Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 30 The Establishment of the Root

"Don't be too happy yet."

The Third Hokage exhaled a puff of smoke, glanced at his excited old friend, and said calmly, "I'll only give you two squads of personnel in Root, a total of eight people. You can form them yourself. In addition, I will give you two more people as your deputies to help you manage Root."

Upon hearing this, Danzo frowned, looking at the Third Hokage with some displeasure, and thought to himself: These two lieutenants of yours are not here to help me manage Root, but to spy on me, aren't they?

That's right, they're monitoring you.

I wouldn't trust you to mess around in such an important and shady department.

The Third Hokage glared at Danzo, expressing his true feelings.

Danzo received his old friend's heartfelt message. Although he was unhappy, he had no choice but to accept it. However, he would not give in. Sooner or later, Root would belong to him alone.

"I will gradually loosen the restrictions on the Uchiha clan accepting missions. You need to get the Root organization up and running as soon as possible," the Third Hokage subtly reminded him.

Danzo immediately understood and laughed, "Don't worry, I won't forget what the greatest significance of the establishment of Root is. This is my list of eight people. You just need to give me the two you arranged to monitor me."

As he spoke, Danzo took out a list of eight members of the Root organization from his robes and handed it to the Third Hokage.

Danzo had already prepared everything for the establishment of the Root Clan, including all the facilities, such as the headquarters.

He had already conducted investigations and screenings of the root personnel five years ago, and even predicted the personnel structure of the first generation of root personnel. He was just waiting for this moment.

It can only be said that the two are truly childhood friends, as they both know the color of each other's diapers.

The establishment of the Root organization was only missing the approval of the Third Hokage; Danzo had already prepared the rest.

The Third Hokage calmly took the list from Danzo and began to look at it. He wasn't surprised that his old friend could prepare the list of Root members so quickly.

After all, Danzo's preparations were made with Danzo's tacit approval.

"Um……"

The Third Hokage suddenly frowned, staring blankly at a name on the list. He blinked involuntarily, and after confirming that he hadn't misread it, he looked up and glared angrily at Danzo, demanding, "Did you write it wrong? Why is Orochimaru on it?"

Danzo smiled slightly and said, "He is very suitable for the darkness of Root."

"Bullshit!" the Third Hokage roared. "He is my disciple, the future Fourth Hokage, not the Root lurking in the shadows."

Besides, how could his disciple possibly be a member of such a dark organization?

If everyone knew that Orochimaru had joined Root, how could he possibly run for Hokage?

"The Fourth Hokage?"

Danzo frowned upon hearing this, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes as he looked at the Third Hokage. He hadn't expected the Third Hokage to have such high expectations for Orochimaru.

Orochimaru has shown his genius since childhood, and now he has transformed that genius into strength, possessing the powerful strength of a Jonin at a young age.

But to place the expectations of the Fourth Hokage on Orochimaru now is a bit... something else.

And... why is the Fourth Hokage still considered the Third Hokage's disciple?

Couldn't it be him, Danzo Shimura!

Danzo became increasingly displeased with the thought.

He didn't understand that in the Third Hokage's mind, Orochimaru, a commoner genius ninja who had no parents or ninja clan to rely on and could only depend on the Third Hokage as his master, was the most suitable successor to the Fourth Hokage.

Only if Orochimaru succeeds as Hokage can the Third Hokage's power in Konoha be extended to the greatest extent possible, and the interests of the Sarutobi clan be guaranteed to the greatest extent.

The Third Hokage would not allow anyone to undermine the extension of his Hokage authority.

Because only he could firmly uphold the Second Hokage Tobirama's plan to eradicate the Uchiha clan.

The three generations always believed that he was the only one worthy of the task.

"hehe!"

Danzo sneered. The more the Third Hokage didn't want Orochimaru to join Root, the more Danzo wanted him to join. Originally, submitting Orochimaru's name was just a test of the Third Hokage's regard for Root, but now he wanted to try and win Orochimaru over.

Danzo's gaze shifted, and he said with a smile, "Believe me, Hiruzen, Orochimaru is more suited to Root. He's not the kind of sunny ninja who stands in the sunlight and receives the villagers' cheers for him, but rather the kind of dedicated ninja who silently protects Konoha from the shadows."

