I would like to thank oldghost for providing me with an idea concerning a future chapter of this story. Kudos my friend.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Bleach, or Ruroni Kenshin
Chapter 12: Danzo
Naruto eyed the man warily as said man started walking into his clearing. He found the man familiar; as if his physical description tickled something in his memory though couldn't pinpoint it accurately. Pushing the thought to the back of his head, he stood up from his perch and patted his clothes free of loose.
"I would welcome you to my humble abode but it's useless considering that you're already here. So let's get straight to the point. Who are you and what do you want?" asked Naruto in a deceptively calm voice.
The man smirked and stopped just outside the patch of vegetables in front of him.
"Such animosity for one so young." said the man in amusement though Naruto could literally FEEL the nervousness coming off from the person's body in waves. This made the blonde inwardly chuckle at the absurdity of it all.
"Not animosity but curiosity." stated Naruto with ease. "You come here and greeted me by name despite the fact that I haven't met you my entire life. So please answer the question before things come to a head."
The man nodded though the smirk left his face replaced by a serious frown.
"My name is Shimura Danzo and my purpose in coming here is merely to talk."
Naruto was inwardly surprised at the name and recalled everything he learned of the man from his many talks with his surrogate grandfather.
"Shimura Danzo, former teammate of the Hokage under the tutelage of the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokage; leader and sole instructor of the ROOT program that was abolished by the Sandaime when the Third Great Shinobi War ended. What brings you to my humble abode?"
If Danzo was surprised that he knew some facts about him, the man didn't show it. If a man's face was made of marble then Danzo was the epitome of it.
"As I said merely to talk, Oni; or do you prefer I call you Naruto?" Danzo asked curiously.
"Call me Naruto. Address me as Oni when I have my mask on. Since you came here to talk then may I inquire as to why there are three more shinobis behind you hiding in the shadows of the forest?" inquired Naruto while raising a hand and pointing his index finger towards the forest.
Before Danzo could do anything, Naruto fired three Sho bullets in rapid succession, hitting different shadows causing the shinobis hiding there to materialize and slump to the ground unconscious.
Danzo stared nervously at the smoking finger of the Kage's Hand. Whatever that attack was, it neutralized his bodyguards in rapid succession. Aside from the fact that he wasn't aware of what technique it was, it was released so fast before he could react. He knew deep inside that this boy, no man, in front of him could kill him easily without breaking a sweat. He needed to tread carefully if he wanted to get out of this place alive and achieve his objective.
"I apologize if bringing my bodyguards with me looks like a sign of aggression despite the fact that it is not. The Forest of Death is a dangerous place, after all." Danzo pointed out, hiding his nervousness behind his cold façade.
"Don't play games with me, Danzo." Naruto said in a cold voice. "You're trained by the first two Hokage's along with the Sandaime. I know you have skills that would make the Forest of Death like a walk in the park. Now before I do something…drastic…considering you're trespassing in my home, I suggest you talk and leave."
Danzo nodded.
"Before we go into that, can you tell me what you know of me and ROOT?" he asked the somewhat relaxed assassin in front of him.
"Nothing from what I was told. That is all you need to know." Naruto stated coolly. He didn't really like the guy since he had a manipulative air around him.
"You need to understand about me, Naruto, is that I protect the Leaf from the shadows. That is the sole reason why I created ROOT in the first place despite the fact that it was disbanded by the Sandaime. I am curious regarding your existence and I want to determine what your motives are and what you're plans are of the Leaf considering your status."
"Status?" Naruto asked with a tilt of his head. "You need to clarify that."
"Status as both the Kage's Hand and being the holder of the Kyuubi." He raised a hand to halt whatever Naruto was about to say. "I know the law since Sarutobi and I were the only two who worked with it when the Kyuubi was defeated and you asleep inside his office. What I want to know is - what is your intention of being the assassin of Konoha?"
"I serve the Hokage. Nothing more, nothing less and that is all you need to know, Danzo." Naruto said coldly.
