Naruto: Growing Stronger Through Healing

Land of Fire.

Inside a small town.

Rinne Path-Orochimaru and Danzō appeared together.

Rinne Path-Orochimaru strolled along leisurely, his posture relaxed, as though he were merely out on a pleasure trip. In contrast, Danzō looked distinctly disheveled.

After all, he had never imagined that he would one day defect from Konoha. There had been no time for preparation, no chance to make arrangements—everything had happened far too suddenly.

Eventually, the three of them found a small inn and decided to rest there for the time being.

"This must be the work of that evil brat—Hirakawa Aoshi!" Danzō's face twisted with resentment.

To think that he, Danzō Shimura, had been completely outmaneuvered by a young man.

Rinne Path-Orochimaru stood nearby, remaining silent. Yet deep in his eyes, a faint trace of mockery flickered.

Poor Danzō had no idea that every single one of his movements was being watched by Aoshi from afar.

To Aoshi, it was no different from watching a clown perform on stage. Still, this ignorance could be considered a mercy.

If Danzō were to learn the truth, his mental state would likely collapse on the spot.

"And Hiruzen is just as foolish!" Danzō continued angrily. "He actually believed that brat's scheme and completely disregarded the bond between old comrades!"

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. With a sharp palm strike, he smashed the table in front of him.

"One day… I will definitely kill them all!"

Hearing the sudden noise, the innkeeper hurried over, thinking something serious had happened.

"Guest, did something happen?" But the moment he saw the shattered table, the innkeeper's expression immediately turned hostile.

In his fury, Danzō genuinely wanted to kill the man on the spot.

However, considering that he was currently being hunted by a ninja squad led by Hatake Sakumo, he knew he could not afford to cause any disturbance.

Suppressing his rage with great difficulty, Danzō coldly took out some money and tossed it over as compensation.

Even so, the sense of injustice burning in his chest only grew stronger.

Rinne Path-Orochimaru watched the entire scene unfold, struggling to suppress the uncontrollable upward curve of his lips.

After the innkeeper finally left, Danzō finished venting and spoke again. "Alright. Now let's think about what we should do next."

Danzō could not die before the Zero-Tails was successfully cultivated.

That was precisely why Aoshi had deliberately sent Rinne Path-Orochimaru to help him escape from Konoha.

With a cold snort, Danzō spoke as though it were a matter of course.

"Once my subordinates arrive, we'll go to your base and lie low for a while."

Although the Root ninjas within Konoha had been completely wiped out, that did not mean Root itself had been eradicated.

On the surface, Root was merely an Anbu training division. In reality, it was Danzō's private ninja force.

The number of subordinates he had cultivated had long exceeded Root's officially recorded capacity.

To conceal the existence of these extra operatives from Sarutobi Hiruzen, Danzō had scattered them across the ninja world, using them as intelligence agents.

This not only hid their presence, but also expanded Root's intelligence network, allowing him to gather information from all corners of the ninja world in real time.

After escaping Konoha, Danzō had already sent out a summons.

At this very moment, those subordinates were rushing toward him.

Seeing Danzō's attitude—treating him as though he were nothing more than a subordinate—Rinne Path-Orochimaru let out a few cold laughs.

Still, he did not refuse.

"Then we'll head to the Land of Rice Fields," he said calmly. "I left a research base there."

Because Orochimaru had defected long ago, he did not possess the extensive network of bases he would have had in the original timeline.

As for Aoshi's own secret base, it was absolutely out of the question. That place contained far too many of Aoshi's secrets to ever expose to Danzō.

Thus, the Land of Rice Fields was the only viable option.

Danzō neither refused nor had the right to refuse. What concerned him far more was another matter entirely.

"You said before that the Wood Release experiment showed results," Danzō said intently.

"When can I truly master Wood Release?"

If he wanted revenge, he needed power. And in Danzō's eyes, no power surpassed Wood Release.

His obsession with it had never waned.

"Don't worry," Rinne Path-Orochimaru replied smoothly. "Once we return to the base, we can begin the experiment."

Aoshi planned to use White Zetsu's cells to help Tsunade awaken Wood Release. But before that, a test subject was absolutely necessary to verify its safety.

At that point, Danzō would be quite useful.

If Danzō truly awakened Wood Release, then killing him and turning him into a another Rinne Path would only make him stronger.

For Aoshi, there would be no loss at all.

"That's good," Danzō said, his tone tinged with excitement.

He was already imagining the moment he would return to Konoha after awakening Wood Release.

Unbeknownst to him, Aoshi had already decided his fate.

—

Meanwhile.

Inside Uchiha Madara's underground cave.

Black Zetsu received the intelligence gathered by White Zetsu.

"The one who killed Tobi was Hirakawa Aoshi. He awakened the Rinnegan."

If one wished to keep something hidden, one should never do it in the first place. In the ninja world, intelligence was notoriously difficult to conceal completely.

Especially when White Zetsu—an entity extremely skilled in espionage—was personally involved.

Aoshi himself had long known this would be exposed sooner or later.

Fortunately, he no longer needed to worry about it. He had already passed the most vulnerable stage of his growth.

"Impossible!" Black Zetsu roared in disbelief.

In a thousand years, it had only succeeded in creating the Rinnegan once—on Uchiha Madara himself.

The idea that Hirakawa Aoshi could awaken the Rinnegan was simply unacceptable.

"How could he awaken the Rinnegan?!"

If the Rinnegan were so easily obtained, Black Zetsu would not have needed to scheme for a thousand years.

That was why his reaction was so violent. This made no sense—neither scientifically nor by the logic of ninjutsu.

After the failed test involving Mikoto in the Land of Rain, Uchiha Madara had ordered White Zetsu to secretly investigate Hirakawa Aoshi.

He knew very well that Aoshi was merely a civilian-born ninja, with no clan bloodline whatsoever.

From that point on, Madara and Black Zetsu had stopped paying attention to him.

After all, what use was mere talent? Being born a commoner already defined one's limits.

"But that is the truth," White Zetsu replied calmly. "All intelligence confirms that Hirakawa Aoshi has indeed awakened the Rinnegan."

White Zetsu's insistence plunged Black Zetsu into silence. It knew that White Zetsu would never deceive it.

Although Uchiha Madara believed White Zetsu had been created from Hashirama's cells, the truth was different.

White Zetsu was formed from humans who had fallen under the Infinite Tsukuyomi a thousand years ago—only a portion of whom Black Zetsu had released.

Suddenly, Black Zetsu's gaze sharpened.

A possibility surfaced in its mind.

"This must be related to Hagoromo," it said coldly. "That scoundrel must have secretly interfered!"

The Hagoromo Black Zetsu referred to was the Sage of Six Paths from the legends of the ninja world.

The very first being to possess the Rinnegan.

"No wonder Aoshi was nothing more than an unknown nobody before reaching adulthood," Black Zetsu continued.

"Now it's clear—he must have accidentally obtained something Hagoromo left behind."

"Yes… that must be it." Having convinced itself, Black Zetsu firmly believed it had uncovered the truth.

And in reality, it wasn't far off. The only difference was that Aoshi had no connection to the Sage of Six Paths at all.

He was bound—solely and entirely—to a system.