Naruto: I am Uchiha Fugaku

While the village council was in session, near the Root headquarters...

A Root ninja, returning from a mission with his face concealed behind a mask, walked along a deserted path toward the Root base.

"Mmmp—"

Suddenly, a figure emerged from the ground behind him, clamping a hand over his mouth before dragging him into a nearby abandoned building.

Moments later, the masked "Root ninja" emerged unharmed and continued toward the base.

Inside the abandoned building, a faceless corpse lay sprawled—its features seemingly peeled clean off, leaving a grotesque, skinless visage.

Upon reaching the entrance of the Root base, the "Root ninja" was immediately intercepted by guards.

Among them were both Root operatives and ANBU sent by the Third Hokage to oversee the transition of power.

A Root guard stepped forward, scrutinizing the "Root ninja's" attire—particularly the mask.

Each Root operative's mask was custom-made, bearing subtle identifying marks that made forgery nearly impossible.

After confirming the mask was genuine, the guard remained wary.

"Password!"

"The will of the roots, buried deep within the earth, upholds the great tree of Konoha!"

The "Root ninja" answered smoothly.

"Clear!"

The Root guard nodded to the ANBU, signaling the newcomer's legitimacy.

Both guards stepped aside, allowing the "Root ninja" to enter.

Inside, the imposter moved with unsettling familiarity—clearly no stranger to the base's layout.

And for good reason.

Years ago, he had once been a Root operative himself.

Navigating past patrols, he descended to the restricted lower levels—Danzo's private domain.

This floor housed scroll vaults, armories, and living quarters, its foundations reinforced with high-grade barrier seals that rendered earth-based infiltration useless.

The "Root ninja" combed through room after room, searching intently.

Then—his eyes gleamed.

Hands flying through seals, eerie markings spread across his palms before he pressed them against a specific stone block in the wall.

Click.

The block recessed, revealing a hidden compartment.

Inside lay a scroll, its ends inked black—a covert seal-based storage mechanism, detectable only by master-level fuinjutsu experts.

"Still here, as I thought..."

The "Root ninja" retrieved the scroll, lips curling beneath the mask in a sinister smile.

Shimura Danzo had gone missing, and his secret technique scrolls as well as his collection had fallen into the hands of the Third Hokage, who had taken them away from the Root headquarters.

However, based on his understanding of Shimura Danzo, the man would never keep all his possessions in one place. There had to be other hidden stashes elsewhere.

And just as he expected, Shimura Danzo had indeed concealed more in other locations.

Leaving that room, he continued searching through other chambers, looking for similar hidden sealing mechanisms.

"Found another one!"

A short while later, inside a hidden chamber, he discovered yet another concealed sealing device.

Forming hand signs to release the seal, black patterns flashed as the mechanism was undone.

But immediately, his expression darkened.

What lay beneath the seal wasn't a scroll or any other treasure—it was several explosive tags.

And now, with the seal broken, those tags had already ignited.

BOOM!

He reacted swiftly, dodging out of the way, unharmed by the blast.

But his face twisted in frustration—the explosion would undoubtedly alert the ninja stationed in the Root base.

"Shimura Danzo..."

His expression soured further.

This hidden sealing mechanism had been a trap.

Likely set by Danzo himself as a precaution against intruders infiltrating the Root base to steal.

Even in death, Danzo had managed to screw him over, forcing him to reveal his presence.

"Who's there?!"

"Intruder! Hurry, there's an intruder!"

From within the depths of the Root base, Root ninja and ANBU operatives assigned by the Third Hokage to guard the facility rushed toward the disturbance.

"Looks like I'll have to make some noise!"

Removing his mask, the "Root ninja" extended an unnaturally long tongue, flicking it like a serpent tasting the air.

A sinister grin curled his lips.

"Who are you?!"

The arriving Root and ANBU forces surrounded the infiltrator, with more reinforcements closing in.

"Me?"

The fake "Root ninja" reached up and tore off a human mask, revealing a pale face adorned with dark markings around his eyes.

"Orochimaru! It's Orochimaru!"

Panicked voices erupted.

Orochimaru—one of the Legendary Sannin, a Kage-level shinobi, and an S-rank rogue ninja of Konoha.

Faced with such a terrifying enemy, many of the assembled ninja began to waver.

"I need to get out of here fast, or the old man might corner me!"

Orochimaru bit his thumb, smearing blood across his palm before slamming it onto the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu—!"

A massive black pattern spread from his hand, and white smoke erupted.

Emerging from the smoke was a colossal purple serpent.

"Orochimaru, this time I want a hundred—no, two hundred sacrifices!"

The serpent spoke in a human voice.

"Fine!"

Orochimaru agreed, leaping onto the serpent's back.

The massive snake surged forward, plowing through the ninja blocking its path.

As it slithered through the Root's corridors, it moved as if navigating underground tunnels.

Where the passage was too narrow, the serpent simply smashed through, widening the path with brute force.

Some ninja launched jutsu at the serpent, others hurled kunai and shuriken—but all attacks bounced harmlessly off its rock-hard scales.

The Purple Giant Snake was Orochimaru's most powerful summoning creature, Manda.

Its strength was immense, even capable of briefly contending with a Tailed Beast.

However, it had a vicious temperament, and every summoning required a sacrifice as payment.

Rampaging forward without restraint, Manda quickly burst out from the exit of the Root's base.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Once outside, it crashed through houses, toppled trees, and wreaked havoc throughout Konoha.

It left behind a straight, dried-up riverbed-like trail in its wake.

Clang—

At the Hokage Building, a meeting was in session.

Suddenly, a massive, continuous noise and violent tremors shook the area.

"What's happening?"

The Third Hokage's expression darkened as he flashed out of the meeting room in an instant.

He arrived at the rooftop of the Hokage Building, gazing toward the direction of the commotion.

The other meeting attendees, including Uchiha Fugaku, also left the conference room and gathered on the rooftop, staring at the source of the disturbance.

In the distance, a colossal purple snake was rampaging through Konoha.

Numerous buildings were crushed, and dust billowed into the sky.

"The Purple Giant Snake!"

Uchiha Fugaku narrowed his eyes slightly—he already knew exactly who was responsible for this chaos.

In the current shinobi world, the only person capable of controlling such a monstrous serpent was Orochimaru.

Moreover, he had just completed a transaction with Orochimaru not long ago and was certain the man was still within Konoha.

There was no doubt—Orochimaru himself was the one manipulating the Purple Giant Snake and causing this destruction.

PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/XenTronix