A Grimm Contract

by Jcrowe56

Attacked on his ninth birthday, Naruto Uzumaki was chased into the forest of death. falling into a chasm and finding a hidden temple filled with images and carvings of odd creatures with red eyes and covered in bone armor. In the center of this temple Naruto finds a scroll between the effigies of two dragons. See the rise of the Grimm Sage.

5. Chapter 5

AN: Happy Holidays everyone, sorry that this chapter took so long to get out. To be honest life has kind of been a challenge the last few weeks, I have been trying to find work only to never make it past the first interview... but you're all not here to read about my woes, to be honest this chapter took so long because I just have no experience fight sequences... well on that note, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Disclaimer: I do not own 'Naruto' or 'RWBY', they belong to their respective writers, authors, and studios...

Chapter 5: Return of the Grimm Maelstrom

Road Leading to the Gates of Konohagakure, Morning, Twelve Years After Kyūbi Attack:

It was a beautiful day in the lush forests of Hi no Kuni, the sun was shining, the early spring breeze kept the temperatures low without a cloud in the sky. On a well-worn path heading to the massive walls and gates that marked the main entrance to the shinobi village of Konohagakure, a portal seeming to be made of red and black mist opened and a figure walked out with a large raven on his shoulder. The figure seemed to be around twelve or thirteen years old, though tall for his age at around one hundred fifty-eight centimeters with spikey white/blond hair, the tips a blood red. The boy's face is aristocratic in shape, though with a softness that denotes his young age. A small smile on his lips reveals that his canine teeth are slightly larger than normal. His two most noticeable features are the three whisker like marks that reside on either side of his face and his unique eyes. The boy's eyes are a stunning silver-blue with a slightly slit pupil.

The boy is wearing a red half cloak with a zipper going down the middle, black leather pauldrons and a dark leather strip across the front. Under the cloak the boy wears a black muscle shirt with crimson lines running across it, then under the shirt he wears a shinobi mesh covering up to his upper bicep. On his arms are black ANBU styled arm guards and half gloves with similar red lines to the shirt. On his lower half the boy wears black ANBU pants that are tucked into leather combat boots. Along his back are two items; a large scroll with a crimson swirl and a large equipment pouch on his right side below it. Emblazoned on the back of his cloak and on a metal plate adorning the leather strip running across his chest is a large black swirl with a stark-white fox skull snarling.

This is none other than Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, son of the Fourth Hokage; Minato Namikaze, and his wife, the Red Hot Blooded Habanero; Kushina Uzumaki. Finally after the years of training he experienced in his summons realm, the Heir of the Uzumaki Clan and legacy of Konoha's greatest Kage, was returning home. Smirking to himself as he continued his stroll, the young man was excited to see his precious people once again. The years he spent in the Grimm Lands were a trial that is for sure. Salem was a vicious taskmaster when it came to Naruto's education. To be honest, for the first four years he spent in accelerated time the partial blond had no idea how he even survived the Grimm Queens 'Training.' Between magic, hand to hand, hand to weapon, and shinobi training, Naruto had experienced almost every type of pain possible that didn't include death. Then there was the survival training against the Grimm… at first it hadn't been that bad with just the basic breeds such as beowolves, boarbatusks, and nevermore… Then around the sixth or seventh year Salem decided that Naruto was ready to take on the more 'advanced' Grimm.

Naruto had then spent the next four months trying to dodge some of the most diabolical members of his summons, they consisted of the ancient and special Grimm that were the pinnacle of their respective breeds. Naruto still had nightmares of when he had fallen into the Chasm of Apathy, when he had met the aforementioned denizens of the dreary place, the boy had to be knocked out of his depression fueled stupor by Kurama before he stopped breathing. That day both tenant and jailor agreed that the blond would never summon the Apathy unless he was against an enemy that truly deserved to die a dogs death.

While Naruto was lost in his thoughts, memories and traumas, he was suddenly brought back to the present by a feathery swat by the large Grimm bird on his shoulder.

"Ow! What the hell Rae-chan that was so uncalled for." The bird only gave him the avian equivalent of an eye roll then glared at the cute nickname her summoner had just given her. Giving Naruto another whack upside the head, the Grimm hopped from his shoulder before in a quick blur it was replaced by the dangerous but enticing form of Raven. The tall woman moved to continue their travel towards the ever approaching gates, ignoring the sweating and nervous Uzumaki. Stopping and turning back to her summoner Raven spoke up, her voice a calm and seductive symphony in the young teens ears.

"Come Naruto, you wouldn't want to be late now would you?" Naruto could almost imagine the raised brow on the woman's delicate features as she stared with her cold crimson eyes. "If you keep dawdling, I'll just leave you behind brat." Without another word to her summoner, Raven turned on her heel and continued her trek with a light sway to her hips. Grumbling to himself about how 'Rae-chan' was being a tsundere, the blond had to jump to the side to avoid an energy slash sent at him by the now glowing red eyed gaze coming from Raven's mask. Raising and waving his hands in apology, the human shaped Grimm scoffed at her summoner's attitude and turned muttering something about him being a damn blond baka. Seeing as he wasn't going to be murdered by his traveling partner today, Naruto gave a silent sigh of relief before moving to catch up to Raven.

Looking over at the beautiful frowning visage of his summons, Naruto Hurried to catch up to her as the memories of their first meeting ran through his mind.

-Flashback-

It had been around two months since Naruto had begun his training under Salem. After another grueling day of training under the sadistic taskmaster that was the Grimm Queen, Naruto was resting in his room while Kurama was using his chakra to accelerate the healing of his torn muscle and cracked bones. Now barely able to move, Naruto was having a silent conversation with his imprisoned partner, not noticing the pair of eyes that were watching him.

'I'm telling you Kurama, that woman is a monster! Who just decides that the best way to improve one's situational awareness is to launch literal fireballs and lightning bolts randomly!?' In the seal the large fox could only snort in amusement at the predicament the young kit had gotten himself into.

'Well what did you expect Kit? You knew from the beginning that this training wasn't going to be easy… you may have more time than most anyone else at this point since time moves differently, but because of the changes you went through during your trials and having to not only to learn about the shinobi arts but also magic and Grimm themselves. You will need every moment you can spare to become as strong as possible, because I can guarantee that if you aren't strong enough those who stand against you will waste no time in trying to control or destroy you.'

Confused and worried what the fox could mean by that, Naruto wasted no time asking, 'What do you mean by that Kurama?' Naruto could feel the worry and exasperation bleeding through the link he had with the Kyūbi before he answered the mostly blond.

'Naruto, do you really think that a group of people could so zealously hate a child on their own? I mean, I can spend the next one hundred years complaining about how stupid humans can be… but one thing I can tell you is that the type of hatred and bigotry that you experienced in the village could only be done if there were someone constantly pushing and reinforcing that hatred towards you. From what I can remember of my time within your mother's seal, your mother and father had enemies, not only outside the village, but within it as well. I remember there being a man that was always filled with dark and malicious emotions that was directed at Kushina and Minato. While it was mainly jealousy and hatred towards Minato, this person coveted Kushina for my power. Unfortunately for this person, they were never able to isolate Kushina due to the respect that the Uzumaki Clan had at the time.' A growl then rumbled through Naruto's mind as he felt the fresh rage grow in the bond.

'But this all changed when you became my newest vessel. From what I could deduce from your memories of your year at the academy, the histories of the Uzumaki Clan had been removed completely from the curriculum. This along with the fall of the Senju Clan in the Second Shinobi World War means that not only your generation, but the one before that wouldn't even really know anything about your clan or their specialties in fuinjutsu. Now, while I have spent the majority of time since my sealing trying to collect my lost strength from when your father tore my yin chakra from me, I have been able to sense that very same man close by almost every time that you were either harmed or mistreated by the villagers.' Naruto's eyes were wide at this news, almost jumping from his bed in anger before the pain from his training stopped him. If what Kurama was saying was true, then someone had been working in the background to try and manipulate or alienate him from anyone in the village who would otherwise try to help him. This person or persons had even gone as far as to manipulate the very histories of the village to push their agenda, whatever it may be.

Before Naruto could continue to question his partner, Kurama spoke up again with a tone of slight worry.

'Kit be on guard, there is someone else in your room with you, I think it may be one of the Grimm. Look to the corner on your right.' Following his partners instructions, Naruto turned his head slightly and looked through the corner of his eye at said corner. At first he saw nothing, then the silhouette of a large bird became visible. Deciding to sit up and confront the bird-like Grimm, Naruto winced as he sat up. Turning to completely face the corner, Naruto called out.

"Alright I know your there, come out now." Hearing something that almost sounded like a derisive snort followed by a flutter of wings, the form of the Grimm was shown as it landed on his desk and stared at him. From his lessons with Salem, Naruto could identify this type of Grimm as a Nevermore, one of the more common flight-able Grimm types. The Nevermore probably had the most variables in size and looks. The smaller ones could be mistaken for regular black birds, if you ignored the glowing crimson eyes, but the more powerful or elder Nevermore tended to either be armored, gigantic or both. He remembered seeing some of the larger variety of the elder Nevermores that were almost as large as some of the more powerful battle summons capable of carrying up to ten or twenty people at a time and even launching their sharp feathers as projectiles.

