VII
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Arc VII Chapter III
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It was over. It was definite by now, everything was over, everything was lost and she couldn't do anything. Asami exhaled and suddenly stated to laugh. Yes, she felt this inner urge to laugh and she followed her natural instincts. Asami didn't cry, didn't despair, didn't complain, didn't feel sad. Instead, she laughed and her laughter didn't stop no matter what. She couldn't believe what had happened right in front of her was ridiculous, surreal, absurd. But it was nevertheless true and reality didn't play a trick on her. She had done it, she had killed them all.
Her Susanoo faded away and Asami continued her sinister chuckle while standing amidst a crater, her crater and a lifeless desert of rubble and pure destruction. Unsurprisingly, your average Konoha shinobi didn't have a magical. And unsurprisingly, they didn't take her lovely present all well. They were crushed in their insignificance by her might and brute force.
Asami laughed uncontrolled and unchained. They were nothing and Konoha's best died so easily. Asami had crossed a line and there was return anymore. But her her heart felt nothing, absolutely nothing. Everything was destroyed, crumbling, burning in ruin. Asami stood at the precipice of her own life and witnessed her own fall. Nevertheless, she could only laugh in face of her own fate. Her blood was boiling and she was trembling with ecstatic excitement. All the disappointment and invigorating hatred was wonderful and nourished her desire to kill, to purge, to raze the village. Thousands upon thousands had died today. So, what were a few thousands more? She was stained in so much blood the she had long since stopped caring. Her heart wanted to destroy and see them go down in flames and fire. But that was a bit too much, wasn't it? Her sanity slowly eroded, but she didn't give in yet. Perhaps she was really a tiny bit crazy? After all, she was still an Uchiha and a tiny bit of insanity was an Uchiha's virtue. As far as she knew, her clan had a presentable track record in that regard, didn't it?
Therefore, Asami kept laughing, and laughing, and laughing while controlling her murderous thoughts. Asami looked around and inspected the surrounding ruins and the masses of buried corpses. Step by step, Asami playfully walked over all the accumulated rubble and tried not to misstep. After all, the debris made the ground unsteady and her princess didn't intend to fall. Slowly but surely, Asami progressed walking past fallen kunai, fallen swords, fallen forehead protectors. They were everywhere and they almost seemed to accuse her of what she had done, of her sudden betrayal.
Nevertheless, Asami continued her stroll unperturbed as usual. So, what should she do now? Difficult, difficult, the situation was chaotic and she was honestly at loss.
Asami pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. She was thinking, and thinking, and thinking about a solution for this absolute mess. Unfortunately, her options were limited.
Denying everything and blaming someone else for this disaster wouldn't work. Albeit the number of real and surviving witnesses was few, the circumstantial evidence was way too strong and the chances of her being court martialed within the next days were considerable unless they were complete idiots. And she didn't have t be a genius to guess what expected her. She knew the price of one Konoha shinobi. So, what was the price of a few hundred?
And the other option was making herself very, very rare in a very, very short amount of time with a lot of baggage. The best plan was to head home and barricade herself there until the tactical was more favourable for what she was intending to do in the cover of night. Nobody would miss her if she just disappeared, which was kind of sad. And Asami was hungry,tired, sleepy and primarily demotivated, not to say slightly depressed. Today was once again a horrible day and she could really need a bed, a hot shower and a few sweets to lift her rapidly falling mood. She wanted chocolate, lots of chocolate, and even that wouldn't solve anything.
A certain girl wandered aimlessly across the giant field of rubble and after a few minutes finally arrived at the end of the blast radius and final lovely hill of stone and bricks blocking her way. Asami sighed. Perhaps she had used a bit too much Chakra in her attack, but that was irrelevant by now.
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Asami crossed the little mountain with a small sense of success that was quickly evaporated by what she saw next. This was really not her day and heaven truly smiled upon her. Her disappointments just didn't end. Instead, they kept piling up and piling up, and there was only so much her tender heart could bear before breaking.
The moment she reached the peak, she was greeted by a lot of shiny swords, kunai and scared shinobi. Hundreds upon hundreds were waiting in front of her, which was slightly surprising. ANBU, Genin, Chunin and Jonin, they were all present. They had expected her and judging by their sweating faces they were prepared to fight, or rather they were prepared to die. Her eyes swept through their rank and Asami ultimately spotted a familiar figure among the crowd. An old frail man was standing At the end of the column and he was probably the mastermind behind this entire farce. He had planned this, he had expected her, hadn't he?
Asami tilted her head and smirked, "Oh, my, Danzo, why do honour me with your undesired and unwelcome presence? And why do you bring so many friends with you, Danzo? Are you searching for someone, or what?"
