— — — — — —
"What? You really found the whereabouts of another Mangekyō Sharingan from Danzo's memories?"
Tsunade asked as soon as Kaito's main body left, turning to his shadow clone for answers.
"Yep!"
The shadow clone nodded firmly. "Not just that Mangekyō Sharingan, but there are also seven or eight other Sharingan, a mountain of jutsu scrolls...
"...and a part of the First Hokage Senju Hashirama's body."
"What?!"
Tsunade's eyes widened in disbelief. Her chakra flared uncontrollably, sending waves of pressure through the room. Her hair fluttered despite no wind, and her brows furrowed as she roared, "That bastard actually desecrated my grandfather's body?! What the hell is he trying to do?!"
Kaito's shadow clone had already retreated a safe distance before her outburst.
He stabilized himself with chakra and then calmly replied, "What else could it be for? Obviously to study the First Hokage's Wood Release. He wanted to recreate it and make it his own."
"And by the way, it wasn't just Danzo's idea—Hiruzen was involved too!"
"Actually, according to Danzo's memories, even the Second Hokage experimented on this back in the day."
"What?!"
"Yeah," the shadow clone shrugged. "When he realized it wasn't feasible, he abandoned the project. But then Danzo and Hiruzen picked it back up.
"Honestly, you've got to give it to Tobirama—nothing was off-limits for that guy. He was the ultimate forbidden jutsu pioneer."
"Are you kidding me?!"
Tsunade's jaw dropped. "My granduncle?! How could he do something so despicable?!"
"This is a disgrace to my granduncle's memory!"
The shadow clone shrugged again. "Oh, come on. Tobirama invented Edo Tensei, the ultimate jutsu for desecrating the dead. Is it really surprising he tried something like this?
"These researchers always have... flexible morals. Look at Orochimaru, for instance. Same energy."
Tsunade was at a loss for words.
"Well, damn. You're not wrong."
Finally, she sighed heavily. "Forget it. I'll leave this mess for Grandma Mito to sort out. I'm done with it!"
It was a family matter for the older generation. As a junior, she couldn't say much.
But Danzo and Hiruzen—those two bastards—if they dared to go that far, there was no way she'd let them off the hook.
Oh, right. Danzo's already dead. That just leaves Hiruzen.
— — —
Back in Konoha
Kaito's main body returned home from the frontlines.
"Huh? Kaito, you're back already? Did your plan work out?"
Coincidentally, Uchiha Naori and Uzumaki Mito were both at home.
Kaito nodded confidently in response to Naori's question. "Yep, it went perfectly."
"Just now, we poisoned Danzo and wiped out his allied ninja forces on the frontlines—the four entire clans, plus a bunch of his Root agents.
"On top of that, I personally took out Hanzo and over 2,000 Rain ninja!"
"Everything went smoothly."
"And I found this on Danzo."
Kaito took out a test tube containing a Mangekyō Sharingan and handed it to his mother. "I checked it over and confirmed it with Danzo's memories. This is Uchiha Kagami's right eye."
"What?!"
Naori's eyes widened as she quickly took the tube and examined the Sharingan inside with her spiritual power. Her expression darkened. "It really is Kagami's Mangekyō."
Her face turned grim, her eyes gleaming with cold fury. "Unbelievable. I've always suspected Kagami was killed by Danzo and his crew, but we never had solid proof...
"Well, now we do."
"Good. Very good. Excellent!"
Beside her, Uzumaki Mito sighed and shook her head. "Ah... Tobirama originally brought Kagami into his fold to ease tensions between the Uchiha and the village, to make him a bridge for unity.
"It was supposed to pave the way for the Uchiha to integrate into Konoha seamlessly.
"Who would've thought your disciples would betray him in the shadows?
"Turns out, Tobirama misjudged his own disciples from the start."
"So, what's next?"
Kaito and Naori exchanged a glance.
Naori spoke first. "We'll definitely settle this with Hiruzen and Danzo eventually, but not right now.
"For now, let's focus on finishing the war on the frontlines and building up Kaito's merits."
"With Hanzo and 2,000 Rain ninja gone, Kaito will gain immense prestige and recognition!"
"But we can't let our guard down."
"If I'm not mistaken, once Hiruzen hears about this, he'll try to pull you back from the frontlines to sideline you and prevent you from earning more merit or gaining more influence."
"Also, since Danzo is dead, his remaining Root agents will have noticed by now.
"That means Hiruzen probably already knows as well."
As she spoke, Naori activated her Observation Haki, extending her senses to cover the entirety of Konoha.
Soon, she locked onto the Hokage's office and the Root headquarters, analyzing the situation carefully.