Though just looking at this Nevermore in front of him, Naruto could tell that it was stronger… and more intelligent than its size would show, especially with the helmet like mask that covered the majority of its head and neck, its tribal markings glowing a similar crimson as its eyes. In fact looking closer at the Nevermore, Naruto remembered this one as the same one that had been watching him when he first appeared in the Grimm Lands. Feeling a bit on edge from the intensity of the Nevermores stare, Naruto finally decided to get this over with.

"Um… hey do you need something?" Naruto could hear a groan and slap coming from his seal, fighting down a blush as he realized that Kurama had just facepalmed at how stupid the boy's question was. He was about to speak again when the Nevermore gave a short shake of the head before hopping from the desk and in a flicker changed shape. Gone was the large avian and in its place was… a bombshell of a masked woman? Freaking out at how there was now another person in his room instead of a Grimm, Naruto reacted by rolling out of his bed hitting the floor with a groan of pain. The woman, if her posture was anything to go by, was seeming to be fighting a facepalm of her own. Grabbing onto his bedding, Naruto fought to pull himself up to a kneeling position, his sore body protesting every movement. When he was finally at a kneeling position against the bed, Naruto pointed a trembling finger at the woman that had replaced the Nevermore and yelled out.

"Who the hell are you? Why are you here? How did you change your form like that?-" before he could continue his barrage of questions, the woman held up a hand and stopped the blonds' words in their tracks. Reaching up to her mask and disengaging the mechanical locks, the woman revealed her beautiful features bringing a slight blush to the pre-teen's cheeks. The woman's sharp crimson eyes narrowed slightly as she began to speak, her tone smooth but commanding.

"Young summoner, my name is not important, I am here because I have been ordered by the queen to be your instructor on swordsmanship… and you haven't earned the right to learn why I can change my form, just know that some of your summons are more special than you can possibly know."

As the days passed, Naruto was eventually able to learn more about this woman that had been assigned to train him. It took him about three months to just learn the buxom woman's name, which turned out to be ironically Raven, considering her alternative form as a Nevermore. The more the two worked together, the more Raven began to find herself almost enjoying her time with the young blond. Naruto, to Raven's surprise, was able to adapt and learn on a truly massive scale, able to become an adept swordsman and tactician by his fourth year within the Grimmlands. Salem had been so impressed by her charge and summoner's progress that she, along with Raven, decided to request the other special Grimm to come and broaden his combat potential.

It was in his final year within the Grimmlands that he was told what had happened to those who were like Salem and Raven. As it turns out, Salem along with the others here, were under a punishment of sorts after their previous world had been destroyed. Naruto was honestly disturbed when he learned that the leader of his summons had been the main instigator and cause for the deaths of millions, if not billions, of people to the Brother Gods anger. Salem's reason as she had told him, was that she had gone mad after being forced to live for eternity after attempting to trick Dark into bringing back her first love. Then to complicate matters, unlike Naruto himself, Salem had jumped into the dark pools of Dark's altar hoping that the combination of both brother's powers would kill her, only to be almost consumed by the powers of the Grimm. It was only when she had succeeded in ending her world for a second time that Light-Osan and Dark recognized how damaged Salem's curse in conjunction with the Altar of Darkness had twisted the poor woman.

When Salem had finished her tale, Raven and the other shapeshifter Grimm standing in the back of the room so as to not disturb their leader and summoner, the Queen had expected her summoner to be disgusted with her and to demand that their contract be broken… only to be surprised when the now physically twelve year old to pull her into a hug. In a soft whisper that sent shivers down Salem's spine, Naruto told the woman that he would never judge her for actions that she had already paid the price for her. In fact the blond spoke up and said that he was glad that it turned out she wasn't alone as she was after the first apocalypse in Remnant. Looking up at the other figures in the back of the room, Naruto gave the group a thumbs up and stated in no uncertain terms that he was the luckiest person in the world to have such an amazing group of summons.

After his declaration, Salem along with the rest of the summons felt a light feeling envelope their hearts at how accepting and openhearted their blond Grimm Huntsman was. Even the ever stoic Raven who had decided to stay out of the group celebrations gave the smallest of smiles.

-Flashback End-

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Naruto looked forward to see that they had finally reached the main gates to Konoha. Looking over at his companion, a question on his lips whether or not she would stay in this form, Naruto was interrupted by the approach of two Konohagakure Chunin.

"Halt! State your business here in Konoha and have your passport ready for inspection." Realizing that both he and Raven had no such paperwork, Naruto was about to speak up when the voice of Raven called back to the two Chunin.

"I have a missive from the Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, giving me and my partner temporary access to the village so as to meet with him." Reaching into her armor, pulling the attention of the two men to the young woman's… assets, much to Naruto's silent anger. Raven pulled out an envelope, the sigil of the Hokage plain for all to see. One of the Chunin, a man with long messy black hair and a bandage wrapped across the bridge of his nose, stepped forward and grabbed the missive. After inspecting it for a moment, the shinobi nodded and handed the missive back to Raven before raising a signal to his partner to allow them through the gates. Unknown to the two shinobi, both Raven and Naruto also knew this was to signal the hidden groups of ANBU to follow the duo to ensure that they made no detours on their way to the Hokage Tower.

Walking forward, Naruto could still feel the slight lust the two Chunin were feeling towards Raven. Fed up with their attitude against one of his precious people, Naruto turned his head slightly, catching both shinobi's attention and sent out a burst of Killing Intent mixed with his magic so as to keep anyone else from feeling his intent. Both Chunin seemed to freeze in place for a moment transfixed on Naruto's suddenly glowing animalistic silver and red iris before in a blink the feeling was gone. As the odd duo continued down the road the bandaged Chunin was called by his partner, his forehead covered in sweat.

"Ne, Kotetsu… what the hell was that?" The now named Kotetsu Hagane, one of the notorious Eternal Gate guards, turned to his partner, Izumo Kamizuki, trying to keep his nerves under control.

"I-I have no idea Izumo… I think it may have been some sort of K.I. technique… but I've never experienced such a refined technique that couldn't be felt by everyone in the area. whatever the case may be, I think that we should endeavor to not piss off either one of those two again." Izumo just gave Kotetsu a short nod before they returned to their post and continued their guard shift hoping that they never experienced something as horrible as that again. The fear from that technique reminded the two a bit too much of a certain angered Biju mixed with the fury of a certain blond Sannin when she finds a pervert peeping in the hot springs.

-Line Break-

Walking down the road heading towards the Hokage Tower, Raven turned her head towards her summoner and raised a single eyebrow before speaking in a quiet and amused tone.

"You know you didn't have to do that right?" Naruto only turned a false confused look in response, something that Raven had to fight back a slight chuckle as she continued. "I could have handled the looks those men were giving me at any time, so you didn't have to almost scare the crap out of them… but thanks anyways."

Naruto's false look was replaced by a bright smile that brought a touch of heat to the raven-haired woman's face. The rest of their travel to the tower went without incident, besides the occasional leer from some of the more brazen civilians, which was handled by a quick glare that sent chills down the leering person's spine. When the duo had finally arrived at the Tower, Naruto couldn't help the growing excitement at seeing one of his precious people again. Entering and walking up to the third floor to the Hokage's office, Naruto and Raven were suddenly stopped by the receptionist outside the double doors leading to their destination. Giving the two unknown's a dirty look the receptionist began to speak in an annoying holier-than-thou tone.

"And just where do you two think you are going huh?" The dirty look was now replaced by a sneer as she noticed the lack of a shinobi headband. Turning to face the haughty woman, Raven only rose a single brow, while Naruto just gave a light chuckle that just raised the woman's hackles higher. Either not noticing or ignoring the woman's growing ire, which was unlikely due to both Naruto's and Raven's negative emotion sensing, Naruto decided to just answer the question in the most nonchalant way possible.

Looking back and forth between the receptionist and the Hokage's office doors a few times, Naruto gave the receptionist a deadpan that could rival most if not all main branch Hyuga.

"I believe that this is the entrance to the Hokage's office is it not?" Seeing the woman's nod Naruto continued, "Well considering that we have an appointment with said Hokage having to do with a shinobi matter, I do believe that it is none of your concern seeing that you are just a civilian." At Naruto's side, Raven, along with the hidden ANBU that were hidden in the area, were fighting their laughter at how Naruto had knocked this civilian down a peg. Also judging by the growing angry blush on the receptionist's face, the entertainment was only beginning. The receptionist quickly lost her temper and began to sputter out in indignation.

"W-who do you think you are?! Do you know who you are talking to right now?" Naruto just gave a lazy shake of the head causing the woman's anger to grow to dangerous levels, "I am the niece of one of the members of the Civilian Council! You will show me the respect I deserve… or else I will have the ANBU take you into custody for being a threat to the Hokage!"

Now the woman had expected the peasant stranger to attempt to beg for forgiveness or even leave immediately at the threat of being detained by the ANBU. Instead the boy's grin seemed to grow, as if expecting an entertaining show to begin. The receptionist was about to yell out again before a deathly calm voice was heard behind her.

