Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Moving Forward
AN: Hey guys, so I decided to try adding three 888 to indicate a shift in the scenery. For instance, one scene will be Haku and Naruto and you'll see 888 when the scene shifts to Hanabi and Kimimaro. Hopefully that makes it easier to not be confused when the scene shifts. Also I tried writing Izaya in a Third person POV. Let me know if you think it's okay.
Chapter 42
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
The sounds of a cane tapping the floor resounded in the dimly lit hallway as Danzo walked through the area before coming to a stop and sighed to himself. "Hm. It appears he's not here either." He commented to no one in particular.
Swish!
Torune appeared before Danzo at this moment and said, "Reporting Lord Danzo. There is no sign of Yakushi Kabuto. It appears he has not been in this base for quite awhile."
Danzo stared at Torune for a moment before replying,"Hm...I see. He most likely knows of my deep past connection with Orochimaru so he must also have data regarding the Sharingan and the Uchiha Clan. I need another eye to replace the one that I lost to Izaya." Danzo gritted his teeth and clenched his fist in anger at the thought of Izaya. Just thinking about Izaya made him angry beyond comparison. He never thought he could hate someone so much before. He lost so many of his elite Root members. He lost Shisui's eye to him. And he was removed from his position as an elder. What he couldn't understand was that even with the many preparations he prepared and the elite Anbu he sent, Izaya still survived whilst none of his Root members returned from that battle. This was completely unfathomable to him. If he reversed the role and put himself in that situation, even with the forbidden Izanagi technique which could grant him a total of 10 minutes of invincibility, his chances of survival against the onslaught of the Root members assigned the task would be extremely slim. He doubted whether he could have survived at all so he was baffled at the fact that not only did Izaya survive, but he had even successfully killed all the members he sent after him.
Swish!
At this moment Yamanaka Fu arrived. He had miraculously survived the attack from Kimimaro way back then although he felt a lingering hint of fear at the ability Kimimaro had displayed and at how easily Kimimaro had incapacitated him. "Reporting Lord Danzo. Konoha was attacked by the Akatsuki leader known as Pain. He was defeated by the collective might of Tsunade, Hiruzen, Kakashi, Kimimaro, Naruto, Sasuke, and Izaya. The village was extensively damaged but miraculously none of the villagers had died. Tsunade was going to send a letter to call for a 5 Kage's summit meeting, however, it appears that the Fourth Raikage had already sent a letter out calling for a meeting first. Apparently not long before the attack on Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Clouds was attacked by two members of the Akatsuki. They were Hoshigaki Kisame and Momochi Zabuza. Two members of the seven ninja swordsmen of the mist. They nearly succeeded in capturing the Eight Tails, however, the Raikage was able to make it in time to save the Jinchuriki." Fu said finishing his report.
Danzo frowned. "Tsk. I knew Tsunade and Hiruzen were too soft. Even if none of the villagers died in that attack, to let such a disaster fall onto the Leaf village. They don't have what it takes to properly lead the village. It's unfortunate that Tsunade and Hiruzen didn't pass away in that attack. If they did I could return and convince Homura and Koharu to reinstate my position and lead the village as its Hokage." Danzo lamented.
"What are your orders Lord Danzo?" Torune asked.
"Hmpf. Sai has elected to betray me. He no longer sends me reports on the village and Uzumaki Naruto. It's a good thing that I placed a seal on his tongue preventing him from speaking about me. Let us return to our hideout for the time being while we wait for things to stir up a bit. I feel a change in the winds. Perhaps we will be dealt a better hand in the near future." Danzo replied.
"Yes." Torune and Fu responded as all three of them disappeared from the cave corridor.
888
"Sage Art Rasengan!" Naruto shouted as he dashed towards Haku. Haku jumped back and dashed to his side only to be surprised seeing more than 10 of Naruto's Shadow Clones. They quickly pounced on him prompting Haku to dodge left and right, up and down as he avoided punches, kicks, elbow jabs, and grapples. At this moment a Naruto appeared in the air above Haku and smashed a Rasengan into his back.