"I see." Danzo said with a shake of his head. "Then it would seem that Hiruzen has brainwashed you thoroughly to serving his goals, goals not befitting of Konoha's stature."
"Oh? And who are you to say that his goals are for the good of Konoha?" Naruto asked coldly, eyes narrowed as he stared at the man in front of him who had the gall to insult his grandfather in all but blood.
"Understand, boy, that the world is not a peaceful place; especially the shinobi world. Those who have the power should always rule and subjugate, not make treaties and peaceful alliances. With your power, it should be used to conquer the rest of the Elemental Nation and make Konoha the most powerful country in the world." Danzo proclaimed with a fanatic gleam in his eyes. "That is why I came here today, Naruto. I want to ask you to join ROOT so we can topple the current Hokage and rules the village in our image."
Naruto was silent as he started at the man…no, idiot in front of him. He finally realized what kind of man Danzo was. Unlike the Sandaime who embraced peace, Danzo was the total opposite. He was definitely a war-monger. A man who would stop at nothing to destroy everything in his path if his rule wasn't followed - be they innocent or not. Nothing would escape the slaughter if the man was put in power. This man needed to be stopped and he was the one who was going to do it…with relish.
"I don't think so, Danzo." Naruto said in a cold voice. He raised his hand and unsealed Kenshin before placing it on his hip to prepare for battle. "You think that that the Sandaime brainwashed me and manipulated me to follow his way of life? No, Danzo, you misunderstood me. I was the one who beseeched the Sandaime to take me in and become his assassin. I was the one who trained and discovered my own power to be used against evil. I will never follow your so-called ROOT and destroy what Konoha strived for. As Kage's Hand, I will bring you down."
Danzo looked at Naruto grimly before snapping his fingers. Fifty ROOT shinobis appeared in the clearing, surrounding Naruto.
"Are you sure about that?" Danzo asked with an evil grin on his face. "If you're not going to come to me willingly then I will force you. I'll beat you then I'll simply reeducate you for my use. Before this day ends, Oni will be nothing more than a puppet in my hand."
With a snap of his fingers, the battle between ROOT and Hitokiri Battousai began.
Naruto saw that he was greatly outnumbered but it was nothing that he couldn't work around with. After all, Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu was created for the sole purpose of bringing down multiple opponents. But despite his bravado, he knew that this battle wouldn't be easy. Considering that he was surrounded, Naruto jumped as high as he could and stood on a spiritual platform. He looked down and saw the ROOT shinobis and Danzo stare at him, frozen in mid-step in face of an impossibility in front of them. If it wasn't for the situation he was in, Naruto would have laughed himself silly at the face the man was making.
Not wasting any time, Naruto raised his hand, fingers spread apart and channeling a Sho bullet in each finger and maintaining a stream of Reiryoku into them for continuous shots. Not bothering to maim, the blonde started pelting the ROOT shinobis below him with bullets upon bullets of Reiryoku to thin out the herd.
Naruto saw that he was successful in taking a few of them out of the battle but there were still more to give him a headache. With a grim face, he raised both of his hands forward and aimed. He knew that this would destroy his home but he could easily rebuild it to its former glory. Sure, it would still look roughed up considering what he was about to do but he would still work on it.
Gathering as much Ki and Reiryoku into his newest technique, making sure that he channeled enough to get the job done. When he felt the tell-tale tingle of his technique reaching maximum power, he released his hold on it and fired.
"Die Danzo! Onipo: Shinsei Taihou!"
Unlike the one he used in Tetsu no Kuni, this version of the Spirit Cannon was too powerful and Naruto's rage gave more energy to fuel it. Instead of an oversized ball, a beam of pure energy erupted from the compressed ball in front of him and struck the center of the clearing that he called home. A powerful explosion shook the Forest of Death, followed by a large mushroom cloud that was seen by the entire village.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was relaxing in his seat in the Hokage's Office when he felt his hair stand on end after sensing a large build-up of energy coming from the Forest of Death. He immediately stood from his chair to make his way to the window and froze when a loud explosion rocked the tower, as well as the rest of the village followed by a tremor that shook the foundations of the village. He quickly reached the window and saw a large mushroom cloud in the area where he knew Naruto's cottage resided.