"Now Shiminai-san, I know I did not just hear you attempt to force compliance from my guests and threaten them with MY ANBU, right?" With jerky movements, the now named Shiminai slowly turned to face the now open office doors and the intimidating figure of her village leader standing there. The Hokage's eyes were like grey daggers that stabbed into the young receptionist. Shiminai attempted to speak and explain herself, only for nothing to come out. Sarutobi Hiruzen only looked on at his, soon to be former, secretary before speaking in a calm and even tone.

"Shiminai-san, because of your attitude and actions today you will empty your desk, and rest assured that I will be contacting your uncle to question him on his believed powers as one of the Civilian Advisory Council. Am I understood?" Shiminai could only give a low bow and quickly collected her few personal belongings before rushing from the room tears and an embarrassed blush on her face. Shaking his head at the continued signs of the Civilian Council's corruption in his village, Hiruzen shook his head in disappointment and exasperation at having to replace his receptionist… again… for the sixth time. 'Maybe this is the last proof that I need to have someone from the clans rather than another civilian.'

Before Hiruzen could get lost in his thoughts and plans, he was interrupted by a boisterous greeting from a voice he hadn't heard in almost four years.

"Wow Jiji, where was that zeal when I found you literally buried under the mountains of paperwork after my first prankster streak?" Turning with a bright smile on his aged face, Hiruzen wasted no time to rush forward and engulf his, now taller, surrogate grandson in a crushing embrace, to which the young man just chuckled and returned the embrace.

"It's good to have you back my boy, this place hasn't been the same since you left…" Stepping back and looking at the changes that had occurred while Naruto was away, Hiruzen couldn't help but notice that Naruto looked more like a combination of his parents now instead of an almost carbon copy of his father with his mother's facial features. Shaking his head to clear it of the painful memories that the connection brought, Hiruzen waved the two into the office and made his way to his seat behind the large oak desk covered in piles of paperwork. Naruto and Raven wasted no time following the elderly Kage, the partial blond looked around the office trying to see if anything had changed in the years he was absent. As the two made their way to the seats in front of the desk, Naruto couldn't help but sweat drop at the sheer amount of paperwork that his surrogate grandfather had heaped onto him. By his estimations, Naruto could say that the amount of paperwork had increased by at least two thirds if not more. Confused by this, Naruto spoke up his concern when Raven and he had taken their seats.

"Hey Jiji," making eye contact with the older shinobi, Naruto continued. "I know that this is probably just the time in the Grimmlands talking; but is it just me or did your paperwork load almost double from the last time I was here?" Hiruzen's eyes widened for a moment at his surrogate grandson's awareness and memory before he seemed to collapse in on himself in despair at the reminder of his plight.

"No Naruto, your memories were right…" Naruto grew worried at his Jiji being in such a worn down state, but the old Kage just waved his concern off before explaining. "You see Naruto, after you went to your summons realm and after receiving your boss summons' message from Raven-san-" Hiruzen then looked over to the silent form of said Grimm woman, who only gave a curt nod, the Hokage continued. "I discovered many disturbing things had been going on behind my back…"

-Flashback-

It had been six months since Naruto had left the village and the Sandaime Hokage was not a happy leader. After receiving Raven's message as well as handing over the Uzumaki heritage scroll, Hiruzen had begun to look into how his village had degenerated so completely after he was reinstated. To say that he was enraged by what he found was an understatement. From what the wizened Hokage had been able to find on his own, it appeared that peoples unknown were siphoning an extremely large amount of moneys from all around the village. Not only this but without his notice, the curriculum of the Shinobi Academy that his sensei founded was slowly but surely being corrupted and weakened from the inside.

Assigning some of his most talented ANBU and stealth experts to survey the topics taught to his shinobi, Hiruzen was appalled at what the reports showed. According to the reports, the majority of the villages early history was being altered. No longer were the Uzumaki, a clan that had basically been with the village from its conception through the marriage of Hashirama Senju and Mito Uzumaki-Senju, even mentioned. Instead their place was taken purely by Konoha Shinobi clans such as the Hyūga or Uchiha. Hiruzen was sure that if either Mito or Kushina were alive to see that their clan was being forgotten, then heads would have rolled. This thought brought a shiver of fear to the elder Kage remembering the sheer ferocity the two former Uzu Kunoichi had been capable of.

Then there was the joke that was the shinobi studies, many of the physical requirements and chakra studies had been watered down to the point that even a dieting fangirl could excel in a lifestyle that required one to be in top physical and mental condition. On top of this, almost all of the advanced courses, such as fuinjutsu, bukijutsu, kenjutsu, and advanced survival/stealth training, had been replaced by either purely academy courses or civilian courses. Hiruzen had almost lost his temper and gone to beat some sense into his Chunin instructors when he saw that his kunoichi trainees were being forced into more civilian oriented trainings such as tea ceremonies and flower arrangement.

This was extremely worrying for the elderly Kage because these changes were slowly but surely forcing all shinobi duties on the clans. On top of which, these clan children were subtly being sabotaged and weakened before making it into the shinobi forces. These findings were confirmed by reports of team casualties in the last ten years after the Kyūbi attack, that somehow never made it to his desk. The more Hiruzen was pulling at this string, the more the aged Kage was appalled at the way his village was being systematically weakened, and from what it seemed, it was being weakened from the inside.

'And then there are the missing peoples, both clan-born and civilian prodigies…'

All of the evidence and patterns disturbingly all pointed to one individual being responsible for all of this, and Hiruzen would be dead and damned before he allowed this to continue. Standing from his desk, Hiruzen snapped his fingers summoning his most trusted ANBU; Tora, Inu, and Neko. In a flicker of highspeed motion, the three ANBU Commanders appeared kneeling to their leader with a quick 'Hai Hokage-sama.' Nodding, Hiruzen continued to the doors to his office and gave out his orders.

"Inu, Tora, I need you two to go and collect all of the ANBU squads you know for certain are loyal to the Hokage and Konohagakure, then have them on standby to act…" Beneath their respective masks, Inu and Tora were wide-eyed at what their leader was ordering, but quickly recomposed themselves and gave a quick salute before shunshining to complete their tasks. Stopping before the door, Hiruzen turned and looked upon his last commander still kneeling in place.

"Neko, I need you to go to all of the Clan Heads and tell them to meet me and that it is a matter of immense importance and village safety. Be sure that no one follows you and that each of the Clans understand that stealth is paramount." Neko could feel her heart beating rapidly at the implications of her leaders actions, something was going to happen tonight that would determine the direction of all Konoha. Wasting no more time the purple-haired ANBU shunshined to complete her tasks leaving the Hokage alone in his office once more…

Narrowing his eyes, Hiruzen in a flash of motion built from decades of dedicated training and three shinobi wars, launched a clutch of kunai into three corners of his office at seemingly random. In less than a quarter of a second the projectiles found their respective marks and in a thunk of steel penetrating flesh, three bodies fell to the ground in his office. Hiruzen only had to take a quick glance to find what he feared, each of the bodies were dressed as ANBU, but unlike his elite guards, these shinobi all had blank masks with the kanji for ROOT emblazoned on the forehead. Gritting his teeth, the Sandaime Hokage's eyes lit with an inner fire that could rival even the ever burning flams of Amaterasu.

'This time Danzo, you will not weasel your way out of this, you have gone too far in your ambition to rule this village as well as the hearts and minds of its people... and unlike my disappointment of a traitorous student… I WILL NOT HESITATE TO CUT YOU DOWN!' It was this night and the actions taken that would see the reawakening of the third Kami no Shinobi and the fall of the rotten foundation that had rooted its way into Konohagakure.

-Line Break-

The next day's found the village of Konohagakure in a state of unease. After leaving his office, Hiruzen met with the members of the Shinobi Council, as well as some of the more prominent clans such as the Kurama clan. To say the clan heads had been upset at the Hokage's news was a major understatement. Hiruzen could honestly count the number of times he had seen both Hiashi Hyūga and Shibi Aburame show true anger; Hiashi due to the evidence Hiruzen had found that pointed to a collusion between Danzo and the man's own clan elders to poison and kill his wife, after his second daughter was born, so as to weaken their first-born daughter and force Hiashi under their thumb. Whereas with Shibi, the usually taciturn man was devastated to learn that his childhood friend Torune Aburame had been brainwashed by Danzo to the point he was little more than a puppet assassin for the old war-hawk.

With the support of all the Konoha clans behind him, Hiruzen decided to ensure his plans would go off without a hitch and sent out two of his quickest summons to deliver messages to his only remaining loyal students. To ensure the two remaining Sanin would return, Hiruzen included two letters explaining what had been happening within the village and the threat they were now facing. It was only half a surprise when the aged Kage went to his office two days after sending the message to find that said two students were standing within with looks filled with anger and determination, even his female student Tsunade Senju's own apprentice Shizune gave off the air of a soldier awaiting orders. Giving his two students and the niece of his students former lover a happy smile, Hiruzen spent the rest of the day explaining in more detail about what had been happening since the two had been in the village previously.