"Kuh!" Haku exclaimed as he spit out some blood from the force of the impact, however, in the next moment he turned into nothing but a pile of water.
"EH? Water Clone?" Naruto exclaimed. Haku appeared by the riverside at this moment and weaved the hand signs of the Water Dragon Jutsu clapping his hands in the end changing the elemental nature to ice and said, "Sage Art Ice Style Ice Dragon Jutsu!"
"Crap!" Naruto exclaimed as a ferocious beast of an ice dragon with wings crashed into him and all the clones at that moment. A large amount of white smoke puffed into the air as all the clones were destroyed upon impact with the dragon. All that was left in that spot was a large crystalline wall of ice. The real Naruto appeared high above the air as it fell down towards Haku as he said, "Sage Art Big Ball Rasengan!"
Haku quickly formed the hand signs of Bird, Horse, Ram, Bird and said, "Sage Art Wind Style Gale Force Jutsu!" Before Naruto could descend too far a huge stream of wind swept Naruto away and into the river a few dozen meters away from Haku, causing his attack to create a large wave of water to spring into the air before it fell back down. Haku then formed the signs of Tiger, Bird, Boar, Rat and clapped his hands saying, "Sage Art Wind Style Air Cannon Jutsu!" He then took a deep breath and exhaled an extremely powerful blast of air at Naruto. Naruto jumped out of the water at this moment, only to be met with a cannon of air.
"Shit!" Naruto exclaimed. He formed the clone hand sign and said, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Thousands upon thousands of Naruto Clones appeared in front of him as they took on the brunt of the Air Cannon while one of the Clones successfully pulled Naruto out of the way. The Air Cannon fueled by natural energy was powerful enough to destroy more than half of the thousands of clones.
Huff. Huff. Huff. Naruto stood on the opposite side of the river panting at the close call. He had a yellow/orange coloration surrounded his eyes and a horizontal pupil as proof of his mastery over Sage Mode. He stared at Haku trying to catch his breath. Haku nodded in approval at Naruto's excellent counter to his technique as he stood there with the tattoos of blue colored waves printed on his left and right cheeks, the tattoo of two blue small carps chasing each other on his forehead and with a light blue coloration around his eyes. This was proof of Haku's mastery over his own Sage Mode.
On a tree branch not far from where Naruto and Haku were training stood Kakashi with a book in his hand as he commented to himself, "These kids sure have gotten a lot stronger. Apparently after learning that they both could use Sage Mode they decided to test their skills against each other. I know they asked me to watch over their training but I'm not sure I would even have a chance to intervene at this point."
888
Bang! Boom!
Swish!
Bang! Bang!
Swish!
Skid! Skid!
Huff. Huff. Huff.
"Again!" Hanabi shouted as she panted and resumed a fighting stance. Kimimaro resumed a defensive stance and said, "Very well. Come." Hanabi dashed forward with a palm strike prompting Kimimaro to block with his own palm. Hanabi performed several attacking movements striking, sweeping, kicking, throwing, jabbing, punching, kneeing, slashing, and thrusting.
Kimimaro was secretly surprised at Hanabi's Taijutsu skills as he recognized many of the techniques she employed as he thought, her strikes and movements are similar to Izaya's. He must have trained her in some Taijutsu before in the past. Although her skills are still unrefined it's a good start to a strong foundation. No wonder she asked me to help train her. Many of my own foundational Taijutsu skills were passed on to me from Izaya as well. After gaining a good foundation Izaya left the task of perfecting the Taijutsu skills he began creating up to me such as the Eight Extreme Fists, the Three Sovereign Hands, and the Nine Dragons Breathing Technique. Kimimaro dodged to his side and blocked against Hanabi's jab before stopping his fist just an inch away from her face prompting them both to pause.
Huff. Huff. Huff. "I can keep going." Hanabi said as she tried to catch her breath. Kimimaro shook his head. "No. This is good enough. We've been sparring for more than a few hours already. Take this time to meditate on the fight and try to glean some insight from it. Tomorrow I will pass onto you the techniques Izaya taught me to build a strong foundation. You'll improve rapidly. I can tell you already practiced some of the basic movements of Izaya's Taijutsu. Although you are skillful in Taijutsu you shouldn't neglect your Ninjutsu training."
