In a dark underground chamber in Konoha...
"Heh, that meaningless Will of Fire again!" A shadowy old man, half his body wrapped in bandages, sneered coldly while reading the document in his hand.
"Marvelous... what an amazing talent," said the ninja standing behind the elder, his snake-like pupils glowing. "A commoner student who's only been at the academy for half a month actually defeated his teacher's son!"
"You should be able to do the same, right?" The bandaged elder turned his head with an indifferent tone. "Orochimaru?"
"Haha." Orochimaru chuckled without giving a direct answer. Meeting the other's gaze, he asked, "Elder Danzo seems quite impressed by him? Planning to recruit him into Root?"
"Impressed?" Danzo scoffed arrogantly. "Hmph, I would never support anyone that old fool Sarutobi favors!"
"A hesitant person who can't make decisive moves will never become a qualified ninja no matter how talented. Besides… it's because of the Will of Fire again, isn't it?" Orochimaru slightly curled his lips while secretly looking down on the other internally.
He still remembered how Danzo once tried to recruit one of Jiraiya's students. That time, their usually indecisive teacher acted with unexpected decisiveness — brutally severing every branch of Root that surfaced, nearly driving someone to desperation over the loss.
Otherwise, given Namikaze Minato's astonishing talent, how could Danzo ignore him so completely?
Even willing to overlook assassination attempts against himself, yet uncompromising where the 'Will of Fire' is concerned… Orochimaru's eyes flickered with a shadow as he silently sighed, *Sensei, in your eyes, what exactly is this village to you?*
Two people with different agendas each lost in their own thoughts plunged the already silent underground room back into death-like stillness.
After a while, Danzo finally placed the document aside. "About what I mentioned last time, have you made your decision?"
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly. "This requires careful consideration. After all, those aren't easy opponents to deal with!"
"True. Whether it's Minato Namikaze or that Seiki Shimaseki, they're just small fries poisoned by Sarutobi. The real threat is that so-called Legend of the White Fang!"
"One weak Hokage was bad enough. Letting another spineless fool become the Fourth Hokage will drag Konoha straight into the gutter." Danzo became increasingly agitated, almost radiating a 'sacred' light. "For the sake of Konoha — we have no choice but to wipe him out!(ˊ〇ˋ*)?"
Standing nearby, Orochimaru seemed startled by this 'blinding' glow, secretly wondering, *You've gotta be kidding me — does he actually think he's doing this for Konoha?*
As if releasing all his pent-up resentment toward the Third, Danzo soon regained composure. "Since you've come here, it means you've decided. Tell me your conditions."
Orochimaru licked his lips, hissing out, "Sss... I want the First's cells."
Danzo suddenly turned his head, his cold eyes fixed on Orochimaru. "That experiment has already been shut down—you should know that, right?"
Orochimaru smiled slightly. "Elder Danzo, are you really willing to give up the means of controlling the Nine-Tails so easily? For the sake of Konoha, some cost and sacrifice are worth it!"
After a moment of silence, Danzo sneered. "I wonder what expression Sarutobi would make when he finds out his favorite student is actually someone like me."
Orochimaru didn't seem bothered by Danzo's mockery; he simply sighed. "Fate always pushes people toward different tributaries."
...
Outside, Seiki's battle with Asuma surprised quite a few people, though it was nothing more than a brief shock—the adults' attention wouldn't stay on children's affairs for long.
It looked like peace had settled back in again.
Ding ding!
"Finally, class is over. Theory lessons are super boring."
"Yeah, when are we ever gonna have practical training?"
"Come on, at least show some respect for Teacher Yamakei."
"Well, maybe. So let's go play that wild soccer Seiki told us about last time."
"Great idea! I'll be on Seiki's team!"
"Tch, you were just on the class leader's side yesterday—we deserve you today!"
The first-year students didn't have many classes, and between courses, there was plenty of time for them to burn off extra energy.
In the classroom, Seiki smiled while watching this scene unfold.
Clearly, his group-by-group approach was already paying off.
Kids always follow the crowd—it's just how they are when they're young.
Once he established an image of excellence, reliability, and friendliness, naturally these elementary schoolers, still naive about interpersonal relationships, would gather around him voluntarily.
