Konoha, in the dark and damp underground, Root headquarters.
"Heh heh... heh heh heh heh..."
Danzō let out a series of chilling laughs.
This shadow of the shinobi world, who lurked in the darkness, was in an exceptionally good mood at this moment.
Uchiha Shisui, the Mangekyō Sharingan, a dōjutsu capable of controlling and altering another's will, all of it would soon belong to him.
"That old fool Sarutobi has finally done something clever."
Danzō had long coveted the power of the Sharingan, and that immensely powerful kekkei genkai rooted deep in the bloodline had consumed him with obsession.
The legendary Mangekyō Sharingan in particular was something Danzō had longed for in his dreams.
Danzō had transplanted a large number of ordinary Sharingan onto his arm, and while they had greatly increased his power and granted him multiple "lives," allowing him to use Izanagi at critical moments, they still fell far short of a true Mangekyō, and Danzō would have willingly traded every last Sharingan on that arm for a single pair of Mangekyō eyes.
The field of vision, perception, and subtle chakra sensitivity provided by ordinary Sharingan were already heights beyond the reach of most shinobi.
Yet the unique dōjutsu contained within the Mangekyō, that was the power truly capable of turning the tide of battle and even changing the world.
And now, the opportunity had arrived.
A once-in-a-millennium chance had appeared before Danzō so abruptly.
Uchiha Shisui, that genius hailed as "the strongest Uchiha," the man known as Shisui of the Body Flicker, had actually voluntarily revealed the secret that he possessed the godlike dōjutsu Kotoamatsukami to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
In Danzō's eyes, this was nothing short of courting death.
An act of supreme foolishness.
"Foolish! Naive!"
Danzō let out a cold snort.
To so carelessly reveal such an important trump card, especially at a time when relations between the Uchiha and the village were so strained, how was that any different from offering one's own neck to the blade?
But it suited him just fine, and Shisui's naivety had served his purposes perfectly.
"How could such a formidable power be left in the hands of an Uchiha whose emotions are unstable and who may be swayed by clan sentiment at any moment?"
The Uchiha Clan carried the genes of obsession and madness in their very blood.
The deeper their love, the more intense their hatred, and once they fell into extreme emotion, the power of the Sharingan would run out of control alongside it.
This was a fact history had long since proven.
Allowing an Uchiha to possess a dōjutsu like Kotoamatsukami, capable of manipulating another's will, was no different from placing an unsafed blade into the hands of a child.
"These eyes rightfully belong to me, Danzō Shimura!"
Danzō was convinced that only someone like himself, who had cast aside all personal emotion and devoted everything to Konoha as its "root," could truly draw out the full value of Kotoamatsukami.
And only he, Danzō, was worthy of possessing that power.
At this moment, a vision of the future had already taken shape in Danzō's mind.
Using Kotoamatsukami to effortlessly alter the will of the daimyo, bending the Land of Fire's resources to flow endlessly toward Konoha.
Even using those eyes to quietly and imperceptibly manipulate the Kages of the other four great villages, guiding them to make decisions most favorable to Konoha at the Five Kage Summit.
When that day came, Konoha would reach an unprecedented pinnacle under his hand.
Even the unification of the entire shinobi world would be no longer a distant dream.
Danzō immediately assembled Root's most elite core members.
A faint, nearly imperceptible tremor passed through the air.
"Yamanaka Fū, Aburame Torune."
"Present!"
Two figures appeared soundlessly before Danzō and dropped to one knee.
Yamanaka Fū, an elite of the Yamanaka Clan, whose sensory ability and mind techniques had no equal within all of Root.
Aburame Torune, an anomaly of the Aburame Clan, whose nano-sized poison insects were the most lethal weapon in the dark, an absolute master of assassination and defense.
They were Danzō's sharpest fangs, and his most trusted right and left hands.
"Hear my command!"
Danzō's voice was cold, carrying not the slightest hint of emotion.
"Effective immediately, place Uchiha Shisui under the highest level of surveillance!"
"Yamanaka Fū, you will personally lead the team to carry this out!"
"Yes!"
"I want to know Shisui's every move, who he meets each day, where he goes, what he eats!"
"His daily routes, who he speaks with, the content of those conversations, and even the slightest shift in expression on his face, all of it must be reported to me with precision."
"Not a single thread or trace may be overlooked."
"The moment the time is right, notify me immediately."
"Those eyes of Shisui's are destined to be mine."
Danzō paused, and a more vicious gleam flashed through his single eye as he added, "Remember, the operation must be absolutely covert!"
"Once the eyes have been successfully taken, immediately begin spreading rumors in secret throughout the village!"
"Say that... Uchiha Shisui, dissatisfied with the treatment his clan receives in the village and harboring deep resentment toward Konoha's leadership, has secretly defected from Konoha and sided with hostile forces!"
"Make everyone believe that Shisui is a traitor to Konoha."
"Erase every last achievement and positive impression Shisui has ever left in Konoha!"
"Make Shisui a disgrace to the Uchiha Clan and a criminal against Konoha!"
