The violet light of the Ame-no-Uzume faded, leaving Danzo Shimura slumped against a stone lantern in his private garden. He wasn't dead—killing the "Darkness of the Shinobi" outright would trigger every security seal in the village and start a civil war Dan wasn't ready to fight.
Instead, Danzo looked empty. His eyes were wide, staring at nothing. Within his mind, the System's "Mirror of Truth" had done more than just show him a vision; it had partitioned his consciousness. Danzo was now trapped in a mental loop, reliving his failures in the Second Shinobi World War over and over again.
[System Notification: Target 'Danzo Shimura' Neutralized (Status: Catatonic).]
[Warning: ROOT 'Heart-Bind' Seals are beginning to destabilize. 400 agents will lose their mental conditioning in 120 seconds.]
"Time to clean up," Dan muttered.
Zip.
He appeared in the center of the burning Police Station. The fire was roaring, fed by oil-based explosive tags. Civilians and Uchiha were shouting, the chaos threatening to spill into a full-scale riot.
"Shisui! Now!" Dan's voice boomed over the crackle of the flames.
From the rooftops, Shisui Uchiha activated his Sharingan. He didn't just use a Genjutsu on one person; he used a "Broadcast" technique Dan had spent six months helping him develop.
"Look at the moon!" Shisui cried out.
Everyone in the plaza looked up. The moon appeared to pulse with a soothing, blue light. It was a massive, area-of-effect Genjutsu designed not to trap, but to calm. The adrenaline in the rioters' blood spiked downward. The anger evaporated, replaced by a strange, peaceful clarity.
"The fire is an accident," a voice echoed—not Dan's, but a deep, authoritative frequency generated by the System through Dan's throat. "The Uchiha are not your enemies. We are your shields."
As if on cue, the "Shadow Architecture" members—Anko and twenty disguised Uchiha—emerged from the smoke. They weren't carrying weapons. They were carrying medical kits and water. They began to pull "injured" civilians (who were mostly just stunned ROOT agents in disguise) to safety.
By the time the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, arrived with his elite ANBU guard, the fire was being suppressed by a coordinated Water Style jutsu from the Uchiha, and the "rioters" were sitting on the ground, confused but peaceful.
The Hokage's Inquiry
The sun began to rise over a scarred but silent Konoha. Hiruzen stood in the wreckage of the Police Station, his face grim. He looked at Dan, who was currently wrapping a bandage around a young civilian's arm.
"Dan Uchiha," Hiruzen said, his voice heavy with the weight of his office. "Explain why my advisors tell me this was an Uchiha uprising, yet I find your people acting as the village's primary rescue force."
Dan stood up and bowed. "The advisors were misinformed, Hokage-sama. Or perhaps... they were the ones who lit the match."
Hiruzen's eyes sharpened. "That is a bold accusation."
"I have seventeen 'rioters' in custody, Hokage-sama," Dan said, handing over a scroll. "Each one bears the tongue-seal of the ROOT division. They were seen planting the oil tags before the explosion. It seems Danzo-sama's grief over the war has led him to some... unstable conclusions."
Hiruzen took the scroll, his hands trembling slightly. He knew Danzo. He knew the man's methods. But to have it documented so clearly, so publicly...
"And where is Danzo now?" Hiruzen asked.
"In his garden," Dan replied. "He appears to have suffered a mental collapse. The strain of the war, perhaps. My medical team is currently 'monitoring' him."
Hiruzen looked at the eleven-year-old boy. He saw the Sharingan, the calm posture, and the undeniable efficiency of the Shadow Architecture. He realized then that he wasn't looking at a student. He was looking at a rival power.
"You've played this well, Dan," Hiruzen whispered, so low the ANBU couldn't hear. "But if you think you can rule this village from the shadows of the Uchiha District, you are mistaken."
"I don't want to rule the village, Lord Hokage," Dan said, his eyes meeting the older man's. "I want the village to survive. And right now, the Uchiha are the only ones making sure the heart keeps beating."
The Architecture's New Wing: The ROOT Integration
With Danzo out of the picture, the ROOT organization was a headless hydra. Dan didn't destroy them. He had Anko—who knew their codes and hideouts—bring the most talented "unclaimed" agents into the Architecture.
[System Notification: Faction Expansion!]
[New Division: 'The Foundation' (Intelligence & Stealth).]
[Total Members: 142.]
[Resource Level: SSS (Access to ROOT's black-budget funds).]
Dan sat in his command center, his mind deep in the Mirror Space.
System, report on the 'Hashirama Cell' integration.
[Clone Task 5 Results: 94% Stability.]
[Biological Data: The Host's body is now compatible with 'Wood Release' (Mokuton) theory. However, physical manifestation requires 1,000,000 training hours to avoid self-cannibalization.]
"Allocate 50% of processing to Mokuton," Dan commanded. "The remaining 30% to Hiraishin Level 3. I need to be able to jump between dimensions, not just locations."
He stood up, his body feeling the massive surge of power. At eleven, he was now effectively a Kage-level threat in terms of raw capability, though he kept 90% of it hidden.
"Dan-niisan!"
Shisui burst into the room, his face pale. "It's the Land of Grass again. The Hidden Stone has mobilized. But this time... they've hired the Akatsuki."
Dan froze. The Akatsuki. At this point in time, they should be a small mercenary group in the Rain Country, led by Yahiko or Nagato. If they were already taking contracts against the Leaf, the timeline was accelerating faster than even his system could track.
"Who is the lead mercenary?" Dan asked.
"A man with a red cloud cloak," Shisui said, swallowing hard. "He killed an entire platoon of our scouts in seconds. They're calling him 'The Immortal of the Bounty'."
Kakuzu, Dan thought.
He looked at his hands. This was it. The first time he would face a member of the future S-rank criminal organization. If he could defeat a member of the Akatsuki now, he would secure the Uchiha's place as the supreme protectors of the Leaf.
"Anko, stay here and finalize the ROOT merger," Dan ordered. "Shisui, get your gear. We're going to the border."
Zip.
The air displaced, and they were gone.