Chapter 39: Removing the Rot
"We're not just going to let them walk through Konoha unattended, are we, Gai-sensei?" Tenten asked in a worried tone.
"We are here on official business," the disguised Kakashi explained. "If we weren't, we wouldn't have been let past the…"
"And we're supposed to take you at your word?" Neji cut in. "Which is less than worthless."
I let out a sigh as I made my way towards the group. I'd forgotten that Neji was quite the asshole prior to getting his ass kicked. It seemed that with the Chunin exams happening differently, Hiashi never had a reason to tell him the truth of his father's death.
"If you can't take us at our word, then perhaps take it up with your Hokage," Kakashi replied.
"An excellent idea," Gai nodded. "We can go confirm that the visiting Kumo Shinobi are expected and…"
"With all due respect, Gai-sensei," Neji interrupted. "It would be better to escort the Kumo Shinobi to a holding cell. This may be an attempt at assassination and we would be leading them directly to the Hokage's office."
"Neji," Gai said warningly.
"Yeah, that's not going to happen," I began. I could understand why Neji was so angry. I would be too if I was in his position, but that wasn't an excuse for the way he was acting. "The Hokage is expecting these two Kumo Shinobi. The only thing you're going to be doing is stepping to the side and letting them pass."
"I refuse."
I let out a tired sigh. "Gai, you mind dealing with your student while I escort these two to the Hokage's office. As it stands, he's on the verge of causing another international crisis."
"Yes, I believe I should have a long discussion with my student over how he conducts himself," Gai agreed, before turning towards the disguised duo. "You have my sincere apologies. It has been a trying day for my student and he has let his temper get the best of him."
"So long as we can finally get passed, I'm cool with it," Anko hummed.
"It would be dull if this went on any longer," Kakashi agreed.
"Thank you," Gai smiled. "Neji, we're leaving."
"But…"
"This isn't up for discussion," Gai snapped.
Neji winced before nodding. Falling back in line with Lee and Tenten, he shot one last glare towards what he perceived to be Kumo Shinobi. Activating his Byakugan, the angry look on Neji's face soon morphed into one of confusion. "What th…"
I grabbed onto Neji and the forest we stood in was instantly replaced by a completely different forest with a still lake by its side.
"How…" Neji began.
My fist collided with his stomach, dropping him to the floor immediately.
"Do you have any idea what you almost did?" I snapped, glaring down at Neji. "You almost blew an incredibly deep cover mission."
"Your sensei… and that proctor woman," Neji wheezed.
"Are undercover, baiting a rogue element in Konoha," I growled. "And your dumbass might have just fucked everything up."
"Then why wasn't…"
"No, shut the hell up. I need a minute to think," I snapped.
Danzo would likely have had his Shinobi watching, but from their point of view, they would have seen Neji activate his Byakugan and me teleporting him. They could have heard what Neji said, but they could also assume it was due to me grabbing him. There was a good chance that Danzo hadn't caught on yet.
Pushing himself up, Neji settled to glare at me in silence. "Can I talk now?" He grunted.
"You can, but I won't be listening," I replied, feeling a little calmer. "You should learn from your screw up today, Neji. Make another mistake like this and you'll end up dead or imprisoned."
Stepping towards my marked Kunai that was buried in a tree, I briefly examined my marker before nodding. It was still in good condition and hadn't faded with time.
"Alright, I'm going to be heading back to Konoha. By the way, it's about a day's run in… that direction," I said, pointing off into the distance. "Oh, and if you try anything like this when the actual Kumo convoy arrives, I'll kick the living shit out of you before leaving you here again."
"What do you mean leaving…" Neji began.
Stepping out of the bushes, I was once more greeted to the sight the disguised duo along with team Gai minus Neji.
"Sorry about that," I apologized. "It looked like Neji was about to attack, so I moved him to a new location… By the way, I left him in Taki. You might want to go fetch him, Gai. I gave him directions to Konoha, but knowing him, he'll ignore them out of spite."
Anko let out a soft snort at that.