To say the trio were disgusted would be an understatement, from what they were told Danzo and others unknown have been working for years to instill themselves as the shadow leaders of the village by slowly bleeding the normal shinobi forces, while quietly building a force of stronger ROOT shinobi under the direct control of the old cripple. Though the disgust was quickly replaced by fury when Tsunade had learned that her grandmothers clan had been effectively erased from their villages history, when she asked why the old fogies would do this, Hiruzen's other student Jiraiya had a sudden thought that he wasted no time sharing. "What if they did this so they would have easier access to Naruto?"

And like a bolt of lightning, Hiruzen knew his super pervert of a student was right. By getting rid of all knowledge of the Uzumaki clan from the village, it would be almost too easy for Danzo and his supporters to spread disparaging rumors about Naruto and put to question how a boy with no background or known clan heritage could possibly contain the power of the most powerful of the tailed beasts if he was in no way connected to either of Konoha's known clans that could control the beast. As the realizations hit the older shinobi, Jiraiya asked his sensei where the boy was and if he was safe. Hiruzen had to spend the next few hours explaining to his students, who only stared in disbelief at what had been happening to the young Jinchuriki and his bullshit amount of luck to almost literally fall into an unknown and never before seen summoning contract. Though Tsunade had to smack Jiraiya across the back of the head when he had gained a perverted look at their sensei's description of the shape-changing woman named, ironically, Raven.

When the white-haired toad sage finally pulled himself from the indent that Tsunade's hit had left him in, everyone, including the still silent Shizune and her teacher's pet pig Tonton, returned their attention to their leader. Nodding, Hiruzen continued by telling the others about his current plans to deal with Danzo and the rest of his ilk in one fell swoop. With hardly any hesitation, Tsunade, Jiraiya and Shizune gave their support to their leader and asked how they could help.

It was finally time, almost eight months after Naruto had left the village, and Hiruzen along with the rest of his supporters were finally prepared to cleanse their village from the cancer that had slowly infected it since his former friend turned rival had begun to work against him. The operation was a three pronged all in one offensive. First the majority of Hiruzen's ANBU units along with Jiraiya moved to assault Danzo's hidden ROOT bases underneath Konoha, found through the use of Jiraiya's toad summons, so as to cut the old war-hawk off from his main forces as well as collect evidence of the old warmonger's crimes. Second, Tsunade along with another contingent made up of various members of the major and minor Konoha clans moved to evacuate the civilians and younger Genin to the villages wartime bunkers near the Hokage Monument quickly and quietly, while also securing anyone that attempted to raise any sort of alarm to be later interrogated. Finally Hiruzen himself along with the clan heads called an immediate council meeting demanding that every member be in attendance.

To say that the civilian council members were nervous at the image of the grimm faces of their Hokage and shinobi clan heads would be an understatement. This unease only grew as the final members of the council, the elders, had still yet to arrive. It was finally five minutes after the meeting was supposed to begin did the elders arrived, their heads held high in believed superiority. It was just as Hiruzen's former teammates Koharu and Homura were about to make some sort of grievance known that said Kage suddenly stared the trio down with a majority of his killing intent, making the two former shinobi shiver in fear while Danzo's one visible eye narrowed. Hiruzen then spoke, his voice filled with barely constrained power and false cheer.

"Well, how kind of you three to finally grace us with your presence, though I do believe that I gave the notice that this meeting was supposed to begin…" With obvious sarcastic movements the Sandaime looked to the clock that was perched on the wall directly across from his seat, "by my count almost six minutes ago." Hiruzen then directed his sharp gaze back at the now sweating Koharu and Homura, while Danzo still continued to stand as if everything and everyone were beneath him. Then just as if to prove this, Danzo attempted to speak up his voice carrying barely hidden contempt.

"Well Hiruzen, we came as soon as we could on such short notice, you know that you should-" Before he could say anything else, Danzo along with the other two elders were suddenly weighed down by the combined killing intent of the entire shinobi council, only to be completely sent to their knees when Hiruzen added his own full killing intent on top of it. The civilians, unable to cope with the sudden dread caused by the intent, suddenly collapsed or in some cases suffered sudden heart attacks. Both Homura and Koharu were frightened on how things could have gone bad so fast, the duo had been under the assumption that they wouldn't be punished by Hiruzen due to his softening nature after the last great war along with the stress of becoming Hokage again after the Kyūbi attack.

However now they understood, this wasn't Hiruzen Sarutobi, twice inaugurated Sandaime Hokage who was worn down by age and loss… No this was Hiruzen Sarutobi; The Professor, and The Sandaime Kami no Shinobi. Danzo, also noticing the change in his once rival, was now wondering what could have caused this sudden resurgence of Hiruzen's mettle. Though none of the three had any chance to speak up before the quiet tone of Hiruzen's voice reached them.

"I believe… that there has been a… misunderstanding between you three and I these last few years. I am your HOKAGE! YOUR LEADER! If I tell you jump, you say, 'How high?.' If I tell you to run, you say, 'To where and how fast?.' And finally if I tell you that there is a mandatory council meeting and to be here at this time… THEN YOU HAD BETTER HAVE YOUR ASS IN YOUR SEAT AND BE WAITING FOR ME TO ARRIVE AM I UNDERSTOOD" Homura and Koharu could now barely breath after Hiruzen's KI suddenly spiked when he unleashed his chakra, causing cracks to appear in the wall behind him. Danzo, while silently cursing in the back of his mind, was now sweating at the sheer presence Hiruzen now had. While age had slightly weakened the aged Kage, his experience had only sharpened the elder Sarutobi's will and intent. Finally before anymore of the civilians could suffer heart failure from the overwhelming intent, it suddenly vanished like it was just an illusion. The elders, besides Danzo, gasped in relief trying to calm their still racing hearts, said war hawk was cursing internally and preparing to signal some of his hidden ROOT ANBU to begin his takeover of the village if Hiruzen were to make any other moves against him.

Unknown to the bandaged former shinobi, Hiruzen was already a step ahead of him. Using the opportunity raised when he and the other clan leaders were flaring their KI, the Hokage had subtly ordered his own hidden ANBU to silently take out Danzo's hidden troops. It was only when he received a signal letting him know the deed was done that he lowered his KI along with the other clan heads. Deciding that the time to begin was now, Hiruzen seemed to relax into his seat and looked out at the room before speaking again.

"Good, now that we have the chain of command settled let us take our seats…" Hiding a slight smirk under his clasped hands, Hiruzen then placed a false look of worry as he looked at the now likely dead civilian councilors that hadn't been able to handle the combined KI.

"Oh my, it seems that some of our 'esteemed' civilian councilors have fallen ill," the rest of the shinobi council had to hold back smirks, or laughter in the case of one Tsume Inuzuka. Ignoring his shinobi's actions Hiruzen continued as if this was an everyday occurrence. "Well that just won't do," with a quick snap of his fingers, ANBU landed beside the passed out or dead council members before taking them, presumably, to the hospital, but in reality to the IT department to have a… enlightening talk with Ibiki Morino and his newly appointed second in command; Anko Mitarashi. After all the incapacitated members were taken, only five civilian council members remained of the original fifteen. Once again hiding his smirk at the plan continuing without a hitch, Hiruzen continued his speech.

"Now that is all settled, let us begin our meeting." Without even waiting to see if anyone would be foolish enough to attempt to interrupt him, the Hokage pressed on.

"It worries and pains me to tell you all this now, but I have discovered some very disconcerting information in the last eight months since the disappearance of Naruto Uzumaki-" Hiruzen then gave a withering glare to the remaining civilians that had attempted to speak up along with his former teammates, silencing them as they curled back in their seats, "While I was investigating what had happened to the boy, I found what turned out to be a disturbing trend in our shinobi forces-" Hiruzen could now see a slight stiffening in Danzo's frame, all but confirming his worries and suspicions before he continued.

"I found that our shinobi and kunoichi teachings in the academy have been slowly changed and geared to make our overall forces weaker than they should have been," Shock seemed to rise in the faces of the remaining civilians along with his former teammates, causing Hiruzen sigh in relief that at least his former friends hadn't been part of this scheme. "then there was the obvious doctoring of our villages histories and the erasure of our most prevalent allies that had helped found our village at the end of the Waring States Period until their almost complete destruction before the start of the Second Shinobi War; the Uzumaki Clan." Once again the civilians were surprised at this information, but the same couldn't be said for his former teammates, Homura seemed to be fighting a small panic attack, while Koharu looked to have swallowed a lemon… or thirty. Danzo on the other hand was beginning to understand what was likely to take place, the old Warhawk had to fight back a curse at how the missing Jinchuriki was now causing all of his carefully laid plans to fall apart.

"I have also discovered that children from many of the graduating classes at the academy have been disappearing, either being declared MIA or KIA under mysterious circumstances-" seeing the confused looks on the civilian's faces and his teammates, Hiruzen nodded and continued.

"Yes I know that things happen while one is serving as a shinobi or kunoichi, but the problem is that these missing persons were almost all made up of those who failed to join the shinobi forces or orphaned members of the clans that had little or no connections to the main houses of those said clans." The civilians, Koharu and Homura now understood what the Sandaime was saying now. Something that Homura wasted no time bringing up.

