One day, an unexpected visitor arrived at the Root headquarters.
"Lord Danzo."
Standing before him was Mitarashi Anko, looking somewhat haggard but maintaining an unusual level of respect.
"What do you need from me?"
"Please help me find Kurenai."
Danzo's mind flashed to an image of Yūhi Kurenai.
"Kurenai? What happened to her?"
"She disappeared. Not long after the Third Hokage passed away, she went missing while on a mission outside the village. I heard Root has the best intelligence network… please, Lord Danzo, help me find her."
Anko looked up at him with a pleading expression—this was her last hope.
The village had investigated for a month before giving up, even suspecting that Kurenai had defected.
Danzo quickly obtained information on Kurenai.
As he flipped through the files, he noticed that the last suspicious individual she had been in contact with was Sarutobi Asuma.
The report explicitly stated that after the Third Hokage's funeral, Asuma had left the village without filing any requests or reports.
Danzo had been aware of Asuma's departure at the time, but he hadn't classified him as a rogue ninja.
Now, considering Kurenai's disappearance, combined with what he knew from the original timeline… could the two of them have eloped?
The report seemed to suggest the same, noting that Asuma and Kurenai had been romantically involved.
Anko finished reading through the intelligence, her eyes reddening slightly as she shook her head.
"That's impossible. They weren't at that stage yet. Kurenai would never betray the village for him."
"I will have Root search for her. If there's any news, you'll be informed immediately."
"Thank you, Danzo-sama."
After Anko left, Danzo sighed inwardly.
If it wasn't an elopement, then the chances of survival were slim.
The shinobi world, which appeared peaceful on the surface, was far from being as tranquil as it seemed.
...
In a forest in the eastern region of the Land of Fire, at a sunken area where streams converged into a small waterfall...
"Danzo-sama, the seal has been lifted. The perimeter is secured by Root's Second, Third, and Sixth squads..."
"Mm. Well done."
Danzo stepped onto the water's surface, where a transparent barrier had been formed, and descended straight into the depths.
The pool, no more than ten meters in diameter, had an astonishing depth of a hundred meters.
At the very bottom, a stone slab covered in ancient, intricate markings emitted faint spatial fluctuations.
Danzo's eyes gleamed.
This was it.
It was less than fifty kilometers from the Hyūga clan's ancestral land.
As he landed, his eyes closed, and the surrounding runes began to light up one by one.
Found it.
The dark water glowed as the stone slabs activated. The space around him distorted.
When Danzo opened his eyes again, he was no longer underwater.
...
He now stood on a stone platform in an open, desolate valley.
No vegetation. No signs of life. Just endless rubble.
Under the dim light, everything appeared bleak and silent.
He had come to the right place.
Danzo's senses sharpened. Two hundred kilometers away, he detected a chakra fluctuation that resonated with his own.
It felt somewhat like a Tailed Beast—but different.
With a flicker, Danzo's lone figure darted across the barren surface of the Moon.
Suddenly, he sensed a battle taking place.
In the distance, six figures, clad in ancient-style clothing, were chasing a man and a woman.
The one thing they all had in common…
Byakugan.
Because Danzo had unknowingly blocked their path, both the pursuers and the fleeing couple came to a halt.
The man and woman—who appeared to be a married couple—watched both Danzo and their pursuers warily, drawing their weapons in preparation for a fight.
Then—
"Your eyes…?" One of the pursuers gasped, as if realizing something incredible.
Danzo's ordinary eyes were suddenly covered by a beautiful, intricate pattern.
All at once, the six pursuers dropped their guard. Their weapons slipped from their hands as they stood frozen in place.
"Where am I?"
"The Southern Ruins."
"What's the situation on the Moon? Why are you chasing them?"
"...Our Main Family has gained the upper hand. It won't be long before the Branch Family is completely subdued."
"...The Branch Family's leader has gathered all their members and is organizing a counterattack…"
As the hesitant answers came one by one, Danzo frowned.
The Main Family and Branch Family were locked in a bitter civil war, now reaching its final stage.
The intensity of their battle was no less than the wars between the Five Great Shinobi Nations.
After extracting the necessary information, Danzo chose not to harm them. Instead, he erased parts of their memories before continuing on his way.
Whether the fugitives survived would depend on their luck.
From Danzo's perspective, it seemed like inbreeding had affected the descendants of Hamura in more ways than one.
Their minds were unreasonably extreme.
They were willing to wipe out their own kin—just because of ideological differences.
And the most ridiculous part?
Their initial disagreement wasn't even about themselves—it was about how to handle the shinobi world.
What a mess.
...
As he traveled, Danzo encountered several more clashes between the two factions.
He ignored them all, making his way toward his target—Hamura's Shrine.
After a day and a night of non-stop travel, he finally arrived.
Before him stood a majestic shrine, a stark contrast to the desolate landscape surrounding it.
The unusual chakra resonance grew stronger.
What he sought was inside.
Hmm?
Wasn't this place supposed to be heavily guarded?
It felt like something was blocking his perception—he couldn't sense what was inside clearly.
Maintaining a high level of vigilance, Danzo slowly infiltrated the shrine.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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