"You're joking, right?" Tenten asked suddenly.
"You do realize how delicate this whole situation is, right?" I deadpanned. "We're one fuck up away from all out war with Kumo which could easily start the next Shinobi world war. If Neji had done anything serious like attack the Kumo convoy, it would be seen as an act of treason and he would be executed for his crime. As it stands, Neji has caused some issues already."
Tenten began to pale while Lee stood straighter.
"Surely that can't be correct, right Gai-sensei?" Lee asked.
"Something like this has happened in the past," Gai admitted. "But the sentence is usually equal to the crime."
"Then that means Neji should be alright?" Tenten asked worriedly. "He didn't do anything, so he's not in trouble."
I slowly made my way towards Anko and Kakashi while Gai gave a brief description of what happened during the Hyuga incident. The sooner I got them to Tsunade, the sooner I could start preparing for tonight.
"Alright, so I'm just going to take them to see Ts… The Hokage," I announced. "Don't forget that Neji is in Taki and you should go fetch him because I'm not bringing him back."
Not giving Gai a chance to respond, I grabbed the disguised duo and we disappeared in a flash.
Arriving back at training ground 7, I was greeted to the sight of Sasuke sitting on the floor as Sakura stood behind him, her hands emitting a green glow as she held them against his back.
Glancing towards my clones, I saw that they were exactly where I left them. Sitting in a circle with a pile of marked Kunai laying in front of them. One clone placed a Kunai in the center and dispelled, being immediately replaced by a new clone.
Walking into the circle, I grabbed a pair of Kunai, before I quickly walked out, not wanting to distract my clones. "Sasuke, Sakura," I greeted the pair as I walked up to them.
"Oh, hey, Naruto," Sakura mumbled, not bothering to look up as her entire focus was on healing Sasuke.
"You're back," Sasuke noted. "I thought you had other things to do today."
"Yeah, well, it seems that things changed. I had to deal with team Gai confronting a pair of Kumo Shinobi."
The green glow in Sakura's hand died down and she finally looked up. "Kumo Shinobi? What were they doing here?"
"That's something I wanted to talk to the two of you abut. It seems the schedule for my arrival in Kumo has been sped up, so I'll probably be leaving tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?!" Sakura said suddenly. "But… I thought that we would have more time together as a team."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he regarded me. "You don't seem too stressed about this."
"I was," I replied. "But I've come to accept it. Besides, I've got these," I palmed my marked Kunai, before throwing them, impaling the ground in front of them. Teleporting to the Kunai, I picked them up and held one to each of them. "With this, I'll always be able to return to Konoha instantly. I want the two of you to keep them on you at all times."
Sasuke observed the Kunai with his Sharingan before taking it while Sakura cautiously took hers.
"And you're giving these to us?" Sakura asked. "Shouldn't you give one of these to someone like Hokage-sama?"
"I already have," I hummed. "I've also placed a few dozen kunai around Konoha. I'm giving these two you to so that I'll be able to help you two out if you ever need me."
"You're preparing for a worst case scenario," Sasuke realized. "You're ensuring that you have a way back to Konoha if Kumo decides to start a war."
"While also hoping for the best," I replied. I'd actually been preparing for anything that needed me back in Konoha, like the Akatsuki deciding to attack. I actually wanted to place the markers on Sasuke and Sakura, but I doubt they'd appreciate it, so I went with the next best thing. "We don't know what the future has in store for us, so its best that we prepare for anything. It's one of the reasons why I'm helping you train."
"To make sure we're ready for anything," Sasuke nodded as he slipped the Kunai into his pouch.
"Do you really think that something bad is going to happen?" Sakura asked. "Something like a war?"
"I'm really hoping not," I replied. "But I am getting ready in case it does. I'd rather not die due to being unprepared."
Sakura looked at the Kunai. Placing it in her holster, she took a deep breath as her hands let off a green glow and she got back to healing Sasuke.
I smiled as I watched her. The determined look on her face told me that she was finally taking things seriously. I didn't need to prompt her to continue. If she could keep this up, she'd become a great medic one day.