Hanabi nodded and said, "Alright, thanks for helping me train Maro." He nodded and said, "I'm curious though. When did Izaya have the time to help you train? From the way you fought it definitely wasn't just a day or two's worth of training."
"Heh. It was back when you were still recuperating from your disease. I'd visit Izaya at the training fields sometimes. On those days he would set aside his own personal training just to hangout with me. I asked him one day to jokingly help me practice my Taijutsu but he took it seriously. I knew he was strong since my cousin Neji told me he was but you never really believe it until you see it with your own eyes. I prided myself in my Taijutsu skills, but that day I realized the true meaning of the saying that there is always a man beyond the man, and skies beyond the sky. Although he said he'd help continue watching my training, in the end he still disappeared without saying anything for more than two years." Hanabi said as she reminisced about those days and then grumbled at the end.
Kimimaro turned to look at Hanabi and smiled saying, "You once asked me if you could be my big sister. But rather than big sister I think it'd be more appropriate to say that you'd be my little sister in-law." Hanabi's face turned a shade a red at his comment. "Wh-What do you mean? Izaya and I aren't...I mean. He hasn't said anything to me l-like that yet...Unless, d-did he say something about me to you?"
Kimimaro shook his head in response. "No. He hasn't said anything. But he gave you his necklace. Doesn't that mean something? And he even hugged you...Well I suppose he hugged Haku and I too before he left. Maybe I over thought it."
"Hmpf. I got my hopes up for nothing." Hanabi mumbled to herself.
"What was that? I didn't hear." Kimimaro said.
"Nothing. If there's nothing else for today then I'll head back first." Hanabi said.
"Mn." Kimimaro nodded. Hanabi walked off back to the Hyuga residence as she clutched the necklace Izaya gave her. "You better be alright." She whispered to herself.
888
Knock Knock.
Creak.
Hiruzen walked into the Hokage office which Tsunade was currently in.
"Sarutobi-sensei. What are you doing here?" Tsunade asked.
"Have you decided who you are taking with you to the 5 Kage summit?" Hiruzen inquired. Tsunade thought for a moment before saying, "I'm guessing you aren't tagging along, eh?"
"Hahaha! Well, while it would be nice to see the old faces of some of the Kage not during war between villages I am not the current Hokage. Also, if both you and I attend then that would be a show of too much force and disrespect with two Kage's attending from Konoha. While you attend the Kage summit I will remain here in Konoha to ensure nothing goes awry." Hiruzen replied. Tsunade just let out a sigh and said, "It's going to be a pain. I feel like the other Kage's are much too serious for their own good."
"Hahaha! Well, perhaps the Tsuchikage Onoki will be a bit tough to crack. The Raikage is a bit hot tempered and the Mizukage is quite new so I've yet to officially meet her in person. You already know the Kazekage. So, who are you taking? You need capable bodyguards. At most, you should take two. The summit is being held in the Land of Iron with Mifune, the samurai acting as moderator." Hiruzen commented.
"Haaaaaa…" Tsunade let out a sigh as she racked her brains about who she would take. Should I take Shizune or not? I would of liked to take Izaya but he left with Sasuke to search for Danzo. Tsk, I forgot to tell him that he was a Jonin now. Haku will be leaving to continue his training soon. With Naruto's personality he's a no go. Oh, Kakashi then. Mn. Yamato, Guy, and Asuma are highly skilled Jonin with a lot of experience. Should anything go wrong they'll be able to help the old man. I'll have Shizune stay in Konoha as well just in case. Then, other than Kakashi I'll take Kimimaro. He's proven that he's just as capable of a shinobi as Kakashi. Tsunade looked up at Hiruzen and said, "Then I'll take Kakashi and Kimimaro."
"Oh? Mn...Yes, excellent choices. With them by your side then nothing untoward should happen. And even if something does happen, you should be able to face just about any dangerous situation without worry." Hiruzen contemplated and noted.
"Then we'll set out in two days. Shizune, go inform Kakashi and Kimimaro." Tsunade said.