"His talent isn't in combat, but in ninjutsu research. He has the same talent as the Second Hokage in developing new ninjutsu."

Danzo had met Orochimaru, the Third Hokage's most prized disciple.

With just one glance, he saw in Orochimaru the same intense darkness as him... no, it should be the unwavering spirit of protecting Konoha to the death.

The two continued to contact each other afterward. Orochimaru's thirst for ninjutsu convinced him that this person was well-suited to researching forbidden techniques.

The Root organization would be a perfect fit for a ninja like Orochimaru with his research talent.

He also needs ninjas like that to join him.

"Impossible, just give up on that idea."

The Third Hokage threw out the list without any room for negotiation; he would never agree to Orochimaru joining Root.

If Danzo insists, then the establishment of the Root sect will have to be postponed.

"Okay, I'll change it."

Faced with the determination in the Third Hokage's eyes, Danzo did not insist any further. He picked up the pen on the table and immediately changed Orochimaru's name, writing down another name instead.

He also figured it out: the most important thing now is to establish a foothold, and then figure out how to drag Orochimaru into it later.

Anyway, based on his understanding of Orochimaru.

That child would be unable to resist the temptation he offered, and being led into darkness was inevitable.

The Third Hokage wanted Orochimaru to become the Fourth Hokage.

Ha ha!

He wouldn't allow it!

Danzo sneered inwardly.

The Third Hokage picked up the list again, and after crossing Orochimaru's name off and adding another person, he found no problems. He took out an application form for establishing a base from the drawer, wrote his own name on it, and stamped it with the Hokage's seal.

From then on, the troublemaker of the Naruto world, "wherever there is darkness, there I am," was established.

Whew… Danzo picked up the application for the establishment of Root and breathed a sigh of relief. His long-cherished wish had finally come true, and a long-dormant passion rekindled within him.

"Then I'll head out first, Hiruzen."

Danzo turned and left, eager to quickly establish Root.

"etc."

The Third Hokage suddenly stopped Danzo, frowned, and considered whether to let Danzo interfere with Li Yao's problem. Finally, he asked, "The research equipment from the Wood Release: Recreation Project should still be in good condition, right?"

"They are all very well preserved."

Danzo subconsciously turned his head and asked, then suddenly realized what the Third Hokage had asked. His eyes lit up and he turned around to stare intently at the Third Hokage.

"Hiruzen, are you going to restart the Wood Release: Rebirth Plan?"

No, I was just asking.

The Third Hokage immediately shook his head, dismissing Danzo's idea of ​​restarting the Wood Release research project without a second thought.

The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, died shortly after the battle at the Valley of the End.

With the First Hokage no longer holding the ninja world back, the Ninja World War, even more brutal than the endless chaos of the late Warring States period, quickly began.

In this battle, Tobirama, the Second Hokage, who possessed the Flying Thunder God Technique, the strongest instantaneous teleportation ability in the ninja world, died in battle while covering the Third Hokage and the others' safe escape.

Although the Third Hokage and others rose to prominence later, demonstrating to the ninja world that even without the First and Second Hokage, they still possessed the strength to easily surpass any of the Five Great Hidden Villages, ultimately bringing the Shinobi World War to a peaceful end.

But think back to the time when the First Hokage, the God of Shinobi, was alive, and the entire shinobi world submitted to the power of Wood Release.

The Third Hokage and other high-ranking officials were very unwilling to accept this.

In addition, the Uchiha clan, whose strength suddenly soared to become the strongest in Konoha after the Fourth Shinobi World War, made the Senju clan very wary.

After all, the Uchiha and Senju clans have been entangled in a feud for over a thousand years, and the hatred between them is not so easy to let go of.

Without powerful figures like the First and Second Hokage, how could the Senju clan not be wary of the Uchiha clan?

The Senju clan was unwilling to accept this. They wanted to recreate the glory days of the Senju clan when the First Hokage was alive and firmly suppress the Uchiha clan.

Therefore, the Senju clan, together with the Third Hokage and other high-ranking officials of Konoha, secretly launched a plan to revive Wood Release.

(End of this chapter)