Seeing the sweat begin to build up on Sakura's forehead as she began to grow tired, I decided to lend a hand by refilling her Chakra.
Kakashi sighed as he laid on the hotel bed with his feet kicked up, still in disguise. There were so many things he'd rather be doing than waiting, like reading Icha Icha for one, but he understood the importance of this mission. Danzo needed to die, and his rogue ANBU squad needed to be disbanded. It was a simple fact.
From the moment Kakashi had learned that Danzo had orchestrated the Uchiha massacre and had possibly been influencing the Sandaime for several years, he knew that he would need to help kill Danzo. Just like how he knew he was needed to help kill Obito. They had both done terrible things and needed to answer for them.
Anko, while not an exceptionally powerful Shinobi was skilled in disguises and subterfuge. More than that, she'd even met and conversed with a Kumo Jonin. She was more than capable in getting them ready to infiltrate Konoha under the guise of Kumo Shinobi.
She showed him a more sturdy Henge and she had scent neutralizing pills on her. Anko had a lot more experience with this than Kakashi. The only issue had been that once they passed through the barrier, the Konoha Barrier Corps would know that it was them.
That issue had been solved by causing a slight disturbance with the barrier as they entered. It hadn't been anything too massive as to cause alarm, but it had been enough for the Barrier Corps to not pick up on who had passed the threshold, just that a pair of Shinobi had entered.
The only issue they'd had was upon entering Konoha. Gai's team, specifically, the Hyuga boy had started causing a scene. By the way that Gai had looked at him, it seemed that he'd realized that Kakashi had been under a Henge. Luckily he Gai was smart enough to keep what he knew to himself.
Kakashi had almost been relieved when Naruto arrived and took control of the situation. It was just a few short months ago where Naruto would have ended up making things worse.
Now, however, Naruto had diffused the situation… although he had ended up sending one of Gai's students to another country which while necessary, had been a bit overkill.
Kakashi felt a sense of pride, seeing how far Naruto had come in such a short amount of time. He'd really proven himself worth of his rank, not only in strength, but also in temperament.
With everything they'd done, Kakashi felt confident that they had successfully drawn enough attention to themselves. Danzo should be well aware that they were in Konoha and should make a move soon. Now all Kakashi had to do was wait. Naruto's Hiraishin marker resting in his pocket, ready to be placed.
There was a knock at the door and Anko, still in her disguise, sprung up from her seat by the window. "I'll get it."
Watching carefully, Kakashi idly thumbed a Kunai, before sighing when Anko returned, carrying two trays of food.
"It seems that the Hokage has been cool enough to send some food up for us," Anko said as she placed a tray on Kakashi's bed. "It smells good too, but I think the pork will give me a stomach ache."
Kakashi eyed the food warily and took a quick sniff. It was subtle, but it was still there, the slight hint of poison in the food. From what she'd said, Kakashi realized that Anko knew the food was poisoned as well.
"I'm not that hungry," Kakashi said. Grabbing the tray, he placed it out in the hallway. As he turned back to Anko expectantly, he found her eating the poisoned food.
"It would be uncool to send the food back without at least sampling it," Anko replied as she took a bite of the pork. "Besides, I've got experience with foods that are harsh on the stomach.."
Which likely meant that she'd identified the poison and was immune to it. Kakashi shook his head and went back to his position on his bed. Their food had just been poisoned and Kakashi had obviously rejected his. Danzo was likely going to act soon.
Kakashi laid in bed, his eyes closed as he pretended to be asleep while he waited for the inevitable assassination attempt. Several minutes ago, Anko had seemingly stopped breathing, which would have been cause for concern, but there was still one main factor that let him know that she was still alive.
Her henge hadn't dispelled.
Kakashi knew that Anko didn't have the Chakra control required to keep a henge active while she slept, so it seemed that she was growing tired of waiting and decided to try make things move along faster by playing dead.
Kakashi smelled his would be assassin before he entered the room. There was a soft click as the ceiling panel was cautiously pulled back and the Shinobi entered the room.
