Danzo considered himself the one who cared about the village most, utterly loyal to it, without the slightest selfish motive.
For the village, he could do anything.
He was far stronger than Hiruzen Sarutobi.
What Hiruzen Sarutobi could do, he could do. What Hiruzen Sarutobi could not do, he could also do.
"In all of Konoha, no one has sacrificed more for the village than I have."
"The vast majority of my entire life has already been given to Konoha!"
"It is time I thought about myself."
"It is time I thought about the Shimura clan."
"And that fellow was right. The existence of the Nine-Tails has only brought harm to Konoha, never benefit."
"Hanzo's people want a Tailed Beast for nothing more than trying to reach the status of a great shinobi village."
"But the status of a great shinobi village has never been decided by Tailed Beasts."
"Yagura Karatachi was the Six-Tails jinchuriki, yet didn't he still lose to Rasa? Even Kirigakure fell from the status of a great shinobi village into that of a minor shinobi village."
Danzo's eyes flickered.
"So what if Amegakure obtains the Nine-Tails?"
"Give me time, and I will lead Konoha toward greatness and restore its glory."
"Everything we lose, I can take back."
Danzo made his decision.
White Zetsu appeared once more.
Danzo stated his conditions.
"I want Tsunade dead. I want Jiraiya dead. As for Hiruzen, worsen his coma so he cannot wake up. For now, I do not want Hiruzen to die directly. Can that be done?"
White Zetsu revealed a smile.
"No problem."
The transaction was made.
Danzo sold Naruto.
And sold him for a good price.
Watching White Zetsu's figure disappear, Danzo let out a breath of relief.
"With Hanzo's people making a move, even if Jiraiya and Tsunade cannot be eliminated immediately, they will still fall into enormous trouble. For a while, they will not be able to threaten me."
"Next, I can properly manage the village."
Danzo had a complete plan in mind for strengthening Konoha.
That was—
The Root popularization program.
"Root has already succeeded."
"The talent I could obtain was far, far worse than the talent Hiruzen could obtain. Yet even under such circumstances, my Root is not much worse than ANBU."
"This is enough to prove the superiority of my strategy."
Danzo glanced in the direction of the Sarutobi clan compound.
"Hiruzen, sleep well."
"By the time you wake up again, I will have completely controlled Konoha and thoroughly become the true Hokage, without the word 'Acting' attached."
"Even if you wake up, you will no longer be able to seize the Hokage position from me."
"And you will also see that under my management, Konoha will be far stronger than it was under yours."
"I will prove that Teacher Tobirama's choice back then was wrong!"
"Absurdly wrong!"
…
…
"I have him."
Uchiha Obito looked at the unconscious little boy White Zetsu had brought before him.
"He doesn't look like him. Not like Minato-sensei at all."
Uchiha Obito looked at Naruto, and his emotions became somewhat complicated.
He could not help recalling what he had done to Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki.
"Minato-sensei, Kushina-senpai, don't blame me."
"I am doing this for the sake of the world as well!"
"This world has already rotted. Only I can save it."
"Once the Eye of the Moon Plan is completed, in the world I create, I will let your family of three reunite."
Uchiha Obito grabbed Naruto by the collar and lifted him up.
As for how to use the Nine-Tails, Uchiha Obito had already decided.
For now, he would not use the Gedo Statue to absorb the Nine-Tails. Instead, he would simply extract the Nine-Tails from Naruto's body and then control it with his Mangekyo Sharingan.
Just like Uchiha Madara back then.
He would use the Nine-Tails as a summoned beast.
"With both Mangekyo Sharingan and Hashirama cells, plus the Nine-Tails, my strength will inevitably rise tremendously. Even the man now called the strongest in the shinobi world, Rasa, will no longer be my opponent."
Uchiha Obito recalled the scene from back then, when he had infiltrated Sunagakure, only to be discovered by Rasa and forced to flee in a sorry state.
"Rasa!"
A vicious glint flashed through Uchiha Obito's eyes.
"It won't be long before I settle that debt with you."
"When I find the time."
Uchiha Obito carried Naruto and prepared to turn away, but he could not help glancing toward the Uchiha compound.
"Jiraiya actually thinks Uchiha Fugaku awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, created the Nine-Tails Rampage, and killed Minato-sensei and Kushina-senpai."
"How interesting…"
"But did Uchiha Fugaku truly awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan?"
Uchiha Obito hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he did not go confirm it.
The reason was simple.
If Uchiha Fugaku had not awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, there would be no meaning in confirming it.
And if Uchiha Fugaku had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, then confirming it would carry risk.
As a possessor of the Mangekyo Sharingan himself, Uchiha Obito understood far too well how abnormal the Mangekyo Sharingan could be.
Those strange, unpredictable abilities.
Without knowing the opponent's intelligence beforehand, it was very easy to fall victim to them.
"But he probably hasn't."
"If Uchiha Fugaku truly awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, how could he sit by and watch the Uchiha clan go through such things?"
However, what Uchiha Obito did not know was that at this very moment, Uchiha Fugaku was looking in his direction.
Uchiha Fugaku frowned slightly.
"I sensed an Uchiha presence…"
"But it is not anyone within my Uchiha clan."
"And it would not be any of the people Senior Yashiro took away either."
"How could the presence of an unfamiliar Uchiha appear here?"
Uchiha Fugaku shook his head.
Afterward, Uchiha Fugaku withdrew his gaze and looked toward the Hokage Building.
Before awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, Uchiha Fugaku's attitude had been extremely passive.
He could not see any future for the Uchiha remaining inside Konoha.
Of course, in truth, that was also a kind of future.
But after awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, Uchiha Fugaku's attitude had changed somewhat.
Especially after Hiruzen Sarutobi was seriously injured and fell unconscious, and Danzo became Acting Hokage.
"The Uchiha clan has suffered targeting and suppression. Aside from the actions of Senior Madara and Senior Setsuna, the main reason is actually the village higher-ups' fear of the Uchiha clan."
"The Uchiha are too strong."
"Now, the Uchiha have already weakened. But because of what happened before, no matter who becomes Hokage and no matter who sits among the village higher-ups, they will still fear the Uchiha."
"The Uchiha clan can still only remain trapped here."
"But what if I became one of the village higher-ups?"
"What if I became Hokage?"
"What then?"
"If even Shimura Danzo can sit in the Hokage seat, why can't I, Uchiha Fugaku?"