Chapter 36: Orochimaru's Resolve

Even if only one-tenth of them were truly determined to follow Orochimaru, it was still a dire situation for the unprepared Hidden Leaf Village.

"Have you gone mad, Orochimaru!"

The Third Hokage was furious. The Hiruzen Sarutobi of today was not the frail old man of the future. Even if he was no longer the "God of Shinobi" at his peak, his authority was not something just anyone could challenge.

"Teacher Hiruzen, I will explain later. But for now, please do not get in my way!"

Orochimaru stood before the Third Hokage. He might not yet be a match for his teacher, but it would not be easy for Hiruzen Sarutobi to push past him.

[Kobayashi: Whoa, what is going on? Why did they suddenly start fighting!]
[Passerby Wanting to Hug Luo Feng’s Thigh: Boss Orochimaru is way too intense, jumping straight into a fight?]
[Ai Haibara: What did you tell him?]
[Passerby Wanting to Hug Luo Feng’s Thigh: Nothing! Boss Orochimaru never asked me... At most, I accidentally let it slip that the Fourth Hokage was Minato Namikaze...]
[Ai Haibara: For someone like Orochimaru, once he knew he hadn't become Hokage, he could basically guess the rest of it.]
[Borsalino: It was only a matter of time. Including myself, if we have the chance to change the future, we would all try, wouldn't we?]

"What on earth is that brat Orochimaru playing at!"

Faced with the sudden assault, Danzo instinctively wanted to retreat into the crowd to avoid being surrounded. To his surprise, more than half of the "rogue ninja" were targeting him specifically. Even worse, many of these attackers were familiar faces—the very "troublemakers" he had once tried to recruit or suppress. The weakest among them were Special Jonin, and he wasn't even confident he could take down the strongest ones.

Left with no choice, Danzo ordered his Root operatives to move out. His heart bled at the thought that the force he had painstakingly built was about to suffer heavy losses.

"Ninja Art: Shadow Possession Jutsu!"

Just as the Root operatives launched their attack, a Leaf ninja with a pineapple-style haircut threw two shuriken, pinning Danzo’s shadow to the ground in the nick of time. The shadow, which should have been intangible, solidified on the ground the moment it was pierced, locking Danzo in place.

"This is..."

Suddenly finding himself unable to move, Danzo gritted his teeth. These damned rogue ninja were indeed targeting him. Fortunately, this level of possession wasn't difficult to break; he just needed a few seconds...

"Secret Technique: Mind Puppet Jutsu!"

Just as Danzo was struggling to break free from the shadow's hold, another Leaf ninja with a blonde ponytail stepped forward. Danzo's expression shifted drastically upon seeing the technique. Before he could react, his right hand moved of its own accord, ripping away the bandage covering his right eye for all to see.

Many in the village knew that Danzo had lost his right eye because of the Third Hokage, and that missing eye was his badge of honor. Yet, as he tore off the bandage, what appeared before everyone was an eye that had no business being there.

The Sharingan!

"What is that?"
"Why does Lord Danzo have a Sharingan?"
"What is going on here!"

Looking at the red eye in Danzo's socket, even the most oblivious realized something was wrong. While there were exceptions like Obito Uchiha gifting his Sharingan to Kakashi Hatake, even a three-year-old in the village knew that Danzo Shimura and the Uchiha clan were like oil and water. There was no way anyone from the Uchiha clan would voluntarily give him their eye!

"What are you standing around for! Eliminate these rogue ninja who dare to assassinate the Third Hokage!"

Danzo quickly broke free from the control. Realizing the situation was dire, he made a swift decision. The Sharingan could be explained to Hiruzen later; the priority now was to wipe out these rebellious traitors!

The Root operatives, trained by Danzo himself, charged without hesitation. However, some remained still—the very "rogue ninja" Danzo ordered them to kill were their own friends and family. Danzo finally realized how Orochimaru had persuaded so many to turn against him.

Under any other circumstances, even with Orochimaru leading the charge, few would risk being branded as rogues to challenge him. Even the strongest ninja felt powerless against the combined might of the Hidden Leaf. However, the village was at its weakest; most of its forces were at the front lines, and those accompanying Orochimaru were the first wave of returning victors. With these witnesses, Danzo lost his most critical shield. Even the Third Hokage could not protect him indiscriminately in front of so many people.

As for the things Danzo had done—using families to force ninjas into the Root, sabotaging fellow villagers during missions, assassinating comrades, seizing Kekkei Genkai, and turning his subordinates into emotionless killing machines—he selectively ignored them all. In his mind, everything he did was for the sake of the Leaf, and anyone who opposed him was opposing the village itself.

"Orochimaru intends to assassinate the Third Hokage! Take him down first!"

Danzo growled through gritted teeth. If he could take down Orochimaru, he still had a chance to turn the tide. Following his command, the Root operatives, trained as killing machines, surged forward.

"Scoundrels! With me!"

At that moment, dozens of Uchiha clan members emerged from the crowd, intercepting the Root forces. Initially, the proud Uchiha had no intention of cooperating with Orochimaru. Even when Danzo used the name of the Root to force members of other clans to join, he hadn't dared to provoke the Uchiha. But when they learned that a significant portion of the Uchiha who had died on missions over the past few years had been sabotaged or outright assassinated by the Root, their rage was ignited. Forget the hot-headed Uchiha; even a gentle soul like Choza Akimichi, upon learning what had happened to members of his clan in the Root, was furious enough to want to take Danzo down with him.

"Uchiha... Hiruzen, this is the fine student you have raised!"

The moment the Uchiha ninjas appeared, Danzo descended into hysterical, maddening rage.