Chapter 650: Chapter – 643 Commencing the Ritual
Tuk! Tuk! Tuk! Tuk!
Following the sound of crutches on the ground, Homusubi turned around to find Danzo approaching them, still costumed as a sickly old man with a bandage wrapped over his body and a cane in his hand.
She sneered, "Stinky old man!"
Danzo has totally transformed after undergoing the body modification operation at the hands of Orochimaru. His current body outperforms 99 percent of the shinobi world's ninjas. Not only does he no longer have any disabilities in his body, but his cells have also gained a tremendous amount of vigor.
Danzo's current physique is far more powerful than it was when he was younger... Furthermore, his strength has surpassed both his and Sarutobi Hiruzen's peak... So, in terms of strength, it wouldn't be inaccurate to state that the present Danzo has the qualifications to be the Hokage of Konoha in the genuine sense.
"He is really careful," Orochimaru remarked with a sarcastic smirk when he saw Danzo's appearance.
Despite the presence of hundreds of Root Shinobi in the area, Danzo continues to portray himself as a frail and handicapped elderly man... From this, it is clear that Danzo trusts no one but himself.
Danzo approached Homusubi and Orochimaru a few seconds later and inquired, "How are the ritual arrangements?"
"All of the arrangements inside the cave are nearly finished."
"As for the arrangements outside the cave... the basic arrangements were designed by us, the rest was all up to you… in that matter, we can't help," Orochimaru replied after a brief pause.
Homusubi and Orochimaru's ritual is broken into two parts: 'Inside the Cave and Outside the Cave.'
The ritual altar and related Fuinjutsu Arrangements are located inside the cave, while the Chakra Conveying Array is located outside.
The 'Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual' necessitates a massive quantity of Chakra, which a normal shinobi will never have in his entire life.
To overcome the difficulty, Hiruko devised an amazing plan to relocate the ceremony to the top of a mountain, utilizing the celestial phenomenon's power.
Because Danzo needs to use the unique environment of a volcanic cave to suppress the presence of excessive water chakra in his body, therefore, he couldn't copy Hiruko's method, thus he chose to mobilize a large number of Konoha shinobi to serve as temporary chakra batteries for his rituals.
"There wouldn't be a problem in that respect," Danzo stated indifferently. "I've brought around 1500 shinobi and Kunoichi..."
With a shocked expression on his face, Orochimaru whispered, "There are more than 1500 people outside? Bringing such a large group is no laughing matter...!"
It's important to recognize that surreptitiously gathering nearly 1500 ninjas, even for a strong shinobi village, is no easy task.
Not to mention the fact that these ninjas have been brought in as 'Chakra Batteries'... As a result, the fraction of ninjas with a small chakra reserve should be low, implying that among the 1,500 Konoha ninjas present outside the volcanic cave, a considerable proportion is ranked higher than or equivalent to a high-class Chunin, which isn't a joke.
This is a full-fledged army... An army capable of easily annihilating a small nation!
Even Homusubi was taken aback when she heard Danzo's statement...
Only Danzo, Konoha's current temporary leader, is capable of drawing such a formation. Anyone else, at least in Konoha, doesn't have that kind of power... And it's for this reason that Homusubi is delighted she chose Shimura Danzo as her 'pawn'... Homusubi would have had a significant problem if someone else had been used instead of Danzo.
"Of course, this subject concerns the life and death of their commander, as well as the destiny of the entire shinobi world," Danzo said with a nod, much to Orochimaru's amazement, "It's a privilege for them to be allowed to take part in this ritual!"
Orochimaru was taken aback and couldn't help but think to himself with a sigh, 'What an idiot.'
"Although building a Chakra Transport Array is not a difficult task, it is quite impossible to guarantee stability without repeated testing in advance, h "Have you taken this into consideration?" Homusubi said at the time.
"The Chakra Transport Array outside the cave was set up after forty-seven trial runs, everything is in line with the specifications set by you," Danzo said nonchalantly. "Nothing should go wrong as long as there isn't an issue on your end."
"As long as the Chakra conveyance array remains steady, a total of 1,500 Konoha Shinobi should be enough to meet the chakra needs during the Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual," Homusubi said lightly, then questioned, "When will you begin?"
Danzo glanced at Orochimaru.
"Anytime, you want," Orochimaru said with a smile.
When Danzo heard Orochimaru's comments, he slammed his crutch to the ground and said, "In that case, let's get started!"
Five gaps erupted in the ritual altar as a result of Danzo's remarks, and five people who had been caught by the Root Shinobi were extracted from those gaps.
Danzo had never shown the captured targets to Homusubi and Orochimaru before, so both of them were intrigued and glanced over.
These victims were tethered to the five crosses, and it was clear that they had been horribly tortured based on their appearance.
Because they appeared to be administered with hefty sleeping doses, all five targets tied to the torture frame were in a coma.
Based on their clothes, it can be seen the three of them appear to be civilians, while the other two are Shinobi from Kumogakure and Kirigakure.
Homusubi was able to roughly recognize each of their 'Kekkei Genkai' with just a single glance.
Danzo turned back and proceeded slowly towards the alter as the five crosses came to a halt.
With a dismal and chilly smile, he first stared at the five targets tied to the crosses, then turned around and looked at Orochimaru and Homusubi.
Danzo has covertly arranged for labor to bury the exploding tags on the molten cave's supporting points. He'll detonate these exploding tags once the ritual rite is completely finished, erasing all evidence of his crime.
Danzo also intends to dispose of Homusubi and Orochimaru in addition to all of the evidence of his crime.
As for the follow-up inquiries from Amatsukami?
Danzo is unconcerned about it... He believes that once the ritual is completed, he will have sufficient strength and will no longer be terrified of Amatsukami, therefore he intends to blame Homusubi's death on an accident.
