Chapter 13 — The Lavish Private Hoard of the "5.5th Hokage"
With the final three guards inside the Root base all knocked unconscious—and certain they wouldn't be waking up anytime soon—Yami wasted no time. He stepped briskly past the fallen figures.
As for the Root sub-commander drenched in blood, Yami could only hope the man was tough enough to survive.
It wasn't a matter of mercy toward a fellow Konoha shinobi. Rather, the faint but unmistakable aura clinging to that man—eerily similar to Danzō's—made Yami deeply uncomfortable. There was a good chance he was a member of the Shimura clan.
Reaching the entrance of the core stone chamber, Yami found the heavy door sealed shut, silently proclaiming that its master was not present.
Placing a hand against it, he clearly sensed the layers of seals and restrictions engraved upon its surface. For anyone else, forcing it open without the proper method would not only fail but trigger a cascade of lethal traps.
But so what?
"Pawn."
[Ding! Special reinforced door covered in sealing restrictions… Estimated value: 0]
"Confirm pawn."
In an instant, the stone door vanished into thin air—no sound, no disturbance—as if it had never existed at all.
Yami's lips curled upward. No matter how meticulously Danzō planned, all such schemes were meaningless in front of a cheat-enabled player.
Maintaining his guard, Yami stepped into the core chamber. As his eyes swept across the room, a strange sense of familiarity washed over him.
"…Why does this feel like the Hokage's office?"
He muttered the complaint aloud. The layout was unmistakably similar—nearly identical, in fact. Aside from the darker atmosphere and the unmistakable personal flavor of Danzō's paranoia, the resemblance was uncanny.
"Figures. The so-called 5.5th Hokage was already laying the groundwork long ago."
With that realization, Yami walked straight to the desk and examined the bookshelf behind it.
Scrolls filled the shelves—far too many to count at a glance. Searching through them one by one would take days.
He immediately dismissed the thought. He didn't have that kind of time. This was the Root base—reinforcements could return at any moment.
"Pawn."
[Scan complete. Pawnable items detected:]
[Ding! Intelligence scrolls ×52… Estimated value: 0]
[Ding! Blank scrolls ×10… Estimated value: 0]
[Ding! Forbidden Technique: Reverse Four Symbols Sealing… Estimated value: 50]
[Ding! Forbidden Technique: Tongue Curse Eradication Seal… Estimated value: 50]
[Ding! Forbidden Technique: Self-Cursing Seal… Estimated value: 50]
[Ding! Forbidden Technique: Flying Thunder God Technique… Estimated value: 100]
...
The flood of notifications nearly dazzled Yami. Staring at this so-called Hokage office of the "5.5th," he could only sigh in amazement.
"Danzō… I knew you were playing dirty. And you hid it deep."
This terrifying collection of forbidden techniques was enough to make even a great clan like the Uchiha look tame by comparison.
"Pawn everything."
[Current Pawn Points: 2860]
"Beautiful."
In the blink of an eye, every scroll on the shelves—including those hidden in secret compartments—was scanned and instantly pawned by the system.
Yami even spotted items that had no business being here at all—things even Sarutobi Hiruzen might not know existed.
Looking at the now-bare shelves, then at the endlessly long exchange list in the system interface, Yami smiled from the bottom of his heart.
He could already imagine the look on Danzō's face when he returned to find nothing but sealed compartments—completely empty inside.
After double-checking that nothing had been missed, Yami turned to leave. As always, he reflexively expanded Kagura's Mind's Eye for a final sweep.
That was when he noticed something odd.
One section of the stone wall stood out—not visually, but perceptually. It was utterly unremarkable to the naked eye, easy to overlook. Yet his sensory perception couldn't penetrate it at all.
That alone was enough to pique his interest.
Judging by the time, he still had some leeway. Yami walked up to the wall. Even on close inspection, it showed no obvious anomalies.
"Pawn."
[Ding! Special alloy stone wall… Estimated value: 50]
"…Oh? A real expert, huh? Pawn it."
A wall made entirely from special alloy metal—this extravagant use instantly captured Yami's full attention.
Special alloys were expensive materials, usually added in small amounts to chakra weapons to enhance conductivity. Using them to construct an entire wall was sheer excess.
Which only made whatever lay behind it all the more intriguing.
Like the door before it, the wall vanished instantly, revealing a small hidden chamber beyond.
The air inside was stale, carrying a faint scent of decay, as though ventilation was poor. The room itself was stark—only a few niches carved directly into the stone walls, each holding a single item.
With the barrier gone, Yami's perception swept through the chamber unimpeded. Confirming there were no traps or dangers, he stepped inside.
He casually picked up a glass container from one of the niches. A label on it bore a single character:
"Mirror."
Inside lay a pair of exceedingly rare three-tomoe Sharingan.
"???"
He turned his gaze to the other wall niches. In several glass containers floated indistinct chunks of flesh and tissue. Though unlabelled, their very existence spoke volumes.
"Pawn."
[Scan complete. Unowned pawnable items detected:]
[Ding! Uchiha bloodline product (Three-Tomoe Sharingan)… Estimated value: 50]
[Ding! Senju clan high-concentration bloodline tissue (trace amount)… Estimated value: 10]
[Ding! Forbidden Technique: Impure World Reincarnation… Estimated value: 100]
"Holy hell… I've really looted Danzō down to his bones."
Only now did Yami connect a detail he had previously overlooked. When he encountered Danzō at the Hokage Tower, the man's body had been intact—no bandages, nothing like the heavily wrapped appearance he would have later.
He quickly sealed the three items into a storage scroll, deciding to think carefully about how to deal with them once he was safely back.
Exiting the hidden chamber, Yami sprinted through Danzō's mock "Hokage office." Just as he was about to reach the exit, Kagura's Mind's Eye flared—detecting a Root squad returning through the entrance!
There was no time to hesitate. Moments before they crossed paths, Yami transformed into the Root sub-commander he had attacked earlier and strode forward openly.
The Root operatives froze when they saw him coming up from below. Yami seized the initiative, his tone sharp and commanding.
"What's the situation in the village?"
"Lord Shinsei." The Root ninja immediately saluted before reporting,
"The assassin has not yet been located. Current leads point toward the Kaguya clan of Kirigakure."
"Shimura Shinsei" flew into a rage. "Useless! With Lord Danzō absent, has Konoha really become a place outsiders can enter and leave at will?!"
None of the Root operatives dared respond. After a moment's hesitation, the squad leader asked cautiously,
"My lord, where are you headed? It's not yet time for shift rotation."
Yami reacted instantly, his voice cold and decisive.
"A secret order from Lord Danzō. I'm to return to the Shimura clan compound immediately to handle urgent matters."
As he spoke, he casually produced the storage scroll from his sleeve and gave it a brief shake, then brushed past them without another glance.
Seeing him invoke Danzō's name, the Root squad dared not question him further and continued deeper into the base.
However, they hadn't gone far when a strange smell reached their noses—something like scorched meat, mixed with the metallic tang of blood. Following the source, they discovered their comrades collapsed on the ground, unconscious.
Realization struck instantly.
They spun around and gave chase—but "Shimura Shinsei" had already vanished without a trace.