The Shinobi stopped by Anko's bed and held a finger to her neck before pulling away. He stopped by Kakashi's bed and silently unsheathed a Tanto.
Feeling the blade inch closer to him, Kakashi waited until the last moment to act. He twisted out of the way and brought his own Kunai up, stabbing into the Shinobi's forearm.
Jumping back, The Shinobi threw several Shuriken at Kakashi who dodged out of the way.
Rushing forward, Kakashi brought his blade down on the Shinobi who blocked with his Tanto.
There was a spark of electricity and the Shinobi reeled back, disengaging. The Shinobi rushed through several hand seals and was just about to unleash a jutsu before Anko bombarded him with Shuriken.
"Who are you and why did you attack us?" Kakashi demanded as Anko prepared more Shuriken.
The Shinobi threw another Kunai, except this one had an explosive tag attached to it.
Kakashi's eyes widened as he darted out of the window alongside Anko, just before the room was engulfed in an explosion.
Landing on the ground, they quickly moved, jumping onto a nearby roof as they fled the area, finding a quiet spot that wasn't currently filled with Shinobi
"You think that was good enough?" Anko asked, finally dropping her henge.
"Yeah," Kakashi hummed. "I've planted the tag."
There was silence for several seconds, before Naruto suddenly appeared next to them.
"You know, for a covert mission, you two sure made a lot of noise."
"About time that you three showed up," Jiraiya called out as we Hiraishined in. "I take it that the mission was a success and you managed to get a tag on one of Danzo's root members?"
Glancing towards Jiraiya, I found him sitting cross-legged with his hands clapped together, building up a large amount of Chakra. It was good to see that he was taking this seriously and going all out from the beginning.
"Yes," Kakashi nodded. "I planted the tag just as I was attacked."
"Yeah, we're awesome... Where the hell are we?" Anko asked, butting her way into the conversation.
"In my lab," Tsunade replied, entering the room. "It's a place where I can keep some of my more sensitive research safely hidden away. I would go as far to say that this is the most secure room in all of Konoha."
Well, technically speaking, it wasn't exactly a room in Konoha. It was a room hidden deep within the Hokage Mountain.
"Jiraiya, are you ready?" Tsunade asked.
"Just a few more seconds," Jiraiya grunted as his hands began to emit light.
Bringing his hands down, the room was engulfed in smoke as I summoned the toad clans most powerful members.
"Jiraiya-chan?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT TIME IT IS? PA AND I WERE JUST SETTLING IN FOR BED!"
"Now, now, Ma. If Jiraiya summoned us at this hour, it must be important, let's first hear him out," Pa said soothingly.
Ma crossed her arms as she glared at Jiraiya. "Well? I'm waiting?"
"Uh… right. I need your help to enter sage mode. We're going to be facing a traitor to Konoha, my Sensei's old teammate and we've got it on good authority that he's been modifying his body, making himself much stronger."
"We?" Pa asked as he began to look around, catching sight of me just as the smoke began to settle. "Naruto-chan! It's been a while."
"Naruto, huh?" Ma hummed as she hopped over, landing on my shoulder. "Our new summoner."
"That's me."
"Why haven't you summoned me sooner? I've been wanting to meet you for a while now and you've only been summoning Pa," Ma scolded me.
"Sorry. I was really busy. There was in invasion during the Chunin exams and then I became a Jonin and got really busy," I tried to explain.
Ma glared before letting out a sigh. "Since this is the first time I'm meeting you, I'll let you off the hook, but you've got to come over for a meal someday soon, got it."
"Sure," I replied, hiding my wince.
I really wasn't looking forward to that day. Maybe I could convince her to let me bring some food as well…I could probably also ask Tsunade if she can make it so that I can't taste anything while I'm there. She'd a world renown medic, she should be able to come up with something.
"Good. Now, we were summoned here for a reason. Let's get this over with so Pa and I can get back to bed." They both jumped onto Jiraiya's shoulder where they quickly attached themselves.
