This is to catch us up on what Danzo is doing and his reactions to the current situations.
Not all his responses are in here, on purpose, so worry about that later.
We're focusing on the main points with this bit.
~NRK~
A week prior…
Listening in on Cinder's conversation had been enlightening, Danzo surmises.
Magic… If it was this world's sage chakra, or in his case Hashirama Cells, Danzo needed to attain it.
What had been an interesting bit of information had been that this 'Salem' wanted a meeting with him. Oh, how fate shined down on those who needed it.
So Cinder was to be set out to find him, good news! This meant that all he had to do was make himself available. Once he did, he could interrogate her for all this information!
Well, this came with the caveat that she was coming with more back-up, it seemed. Someone by the name of Hazel had come about, along with someone named 'Blast', Danzo had to assume these were the names of some of 'Salem's higher-brass.
No matter, with how disappointing Cinder had been, Danzo was sure that he could handle this 'Hazel' and 'Blast'.
So he set his Scroll on record and closed it. "What do you all think?"
"... That this has to be bullshit," Collbrand said with a frown. "Surely, you don't think they're being real?"
"We never saw Cinder's summon, did we?" Danzo asked, getting a kiss of the teeth from the large redhead. "Hmm, Esparza?"
"I can't trusssst it," she said with a frown. "What wasss that?! That'ssss ridiculoussss!"
Otto frowned at the floor. "... Is it?" he asked the room, getting a frown from the snake Faunus as Collbrand rubbed the back of his head while looking to the side. "Guys, weird Dust animals come out of my Dust. That's not normal."
"What part of this is?" Collbrand said before groaning into his hand. "Gods, I really went into the loony bin of life," he muttered before slumping. "Fine, say that we're talking about magic that isn't some kind of kid's tricks. What are you expecting out of this news?"
"If we can capture Cinder and get the information out of her, we may make ourselves a bigger threat," Danzo explained. "You see how many stories incorporate magic, yes? I've read a few and, if this 'magic' is as endless in possibilities as those stories, maybe even if it's a quarter as much, we could push beyond the realm of defeat by ordinary Hunters."
"What about those guys that fought us?" Collbrand asked with a frown. "Would they count? I'm pretty sure they got past our sensors somehow. But if that's not the case..." he let the sentence hang.
Danzo's grip on his cane tightened as his mind brought to the forefront, two particular enemies. "... Of those who fought us, two stand out as problems," he explained before grimacing. "One of them is known as Kakashi Hatake. A man with a powerful lightning ability and a technique that can kill you before you can pull up your defenses," he held a hand at his naval, the bandages around it being a clear reminder.
"He got you?" Esparza asked in disbelief. "I…" she looked horrified, a good reaction.
When they'd first contacted her, Esparza's stealth had been rather impressive. She also had a heat-seeking ability due to her Faunus heritage, her not-detecting Danzo when he'd snuck up on her to give his offer had gained him a high amount of the Faunus's praise.
So to say that Danzo got snuck up on… She shivered at the thought of whatever had punched a hole in Danzo doing so to her. Likely more where her heart was.
"Yes, his technique is called Raikiri, the Lightning Blade. Don't let it hit you, perhaps not even you, Collbrand," the giant of a man winced. "It's concentrated lightning energy. Even him tapping you could leave you paralyzed long enough for your Aura to not even matter."
"Gotcha."
"That aside, the other one… Grrrr," Danzo growled a bit, surprising his cohorts. "The other one is of a vile clan. When we've gotten healed, I'll need to teach you all how to fight-" he pulled off his bandages. "This," he said as he revealed his Sharingan.
Their eyes widened. "What the hell is that?!" Collbrand shouted in disbelief. "Wait… is this your Semblance?"
"... Yes," Danzo said with an impassive face.
"... You're not telling usss the truth, are you?" Esparza asked, head tilting some. "Your heat raisssed the ssslightet bit there," she said truthfully.
