Shh... shh...
The pale moonlight penetrated the dense, overlapping layers of leaves, casting fragmented and swaying patches of light in the forest.
The entire forest was submerged in deep darkness; only nearby objects could be barely discerned in silhouette, while the distance was a vague, shadowy blackness.
The night wind whistled through the gaps in the trees, creating subtle sounds, and twisted branches stretched out in the faint light, adding to the eerie atmosphere.
In this oppressive silence, an incongruous sound repeated itself.
Drip... drip...
Viscous blood continued to seep from his leg, which was hastily bandaged with coarse cloth, dripping onto the damp earth and fallen leaves in the woods.
Shimura Danzō's face was ashen, his forehead covered in cold sweat born of acute pain and rage.
"Damn it!"
He bit his teeth hard, nearly grinding them to dust, as he painfully dragged the broken leg, which was pierced by a black rod and radiated searing pain. He relied on his cane, moving one step at a time.
With every movement, a tearing agony shot through the wound, forcing him to let out suppressed gasps.
"That despicable Hyuga Kawa!"
His voice became deeper and hoarser, and venomous fury burned in his eyes: "That accursed lunatic!"
He simply could not fathom it!
How dare that man?!
How dare he actually strike him with such ferocity!
"He was only asked to fulfill his promise, only asked to support me in rebuilding 'Root'! That would have only benefited him in ascending to the Hokage position!"
"I didn't even plan to use the Caged Bird Curse Mark as a trump card to control him!"
"Yet, that madman actually attacked directly. Is he not afraid?" Danzō ground his teeth, growing increasingly enraged.
Is he not afraid that I will expose his true face?
Not afraid that I'll tell Hiruzen Sarutobi, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and the others what a cold-blooded, ruthless ambitious schemer this seemingly perfect man is beneath the surface?!
Even if they don't fully believe my one-sided account, merely planting the seed would be enough to surround Hyuga Kawa with suspicion and scrutiny!
How could he, how dare he, be so utterly reckless?!
Why?
On what basis is this man so utterly fearless?
Does he have some trump card I don't know about?
Or is he simply a lunatic who doesn't care about the consequences?!
The internal roar of anger and the physical agony intertwined, pushing Danzō close to losing all his sanity.
He was completely bewildered; Hyuga Kawa's actions were entirely outside his expectations!
Finally, leaning on his cane, he stumbled to a seemingly ordinary rock wall.
He cautiously scanned his surroundings, confirming he wasn't followed, before painstakingly raising his arm and tapping an inconspicuous protruding stone several times in a rhythmic sequence.
Click...
A faint mechanical sound rang out. A seamlessly camouflaged stone door in the rock wall slowly opened inward, and a chilling aura immediately poured out from the darkness.
Inside the stone door were two Root ninja, wearing animal masks and entirely cloaked in black.
Although he had been nominally relieved of his duties, and 'Root' had been disbanded.
In reality, most of the ninja who joined 'Root' subscribed to Danzō's ideology, and many had been brainwashed while living in 'Root' since childhood.
It was not a simple task for Hiruzen Sarutobi to completely absorb and whitewash them.
Over the years, Danzō had built many secret strongholds precisely to guard against the day Hiruzen Sarutobi might pull the rug out from under him, using them to move 'Root's' secrets.
This particular stronghold was used to transfer 'Root's' experimental equipment and data.
When the stone door opened, the sight of Danzō outside, battered and with blood pouring from his leg, instantly changed the expressions of the two ninja.
"Lord Danzō!"
"What... what happened to you?"
The two instinctively stepped forward, wanting to help the staggering Danzō.
"Get away!"
Danzō suddenly swung his arm, brutally shaking off their attempt to support him, his eyes bloodshot and filled with violence and humiliation.
He didn't need pity, especially from subordinates; it only made him feel doubly disgraced!
Thump... Thump...
Accompanied by heavy panting and the sound of his cane hitting the ground, Danzō relied on his cane, dragging his wounded leg, and limped into the deeper darkness of the stronghold.
The two Root ninja exchanged glances, not daring to say more. They silently followed behind, closing the stone door and completely isolating the secret stronghold from the outside world.
Soon, after passing through a gloomy corridor, the space suddenly opened up.
The air was filled with the pungent smell of disinfectant and formalin. A massive, fully equipped underground laboratory appeared before Danzō.
The cold white illumination lights bathed the entire space in a stark white, revealing every detail, yet adding a layer of non-human, chilling coldness.
If Hiruzen Sarutobi were to see the equipment here, his heart would clench uncontrollably.
Because there was simply too much, and it was too expensive.
From the simplest, neatly arranged surgical knives, hemostats, and sutures, to equipment like high-speed centrifuges, constant-temperature incubators, and high-magnification electron microscopes.
To equipment rarely seen by ordinary people, such as human tissue slicers, extracorporeal circulation machines used to maintain vital signs, and Chakra Activity Maintenance Devices connected to complex piping.