Hoping that he wasn't too late, he immediately called his ANBU guards who appeared in front of him, tense for battle.
"We are going into the forest to check what happened. Bear, go to ANBU headquarters and bring with you three teams. Bring medics as well just in case. Move move move!"
Bear immediately left the office while Hiruzen removed his robes revealing his battle armor underneath. Not wasting time, he left via the window with his ANBU guard in tow at full speed to determine what happened to his surrogate grandson.
Naruto descended back onto the ground after the smoke cleared up to see the extent of the damage his rather overpowered technique caused. He looked around in dismay to see his once beautiful oasis reduced to a large crater. He knew it deep in his heart that it was forever lost and inwardly wept at its passing. Instead of tears, his eyes became colder as he stared at the destruction around him.
He saw that many of the ROOT shinobis were vaporized by the technique though quite a few of them were still around, except for the lack of body parts. He walked over to a bunch of them and knelt to remove the mask.
What he saw made his heart clench in disgust and rage.
The ROOT shinobi he unmasked was a child, no older than he was. The boy's eyes were open, shock plastered on his dead face. Tears streamed down Naruto's face as he realized that this boy was brainwashed by Danzo to join his ROOT and he was forced to kill them in cold blood.
How many of these children did he kill?
How many of them were taken from their homes to fight for cause that held no meaning?
Instead of the calm face that was once Uzumaki Naruto, a face of a demon replaced it, bloodlust and rage clear in his eyes. This is what Hiruzen Sarutobi stumbled upon when he entered the destroyed clearing.
"What happened here?" the Hokage demanded.
"ROOT happened." whispered Naruto causing the Sandaime to stop dead in his tracks and to look at him incredulously. "Danzo came and wanted to recruit me into his army. When I refused, he attacked me with fifty of his men. They didn't survive."
Sarutobi stared at his surrogate grandsons face and almost winced at what he saw. Naruto's was wearing the same face during the time the Haruhis were killed. He was brought out of his musings when Naruto's question was asked.
"Jiji, did Danzo do this? Did he recruit children into his ROOT program?" asked Naruto without a hint of emotion in his voice. "Did I just have a hand in killing children?"
Sarutobi sighed.
"Yes, Naruto, that is one of the reasons why I disbanded ROOT in the first place though it's quite clear now that Danzo disregarded that order. It was his practice to find orphans and train them to be emotionless drones for his ROOT army. These children were forced to destroy every vestige of their emotions by killing their family or friends." Sarutobi explained with sorrow in his voice. "Sure, they were a welcome addition during the war but when I discovered how they were created, I was disgusted by the man I once call friend and teammate. I had the program shut down with the Yondaime backing me up."
Naruto nodded and closed the eyes of the boy in front of him. He stood up and started walking away from the clearing and into the Forest of Death.
"Where are you going, Naruto?" Sarutobi asked, though he already knew what the boy intended to do. It was the Haruhi incident all over again and there was nothing he could do about it. The boy was justified, after all.
"Danzo must die." was all Naruto said before disappearing from their eyes.
Danzo was running for his life. He didn't realize how dangerous the boy was. In fact, the boy was more powerful than what he was led to believe. He couldn't imagine such power in a single technique that wiped out every single of his ROOT contingent in a blink of an eye. He barely escaped using one of the Sharingan eyes on his arm with the cells of the Shodaime fueling their techniques. If it wasn't for the reality-altering technique, we would have died back there. He lost one eye out of ten but it was worth the sacrifice since he came out alive for another day. Revenge would be his.
As he ran away from the now-destroyed clearing, Danzo could help but shiver in fear. He knew what was coming and there was nothing he could do to stop. His only salvation was to reach one of his bases and hide before disappearing without a trace. It was time for him to leave Konoha if he wanted to survive.