"Hiru-" Stopping himself when he saw the sharp look in the Hokage's eyes, Homura cleared his throat and collected himself. "Hokage-sama, are you saying that someone has been kidnapping young shinobi from within our own village?" The civilians hoped that the Hokage would assure them that this wasn't the case, only for the atmosphere to prove their fears true. A sigh escaped the Hokage as he answered with a downtrodden tone.

"Yes that is exactly what I am saying… and from the evidence I have been able to find, it does not bode well." Koharu was now showing more concern for her teammate than she had since the Kyūbi attack as she spoke up, concern filling her voice.

"Hokage-sama… was it Orochimaru's doing?" The rest of the room turned to the elder at her tone, Hiruzen only shook his head and responded with a grave tone as if expecting something to happen as soon as he responded.

"No, while I cannot discount my former traitorous pupils involvement before he left the village, the truth is that there is only one person who has the knowhow, political pull, and forces to attempt something of this level…" The aged Kage then turned his gaze upon his onetime friend who was still sitting stoically in place. "Isn't that right Danzo?" Homura and Koharu along with the remaining members of the civilian council were about to speak up in the final elders defense, until they were stopped by said elder rising to his feet. Stepping around his desk, Danzo stood tall while slamming down his cane in obvious arrogance.

"I see you have finally caught on Hiruzen, though you are much too late to stop me from bringing this village to the greatness it deserves. After I dispose of you all I will ensure that your heirs, along with that damn fox brat, are put in their place under my forces." As the old cripple spoke, Danzo only ignored the growing anger in the room before slamming his cane once again against the floor before calling out while flaring his chakra.

"Now my ROOT, come and cleanse this village from its weakness so as to pave the way to greatness!" The Civilians and remaining elders wasted no time ducking under their desks in preparation of the attack… only for nothing to happen. Angered at the lack of action from his forces, both here and out in his hidden bases, Danzo flared his chakra once again while calling out again for his personal ROOT guards. Danzo was about to try for a third time, until a snicker was heard from the direction of the Inuzuka head. Directing a single eyed glare at the woman, the now known traitor was flabbergasted, not that he showed it on his face, at the devious smirks or grins that the clan heads were giving him. Turning back to Hiruzen, Danzo had to dodge to the side as a familiar oversized Bo staff held by a now armor clad Hokage smashed into the ground cratering it.

Danzo then found himself having to dodge attacks from the rest of the council members; a jump over a cloud of kikaichū, then spinning to dodge twin twisters made from Tsume and her partner Kuromaru. Going through a quick sequence of single hand signs, Danzo launched a blast of chakra enhanced wind straight downwards, blasting the Aburame's insects away so as to land safely back in his previous position. This however didn't last long as the now former had to dodge a combined assault from the InoShikaCho trio that attempted to pin him in place before smashing him under the enlarged hand of Choza Akimichi. Using a quick Kawarimi, Danzo substituted himself with one of the remaining civilians, causing the poor man to be squashed under the enlarged hand. Hiruzen, growling at his former friend now enemy's cowardness, looked for his erstwhile foe, only to dodge a Vacuum Blade by a hairsbreadth that cut a furrow in the hardened walls of the council room.

Turning to face where the attack came from, Hiruzen raised his staff to block a heavy downward slash from Danzo who had unwound his bandages from his supposedly crippled arm. In place of his former arm, Danzo had seemed to replace it with an artificial limb made from some sort of white flesh, but this wasn't the most disturbing feature of the limb. No that had to be the ten or eleven imbedded Sharingan eyes that dotted the limbs surface like growths. The entirety of the room could only look on with disgust at what their former ally had done, realizing that Danzo had likely also orchestrated the Uchiha Massacre that had taken place three months before Naruto disappeared.

Hiruzen could feel his blood both freeze and boil in anger at the implications that this pointed out. The aged Hokage only knew one person who would be so ready to pervert the natural order to their advantage.

"So that speculation was right, you have lowered yourself to become a willing guinea pig to my former student Danzo." Hiruzen dodged another Vacuum Blade before the Warhawk responded, a tone of madness filling his voice.

"Oh no Hiruzen, I didn't 'lower' myself, no this was a purely fair transaction, I would hand over some of the more interesting captures that I had acquired to Orochimaru, and he would work to create the tool I would need to control the greatest source of power in this world, Hehehe." Danzo now sported a twisted grin that made some of the younger clan heads flinch, such as Tsume and Choza. Danzo then sped through a collection of hand seals before ending in a snake sign. Hiruzen was confused before a memory sparked of only one other shinobi that used that ending sequence seal. Turning quickly, the Hokage called out to his allies.

"EVERYONE OUT OF THE BUILDING NOW!!" Not willing to challenge or ask why the elder Kage was panicking, the group ran from the room some stopping to grab the remaining civilian and elder council members. This was done not a moment too soon as Danzo slammed his hand to the ground before calling out in a mad tone

"MOKUTON: DAISōJU!" The entire council room was then filled with sharp spears made up of tree roots that smashed through the building seeking anyone to tear limb from limb. It was only by the skin of their teeth that the clan heads managed to escape the Hokage Tower as the roots smashed the majority of the right wing of the building. Incredulous Shikaku Nara turned to the Hokage and yelled out in abject terror and disbelief.

"Hokage-sama, how the hell does Danzo have the Mokuton release?" Hiruzen looked with anger at the destroyed portion of the tower before turning to his allies and answering.

"I believe from what Danzo said before his attack that he worked alongside Orochimaru to develop an artificial arm made from the cells of my teacher, the Shodai Hokage, then augmented it with Sharingan harvested from Uchiha that were killed during the massacre-" The head of the Nara clan was then able to determine the uses for such an item before voicing it for the rest of the clan heads that were gathering around the two.

"Danzo believes that he can use his stolen and grafted Kekkei Genkai to control Naruto and the other Jinchuriki… that's it isn't it Hokage-sama?" At the solemn nod of his leader, Shikaku could only say one thing to sum up the situation. "Troublesome…"

Before anything more could be said, the rubble where the former council chamber sat was suddenly blown out as the form of Danzo was shown strutting towards the Hokage and councilors.

"Well what do you think Hiruzen? I have succeeded in obtaining the ultimate tool to gain the prosperity of Konoha for all of eternity-" An almost manic gleam now entered the traitors one uncovered eye before he continued. "I will fix the mistakes our senseis, Minato, even you were to weak hearted to fix. I will show all of our enemies that Konoha is not to be underestimated, and all will bow before me!" Danzo now fixed Hiruzen with a mad look more commonly found in rabid predators.

"I don't know how you managed to stop my ROOT forces, but that doesn't matter, I will defeat you all and then assume my rightful position as Hokage… Just as it should have been when our sensei Tobirama passed away." Danzo once again went through a series of hand seals before ending once again on the snake seal, Hiruzen and the other clan heads stood ready to act on whatever jutsu Danzo used and prepared to move to defend or evade. Danzo believing his victory assured began to call out his next jutsu

"Mokuton:-" Only to be cut off by another voice above him.

"Kuchiyose: Yatai Kuzushi no Jutsu!" The shout was then followed by a large puff of smoke above the Hokage Tower that cleared to show the falling form of a massive green toad with crossed blades on its back that was almost five stories tall. Danzo only had a moment to react to the massive form that was falling towards him, only having enough time to say one thing before collision.

"Shit-"

In a massive impact that flattened the rest of the Hokage Tower, the toad landed before looking around in confusion for the reason it had been summoned. The clan heads could only look on in shock at how their foe had been taken out in such a… boring way. Hiruzen though, only looked to his right where the tall form of his student Jiraiya, stood with a shit-eating grin on his face. Just as Jiraiya was about to speak up he was suddenly launched into one of the adjacent buildings, courtesy of an angerly vibrating Tsunade.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING JIRAIYA!!" Stomping forward and leaving small cracks in her wake, Tsunade approached the now cowering form of the Gama-senin while the rest of the shinobi councilors and Hiruzen watched.

"What made you think it would be a good idea to destroy the entire Hokage Tower just to kill one traitor?" Before Tsunade could reach him, Jiraiya made haste to answer or be broken by his teammate.

"Well Hime, when I was in place for the ambush, I saw that the traitor had somehow used a Mokuton jutsu.-" Tsunade's eyes widened at the news that Danzo had found some way to use her grandfather's techniques as his own. Seeing the Slug summoner's surprise and questioning gaze Jiraiya continued his excuse.

"So, as soon as I saw that Danzo was beginning another string of hand signs for another Mokuton jutsu, I knew that I needed to take him out as soon as possible." Deciding that he should jump in to defend his only remaining male student from his most temperamental student, Hiruzen began walking forward catching the duo's attention. Looking at their faces, the Hokage could see the happiness on their face suddenly turn to shock and fear. Hiruzen only had a moment to wonder why they would be looking at him like that, until he felt the sudden presence behind him.