Jiraiya's transformation had been interesting to say the least. His muscles grew larger, warts formed on his face, he grew a short beard and his eyes became more toad like. Something that he tried to hide by extending the red paint he had on his face.
"I don't like using this form," Jiraiya grunted as he stood. "It does nothing but chase the ladies away."
"Somehow, I don't think that's going to be an issue right now," Tsunade deadpanned. "Unless you were planning on trying to get Danzo into bed."
Jiraiya began to gag loudly.
Going around the room, I began to refill everyone's Chakra, leaving a small sliver of mine behind so that I would be able to use the Hiraishin on them without having to be in physical contact.
We were going to be teleporting directly into Danzo's base after all and I'd rather be safe than sorry.
We instantly appeared in Danzo's base, right as the Shinobi that had attempted to kill Anko and Kakashi was giving a debriefing. The room exploded in movement with our arrival. Dozens of root Shinobi flooded in with weapons in hand, rushing towards us
With a Raikiri in hand, Kakashi raced forward, cutting through several Root Shinobi. Anko, rushing through hand seals, slammed her palm into the ground, summoning several massive snakes that assisted in the battle.
A three tailed Chakra cloak bubbled to life around me as I rushed towards Danzo alongside Tsunade and Jiraiya.
Danzo hadn't been idle. Although one of his arms was in a sling, it hadn't stopped him from forming seals, but it was all for nothing. Jiraiya kicked off at blinding speed, his hand wrapped around Danzo's neck as he slammed him into a stone wall that had been behind him, cratering it.
I shot off a large, bubbling Chakra hand to help pin him to the wall, the caustic Chakra slowly began to burn his chest.
Tsunade grabbed his hand and twisted it harshly. there was a loud pop as it was dislodged from its socket.
Throughout all of this, Danzo was stone faced as blood leaked from his mouth, unwilling to show any pain or discomfort as he was handled savagely.
"It would seem that you've caught on to my little operation," Danzo commented idly. "And that you're too weak to see how necessary it is. Much like my foolish former teammate, Hiruzen was."
"Shut up," Jiraiya grunted, tightening his grip, only making Danzo smirked.
"But… you've…" Danzo struggled to speak.
Ignoring him, Tsunade tugged the bandages off the side of his head, revealing Shisui's Sharingan to the world. Reaching forward in order to pluck it out, she rapidly withdrew her hand back as Danzo pierced through it with a sharp needle made from Wind Style Chakra.
Angling the needle, Danzo aimed it downwards and pierced straight through Jiraiya's forearm, before moving it to the side in an attempt to cut Jiraiya's arm clean off.
"Jiraiya-chan!" Pa called out in alarm as Jiraiya pulled his arm back.
Using a Chakra arm, I smashed Danzo's head backwards, but it made little difference as the Wind Style needle pierced through it.
Moving swiftly, Danzo brought his arm that was in a sling upward and cut straight through it, dragging the needle up as he cut through his cast. There was a clank sound as the metal from his brace dropped to the floor.
Bringing his hands together, a wall of wood grew in front of Danzo, cutting off my Chakra arm. Now that he'd freed himself, he didn't remain idle. Flashing through several seals, the area exploded as numerous trees began to sprout around the area as he fled.
Rushing towards him, I was met with the still growing trees. Vines shot down and wrapped around me, but they were nowhere near strong enough to hold me. They did, however slow me down.
A massive Rasengan formed in my hand as I held it in front of me. Every one of Danzo's trees that he formed in order to slow or block us was swiftly reduced to sawdust. Tsunade and Jiraiya followed closely as we began to near Danzo.
Danzo soon came to a stop, having reached the end of the passage he'd been fleeing down.
Pushing forward, my massive Rasengan collided with him and quickly reduced his body to a fine red mist before it continued onward, drilling a massive hole through the wall, before dissipating. All that was left of Danzo was his feet that had managed to avoid my Rasengan, but they quickly faded.
"This isn't over." I warned as a regular Rasengan formed in my hand.
