"Are you sure about this strategy, Naruto-san?" Minato moved up a layer to close in on Naruto's position. "Don't get me wrong, we're grateful you guys pulled out of that tough spot against Toneri but moving in a larger formation makes us easier to track down."
"I'm not the leader of this team, you know…" Naruto rubbed the back of his head with a goofy smile. "Kiyomi is."
"In that case, why is Naruto-san the first in the formation? Also, why don't you rule him back at all?" Minato wondered, giving Kiyomi an inquisitive glare.
"That's because he's our scapegoat. If the enemy had laid any traps – he'd be the one to fall for said traps, being the one to always rush on ahead. He's both tough enough to survive those traps as well as not crucial to us, meaning that losing him will have the least effect on hindering our overall success. Plus, arguing with him is too much of a pain…" Kiyomi explained before gritting her teeth on the left side of her mouth while a vein popped out on the matching side of her head.
"Huh… I thought I had noticed a flaw in your team's operations but it appears you have thought this through very well…" Minato admitted.
"Don't worry about it, pops!" Naruto smirked and tapped Minato on the shoulder, "We're kind of sick of sneaking around anyway, we're now onto the wrecking ball stage of smashing through every wall in our way, you know!"
"Hmmm…" Kawaki took a plunge down, making the rest of the combined forces of Team Minato and Team Hokage to take interest in the object of his obsession. The feet of the punk-haired delinquent touched down next to a puppet pinned down to a tree with a note stuck onto it that read "Don't hit me."
Kawaki tapped the pipe that he had hanging over his shoulders for a little while before swinging it with the type of smash that would have sent the puppet flying into a home run. The pipe shred through the tree that the puppet was pinned onto, sending splinters flying in each direction like shrapnel while Kawaki placed his pipe back on his shoulders and took a deliberated step to the side so that the tree could fall down daintily by his side.
"Don't tell me what to do, stupid doll!" Kawaki mumbled to himself.
"Talk about bothersome folks…" Kiyomi sighed. "Are you done down there?"
Kawaki's fingers twitched, as if he was suffering through some electrical discharge passing through his body or if something had interfered with the nervous signals of his body. The vein on Kawaki's neck tensed up, making the boy's neck twitch and his head bend to the left a few inches because of it. He was acting weird but, then again, with people like Naruto and Kawaki, who would have known what was weird and what wasn't?
"Hey, Kawaki!" Naruto yelled at the punk. The delinquent looked back with pouted lips at the spiky-haired ninja and ran up the tree, joining the ranks of the combined ninja cell.
"Quit hassling me…" Kawaki growled at Naruto. "I'm done, can we go now?"
"Yeah…" Kiyomi closed her eyes. Those that blinked at least once missed when Kiyomi dashed in up to Kawaki's face and snapped her leg in a whip-like kick that cracked Kawaki's head diagonally down and to the left. The Yamanaka thrust both of her palms into Kawaki's chest to send the poor lad crashing through a pair more trees and leaving a crater down on the ground where he had landed. "Though we'd like our Kawaki back, whoever you are…" she finished her thought.
"Huh? Are you saying that's not Kawaki, you know…?" Naruto dropped his jaw and then looked at the downed delinquent that writhed on the ground covered in bruises.
"Tsk… I guess not everybody's as dense as Uzumaki Naruto…" Kawaki rose on his feet, pressing his hand against the back of his head. "Your hair, your eyes… You seem to be from the Yamanaka clan as well, judging from the textbook definition of the usual Yamanaka features present in you, you're from one of the main branch families too… What a pity, I'd have thought that my jutsu would have been unique enough to dupe you, I guess not…"
"It did dupe me, at first," Kiyomi admitted to the mysterious parasite that has taken over Kawaki's body. "I'll admit it was too far for me to notice the signs of a consciousness switch, in the beginning, Kawaki was too far away from me and foliage obstructed the view for a clear look but… You missed a crucial detail – Kawaki isn't a ninja. He does not use the Art of Tree Climbing to scale walls."
