losses."
Ryuma comforted himself like this.
"How are the arrangements for Uchiha Sasuke?"
Danzo asked again.
"Rest assured, I had someone put a little medicine in his breakfast this morning, so he'll feel fatigued all day and is currently at home resting; no outsider can wake him."
Ryuma replied.
To be on the safe side, the higher-ups felt it was best to keep Uchiha Sasuke from knowing too much.
For the village, Sasuke was not just the last member of the Uchiha Clan and a Ninja with the pure Sharingan, but also an important link between the village and Itachi.
If this link were to encounter problems, everything afterward would become troublesome.
Even though they believe in Itachi's loyalty to Konoha, there's no guarantee his allegiance to Konoha's will can always be maintained.
Uncertain matters must be thoroughly eradicated, which is the approach of Root.
"In addition, there's one more thing."
Below the sunglasses, an inexplicable glint seemed to flash in Ryuma's eyes.
"What is it?"
"Kabuto sent a message; Orochimaru wants to make a transaction with us."
"A transaction? What kind of transaction?"
Danzo furrowed his brow.
"I don't know, Orochimaru didn't say. That guy has always been mysterious and cautious. About that organization, he hasn't disclosed a thing to us. Not just him, Itachi hasn't revealed anything either."
Up to now, Root has very little understanding of the organization Orochimaru and Itachi joined.
The organization's name, its specific purposes, everything has not been thoroughly understood.
The only known members are Orochimaru, Itachi, and a mysterious person who claims to be 'Madara.'
"Itachi is a qualified tool. If Itachi hasn't brought back those details, that means if those things were revealed, it would be his death. He can't die yet, because he can still give off his residual warmth for Konoha."
Danzo's face remained serious.
"Yes."
"For the deal with Orochimaru, send someone to handle it without Anbu noticing."
Danzo commanded.
Ryuma nodded, not worried at all that the upcoming actions would be detected by Anbu.
Since losing both the minister and the deputy minister, Anbu is now led by four Anbu Squad Captains, one of whom, Hatake Kakashi, is from their Root side.
Hiding from Anbu and secretly dealing with Orochimaru is a very simple matter.
◎
"Here you are."
On top of the water tower of the apartment building, Ichihime was slowly eating her steaming hot ramen.
A voice suddenly came from behind; Ruri had appeared behind her, standing there without her noticing.
"Is the negotiation done?"
Ichihime put down her chopsticks and slightly tilted her head to ask.
"There's no need for long discussions there. I'm just retrieving what originally belonged to the Uchiha Clan."
If it weren't for this, Ruri wouldn't even want to see the Third Hokage and other high-ranking officials.
Because seeing these people inevitably brought back some unpleasant memories.
"I see."
Ichihime didn't have any feelings towards the Uchiha Clan of Konoha, or rather, upon hearing the news of the Uchiha's downfall in Konoha, she felt no stirring in her heart, only a slight surprise.
She couldn't believe that Uchiha Itachi could manage something like this.