She then turned to Kaito and said, "As expected, the Root base is in chaos. The ninja there realized that their cursed tongue eradication seal has disappeared, and now they're divided into three groups."
"One group is planning to head to the frontlines to confirm Danzo's fate."
"Another group is staying back at the base, waiting for results."
"And the last group has gone straight to report the situation to Sarutobi Hiruzen."
She paused, narrowing her eyes. "The third group is already in the Hokage's office, informing him of the developments."
"So…" Naori turned her gaze to Kaito. "I'm guessing you've uncovered something interesting in Danzo's memories, and you're planning to raid the Root base, aren't you?"
Nobody knew Kaito better than his mother, Uchiha Naori. She could tell immediately what was on his mind. After all, if she were in his shoes, she wouldn't miss such an opportunity either.
Kaito nodded firmly. "Yeah. From Danzo's memories, I found the location of the other Mangekyō Sharingan. I also know where he's hidden eight other Sharingan pairs, Hashirama's cells, and some other items. I'm planning to take everything."
"On top of that, Danzo's got mountains of incriminating evidence against himself and Hiruzen stored away. It's the perfect chance to retrieve it all and use it to bring Hiruzen down."
"Eight pairs of Sharingan?" Naori frowned, her voice laced with anger. "So that means at least eight Uchihas were murdered by him. That bastard deserves to die."
Finally, they could confirm the fate of the eight missing Uchiha whose bodies had mysteriously disappeared.
"No doubt about it, he's scum," Kaito agreed.
At this, Uzumaki Mito clenched her fists, her face darkening. "And to think that Danzo and Hiruzen still have some of Hashirama's cells… What exactly were they planning?"
Mito was livid. Those were her husband's cells.
"Uh…" Kaito hesitated for a moment before explaining, "They were trying to restart the Wood Release experiments. Based on Danzo's memories, they conducted a small-scale experiment years ago. They secretly abducted a few Senju clan members to run tests, but it failed."
"After that, Hiruzen decided to shelve the project for the time being. But Danzo didn't want to give up. He kept everything intact, planning to resume the experiments after your death, Lady Mito."
"He even intended for the Senju descendants to 'volunteer' for the project, sacrificing themselves for the experiments."
"Even Tsunade and Nawaki were on his radar."
Hearing this, Mito's hair began to float as if charged with electricity. She was so furious that the roof could've been blown off if not for her suppressing most of her chakra.
"That's it! Enough!" Mito's voice trembled with rage. "I'll kill Hiruzen and Danzo myself."
"Oh, Danzo's already dead?" she corrected herself. "Fine, I'll bring him back with Edo Tensei and kill him again. Over and over."
Kaito quickly continued, "Luckily, your lifespan has been extended because of us, and we've even managed to prevent the destruction of the Uzumaki clan. That's forced Danzo and Hiruzen to postpone their plans time and time again."
"But make no mistake, Danzo never abandoned his ultimate goal—to implant Hashirama's cells into himself, gain control of Wood Release, and secure the Hokage seat."
"As for Danzo and Hiruzen? They were never fully on the same page. Behind the scenes, they each had their own agendas."
"Hmph," Mito scoffed coldly. "I always knew Danzo coveted the Hokage title. But trying to control Hashirama's power? Ridiculous. Even Tobirama failed at mastering Wood Release. What made Danzo think he could succeed?"
Her expression turned bitter as she muttered, "You know, this is all Tobirama's fault."
"If he hadn't started those Wood Release experiments, none of this would've happened."
"His students learned all the wrong lessons from him. Apart from Akimichi Torifu and Uchiha Kagami, the other four were nothing but trouble."
"And if it weren't for them, Konoha wouldn't be in this mess!"
Mito's frustration boiled over, and she muttered about dragging Tobirama out of the Pure Land to make him witness the chaos his students had caused.
"Prepare yourselves!" she said sharply, regaining her composure. "We might not be able to wait until the war ends. We'll have to dethrone Hiruzen and hold him accountable now."
"Danzo and the ninja forces from the four clans have already been wiped out on the frontlines. Hiruzen won't sit idly by. We must seize the initiative and control the narrative before he has a chance to act."
Mito turned her piercing gaze to Kaito. "You said Danzo left behind evidence of his and Hiruzen's crimes, right? Retrieve it immediately and give me a copy. I'll mobilize the Senju and Uzumaki clans to start stirring things up."
"The Uchiha should follow suit when the time comes."
"Also, if possible, try to bring the other major clans—like the Hyuga and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio—into this. We need absolute unity."
"If we're going to act, let's do it swiftly. The sooner we remove Hiruzen, the less damage Konoha will suffer."
"When it's time to be decisive, we must act without hesitation."
.
.
.