"Jiraiya-chan, behind you," Ma warned.
Danzo lashed out with a kick before Jiraiya could react, sending him flying backwards. It wasn't enough to even scratch him, but it had caught Jiraiya by surprise.
Launching myself towards him, Danzo clapped his hands together, forming several more roots to spring up throughout the hallway. This time, however, they were moving much faster.
A Rasengan formed in my hand, but it wasn't fast enough. The roots quickly wrapped around my body, but instead of holding me in place, they forced me back, flinging me down the tunnel that I'd made with my Rasengan while Jiraiya and Tsunade followed closely behind.
Struggling to get free, I was able to tear my arm out and rip the wooden roots apart. I was just about to tear the roots that tied my legs together when they flung me forward, releasing me on their own.
Instead of colliding with a stone wall or soft dirt, I found myself in freefall, having been thrown in what appeared to be a large cavern.
Shooting a Chakra arm towards the wall in order to stop my descent, a pale golden chain shot out and wrapped around my arm. Tugging harshly, it forced me to the bottom of the cavern, onto an underground lake where the chain originated.
Several more chains shot out of the water, wrapping around my ankles, waist and free arm, forcing me down to one leg.
"What the hell is this place?" I muttered to myself, I could feel Kurama grow uneasy inside of me. There was a moment of silence before the water to my side rippled as Tsunade landed next to me.
Grabbing onto one of the chains, Tsunade grabbed onto it and began to strain as she attempted to break it. "Shit, it's strong. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, this doesn't hurt, it's just really restrictive. Don't worry about me, keep an eye out for Danzo," I warned. "I don't think these chains will be able to withstand the second state."
Before Tsunade could reply, Jiraiya appeared next to us, glaring up at our entry point. "Where are we?"
"In a place that I felt was necessary, but Hiruzen was too weak to allow," Danzo announced as he landed in front of us. "I place where I could train Jinchuriki without worry for them going out of control."
"To create such a place that is capable of restraining Jinchuriki speaks volumes for your potential," Pa commented. "It's a shame that a brat as skilled as you is going to die today."
"This room wasn't completely designed by myself," Danzo replied. "Several of its functions are only possible due to the research from Suna's puppet corps and the late Uzumaki Kushina. Even dead, her body still contained powerful Chakra that is capable of restraining a biju."
I froze as I considered what Danzo had just said. My stomach began to churn in disgust. "You built this room… using my mother's remains?!"
"She serves Konoha even in death," Danzo answered. "To help take down her treasonous son."
My vision briefly blurred before clearing. Pushing myself up, I felt my tendons tear, my bones groan and my muscles scream out in pain before rapidly healing. The pain tore through my body, but was muted as one thing… one goal on my mind.
Kill.
"Naruto, I can feel that you want to go all out, but you…"
"Let him," My darkness interrupted. "I won't interfere. Not this time."
"And how can I be sure this isn't some attempt to get revenge on Naruto?"Kurama asked.
"Simple. Kushina is my mother too."
"Hm, very well,"Kurama hummed. "Knowing just how serious this is, I'll trust you to keep your word this one."
Golden Chakra engulfed my body and I rushed forward, snapping the chains with sheer speed. My hand wrapped around Danzo's neck as I raced towards one of the stone walls of the cavern, smashing him harshly into it.
Danzo's body exploded into gore on impact, before it faded away. A golden Chakra arm shot out of my back and wrapped around Danzo's newly formed body.
"You let your emotions rule you and in doing so you have forfeited your victory," Danzo gloated. "This state of yours while powerful, can only be maintained for a handful of seconds."
On any other day, Danzo would be right, but every part of myself was screaming out for his death. There was nothing actively working to hinder me.
"Danzo," I began slowly, feeling hate as I said his name. Looking at the arm made of Hashirama cells, an idea came to mind. "Scream."
Flooding the arm with Kurama's potent Yang Chakra, Danzo quickly lost control over the Mokuton bloodline. Danzo let out a hoarse scream as Wood grew through his body, piercing through nerve endings. There was a loud squelch as a newly formed tree finished engulfing his body.