And even, in the center of the room, the most conspicuous device, potentially worth tens of millions of ryō: the large-scale Biological Tissue Culture and Cloning Base.
It was a colossal apparatus composed of several transparent glass containers and metal, filled with pale green nutrient solution, with densely packed tubes connected to the base.
Shimura Danzō stared intently at the several pairs of Byakugan quietly floating in those containers.
He hobbled to the container. The glass wall reflected his distorted and ferocious face. Names were affixed to the containers preserving the Byakugan.
Hyūga Iroha, Hyūga Taka, Hyūga Tetsu...
And that name he despised.
—Hyuga Kawa!
Looking at that name, the fury and humiliation in Danzō's chest surged again.
"Hyuga Kawa, do you think this can defeat me?"
He murmured, "You are wrong. You have no idea what I am capable of sacrificing and what I possess in order to obtain power, for the sake of the Leaf Village!"
According to the truth about the "Caged Bird" Curse Mark he had pried from Hyūga Higo.
The method known to the world for activating the "Caged Bird" Curse Mark relies on the supposed "same bloodline" connection between the Main House and the Branch House.
But this was merely a lie spread by the Hyūga Main House to cover their tracks and prevent outsiders from coveting the Main House's Byakugan.
The Main House's imposition and control of the "Caged Bird" Curse Mark on Branch House members did not rely on bloodline, but on the resonance of the Byakugan itself!
It was a special kind of sensation and suppression between Byakugan of the same lineage!
And now, he happened to possess a pair of Byakugan belonging to a member of Hyuga Kawa's own Main House lineage!
Moments later, Danzō's heavy breathing gradually subsided, replaced by an even crazier idea fueled by humiliation and anger.
"Lord Danzō." A clear female voice reached his ears.
The woman codenamed 'Marten' walked out of the laboratory, wearing a white research coat and a mask covering her mouth and nose, revealing only her eyes.
When she saw Shimura Danzō's miserable state and severe leg injury, her brow instinctively furrowed, revealing a subtle hint of surprise.
"You are..." She started to ask, but was roughly interrupted by Danzō.
"Marten!"
Danzō's voice was hoarse, his eyes shining with an almost fanatical light. He fixed his gaze on her: "What is the progress on the second stage of the mandatory fusion experiment with Hashirama Cells and the Hollow?"
The previous experiment had successfully merged a captured "Hollow" with his right arm, which had Hashirama Cells transplanted into it, removing the first seal on the Hashirama Cells.
This allowed him greater access to powerful Chakra and Wood Release.
However, there were still two seals yet to be removed. With the technological level at the time, forcibly removing the remaining seals would only lead to the Hashirama Cells running wild.
But now...
"The progress is very smooth," 'Marten' seemed to have anticipated Danzō's first question and nodded.
"By harmonizing the 'Hashirama Cells' and the 'Hollow,' we have successfully mastered the fusion ratio between the 'Hashirama Cells' and the 'Hollow.'"
She looked at Danzō's right arm, which was concealed by his sleeve but subtly emitted a chilling aura, and his right Sharingan, which required constant Chakra consumption to suppress.
"You can attempt the removal surgery for the second seal right now."
A scientific fervor flashed in 'Marten's' eyes as she continued: "If all goes as expected, you will not only be able to control the power of the Hashirama Cells more stably."
"You will even be able to fully control the Sharingan in your right eye, achieving true free activation and deactivation, without having to bear the immense burden you currently suffer."
Hearing this, a terrifying gleam instantly burst from Danzō's eyes; he seemed to have temporarily forgotten the intense pain in his leg.
He stared fixedly at the pale eyeballs suspended in the containers, and an even more greedy, more insane thought uncontrollably surged in his mind.
"What if..." His voice was hoarse, and his burning gaze turned toward 'Marten'. "I want to transplant another pair of Byakugan? Is that possible?"
At these words, even the usually calm 'Marten' was visibly stunned for a moment.
She subconsciously scanned Danzō's battered figure and his severe leg injury again, seemingly understanding something, and her eyes flickered.
"It is feasible," her pace of speech slowed as she pondered. "However, it must wait until the third stage of the experiment is successful, after the final seal on the arm is removed."
"In that state, the four distinct, even conflicting powers of Hashirama Cells, the 'Hollow,' the Sharingan, and the Byakugan..."
"Will form a stable, coexisting balance under the suppression of the 'Hollow.'"
"Good!" Danzō's voice trembled with excitement, carrying a reckless, do-or-die madness: "Immediately, prepare for the surgery. We will complete the second stage of the experiment first."
He would bet everything, not only to gain the four powers of Wood Release, the Hollow, the Uchiha, and the Hyūga, but also to utterly control the man who dared to humiliate him!
When that time comes, he would make that Hyuga Kawa kneel before him and admit his mistake, and see who the whimpering dog truly is!
---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
I only share the most exquisite and beautiful novels. Don't forget to check out my other novels!
p@treon DaoistWujinzi