---
"Fortunately I know the layout of Root—otherwise I really wouldn't have known what to do."
Inside one of the underground halls of the Root base, chaos had broken out. Dozens of Root operatives were gathered in disarray. Some shouted, others argued loudly. Their Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal, which bound them in absolute silence, had suddenly been lifted. The shock alone suggested something catastrophic had happened—likely the death of Shimura Danzo.
Taking advantage of their confusion, Chen Xing slipped like a shadow between panicking operatives, avoiding attention as she moved deeper into the base.
She located an empty room and suppressed her chakra completely, allowing her senses to expand outward.
Her primary reason for returning to Konoha's outskirts after killing Danzo was simple:
to recover the Sharingan—particularly the three-tomoe eyes—stored in Root's possession.
"The Uchiha's Sharingan contains strong spiritual energy," Chen Xing murmured to herself. "And the cells of the First Hokage are overflowing with vitality. If they're stored here, they won't have decayed."
She felt a thrill of anticipation. Ever since taking Uchiha Shisui's right eye from Danzo, she could faintly sense its resonance with other Sharingan sealed within the base. Although ordinary three-tomoe eyes were inferior to Shisui's, they still contained valuable ocular chakra and life force.
Soon enough, Chen Xing sensed a dense, ominous chakra signature emanating from a large room deeper inside the compound—mixed with faint traces of life energy and the presence of two guards. It was likely a laboratory.
She ambushed a lone Root operative, dispatched him silently, and used Transformation Technique to take his form. Then she walked through the corridors with purposeful calm.
The interior of Root was in disarray. Some shinobi were panicking about Danzo's fate. Others refused to believe their leader could die. A few shouted about going to the Third Hokage (Hiruzen) for clarification. And yet more remained motionless, shocked as they realized their cursed seals had vanished.
Because of the chaos, no one paid attention to "her" disguised form.
As she neared the laboratory, Chen Xing heard the muffled voices of the two guarding elites.
"You think the curse marks being lifted means what I think it means?"
"No idea. But if even ours deactivated… something happened to Danzo-sama."
"And why were we suddenly reassigned to guard the lab? Does it have something to do with this?"
"It might. I heard the ANBU guarding this area were called out on urgent missions…"
Their conversation confirmed Chen Xing's suspicion.
Danzo must have reassigned guards shortly before leaving, and the new shift was understaffed.
Convenient, she thought. If this place were fully guarded, even I would have trouble taking it quietly without a master-level genjutsu.
A moment later, she quickly incapacitated both elite guards and slipped inside.
---
The laboratory was disturbing.
Rows of shelves held jars of organs, preserved specimens—both animal and human—and suspended body parts. The stench of antiseptic and death filled the air. A less experienced shinobi might have vomited at the sight.
Chen Xing ignored all of it.
Her eyes locked onto a row of glass containers, each containing a single scarlet, three-tomoe Sharingan. There were eight pairs in total.
"Sharingan," she whispered, eyes gleaming.
She unrolled a storage scroll and sealed all of the Sharingan safely inside.
Then she examined the rest of the laboratory, searching for anything else of value—
Her attention stopped at a massive glass tank, half a meter tall and over two meters wide. It was filled with green nutrient fluid, but the contents inside made Chen Xing inhale sharply.
A lump of pale green flesh—still pulsing with astonishing life energy.
One glance at the label confirmed it:
"Hashirama Senju—Tissue Sample."
There was no mistaking it. Even removed from a human body, it radiated an overwhelming vitality. Nothing else in the world possessed such power except the flesh of the First Hokage.
Carefully, Chen Xing sealed the entire sample into a reinforced container.
She continued inspecting the lab and found an additional sample of Hashirama's tissue in another smaller tube. Although she hadn't planned for it, she happily took this one as well—along with several precise experimental instruments that would be useful later.
---
Her objectives completed, Chen Xing prepared to leave. Remaining any longer would be dangerous. The Third Hokage and the village elders might arrive at any moment, and she had no reason to clash with Konoha directly.
As she left the Root base and hid herself in the treeline, she sensed sudden movement.
A large group approached.
The Third Hokage—Sarutobi Hiruzen—arrived with numerous ANBU squads, and beside him were the two village advisors: Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane.
Although they hadn't found Danzo's body, the sudden release of every Root member's cursed seal was explanation enough. Danzo had fallen.
Chen Xing stayed utterly silent, suppressing her chakra until it nearly vanished.
Fortunately, she arrived earlier—if she had waited until after Hiruzen came, escape would have been far more troublesome. If surrounded, she could even be trapped inside a Four Purple Flames Formation, and although powerful, she wasn't foolish enough to think Hiruzen—or his generation—would let her walk free.
After all, the Third Hokage and Danzo had grown up together. If they discovered her, they wouldn't simply let her go.
Not wanting unnecessary trouble, Chen Xing departed immediately toward the Land of Rivers.
---
Meanwhile, outside the Root base:
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood with grim expression, Homura and Koharu flanking him. ANBU operatives and Root survivors gathered nervously.
"Third Hokage-sama, what happened to Danzo-sama?" a Root shinobi asked anxiously.
"Yes! The cursed seals can't just disappear… Did something happen?"
"Is Root leader Danzo still alive?"
Their worried voices created a rising uproar.
"Silence," Koharu snapped, her face dark.
The crowd gradually quieted down.
Hiruzen finally spoke, his voice heavy:
"Danzo acted without authorization. He attempted to intercept—and capture—the rogue shinobi known as the Peacock King. He and every Root operative sent on that mission… were killed."
Gasps and disbelief erupted.
"How is that possible?!"
"Danzo-sama was a legendary elder—how could he lose?!"
"And all our forces too?! Impossible!"
The outcry grew louder until Hiruzen raised a hand.
"From this day onward," he continued, "to prevent Root from falling into chaos and to protect the village from further instability… all remaining Root members will be integrated into the village's ANBU division."
Homura and Koharu looked displeased, but they did not object. They could not.
---
Hokage Building – Konoha
Late into the night, the village was quiet.
But inside a small meeting room next to the Hokage's office, lights flickered—a sign that the leaders of Konoha's various clans had been summoned.
One by one, the clan representatives arrived, faces tense and solemn.
Something enormous had happened in the shadows of the village.