Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a pang of sorrow after learning of Shimura Danzo's death. Although the two had spent decades arguing over the village's future since the days of the Second Hokage, and although Hiruzen had long understood Danzo's obsession with becoming Hokage, they had still been comrades who survived countless wars together.
Back when Chinatsu was still an unknown orphan of the Uchiha clan, Hiruzen had already guessed Danzo would eventually target her Sharingan.
"Danzo… oh, Danzo… this is what happens when greed blinds you. You tried to seize everything, and in the end you got yourself killed instead."
Hiruzen slumped heavily into the Hokage's chair and released a long sigh, suddenly looking even older beneath the white Hokage robes.
Meanwhile, while returning home with Naruto and Sasuke, Chinatsu was casually discussing their performances in the third stage preliminaries when the smile on her face suddenly disappeared.
"You two go home first. I just remembered I need to talk to old man Hiruzen about something," Chinatsu said as she instinctively raised a hand toward their heads. However, remembering that these two had recently begun resisting her "Tathagata Palm," she awkwardly changed targets and patted their shoulders instead.
Naruto and Sasuke did not think much about it. They nodded and continued walking toward the Uchiha compound while Chinatsu remained standing there, smiling and waving until the two disappeared completely from view.
The moment they vanished around the street corner, the smile on Chinatsu's face instantly faded.
"Come out already. Hiding like that, did you seriously think I wouldn't notice?" Chinatsu tilted her head slightly and shoved both hands into her pockets while looking toward the dark alleyways surrounding the empty street.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
One figure after another appeared soundlessly.
One.
Two.
Three…
Ten altogether.
All of them wore Root uniforms beneath their cloaks. Their movements were disciplined and synchronized, every one of them possessing at least elite jonin-level combat ability along with specialized assassination techniques cultivated personally by Shimura Danzo over decades.
"Uchiha Chinatsu! You will pay for murdering Lord Danzo!"
"Even Hiruzen Sarutobi could be assassinated if Root worked together. Today, even if half of us die, we'll drag you down to hell with us!"
"Lord Danzo protected you back then, yet you repaid him with betrayal! What a vicious woman!"
"......"
Listening to their emotional accusations, Chinatsu could not help clicking her tongue speechlessly.
Protected me?
If she had not possessed enough strength back then, Danzo would have gouged out her eyes long before she finished developing her Mangekyou Sharingan.
That old fossil's entire plan was practically "breed powerful Uchiha descendants and harvest their Sharingan later."
And he called that kindness?
Pah!
Hearing their words, Chinatsu suddenly recalled a classic line from an old tokusatsu series in her previous life.
"I'm too lazy to reason with you. You people aren't worthy of listening!"
These people had been completely brainwashed by Danzo's cursed "for the village" ideology. Talking any further was meaningless.
For a brief moment, Chinatsu really did feel the urge to smash all of them directly into the ground with Susanoo. However, she quickly suppressed that impulse.
She clutched her chest dramatically and took several deep breaths.
After all, she was a peace-loving intellectual who opposed violence.
"Ahem! Put down your weapons and abandon evil for good. I can still give you another cha "
"Brothers! Stop wasting time talking to her! Kill her!!!"
"......"
Damn it.
You people really don't deserve diplomacy.
The Root ninjas instantly drew their kunai and charged at Chinatsu from all directions, surrounding her with textbook assassination coordination.
Chinatsu's body flickered slightly.
In the next instant, she disappeared from the center of the encirclement entirely.
"Damn! Flying Thunder Go"
BONK! BONK! BONK! BONK!
Ten loud impacts echoed almost simultaneously.
Each Root ninja suddenly had an enormous swelling on their forehead, crimson lumps rising instantly like steamed buns. One after another, they rolled their eyes upward, foamed at the mouth, and collapsed to the ground while seeing stars.
What a truly "intense" battle.
Chinatsu landed lightly on the street and dusted off her hands with visible disgust.
Honestly, knocking out ten elite Root assassins without killing them was actually more troublesome than simply crushing them outright.
As for why she spared them?
Was it because she wanted to prove she was not a "devil"?
Of course not.
The real reason was simple: maximizing profits.
These were Root operatives personally cultivated by Shimura Danzo. Every one of them possessed specialized skills valuable enough to establish an intelligence network, assassination corps, or underground organization.
If she could convert them into her own forces, rebuilding the Uchiha clan would become dramatically easier.
Chinatsu immediately pressed Flying Thunder God seals onto each of their bodies and used the resonance between the formulas to teleport them one after another into the underground basement beneath the Uchiha compound.
Even Sasuke did not know this underground chamber existed.
The soundproofing here was excellent. Even if someone screamed themselves hoarse underground, nobody above would hear anything.
Crack. Crack.
Chinatsu stretched her fingers and then cast powerful hypnotic genjutsu upon each unconscious Root ninja. Enhanced by her Mangekyou Sharingan, the illusion instantly suppressed their mental resistance.
One after another, they opened their eyes mechanically and stood upright like puppets awaiting commands.
Meanwhile, Chinatsu sat casually in a nearby chair with her legs crossed, surveying them like a mafia boss interviewing recruits.
"Introduce yourselves one by one. Keep it simple. Name and specialties only," Chinatsu ordered coldly.
The line of Root ninjas began speaking from left to right.
"Aburame Torune. Member of the Aburame clan. User of nano-sized venomous insects living inside my body."
"Aburame Ryoma. Aburame clan member. Skilled in parasitic kikaichu manipulation and tracking."
"Yamanaka Fu. Member of the Yamanaka clan. Specializes in sensory ninjutsu and mind transfer techniques."
"Terai. Root operative. Specializes in taijutsu, tracking, and covert assassination."
"Fuu. Root interrogation specialist and sensory-type ninja."
"......"
As they introduced themselves, fragments of Chinatsu's memories from her previous life gradually resurfaced.
These people were genuinely dangerous.
If she had not defeated them instantly before they could coordinate properly, even she would have found them troublesome.
Chinatsu's gaze slowly swept across the line of Root members.
Obviously, she could not permanently control all of them. Ordinary Sharingan hypnosis would only last a limited time. Only Shisui's Mangekyou ability, Kotoamatsukami, could rewrite someone's will completely and safely enough for her to trust them long-term.
Currently, however, Kotoamatsukami was still on cooldown.
Forcefully activating it again would place tremendous strain on her Mangekyou Sharingan, potentially accelerating blindness after only one or two more uses.
But…
That was not really a problem anymore.
After all, Shisui's other Mangekyou Sharingan had already been recovered. Once she fused them into an Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan later, her vision would naturally stabilize again.
Since that was the case…
Wouldn't it be wasteful not to squeeze every bit of value out of her current eyesight first?
"Two people…" Chinatsu rested her chin against one hand thoughtfully while staring at the group before her.
"Let me think carefully… which two should I choose first…"
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