Chapter 592: You Should Feel Honored Instead

Chapter 592: Chapter 592: You Should Feel Honored Instead

Gently pushing aside the branches obstructing his view, Kakashi was greeted by the sight of an enormous, orderly formation of shinobi. No, it would be more accurate to call it a massive shinobi army!

"Hiss..."

The sight made Kakashi suck in a sharp breath.

The shinobi army before him stretched over a dozen rows in both directions. A rough count put their numbers at well over a thousand. In other words, the Konoha shinobi whom Acting Hokage Danzo had secretly mobilized out of the village were probably all gathered here.

But Kakashi simply couldn’t imagine what reason there could be for assembling over a thousand Konoha shinobi in this desolate wilderness.

Suppressing the shock surging through his heart, he took a monocular telescope from his ninja tool pouch.

Although losing the Mangekyo Sharingan in his left eye had considerably lightened the burden on his body, freeing him from the constant worry of insufficient chakra, it had also caused his powers of observation to plummet.

As a result, there were now occasions when he had to rely on observation equipment that he would never have needed in the past.

"Something’s wrong. There seems to be some kind of sealing formula inscribed on the ground beneath their feet. And... there appear to be pipes connecting them. This... this isn’t an ordinary assembly!"

Through his monocular telescope, Kakashi quickly discovered that the thousand-plus Konoha shinobi standing in neat formation in the distance weren’t simply gathered there.

They were positioned across an enormous sealing array!

"What exactly is Danzo trying to do?!"

For a moment, a storm of shock and alarm raged through Kakashi’s heart!

Although he had no idea what Danzo was planning, Kakashi’s instincts told him that it couldn’t possibly be anything good.

Without further hesitation, he immediately recorded everything he had seen in detail on a communication scroll. He then summoned a messenger hawk from the village and sent this confidential intelligence back to Konoha.

After completing these tasks, his gaze followed the chakra transmission pipes connecting the formation of over a thousand shinobi, tracing them all the way to the entrance of the volcanic cavern.

"The answer should be inside that cave!"

However, security at the cave entrance was extremely tight. There were four squads of guards in plain sight, numbering more than a dozen shinobi, and the hidden sentries lurking in the shadows were likely just as numerous, if not more.

Even with the Flying Thunder God Technique at his disposal, Kakashi couldn’t help feeling troubled.

"Damn it! How am I supposed to sneak in there?"

...

Inside the volcanic cavern.

After exchanging smiles, the three men tacitly averted their gazes and began making their final preparations amid the oppressive atmosphere.

On the altar, Danzo slowly walked to its center, tossed his cane to an attendant beside him, then sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes.

Below the altar.

Kagami took a special storage scroll from the ninja tool pouch at his waist, undid its seal, and retrieved two large observation instruments.

Ordinarily, with the observational capabilities of the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in his eye sockets, Kagami would have no need for any observation equipment as long as his view remained unobstructed.

He could easily observe every detail of the Bloodline Fusion Ritual and collect all the data he wanted.

Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he had brought these two monitoring instruments along.

After all, this Bloodline Fusion Ritual could not be repeated. Regardless of whether it succeeded or failed, there would only be one attempt.

That meant he would have only this single opportunity to collect precious data.

He could not tolerate even the slightest mishap!

Watching Kagami meticulously calibrate the observation instruments, Orochimaru’s gaze grew contemplative.

Feigning casualness, he asked, "Are you the only member of Kamigami observing today’s ritual? I thought at least Furin would be here as well."

Kagami replied, "I’m only here to collect data. I alone am more than enough."

"It seems Furin’s physical condition is even worse than I anticipated..."

Smiling, Orochimaru discreetly glanced at the Root shinobi quietly gathering around them, then lowered his voice.

"Danzo seems to have something else in mind as well..."

Having finished calibrating his instruments, Kagami casually swept his gaze across the surroundings.

He noticed that quite a few Root shinobi were indeed secretly closing in on his position. Judging by the chakra emanating from their bodies, they all seemed to be jonin-level experts.

Withdrawing his gaze, Kagami paid no attention whatsoever to Orochimaru’s warning or the movements of the Root shinobi.

He wasn’t certain whether Danzo intended to make a move against him and Orochimaru after the ritual or was merely taking precautions against them.

Either way, it no longer mattered.

Before long, the Root shinobi working on the altar withdrew one after another.

At this point, the only people remaining on the entire altar were Danzo, seated cross-legged at its center, and the five bloodline shinobi bound to the execution racks.

Slowly opening his eyes, Danzo rose to his feet and declared with authority, "Begin!"

With a smile on his lips, Orochimaru stepped onto the sealing array used to initiate the ritual.

His hands formed a series of complicated hand seals before he abruptly pressed them against the sealing array and shouted:

"Release!"

Whoosh...

As Orochimaru activated the ritual, the entire altar instantly erupted with dazzling light, and a swirling vortex of air appeared!

The suddenly formed whirlwind swept up the surging heat from the pools of magma surrounding the altar, making even the air above it seem viscous, as though time itself had slowed down within that area.

"I... Where am I?!"

"Who are you people?! Why have you brought me here?"

"Please... please don’t kill me..."

The kekkei genkai shinobi bound to the execution racks had all awakened by now. Apart from the Storm Release shinobi from Kumogakure and the Boil Release shinobi from Kirigakure, the other three, who were dressed as ordinary civilians, began crying and wailing.

Clearly, rather than calling these three individuals ’shinobi,’ it would be more accurate to describe them as ordinary people who possessed Kekkei Genkai.

Judging by their expressions and behavior, they seemed to have never received any formal shinobi training. They had merely been fortunate enough to inherit the abilities passed down through their bloodlines.

Perhaps they possessed the talent to become outstanding shinobi, but for various reasons, they had missed the opportunity to receive shinobi training.

And now, the very ’good fortune’ of awakening their bloodline abilities had instead made them targets of Danzo.

Unlike the three who were crying and wailing, the Kumogakure shinobi possessing Storm Release carefully surveyed the cavern before shouting sternly at Danzo:

"Danzo! Do you understand the consequences of what you’re doing?!"

During the previous Third Shinobi World War, Kumogakure and Konoha had infiltrated each other’s territories. As a result, jonin-level shinobi from both sides had some familiarity with the higher-ups of the opposing village.

Thus, the Kumogakure shinobi possessing Storm Release had recognized Danzo at a glance.

On the other side, the Kirigakure kunoichi possessing Boil Release also shouted:

"You actually dare to lay your hands on your allies?! Lord Mizukage will never let you get away with this!"

Faced with the furious questioning of the Kumogakure and Kirigakure shinobi, Danzo merely snorted.

"Hmph! You worthless fools who possess nothing but your bloodlines! You should feel honored to become the stepping stones to this old man’s greatness!"