Every ninja in Root was indeed an elite, but unfortunately, they were facing the Anbu, who far outnumbered them.
Therefore, no matter how strong they were, they did not last for very long.
At this point, the bloodthirsty Anbu had no intention of caring whether the opponents begged for mercy.
The Deputy Commander's order was to kill without exception, so it was reasonable for them to kill all members of Root.
Soon, the Anbu finished clearing out all of Root and stood before Takuno once more.
"Reporting, Deputy Commander, all the Root rebels have been dealt with!" one Squad Leader reported.
"Good, excellent. Have the injured members disperse first. Also, arrange for some men to send the bodies of the Root ninjas to the Intelligence Department to investigate their identities," Takuno said.
"Yes, sir!" The Squad Leader immediately made arrangements after hearing the order.
When it came to deploying personnel, the Squad Leader was far more familiar with the process than Takuno.
"Next, begin searching Root's headquarters. Pay attention to every corner!" Takuno said.
"Yes, sir!" The Anbu immediately took action after receiving the command.
Soon, the Anbu reported various suspicious findings to Takuno, though they were mostly minor issues, but the sheer quantity—
Truly worthy of being called the Darkness of Konoha.
"Sir, there is a prison beneath Root, holding some people who previously went missing from Konoha!" a Squad Leader reported at that moment, his tone filled with shock.
Takuno was not surprised. Most of the bodies Orochimaru used were collected on the battlefield, and only when corpses became scarce after the war did he gradually turn to bodies from around Konoha or even Konoha villagers.
As for Danzo, he rarely left the village, so the sources for his experiments must have been surrounding villages and some marginal ninjas within Konoha.
"Take me there," Takuno said.
"Yes, sir!"
Soon, Takuno arrived at the prison, which was in extremely poor condition. The people inside the cells showed no reaction upon seeing them arrive.
They seemed to have completely lost all hope, and some were already motionless, appearing to be dead.
"Can you confirm their identities?" Takuno asked.
"Reporting, sir, we can mostly confirm them. They are primarily ninjas who previously went missing from Konoha for unknown reasons, along with some ordinary villagers. The rest are likely people from surrounding villages," the Anbu member replied, noting that these individuals had once been part of their missions.
But those missions had ultimately ended in failure, and they never expected to encounter these people in such a manner.
"Those whose identities can be confirmed should be immediately sent to the hospital for treatment. For those whose identities cannot be confirmed, have people monitor them while they receive medical attention, and during this process, have the Intelligence Department investigate their identities," Takuno instructed.
"Yes, sir!"
Takuno watched the scene and spoke again, "You, rush to the Hokage Building now. If the meeting there is still ongoing, report this matter to Hokage-sama. If fighting has broken out there, do not go, prioritize preserving your own life."
The Squad Leader was stunned. The Hokage Building? Fighting?
How could those two words be connected? Then he thought about the current operation. Did the Deputy Commander believe that Danzo would make a move against Hokage-sama at the Hokage Building?!
The Squad Leader wanted to say that was impossible, but then he looked at the prison before him and fell silent.
It seemed there truly was nothing Danzo wouldn't do.
"Yes, sir!"
After responding, the Squad Leader quickly departed.
When he returned to Konoha, before he even reached the central area, he could feel two powerful Chakra fluctuations erupting in the heart of Konoha.
At that moment, he widened his eyes. What the Deputy Commander had said was actually true!
Danzo was truly audacious!
The search on Takuno's side was still ongoing. He frowned, thinking, how could Danzo not have Hashirama cells stored elsewhere?
Just then, another Squad Leader rushed over.
"Deputy Commander, we have found a very secret location. It is sealed off by a powerful Sealing Jutsu, and none of us can get in right now," the Squad Leader said.
"Take me there." Takuno's eyes lit up, and he replied.
"Yes, sir!"
Soon, Takuno arrived before the barrier that blocked the Anbu's path. Through the barrier, they could see a highly intricate door inside, which seemed to be guarding something extremely important.
Takuno looked at the barrier before him and confirmed immediately that it was not a dangerous barrier like the Four Violet Flames Formation, which would react upon contact; it was merely a barrier to prevent entry.
"You all go investigate other areas first. I will break this one," Takuno commanded.
"Yes, sir!" The Anbu members did not question him and dispersed to search other areas.
Indeed, Root's base was quite large, perhaps not even smaller than the Anbu headquarters, despite the Anbu having far greater numbers than Root.
Takuno looked at the barrier before him and, wasting no time, began the process of breaking it.