Without any hesitation, Hiruzen used a Kawarimi to switch places with a piece of nearby rubble near the still shocked faces of his students. Turning to see what had happened, Hiruzen had to fight back a gasp of shock. There standing there like nothing had happened to him, was Danzo wielding his cane sword lined in wind chakra. Everyone in the square was confused at how the man they had seen crushed under a giant toad had survived without a single scratch on him. As if to punctuate this, Tsume yelled out to the Warhawk.

"How the hell did you survive that you bastard! You should be dead!" Danzo's smug grin did not help, as it only infuriated some of the more emotional members of the group. Hiruzen himself was going through all of his memories and trying to figure out this sudden mystery. When something caught his attention. Deciding that he needed to confirm this, the elder Kage called out to Hiashi.

"Hiashi! I need you to check the eyes on Danzo's arm for me!" Shocked and confused by his Hokage's sudden order, Hiashi quickly went to follow his leader's order. Activating his Byakugan, Hiashi looked at the disturbing limb and his eyes scrunched in confusion at what he was seeing. Calling out to Hiruzen, Hiashi shared his findings.

"Hokage-sama, from what I could see Danzo has about twenty Sharingan eyes embedded in his arm-" hearing this the group was once again disgusted at what had become of the people from one of Konoha's most prestigious clans, but before they could speak up, Hiashi continued. "but it seems like one of the eyes is now inert and dead for some reason?"

Hearing Hiashi's words, Hiruzen suddenly remembered a conversation he and his former teammates had had with one of their Sensei, Tobirama Senju. The old man remembered how Tobirama spoke of one of the most dangerous techniques he had faced in his times during the Warring Clan Era against the Uchiha Clan. Hiruzen remembered how his normally unflappable teacher subtly shivered at the explanation of what was probably the pinnacle of Genjutsu, a technique that required that an Uchiha sacrifice half of their 'light' to right a wrong done on their clan or person. Under his breath, Hiruzen spoke the name of the technique with both worry and anger.

"Izanagi…" Before either his two students or the clan heads could ask what the man was talking about, Danzo had seemed to lose his patience and decided to begin his attack once again. Launching forward with a speed near those on the level of Might Guy or Kakashi Hatake, Danzo once again went to attack Hiruzen to finally slay his rival.

Dodging to the side to avoid Danzo's forward, wind-enhanced slash, the elder Kage jumped back while being covered by both Tsunade and Jiraiya. Danzo suddenly found himself hard pressed to dodge the blows of both Sannin, in fact it was only due to the boost given by using the Senju cells and Sharingan in both his arm and hidden eye that the old traitor was even able to keep up with the younger shinobi. Angered at how his plans had so completely fallen apart, Danzo couldn't stop himself from yelling out as he dodged a combined strike from both Tsunade's monster strength and Jiraiya's Ranjishigami no Jutsu. Of course the older shinobi hadn't dodged unscathed, breathing hard and missing his right leg at the knee that had been severed by a strand of Jiraiya's weaponized hair, Danzo seethed before giving a twisted grin. Both sanin prepared to push their advantage on the now re-crippled opponent, Jiraiya preparing a rasengan while Tsunade channeled a large amount of chakra to both her fists to the point it was visible as a blue flame, only to be flabbergasted as the injured Warhawk disappeared only to reappear a moment later without a single injury.

Shocked, Jiraiya and Tsunade cried out in confusion at what happened, Hiruzen then stepped forward along with the other clan heads to explain the situation while keeping Danzo at bay.

"I can explain what happened," the blond and white haired students of the man turned to Hiruzen as he began his explanation. "You see back when I was studying under the Nidaime Hokage along with Danzo and my other teammates, our Sensei would tell us stories of some of the battles he and his brother had faced in their early years during the Clan Wars. It was during one of these stories that Tobirama-sensei told us four about a certain forbidden technique that was used by the Uchiha clan during his grandfather's time."

Danzo, not wanting his former rival to spill the secret of his survival, attempted to rush in and attack Hiruzen, only to be stopped by a combined offensive by the clan heads. Hiruzen, seeing that he had the time to finish his explanation, continued to speak so as to finally finish this dreary fight.

"Tobirama-sensei told of a technique that an Uchiha that had a fully matured Sharingan could use to cast a genjutsu so strong that it could alter reality or even reverse death.-" Tsunade and Jiraiya were flabbergasted at how powerful a jutsu the former founding clan had access to, but something stuck out to the two, which Tsunade spoke up in question.

"But Sensei, if the Uchiha had such a powerful technique, then why did they have it placed as a forbidden jutsu?" Nodding to his student's question and looking out at the fight still in progress, Hiruzen was smiling at how his council was handling the now enraged Danzo. Looking at Danzo's arm, Hiruzen smiled even wider seeing that three more eyes had closed, meaning that Danzo had escaped death a total of five or six times since this battle started leaving just over half of the man's stollen Sharingan. Turning back to his students, Hiruzen finished his explanation.

"Ahh, well you see Tsunade, while the technique is godly in its power, it does however come with a great cost. You see to use this technique, an Uchiha must sacrifice one of their precious eyes to be forever blinded to use it." Realization at what their sensei was saying, both Sanin turned towards the fight, a new light of determination building within them. Jiraiya looked to his sensei and female teammate and spoke with a tone of seriousness that surprised those who knew him.

"Hime, Sensei, I need you two to distract Danzo-teme for about five minutes, I think I have something that could finish this fight, but I need to prepare." Both Tsunade and Hiruzen looked at Jiraiya for a moment, seeming to wonder what their comrade could be planning to use, but before they could say anything an explosion drew their attention back to the battle.

Danzo was starting to wear down the clan heads, already Hiashi and Tsume were sidelined due to various injuries caused by Danzo's Vacuum Cutter Jutsu. With their two main taijutsu fighters injured and out of the fight, the rest of the clan heads were slowly losing ground to the former elder. Looking to each other then back to Jiraiya, Tsunade and Hiruzen only nodded and moved to rejoin the battle. Danzo was laughing maniacally as he knocked away the enlarged form of Choza Akimichi with an overpowered Fūton: Daitoppa; launching the clan head back onto the remains of the Hokage Tower. The mad Warhawk was about to press forward to attack the rest of the InoShikaCho trio before he was launched away by a familiar staff smashing into his side breaking more than a few ribs. Clenching his teeth in annoyance knowing that his former rival had just rejoined the fight, Danzo turned his crazed gaze towards the rushing form of Hiruzen.

"Oh so now you come to face me you old monkey? What took you so long?" As he continued to rant, spittle began to fly from Danzo's mouth as he gave up any semblance of his previous emotionless mask. "Are you so old and decrepit that you need to hide behind these fools just to try and finish me off as soon as I have tired?" The one eyed glare that he then sent the aged Kage would have likely frozen anyone of lesser status from the sheer malice and contempt that was contained in it.

"You should never have been Hokage Hiruzen! It should have been me that Tobirama-sensei chose that day when he died in the Second Shinobi War! If I had been chosen, Konoha would be standing above all others! No one would dare to stand against the might of the weapons I would forge! But it was all ruined when you were chosen, then you chose that fool Minato and let him get involved with that crimson haired Uzumaki slut!" Everyone stood wide eyed as Danzo seemed to lose himself more and more to his madness as he continued, Tsunade who was healing the fallen clan heads had to hold back a yell of anger at how this fossil of a bastard was besmirching Kushina and Minato along with her grandmother's clan, but what he said next sent a jolt of white hot anger through the medics veins.

"Do you have any idea how hard it was to set up the fall of the Three Great Clans? It took decades for me to maneuver events so that first the Uzumaki would fall after I had their messengers assassinated before they could call for aid, all so I could swoop in and grab the spoils of the Uzumaki clan vaults. Only to find out that the vaults were protected by Fuinjutsu so powerful even the Kyūbi wouldn't be able to enter!" Everyone's eyes were now narrowed at learning that this man's machinations had been in motion when most of them had either been children or before they were born. Hiruzen and Tsunade, along with a still concentrating Jiraiya were horrified at what they were hearing from this madman, but Danzo wasn't done yet.

"The next to go were unfortunately the Senju, After the fall of Uzushio, that old bint Mito wouldn't allow Kushina out of her sight or the Senju clan compound. So I had to manipulate things so that the Senju would be slowly eradicated until all that were left were Mito and her grandchildren. Of course that didn't last long after Mito transferred that damn fox to Kushina, I thought that I would finally have a chance to grab the last Uzumaki and mold her into my perfect weapon, I even orchestrated the entire Kumo kidnapping so as to get ahold of the bitch… only for that damn Namikaze to interfere!"

Tsunade had to fight back tears at this point, this monster in human skin had just admitted to being the cause for the death of her entire clan! All so he could get to Kushina… It took everything in the slug princess' heart to keep healing the injured, but now conscious, Hyūga head. Tsume Inuzuka, who had just finished her own healing, along with her partner, took out a few of the Inuzuka's special recovery food pills to replenish her spent reserves. Hiruzen clenched his jaw so hard that he might have cracked a few of his teeth, what was in front of him was no longer his friend, or even his former rival… No this beast in front of him was just a rabid animal that needed to be put down! Creating a sealess Kage Bunshin, Hiruzen and his clone sped through a collection of hand signs and called out in unison.

