After Naruto deliberately suppressed his true nature and slipped into the familiar disguise of an innocent, childish kid, Danzo—already inclined to underestimate him due to his age—naturally failed to notice the slightest flaw.
Laughing and chatting with Naruto to close the distance, Danzo even dropped the high-and-mighty demeanor he typically wore as someone in power. With a kind smile plastered on his face, he gently lifted Naruto into his arms and began walking leisurely toward the exit of the shopping district.
Of course, failing to notice anything suspicious didn't mean the inherently wary Danzo had let his guard down. Given that his recent plans had shifted focus toward winning Naruto over, Root members had been increasingly monitoring Naruto's every move, tracking his daily life from the shadows.
Although he couldn't outright fall out with the Third Hokage due to the vow he made three years ago, Danzo was still piecing together intelligence from his subordinates.
He quickly caught wind of Naruto's recent public displays of closeness with Sasuke, something Naruto no longer seemed to bother hiding. That intimate camaraderie didn't escape Danzo's constant surveillance.
If Naruto was merely playing with someone his age, Danzo wouldn't have cared too much.
But further investigation revealed something surprising—the seemingly harmless little fan-wielding boy carried the name of the Uchiha and was, in fact, the beloved youngest son of Uchiha Fugaku, the head of the Uchiha Clan.
At a time when Danzo was in a fierce and silent power struggle with the Third Hokage, and had just made the decision to personally approach Naruto, discovering that the Uchiha heir—who might have already allied with the Hyuga Clan and taken the Hokage's side—was growing close to the very Jinchūriki he was working so hard to manipulate… well, that couldn't just be coincidence. It had to be the Third Hokage's way of establishing countermeasures against him.
But instead of feeling alarmed by this clear indication that the Third Hokage still paid close attention to Naruto behind the scenes, Danzo was actually pleased.
After all, considering Naruto's age, Danzo had never expected him to unleash much of the Nine-Tails' power.
Rather than betting on the unlikely short-term benefit of Tailed Beast transformation to boost his forces, what Danzo truly valued was Naruto's importance in the Third Hokage's eyes—enough that the man wouldn't dare act recklessly.
So when Danzo learned that Uchiha Sasuke—a highly sensitive and unexpected figure—had appeared at Naruto's side, he didn't abandon his plan to win Naruto over.
Quite the opposite. It made him even more certain that recruiting this Nine-Tails brat was the smartest move he could make.
Almost like a game of one-upmanship, Danzo began going out of his way to show affection toward Naruto in increasingly high-profile ways, regardless of how strange that made him look to others or how much it risked drawing the Third Hokage's attention.
To Danzo, Naruto had become an indispensable piece on the board.
"Say, little Naruto…" Danzo smiled even more warmly as he looked at the child nestled in his arms, docilely playing with his fingers. His voice was light and teasing. "Changing into new clothes even before New Year's—are you planning to go somewhere fun with a little girl?"
"Huh? A little girl… play together?" Just hearing Danzo say that sent shivers down Naruto's spine. The act of feigning innocence was already hard enough, but being held by this old fox made it ten times worse. Even though this wasn't the first time Danzo had picked him up like this, Naruto still had to fight hard to suppress the bile rising in his throat. After a short pause, he tilted his head and waved his chubby little hands as he replied, "No… no little girl. I… I'm going to play with a little boy."
"Oh? A little boy?" Danzo raised a brow. "So you've made a new friend recently?"
Naruto responded without hesitation, just as the intelligence Danzo had received described. Pleased, Danzo's suspicions gradually eased.
Adjusting his expression to appear even more kindly, he continued probing. "That sounds like a wonderful thing, little one. Did he tell you his name?"
"Hehe! Of course he did!" Naruto felt some relief as Danzo's tone softened and figured he'd passed the test. But he still had to force down the nausea threatening to rise, pretending to nuzzle against Danzo like a sweet, clingy child.
With a voice full of childish pride, he added, "Hey, hey, Grandpa Danzo! Let me tell you! His name is suuuper weird! Hmm… I think it was… uh… what was it again… Stupid Gay? Yeah! That's it! Stupid Gay!"
"Stupid… Gay?" Danzo blinked. "You mispronounced it. That child's name is Sasuke."
Naruto had wracked his brain to come up with the most outrageous mispronunciation he could. Danzo paused, then chuckled as he corrected him, recognizing that the name was indeed Uchiha Fugaku's son. Naruto's words matched the facts perfectly, so Danzo relaxed completely.
"Huh? His name is Sa… Su… Ke… Sasuke? Not Stupid Gay?" Naruto pressed his palms together with mock realization, a bright smile on his face that masked a flicker of malice in his heart. 'Let's just hope that brat never hears what I called him.' Out loud, he chirped, "Oh wow! Grandpa Danzo, you're amazing! Even though I messed up his name, you still knew who I was talking about! You sure know a lot! I wanna be smart like you when I grow up!"
"Ugh… haha, you little rascal." Danzo felt a brief flicker of discomfort at the overly sweet compliment. But with Naruto still smiling innocently in his arms—his expression never changing—Danzo couldn't find even a hint of scheming.
Despite all his experience reading people, he saw only a guileless child and could only brush off the weird moment as harmless childish talk. After a short pause, he decided it was finally time to proceed with his plan.
The Hokage's pressure was mounting, and his opportunities were limited. With a soft smile, he casually made a suggestion.
"Oh right, I just remembered… You'll be spending New Year's alone again this year, won't you?"
"Spending it alone is a little too lonely, isn't it? How about this: why don't you come to my place and spend it with Grandpa this year? I promise I'll take great care of you."