"Hmph… I see… This boy was so strong and he was together with you so I had assumed that he was another genin participant." Kawaki observed his own hands, the eyes of the body snatcher looked quite excited to witness the scars and the unnatural tissue covering Kawaki's body where it was cybernetically enhanced.
"That's enough, Fuu…" an authoritative voice ruled while two more ninja landed in the front of the remaining six ninja of the Team Hokage and Team Minato. "You're more use to me back by my side rather than keeping that punk occupied."
"Understood, Danzo-sama…" Kawaki nodded his head and then slumped to the floor. The true temporary inheritor of the punk's body appeared from the cover of the foliage and landed beside the pair that had appeared earlier.
"You're…!" Naruto pointed at a bandaged old man with a cane and black, shaggy hair. As if the weathered veteran even needed any more identifying, notable features to his appearance, an X-shaped scar loomed on the man's chin. The man donned contrasting colors of a white shirt and a black robe over it, concealing the man's right shoulder as well as his entire lower body.
"You know him, Naruto?" Kiyomi looked to her teammate. Any cell to include a Yamanaka of the redhead's skill was of interest to her as it posed a decent threat, no matter the difference between the strengths of each of the clashing teams.
"Yeah… He took over the village when Granny got ill, just before the other me reached out for the Exams, you know." Naruto nodded. "I didn't think that the other me employed Hokage and other village ninja as hunters…"
"Unless this guy's no Hokage at all…" Kiyomi smirked and examined the rest of the trio, consisting of the Yamanaka with auburn hair and amber eyes and a short, black jacket with red straps on his shoulders and a tall, lean-built young man with fair skin, ranging on the pale side and spiky, black hair. The features of the taller member's face were obscured by a black mask and glasses that formed rather macabre, doll-like features for the mask. Other than that, the second mystery ninja accompanying the self-declared Hokage from Naruto's version of Konoha wore a matching attire to his Yamanaka comrade, suggesting that the pair both swore allegiance to one organization.
"What a foolish young lady, you're objecting to truth apparent even to a numb-skulled, loose cannon such as Naruto Uzumaki. And yet you have the gall to wear the Konohagakure headband and accompany yourself with the future Fourth Hokage. It was the right choice to choose to cut you out together with Naruto." The cross-shaped scarred old man declared.
"Cut me out?" Naruto squinted.
"That's right. It's the perfect opportunity to do so as well. As you've explained, my takeover was not what the grey masses would consider legal and the timing was both perfect and cursed at the same time. On one side, I would thank Pain for shaking the foundation and flipping the table, on another… Your defeat of Pain caused all sorts of problems for me as well." Danzo elaborated. "Not to mention that eliminating Minato here ensures that I succeed in placing Orochimaru as the Fourth Hokage in whichever universe he hails from. This alliance formed here is that of troublesome ninja to be crushed by my stout hand rising from the shadows."
"Wait… I'm also involved in this feud?" Minato scratched the back of his head, struggling to keep on a polite smile in the face of a man that had just declared his intention of eliminating him not only from the exam but of existing altogether. "I don't believe I've ever even met you, Sir…"
"Whatever, old man, I've got my own beef with you too so if you want to come at me, come and get flattened, you know!" Naruto pounded his fist into his open palm with an angry expression. "Team Hokage's on the way to their destination so I'm not gonna hold back either!"
"Hmmm… So hasty to charge to your death, at least your foolhardiness serves your village this one use…" Danzo nodded and tossed his cane aside, his feet moved farther apart, splitting the coat that covered his legs somewhat.
"So his old man appearance was just an act…" Kotaro stated. "That much should have been expected, given his penchant for megalomaniacal talk."
"You heard what that guy said, Kotaro, this guy tried 'ta prevent Minato from becoming Hokage, ya know! Let's pound him for that!" Kushina mirrored the confident and brutish gesture that her future son had just performed before declaring his eagerness to confront Danzo and his group.
