"Lord Danzo, the Uchiha have recently roped in two more small clans. One of them is the Kurama clan, once glorious but now fallen, a genjutsu family." In a place no less dark and damp than Orochimaru's lair, where the light skewed toward black, a one-eyed, expressionless ninja addressed an old man whose right eye and arm were wrapped in many bandages.
"I knew it. The Uchiha's return to Konoha bodes no good. Those brats are wolves you can't raise tame. I told Sarutobi long ago—if you don't pull the weeds up by the roots, they'll be endless trouble. Hmph. That little girl Tsunade is useless too. What kind of Hokage lets them form factions at a time like this? And that so-called Council—when did Konoha become so spineless? If this continues, the Uchiha will still end up doing something harmful to Konoha." A terrifying light flashed in the old man's lone eye.
From his tone, even Tsunade, publicly considered the most suitable Fifth Hokage, wasn't worth his regard.
"Since you're doing nothing, I'll be the villain. Those Sharingan—hmph, they'll be mine sooner or later." The old man stroked his bandaged right arm and spoke slowly.
This old man was the head of Konoha's Root, Danzo Shimura.
This was Root, Konoha's other secret division beside the ANBU—the ANBU within the ANBU.
Where there is light, there is shadow. The brighter the light, the darker the shadows.
Even Konoha, called the most peaceful of the Five Great Villages, was no exception.
Root was Konoha's darkest place. Any deed unfit for the light was handed to Root.
And Root's leader was Danzo Shimura, whom nearly every shinobi clan disliked—or rather, once any matter touched Danzo, every clan avoided it like the plague.
It's hard to judge Danzo. He dedicated his whole life to Konoha, doing what everyone hated, never standing in the light.
In that, one must admit he was indeed great. But he wasn't entirely selfless—he had ambition.
Had he, in the original, been even more selfless for Konoha, without personal emotion or desire, perhaps he'd be judged better—at least not half-lauded, half-damned as he was.
But people have selfishness—that base flaw belongs to us all. You can understand it, but not endorse it.
It's undeniable he was great—few could quietly devote their youth to Konoha as he did.
But with those hands full of Sharingan and First Hokage cells, then striding to the front as acting Hokage while Tsunade lay unconscious, and staying silent during the Nine-Tails' attack, pushing the Uchiha Massacre, even ignoring the Konoha Crush—after learning all that, it's hard to feel goodwill toward him.
Yes, AB did whitewash Danzo. In the whitewashing you can see he, like the Third, acted for Konoha—but acting for Konoha doesn't mean he was without private motives.
Take the simplest example: instead of stirring up the Uchiha Massacre, why didn't he so much as show his face when Orochimaru and the Sand conspired to crush Konoha?
Letting all of Konoha teeter on the brink—that's putting the cart before the horse. Luckily, after the Crush, when Konoha was at its weakest, the other three Great Villages didn't attack.
If Root were truly selfless, killing every threat in the cradle for Konoha's sake, would it have done nothing?
The biggest question worth digging into is whether he was involved in the Nine-Tails incident.
So Danzo did have bright spots, and he was a man who could sacrifice for the village—but it's equally undeniable he was a selfish schemer.
The two aren't mutually exclusive.
Say that he acted for Konoha and deserves respect—that must be admitted.
But if you say he had no private interest and was wholly devoted to Konoha—well, "heh."
Again, the two aren't mutually exclusive.
Or rather, his understanding of "for Konoha's own good" was simply from his vantage point.
Like certain self-righteous folks who say "I'm doing this for you," waving the banner of righteousness to do whatever you wouldn't accept.
Like Matou Zouken (Old Worm) from the Fate/stay night series—his original wish was merely to erase all evil in the world.
Can you imagine it? That revolting, infuriating man—whom most Fate fans despise, an avatar of great evil—his original wish was to eliminate all evil! Matou Zouken's original name was Makiri Zolgen.
A pitiful man lost in pursuit of a grand wish.
Danzo is similar and different—accurately speaking, both are villains whitewashed by their original authors. After all, these days refined villains mustn't be purely evil; they must have excuses for absolution.
But who considers the feelings of those they hurt? If they can be forgiven, who considers Matou Sakura's feelings? Who considers Naruto's childhood? Who considers the ordinary Uchiha clansmen slain in the massacre?