Danzo clenched his cane," Yes, for you."
Asami touched her chest," Fufufu, for me? I feel touched, Danzo. I knew that I am an very important person, but I didn't think that I am so important that you need to dispatch a little army only for me."
"Nevertheless, I am a little bit disappointed", Asami shook her head and sighed," Perhaps your advanced age has clouded your mind and judgement, Danzo, but don't you see that the village is currently under attack. Don't you think that you and your friends are much more needed somewhere else rather than fooling around. Instead of wasting my precious time with your senility, a certain esteemed village elder could finally make himself once useful and fight a real enemy, and not imaginary ones."
Danzo clenched his cane more and more, but he remained calm. This girl, she was toying with him. She didn't take him even remotely seriously. All she did was looking down on him from above and he could feel her lingering eyes judged him and they considered him unworthy of her attention.
Danzo narrowed his eyes," You should know your place, girl."
Asami laughed and smirked provokingly. Her eyes glimmered dangerously," Really? Of all the people on this world the great backstabbing Danzo tells me to know my place, isn't that ridiculous? No, no, you are vastly overestimating yourself and your capabilities. Instead, you should heed your own advice and reflect on the exact meaning of knowing your place, Danzo. Because you are the one who is mistaken here."
"And now get out of my sight, Danzo , run as always", the little princess inspected her polished nails and ignored him," My time is precious and I normally don't bother with small fries like you. Nevertheless, you can try if you want."
Danzo ground his teeth. The girl was taunting him and it worked incredibly well. This arrogance, this confidence, this pride, this haughtiness, he really wanted to annihilate her together with the entire fucking Uchiha clan, which was way easier said than done. He used Itachi, he allied himself with Madara, he eradicated the whole clan. He thought that he had just to deal with Itachi's little brother. But instead, this cursed clan still had one last surprise for him and they were getting on his nerves even from their graves. Because they left behind a girl, an stupidly powerful girl.
Not only did she escape the massacre unscathed and undetected for years, but she was also making his life extremely difficult by being the most powerful Uchiha in existence since Madara. It was nearly as if fate itself took some kind of last revenge on him and the Uchiha clan was spiting right into his face from their graves.
Danzo stared at her and Asami didn't flinch. She reciprocated his gaze and both of them were waiting for the spark. He had seen enough and he had enough of her. Danzo hit the ground with his cane and called for attention," Kill her, kill the traitor."
But the surrounding shinobi and even his Root ANBU hesitated. They briefly faltered and Asami noticed that with a certain sense of satisfaction. They were wavering, they were frightened, and it didn't take much fantasy to guess who or what caused this phenomenon.
Danzo clicked his tongue," I said ..."
" I don't think that you have to repeat yourself. In fact, they understood exactly what you said, Danzo", Asami interrupted him with a soft amused giggle," But what is more interesting, did you say traitor?" He had made a mistake, a drastic mistake.
A lovely saccharine smile decorated Asami's face and a purple sphere grew in her hand," I knew it. So, you are indeed a part of them. So, you are behind this entire operation, aren't you, Danzo?"
Asami laughed and her sphere swelled," You, Danzo, are the one who gave the word. You are the one responsible, you are the man behind it all, and you are going to face judgement. I will vanquish your existence. And to be honest, I was always curious how the great Danzo would die, but I didn't think that this fateful day would come this soon." Danzo sensed her Chakra and interiorly he began to sweat.
" Attack, attack, you idiots", Danzo commanded and this time they followed. His Root ANBU used their Katon and engulfed the girl with fire. Sadly, it was useless as the fire didn't come even close. An explosion ruined their day and dwarfed their Ninjutsu with apparent ease. The approaching flames were dispersed by her detonation and Asami laughed while her purple present kept growing in diametre," I see. I always suspected that you are a coward deep down in your heart, Danzo, but your cowardice and lack of honour surprises me. In the end, you don't t even have the courage to face me in person."
Asami revealed her shining red eyes and Danzo felt the strangulating aura of her Sharingan," Instead, you are hiding. You are hiding your shinobi and ANBU, you are hiding behind meaningless numbers, but they won't save you, Danzo. So, tell me are you scared? Do finally realise that you are doomed."
Danzo threw his cane away and charged in. He tried his luck with his Futon and a sharp vacuum bullet cut through the air. But his attack was easily intercepted by a defensive explosion and nullified by the blast. Danzo tried again, and again. Nevertheless, the result didn't change significantly. His Futon didn't get past her reactive defence and what remained just bounced of her shield.