That way, even if the Uchiha Clan tried to speak in Shisui's defense, the label of "traitor" would leave them unable to say a word.
And the people of the village, in their hatred of a traitor, would overlook everything Uchiha Shisui had ever accomplished.
Upon hearing this, both Yamanaka Fū and Aburame Torune felt a chill settle in their hearts.
They had spent years walking in darkness, carrying out every manner of dirty mission, assassination, interrogation, and the sowing of chaos, and they had long grown accustomed to death and betrayal.
Yet even now, they could not stop a cold sensation from rising up from the soles of their feet.
Lord Danzō's calculations were ruthless beyond measure.
Truly worthy of the title, shadow of the shinobi world.
This was to nail Uchiha Shisui, once a genius and the pride of the Uchiha Clan, to a pillar of eternal shame from which he would never escape.
This was a hundred times more vicious than mere physical elimination.
"Lord Danzō is wise!"
Both spoke in unison, their voices carrying deep reverence.
Danzō's methods were indeed this merciless.
"Shisui's Body Flicker technique is extraordinarily fast, and ordinary shinobi cannot even catch a trace of his afterimage."
This operation had to be flawless.
No margin for error would be tolerated.
"Torune, select the most elite assassination squad, carry specially formulated toxins designed to counter the Sharingan, along with the sealing scrolls left behind by Orochimaru, and the moment the barrier is activated, deliver the killing blow immediately."
"The barrier team must guarantee the barrier holds strong enough to contain him for at least ten seconds, and ten seconds will be enough."
Shisui must be left with nowhere to flee.
"For this operation, there is no need to deploy all available members."
"Select only those who harbor the deepest bias against the Uchiha, whose loyalty is highest, and whose strength is greatest among the elite."
"First, this will minimize the risk of any information leaking."
Though Root was an organization Danzō controlled with an iron grip, he could not guarantee one hundred percent loyalty from every member, for the human heart was always the most complex thing in this world.
"Second, it will ensure that when carrying out the order, not even a single moment of hesitation or wavering occurs!"
Against the Uchiha, any sympathy or hesitation was fatal.
Those shinobi who held deep bias against the Uchiha would act with far greater decisiveness, and they would not be restrained by any foolish sense of fellow-village camaraderie.
This was the understanding Danzō had cultivated over decades of shaping his "tools."
"As for that newly risen Uchiha elder, Uchiha Shinsuke..."
A flicker of wariness passed through Danzō's single eye.
Uchiha Shinsuke, whose strength was unfathomably deep and whose methods were brutal and decisive, was someone even Danzō found extremely difficult to deal with.
Shinsuke had risen far too quickly, so fast that even Danzō had been caught somewhat off guard.
Two consecutive failed assassination attempts had pushed Danzō's wariness of Shinsuke to its absolute peak, and without absolute certainty of success, Danzō would not lightly make another move against him.
Shinsuke, this variable who had appeared so suddenly, had disrupted a great many of Danzō's plans against the Uchiha.
"Hmph, a young upstart, so what if he has some ability?"
Danzō quickly suppressed that flicker of wariness.
What did a little ability matter, and once he obtained Shisui's eyes, Shinsuke would no longer be worth fearing.
Even if Shinsuke possessed Kage-level strength, he would have no choice but to comply when faced with Kotoamatsukami.
What Danzō did not know was that Shinsuke had long since taken precautions, spending a full two hundred thousand clan honor points to exchange for the Mental Barrier skill, making Kotoamatsukami completely useless against Shinsuke as he now stood.
"Before my carefully laid eye-stealing operation, even if Shinsuke notices something is wrong, he will absolutely have no time to stop it!"
Danzō was confident his plan was airtight.
No matter how strong Shinsuke was, he could not possibly stand guard at Shisui's side at every moment.
As long as the right opportunity was seized, a single decisive strike would succeed.
"Once I obtain Kotoamatsukami, my power will leap forward once more!"
Danzō could feel that strength beckoning to him.
The might of Kotoamatsukami was enough to close part of the gap between him and other Kage-level powerhouses in terms of raw strength.
More importantly, that power to manipulate will, in political struggle, was far more fearsome than sheer destructive force.
"When that time comes, neither Shinsuke nor Sarutobi Hiruzen will be my match any longer!"
"The seat of Hokage... it is time for a change."
He had coveted that position for far too long.
From the moment the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju had chosen Sarutobi Hiruzen over him, the seed had already been planted.
Decades of endurance and accumulation had all been in preparation for this moment.
And Uchiha Shisui, as for all of this, remained completely unaware.
Shisui still naively believed in Konoha's leadership and in the peace he had dedicated himself to upholding.
Shisui's naivety had sealed his fate, and he was destined to pay the most painful price for it with his life and his eyes.
"Shisui visited the Hokage Building today and remained for approximately half an hour."
"After leaving the Hokage Building, the target proceeded to Training Ground Three and trained alone."
"No abnormal contact with any individuals was observed."
Intelligence continued to flow into Danzō's hands.
"Continue surveillance, and wait for the optimal moment."
"Understood."