Chapter 591: Putting on a Show of Sincerity

Chapter 591: Chapter 591: Putting on a Show of Sincerity

Following the sound of a cane striking the ground, Kagami turned his head and saw Danzo approaching, still sporting his usual appearance of a crippled old man, with bandages wrapped all over his body and a cane in his hand.

"Tch!"

Kagami couldn’t help but click his tongue.

After undergoing Orochimaru’s previous body modification surgery, Danzo’s physique had already surpassed that of ninety-nine percent of the shinobi in the shinobi world. Not only was there no trace of injury or disability left on his body, but his cells and tissues were also brimming with vitality.

It could be said that Danzo’s current physique was even stronger than it had been during his prime. His strength had also surpassed that of the current Third Hokage in one fell swoop, making him genuinely qualified to become Hokage!

Seeing Danzo appear, Orochimaru smiled at Kagami and remarked, "He really is cautious!"

Everyone around them was clearly a Root shinobi, yet Danzo still hadn’t forgotten to maintain his disguise.

This alone was enough to reveal Danzo’s disposition and the fundamental nature of his personality: he trusted no one but himself.

Walking up to Kagami and Orochimaru, Danzo asked, "How are the preparations for the ritual coming along?"

"The preparations inside the volcanic cavern are almost complete." After a brief pause, Orochimaru continued with a smile, "As for the chakra transmission array outside the cavern, we’ll have to ask you about that, Lord Hokage."

The ritual planned by Kagami and Orochimaru was divided into two sections: one inside the cavern and the other outside.

The preparations inside the cavern mainly consisted of constructing the ritual altar and arranging the corresponding sealing formulas. The preparations outside, meanwhile, involved establishing an enormous chakra transmission array.

The Kekkei Genkai Fusion Ritual required an immense amount of chakra to support it.

To overcome this problem, Hiruko had devised an ingenious solution: relocating the ritual site to a mountaintop and borrowing the power of the celestial phenomena.

However, because of the imbalance in Danzo’s chakra natures, he needed to use the special environment of a volcanic cavern to suppress the excessive Water Release chakra within his body.

As a result, he couldn’t replicate Hiruko’s method of borrowing the power of the celestial phenomena. Instead, he could only construct a chakra transmission array and mobilize a large number of Konoha shinobi to serve as temporary chakra batteries for his ritual.

Danzo said calmly, "Rest assured. I’ve mobilized fifteen hundred shinobi from the village. They’ve already assembled outside the cavern."

"Fifteen hundred? Tsk, tsk. That’s quite an undertaking!"

Even Orochimaru couldn’t help but click his tongue in amazement.

After all, even for a major shinobi village like Konoha, secretly mobilizing fifteen hundred shinobi was no small matter.

Moreover, these shinobi had been mobilized to serve as ’chakra batteries,’ so the proportion of genin, who possessed relatively limited chakra reserves, was unlikely to be high.

In other words, a considerable proportion of these fifteen hundred Konoha shinobi should be chunin and jonin. This was by no means comparable to an ordinary force of fifteen hundred shinobi.

Even Kagami couldn’t help but glance at Danzo in surprise.

Only Danzo, who had become the Acting Hokage, could arrange something on this scale. Anyone else would probably lack the authority and resources to pull it off, no matter how much they wanted to.

This also made Kagami secretly rejoice that he had chosen Danzo as the ’guinea pig’ for this experiment.

If he had chosen someone else, who knew how much time and effort he would have had to expend himself?

In response to Orochimaru’s surprise, Danzo declared, "This concerns my life and death, as well as the future of the shinobi world. It is their honor to participate!"

Kagami then asked, "Although chakra transmission arrays aren’t particularly advanced technology, it’s difficult to guarantee their stability without repeated testing beforehand. I assume you’ve taken that into consideration?"

Danzo replied indifferently, "The chakra transmission array outside the cavern has already undergone forty-seven tests. Everything meets the standards you established. I don’t expect any problems."

Kagami nodded slightly.

As long as the chakra transmission array remained stable, the combined chakra of fifteen hundred Konoha shinobi should be sufficient to sustain the Kekkei Genkai Fusion Ritual according to their plan.

After all, Danzo was no longer the man he once was.

Having fused the Yang Release chakra of the First Hokage’s cells with the Yin Release chakra of the Sharingan, he now possessed the Power of All Creation.

His chakra reserves were probably surpassed only by a handful of renowned powerhouses in the shinobi world and the jinchuriki who housed Tailed Beasts within their bodies.

Kagami calmed his somewhat restless mind and asked, "When do we begin?"

Danzo glanced toward Orochimaru.

Orochimaru, who was responsible for constructing the facilities inside the volcanic cavern, curled his lips into a grin.

"Anytime!"

Thud...

Danzo slammed his cane heavily against the ground and declared, "Then let us begin!"

Following Danzo’s command, the five Kekkei Genkai shinobi captured by Root were soon brought onto the ritual altar one after another and restrained on the five execution frames arranged there.

This was the first time Danzo had displayed the Kekkei Genkai shinobi he had captured in front of Kagami and Orochimaru, so both of them turned their attention toward the prisoners.

The five shinobi restrained on the execution frames were all unconscious, seemingly having been injected with some kind of sedative.

Three of them were dressed as civilians, while the remaining two wore the attire of Kumogakure and Kirigakure shinobi, respectively.

"That dark-skinned, middle-aged Kumogakure shinobi should possess Storm Release, while the female Kirigakure shinobi should possess Boil Release. As for the remaining three dressed as civilians, they should possess Dark Release, Crystal Release, and Swift Release, respectively."

With just a glance, Kagami was able to roughly identify each of their Kekkei Genkai based on their physical characteristics and appearances.

At that moment, Danzo, leaning on his cane, slowly made his way onto the ritual altar.

He first swept an indifferent gaze over the five Kekkei Genkai shinobi bound to the execution frames.

Then, turning around, he cast a sinister gaze toward Kagami and Orochimaru standing below the altar, revealing a cold, ominous smile.

In truth, Danzo had already secretly arranged for his subordinates to plant explosive tags at various structural support points throughout the volcanic cavern.

Once the ritual was successfully completed, he would detonate these explosive tags, erasing all evidence of his crimes within the cavern while simultaneously eliminating both Kagami and Orochimaru.

As for any subsequent accusations from Kamigami, he could simply attribute everything to an accident.

Besides, once he completed the Kekkei Genkai Fusion Ritual, he would no longer have anything to fear from a mere Kamigami!

Below the ritual altar.

Both Kagami and Orochimaru noticed the sinister expression on Danzo’s face, but neither showed any reaction.

In Kagami’s eyes, the man standing on the altar was nothing more than a pitiful little guinea pig—a guinea pig destined to die in the experiment.

Therefore, no matter how much the guinea pig bared its fangs and brandished its claws at him, Kagami couldn’t be bothered to take it seriously.

Orochimaru, too, wore a smile, as though he hadn’t noticed the killing intent Danzo had inadvertently revealed.

And so, the three men, each harboring their own ulterior motives, exchanged smiles across the ritual altar.

At that moment, all three were doing their utmost to put on a convincing performance of sincerity...