Danzo reformed once more and was wrapped in a Chakra arm again, never allowing him a moment of freedom through this. I was determined to make the next ten minutes of his life the most painful he'd ever experience.
"Oi, Naruto," Jiraiya called out, having finally caught up. "Don't rush off like that again. We're supposed to be doing this together."
Several loud snaps came from Danzo's body as the Chakra arm tightened its grip, crushing him.
"I know," I sighed, dropping Danzo's body. Fighting Danzo one on one was risky, not because of his strength, but because he could potentially escape.
Once more, Danzo began to reform, only to immediately be blown apart by Tsunade's fist.
"Bastard," Tsunade grunted. "To think that there were even more reasons to want you dead."
"So this is it then?" Danzo asked, fading into view between the three of us. "The old teammates," he looked to Jiraiya and Tsunade. "And the lovers," he looked between Tsunade and myself.
"We've been together for hundreds of years, I think Pa and I are a little above lovers at this point," Ma cut in. "Hurry up and die so I can get some sleep."
"I was referring to the Hokage and the Jinchuriki."
"If you want to break my worldview, you're going to have to do better than that," Jiraiya grunted. "I've known Tsunade all my life and Naruto is my disciple, do you really think I wasn't aware that something was going on between these two? Please… they're stealthy, but not that stealthy."
"I'm never going to get to sleep at this rate," Ma sighed.
"We can sleep in tomorrow, Ma. For now, we've got to help taking out a seemingly immortal Shinobi."
Danzo began to flash through hand seals, but was cut off by a high pressure jet of water from Pa that managed to cut right through his body.
Reforming, He exhaled a stream of Wind Style Chakra onto his Kunai only to have his body blown apart by one of Tsunade's punches.
Again and again, Danzo kept coming back, trying something new to get one over on us only to be killed in numerous different ways. Minutes ticked by and the eyes on his arm closed, signaling that his end was near.
"Speaking of reaching limits,"Kurama began. "You're about to hit the time limit on this form."
'Can we keep it going for a little while longer?'
"We've already pushed it's time to the limit. If you had a little more training with it, you might have been able to keep it active for a while longer."
There was no helping that now. The Izanagi made Danzo unkillable for a short amount of time, by resetting his body back to the state it was before he was injured, but there were things that he wasn't able to reset. Each use took a large chunk of Chakra.
"I see,"Kurama chuckled. "If Danzo doesn't have enough Chakra, he shouldn't be able to use the Izanagi."
'That is the theory.'
Grabbing onto Danzo, my Chakra latched onto his and I gave one heavy pull, ripping a massive chunk of it out. His eyes widened and he doubled over as the Hashirama cells began to overwhelm his body and grew out of control.
Tearing off his own arm, it quickly sank below the water's surface, growing into a tree before it reached the bottom.
"This fight is over," I sighed as my cloak receded. Through sheer stubbornness, Danzo had managed to hang on to enough Chakra to survive. It wouldn't save him.
Forming a clone, I gave it a nod and it Hiraishined out of the cavern.
"After all I've done and all the sacrifices I've made," Danzo panted. "You've undone my work and weakened Konoha."
"The only thing you've ever sacrificed was others, never yourself. That's why you weren't chosen as the Sandaime Hokage," Tsunade said. Ripping Shisui's Mangekyou out, she crushed it in her palm. "The way you go on, you act as if there is no Konoha without you, when really you're the thing weighing Konoha down."
There was the soft sound of feet hitting water as Sasuke was teleported into the cavern alongside my clones.
"Everything I've done has been to strengthen this village. Without me you'll soon find out just how difficult it is to keep things in check."
Sasuke's hand wrapped around Danzo's neck ands he shoved him into the cavern wall. "You… You've strengthened this village? YOU ORDERED MY BROTHER TO KILL MY CLAN!"
"I should have known that Itachi couldn't keep his mouth shut," Danzo gasped out. "It was a mistake to let him live after he took out your traitorous clan. I should have killed him myself that night, after he had exhausted himself… and you."
