Danzo's trap was about to snap shut.
Every move Uchiha Kawahara made was being carefully watched.
To avoid raising suspicion, Sarutobi Ryo himself was involved in this surveillance.
Danzo's followers came from different backgrounds.
Some were ordinary ninjas from Konoha.
Yakushi Nonou and Itachi, from the original story, were examples of these.
These Konoha ninjas didn't have Cursed Seals on their tongues. Danzo couldn't do that to them because of the Hokage's authority.
But there was another type of follower...
These were children who had been raised from a young age, or even stolen from other countries. They were like brainwashed assassins, trained since they were small.
These ninjas had the "Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal" etched onto their tongues.
The ninja now pretending to be Uchiha Kawahara was one of these.
He was a disposable pawn, meant to be used and then thrown away.
Furthermore, there wasn't just one Root ninja impersonating Uchiha Kawahara. There were two.
They took turns pretending to be Uchiha Kawahara, 24 hours a day, acting as him in front of the Uchiha clan members.
The two brothers had almost identical chakra, heights, and voices.
With the help of the Disguise Technique, they were able to fool everyone.
But nothing is ever perfect.
Small mistakes could still raise suspicion.
Uchiha Shisui noticed these inconsistencies by chance.
Sarutobi Ryo planned to wait for the two Root ninjas to make a mistake.
Then, Uchiha Shisui, with his incredible talent for illusionary techniques, would enter their minds.
The Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal was supposed to prevent Root ninjas from revealing information about Danzo.
But the Cursed Seal wasn't foolproof.
By directly invading their brains through sight, they could get the information they needed.
The plan was in motion...
One night.
The Uchiha clan's secret meeting was happening as usual.
During the meeting, the Uchiha clan discussed their plans.
For the Root ninjas disguised as Uchiha Kawahara, it was another boring and pointless gathering.
Since the Uchiha clan was slowly gaining trust, they mostly talked about how to better serve the village, with no rebellious thoughts at all.
Led by Yashiro, the Uchiha ninjas finished yet another meeting.
"Lady Mikoto, allow me to escort you back..."
Uchiha Shisui offered, volunteering to take Uchiha Mikoto back to Sarutobi Ryo's mansion.
Uchiha Kawahara watched them leave, a strange look in his eyes, before heading to his own home.
Soon, Uchiha Kawahara arrived at his residence.
It was a small, unremarkable house within the Uchiha clan compound.
Because Uchiha Kawahara was a forgettable genin, not very noticeable, his job was to watch over the Military Police Force's warehouse.
This made him an easy person to overlook.
Back home, Uchiha Kawahara closed the door. Inside, an identical person was waiting for him.
This person was his older brother, the other person responsible for pretending to be Uchiha Kawahara.
"Brother, they were still discussing unimportant things today..."
"Record it quickly, and stop talking nonsense." The older brother stood up, hurrying him.
"Alright, alright..."
The younger brother went to the desk and started writing down the details of the meeting.
Later, he would return to Root and give the information to Lord Danzo.
While he rested, his older brother would take over his duties as Uchiha Kawahara.
The younger brother, carefully writing down the information, sealed the scroll and was about to stand up when he noticed something was wrong.
He turned his head and saw a figure had appeared in the room.
The figure was looking around, examining the photos and intelligence reports in the room.
These were all records of Uchiha clan information.
Seeing Sarutobi Ryo there, the two brothers were terrified.
Cold sweat poured down their faces.
Then, Uchiha Shisui walked in.
The Three-Tomoe Sharingan, combined with the young boy's cold expression, shone in the shadows...
---
Not long after.
Having gathered the information, Sarutobi Ryo changed and prepared to go to Danzo's secret base.
Sarutobi Ryo always acted quickly and decisively.
The two brothers were tied up, looking miserable.
Uchiha Shisui had used a lot of his eye power to learn everything from their minds.
From his angry face, it was clear that he had seen everything the two brothers had done, including the murder of Uchiha Kawahara.
And these things would be reported directly to the Fourth Hokage, Hatake Sakumo.
And... the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Bringing down an Elder, especially a veteran like Danzo, was not easy.
Therefore, two generations of Hokage had to be involved.
Knowing Sarutobi Hiruzen's personality - indecisive, tolerant, and always reflecting on himself - Sarutobi Ryo knew that once he saw someone truly harming the village, he would become a ninja hero and would never forgive the other person.
Therefore...
Sarutobi Ryo planned to act first and report later.
He would go straight to Danzo's base first, and Uchiha Shisui would report to the two Hokage later.
By the time the two Hokage arrived with backup, he would probably have already killed Danzo.
Once Danzo was dead, dealing with his past crimes wouldn't be a problem.
Some people, only when they are dead, can things be peaceful.
"Right, Orochimaru?"
Sarutobi Ryo looked at the ninja in the shadows.
Wearing a Konoha ninja vest and a Konoha forehead protector, Orochimaru was waiting for action.
Orochimaru wanted to clear his name and didn't want to leave the village.
Sarutobi Ryo was giving him that chance.
Compared to Shimura Danzo's great evil, Orochimaru's private experiments were minor offenses since he hadn't attacked his own people yet.
As long as Orochimaru didn't harm the people of Konoha, he would always be a Konoha ninja.
There would be no problem with that.
In the original story, Orochimaru didn't win the election and started to become insane. He even started experimenting on the people of Konoha.
But this timeline was different. Although Orochimaru had failed, he accepted it and didn't plan to go crazy. He wouldn't risk messing with the people of Konoha.
Tonight, Orochimaru's cooperation was a good way for him to clear his name.
If they worked together to kill Danzo, then... Orochimaru would be one of the heroes.
Of course, Orochimaru wouldn't refuse such a great opportunity.
"Then, let's start the action..."
Soon, the two went underground, towards Danzo's Root base...
And at the same time.
In Danzo's underground base, Senju Tobirama was getting used to his Impure World Reincarnation body...
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[T/N:
Final Total Power Stone Collection : 327 PS
Goal : Reach +50 Total PS = +2 Bonus Chapters next day! 🚀
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]