Of course, Homusubi and Orochimaru also sensed Danzo's coldness, but they opted to ignore it and didn't give it any thought.
Danzo, in Homusubi's opinion, is nothing more than a lousy pawn who will not live for very long, thus she doesn't give a damn about Danzo's intentions.
The same can be said for Orochimaru, who seemed fully oblivious to Danzo's murderous intent.
With such complex thoughts running through their heads, the three gazed at each other and waited for the ceremony to begin.
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Chapter 651: Chapter – 644 Commencing the Ritual II
Kakashi slowly pulled aside the bushes that were obscuring his eyesight, revealing a distant scene...
"This…" The spectacle in front of him astounded him; it was a massive army; on a rough count, Kakashi counted over fifteen hundred shinobi gathering outside the volcano, implying that all the shinobi who were surreptitiously transported outside the village by Danzo had assembled here...
"However, this makes no sense..." No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't come up with a reason why over a thousand shinobi would meet here from all locations... This is in the middle of nowhere!
Suppressing the shock in his heart, Kakashi pulled a monocular telescope from his shinobi pack and peered towards the Volcano.
Although Kakashi is significantly benefited in the sense that he is no longer concerned about low Chakra reserves as a result of losing the Sharingan, the insight and vision advantage that he had as a result of the Sharingan is also no longer available... As a result, he must now rely on equipment like binoculars and monoculars.
"That's…!" Kakashi was taken aback when he discovered the patterned array beneath the assembled shinobi's feet.
"This isn't your typical assembly...! There appears to be a Fuinjutsu drawn beneath their feet..."
'What on earth is Danzo doing?' he wondered inwardly, his heart pounding.
Despite the fact that Kakashi had no idea what Danzo had planned, his instincts told him it would be a terrible thing, so he instantly wrote down all he observed in a scroll and sent it to Sarutobi Hiruzen via a Summon.
"The answer to all my doubts should be in that volcano!" he said as he followed the Fuinjutsu network that connected roughly fifteen hundred shinobi all the way to the volcano's entrance.
The security at the volcano's entrance, on the other hand, is extremely strict. On the positive side, there are four teams watching the entrance, and in the dark, there are over a dozen Root shinobi watching the entrance. When Kakashi saw this, he scowled and said, 'How do I go in?'
…
On the ritual altar inside the Volcano.
Three persons exchanged a strange smile and then silently diverted their gazes as the steps leading up to the ritual's start were accomplished.
Danzo tossed his crutch to his attendant and sat cross-legged on the ritual altar as he proceeded towards the altar's center.
On Homusubi and Orochimaru's side
Homusubi drew a storage scroll from her cloak and extracted an observation tool.
According to logic, she should be able to observe the entire ritual with the help of the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, but just to be safe, she carried this observation equipment with her to keep a close eye on the ritual.
This 'Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual' is, after all, one-of-a-kind. She just has one chance, and she wants to get as much useful information out of this ceremony as possible... In this case, no mistakes will be accepted.
As a result, observation equipment is required.
Orochimaru gave Homusubi a long, thoughtful look before asking, "Are you the only one from Amatsukami who is going to observe this ritual?" At the very least, I anticipated Fujin to show up..."
"Our objective is only to collect data," Homusubi replied casually. "I am more than sufficient for this; others are not required."
"It appears that Fujin's condition is far worse than I had previously imagined..." "Danzo seems to have some other notions too..." Orochimaru said, then silently peered at the Root Shinobi encircling them.
Homusubi nodded and cast a sly glance around the room.
Many Root Shinobi gathered around Homusubi and Orochimaru, and she deduced that they were all elite shinobi based on their chakra reserves.
But that was the end of it; Homusubi had lost interest in them. All of Danzo's acts are worthless to her as long as she achieves her goal.
Furthermore, Homusubi was unsure whether Danzo intended to kill them or if he was simply taking precautions to avoid Orochimaru and Homusubi... Anyway, she doesn't care what Danzo's intentions are.
Soon after, the root shinobi who had been assisting Danzo stepped away from the ritual altar, and Danzo softly closed his eyes.
He straightened up and yelled, "Begin!" in a grandiose tone after taking a few deep breaths.
Orochimaru followed this instruction and moved towards the Fuinjutsu formation's starting point, weaving a sequence of Hand Signs before slamming both hands on the ground and shouting, "Kai!"
Whoosh!
A red brilliance suddenly enveloped the ritual altar as Orochimaru finished the key, and a swirling air current appeared inside the volcano.
The targets who had been comatose until recently regained consciousness together with the swirl of hot air current.
"Wh… What am I doing here?!"
"Who are you people, and why did you bring me here?"
"Please... Woo... please don't kill me..."
People from a civilian background who had not had any formal Shinobi training were clearly crying and begging.
They are just fortunate individuals who were born with unusual Kekkei Genkai, but their good fortune did not endure long... Despite having the potential to become great shinobi in the future, they became Danzo's target and are now victims of this ritual.
Clearly, Danzo, Orochimaru, and Homusubi felt no sympathy for those three, and they didn't even blink when they heard their pleas.
And, unlike the three crying targets with civilian backgrounds, the shinobi from Kumogakure and Kirigakure who were also tethered to the torture posts carefully studied the situation and upon noticing the person at the center of the ritual altar, they yelled at him, "Shimura Danzo... do you know the consequences of what you are doing?"
"You traitor... you have broken the alliance, Mizukage-sama will not forgive you!" yelled a shinobi from Kirigakure.
Danzo sniffed angrily at the remarks of Kumogakure and Kirigakure shinobi, "Humph... as if I care..."
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Read up to Chapter - 900 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n Page: p-atreon.com/Milta_translations
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
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Alex_Clive
Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
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