However, that thought disappeared when he saw someone stand in front of him; a man wearing a demon mask with one hand on the hilt of his sword.
Oni.
"I see that you've caught up with me." Danzo said calmly though he was inwardly nervous at what was going to happen. It was inevitable. If he was to survive then a battle will have to be fought.
"Shimura Danzo, with my authority as the Kage's Hand, you will be executed on the grounds of treason." Naruto said in a cold voice, a voice that screamed death for the one-eyed shinobi.
"As if you can defeat me. You're nothing but a young up…" he didn't get to continue his tirade when he was literally sliced in half before disappearing. He materialized a few feet away with an angry look on his face. "You're going to pay for that, brat."
"I see that this won't be an easy fight. I don't know what that technique was but I know you used it twice already; one to get away from my Shinsei Taihou and the second from the slash I just gave you. Impressive." Naruto said coldly.
Danzo growled while removing the various locks on his arm causing the heavy metal covering his once-nonexistent arm to fall to the forest floor with a loud thud. Naruto saw that Danzo's right arm looked as if it was carved from wood with eight Sharingan eyes staring back at him though there were two slits that looked liked closed eyes, as well as a face on the shoulder.
"You're a monster, Shimura Danzo. Not only did you do something with your arm but to graft the Uchiha's bloodline into it? You are indeed a warmonger who would do anything to gain power." whispered Naruto with rage clearly evident in his voice.
Danzo scoffed.
"If I'm a monster, Uzumaki Naruto, then what are you? You're rightfully named. The Hitokiri Battousai, the manslayer. Blood is on your hands as it stains mine, boy. You're as much of a monster as I am." said Danzo while pulling out a kunai and channeling Fuuton chakra into it, causing a blade of wind to materialize and extending to a length akin to a sword.
"Be careful, Naruto. The technique the man performed to survive two of your techniques is familiar to me. It is called Izanagi and one of the ultimate skills of the Sharingan. However, this comes at a steep price. When Izanagi is used, an eye must be sacrificed." said Kurama from Naruto's mind. "I can also feel Hashirama's bloodline flowing through him. It must be the arm where the eyes are grafted in. Be careful, not only can he use one of the Sharingan's techniques, the Shodaime's blood would also allow him to use Mokuton."
"I see, so this means that those two slits were two Sharingan eyes used to activate the technique. From the looks of it, Danzo has eight more to use. This will take a while." Naruto replied while looking at the two slits on Danzo's arm. "Make sure that you use your technique wisely Danzo, you can only use Izanagi eight more times before I get to kill you for real."
Danzo was shocked before releasing a loud growl. He lunged at the demon-masked swordsman with his Fuuton-powered kunai at the fore. Naruto easily saw the attack and blocked it using a Reiryoku-enforced Kenshin.
"How did you know my technique, boy? Answer me!" Danzo screamed with a crazed look in his eyes. Naruto channeled Ki into his arms and pushed the man back and launched a counterattack which the warhawk dodged with ease.
"Let's just say that I have a friend who knows the various techniques of the Sharingan and leave it at that." Naruto said calmly as he continuously slashed at Danzo forcing the man on the defensive.
"Even if you know my technique, brat, there's nothing you can do about it." growled Danzo before jumping back while doing hand seals. He took a deep breath and released his technique while spinning. "Fuuton: Vacuum Wave."
Before the attack could materialize fully and slice him to bits with invisible blades of wind, Naruto jumped back while pointing an index finger at the man.
"Byakurai." whispered Naruto as pale lightning escaped his finger and collided with the invisible wind blades from Danzo's jutsu causing a small explosion that threw both of them away. Having expected such a reaction from two opposing forces, Naruto created a spirit platform after righting himself and launched from it.
"Ryuusousen: Garami. (Dragon Nest Flash: Gnawing)"
Danzo was caught off guard by the sudden counterattack that hit him in the head with the top of Naruto's blade exiting the back. However, instead of dying, the old shinobi simply disappeared from sight as if he wasn't there. Naruto tensed when he heard the man yell a technique from behind him.