"Yes." Shizune replied.
Two Days Later
Fwish! Dash! Woosh!
Three figures dashed across the snowy forest through the Land of Iron as the cold wind blew past their faces.
"Ah...so cold." Kakashi lamented as he followed behind Tsunade.
"Heh, we're almost there. No complaining. I'd also prefer being in a warm cozy hotspring right now." Tsunade replied.
"So this is the Land of Iron. I was expecting a place full of rocky mountains, not snow." Kimimaro commented seemingly unperturbed by the cold. Kakashi glanced over at him and wondered to himself, is it because of his Kekkei Genkai and bones being as tough as steel that he doesn't feel that cold? He then responded to Kimimaro's comment saying, "The Land of Iron is unique as it's a place ruled by Samurai."
"I see. How interesting. I wonder what the other Kage are like." Kimimaro said.
Fwoosh!
All three of them landed at this moment in front of a large building where the summit was being held. In front of them were Samurai guards and an old man with his head wrapped in bandages awaiting them.
"Lord Hokage. Welcome, we have been expecting your presence." Mifune said.
"Mn. After you Mifune." Tsunade replied.
"You must be weary from the cold and the journey. We have prepared some hot tea to help warm you all up." Mifune said as he led the three into the building.
"It's quite large inside." Kimimaro noted. After they were settled in it wasn't long before the rest of the Kage's arrived. They didn't have to wait long before all Five Kage and their bodyguards and advisors arrived and stood before the semi-circular table by their respective seats as Mifune, the head of the neutral faction stood by the table in front of the others. After Mifune took his seat the Fourth Raikage A took his seat as his companions Darui and C took a seat behind the curtains. The Third Tsuchikage Onoki took his seat next as his companions Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi took their seats behind the curtain. As the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade took her seat afterwards as Kimimaro and Kakashi took their seats. Gaara, the Fifth Kazekage and his companions Kankuro and Temari took their seats followed by the Fifth Mizukage Mei and her companions Ao and Chojuro.
"Well then. Now that we have all settled in I hereby declare the start of the Five Kage Summit meeting. I shall serve as your moderators and as the representative for the neutral factions." Mifune said.
Onoki turned to Tsunade at this moment and commented, "Heh. If it isn't the Slug Princess Tsunade. I see that the old man Hiruzen didn't come."
Tsunade sighed inwardly as she took note of the old rock geezer. She smiled and said, "Hahaha, he may be getting on his years now but his back is still quite good."
"Guh!" Onoki coughed out as he felt an ache at Tsunade's hidden joke about his back. Kurotsuchi just facepalmed behind the curtains at Onoki's attempt to rile up Tsunade.
"Let's get on with the main subject. I called for the Five Kage Summit so as to discuss the Akatsuki. They have gotten out of hand! Not only did they manage to abduct Yugito, the Jinchuriki of the two tails from us, but they even had the nerve to attack my younger brother Bee! They nearly succeeded in capturing him and ended up seriously injuring him. If I didn't make it in time he could have died!" A said.
"The Akatsuki...Indeed something needs to be done about them, however, we don't have much information on their organization. What is their strength? Where are they currently stationed? What is their purpose?" Gaara said.
"I heard that there is a possibility of the true leader behind Akatsuki being Uchiha Madara." Tsunade said.
"WHAT?!" The other Kage's exclaimed.
"Isn't he supposed to be dead?" Onoki asked in disbelief.
"Are you sure about this? Is he immortal?" A replied.
"Perhaps he truly is a monster." Onoki said as he felt cold sweat drip behind his back.
"Madara...One of the founders of Konoha and a man said to rival Senju Hashirama." Gaara said in contemplation.
"If it is Madara, what could he possibly be planning?" Mei said aloud.
There was a moment of silence between all of the Kage including Mifune in the room before they continued their discussion.
888
Swish! Dash!
Two figures dashed through the forest before they stopped a few miles out from a cave entrance.
"This must be it." Sasuke said to Izaya.
