Chapter 559: Danzo: The Advantage Is Mine!
"Sasuke, do you want to become stronger?"
The next morning, Kenichi looked at Sasuke and asked the question in a calm voice.
Sasuke froze for a moment.
A trace of surprise appeared in his eyes as he stared at Kenichi.
Wasn't that what he had already been doing?
He had been training constantly, and his physical condition had improved tremendously compared to before.
Kenichi merely smiled.
Strengthening Sasuke's body was exactly what he had been focused on during this period.
After all, expecting the current Sasuke to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan immediately was still asking too much.
Awakening the Mangekyo placed a tremendous burden on the body, and using its abilities afterward would create even more strain.
That was why Kenichi had spent so much time forcing Sasuke through physical training.
The stronger Sasuke's body became, the easier Kenichi's plan to help him awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan would be.
And now, Sasuke's physical condition was already quite good.
At the very least, he had reached the level Kenichi had originally envisioned.
It was time for Sasuke to begin mastering the greatest power of the Uchiha Clan.
"I want to become stronger."
Sasuke answered without hesitation.
Although he did not understand why Kenichi had suddenly asked such an obvious question, his answer had never changed.
He wanted strength.
Even though his physical abilities had improved dramatically, Sasuke still believed there was enormous room for improvement.
At the very least, he still could not defeat that man.
"Good. Then come with me."
Kenichi turned and walked away.
Sasuke looked down at the book in his hand, handed it to Naruto, then followed Kenichi without hesitation.
Naruto watched his big brother and Sasuke leave with a puzzled expression.
However, he did not think too much about it.
He was currently busy trying to form the Rasengan.
It was an extremely powerful ninjutsu his big brother had taught him, but Naruto still had not completely mastered it.
Kenichi led Sasuke out of Konoha and into a small forest outside the village.
Once they reached a secluded area, Kenichi opened a hidden trapdoor in the ground.
A dark tunnel was revealed beneath it.
Sasuke stared in surprise.
Kenichi lowered his head and entered.
Sasuke followed without hesitation.
The tunnel was dark, and strange patterns covered its walls.
Before long, however, the narrow passage opened into a massive underground laboratory.
No one else was inside.
Only the footsteps of Kenichi and Sasuke echoed through the empty facility.
"I got this place from Root," Kenichi explained casually.
Sasuke scratched his head.
He had no idea what Root was.
He knew about the Anbu, of course, but Root was another matter entirely.
Very few people in Konoha knew that such an organization even existed.
At the very least, neither Sasuke nor Naruto had heard of it yet.
Kenichi had no intention of preserving Root's secrecy.
When he had previously asked that old bastard Danzo for this laboratory, Danzo had been extremely reluctant.
He had even raised several conditions.
Some of them had been so outrageous that Kenichi had nearly laughed.
So Kenichi simply showed Danzo what a Susanoo clad Great Buddha looked like.
After that, Danzo immediately lost any desire to negotiate.
"Kenichi-sensei, what exactly is Root?"
Sasuke finally could not suppress his curiosity.
Kenichi glanced at him.
The brat certainly had plenty of questions.
Still, that was understandable.
Children tended to be curious.
"Root, huh..."
Kenichi had already entered the laboratory proper.
He looked around with satisfaction.
This facility was extremely well suited for experiments.
The only question was whether Sasuke could endure what was about to happen.
"You'll understand soon."
Kenichi did not explain any further.
Instead, he instructed Sasuke to lie down on the operating table.
Sasuke was confused.
However, he still obediently climbed onto the table and lay flat.
Kenichi looked down at him.
Sasuke carried the bloodline of the Uchiha Clan.
More importantly, he was the reincarnation of Indra, the son of the Sage of Six Paths.
Because of that, inducing the awakening of his Mangekyo Sharingan should be considerably easier than it would be for an ordinary Uchiha.
Kenichi intended to stimulate Sasuke's brain and force his emotions into an extreme state.
At the same time, he would reveal the truth surrounding the destruction of the Uchiha Clan.
Kenichi wanted to see exactly what kind of Sharingan Sasuke would awaken after receiving that level of stimulation.
Sasuke remained confused.
Then a sharp pain suddenly struck him.
Before he could even scream, his eyes became vacant.
The last thing Sasuke saw was the Mangekyo Sharingan slowly rotating in Kenichi's eyes.