Given his current strength and mastery of Sealing Jutsu, breaking this barrier was not difficult.
Soon, he broke the barrier, opened the final door, and walked inside.
Upon entering, he saw dozens of eyes, every single one a Sharingan, currently immersed in solution.
Takuno was not surprised by this. Danzo's experiments on the Sharingan had begun long ago, and given his position, acquiring the Sharingan was much easier for him than for Takuno.
Takuno had to figure out how to avoid detection, while Danzo could simply use his authority for direct acquisition.
However, these were not his main objective. He searched within the extremely tidy environment.
Inside, there was not only the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan, but also the Aburame Clan's insects, and various other strange objects of unknown origin.
Curiously, there was no Byakugan from the Hyuga Clan.
It seemed that even Danzo found it difficult to acquire the Byakugan of the Hyuga Main Family.
Logically, they could kidnap Hyuga Clan children, but those children generally did not leave the Hyuga compound before receiving the Caged Bird Seal.
Even Takuno, if he hadn't relied on the chaos of the Nine-Tails Attack when the Hyuga Clan's defenses were weak, would have found it difficult to invade such a massive clan, even with his Kage-level strength.
"Are there no Hashirama cells?" Takuno frowned. He didn't believe Danzo lacked Hashirama cells; his arm definitely required maintenance, and as long as he wanted to implant new Sharingan, he would need Hashirama cells.
Takuno narrowed his eyes, took a deep breath, and maximized his sensory perception.
"Mind's Eye of Kagura!"
Takuno sensed the surrounding Chakra fluctuations and finally managed to detect an energy filled with life force.
"It's hidden quite well." Takuno opened his eyes, approached a wall, and pondered how to open it.
He examined the surrounding layout, and after checking many objects, he finally found the mechanism beneath a vase.
Suddenly, a moderately sized incubation tank extended from the seemingly seamless wall. Inside was exactly what Takuno had been searching for—Hashirama cells!
Although he had never personally seen what Hashirama cells looked like, he was certain that this was them!
Because, even though they were only cells, the intense life force emanating from them was so strong that he could feel it just by standing nearby, without needing to use Mind's Eye of Kagura!
A smile played on Takuno's lips. He had not expected the last thing he wanted to obtain in Konoha would be acquired so easily.
He had Minato to thank for this; it was his move against Danzo that provided the opportunity.
Sure enough, the reward for saving Minato had arrived!
If it had been the Third Hokage, even if Danzo made a mistake, he might have punished him, but it would only have been a minor, superficial penalty, certainly not a direct confiscation of his home and assets like this.
If it were Minato—no, even if it wasn't Minato, but someone else serving as Hokage.
As long as he was a Hokage who cared about Konoha, he could not tolerate Danzo.
Since Danzo wanted to become Hokage, he couldn't possibly remain quiet and inactive forever. Therefore, a qualified Hokage would inevitably stand against him and eventually take action against Danzo.
Takuno also believed that while Minato was initially angry about the Nine-Tails Attack incident, he had definitely considered saving face for the Third Hokage and the others at the time, and had not planned to kill Danzo.
But now, things might be different.
Whether Danzo survived depended on whether the Third Hokage could save him.
Takuno chuckled. Who told Danzo to involve Minato's wife and son in his statements? That was definitely his sore spot.
While contemplating, he collected a portion of the Hashirama cells. It wasn't that he didn't want to take all of them.
But it would be bad if Danzo survived, revealed the existence of the Hashirama cells, and Takuno had taken everything.
Besides, he didn't need that many Hashirama cells; he could clone them later if necessary.
Just cloning cells was not difficult for him.
The hardest part of cloning technology was cloning organs, as the principles governing organ function were too complex, making it extremely difficult to clone organs or an entire organism.
Of course, reproductive cloning, the kind that requires nurturing from a host mother from a young age, was much simpler.
But in that case, the clone would take too long to grow, and verifying its capabilities would take even longer, so he generally preferred not to bother with it.
By the time the results came out, everything would likely be over.
After finishing all this, Takuno looked at the storage room but ultimately did not touch the Sharingan. It would be troublesome if the number of Sharingan was recorded, as they were not like cells that were difficult to count.
After Takuno completed these tasks, he stood there waiting.
Finally, the Anbu members who had finished searching other locations gathered around.
After entering the storage room and seeing the Sharingan, their eyes widened.
The Uchiha was a major clan in Konoha. Had Danzo actually targeted them too?!