" That is everything? You disappoint me, Danzo", Asami chuckled. Her expanding sphere contracted and she produced a small orb of purple destruction in her tiny hands. Asami extended her arm and her sphere floated along accompanying its creator and master," There are only two kind of people that fight me, Danzo, brave people who know that they will die, and fools who actually think that they can actually win. Personally, I am wondering whether you are part of the former or the latter category. So, let's see if you survive this."
The sphere cracked and Asami got what she wished for, the ideal weapon to remove this road block. The entire explosive energy was directed into a single direction and she produced a real conical shaped charge with the power of her eyes. She had just to contain the energy for a short time and that wasn't really a challenge for a master of Chakra manipulation like her. Especially, when the results were ... promising.
The sphere was released and blast punched a hole through her obstacle, or at least she assumed so. Because her sight was rather limited and everything she was just a blinding wall of pure shining white. Eventually, the light dissipated and Asami delighted by the astounding success.
The blast had ripped up the ground and carved it way right through a series of buildings that were now mere firewood. She had now a long straight line of freshly created free building space in the middle of the village, oops. Well, perhaps this was a bit too much Chakra. But a little collateral damage was acceptable as long as it didn't threaten her own property, right? After all, explosives are something very dangerous and should only be handled by a person with a heightened sense of responsibility and high morale standards, like her.
Asami observed her atomised wasteland of nothingness and was satisfied. As far as she could see, she had got them all without exception ...
Asami blinked, and blinked, and rubbed her eyes in disbelieve. Danzo was standing right in front of her and he was completely unscathed while everything else was blown into oblivion. No bruise, no scratch cut, nothing. This ... was ... interesting. She didn't miss, but he survived a hit from point blank.
Asami furrowed her eyebrow," You are more persistent than I thought and that is a nice trick you have there, Danzo. I am curious, how did you do that?"
Danzo smirked," A precocious brat like you doesn't deserve an answer ..."
Her teleportation closed the distance and Asami greeted Danzo with her stabby and electrified blade. He evaded, or rather he thought he had evaded. The protruding arm of her Susanno speared him and smashed his body against the ground, and again, and again.
Asami frowned and gripped her sword," You are way too complacent, Danzo, aren't you? I have already killed you twice. But even then you still dare to challenge me. Does you impertinence know no limits?"
Asami turned her head and narrowed her eyes at Danzo. He was standing there again seemingly unperturbed by being literally ripped apart a few seconds ago. She killed him and she him dying with her own eyes. This was no illusion, this was no Genjutsu, this was reality.
Danzo chuckled and struck a nerve," Confused, aren't we?"
Asami wasn't amused," You know, you really start to get on my nerves."
Her answer was a barrage of hundreds of little spheres. Her infernal chain explosion engulfed his position and kept raging on. Obviously, it didn't end here and she concluded her spectacle with a grand finale. The last purple flash lightened up the village and her blast made boulders with the size of trucks fly like tiny little glass marbles and showered Konoha with a rain of stone. Hopefully, they all had some kind of helmet, or a protective Susanoo like her. Otherwise ... Well, being hit by a multiple ton object from above could hurt just a tiny bit.
Needless to say, her entire performance didn't achieve the desired result aside from clearing all the rubble and deepening her personal crater. Danzo was still standing and Asami got only annoyed further. She sensed his residual Chakra and she was sure that this had to be a Ninjutsu. Spatial displacement? Unlikely. Time travel? Improbable. So, what was he using? How was he cheating death time and time again?
Asami clicked her tongue and taunted him," For a second rate shinobi with meagre talent you are pretty hard to kill, Danzo. So, could you please tell me your secret? How does it feel to die over and over again without being able to scratch a little girl? Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"
He didn't react and remained unfazed," You think way too highly of yourself, girl."
Asami laughed and her eyes gained a dangerous glimmer," True, true, but which Uchiha doesn't? And fact is that you are losing. I don't know how you constantly manage to elude death, but ultimately I don't care. What I know is that you are using a Jutsu and what does every Jutsu use?"
Asami was surrounded by discharging lightening. Her Raito lashed out against the air and a certain girl was electrified," The question is now whether I or you will first run out of Chakra. And I am sure it won't be me who will lose this contest. I have just to kill, slaughter, slay you a few thousands times, and then we will see if you still return from the dead, because I will break you with brute force." Her lightning struck and across Konoha neither Suna, nor Oto, nor Konoha-nin could ignore the colossal purple dome of electricity branching out skywards. Especially, when it was the same spot again as before. They witnessed the purple flash and they felt the shock wave that caused the village to tremble. Something happened there, something big that made them all feel incomparably small.
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