"..." Danzo didn't frown nor show displeasure with her calling him out. "I was telling the truth about it being a part of my Semblance," Esparza frowned when his 'heat' didn't rise. "It's simply of a bigger whole, so to speak."
"... He'sss telling the truth," she told the others, a raised brow and frown on her face. "That means you've got more portions to your Semblance?"
"It's more complicated than such but yes, I do," Danzo said with a huff. 'To be without my only successful children...' he thought with a frown.
He remembered the days that came when Muffett had told him about the miscarriage. About the final set of failures before his new Grimm additions.
'They had been the best ones, at that,' he thought, thinking about memories he'd thought over for many years. 'Twins at that! They'd been made with the perfect separation!'
On top of that, both had been girls! He'd have been able to breed a whole set of future clans that could have power beyond anything ever found on Remnant!
But they'd fallen like the other babies before them.
Two girls that could have carried the Sharingan in one family and Mokuton in the other. One having access to an ability he'd lost but retained the traits of for his grandest skill.
"That's not now or later," Danzo batted the thoughts away. "One of them will have two eyes like this and he'll likely be more powerful with them than I am with this one," he explained as he replaced his head bandages. "It's full of powerful hypnotic techniques, enhanced reflexes, and the ability to see and copy the movements of Aura."
"That sounds so broken!" Otto shouted, getting a nod from the two other bosses. "What? Is it like the Schnee Semblance? Like my own?"
"Yes," the three gaped at Danzo's quick response. "If nothing else, it's possibly one of the most powerful Semblances on this planet," he insisted, getting nervous looks from the others. "There's more to this eye. It has a more powerful version when one has experienced true loss..."
"I'm sorry but that sounds like we can't kidnap whoever he loves or something," Collbrand said flatly.
"Perish the thought," Danzo waved him off. "It's powerful stimuli that matter. If he doesn't have the Mangekyo Sharingan, he's easier to handle than he could be."
"You just sssaid sssome wordsss," Esparza hissed out with a blink. "Um..."
Danzo rolled his eye. "For now, just know your future entails a lot of specialized training made for each of you and for holders of the Sharingan."
He'd make sure they could get strong enough to at least fend off this accursed Uchiha.
'Hmph,' Danzo frowned. 'Where is Deidara? He's supposed to be in Mistral and yet my scouts can't find him.'
He didn't know where that terrorist was but he worried that he'd decided to join the White Fang.
'That damn Faunus is going to get us in trouble,' he thought with a grimace.
Hopefully, the future had a better hand to deal him.
~NRK~
It'd been close to four days since then and Esparza had finally been given the go-ahead to leave the medical wing of Genesis's hideout.
"Hmmm, mmmm!" she stretched in her plain, gray, pajamas, the items given to her upon her release. "Thank the Brothers, I'm not in that damn bed anymore."
"Hmph," Collbrand grunted from just outside the medical wing, sitting in a set of benches alongside Harold. "Whelp, guess you get to be involved with Danzo's bullshit training."
"Huh, that'ssss right," she said with a frown and her hands on her hips, her medical slippers slapping the floor some. "Sssso, what'sss it like?" Esparza asked with a curious tilt of the head.
"He set us up one of those Mistral dodging movie things," Otto explained and Esparza blinked for a moment before grimacing.
"Godsssdammit," she sighed. "It'ssss that Sssamurai blindfold wood thing, right?"
"Yup," Collbrand said flatly, rubbing a welt on his revealed bicep, wearing a tank-top and shorts the same as Otto. "Bastard even arranged one big enough for me and I don't envy you," the giant of a man said and Esparza winced.
If it was able to leave a mark on Collbrand, she was in for it.
Walking down the well-paved caverns and pathways of the hideout, the trio found themselves in what Collbrand was sure was duly-noted as the 'training grounds'.
