Suguru, who had been watching Jiraiya from afar, was astonished when he felt the eruption of auras. Aside from one of the legendary Sannins, another presence garnered his attention.
'Itachi!' Suguru almost yelped.
Although it was masked behind a subtle façade, Suguru could see straight through it with his Kaisu-Sharingan. He knew Itachi's chakra signature as he had analyzed a little bit of it before.
His sources were the trace amounts of chakra that had invaded a few Uchiha upon Itachi's use of Genjutsu.
'What's happening?'
Suguru's ghostly gaze rushed to the Hokage's office at the exact moment Hiruzen uttered the words,
"...I will not hesitate to correct any of the mistakes I make today."
Reading Hiruzen's lips, Suguru gasped. He glanced at the individual Hiruzen had been speaking to.
'Danzo!'
***
Despite hearing Hiruzen's threat and feeling the surrounding auras, Danzo did not flinch. He looked out the windows as Hiruzen once did.
"It is when one has complete control of both light and darkness that peace can truly be attained."
He spoke with a resolute tone. No arrogance could be perceived from his blank expression.
"Do not fret, old friend. I will keep the balance."
Danzo stepped forward to receive the Hokage's hat on the table.
"I will be creating a flourishing world for shinobi."
With a smile, Danzo's eyes scanned the hat. Wielding the bright red kanji that symbolized 'fire,' was a lifelong dream.
"This is the dawn of a new era, Hiruzen."
Wearing the hat, Danzo's demeanor underwent a critical change.
"Yorokobe,"
Rejoice.
Hiruzen looked into Danzo's eyes.
The three-tomoe Sharingan that never turned off swirled into a beautiful pattern of three dots and a curved shuriken. The pattern encircled pure-black pupils in a dark ring.
Uchiha Fugaku's mysterious Mangekyou Sharingan once again appeared in the world.
***
Suguru felt a diabolic surge of excitement. His heart rapidly coursed blood through his system, filling his body with adrenaline.
'Danzo as Hokage? This early on?'
Furthermore...
'Has Danzo mastered Fugaku's Mangekyou?'
A monster.
Danzo was probably one of the strongest shinobi in the world at this very moment. He had everything.
An immense amount of chakra.
Hashirama's Cells.
Mangekyou Sharingan.
An arm filled with Sharingan.
Wood Release.
A faction hiding in the shadows.
Suguru couldn't imagine how difficult it would be to kill such an existence. Luckily, he had a few ideas. Furthermore, Hiruzen, Itachi, and Jiraiya were still alive.
Other S-rank shinobi were deterrent forces against Danzo's power.
Suguru's gaze moved towards the eighteen-year-old Uchiha Itachi. Of the current wielders of the Sharingan, he was the most powerful when it came to pure Dojutsu. On top of his own Tsukuyomi, he also had the Kotoamatsukami.
Itachi was a worthy god of Genjutsu.
'Crazy,'
Suguru truly felt the insane changes his existence had somehow caused.
This gave him a sense of urgency.
'I can no longer dilly-dally.' He thought, 'The timeline had passed a point of no return long ago.'
Suguru had to make a change in his plans.
'Hiruzen has stepped down. That means Danzo will know of my research. Is this a risk that I am willing to take?'
The answer was quite simple.
'No,'
Danzo was not a leader he wanted to follow.
Suguru's thoughts swirled. He recalled the people he had met throughout his stay in Konoha.
Hana from the orphanage.
His classmates, Nara Shikiro, Akimichi Rie, Yamanaka Keiichi, Hyuga Suzu, and Uchiha Tatsuya.
His Academy sensei, Masumi.
His jounin-sensei, Inuzuka Hitomi. Kuromaru as well.
His genin squad, Senju Isao and Kurama Yumiko.
All were friends he had gotten to know.
Abandoning the village meant antagonizing them. Suguru would have to face them in moments of conflict. Although he could easily soften his blows, such an act may garner suspicion.
Danzo would surely label them badly should their survival become an anomaly.
On the other hand... Suguru was a genius. Danzo would value him highly. Perhaps dangerously high if his Kaisugan were to be discovered.
Staying in the village despite the deterrent forces would still be too dangerous.
On that same hand...
'There are eyes that I must collect.' He recalled his list of targets.
Ranmaru's Kekkei Genkai.
The Ketsuryugan of the Chinoike Clan.
Ao's Byakugan.
These eyes would be a wonderful addition to his collection.
Seeing the imbalance of pros and cons, Suguru finalized the changes to his plans. He had made a mistake in giving away his research to Hiruzen. By revealing too much, he had cleared and even reversed the suspicion placed upon him.
Now, however, with Danzo rising to power...
Many windows of opportunity had closed, forcing Suguru to decide before he was targeted. Rushing to his laboratory, Suguru disappeared through Chakra Field Hacking. He turned into a snake as an extra precaution.
Then, he ransacked his own lab, taking everything of importance. Even those items that Orochimaru had left him and he had yet to unlock.
The Uchiha corpses, the spare nine pairs of spare Sharingan, all of the true results of his research, and all of the random failures he had inadvertently created.
He took them all.
When he was done, Suguru disappeared from Konohagakure. All he left was a note.
***
Moving through the forest, Suguru erased his chakra from any sensor's attempt at finding him. The night was dark as if heralding the Shinobi of Darkness' rise to power. It was also silent, void of the presence of any insects or nocturnal life.
While he leaped from branch to branch, Suguru compiled the information he had just gained. Other than Danzo asking Hiruzen to step down, there was something just as vital to take note of.
'Itachi did not join the Akatsuki.'
And Suguru had no idea why.
This fact also changed a lot of other things. With the Akatsuki lacking an S-rank shinobi in their midst, they had likely sourced Kisame's partner from elsewhere.
Who was it and what abilities would they have?
Suguru was keen to find out.
For now, it was time to devour as much as he possibly could. Suguru had a clear goal.
'I need enough for thirty Shadow Clones,'
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