"Kakashi!"
Akihara Kagura stared intently at Kakashi Hatake in front of him and warned in a stern voice, "We all know who did this. Do you realize how serious the consequences will be if this gets out?"
"I know!"
Kakashi Hatake stared right back at Akihara Kagura and earnestly suggested, "It's best to report this to the Third Hokage first and let him decide…"
Kakashi Hatake looked into Akihara Kagura's eyes and continued, "Kagura, you should know that some truths cannot be kept hidden forever. Do you know about this matter?"
"..."
Akihara Kagura fell silent.
Yet Akihara Kagura did not admit it. Instead, he looked at Kakashi Hatake, "I need to take these people to the Root to detain them first…"
"The Dark Department should handle this matter!"
"Only the Root can handle this matter!"
"Are there still people in the Root?"
"As long as I'm here, the Root exists!"
"I'm worried you'll do something wrong."
Kakashi Hatake looked into Akihara Kagura's eyes and sighed, "Kagura, let the Third Hokage handle this matter!"
"But I need to take these people back to the Root first!"
Akihara Kagura glanced at those masked individuals and said in a low voice, "There might be more people like them hidden in the village, we must lock down the information quickly…"
"Were you involved?"
Kakashi Hatake stared intensely at Akihara Kagura.
Why does this guy, Akihara Kagura, know about this kind of thing? Was he involved in this matter? Is he colluding with Shimura Danzo?
Without a doubt.
This matter was definitely done by Shimura Danzo.
Kakashi Hatake also knew that these people were surely Shimura Danzo's subordinates, who had transplanted the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan and the First Hokage's cells.
Within Konoha Village…
Only Shimura Danzo would do such a thing.
What worried Kakashi Hatake more was whether Akihara Kagura was involved, as he had already regarded Akihara Kagura as a good friend!
"Let's lock these people up first."
Akihara Kagura did not answer Kakashi Hatake's question and softly said, "Since you insist on the Dark Department being involved, you can take care of the others, while I'll take these masked guys to the Root; after all, they originally belong to the Root…"
"But…"
Kakashi Hatake was still a bit worried.
"Let's take care of this matter quickly!"
Akihara Kagura manipulated vines to bind the masked individuals and flew towards the Root Base, "I'll come find you later, but tonight's issue won't be easily resolved; there could still be many people like this hiding in the village!"
"Wait…"
Kakashi Hatake tried to stop Akihara Kagura.
However, Akihara Kagura's words made Kakashi Hatake halt, "Kakashi, you should know, regardless of how the Third Hokage decides these masked individuals' fate, it's the Root's responsibility, right?"
"..."
Kakashi Hatake immediately paused and addressed everyone present, "Everyone here, come with me to the Dark Department for a quick confidentiality registration, no need to worry."
Akihara Kagura was right.
These masked individuals possessing Sharingan and able to use Wood Release are products of human experimentation and cannot stand in the light.
Regardless of whether the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen decides to kill these products of human experimentation or retain them for Konoha's benefit, the Root handling it is indeed most appropriate.
"Hey, Kakashi, what exactly is going on here?"
Might Guy asked nervously and cautiously, "Who exactly are those guys? Did I cause trouble?"
"Don't worry, it's nothing serious."
Kakashi Hatake quickly reassured Might Guy and inquired about what happened tonight, getting the details from Might Guy's account.
It was a coincidence.
Might Guy had just finished training and spotted several people trying to sneak into the village, thinking they were enemies and wanted to stop them, but these people tried to silence him irrationally.
Such behavior indeed seemed like something Shimura Danzo's men would do.
Once Kakashi Hatake brought the innocent Konoha Ninjas watching the commotion to the Dark Department and temporarily guarded them, Akihara Kagura came to the Dark Department to find Kakashi Hatake.
A scroll was thrown into Kakashi Hatake's hand.
When Kakashi Hatake opened the scroll, his expression immediately turned grim as he saw the orders on it.
"I wasn't involved in this, but I know it was done by Danzo-sama."
Akihara Kagura shook his head, no longer hiding from Kakashi Hatake why he guessed this matter: "On the night of the clan's annihilation, I became the leader of the Root, and Danzo-sama came to the Root Base; the Dark Department should know about this, right?"
"..."
Kakashi Hatake nodded.
"Before I took office, Danzo-sama led the Root members to the Konoha Police Force building and collected over a hundred Sharingan. They didn't choose to destroy them…"
"I hate Uchiha Itachi and the Uchiha Clan, so I ordered them to destroy those Sharingan, thinking Danzo-sama might not expect me to succeed him as Root Leader. He directly wrote an order to move those Sharingan from the Root…"
Akihara Kagura glanced at Kakashi Hatake and continued, "After taking office, I planned to destroy them while Danzo-sama was away, but he realized I might not obey his orders, so he came to the Root Base personally to take away those Sharingan…"
"..."
Kakashi Hatake was silent, not knowing what to say.
"Captain Kakashi, just like I was once your subordinate, besides the issues with Kabuto and Yakushi Nonou, Danzo-sama has been good to me. Moreover, the Uchiha Clan is already extinct, just a trivial matter, so I didn't stop him…"
Akihara Kagura spoke as if it were a minor thing, fitting his style, "Danzo-sama said it was all for Konoha, and when the time was right, he would report to the Third Hokage…"
"..."
Kakashi Hatake immediately realized that Akihara Kagura had been deceived by Danzo.
Because Shimura Danzo always liked to hide things and never intended to report to the Third Hokage.
Kakashi Hatake sighed and gently advised, "There's no need to hide this for Shimura Danzo, it's not a small matter…"
"Shimura Danzo used those Sharingan for illegal human experiments, even creating Double Bloodline Ninjas with Wood Release and Sharingan."
"Perhaps…"
Kakashi Hatake had more to say.
If such experiments continued, they could indeed surpass Akihara Kagura.
Akihara Kagura only possessed the Wood Release Bloodline, but those experimental products had the Sharingan and Wood Release, two of the Ninja World's top Kekkeigenkai.
Shimura Danzo carrying out illegal human experiments, using Sharingan that should have been destroyed as materials to secretly cultivate these ninjas clearly had his schemes.
Kakashi Hatake did not hesitate to assume the worst of Shimura Danzo.
In the future, with someone stronger emerging among these experiments, Shimura Danzo would undoubtedly use them to eliminate Akihara Kagura, the Hokage candidate…
Fortunately.
Tonight, Might Guy stumbled upon all of this by chance.
If this matter remained hidden, Shimura Danzo's conspiracy would eventually succeed. Even if no one as strong as Akihara Kagura appeared, the Double Bloodline monstrosities from those labs, slightly trained, would be a force sufficient to overthrow Konoha…
"Let's go, start searching the village."
Akihara Kagura sighed, not intending to continue the conversation, and said, "There should still be hidden individuals… Danzo-sama originally moved a hundred and forty-three Sharingan from the Root; there must be others who succeeded in the experiments."