"I'm of the idea he'ssss got a thing for thissss," the Faunus said as she looked around. "It looksss the exact sssame!" She shouted into a familiar large green field with large circles of dirt with wooden poles in them.
"Glad to see you're up," came the call of Danzo, the middle-aged man was dressed simply in a dark grey yukata. "I've already arranged an area for you."
"Of courssse you did," Esparza said with a sigh. "Ssso sssoon?"
"Yes," Danzo answered quickly. "We've no idea of what awaits once we leave this hideout once more. Cinder's searching part aside, those two variables are tougher than either of you and we have to be prepared for if that Kakashi brat and the Uchiha show up."
Otto tilted his head. "Uchiha… You told us that he was some cursed clan but you never explained anything about why," the small brunette said, his implanted MOD glowing slowly.
"..." Danzo considered it. "They're a family ruled by emotions," he began as they moved. "They're a bloodline that has absurd power within their eyes."
"I thought you wanted bloodlines, though," Otto said, getting a huff from Danzo.
"Hmph, were it that easy, we'd have already had an Uchiha in our midst," Danzo shook his head. "Whoever that young man is, I don't recognize him, and yet, he knows me," he frowned in thought. "... With things in such a fashion, working together will end badly."
"... Sssso what?" Esparza began. "What'sss ssso ssspecial about thessse guysss?"
"I told you about the abilities of the base Sharingan but there's a greater power beyond it," the leader of Genesis said. "The level beyond the base is attained by the strong stimuli, the incredible Mangekyo Sharingan."
"... I don't think I can even say that word," Otto said with a slight pout. "This Mani… Whatever thing, what's it do?"
"It depends on the user, unfortunately, for the most part," Danzo said as the group moved into a more cordoned-off section of the faux field. "That said, the powers are always powerful skillsets that could put the Schnee Semblance, Glyph, to shame."
"Now, hold on there," Collbrand said with narrowed eyes. "Surely, we've all seen how crazy the Schnee Semblance is, right? Bringing back dead enemies, mostly Grimm, time control, fucking mages-"
Danzo's eye widened.
"They're freaks of nature, Semblance-wise. And you're saying that this one guy, and you," Collbrand made sure to insist, getting a slight huff out of Danzo. "Have crazier shit?"
"Hm, yes," the giant balked. "I told you that most of the powers of the Mangekyo are different, yes? Well, there's one that is shared between all wielders," Danzo's eye narrowed.
"The Susanoo," the three looked confused. "It's a giant, ephemeral being that can be conjured from the eyes of every Uchiha who has awoken their Mangekyo Sharingan in both eyes," Danzo explained.
"How big?" Collbrand asked.
"..." Danzo considered the question. "From what I know, its fist is almost as tall as I am."
"Oh fuck us," Collbrand uttered. "Okay, okay, okay, let's think calmly about this," the redhead said with a deep breath. "Anything else about this thing you can tell us?"
Danzo raised a brow at Collbrand's coolheadedness. 'I've chosen a good one,' he thought before nodding.
"Let me tell you what I can…"
~NRK~
Three days later…
They'd been in the mess hall, Danzo's 'shadows' were out of the hideout for the next few days to gather information.
So you can imagine their surprise when a news alert hit the large TV.
"What the…" Collbrand uttered as he bit into a large turkey drumstick. "Mhats goming on?" he mumbled around his food before swallowing.
"I don't know," Otto said as he ate a turkey sandwich, wiping at his mouth with his wrist. "Maybe they found something?"
"Charming," Esparza said sarcastically as the two humans hummed before eating more of their food. "Alright, not an interesting topic-"
"Alabaster Schnee?!" Came the call of a reporter on the TV, this fact getting snaps of the heads from all in attendance. "S-SiR! What has encouraged your return?!"
The person on the screen looked terribly familiar and they barely figured out who it was before Danzo came barging through the doors to the mess hall.
