Ch23
Tobirama had felt Orochimaru's killing intent and that was never a good thing he was very nearly propelled back to the shinobi war but his sensory skills had already mapped out the immediate area and he held back rolling over into a battle ready stance. His heart pounded franticly in his ribcage as he attempted to slow the rush of adrenaline and fight the protests of his muscles as he struggled to move past the haze of chakara exhaustion. "I was merely showing Sasuke kun the power of a true shinobi." Sheathing his weapon he heard the words register vaguely in his mind as he attempted to force his body into a sitting position. Small shocks of pain coursed through his body as he did so only to have a steadying hand lean him against the wall propping him up against a pillow. "Thanks."
His Sensei smirked though he caught a trace of concern in Orochimaru's expression. He frowned inwardly his eyes catching sight of Sasuke staring at him from the floor he was sitting on. Seeming to catch his gaze Sasuke rose quickly brushing off himself from nonexistent dust. "Are you alight, Sasuke?" He felt pain pulse and radiate through his body as he waited for the Uchiha to respond. "I'm fine, going to study for academy." The door to the smaller room was slammed shut causing Tobirama to frown and bite back a wince involuntarily. All these near death experiences were wearing him out more than he admitted. "Finally decided to take a break from that cell of yours?"
"Not quit." His eye caught Orochimaru's who was studying him. "I'm fine, I've had worse."
"That's hardly a good thing."
"How's Asuma?"
"He actually takes bed rest seriously."
"And what was I doing for the better part of the day?"
"Enough," The snake sannin made his way towards the table laden with food tearing a pack of something open and settling on a chair pushed to a smaller high table to the side of the room.
Tobirama sighed as he ran a hand over his face. "How soon will war break out?"
"The question isn't when or where it's how."
"Rain would be the best course of action."
"Perhaps, however such a move would be too risky at best. We have several spies stationed in the immediate area so we would be informed should anything occur."
Tobirama shifted suppressing a wince at the action. The peace treaties between the shinobi villages were thin at best there was no telling when or where the attack would occur only that it had to occur soon if rain was involved. If the patter of rain against his window was any indication it would soon be Konoha's wet season and that would offer strategic advantage to the water users.
"We should prepare."
"We are preparing." Orochimaru snapped impatiently. "As it stands however we are not ready. The massacre has severely weakened the leaf and the other hidden villages know of it."
"I suppose it is a miracle then that they have not attacked yet." Tobirama said as he relaxed into the pillow propping him up folding his arms across his chest.
"The hidden villages don't want to be seen as cowardly." Orochimaru scoffed. "They waited this long if only to prove that they are capable of taking on the leaf even without it in its weakened state."
"That makes little sense war is war and victory is victory."
"It makes complete sense my dear student; after all they have to keep up posturing. Should they attack a hidden village right after a massacre it makes them appear both weak and cowardly. The Daimyo's and those of their court would not look kindly on such things. The shinobi world must give a semblance of safety to the people otherwise who knows what else they are capable off."
"Then we should count ourselves lucky." The two shinobi mulled over what was to come Tobirama folding his arms in thought while the snake Sannin tore open several food packets proceeding to eat even as he too thought upon the possibilities of a strategic assault on the leaf. All the while a small dark headed Uchiha observed the tense silence of the room from behind his slightly ajar door worriedly.
Elsewhere a figure kneeled before a wall covered in intricate designs etched into the wood the wall was seemingly made off save that this wood could not be burned down. Candles lit the corners of the room as Tenzo sat before it his mind focused in concentration as he repeated the hand motions for his jutsu.
His hands shook after the last hand sign needed and he sat nervously in a kneel as he waited for the entrance to the Senju shrine to reveal itself. It had been years since the shrine was last accessed. For it had been years since there had been a wood user among the Senju or a Senju head daring to access the forbidden knowledge that was known to reside within. Some would kill for this knowledge. But even so no ritual save one with the bloodline of wood release would be able to access it and as his first mission from the head of the Senju clan Tenzo was determined to prove his worth. After all how hard could opening several doors with his jutsu be? Well his initial thinking had been proven quite wrong. The wood release needed to be twisted and turned through the many layers of the key before drenched fully in chakara which would assist in turning the levers to release the doors that led only to more doors. He had been at it for a good two hours having already passed three doors and though only one more remained the amount of chakara he had needed to use had been all but nearly depleted. Nearly but not enough so. He was silently thankful for the wards surrounding the entire shrine or he would fear Danzo's agents swarming him after he was spent opening the doors.
The shrine however hid his chakara and he was quite sure that only another Senju would be able to enter the various wards placed around the seemingly normal looking room which resided in a seemingly ordinary house in the Senju compound which was now all but deserted. He had been nearly thrown out of the shrine by the wards and only coating his body in his chakara had allowed him to pass seeming to recognize him even as he was worried that it would not be so. However a corner of the wall lit up and after going through several more seals he finally heard a hiss as a door on hinges was lifted up leaving a doorlike space for him to walk through. He rose and made his way through the doorway his eyes widening at the room he emerged into. The room was covered almost completely in shelves and on those shelves were endless scrolls with what was no doubt endless Jutsu. He lit the two torches on either side and then turned to take in the medium sized library. A single desk lay at the center with what looked like an open book. As if someone had been in the middle of writing and left it off in his haste of a mission thinking he would return but never having the chance. Three of the walls were lined with shelves and scrolls another two standing to the left side of the desk that faced away from the shelf free wall behind it. A fireplace was built into the wall and above it was a depiction of carvings that had to do with the various clans that made up Konoha and a poem of trees and the will of fire. He walked towards the desk and reverently ran his hand over the open book feeling its smooth pages and then closing and pocketing it.
His eyes turned to the various scrolls lining the walls and then to the shelf with a water symbol above it. He reached out and ran his hand over the symbol coating it with a sparse amount of chakara and then stood before the wall lined in poetry and carvings. He made several more hand signs before running his hand over the symbols Tobirama had said would be here in the order specified. The moment he finished activating the last symbol with his chakara a hiss was heard and the images carved on wooden panel shifted activated something which caused the wall itself to slide aside reveling another row of shelves behind it going from the ceiling to the floor. The shelves were filled not in scrolls but with two thick bound books which had the appearance of journals. He pocketed both before allowing the mechanism to slid shut letting out a breath he was unaware he had been holding in.
His mission complete Tenzo suddenly felt a wave of dizziness overcome him from the chakara exhaustion. Stopping to catch his breath he panted a hand to the wall as several beads of sweat slid down his neck. Several moments later he straightened walking up to a shelf with an insignia of the Senju above it. Pocketing several of the scrolls with the numbering Tobirama had mentioned he made his way out of the rooms emerging in a nondescript house in the empty Senju compound. A smile crossed his lips as he shifted his stance into a run flitting through the trees towards Tobirama's apartment. His mission accomplished and knowledge in hand.
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