A loud popping noise accompanied the windmill shuriken that Meiko unsealed from her armor that laid underneath her tracksuit and flung it, flaring up with honey-colored chakra coating. Danzo arm rose from underneath the black shirt that covered his right side, revealing a katana which he unsheathed and used to block Meiko's windmill shuriken. Meiko smirked, realizing that her chakra-coated tool would make quick work of a bare blade, as fine as it was, but then, as Danzo's own sword lit up with a green flare with accompanying brown jets for a chakra coating much more refined than that of Meiko's own, the genin clicked her teeth in frustration.
The honey thread formed between Meiko's gauntlet and her windmill shuriken, informing the combatting ninja that the windmill shuriken was indeed tied to a steel wire that Meiko now channeled her chakra through. The blacksmith yanked the steel wire to return her shuriken back to her hands but Danzo stabbed his blade to lock the shuriken in place by putting his half-sheathed katana into the central ring of the shuriken. Meiko yanked on the thread again, this time utilizing the force to propel her body and use the steel wire tied to the entrapped shuriken to propel herself at the enemy with a flying kick.
Danzo let go of his blade, letting it dangle loosely with the steel wire and the windmill shuriken, tied over a nearby branch, while he blocked Meiko's flying kick and answered with a flurry of his own one-handed strikes, while his other hand remained concealed under the slipping, black shirt. Meiko gasped for air when a sturdy kick to her chest sent her flying and tumbling off of the branch into the lower levels of the Forest of Death while staring at Danzo's indifferent and cruel face on her way down and wishing to smash its smug likeness to a mushy puddle.
"Is brute strength all that this universe can offer? Your unbelievable chakras have pampered you…" Danzo reflected on the short hand-to-hand exchange with Meiko.
"And you, do you think your Yamanaka hijutsu has rendered you invisible, or something?" Danzo looked behind him, confronting Kiyomi who had rushed in from behind. Being noticed so suddenly by the veteran made Kiyomi flinch while Danzo laid a thorough and sturdy, one-handed beatdown on her as well, sending Kiyomi crashing down before pulling the steel wire with his threat to fish up the katana he had abandoned before and throw it after Kiyomi like a harpoon to pin her down.
The wind howled and rushed past Kiyomi's cheeks, her blond hair got in the way. By the time that the Yamanaka heiress noticed the silver, metallic gleam, it would have been too late but a tool far cruder than that which was meant to impale her deflected the blade in a rather elegant for a dislodged pipe spin. Kiyomi repositioned and pressed her feet to the vigorous oak that Danzo had meant to pin her to so that she'd bleed out like some pig and looked down at the angle from which the pipe had flown.
"I have been a fucking puppet for three minutes!" Kawaki roared out, desperate for his uproar to reach those responsible for the replacement of his consciousness.
"So that's why Danzo could see me move – the Yamanaka counteracted my Mind-Body Phase jutsu and canceled the jutsu he had on Kawaki to be able to do so…" Kiyomi thought to herself. Her ribs ached from the elbow strikes and her jaw still felt numb from the couple of slams with his free hand that Danzo laid on her, mostly it was the wounds from previous battles weighing her down some that hurt the most right now.
"Mass Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto weaved his clone hand seal, creating a myriad of clones, covering the entire forest area around them. "You're disgracing the title of Hokage right now, I'll kick your ass right out of that chair if I have to, you know!" he declared. "The title of Hokage isn't about what's best for you or your circle of friends, it's about what's best for the entire village!"
The clones all rushed at Danzo at once. Danzo peeked at the black, spiky-haired youth by his side who stepped out in front of his master, alongside the Yamanaka. The pair reached for the short-swords that they wielded on their backs. Their blades danced in an elegant flurry, the lengths of their blades seemed perfect for the two to fight side-by-side and their skill with filleting great masses of less-skilled opponents served a great deal in repelling Naruto's massive Shadow Clone assault. Danzo experienced some solitary sensations of pleasure himself, dispatching the stragglers that attempted to flank him by bypassing the vanguard of Torune and Fu. For an old man who acted like he needed a cane to walk, his taijutsu game was exceptional.