"THE TV!" he shouted, rushing over and standing in front of the large visual medium. "T-That Hatake sonavuhbitch was the former Schnee heir?!"
Why?! How had Kakashi become such a high-profile target?!
Better yet! How had he not known?! Such information should have been perfectly available!
'... Unless,' Danzo frowned harshly. 'He left with as little attention as possible? Or did he have his information purposely removed?' he didn't know.
Kakashi had been a genius and an exemplary shinobi, he knew the tricks, ticks, and quips to find unsavory people who'd do something for him with a little money.
And seeing as he was a former heir, he likely was rolling in it.
'That doesn't explain why he was out in Vale,' Danzo thought. 'What was the purpose? Why leave the heir title?'
It didn't make sense. Hatake had all the qualities of a Hokage. Danzo was sure that the man had been chosen after his death at the hands of Sasuke. So why leave all that power behind…
Danzo frowned before he blinked. "Otto."
"Yea?"
"Isn't that your sibling?" the boy was scrambling out his seat, saved from a fall by Esparza's hands, before he was on the floor a moment later, looking where Danzo was.
"IT IS!" he grinned. "That's my oldest sister, Opfer! She was the one who planned out way back to the top!"
'That isn't surprising…' Danzo noted, it wasn't like he expected Otto to have planned his family's rise to power. 'Opfer Aubrey. Carmilla's daughter, yes?'
If these children survived, perhaps their parents had as well?
'Wait, he said that he met two of them in Vale? At the raid?' Danzo grimaced. 'Will I need to return to Vale to retrieve them?' the idea didn't appeal to him, honestly. 'Did Kakashi stay there because of them?'
No, if anything, he needed to try and meet up with Otto's oldest sibling. From there, they'd work out what they needed from the middle siblings.
If things worked out in his favor, he just might be able to snag one for himself. Having Otto's bloodline within his network would be nothing but a boon!
"Hmph, you still haven't called her, yes?" the boy nodded. "When do you think would be a good time?"
"... Maybe at night?" Otto said unsurely, ruffling his head of brown hair. "I remember that Opfer used to stay up all the time. She'd be trying out the family Semblance."
"Then we shall call her at eleven," Danzo said with a nod, Otto reciprocating. "Now, let us watch. I feel that this trip will be most intriguing."
Close twelve hours later and he was right.
"..." there was no doubt in Danzo's mind.
That was the Uchiha brat! So that meant that Kakashi knew of this young man? How close were they? With how the two seemed to chat, they were rather amicable.
That was bad. The boy might have already secured an in with the Schnee family-And then he learned that this 'Akame', what a ridiculous name, was training both the Schnees!
Weiss and Kakashi, or Alabaster as it seemed. He'd really gone far and above to work his nerves, that, Danzo was sure of.
He explained his observations to the group and Collbrand summed up their collective thoughts.
"Fuck," he held his head in his hands as Esparza grimaced at the screen. "You've got to be kidding me!"
Otto frowned before he observed this 'Uchiha' as Danzo had put it. "You said he's like me, right?"
"Yes, his blood is potent and inheritable."
"... Well, Opfer's on that train," the boy began. "Maybe she could grab him for us?"
"Unless the boy is easily seduced, that will likely do nothing but bring more unwanted attention," Danzo said with a huff. "We need to focus on objectives for now. We need to gain more powerful Grimm and you need to contact your family while Cinder's on her way looking for me in Mistral."
He'd heard as much over the transceiver.
"O-Okay!" Otto looked excited. "If we can get into contact with Opfer, she'll probably have lots of news for us!"
Danzo, Collbrand, and Esparza nodded at that.
"Ssssounds good."
After that, they watched on. Noting the Uchiha's training assessment spar.
They'd need to be ready for their next fight.
~NRK~
And that's a wrap on this little interlude.
I'm still working on the next chapter for this one, so don't worry. I'm gonna make sure we get an actual chapter.
Words: 3.2k+
~NRK Out~