Then he fell helplessly into genjutsu.
"Root? What is Root?"
Sasuke seemed to hear his own voice.
Standing before him was an elderly man he had never seen before.
Much of the man's body was wrapped in bandages.
His eyes were cold and ruthless, giving off an instinctively unpleasant feeling.
"Root?"
The old man spoke coldly.
"What you Anbu dare not do, we do. Those you Anbu dare not kill, we kill!"
Then the scene changed.
A story began to unfold from Shisui's perspective.
Back in the laboratory, Kenichi sat beside the operating table with an experimental log in his hands.
Sasuke lay unconscious before him.
Kenichi had constructed an elaborate dream.
Through Shisui's perspective, Sasuke would witness the causes and consequences that ultimately led to the Uchiha Clan Massacre.
He would also see exactly what role Danzo, the leader of Root, had played in everything.
Hiruzen could not escape responsibility either.
After all, he had been the Hokage of Konoha.
How could Hiruzen possibly have known nothing about the extermination of a clan as enormous and influential as the Uchiha?
That was obviously impossible.
Kenichi rested his chin against one hand.
When Sasuke's body began trembling and twitching violently, he knew the boy had reached some of the most critical moments.
One common criticism of the original story was that Sasuke had witnessed the horrifying deaths of his parents and clan, yet still failed to awaken his Sharingan at the time.
Even later, he only awakened two tomoe at first.
It had seemed somewhat underwhelming.
If Orochimaru had not trained Sasuke seriously as a disciple and taught him without holding much back, Sasuke might genuinely have struggled to keep pace with Naruto after those three years.
Sasuke continued struggling violently.
Then, suddenly, his body went still.
Kenichi stood and walked closer.
He carefully lifted one of Sasuke's eyelids.
Three tomoe.
"Three tomoe from that level of stimulation?"
Kenichi sighed.
"What a pity. I thought I might be able to finish everything in one shot and send you straight to the Mangekyo."
Still, if Sasuke awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan right now, even Kenichi could not predict what ability he would develop.
The Mangekyo Sharingan was an extension of the wielder's will.
If the current Sasuke awakened it, there was genuinely no telling what powers his eyes might manifest.
Before long, Sasuke gasped sharply and climbed off the operating table.
He looked around with shock and suspicion.
When his gaze finally fell upon Kenichi, there was even a trace of panic in his eyes.
"You saw everything?"
Kenichi smiled.
He did not mind letting Sasuke learn the truth.
Nor did he care what Itachi thought about it.
The Itachi of this timeline had already become a madman who slaughtered his entire clan.
It had to be said that Itachi himself had also suffered from the problem of later retcons.
In the beginning, much of his characterization had clearly leaned toward making him a genuine villain.
Later, the story added the explanation that he had actually been working as a spy for Konoha.
The problem was that Itachi had barely brought back any useful intelligence.
Because of that, the spy explanation often felt more like a forced attempt to redeem him after the fact.
"Kenichi-sensei, everything I just saw..."
Sasuke spoke in a daze.
Kenichi nodded noncommittally.
The truth was essentially what Sasuke had just witnessed.
Unless the Danzo of this world had somehow become a completely different person, or Itachi had fundamentally changed, Kenichi doubted the core facts would be much different.
He was already certain that he had been thrown into another timeline by that mysterious machine of unknown origin.
"I..."
Sasuke looked completely lost.
The revelation had struck him far too hard.
The older brother he had believed was solely responsible for everything had actually committed the massacre partly to protect him.
Meanwhile, the people who had ultimately pushed the Uchiha Clan toward destruction were hidden behind the scenes.
Kenichi watched Sasuke's expression crumble and scratched his head.
Had he gone too far?
Perhaps it would have been better to let Sasuke discover the truth gradually and give him time to accept each part.
Still, Kenichi wondered whether such an emotional blow might finally push Sasuke into awakening the Mangekyo.
If it did, what ability would he obtain?
The abilities awakened through the Mangekyo Sharingan were extremely important.
If the ability was powerful enough, it could remain useful even in the later stages of the story.
For example, Kenichi's own analysis and deconstruction abilities had made many things considerably easier for him.
Unfortunately, Sasuke still did not awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Instead, he lost consciousness completely and collapsed onto the ground.
Kenichi shook his head.
They could try again tomorrow.