"Sasuke," I warned. "Just kill him. Nothing good will come from talking to him. He's already admitted to it."
"I want to know what kind of person he is before I do it," Sasuke growled. His Sharingan spun madly as the curse seal on his neck flared.
"He built this room to contain me using parts from my mom. Trust me, no answer he gives will ever be satisfying."
Sasuke's glare softened into a scowl as he nodded. A Chidori sparked to life in his hand and he slowly brought it against Danzo's chest.
"This will be painful… I just wish I could make it last longer." Sasuke slowly pushed his fist into Danzo's chest, causing him to jolt. By the time Danzo finally died, there were deep electrical burns throughout his entire body.
I placed my hand on Sasuke's shoulder. I wasn't going to ask if he was alright, it was obvious that he wasn't. All I could do was let him know that he wasn't alone.
"I'm tired," Sasuke grunted.
"Join the club, sonny," Ma croaked.
Creating a shadow clone, Tsunade gave it the remains of Shisui's eye. "Naruto. I need you to transport Danzo's body and my clone to my lab. There are a few tests that I need to run on it."
Nodding, I gestured for my clone to handle it. Now all that was left to handle was cleaning up. I couldn't help but feel that I'd forgotten something. "… Crap, Anko and Kakashi!"
Jumping back into the tunnel, I rushed down the root infested hallway, having to cut through several of them before I made it back to the hall where the fight had begun, only to find Kakashi lazing against a wall reading his Icha Icha as Anko laughed madly as she tore the place apart, engulfed in a Chakra cloak. I hadn't activated that cloak.
"I did. There were a lot of Root Shinobi and it would have taken her and Kakashi a while before clearing them out, so I decided to let them use the cloak."
'Then why doesn't Kakashi have a cloak activated?'
"Because he stopped once all the Root Shinobi were dead. Your teammate on the other hand… She might like my power a little too much. She's been tearing this place apart."
That sounds about right… Well, I suppose I could let Anko have this. I did promised her that I would let her use a Chakra cloak again and it had been a while. Hopefully she didn't destroy anything that could be useful.
'Did either of them come across Sai?'
"No, he wasn't here."
Well that was something at the very least.
By the time that we made our way back to the surface, the night had come and gone. Day was beginning to break. Ma and Pa had decided to leave shortly after the fight with Danzo, which was probably for the best. Ma would have been supremely angry if she had skipped a night of sleep.
I felt lighter… much like how I felt after I'd killed Orochimaru. Without Danzo lurking around every corner, I no longer had to worry about Karin or Fu being abducted by his Root Shinobi. Konoha seemed safer now. I hadn't realized how much Danzo was stressing me until he was gone.
Now all that was left to do was getting rid of the Akatsuki and bringing about peace… Something that seemed impossible before felt achievable now.
"Man, what an awesome night," Anko cheered as she bumped my shoulder. "Now that was one hell of a send off mission, wouldn't you say?"
Glancing at everyone's tired state, I found myself nodding. "You know what, yeah. I can honestly say that I'm glad this was my last mission before I headed to Kumo."
And that's chapter 39 completed. Sasuke gets some much needed retribution and Danzo dies.
Neji might seem a little out of character, but that's mainly because he never got any sense knocked into him in the Chunin exams and Hiashi never had a reason to explain what really happened with his brother. At one point, Neji did need to be restrained because he was about to use lethal force against Hinata, so I could see him acting like this if Kumo Shinobi are involved.
Anyways, I'm up to chapter 46 on the spooky P word website.
P
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I go by the name of ThatKircguy. Just copy the name and paste it in the Patty Rio On search bar. It'd help me out immensely, but don't worry if that's not your style. I will be uploading weekly, so it's not going to be stuck there permanently.
Also, I post my original stuff there as well. It's nothing much, just two short stories for now, but I'll post more as I write them.
The next chapter will be posted on the 27th of September.
Until then dudes and dudettes.