One point is worth noting: the ANBU and the Mist's Hunter-nin are both forces that operate in the dark.
They do a village's most shameful tasks. In essence, Konoha's ANBU and Root had similar natures—one could say Root's nature overlapped ANBU's.
Root, the so-called ANBU within the ANBU, was still, at its core, ANBU. Just as the king of beggars is still a beggar.
Root handled the village's darkest tasks. When did the ANBU do anything else? Since when did the ANBU work in the open? When did the ANBU become an overt department?
The root difference is simple: ANBU and Root serve different masters. One belongs to the Hokage; the other, strictly speaking, is Danzo's private army.
So if we're talking about "forming factions for private gain," you, Danzo, come first—sitting on heavy troops. Don't wave the banner of "for Konoha," because in nature you're no different from the Uchiha who planned a coup.
As for the claim that Root is "more emotionless," that's nonsense. Ninja—by definition—are emotionless professionals who strike from the shadows. The ANBU has always been a department without feelings, concerned only with missions. Since when did the ANBU start caring about feelings?
Shinobi in the Naruto world actually skew more toward bushido.
And now, the Uchiha clan, whom Danzo calls faction-formers, saw off the Kurama clan's head and the head of an obscure Konoha minor clan, then gathered in secret once more.
This time, Uchiha Sasuke was among them. Of course, to prevent eavesdropping, the barrier was laid by Uchiha Musashi himself.
It wasn't truly unbreakable, but Musashi was confident it could block anyone currently in Konoha.
"Leader—no, Clan Head. Is it really good for us to make such a show? I worry Konoha will grow wary and we'll end up like before," said a three-tomoe clansman. He wasn't old, his strength average—he'd only just about reached jonin.
Who'd have thought—this nose-in-the-air, arrogant Uchiha would have a day when they hesitated and thought. Leaving Konoha had indeed made them grow.
If it were the old Uchiha, perhaps they wouldn't care, and would keep dealing with other clans as they pleased. No—given the Uchiha's old temperament, how could they ever have looked up to those clans? Back then they didn't even think much of the Hyuga.
"Don't worry. Rest easy—the Konoha higher-ups won't move against us for now. Besides, we haven't done anything. We're just having tea and meals with those minor clan heads and chatting. Unless a few conspiracists with ill intent toward us stir the pot, no one else will care." Musashi sipped tea unhurriedly as he spoke.
"And our true aim is to draw out those disgusting rats and flies who can't sit still. They didn't wipe us out back then—do you think they'll sit idly by when they see us return? If we want to settle back in Konoha, I won't sleep easy unless we bag the lot."
"Right—Sasuke. I've told you the truth about the Uchiha massacre. The rest is your decision. You did nothing wrong—you're our clansman." Glancing at Sasuke, silent at the far end of the seats, Musashi spoke softly.
To be frank, Sasuke's position was awkward. He was the brother of Uchiha Itachi, who betrayed the entire clan. Except for a very few here, who hadn't lost family in that slaughter?
It was only because Sasuke's parents hadn't betrayed the clan, because he was the former clan head's son, and because Musashi forcibly shielded him, that the other clansmen showed him any kindness. Even so, few treated Sasuke warmly—though it was worlds better than how the village once treated Naruto.
Mostly they were cold, with hostile eyes.
Sasuke had done nothing wrong—only his brother was the traitor. And his talent made even Uchiha, who looked like they played with cheats on, jealous.
Just a few months, and a boy who'd been only elite chunin level skyrocketed to nearly jonin. His three-tomoe Sharingan was smoother than that of some who'd had it for years.
Even veteran elite jonin Uchiha Anmie praised him, saying that in a few years he himself wouldn't be Sasuke's match.
In a few years—how old would Sasuke be? Holy crap—he was absolutely a top-tier prodigy, second only to Uchiha Musashi.
"I want to grow stronger. Teach me—make me strong. I'll prove with my actions that he was wrong." Sasuke stared coldly, expressionless, at Musashi seated in the center. Having learned the truth, he'd grown even colder. If before the only one who could talk to him besides Naruto among the Konoha Twelve was a handful, now perhaps only Naruto could—Sakura couldn't, either.
(End of Chapter)
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