"Fuuton: Vacuum Great Sphere!"
Naruto was caught off guard when a large sphere of wind hit him from behind. Thankfully, he was able to channel a lot of his Reiryoku to his back that negated some of the damage though he didn't come out unscathed. He used Shunpo to get away from the jutsu and appeared a few feet away, the back of his kimono torn away revealing a large bruise.
"You're not as good as you thought." Danzo said with a sneer but was caught off guard when a lasso of energy surrounded him and pinned his arms to the side. He turned his head to see Naruto with an extended finger that connected him to the energy that bound him in place.
"Back at you, Danzo." said Naruto which caused old warhawk to stare at him in disbelief. "While I ran away from your technique, I created a Kage Bunshin to sneak up on you from behind. Tsk tsk tsk. It seems that you're not as good as you're supposed to be."
"What is this jutsu?" asked Danzo as he struggled from his bonds. He tried channeling chakra to his body to boost his physical strength but it wasn't enough to get rid of the energy rope binding him in place.
"Why do you shinobis always think of things as jutsus?" Naruto commented. "If you really want to know, I call this technique of mine Hainawa. It is a technique designed to trap an opponent by binding his arms to his side, disabling their ability to use hand seals."
Danzo wasn't able to retort when the Naruto clone holding the energy roped yanked at it causing him lose his footing and slam to the ground with a loud thud. He saw the real Naruto on top of him with his sword held over his shoulder.
"Ryuutsuisen: Zan (Dragon Hammer Flash: Disaster)"
From his perch over the prone form of Danzo, Naruto used a bit of Reiryoku to propel him towards his opponent and stabbed him on the stomach with enough force to drive Kenshin straight through the body and the packed soil below with only the hilt being visible. As expected, Danzo simply faded away as if he was nothing.
Naruto already expected this to happen so he released a wave of Reiryoku, akin to a sonar, to find his sneaky opponent. He immediately positioned his freehand with his index finger pointed somewhere to his right.
"Byakurai."
Danzo, who materialized to Naruto' right was about to stab with a Fuuton kunai but was caught off guard when a pale lighting pierced his stomach. He looked at Naruto with an index finger pointed at him from under his right elbow. "How?"
"Simple, I knew that you would be using Izanagi again so I released some of my energy to detect your presence. I was able to pinpoint your presence when you materialized and took decisive action. Give up, Danzo, you're no match for me." Naruto said calmly while standing up and freeing his sword from the earth's grip. He saw Danzo fade again and couldn't help but tease the old man. "five down, five to go."
"Damn you." growled Danzo before flying through hand seals with the speed of a master and slammed his hand on the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Baku!"
A gigantic elephant-like creature materialized with Danzo on its head. It had tiger-like limbs, orange body, and bandages wrapped around its head similar to its summoner. Naruto raised an eyebrow at this since the summoned animal looked like it came out of a comic book.
"Interesting summon you have there, Danzo. But I guess I should bring out mine as well." Naruto said calmly as he sheathed Kenshin did his own set of hand seals. "Are you ready Kurama?"
"Ready and waiting. Let's give him hell." Kurama said excitedly, preparing to be summoned to the real world.
"I want you to meet a friend of mine, Shimura Danzo. Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Kurama!"
Danzo was unprepared when Naruto's summon materialized. He couldn't believe that the boy brought out one of the most powerful creatures in the entire Elemental Nation. In front of him, standing in its full glory with nine tails, was the most powerful bijuu.
Kyuubi no Yoko.
"HOW? HOW IN THE WORLD DID YOU BRING OUT THE KYUUBI? THAT CREATURE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SEALED BY THE YONDAIME!" Danzo screamed in pure disbelief. Even his summon was looking fearfully at the massive creature in front of him.
"And why should I answer you? You're going to be dead soon. Do it, Kurama." said Naruto.
"Hai, Taichou!" Kurama said cheekily before opening his mouth wide and maneuvering his tails to the front with its tip pointing towards his open maw. Black and red balls of energy materialized from where the tails were pointing and condensed into a black sphere. Kyuubi swallowed it causing the ground to buckle underneath the added weight.
