"Kakashi, welcome to Root! While you're here, you may bring any request you have directly to me."
After Obito reported to Root, Danzō immediately began making grand promises in an attempt to win Kakashi over.
To be fair, they were not entirely empty promises.
As long as the request was not too outrageous, Danzō really would fulfill it.
After hesitating briefly, Obito asked him for a certain type of specialized drug.
"What did you say?!"
Danzō was both shocked and delighted when he heard "Kakashi's" request.
"Kakashi, I knew I hadn't misjudged you. Darkness truly lies hidden within your heart! You're perfectly suited to join Root!"
Danzō did not question Kakashi's intentions.
What else could a young man possibly want such a drug for?
Clearly, he had his eye on some girl!
That was perfectly normal for a young ninja.
Wasn't Jiraiya, Hiruzen's student, exactly that sort of person?
"Lord Danzō, as long as you fulfill this request, I am willing to pledge my loyalty to you."
Obito dropped to one knee and began putting on a performance.
"Excellent!"
Danzō pulled a cord beneath his desk.
A short while later, someone knocked on the office door.
After Danzō called for them to enter, Aburame Torune stepped inside.
"Retrieve one dose of Compound Eighty-Three for Kakashi."
"Yes."
Torune accepted the order and soon returned with a glass vial. He handed it to Obito and left without looking back.
Once again, only Obito and Danzō remained in the room.
Danzō sat behind his desk, tapping his fingers against its surface while staring directly at Obito.
His meaning was obvious.
He had fulfilled Kakashi's request.
Now it was "Kakashi's" turn to swear loyalty.
"Please wait a moment, Lord Danzō."
Obito turned and left the room.
Under Danzō's puzzled gaze, he made a quick trip outside and returned carrying a cup of hot tea.
"Please accept this tea, Lord Danzō!"
Obito once again knelt on one knee and raised the cup above his head.
"Good, good, good!"
Danzō finally understood.
Kakashi intended to use a formal noble ritual to pledge his allegiance!
He repeated "good" three times to express just how pleased and satisfied he was.
Danzō stepped forward and accepted the tea. Although it felt slightly too hot, he drank it all in one gulp.
"Lord Danzō, the truth is, I didn't request that drug for the reason you assumed. I did it for the sake of the village."
Once Danzō finished drinking, Obito began the heartfelt-confession stage of his plan.
"Oh? Explain."
Danzō appeared curious on the surface, but inside he was deeply disdainful.
For the sake of the village?
How could such a sleazy drug possibly benefit Konoha?
Was he planning to increase the village's population?
"The Uchiha."
Obito's expression became solemn.
"The Uchiha clan is an unstable bomb threatening the village. For Konoha's sake, we must find a way to resolve the danger while paying the smallest possible price."
"This is the task Lord Second left to our generation."
"Only someone who completes it can truly be called the inheritor of Lord Second's will—and the rightful Third Hokage."
"To deal with the Uchiha, we first need to destroy the clan's public reputation."
"I intend to begin with something small. I'll use this drug on Uchiha Obito and one of the elderly women he regularly helps, ruining his name completely."
"Then you can use the scandal to launch an attack and expose supposed misconduct involving other members of the Uchiha clan."
"The Uchiha are ruled by their emotions, so they'll inevitably lose control and do something extreme."
"Once that happens, it'll be like yellow mud falling into someone's trousers. Even if it isn't filth, everyone will believe it is."
Obito explained his "objective."
Naturally, his real plan was nowhere near that ambitious.
He merely wanted to drug the Kakashi-faced Obito, destroy his reputation, and hopefully shock him hard enough to awaken the Sharingan.
As for convincing Danzō to target the whole Uchiha clan, that was simply a way to muddy the waters and create more opportunities for Obito to manipulate events.
"Excellent! Kakashi, that was brilliantly said!"
The more Danzō looked at him, the more satisfied he became.
"I assumed your friendship with that Uchiha Obito boy had influenced you. I never imagined you were enduring humiliation in silence and sacrificing yourself for the greater good!
"You're right. The Uchiha clan is a cancer within the village. We must find a way to eliminate them!"
The two immediately felt as though they had found a kindred spirit and began enthusiastically discussing their future plans.
As their conversation continued, Danzō's eyelids gradually grew heavy.
Eventually, his head dropped onto the desk, and he fell into a deep sleep.
A faint smile appeared on Obito's face.
That's right.
The tea he had respectfully served Danzō was also his extra-sleepy tea!
Danzō was far stronger than "Obito" and Rin, however.
Even after Obito increased the dosage, it took quite some time for the drug to take effect.
Looking at the unconscious Danzō, Obito began another operation.
Why had he drugged Danzō?
Because he suddenly remembered that Danzō possessed Hashirama cells.
He did not know whether Danzō had already received them at this point in history, but there was no harm in testing.
Obito did not remove the seals covering Danzō's arm.
If he undid them, resealing everything afterward might prove difficult. Besides, Danzō definitely did not possess any Sharingan yet.
If Obito exposed the arm and the Hashirama cells ran wild, things could become dangerous.
So he used the same old method.
…
The next day, Obito was disappointed.
His power had not increased at all, proving that Danzō had not yet implanted Hashirama cells.
Elsewhere, the Third Hokage summoned Danzō and reprimanded him, warning him not to tempt Kakashi into darkness.
After Danzō left, a ninja from the Inuzuka clan leaped through the Hokage office window with a dog beside him.
"Well?"
"Kakashi's scent is definitely on him, and the concentration is strongest around… that area."
"…"
"I understand. You may leave. Remember to keep this confidential."
Hiruzen waved them away.
He had known it.
Hiruzen had not used his crystal ball to spy on Danzō, since someone of Danzō's ability would undoubtedly detect the Telescope Technique.
Therefore, to determine whether Danzō had fallen victim to Kakashi's depravity, Hiruzen asked the Inuzuka clan to investigate.
The dog had detected the scent of Kakashi's hands on Danzō, proving that Hiruzen's fears had been correct.
He felt incredibly fortunate that he had made Danzō take the fall in his place.
Otherwise, Kakashi's target would have been him!
Hiruzen was like a jade beauty you could find in a cultivation novel—a cold and untouchable beauty.
Danzō was like the elder secretly practicing forbidden demonic arts beneath the sect—a wicked witch hiding in plain sight.
In Kakashi's eyes, both were exquisite delicacies.
While Hiruzen celebrated his narrow escape, however, he neglected to continue monitoring the situation.
He naturally assumed that after obtaining both "Obito" and Danzō in quick succession, Kakashi would calm down for a while.
At worst, he would find someone inside Root to torment.
Thus, Hiruzen stopped using the crystal ball.
That allowed Obito to begin executing his plan without interference—
Playing matchmaker between the Kakashi-faced Obito and an elderly woman.
On a street in Konoha, the Kakashi-faced "Obito" was helping an old woman carry her groceries home, just as he always did.
However, something seemed wrong with both of them.
"Obito" suddenly found the elderly woman strangely charming and escorted her straight into the bedroom.
Obito crouched on a nearby rooftop, carefully observing the situation.
"Hey, kid. What are you doing up here?"
Jiraiya, who had just returned to the village, appeared behind Obito at some unknown point and patted him on the shoulder.