"You will pay for your crimes Danzo! Collaboration Jutsu! Doton: Doryūdan/ Katon: Karyūdan no Jutsu!"

Danzo along with the rest of the combatants stared wide eyed when Hiruzen's Jutsu began. From one side of the duo a dragon head made of mud rose from the ground and began launching large projectiles made of earth. While at the same time, the second Hiruzen took a deep breath and blew out a series of large flames that then took the shape of flaming dragon heads. Both attacks then combined creating flaming dragon heads that were made of molten rock. Cursing at his foe, Danzo attempted to make hand signs to cast a counter jutsu, only to be stopped in his tracks by the extended shadow of Shikaku Nara. Danzo only had a moment to react before he was engulfed in the molten fires of Hiruzen's attack. Hiruzen took a few deep breaths, that collaboration along with the Kage Bunshin being extremely taxing on his older body.

After a few moments the remaining group were growing worried at the Warhawk's lack of revival, Hiruzen himself knew that his last attack wasn't enough to kill Danzo, which he wasted no time explaining.

"Everyone keep your guard up, if my count was right Danzo had at least five more uses of Izanagi left…" two more minutes passed as the group looked for any sign of the traitor, but before anyone could relax a sudden shout was heard from behind them.

"Kuchiyose: Baku!" turning around, the group of leaders and one Sanin found a large cloud of smoke, only to be cleared by the roar of an odd creature. This creature, the Baku, was an elephantine chimera large enough to eclipse most battle summons. It is predominantly dark orange in color with the exception of its trunk, legs and the markings around its eyes. The Baku's feet are striped and clawed, reminiscent of a tiger, and sticking from its trunked face were large tusks along with a beard. Wrapped around its head are bandages that are similar to its summoner and an armor piece at the base of its trunk.

Everyone of the fighters stood in fear at the creature in front of them. Was this really the creature known to devour dreams and nightmares? Standing atop his summon, Danzo seemed to have collected himself and stared down at his former allies in contempt.

"I have had enough of this farce, because of this I have wasted too many resources, but I will finish this now and ensure that when that brat of a Jinchuriki returns that he will be conditioned into the weapon he was meant to be along with the rest of your children." A cruel glint now entered his eyes as Danzo continued. "And in the end, ROOT shall stand atop the world, with me as its ruler." Danzo then sped through hand signs and called out as the Baku's mouth opened to massive proportions.

"Fūton: Shinkū Renpa!" A gale of sharpened Fūton chakra was then released from the gullet of the Baku and blasted towards Hiruzen and his allies. Cursing, Hiruzen called out to dodge the deadly stream of razor sharp wind and Kawarimi'd. The gale continued past where the clan heads and Kage had been, shredding a trench through many buildings before ending just before the village walls. Cursing once again at the waste of chakra, Danzo looked for his adversaries while preparing another attack.

In the next moment Danzo was suddenly launched away from the Baku by a grey and red blur. When the Warhawk was eventually able to stop his momentum he looked up to retaliate, only to see his Baku summons dispelled by a massive swirling sphere made of chakra. Clenching his teeth, Danzo launched himself forward to attack the back of the foolish pervert Jiraiya. Lining his arm with a blade made of Fūton chakra, Danzo made to slice the Toad Summoner in two, only to be back fisted by what felt like a stone sledgehammer cracking his jaw and almost breaking his neck. This time the old man was unable to stop himself from being embedded in one of the few remaining walls in the Hokage Square. Squinting his visible eye, Danzo tried to find out how Jiraiya had managed to sense his approach… only to look on in shock at the changed appearance of the man.

Jiraiya seemed to have taken on a more toad like appearance, his body had seemed to have bulked slightly while his hands and feet had gained webbing. On his shoulders stood two small toads, that Danzo knew to be called Fukasaku and Shima the Toad Elders. The former elder now knew that his chances of victory had become infinitely smaller now that the Gamma Senin was using one of if not the most dangerous of the summoning arts; Sage Mode. Cursing again for what felt like the hundredth time today, Danzo tried to pry himself from the wall he had been stuck in, only to be struck in the chest by the empowered fist of an enraged Tsunade. Fighting through the pain of having most of his organs liquified by the pure force of the Slug sanin's single attack, Danzo was just able to use Izanagi to recover ten meters from his previous position. Not that it mattered, as soon as Danzo rematerialized, he was again set upon by the bestial form of Jiraiya.

Danzo attempted to dodge Jiraiya's first strike, only to be launched away when an invisible force struck him across the cheek, shredding his remaining bandages over his covered eye revealing the spinning form of Shisui Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan. At this point Hiruzen couldn't be more surprised that his former rival had been responsible for yet another fallen Konoha Shinobi, and the fact that Danzo had taken that specific eye could explain some of the suspect decisions made by those in the village after the fall of the Uchiha. On the shoulders of Jiraiya, Fukasaku and Shima couldn't help but voice their observations about the current opponent.

"Really Jiraiya-boy, you couldn't have summoned us just to visit," Shima, also known as Ma Toad, spoke with an exasperated croaky voice before looking at the malformed body of Danzo, "no, you summoned us to fight against what I can only assume is some disgusting combination of a science experiment and a grave robber." On Jiraiya's opposite shoulder Fukasaku, or Pa Toad, chuckled slightly and spoke to calm down his wife.

"Now, now dear, you know that Jiraiya-boy would only summon us if the situation was most dire." The elder toad then gave a sidelong glance to the sage and spoke again, "Isn't that right Jiraiya-boy?" Before Jiraiya could answer, all three sages tensed suddenly when said white haired sage dodged a sudden group of Vacuum Bullets sent by a glaring Danzo. Landing with little trouble, Jiraiya spoke up to assuage the toad elders and explain the situation.

"Pa is right Ma, Sarutobi-sensei discovered that Danzo had been planning behind his back for many years to take the position of Hokage at any cost." Jiraiya's eyes then darkened as he continued his explanation. " And to make matters worse, from what that bastard himself said he was planning on using Naruto to become his 'weapon' for world domination, he also admitted to being the one responsible for not only the fall of Uzushio, but the majority of the Senju clan. I wouldn't be surprised at this point if this slimy piece of shit wasn't also responsible for Kushina losing control of the Kyūbi when Naruto was born."

While Jiraiya wasn't able to tell, both Ma and Pa could suddenly feel Danzo's sickening chakra fluctuate when their summoner spoke his accusation. Both elder toad's eyes narrowed at the subtle tell of confirmation that this man had been either directly or indirectly responsible for the death of their last summoner. Fighting off their growing feelings of rage, both Ma and Pa turned their attention back to Jiraiya.

"Okay youngster, what's the plan then?" Jiraiya kept his attention on the still fighting Warhawk that was now defending himself against a combo attack made up of the Inuzuka, Hyūga, and Tsunade. While in the back the trio were supported by the Aburame, Nara, and Yamanaka with the hulking form of the Akimichi stood ready to support either side. The only person that Jiraiya was having a hard time finding was his sensei, Jiraiya concentrated for a moment and was able to sense his sensei's chakra just as the elderly shinobi jumped from cover and launched a couple Katon Jutsu pushing Danzo back. Before he could observe any further, Jiraiya was slapped on the back of the head by Shima to get his attention. Looking up at the female elder toad, the incomplete sage gave the irritated Shima a nervous chuckle before explaining his plan.

Both Shima and Fukasaku seemed to think for a moment before agreeing with the plan and placing their palms together to collect nature chakra. While the sages were preparing for their finishing attack, Danzo was beginning to panic inwardly. The Warhawk now only had four Sharingan left, not including Shisui's Mangekyō in his right eye. Hell the only reason that the man hadn't used the mind warping of Kotoamatsukami, was because the man had used the jutsu earlier that year to manipulate some of the Daimyō's councilors for his future plans when he was ready to take over the village. Now though, Danzo was wishing that he had started with the clan heads, if he had then he would have had the perfect sleeper agents for his eventual rise to Hokage. Now though as he dodged another combined assault from the entirety of Konoha's Shinobi Council along with one of the two remaining loyal Sanin, Danzo could only curse his arrogance in his belief that he wouldn't be caught or could be stopped.

Danzo was so caught up in his thoughts and trying to find a solution to his peril that the man was completely caught off guard when he was suddenly hit with a cacophony of toad song. Danzo then found himself in a completely different place. Where once was a battlefield, now was a dark water filled barrier, the former elder attempted to look at his surroundings only to find that he couldn't move a muscle. Suddenly a light filled the area he was in showing that he was surrounded by four large toads wearing samurai armor, Danzo only had one thought before darkness engulfed him.

'This… isn't how it was supposed to end.'

-Line Break-

In reality, the rest of the clan heads along with the Hokage and Tsunade attempted to catch their breath while looking at the frozen form of Danzo. Breathing hard, Tsunade looked to her teammate and spoke up, her tone full of confusion.

