Chapter 122: Danzo Shimura's Open Scheme
"A warped construct built from old theories, missing any true identity, belonging to neither itself nor anyone else. If this is your 'peace,' Madara, then honestly, you'll disappoint me."
"…What did you say?"
"I said you've already been left behind by this era, Madara senpai. Or rather, Uchiha Madara."
On the projection, Aizen's voice was smooth and magnetic, and the contempt in it was so real that even Madara's brows tightened.
Orochimaru, standing off to the side, let a faint smile slip out. He reined it in almost immediately, but not before everyone noticed the edge of mockery in it.
Only Danzo stayed unreadable, leaning on his cane while watching the scene unfold.
"My trial exists to sift out those who still have the courage to move forward when the world collapses. Orochimaru's biological warfare was meant to force people to confront his ideology. Danzo's Army Without Borders is doing everything it can to spread his own view of peace."
Aizen's tone remained calm, almost clinical.
"That is the difference between the three of us and you.
Even Orochimaru, ruthless as he is, still leaves people a choice. Whether they step forward depends on their own will. Only after they think, act, and understand what they are choosing do they cross that line. I won't praise his methods, but he did present reality and push his ideas into the light.
But you, Madara, are obsessed with crushing your vision into everyone else's skull. That is not a virtue."
"Hmph. Empty words. Useless."
The old Uchiha answered with absolute arrogance.
"Explaining ideals? Selecting courage? Your actions are meaningless. The strong decide the future of the weak. The strong take everything from the weak. That is the right this world has always granted us.
I speak to you politely because you are strong. Conversations between the strong do not need the weak crawling between us. Who else is fit to share our stage, those so called Kage, or their petty technology?
The self is an illusion invented by the weak. They exist to be controlled by people like us. It is only because of my mercy that they can pretend equality exists. There is no need to win their hearts. We only need chakra to send all minds into that one world. Then peace becomes eternal."
"…I suggest you stop talking like that, Madara senpai," Aizen said, eyes cold. "It makes you look incompetent."
He leaned back in his chair, voice sharpening.
"By your logic, if the strong naturally plunder the weak, then the only reason you can still sit in front of me is because I allow it. But that's not why you are here. You're here because you fought your way here with intelligence, courage, and action.
Only beasts prove worth by brute force. Are you a beast, Madara?"
Madara laughed harshly.
"What a joke. This world has always been kill or be killed. If becoming a beast lets me stand at the summit, then I will gladly become one. I will do anything to bring peace to this world!"
"You want peace according to your taste," Danzo cut in quietly, "not peace for the world."
He looked at Madara's projection, his gaze turning razor thin.
"Let me be clear, Root will not sit still while your foolish Infinite Army and arrogant Infinite Tsukuyomi continue."
"Hahaha. Insolent brat. You only dared show your trump card because of my eyes, yet you still bark at me."
"A trump card?" Danzo's voice stayed flat. "You mean the Rinnegan that 'pacifies' the world? When has that ever been Root's trump card? It's a signboard to lure talent, nothing more. Don't overestimate yourself, Madara. The world isn't something an old man like you can shake anymore."
Madara's smile sharpened.
"So you've grown bold enough to underestimate me. Fine. Then watch closely."
His voice turned savage, almost delighted.
"The Infinite Army will bring you surprises soon. When that day comes, even if you beg, I won't spare you. We'll meet again in Infinite Tsukuyomi."
With that, Madara cut the connection. The projection vanished like a lamp snuffed out.
In the quiet that followed, Orochimaru, Aizen, and Danzo exchanged glances. Each of them saw the same thing in the others' eyes.
Disappointment.
The Moon Dream had once been brilliant, not because it was kind, but because it gave everyone a choice while spreading like a virus across the world. If the ninja world had not undergone a massive conceptual revolution afterward, Madara's dream might have succeeded. People were drowning in misery then. Survival itself felt like a luxury. The Moon Dream chakra virus had been both poison and cure, a way to hide from reality inside a blissful lie.
If the road ahead is paradise, then today's suffering becomes meaningless.
But after its collapse, Madara only grew more desperate. His hidden weapon, the Uchiha Mirror, had slipped from his grasp. Plans he once meant for Konoha and Kirigakure became impossible under the chakra network's reach. Like a beast trapped in a maze of snares, he could only snarl about power he could no longer prove.
From his own view, none of this was decline. A man chained to obsession cannot feel his chains tightening. Madara had aged so far that survival required machinery. Compared to Aizen, whose soul had escaped mortality, Orochimaru, who pursued an ecological immortality, and Danzo, who cared nothing for living forever, Madara had no path left but forward into madness.
"Ha… so Madara has fallen that far," Orochimaru murmured.
"He has no other choice," Danzo replied. "When someone's lifespan ends before their ideals reach the finish line, they usually choose silence or insanity."
He smirked at the darkened projection point, then turned to the two researchers still standing with him.
"Now that the nuisance is gone, let's talk about what I've learned.
About the Poneglyphs, there's bad news. None of the other villages have any information. Whether they summon beasts or resurrect people from the distant past, they all carry a deep taboo toward that era.
Right now, the nine tailed beasts are the most likely holders. This Chunin Tournament is a rare opening. We might pry out more hidden truths through it."
Danzo paused, letting the weight settle before continuing.
"Still, extracting a tailed beast's chakra kills the Jinchuriki. Making a beast vanish is close to declaring war on its village. I'm not ordering you. I'm offering a possibility.
If you prefer, you could strike the three sacred lands instead. Dealing with Sage Mode summons might be cleaner."
He didn't try to push them. Danzo knew Aizen and Orochimaru would act only if they wanted to. So he moved on to what mattered more.
"As for chakra signals, some small nations' archives mention them."
His hunched figure straightened just a bit as he spoke.
"The Sage of Six Paths is the origin of chakra. All chakra comes from his distribution. He gave chakra to the world and created the nine tailed beasts to rule it.
The records are vague, but every trail loops back to the beasts. Decide your path as you like. This is the strategy I'm stating to your faces. If you choose to seize the tailed beasts for the Poneglyphs, Root will intervene at once and spread with the conflict."
Danzo's one eye narrowed, cold and certain.
"I need another controlled war. Only friction makes peace precious, and only that contrast lets Root's ideology take root deeper.
That's my message. Accept it or ignore it, your choice."
A perfectly open scheme. A trap laid on the table with no cover at all.
Danzo chuckled, turned, and left the secluded hall, his footsteps fading into the shadows.
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