"You insolent pup, whose interest do you believe I am serving by removing you from the equation?" Danzo glared back at Naruto through the shoulders of Torune and Fu shielding him from the young man's wrath. "You defeating Pain made the village feel safe, it made them feel like they have a perfect hero who's always going to be there to protect them and that cannot stand. I have seen the world that exists in the shadows, I have waged entire wars that the village remains oblivious to and there will be no hero that can protect us from what's coming from underground! Yours is a false sense of safety, Uzumaki Naruto, look up at the snotty leader you'd become in the future – vain enough to organize grandiose events with potential security threats rather than hold them at an arm's length or eliminate them immediately. You will lead the future of Konoha to ruin and that cannot be allowed to happen. I will use every ounce of power and insight I have accumulated to crush you before you can do the damage you've done in the future."
A pair of shadow clones took a plunge from above of Danzo, grabbing the old man by his shoulders and pulling him off the powerful tree branch he took root onto, driving him down to the ground level of the Forest of Death where sunlight rarely penetrated. Another shadow clone burst forth from the foliage to slam his knee into Danzo's gut while the old man got slammed into the grassy floor of the forest.
"So what if the villagers feel safe looking up to me? Living in fear of everything around you is no way to live at all! I'd rather be stabbed in the back by someone I've always seen coming than treat people like enemies and making an enemy out of somebody that could have always been my friend, you know!" Naruto declared while the original burst forth from the foliage with a massive Rasengan in hand. The clones that helped pin Danzo down to the ground drove their knees to Danzo's shoulders and forearms, locking him in place for Naruto to deliver the diving Rasengan right to his opponent.
"Rasengan!" Naruto roared while slamming the storming, azure sphere of turbulent chakra and outright drilling Danzo into the ground while the Rasengan stormed out in a whirling sphere of devastation that destroyed the restraining clones and threw Naruto out of it at the same time. Torune and Fu landed beside Danzo to watch their master as he recovered while Minato, Kushina, and Kotaro took a plunge from above and joined Naruto on the ground level as well, still looking for their opportunity to strike.
"Yeah, I'm not suited to become the Hokage yet," Naruto admitted with a blunder in his voice. "I've still got a lot of things to learn and a lot of walls to overcome. I am yet to rescue Sasuke too, you know. Until Sasuke is safe back in Konoha I'll never call myself Hokage! But I'd die and end up never becoming Hokage before letting someone greedy like you take the position, somebody who uses the seat to bolster their own strength and position, someone who would squander the goodwill and unity amongst the villages just so he could wage wars and feel safe only when surrounded by ashes!"
"You right, you are young and naïve still, Naruto Uzumaki…" Danzo Shimura stood from his disgraced position and cracked his knuckles and his head. Naruto's eyes trembled in surprise with how well this feeble old man took his Rasengan.
"That jutsu… It seemed incredible yet it did so little damage to him…" Minato clicked his teeth together. "Could he be using a similar jutsu to Tobi to avoid damage?"
"No, my jutsu connected for sure. I guess he's just tougher than most people I've met… To take a direct hit from a Rasengan like that and shrug it off, you know." Naruto shook his head.
"We will help ya keep those bozos off your back, you just make sure to settle things with this Danzo guy, ya know!" Kushina beamed a smile Naruto's way as she rushed in by his side alongside young Minato.
"What a troublesome family of smile-beaming imbeciles…" Danzo sighed, removing his right hand from its shackles of the black shirt and exposing multiple Sharingan eyes resting all over his arm. "Even if you don't mean to, you're driving the village to great disaster by inspiring the people to follow you. It would be for the best if the history books forgot you three had ever existed… As Hokage, I can make sure of that. You will thank me with your final breaths, knowing that your village will rest safe in my hands, even if in time nobody will remember you ever existed."
"He's… Just like that Shin-guy…" Meiko shook in disgust of the man's body modifications. "Sounds way more full of himself though!"