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Mastermind of the Akatsuki 201
🕑 Added 2024-11-01 15:00:05 +0000 UTCChapter 201: Tenzō and Anko
Tuning out his wandering thoughts, Danzō walked toward the Wood Release experimental subject, who was just a child, appearing only seven or eight years old.
Sensing Danzō's approach, the child suddenly opened his eyes and looked at him.
"Who are you, old man?"
Danzō instinctively took a half-step back and then slowly replied, "I am Danzō, leader of Konoha’s Root. And you, little one, who are you? What’s your name?"
The child hesitated, trying hard to recall his past, but the growing pain in his head made him give up. Shaking his head in confusion, he said, "I-I don’t know who I am either... I seem to have forgotten everything from before, but I had a nightmare where I was submerged in water, and there were lots of people in white clothes touching me."
As he said this, the child looked around and saw the shattered glass containers, freezing in place.
Perhaps what he experienced wasn’t a nightmare, but a grim reality.
Noticing the child's expression, Danzō sighed softly. He extended his hand toward the child and said, "I roughly understand what you've been through. Well then, would you like to accept my care, leave this place, and become a member of Root?"
The child hesitated but, having no other choice, gently nodded.
Seeing him agree, Danzō smiled and patted the boy’s head, slowly saying, "Since you’ve forgotten your past and have no name, I will give you one. From today, you shall be called Tenzō."
"Tenzō?"
Tenzō repeated his new name several times, a faint smile appearing on his face. "I finally have a name. My name is Tenzō!"
(AN: For those who don’t remember, Yamato is also called Tenzo.)
Noticing Tenzō's reaction, a subtle smile also appeared on Danzō's face.
As the leader of Root, Danzō knew well how important it was to give an orphan a name. If he cultivated Tenzō carefully, he could gain a subordinate with at least the strength of an elite jōnin in the future.
A few minutes later, Danzō left the Root lab with Tenzō.
After returning to the Root base, he immediately placed the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal on Tenzō and ordered his subordinates to destroy all Wood Release experiment data and anything linking him to it. He also began preparing to impeach Orochimaru.
The grounds for impeachment were simple: just reporting that Orochimaru had conducted experiments on villagers was enough.
After all, once Orochimaru got into research mode, he didn’t care whether his subjects were allies or not. As long as he was interested in the experiment, he would even experiment on his comrades.
Danzō didn't mind Orochimaru’s behavior.
In his view, contributing to Konoha was an honor for these experimental subjects.
But Sarutobi Hiruzen, that hypocritical Hokage, was different. He cared about such things. Although he knew about the darkness in the shadows, he always presented a dignified and noble image.
---
As Danzō gathered evidence and prepared to spread rumors unfavorable to Orochimaru, another pair of eyes watched him from the shadows.
It was none other than Orochimaru, the main person in charge of the Wood Release project.
After leaving the Root lab, he had witnessed Danzō taking Tenzō under his wing. He was surprised that he had overlooked such a "survivor."
However, he chose not to confront Danzō to claim Tenzō but instead decided to bide his time in the shadows.
First, because he believed his experiments couldn’t have failed. In the previous batch, it was impossible for any child to adapt to the cells of Hashirama. Tenzō’s survival was just an accident.
And even if Tenzō had survived, it didn’t guarantee he would awaken the Wood Release kekkei genkai. Everything was still uncertain.
As long as Orochimaru could contact Tenzō later, he could easily figure out the truth from Tenzō's blood.
Secondly, Orochimaru wanted to see what Danzō was planning. It became clear that Danzō was secretly collecting evidence of his human experiments.
Danzō's motives were obvious: he wanted to ruin the trust between Orochimaru and Hiruzen, thereby disqualifying him from being a candidate for the Fifth Hokage.
But Danzō seemed to have forgotten that they were collaborators. Even if Orochimaru lost his chance to become Hokage, Danzō wouldn't become Hokage either.
And after all these years, Danzō still didn’t realize that Hiruzen would never let him become Hokage.
At this thought, Orochimaru couldn’t help but marvel at Danzō’s foolishness.
Shaking off these distracting thoughts, Orochimaru turned and headed toward his base, vanishing into the darkness.
Even though he had discovered Danzō collecting evidence against him, Orochimaru didn’t plan to stop him. After all, he had indeed conducted those experiments. He had even attacked village jōnin to obtain experimental materials.
In his quest to push the limits of ninjutsu and achieve immortality, Orochimaru had long stopped caring about the rules of the ninja world.
Even if Danzō exposed everything he had done and caused the village’s jōnin to fear him, he remained unafraid.
After all, he no longer had any attachment to the Konoha.
If Danzō and Hiruzen decided to target him, it would simply be the right time for him to leave this dull village and explore the greater ninja world.
There were plenty of places in the ninja world outside Konoha where he could thrive.
Not long after, Orochimaru arrived at his secret base.
Upon seeing him, his subordinates straightened up and said, "Lord Orochimaru, you’re finally here. Anko has been calling for you."
"Anko wants to see me?"
Orochimaru's expression changed slightly as Anko’s image appeared in his mind.
Anko was a girl of twelve or thirteen, whose personality was more like a boy’s than a girl’s. She was currently his only disciple, though her antics often gave him headaches.
When he eventually defected from Konoha, he would surely take some loyal followers with him.
But he hadn’t yet decided whether to take Anko with him, unsure if he should leave her behind as a pawn or bring her along to wander the ninja world.
When he saw Anko, she was holding a skewer of dango, smiling. "Orochimaru-sensei, I’ve been thinking about entering the Chūnin Exams soon. Can you give me special training?"
"Forget about special training. I have other things to take care of."
Orochimaru shook his head, having already made up his mind.
A naive ninja like Anko was no longer suitable to remain his subordinate. It would be better for her to stay in the Leaf and immerse herself in the Will of Fire.
Unaware of Orochimaru’s thoughts, Anko, feeling a bit disappointed, nodded. "Since you’re busy, I’ll come back later. I was hoping to spread the Dango Style after all."
