Root Organization, Headquarters.
In a cold, dim hall, a man dressed in a black and gray kimono, his head and right eye wrapped in bandages, with a long, narrow eye that held a cunning and profound gaze, and a cross-shaped scar on his chin, sat on a stone chair, examining an intelligence scroll presented by a masked Root member.
"Not only did he easily defeat Rock Lee, who had opened six gates, but even the Uchiha brat with a Sharingan was no match for him. This Jinchuriki is growing too fast."
"In time, if he becomes stronger, he will be beyond our control."
As the leader of the Root Organization, Danzo Shimura's face was slightly gloomy and deeply wrinkled as he finished examining the intelligence scroll.
"At that point, will the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki be a sharp weapon to intimidate other nations and Hidden Villages, or a ticking time bomb buried in Konoha Village?"
Danzo Shimura's narrow eyes flickered with a sinister and suspicious gaze.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi is still too indecisive. He should have sent Uzumaki Naruto into the Root Organization for brainwashing when he was young, to properly train him and completely turn him into a qualified war weapon."
"Now—hmm, it's not too late, but it will cost me one of my 'Betsu Tenjin'."
Danzo Shimura subconsciously raised his hand to cover the bandage on the right side of his face.
Beneath the bandage was a Sharingan from Uchiha Shisui!
"Rumble!!!"
At this moment, a deafening tremor came from the hall's ceiling, as if an earthquake had occurred.
Danzo Shimura, sitting on the stone chair like the uncrowned king of Konoha Village's dark world, merely raised his chin upon hearing the earthquake-like movement.
His shrewd left eye indifferently glanced at the ceiling, crisscrossed with pipes.
Occasionally, fine dust rustled down.
But Danzo Shimura paid it no mind.
"Has Orochimaru begun his actions?"
"I hope he gets what he wants. It would be best if he succeeds in killing Hiruzen Sarutobi. The next Hokage should be me."
Danzo Shimura lowered his head again, his fingers rhythmically tapping the table.
The position of Fifth Hokage.
Controlling Naruto with Betsu Tenjin.
Using the excuse of Sunagakure and Grass Hidden Village attacking Konoha Village to launch a war.
Various thoughts flashed through his mind.
"Teacher, your choice back then was wrong. Konoha Village will only become stronger if it's left to me."
His fingers, tapping the stone table, suddenly stopped. After the "thump, thump" sound disappeared, the dim hall became silent once more.
"No matter what method, no matter what cost, capture Naruto amidst the chaos," Danzo Shimura commanded in a cold, deep voice.
"Yes!"
With a single promise, the nameless, emotionless Root members shot out like arrows from a bowstring, transforming into streaks of afterimages, to execute the mission given by Danzo Shimura.
As for whether the mission was right or wrong, that was not their concern.
"Although the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki has become very strong, somewhat deviating from his growth trajectory, every member of the Root Organization is a carefully selected genius, the elite of the elite. Hehe, isn't catching a brat as easy as pie?"
"Even if they can't catch him, I will personally make my move..." His words were cut short.
A sense of deathly dread inexplicably rose in the cautious and suspicious Danzo's heart.
"What is this feeling?"
Danzo Shimura quickly formed the Rabbit, Pig, and Not yet hand seals, intending to use the Uchiha Clan's ultimate ocular jutsu—Izanagi.
Although the cost was somewhat heavy, requiring one Sharingan to permanently lose its light, the life-preserving Danzo Shimura was willing to sacrifice a Sharingan at this moment.
However.
Naruto, lurking in the shadows, was faster than Danzo Shimura.
"Swish!"
An extreme flash of blade light passed, and Danzo Shimura's head rolled directly off his neck. The Izanagi hand seals were not completed in time, and he met his absolute death.
"Lord Danzo!"
Two Root members were still hidden in the corner of the hall. The moment they tried to stop Naruto, the shadows beneath their feet immediately transformed into deadly thorns, piercing them through. Their bodies hung in mid-air, instantly killed.
Then, the shadow thorns receded like a tide, and their bodies heavily slammed onto the ground.
It all happened in less than three breaths.
Danzo Shimura, who possessed more than a dozen Sharingan, Hashirama cells, and mastered high-level Wind Release, Izanagi, and even Betsu Tenjin, along with two very strong Root members, were instantly killed by Naruto.
There was no suspense whatsoever!
This was the Shadow Assassin, a true assassination profession!!
Had it not been for Danzo Shimura's "hunch," he would not have even detected Naruto's arrival.
Moreover, because Naruto had activated the [Curse Release] talent beforehand, even upon Danzo Shimura's death, his Reverse Four Symbols Sealing did not activate.
"Done, that was quite fast."
"Lord Danzo, have a safe journey. It's already good that you lived until today, but to prevent you from making a move on me in the future, I can only send you on your way early."
Naruto bent down and picked up Danzo Shimura's head, which had rolled several times on the ground, covered in dust and looking disheveled. His palm brushed over Danzo Shimura's wide-open left eye, then he peeled back the bandage to examine Danzo Shimura's right eye—the one that belonged to Uchiha Shisui's Sharingan!
"The so-called strongest Sharingan? Now it's mine."
Naruto plucked the Sharingan from Danzo Shimura's eye socket. As he placed it in his palm, Naruto's cells surged wildly, directly devouring the Sharingan into his body.
This was a perfect life form.
Able to freely control every cell in his body!
Including growing multiple brains or hearts.
Even without using transformation jutsu or genjutsu, Naruto could transform into anyone's appearance through pure physical manipulation.
Uchiha Shisui's Sharingan was thus devoured by a perfect life form.
On Danzo Shimura's right arm, there were also eleven transplanted Sharingan. Naruto did not waste them, devouring them all. With Uchiha Shisui's Sharingan as the main body, he merged the ocular power of all twelve Sharingan into one, transforming it into his own right eye.
In an instant.
Naruto's azure right eye, as it opened and closed, had three pitch-black tomoe evolve from its pupil, slowly rotating, and the clear, sky-like iris was dyed a blood-sea crimson.
Sharingan!
As the ocular power of the twelve Sharingan surged, the Sharingan's three tomoe changed again, blending and merging like ink spreading, finally forming a pitch-black pattern resembling a shuriken.
Naruto closed his right eye again, then reopened it. The crimson Mangekyo Sharingan faded and disappeared, returning to his original azure iris.
"Although it's not an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, with the ocular power of twelve Sharingan plus the support of my Naruto cells, it's not far off from an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan."
"Thus, aside from gaining Uchiha Shisui's Sharingan, the cancerous tumor and hidden danger that was Danzo Shimura has also been completely resolved!"