With that thought, Kenichi picked Sasuke up and left the laboratory.
The underground facility now belonged entirely to him.
Root had obediently surrendered it.
Danzo had even been forced to lower himself and act ingratiatingly in front of Kenichi.
However, the moment Kenichi emerged from the underground passage, he stopped.
A sealing barrier had appeared outside.
Eight ninja stood at different positions around the area, maintaining the barrier.
And standing in front of them was that old bastard Danzo Shimura.
Danzo looked extremely pleased with himself.
Kenichi's mouth twitched.
Had sparing Danzo's life last time somehow given the old man this much confidence?
"Danzo! What are you doing?!"
Hiruzen rushed onto the scene.
His voice was filled with shock and anger.
He genuinely had not expected Danzo to dare attack Kenichi.
Had this idiot never considered what the consequences would be?
"Eight Trigrams Sealing Style... No, a modified version?"
Kenichi calmly examined the barrier around him.
He did not care that he had supposedly been trapped.
A bear trap might catch a tiger or a brown bear.
It could not catch a Gundam.
"Hiruzen, you've grown old. Someone like this..."
Danzo spoke with visible dissatisfaction.
He was clearly preparing to kill Kenichi.
But before he could finish his sentence, Kenichi was already standing beside him.
Danzo froze.
Then he looked behind himself in disbelief.
The Root jonin who had been standing there were now kneeling on the ground.
Their bodies remained in a prostrating posture.
Both arms were stretched forward.
Their palms faced upward.
And resting in those hands were their own severed heads.
Expressions of astonishment still remained frozen on their faces.
It seemed that even at the moment of death, they had never realized that death had already arrived.
"Someone like what?"
Kenichi smiled.
Then he placed one hand on top of Danzo's head.
Cold sweat immediately covered Danzo's body.
Kenichi lightly patted the old man's face.
Originally, he had not intended to kill Danzo.
After all, if Danzo died here, one entire section of Sasuke's future revenge plot would disappear.
Kenichi rather enjoyed watching that kind of drama unfold.
He did not know whether he would ever be able to return to this timeline once he left it.
Because of that, he did not want to personally destroy too much of the original plot.
Or rather, at the very least, he did not want the story to collapse directly because of his own actions.
Kenichi preferred to train Naruto and Sasuke until they became the ones who shattered the original plot.
Unfortunately, Danzo was desperately courting death.
Kenichi had no intention of spending the rest of his time in Konoha constantly being disgusted by this annoying fly.
"Kenichi."
Hiruzen still could not stop himself from trying to speak on behalf of his old friend.
But before Hiruzen could finish, Kenichi tore the Sharingan from Danzo's arm and face.
Then Danzo collapsed onto the ground.
Dead.
"What?"
Kenichi turned toward Hiruzen.
Hiruzen looked at him for a moment before bitterly shaking his head.
What could he possibly do?
This was Konoha.
If he started a war against Kenichi here, Konoha would inevitably suffer enormous casualties.
That outcome would be far too troublesome.
Seeing Hiruzen's reaction, Kenichi smiled.
He had to admit that Hiruzen was exceptionally skilled at politics.
If someone else had been standing here, someone like Tsunade, they probably would have attacked immediately.
Pure ninja like that were always the most troublesome to deal with.
Danzo's death caused almost no disturbance within Konoha.
Ordinary civilians did not even know Root existed.
And among those who did know about it, very few cared enough about Danzo to avenge him.
Only Hiruzen, Homura Mitokado, and the others occasionally sighed over the death of their old companion.
Then they immediately began discussing how Root's assets should be divided.
After all, Danzo was dead.
Root was not.
Such a massive covert organization controlled enormous resources.
Nobody wanted to miss the opportunity to seize a portion of them.
A chill suddenly passed through Hiruzen's heart.
When he died one day...
Would everyone react the same way?
He did not dwell on the thought for long.
Instead, Hiruzen quickly returned his attention to dividing Root's assets.
An organization like Root had to be firmly under his own control before he could feel at ease.
"Hokage-sama!"
A ninja suddenly hurried into the room.
Hiruzen raised his head.
The ninja quickly approached and whispered several words into his ear.
Surprise flashed through Hiruzen's eyes.
Then, in the next instant, it transformed into a delighted smile.
"That's good."
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes.
"Put it away for now."
....
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