No matter how reasonable the original intention was, or how lofty the justification sounded, it inevitably made people think of things that were less than admirable, even downright dark.
Seeing his expression, Danzo continued with a sneer.
"You think he doesn't know? With that kid's intelligence, he's probably already guessed part of what happened in Hashirama's Cells experiment back then. This was never much of a secret within the village to begin with. With Shinichi Higashino's brain, he's probably not only figured it out, but pieced together seventy or eighty percent of the entire story."
That was indeed true.
Every participant in the first Hashirama's Cells experiment had been a Konoha ninja who volunteered of their own accord. Although the process and results were kept strictly secret and never disclosed publicly. However, with Shinichi Higashino's extraordinary intelligence and insight, he had likely long ago reconstructed the full picture from various clues.
"If that's still a problem, just push the responsibility onto Lady Mito and sensei."
Danzo's tone became even more casual.
"After all, Lady Mito really did personally approve the experiment back then, and it was Sensei who personally extracted and preserved the first Hokage's cells. If you want to trace the source of it all, it certainly didn't start with you, Hiruzen Sarutobi."
Danzo was still speaking the truth.
The original reason the Hashirama's Cells experiment had been initiated was that Mito Uzumaki had grown old and knew her time was running short, and she had already selected the young Kushina Uzumaki as the next nine-tails Jinchūriki.
However, no one could confidently say that an underage child would be able to bear the burden of sealing the nine-tails without incident.
Therefore, with Mito Uzumaki's personal approval, Orochimaru led the first Hashirama's Cells experiment in an attempt to cultivate a Wood Style user who could restrain the nine-tails should the Jinchūriki ever lose control.
After all, compared to the powerful and experienced Mito Uzumaki, the Kushina of those days was far too lacking in age, strength, and maturity.
A backup plan was absolutely necessary.
And the first Hokage's cells used in the experiment had indeed been taken from the laboratory of the second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.
Long before the third Hokage came to power, the first Hokage had already been dead for many years.
Even as the God of Shinobi, his corpse had long since gone cold.
The second Hokage had originally extracted and preserved those cells to study the mysteries of Wood Style, but before any substantial progress could be made, the Shinobi World War broke out.
After the war, he died young, leaving behind only those cell samples.
Therefore, the origin of Hashirama's Cells experiment truly had not begun with the third Hokage.
"Wouldn't this be inappropriate?" The third Hokage lowered his voice.
"Hmph."
Danzo Shimura let out a cold snort and said, "Don't treat that kid as some harmless, pure-hearted fellow either! He's cut from exactly the same cloth as Sensei back then. There's no method he won't use. It's just that, like Sensei, he has an excellent sense of where to draw the line when it matters. Not long ago, wasn't that kid studying Blue B's corpse, which is the remains of the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki? He dissected them without the slightest psychological burden."
The third Hokage did not refute him.
Shinichi had indeed brought Blue B's corpse back from the Land of Lightning, and of course, he knew about it.
Researching the corpses of enemies was a perfectly natural thing in the Shinobi World, and no one thought there was anything wrong with it.
But what if the subject of research was one of your own?
Even if it was only cells, they were still the cells of the first Hokage of their own village.
To most people, the nature of those two situations was completely different.
Seeing that the third Hokage remained silent, Danzo Shimura did not waste any more words and merely said flatly, "Take your time thinking about it. However, if you really plan to restart it, some of the preparatory work can be skipped."
The third Hokage was immediately stunned; some of the preparatory work can be skipped?
The meaning behind those words… his gaze sharpened, and he suddenly realized something.
"Danzo, so you also..."
This old companion had actually been secretly preparing to restart the Wood Style experiments behind his back?!
"It hasn't officially started yet. It was still in the preparation phase." Danzo Shimura interrupted the third Hokage without changing expression.
"If you want to use it, I can directly hand over the existing data and a large amount of equipment. That'll save quite a bit of time. Do as you see fit."
Clearly unwilling to linger on the subject, he abruptly changed the topic and forcibly steered the conversation elsewhere.
"By the way, over the past few days, I've discovered some spies from other ninja villages in the village again. Judging from their movements, they're probably here to gather intelligence related to the establishment of the society."
"How do you plan to deal with them?" The third Hokage set his thoughts aside and followed the new topic.
"For now, we won't touch them."
Danzo Shimura's answer was unexpected.
Judging by his usual style, these spies should already have been quietly erased from the village by Root.
"Isn't that kid planning to formally announce the Rinkai City Convention on the day the society is established? Rather than having Konoha expend effort sending diplomatic notices itself, it would be better to let these spies spread the news first and allow their respective villages to weigh it in advance. Then, when Konoha presents this convention, whether they accept it or not, how they accept it, we'll see exactly what their reactions are."
"Hiruzen, what do you think?"
The third Hokage was still digesting what he had said earlier and subconsciously nodded.
Before he could say anything further, Danzo had already risen to his feet and spoken decisively. "Then it's settled. I'm leaving. There's still a lot to deal with over at Root."
With that, he turned and left.
The office door opened and then closed again, leaving only the helpless-looking third Hokage sitting where he was.
'Forget it. Let's do it.'
After a long silence, the third Hokage finally made up his mind and decided to restart the first Hokage's cell experiments.
'After all, sensei had done it too.'
The third Hokage thought to himself.
...
The Village Hidden in the Rain, at an Akatsuki base somewhere within the country.
A group of members had gathered together, and standing among them, Yahiko loudly announced to every companion present: "Everyone! Konoha has replied! They agreed to let us attend as guests! One week from now, on the day the Ninja Way Origins Research Society is officially established!"
Previously, they had submitted a request to Konoha in the spirit of giving it a try, hoping to attend the ceremony, but they had not held much hope.
In fact, they had mentally prepared themselves for the request to disappear without a trace.
After all, Konoha was the foremost of the Five Great Ninja Villages, while Akatsuki was merely a tiny organization struggling through the mud of the Village Hidden in the Rain.
Yet unexpectedly, less than a week after the diplomatic message had been sent, Konoha's reply arrived.
Not only had they formally responded to the request, but their wording was also polite, welcoming representatives of Akatsuki to Konoha to witness the society's establishment.