"Kyuubiko Imari! (Nine-Tailed Beast Bomb)"
A beam of red and black energy shot out from Kurama's opened maw and obliterated Danzo and his summon, erasing them from existence. Thankfully, Naruto only gave Kurama a tail of chakra for the technique or it would have destroyed everything it its path until the energy blast died down. It was also fortunate that the direction Kurama fired was away from the village, sparing Konoha from total annihilation.
"Nice." commented Naruto when he saw the devastation a one-tail worth of chakra-powered Imari caused in front of him. Nothing was left of Danzo's summon though he was sure that the creature already teleported back to where it came from before it could be killed by the blast. Danzo, however, was nowhere to be found but Naruto was sure that the old warhawk was somewhere nearby though he was sure that the man was down to four more Izanagis if he used one. "That was the first time I saw that technique. Impressive, Kurama"
"If that's impressive then you should see what it could REALLY do when I have all of my chakra powering it." said Kurama with a satisfied grin on his face.
"That is the reason why I only gave you a tail of chakra before summoning you. I don't want to explain to jiji why a part of Training Ground 44 is destroyed. Thankfully, your attack only created a large ditch and obliterated anything in its path." replied Naruto with a smile before releasing a pulse of Reiryoku to detect Danzo though Kurama beat him to it with the bijuu's more advanced sensing abilities. When Danzo materialized behind Naruto, one of Kurama's tails lashed out and struck the man from the side causing the old warhawk to crash onto the ground resulting in a small crater with him in the middle.
"Lucky shot." Naruto commented. Kurama simply rolled his eyes and looked at the groaning man on the ground.
"You want me to stay and play with him or do you want to take care of it?" asked Kurama though he already knew the answer to that question.
"I'll take care of it. I know jiji and some shinobis sensed your chakra being used and I don't want them to come and find you outside the seal. I haven't told anyone that you're my Boss Summon and I want to keep it that way. You're my trump card after all." Naruto said with a shrug causing the bijuu to release a huff of annoyance for not being able to play more.
"Fine, just make sure you get rid of him permanently. He is both our problem, more so for your old man." Kurama commented, waiting for his summoner to cancel the technique.
"No problem, Kurama. He will be dead before the day ends. I'll make sure of it." Naruto said coldly before dispelling the technique, returning the bijuu inside him.
Naruto glided towards the ground with a burst of Reiryoku and pulled out Kenshin from its sheath as he faced Danzo who was already pushing himself off the ground. He noticed that Danzo was down to four more Sharingan eyes since he must have used one of them to escape Kurama's attack.
"Damn you, Uzumaki Naruto. Damn you to hell. How in the world did you bring out Kyuubi?" shouted Danzo before pulling out two kunais and channeled Fuuton chakra into them turning them into literal wind swords that could cut anything.
"I didn't tell you before, Danzo, and I'm not going to tell you now. Besides, you're dead anyway so such information is useless." said Naruto before releasing his hold on his Reiryoku causing an intense spiritual pressure to blanket the area. This caused Danzo to buckle to the ground on his knees.
"What is happening?" Danzo gasped as he struggled to rise but found it difficult to do so.
"I may not have answered your question concerning Kyuubi, Shimura Danzo, but I'll answer you this one." Naruto whispered as he held Kenshin in both hands in front of him. "What you are feeling right now is the full release of my Reiryoku, an energy that is unique to me. Why did I release it? Simple. I found your Izanagi annoying and I want you to feel that no matter what you do, you will still die."
"What are you talking about, brat." said Danzo while glaring angrily at him.
"Reiryoku is not the only thing that is unique to me. My sword is also unique. You will be the first and the last to see its real form." whispered Naruto before closing his eyes and whispered the words of release, amplifying the blanket of Reiryoku around them.
"Cleave Heaven and Earth for me, Himura Kenshin."
End of Chapter 12
Date Uploaded: July 11, 2012
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