Naruto: The Hidden Danzo

In the blink of an eye, more than ten days had passed. Within the headquarters of Root, Danzo, much like his past self, remained reclusive and rarely ventured out.

As a precaution, the personnel responsible for his daily needs had been reassigned to a Root training base outside the village. In their place, newly promoted Root members took over their duties.

During these days, aside from familiarizing himself with his chakra and the memories in his mind, Danzo had gradually pieced together the timeline.

The Second Shinobi War had ended a year ago. Every village was focused on recovery, licking their wounds from the conflict. Yet, beneath the surface, tensions still simmered.

Over the past few days, Danzo had personally received reports from six returning Root squads who had been carrying out missions outside the village.

During their operations, they had assassinated thirty-two enemy shinobi: one Jōnin, five Chūnin, and twenty-six Genin. Additionally, they had destroyed three civilian settlements. Root had suffered losses as well—eight Chūnin killed in action.

Among them, three Chūnin had fallen while besieging the enemy Jōnin, but the mission had been completed. They had gathered crucial intelligence and acquired a forbidden jutsu that Orochimaru had specifically requested.

The report was nothing more than a series of cold, hard numbers, a mission completion scroll devoid of emotion.

This was Danzo's first clear realization of the cruelty of the shinobi world—brutality persisted even in times of so-called peace.

Now that he felt he had fully adjusted, Danzo took the initiative to summon Aburame Ryoma and listened to the latest decisions made by the Hokage.

"Sarutobi is too soft. In the end, he will drag Konoha into another war." Danzo's tone was dark, speaking of the Hokage without a shred of respect.

Then he continued, "Yakushi Nono's mission in the Land of Earth has encountered obstacles. You will lead a team to assist her. We need to start preparing for war ahead of time."

This was Danzo's true intent—to send Aburame Ryoma to the Land of Earth and reestablish the Root base that had been destroyed during the war.

The mission required high-level support, and sending his trusted subordinate away was also a convenient move for him.

"Understood, Danzo-sama."

Watching as Ryoma vanished with the Body Flicker Technique, Danzo secretly exhaled in relief. This mission would take at least a year and a half. By the time Ryoma returned, he would have fully regained his strength and taken complete control of Root.

He was Danzo now—the leader of Root.

Over the past few days, Danzo had thoroughly assessed Root's strength. It was undeniably formidable.

As an extension of the Hokage's ANBU, Root had its own armed forces, intelligence network, research division, and sealing teams, along with an extensive collection of jutsu.

It boasted twenty-six Jōnin and two hundred fifty-six Chūnin, not to mention countless spies and researchers.

To put things into perspective, even Konoha's most powerful clan—the Uchiha—only had twenty-eight Jōnin officially recorded in the Hokage's registry. While they likely had a few more hidden away, the numbers were still limited.

For all the major villages, Jōnin were an incredibly scarce resource, the true high-level combat forces. The presence of even a few more Jōnin could alter the outcome of a battle.

Unlike the later stages of the Shinobi World War, where Jōnin became little more than background figures, in this era, they were decisive forces on the battlefield.

After sixteen years of careful accumulation, even during wartime, Danzo had prioritized preserving Root's strength, resulting in the formidable foundation he had now.

Even Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage himself, had no clear grasp of Root's actual power.

Root operated entirely independently from the village and the Hokage's control, with bases and intelligence networks spanning multiple nations.

This was why the original Danzo had believed he could one day seize the title of Hokage.

However, to the Danzo who had transmigrated and knew the future, it all seemed laughable.

After Aburame Ryoma's departure, Danzo dedicated time each day to training.

A swirling sphere of wind chakra stabilized in his palm, but when he infused more chakra, it suddenly shattered. Yet, under Danzo's control, it dissipated without causing any disruption.

He was already used to this.

By now, he had mastered most of his predecessor's jutsu, regaining nearly eighty percent of his strength.

However, when attempting to recreate the Rasengan from his memories of the manga, Danzo quickly realized he was no genius.

Even with his profound understanding of Wind Release, he still hadn't fully grasped the technique after several days.

Danzo knew that while Root was his external power, his true strength lay in himself.

But as he continued his training, the initial excitement of regaining his abilities faded, replaced by an unsettling realization.

He had seen the limits of this body.

Danzo was already forty-seven years old. His chakra growth had halted, and with age, his physical abilities were beginning to decline.

Right now, with the numerous secret techniques at his disposal, he could barely be considered at Kage level—but even then, he would be among the weakest of the Kage-tier fighters.

Even with access to Konoha's vast jutsu archives, his growth had slowed to a crawl.

Danzo let out a bitter chuckle.

At least give me some kind of transmigration bonus, like a better body or increased talent.

He touched his bandaged right eye and traced the wrinkles forming on his face.

He had disliked the exhausting 24/7 corporate grind of his past life, but he certainly didn't want to end up as an old man with one foot in the grave either.

Still, all hope wasn't lost. The thought of the countless forbidden jutsu in the manga gave him an idea…

And speaking of forbidden jutsu, wasn't Orochimaru currently working in Root's research division?

Whoosh—

A Root member suddenly appeared at the training room entrance using the Body Flicker Technique.

Danzo, no longer surprised by such sudden appearances, remained calm.

With his current power, he could easily detect an opponent the moment they used the technique and kill them with Wind Release before they even materialized.

"What happened?" Danzo asked indifferently.

"White Fang has committed suicide."

Danzo's gaze flickered with a trace of complexity.

"I see. You may go."

"Yes, sir."

As the Root member vanished, Danzo sighed inwardly. He wasn't surprised.

During the past few days of sorting through his memories, he had discovered that the mission Aburame Ryoma had reported to him was the one responsible for spreading the rumors of White Fang's failure.

He hadn't expected those rumors to ultimately lead to the famed Konoha's White Fang taking his own life.

If it had been the original Danzo, he might have felt a trace of satisfaction—after all, Sakumo Hatake had been his greatest rival for the Hokage position.

"Cutting off one's own arm… I wonder if he ever regretted it."

Muttering to himself, Danzo resumed his chakra control training, but his heart was no longer at peace.

...

Back at the Hokage's office,

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat alone, silently smoking his pipe.

"From now on, no one is to spread rumors about White Fang. No one is to touch the Hatake clan's assets."

"Understood." A masked ANBU appeared briefly before vanishing with a flicker.

Only the dim glow of Hiruzen's pipe remained, casting a heavy silence over the room.