Of course, there was one exception.
"Mizuki, won't you come play with us?" Smiling, Seiki cordially invited the boy in the corner.
Though envious inside, Mizuki dared not openly challenge Seiki's authority within the class, so he simply pretended not to hear.
However, even doing that made many classmates unhappy.
"What the hell is your problem?! Can't you even hear Seiki talking to you?!"
"Freakin' snob! I'd love to punch your lights out!"
Mizuki never expected that even subtly expressing dissatisfaction would draw such backlash. Caught off guard, he stuttered apologies: "I-I'm sorry... It's just that my body feels a bit uncomfortable today. I didn't mean anything by it..."
Listening to Mizuki's clearly pitiful yet resentful voice, Seiki stepped forward to ease tensions. "No need for all this. We're classmates after all—shouldn't we support and help each other?"
As if completely missing Mizuki's discomfort, Seiki looked directly into his eyes with a sincerely feigned expression. "Mizuki, I apologize on their behalf. But truthfully, I can see how much you want to join us, don't you? If there's any concern holding you back, please do tell me. After all, who else can those like us rely on except our friends nearby?"
A faint tremble passed through Mizuki's body—but still, he did not raise his head.
Seiki didn't mind at all. After speaking, he took the lead and walked outside. However, while passing Kurenai Yuhi's seat, he paused briefly and glanced in her direction.
"Kurenai, do you want to come along?"
"Eh? Me?" Kurenai Yuhi was slightly moved, but after glancing at the boys surrounding Seiki, she ultimately shook her head and said, "This is something for the guys. I think I'll pass."
"I see. Then next time I'll design some games suitable for girls like you," Seiki smiled and walked out of the classroom, secretly thinking to himself, "I've already confirmed it. Senior Crimson returned to the village after completing his mission yesterday. These few days are his rest days. It should be about time to set my plan into motion..."
"I wonder how far along the mind manipulation has come by now. If it's not ready in time, I might have to accelerate things a bit more soon..."
"Seiki, what's wrong with you?" Asuma asked nearby, noticing Seiki was somewhat distracted.
"Nothing much. I just sensed some... unfriendly gazes." Seiki showed no sign of being affected and casually turned around to glance behind them.
Asuma also turned around to follow Seiki's line of sight.
Right now, two floors above them, several young boys who looked like delinquents were sitting on the guardrail, pointing at them and whispering.
"Those guys are from the third grade. They're trash that likes bullying new students," Asuma explained. As the son of the Hokage, his information channels were naturally much more sensitive and updated than Seiki's group of freshmen.
"Bullies picking on freshmen?" Seiki asked in an overly serious tone for a kid, stroking his chin.
"Hmph. Plenty of second-years have been bullied by them before," Asuma folded his arms across his chest, snorting disdainfully, "but with me—Asuma Sarutobi—around, those bastards can try messing with us if they dare!"
Indeed, none of the people around them seemed afraid of those bullies. Leaving aside Asuma's status as the Hokage's son, both he and Seiki had previously demonstrated strength far beyond the level of regular students during battles.
"School bullies, huh?" Seiki gave those delinquents a meaningful stare, then smiled and signaled everyone to walk toward the playground.
PS1: During the part involving Kabuto Yakushi's plotline, the Third Great Ninja World War was still ongoing. The Uchiha Clan hadn't yet been annihilated, yet Danzo had already started appearing wrapped up like a mummy.
PS2: Although in the anime, Danzo attempted assassination later, after the Nine-Tails' attack, judging from his smooth ability to back down afterwards, your humble writer believes there's enough reason to suspect this wasn't his first time doing so. By the way, considering that Danzo and the Third were close friends who always competed and balanced each other, he definitely understood the Third's power. Yet in the anime, Danzo naively believed he could assassinate the Third merely with the help of Yamato and others. If we analyze his behavior according to the logic used in novels, there could be two possible explanations. One is that Konoha was previously too powerful and constantly targeted, so the Third and Danzo deliberately created an image of internal strife and weakening to mislead outsiders. The other is that Danzo had been continuously testing the limits of the Third. Either way, it makes sense to believe Danzo may have tried similar assassination attempts beforehand.
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