This idea lit up Danzo Shimura's mind like lightning, revealing a way for him to take the Hokage's place.
"Hiruzen, since you refuse to act, don't blame me for doing what must be done," Danzo muttered. With a wave of his hand, he immediately summoned several Root members.
In an instant, a few masked operatives wearing animal masks appeared silently before him.
Their eyes were cold and indifferent, exuding a chilling aura unlike that of any living person.
Danzo nodded in satisfaction as he gazed at them.
These were all symbols of his own personal power.
After undergoing Danzo's specialized training, Root members had mostly abandoned their personal emotions, transforming into machines solely focused on completing missions.
No matter how difficult the task, they would carry out every order without question or delay.
"Lord Danzo, do you have any orders for us?" spoke a man wrapped in a long black coat, wearing sunglasses.
He was Tatsuma Aburame, one of Danzo's most powerful subordinates. A master of his clan's secret techniques, he excelled at using insects for attacks, defense, and reconnaissance.
Thanks to his unique skills, he had infiltrated many Hidden Villages, earning significant contributions for Root.
Seeing Tatsuma, who was skilled at stealing intelligence, Danzo's eyes lit up slightly. "I have an important mission for you. Lead a team and infiltrate Konoha's various factories to gather intelligence."
"You must find the secrets hidden within these factories—they are crucial to Konoha's future development."
"The person behind it all is Satori Hyuga, a Hyuga Main House member. We cannot fully trust that he stands completely with Konoha, nor can we be certain about his true commitment to the Will of Fire."
"I need every single detail and piece of information from his factory. This mission can only be entrusted to you."
"Yes, Lord Danzo," Tatsuma replied calmly after a brief moment of surprise, quickly accepting the order.
He had recently heard whispers about the Hyuga-owned factories.
Near Konoha, numerous new factories had been built rapidly, producing strange and novel things that kept flowing out into the world.
But make no mistake—ninja exist only to fulfill missions. They are tools created solely for that purpose.
To Tatsuma, Lord Danzo's command was absolute.
Everything was for the village.
Even if Satori was innocent, for Konoha's sake, he would still investigate thoroughly.
He acted swiftly and decisively, always striking like thunder before the clouds could gather. Immediately, he gathered a group of operatives and sneaked into the factories.
However, they soon realized the difficulty of this task.
Although Satori had separated his business ventures from the Hyuga Clan, blood was thicker than water. As a result, quite a number of Hyuga clan members had been hired.
Many Hyuga were idly stationed inside the factories, sitting in security booths using their Byakugan to keep watch.
It wasn't just one factory like this—each factory employed one or two Hyuga individuals as guards.
Satori's original intention was to use this method to bring clan members closer together, but those who became security guards generally approached their work with high enthusiasm.
There was no danger involved—it was a risk-free job—just sit and relax in the security booth. It couldn't get any more comfortable than that.
Across the entire ninja world, there wasn't a cushier job to be found.
They set about this task diligently, periodically activating their Byakugan to scan for anything suspicious.
Since the factory didn't enforce a fixed schedule for using the Byakugan, the Hyūga guards only used it on a whim. Despite the inconsistent use, the Byakugan had caught many would-be spies and infiltrators.
Once activated, the Byakugan could clearly distinguish between man and ghost.
After a failed infiltration attempt led to several of his spies being captured, Tatsuma Aburame gathered together the remaining members of his group.
What had been over ten operatives was now reduced to only five or six.
"Damn it. No wonder they're from the Hyūga Main House—their security's airtight," muttered Tatsuma Aburame, frowning deeply.
Even during past intel-gathering missions against other Hidden Villages, he hadn't suffered such heavy losses.
He assumed those captured were as good as gone, and had no intention of rescuing them.
"Lord Tatsuma," a Root member spoke up, "Sneaking in probably won't work anymore. How about we just apply to get hired instead?"
"The factory regularly hires new workers, and even offers generous benefits to ninja applicants."
With our skills, we'll definitely get in."
"If we work there for a few months and gather all the intel we need, we can just quit afterward."
As soon as he finished, the others immediately nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, yeah! Let's just march right in through the front door."
Tatsuma hesitated slightly, feeling something was off—this shouldn't be so simple.
He frowned. "Don't you think the factory will dig into our backgrounds before hiring us?"
"No problem. I already did some digging. As long as you've got two hands and do your job earnestly and well, you'll get hired. Knock it out of the park and you might even make it into management!"
"That's right, Lord Tatsuma. When the factory first opened, ninja who entered had opportunities to become leaders right away."
Hearing his subordinates' confident assurances, Tatsuma briefly looked dazed, as if none of this felt quite real.
It really did seem too easy—unlike any regular mission.
In the past, every time he'd tried stealing intel from other Hidden Villages, it had involved painstaking efforts to sneak in, constant caution, and narrowly escaping with the intel after nearly dying multiple times.
But if getting hired was that straightforward, Tatsuma decided there was no harm in giving it a try.
If he could collect intel easily, he wasn't about to complain about an easy ride.
"In that case," said Tatsuma, "pick whichever factory you want and start gathering intel—just don't mix your targets up."
After much discussion, Tatsuma and his team settled on their target.
They forged new identities for themselves and successfully applied as ordinary village ninja looking for jobs.
The other Root members didn't encounter any issues and were hired without issue.
Unfortunately, Tatsuma himself was rejected—his insect-filled body deemed unsuitable for a food processing factory.
Tatsuma never thought the day would come when being an Aburame would lead to rejection.
But he couldn't help it—Aburame clan techniques required insects nesting inside their bodies for training.
With no other options, Tatsuma headed instead to the newly built machinery plant run by Satori Hyūga.
His decision to target this relatively new facility wasn't random.
Rumors claimed that Satori Hyūga placed great importance on the mechanical plant, investing heavily in it and recruiting many ninja.
The machinery plant offered an extremely generous compensation package to the Ninjas—a conventional eight-hour workday, five days a week with two days off, two complimentary meals during shifts, and full healthcare and retirement plans.
The shifts were divided into day and night teams, rotating in turns, all striving to complete the missions passed down from above.
To Tatsuma Aburame, this seemed like manna from heaven—but he knew there was no such thing as a free lunch. Something major had to be hidden inside this factory.
After successfully securing the job and receiving his uniform, a faint smirk tugged at Tatsuma Aburame's lips.
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