Orochimaru's Hideout.
Danzō Shimura POV:
An intelligent wasted on the fears of their own mortality. Another failure born from Hiruzen's incompetence.
'Only one sannin remained loyal to Konoha, and yet he too had shrugged off his duties in favour of travel,' Danzō thought, a frown etching itself upon his visage.
The halls echoed with the drips of droplets upon a puddle, the sole source of noise in the otherwise silent narrow way. The almost eerie nature of its loudness left a disconcerting feeling, given that it could easily obscure the movements of intruders if timed well.
However, the Shinobi no Yami wasn't so easily fooled by the otherwise common occurrence. He remained unbothered in the attempt, well aware of the sound-based genjutsu trying to weave its way into his senses and disrupt his Yin balance.
A wasted attempt.
Concealed beneath the layers of bandages that covered his right face, his former teammate's Sharingan spun in sync with the rhythm of Magen: Kyō Tenchi-ten, deciphering the structure of the genjutsu that had attempted to ensnare his mind within his pathways. It kekkei genkai also etched the incomplete workings of the symphonic hypnotic. He planned to rework and refine it for the benefit of his ROOT operatives.
Danzō moved silently, his annoyance hidden, carrying a bundled cloth package in his left hand as he made his way toward the snake sannin's laboratory.
His conviction remained unchanged.
This hideout was just one of the many owned by the treacherous sannin, and Danzō had only learned about it after Orochimaru's defection. Yet, ever since uncovering this blind spot in their surveillance, he had assigned numerous operatives to locate and expose these secret lairs.
Two additional discoveries have been made in Kusagakure, despite his awareness that numerous remain unresolved. This demonstrated the consistent nature of Hiruzen's actions, as the snake sannin had anticipate the sentimental fool's response to being discovered, leading him to prior preparations.
Did Orochimaru start plans of defection before even the 2nd Ninja war?
Despite himself, Danzō could not dismiss such a possibility. The snake sannin had always been a well-rounded genius unseen since the warring era in the form of the Nidaime.
Yet his fear and lack of loyalty were a strangle to the potential he could achieve, but that was also a weakness simple to capitalise upon.
The Shinobi no Yami would not repeat Hiruzen's failure. The snake would be swiftly disposed of as soon as his use to Konoha had been depleted.
As for now…
He pushed open the doors to the lab, and they cried…screeched in alerting welcome. In the heavily illuminated room was the snake sannin clothed in his plain coat in the process of mixing a plethora of chemicals, an attempt at an insidious concoction no doubt.
Syringes full with the exact substance hung to the side.
'Antidotes?'
…there was much and more he needed from Orochimaru.
Serpentine eyes flickered toward him, surprise not shown in the sannin's expression, save for the amused stretching of his lips at the edges as his eyes drifted toward the bundle in Danzō's hand.
"My my, to think you'd actually go through with your promise, I'm impressed, Danzo-sama." Orochimaru slithered back and forth, the movement not unlike those of limbless reptiles, "and here I thought you would be more opposed to the wastage of Konoha's resources, especially on endeavours so personal in benefit."
Affected, though he made sure that his face displayed little change to give it away, Danzō placed the bundle on the table. Some of the sheets covering the bundle fell, revealing smooth unblemished skin of a newly born baby sleeping…and sedated within.
His lone eye turned to the sannin, whose gaze was transfixed to the infant Uchiha, with Orochimaru's greed pouring out unchecked.
'Worthless!'
Foolish was the fact that the snake thought that the spawn of those traitors counted as Konoha's resource. No, the Uchiha were merely vassals of the most versatile dōjutsu… He and Hatake were proof that the eyes would see better use in the hands of actual loyal shinobi of Konoha.
But Danzō would not reduce the value of this effort by explaining such to Orochimaru.
"The only reason I agreed to this is because I expect you to share all your findings on this dōjutsu, Orochimaru…fail to do so and I will not be as lenient as Hiruzen," Danzo reminded..warned!
To punctuate his message, he projected his killing intent on the tranced sannin, jolting him out of his reverie.
The twitches of the infant were ignored.
"Oh, of course, Danzo-sama…had I ever failed to deliver on my promises?" The grovel was fake and mocking, but he paid it no mind, as the spoken words were true.
Still, Danzō was not easily trusting of shinobi who lost their way.
Forgotten was the sannin's previous task as he dedicated his focus on the infant snatched from the hospital upon its delivery. The Uchiha had become lax in their caution, the steps taken by the Nidaime were finally bearing fruit.
Danzo felt irritation start to bubble at the reminder of the treacherous clan…and the steps Hiruzen was once again taking to preserve their reputation and existence.
And yet, through his meddling, tensions would once again worsen, even those disinclined to the beliefs of their clan's extremists— the followers of Madara's will— would be forced to show their traitorous side to the rest of the village in due time.
…such would be the impact of this infant's disappearance.
Done with his inspection, the snake turned to him.
"How is the test subject you've stolen from me by the way? Good I presume?"
His eyes furrowed and glared at the presumptuous snake. Did he truly think that any of the subjects he worked upon while in the village were his to keep.
The Mokuton user was Konoha's to keep…as was Orochimaru himself. The snake would do well to remember that it was his strength— born from the village's tutelage— that kept him free.
"He is a far cry from what the Shodai was capable of…I doubt he would even be able to suppress the Kyūbi Jinchūriki if he ever got out of hand."
Danzō was quick to remind the sannin of his failure in that regard.
Kinoe was a disappointment with little talent or natural advantage. The Mokuton was the only reason he was even able to be considered one of Konoha's most capable, such was the strength of the Shodai.
Carefully undoing the fastening of his right arm, Danzō revealed a gauntlet-like seal designed to conceal the leakage of foreign chakra. This safeguard prevented those with sensory abilities from detecting the anomaly. From a paper storage seal, he retrieved a capsule containing two fully matured Sharingan eyeballs nestled within.
Orochimaru was inattentive as he cleared the table for the procedure to come.
"Ah, but that was a foreseen outcome. I had to settle for ordinary test subjects after all," He remarked, "I could've done more if you had been willing to part with some of your stray clan members."
Danzō frowned as he began to undo the seal on his arm.
"And waste valuable weapons on hypotheses? Do not act as if you can replicate Kinoe's success."
"I still have the research, Danzo-sama. If I could be permitted to run tests on the boy, I'm sure I would be able to reverse engineer the process."
"I will not allow you to tamper with Konoha's only weapon against the Kyūbi Jinchūriki."
Despite Kinoe's shortcomings, he remained their sole opportunity to control Namikaze's son if he were to deviate from the right path. This prospect appeared plausible given Hiruzen's indulgence towards the boy.
'Had Namikaze not used a seal so foreign, I would have made moves to have the Jinchūriki under me. It is high time we tame the Kyūbi's power.'
The seals became undone, revealing the pale, shrivelled arm that pulsed and twitched with the unmistakable chakra of the Shodai, along with the forming face on his elbow.
On his backhand there was a single sharingan eye in its full maturity, gazing with an unseeing glint in its unnatural location.
This was Danzō's sacrifice to Konoha, he would see his village regain its rightful superiority even if it meant abandoning his humanity.