"Jiraiya, what the hell was that?" Said sage quickly walked forward while pulling out a sealing tag and placed it on Danzo's chest before activating it. From the point of contact sealing script flowed across Danzo's skin before flashing between red and blue a few times, then fading to black once more. Then like a puppet with cut strings, the Darkness of Shinobi, Danzo Shimura, collapsed to the ground. Sighing out in exhaustion, Jiraiya then thanked Ma and Pa Toad before dismissing them in two small puffs of smoke. Jiraiya's toad features then almost immediately reverted, leaving Jiraiya with his familiar features, though lined in fatigue. Taking a breath to ask Jiraiya her question again, the white haired man just held up a hand then answered, his tired state clear for all to hear.

"Sorry Hime, I needed to end my Senin mode before it got dangerous for me." The blond Sanin gave the pervert a sudden look of worry, though it was quickly hidden as Jiraiya continued his explanation. "That jutsu was a combination genjutsu that only Ma and Pa can use called Magen: Gama Rinshō. It basically uses senjutsu infused with pure yin release to lock an opponent that hears the toad song into their mind until either the jutsu is ended by the casters or the affected dies within the illusion." The clan heads along with the Hokage were amazed that Jiraiya's summons had such a powerful genjutsu technique, Tsunade only gave a nod before turning to the group and calling out for anyone that was injured to step forward. While two or three of the clan heads went to the last Senju to receive treatment for their injuries, one of the remaining clan heads had another question as they looked at the still form of Danzo, or more specifically the tag on his chest.

"Jiraiya-san, if it wouldn't be to much trouble, could you please explain what this seal you placed on the traitor is?" Jiraiya looked to the pale eyes of the speaker, Hiashi Hyūga, and responded with a light grin.

"Ahh, Hiashi-san," Jiraiya ignored the twitch that grew in the Hyūga head's brow at his lack of decorum and continued, "well to be honest, that seal is one that was made by my last student before he passed away." The rest of the group, along with Hiruzen's eyes widened in surprise that the seal Jiraiya used was made by Minato Namikaze. The group now was paying closer attention as Jiraiya continued the seals function.

"So, the seal itself works primarily by cutting a persons connection to their chakra then sealing it away ensuring that the person wouldn't be able to escape in case of capture." Most of the clan heads had their mouths now wide open in surprise at the utility of this seal. Those that showed no change in expression, Shibi and Hiashi, were only due to their clan training, but the shocks didn't end there as the Toad Sage had more to say.

"Then the seal's second function comes into play, since a person's connection to their chakra is cut, this can actually cause any Deadman switch seals on the persons body to activate from the lack of discernable chakra circulation." Confusion seemed to fill the group for a moment only to be cleared up by Hiruzen.

"What did Danzo have as a last resort Jiraiya?" Tsunade and the clan heads looked at the Hokage in confusion until another exhausted chuckle left Jiraiya. "Well Sensei, I only placed this particular seal on a hunch, and I was right to-" Jiraiya then went to the still form of Danzo and placed his palm on the former elders sternum, a small jolt of chakra then revealed a large seal matrix on the mans body that spread from his naval up to his chest while rope like markings wrapped around his back. Hiruzen only had to take a single look before his eyes widened in shock at what he saw. Seeing his sensei's reaction, Jiraiya nodded and continued.

"Yeah, for those who don't understand seals, this-" Jiraiya gestured to the markings on Danzo's torso, "is a kamikaze style fuinjutsu that when activated would release a suction force that would draw anything and everything within a twenty meter diameter into the sealers body before destroying itself."

The entire group, except for Jiraiya Tsunade and Hiruzen, now were pale at how petty Danzo had been in preparing to take anyone that beat him down along with him in a final blaze of glory. Hiruzen only gave a sad headshake and walked forward while looking at the corpse of his former friend, making a quick decision, the Sandaime made three quick hand signs and took a deep breath before breathing out a nearly blue fire that engulfed Danzo's body incinerating it. Turning around and facing the damage their battle had caused, Hiruzen took a deep breath and spoke up to the others.

"Come everyone, we now have much work to do to reverse all the damage Danzo had done to our home." The clan heads only gave nods of acceptance and made to follow their Kage, Jiraiya looked to Tsunade before smiling at the woman and leaving to follow their sensei. Tsunade seemed to have an inner debate for a time before also leaving the damaged square to begin to fix her grandfather's legacy…

-Flashback End-

"After all was said and done, we then spent the next year and a half repairing the damage to the village while correcting everything Danzo had worked to weaken us."

Naruto and Raven were surprised at how much had happened since the former blond had left to his summons realm. Internally, Naruto was happy that his main detractors, the civilian council, were gone but a part of the Uzumaki heir was disappointed that he was unable to gut that damn traitor Danzo himself for his part in the fall of his clan and the degradation of his village. Raven was impressed by how ruthless Hiruzen proved himself to be in taking down the cancerous parts of his village that had grown without his notice. The Grimm woman could admit that when she had first met the man in front of her she was only reminded of that old fool Ozpin, or Ozma, it didn't matter to her. All that did matter was how it seemed the old man had been so bogged down by his guilt and grief that he had become a husk, that wasn't willing to do anything to fix his situation and even ignored all the signs of the snakes poised to strike at their most opportune moment.

Now that the Hokage had finished his explanation and all was said and done, Naruto only had one question.

"So what now Jiji?" The elder Kage stared at the young man for a moment then sighed and spoke. "Well that's up to you Naruto-kun, tell me do you still wish to become a shinobi for Konoha?" Naruto just gave Hiruzen a look that said, 'What are you senile?' then responded.

"Well I thought that would be obvious Jiji,-" Naruto then gave Hiruzen a sharp grin that sent shivers down the old man's back at how similar it was to Kushina's pranking smile, "of course I still plan on being a shinobi! If not, then all of my training for all those years in the Grimm Lands would have been for nothing, Dattebyo!"

The blond suddenly slapped his hand over his mouth at the utterance of his verbal tic, to the side Raven had to fight back her chuckles at the resurgence of said tic. Confused by Naruto's reaction, Hiruzen asked the boy why he reacted that way to his verbal tic, Naruto then seemed to begin shivering in fear at something and began to mutter something about; "First rule of Salem's Training; Don't talk about Salem's Training."

Hiruzen was now worried as Naruto's complexion seemed to pale and he began to sweat. Unlike said young man, Raven was now fighting down her laughter at how her summoner reacted to the mere inquiry of the hell that had been her Queen's training for the Uzumaki. Deciding to knock the boy from his spiral before he became a stuttering mess, Raven then reached over and knocked Naruto across the back of his head snapping him out of his trauma induced state. Naruto seemed to shake his head for a moment and thanked Raven for snapping him out of his state before looking at Hiruzen again to explain his reaction.

"Sorry Jiji, it's just that Salem-sensei didn't like it when I used my verbal tic and increased my training difficulty for a week if I said it." Sweat dropping at how unreasonable that was, considering that all Uzumaki's had a form of the same tic, it was almost considered genetic at this point. Deciding that he was better off not bringing up his surrogate grandson's traumas again Hiruzen just continued onto the next topic.

"Well then Naruto, there are about two months left until the next class of academy students are set to graduate if you want to join in your age group. I won't make you join with the class until the day of the final exams, so you have time to settle back in here, and on that note-" Reaching into his desk, Hiruzen pulled out a scroll and set of keys with a whirlpool design on them and handed them to Naruto. This is the banking information and master keys for the Uzumaki Clan compound and accounts. Take this time until the final exams to get acquainted with your new home and maybe look around the village."

Hiruzen suddenly stopped at the look that crossed the young heir's features as memories of Naruto's former treatment by the villagers passed through his mind. Coughing into his hand, Hiruzen was able to catch Naruto's attention and gave him a kind smile.

"Naruto, you don't have to worry now, I assure you that you will be safe now within this village." Giving the old man a small smile, Naruto responded with a quick "Thanks Jiji." Before standing up with Raven following as they left the office. Turning in his chair to look out into the village, Hiruzen sighed then spoke into the air.

"You know, if you two wanted to, you could have at least talked to him instead of hiding." For a moment it seemed no one was listening to the elder Kage, then in a blur the forms of Jiraiya and Tsunade were shown. The two looked back at the now closed doors then back to their sensei with sadness in their eyes.

"You know we can't do that now sensei," Jiraiya said as he looked down, Tsunade then picked up were her teammate left off, "What could we even say to the gaki? 'Hey brat! We are your godparents, sorry we never took the time to see you due to guilt and stubbornness, lets get some ramen and talk about it.' Yeah that would go over really well." Even with the attempt at sarcasm, Hiruzen only gave a sad shake of his head.

"You don't know that for sure, I would suggest seeing him sooner rather than later…" looking out his window again, Hiruzen smiled as Naruto spoke to the still masked Raven while they walked to the Uzumaki compound, "you never know when it will be to late to make amends." Turning back to his students, Hiruzen could only sigh sadly at the now empty room. Rubbing his tired eyes, Hiruzen was about to call it a day, until one of his ANBU brought a large stack of paperwork to place on his desk. The old Kage had to fight back sudden tears at the reemergence of his foe before sitting and starting the first form. One thought flitted through the Sandime's mind as he began the fight against his foe once again.

'I am way to old for this shit…'