Chapter 170 162: Meeting Danzo

"Danzo is looking for me? What is his purpose? If it relates to the war, you can tell me directly, or coordinate through Teacher Orochimaru."

Uchiha Gen slowly sheathed his sword, but his blood-red eyes remained fixed on the Root Ninja.

"Please just come with me. Lord Danzo has something he wants to say to you, and something he wishes to pass on."

The Root Ninja lowered his head slightly; his attitude had improved a little, but his tone remained stiff and calm.

A significant portion of Root Ninjas, having had their emotions erased, were such cold, robotic tools.

"Something to give to me?"

Uchiha Gen raised an eyebrow slightly.

It was understandable that Danzo wanted to say something to him.

In the original timeline, this guy targeted Shisui; it was only natural that he would target him now.

Even though he was different from Shisui, having Orochimaru backing him and being a true-blooded member of the Hokage Faction.

But Danzo's brain wasn't quite right; he would even dare to assassinate the Hokage. There was nothing in this Ninja World he wouldn't dare to do.

But this Root Ninja said Danzo also had something to give him?

Uchiha Gen was actually a bit curious about this.

This was, after all, the Konoha camp. Given his own strength, even if Danzo were stronger than him, and even if he brought Root Ninjas to surround him, it would be very difficult to take him down quietly in a short amount of time.

Furthermore, he wasn't the naive and unsuspecting Uchiha Shisui; Danzo wouldn't be stupid enough to actually make a move on him at this moment.

Once a fight broke out and news of it spread, the Konoha troops in the Land of Hot Springs would immediately fall apart. Danzo would have to bear that responsibility, and he could forget about ever hoping for the position of Hokage for the rest of his life.

"Lead the way."

Uchiha Gen deactivated his Sharingan and said to the Root Ninja.

"Please, this way."

The Root Ninja bowed his head and led Uchiha Gen towards a darker area.

Uchiha Gen flicked his sleeve and stepped forward to follow.

At the same time, a crystalline little snake quietly slipped out from his flicked sleeve, silently burrowed into the ground, and disappeared.

Following the Root Ninja's footsteps, Uchiha Gen walked through the secluded parts of the camp, eventually arriving at the riverbank on the edge of the main encampment.

Guarded by two Root Ninjas, Danzo stood with his hands behind his back and a sword on his back, quietly watching the river rushing endlessly in the tranquil night.

At this time, Danzo, like the Third Hokage, was in the prime of his life.

Except for one eye, the rest of his body was intact. Relying on his masterful Wind Release and the exquisite Konoha-style swordsmanship inherited from Senju Tobirama, he was a true Kage-level Expert. He was not the crippled, senile, and battle-rusty version from thirty years later in the original timeline, who needed transplanted Hashirama cells and Sharingan to unleash Kage-level combat power and possess the ability to fight against Sasuke who had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Uchiha Gen stopped five or six meters away from Danzo, quietly watching his upright figure.

At this distance, they could hear each other clearly without being too close; if anyone wanted to make a move, he would have plenty of space to react.

However, as far as Uchiha Gen could perceive for now, Danzo was indeed not playing any tricks.

Other than the two Root Jonin beside him, there was no one else here. If there were, they were outside of Uchiha Gen's own perception range of several tens of meters. Given his reaction speed, this distance was relatively safe.

"Lord Danzo, Uchiha Gen has been brought here."

Upon seeing Danzo, the Root Ninja stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and saluted.

"Hmm."

Danzo responded indifferently, still with his hands behind his back. The Root Ninja consciously stood up and walked to the side to wait.

Uchiha Gen sized up Danzo and said, "Elder Danzo, long time no see."

Hearing Uchiha Gen's voice, Danzo finally turned his head.

He was also sizing up Uchiha Gen.

The two of them had only met once before.

That was a year and a half ago, when Uzumaki Mito passed away.

The entire inner circle of the Hokage Faction had gone to escort and protect the Nine-Tailed transfer ceremony, and to witness the wife of the First Hokage pass away as the final symbol of an era.

Not long after that, Uchiha Gen went to the Land of Rain, and Danzo went to the Land of Hot Springs.

At that time, because Uchiha Gen was from the Uchiha Clan, Danzo had been paying close attention to him and had developed some ideas about him early on.

But now, after so much time had passed, Uchiha Gen had grown at an astonishing speed, stepping into the ranks of the top experts in the Ninja World, making Danzo value this up-and-coming talent even more.

Unfortunately, due to never having a chance to make contact, it dragged on until now, and he even had to sneakily come to see Uchiha Gen behind Orochimaru's back.

"What's the matter? Standing so far away from me, are you afraid that I harbor ill intentions toward you?"

Danzo said in a calm tone to Uchiha Gen, who was standing before him.

"It's nothing, I'm just not very familiar with Elder Danzo."

Uchiha Gen replied calmly.

"Did Orochimaru say something to you? But I won't mind. After all, for a young man with ideals like him, having some misunderstandings about my methods and subsequently developing prejudices against me is understandable.

However, I believe you can understand me, just like your cousin Kagami. As a like-minded partner, he understood me even better than Hiruzen did.

To this day, whenever I see you, I still recall the days when I fought side-by-side with Kagami."

Danzo said, then unhooked a small, short katana from his waist and tossed it, scabbard and all, to Uchiha Gen.

Uchiha Gen did not use his hand to catch it; he simply let a python crawl out from his sleeve, bite the katana, and bring it before him.

He was afraid the blade might be poisoned or trapped; if he were ambushed, it would be troublesome.

Others might not resort to such underhanded tactics, but he had to be on guard against Danzo.

Seeing Uchiha Gen's actions, Danzo's face immediately darkened, and he couldn't help but bark, "Uchiha Gen? Is this how you treat your cousin's memento?"

"My cousin's memento?"

Uchiha Gen confirmed that the katana hadn't been tampered with before reaching out to take it.

He pulled open the scabbard, revealing the cold light shimmering on the surface of the katana blade within.

The quality of this sword was probably quite good; the material was no less than the Sengoku Ninja Sword before it had been reinforced.

And in terms of forging craftsmanship, it was a step higher.

The former's forging technique was from the Sengoku era, while the latter could be seen from its form to be a product made after the founding of Konoha, having integrated and absorbed some forging techniques from various clans.

It was just that the shark skin on the hilt had dried and cracked due to so many years passing, revealing the somewhat decayed wooden core inside.