Izaya nodded his head and said, "Mn. Seems like it. After two weeks of searching, we finally got a good lead. We'll have to be careful. We don't know what kind of traps Danzo might have prepared beforehand." As they walked into the cave entrance Izaya focused his senses to search for the possibility of there being traps as he searched for Danzo. He furrowed his brow as he turned to Sasuke and whispered, "This will be tougher than I thought."
"What is it?" Sasuke whispered back.
"I can't be 100% certain if Danzo is here or not. There are multiple signatures but they all give off a similar aura. It can fool an amateur into thinking it is just one person using the Shadow Clone technique but I'm not easy to fool. I can tell they are different. The thing is, even though I can tell they are different I can't tell which one is Danzo. Must be a high level and complicated disguising technique Danzo set up for extra precaution. Take this." Izaya said as he handed Sasuke a special kunai. "If I find Danzo I'll fly to your location and bring you to him. We'll split up from this point to cover more ground and search individually. You should know how Danzo looks like from what Itachi showed you right?" Izaya asked.
"Mn." Sasuke nodded.
"Good. Be careful not to make a ruckus until you actually find Danzo or else we'll risk him escaping." Izaya reminded.
"You too." Sasuke said before they dashed off in different directions.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Izaya laid in wait around the corner hidden in the shadows as he heard the footsteps of someone approach his destination. Just as they turned the corner he struck with his right hand straight at their windpipe to prevent them shouting and quickly knocked them out before slowly dragging their body to the floor and into the shadows. After confirming that no one else was approaching within the vicinity he removed his blindfold and opened the eye of the unconscious Root Anbu using the powers of my Sharingan to search through his memories. After a few moments passed he placed his blindfold back on and killed him.
"So, Danzo is on the floor below this one. It also appears that they've been searching for Kabuto so Danzo could obtain a Sharingan replacement for his right eye. After that he wants to kill Kabuto to keep his mouth shut. It seems Danzo is waiting for something drastic to happen in the outside world first before he decides on his next moves." Izaya whispered to himself as he continued navigating the area while thinking to himself, I'm sure Sasuke has found similar information if he used the same tactic I did. While he moves to find Danzo there's another piece of interesting information I got from that Root Anbu. Apparently some of the Root Anbu out gathering data from various countries stumbled upon a region of intense murderous aura and all signs of life were void in that area. I'll check out the room that has more info first before heading down to Danzo.
Just as Izaya was about to turn a corner he quickly stopped and jumped up on the ceiling. Three Anbu walked passed the spot he was just at as they discussed amongst themselves.
"Apparently Sai is now on the list of traitors and targets to be eliminated."
"Well, we suspected as such. What a shame. His skills were quite valuable to Root."
"An order is an order. What I'm more concerned about is that guy Karasuma Izaya. I know we were ordered to kill him but how did he even manage to survive after the last assassination attempt? Even Lord Danzo wouldn't have been able to survive an attack like that."
"Who knows. Let's not think about it further for now. A few of our Anbu went to check out that region of intense murderous aura but none of them came back. I wonder what the hell that place is."
"Forget it, lets just worry about our current mission."
Izaya stood hidden on the ceiling as he listened to their voices get farther and farther away until they were finally out of earshot. He dropped back down without a noise with a thoughtful look as he got more interested in this strange region that they discovered. He dashed past a dimly lit corridor and arrived in front of a stone door marked with a sealing formula to keep others out that don't know the key to the sealing formula. He stretched his arms and cracked his knuckles as he smirked. "Only good enough to keep amateurs out." He commented to himself. Izaya formed the signs of Rat, Ox, Horse, Bird, Dragon, Tiger, Boar, Dog, Snake, Hare, Ram and said, "Reverse Lock Unsealing Jutsu." He placed his hand over the seal as a dim blue light seeped into the seal on the door bypassing the original specific unsealing formula and deactivated the sealing mechanism.
He smiled and thought, worked like a charm. I suppose Danzo can't make the seal too difficult or these amateur Root Anbu would never be able to get in. He walked in the door and closed it behind him. He was met with a dimly lit room and a large table with a bunch of books, scrolls, and paper lying around with tons of information on them.
"Now then Danzo, let's take a look at what you've been up to." He said voicing his thoughts.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone