บท 452: 417. Real or Imposter?
"You are…"
Everyone's eye widens in shock as they stare at the figure of the cloaked person. They forget about their battle and focus their eyes on the cloaked figure.
"That face… it can't be?"
Tsunade and Mei fall to their knees, while Minato, Kushina, and the rest of the Konoha shinobi blankly stare at the face of the cloaked figure.
"I… Izuna, is that you?" Kushina musters her courage to speak these words.
The person in front of him has the same chakra signature as Izuna. Every person has a unique chakra signature, and it's almost impossible to replicate the chakra signature of another person.
It's part of the reason no shinobi attempt to infiltrate enemy camps by changing their appearance using transformation jutsu. Since the enemy sensors can easily recognize a different chakra signature than the person they are impersonating.
[A/N:- Zetsu has this property but none of them are aware of it at this point.]
"This chakra signature… there is no mistaking it! He is… Lord Izuna!" Ao mutters as he inspects the cloaked figure with his Byakugan.
"What's going on? Why… why is Izuna Uchiha on Akatsuki's side?" A glare at the cloaked figure and Obito.
"Nii-san… Is that really Nii-san?" Naruto also warily stares at the cloaked figure.
"That's… that's definitely Izuna's chakra signature, but somehow there is something else in his chakra. I can't put my fingers on it but his chakra signature is similar to Izuna and also he is a living person." Kurama confirms Naruto's doubt.
"Hokage, what's the…" Onoki, who was about to question Tsunade, turn silent as he stares at her expression.
The cloaked figure ignores everyone and turns towards Ayaka. The sole person responsible for inflicting damage to his body. He raises his hand and gathers a large amount of lightning chakra in them to create a lightning spear.
He aims the lightning spear toward Ayaka and prepares to throw it.
"Who are you?" Ayaka yells at him.
"You aren't my brother. You can fool everyone's eyes, but you can't fool me." Ayaka yells at the cloaked figure with a face and chakra similar to his beloved brother Izuna.
The cloaked figure flinches at her remark and the attack he prepared dissipates.
Argh…
He clutches his forehead and falls to his knees. A distorted expression appears on the cloaked figure's face.
At a faraway place, Kabuto's expression turns ugly as Izuna struggles free from his control.
"I spent quite a considerable effort on this pawn. How can I allow it to break free from my control?"
Kabuto makes a series of hand signs.
Whoosh…
Numerous curse marks appear on the cloaked figure's body and its eyes turn lifeless. The cloaked figure stops resisting and blankly stares in Ayaka's direction.
"What's happening now?" A question in annoyance.
"Is he really the Izuna Uchiha or an imposter?" He asks in confusion.
"Those fuinjutsu seals… it's a curse seal." Kushina recognizes the curse pattern on the cloaked figure's body.
"He is similar to Nii-san, but at the same time isn't my Izuna Nii-san!" Ayaka firmly shakes her head.
'Looks like things aren't going the way Kabuto expected them to go.' Obito swiftly assesses the situation.
'I will use this opportunity to escape. I am afraid they might retaliate if they are given an opportunity to recover.'
Swirl… whoosh…
Obito activates his Kamui and pulls all his Six paths and the cloaked figure in his Kamui dimension and vanishes from the spot.
"Damn it, he escaped!" A punches the ground.
He turns towards the shinobis of Konoha and demands.
"Konoha owes us an explanation for everything that happened today! Unless I get a satisfactory answer, we can forget about cooperation." He harrumphs.
"C, Darui… let's go!" He returns to his living quarters.
Onoki also glances in Tsunade and Minato's direction before turning to Mifune.
"Iwa also shares the same sentiment as Kumogakure. Trust is the foundation of cooperation and yet with today's events we can no longer trust Konoha." He flies towards his quarters.
Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi also follow him.
Sigh…
Mifune sighs and signals his samurais to help the injured personnel. Sakura assists him with the treatment of the injured people.
"Let's return to our quarters and have a meeting." Minato is the first person to regain his composure.
Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Izumi assist Mifune-san with the situation.
"Yes, Dad… Lord fourth!"
"I am grateful for your assistance Lord Fourth!" Mifune slightly bows to Minato.
"Ao and Chojuro… you too aid them!" Mei orders them.
"Temari… you too!" Rasa remarks.
----------------
Half an hour later,
Minato, Kushina, Tsunade, Mei, Ayaka, Rasa, and Gaara are gathered around a table in Konoha's quarters.
They have gloomy expressions on their face as they recall the series of events that happened today.
"Was that really the Shini… Izuna Uchiha?!" Rasa opens his mouth to break the silence.
"If we identify him based on the chakra signature, then it was definitely him. However…" Minato pauses and turns to Kushina.
Kushina also turns towards him and nods.
"… the feeling he gave me and Kushina was that of a hollow shell with… with no soul," Minato adds.
Mei and Tsunade raise their head and turn toward him.
"What does that mean? Lord Fourth, can you be more specific?" Gaara raises a question.
Minato nods at him to acknowledge his presence.
"After our revival, Kushina and I gained the ability to sense the changes in the soul of a person. Although… that person looked exactly the same as Izuna and has the same chakra signature. He was nothing more than a puppet with a hollow body. His soul seems to be a cluster of various… hmm… it's hard to define… but he was definitely not Izuna."
"It's exactly as Minato says. Though that person has the appearance and chakra signature of Izuna, he wasn't really Izuna." Kushina affirms Minato's claim.
Mei and Tsunade heave a sigh of relief.
"So, who was he exactly?" Rasa raises an important question.
"And also, his power was no joke. His abilities were by far superior to anyone of us. He even pushed back seven Kages all by himself." Rasa adds.
"Hmm… Rasa is right! He was a living person, so Edo Tensei is out of the question. Then who could he be? Also, I noticed a snake slither out of his clothes. So, he must have some connection with Kabuto." Minato speculates.
Everyone ponders the situation.
"Could he be a member of that hidden evil organization?" Tsunade remarks.
"How's that possible? Didn't Izuna Uchiha already deal with the leader of that organization?" Rasa asks.
Everyone turns towards him with annoyance. Rasa gulps his saliva and swallows his words. Since he was also fooled by the members of that hidden evil organization in the past and one of the elders of Sunagakure was a hidden member of that organization. It's part of the reason for Suna's poor economic condition since that dead elder embezzled all of Suna's funds to an evil organization. To this day, Rasa is ashamed of his incompetence. It's the reason he retired from his position as a Kage and transferred his position to Gaara at such a young age.
"Also, since Ayaka confirmed that he wasn't the real Izuna, then we don't have to worry about facing him again. For all we know, he might be a pawn of that hidden organization. We can't stake the lives of our people for such a thing. Also, Izuna isn't such a weak shinobi to get controlled by others." Mei speaks with confidence.
"Very well! That settles it then." Tsunade agrees with Mei.
"Now, we have to think of an explanation to satisfy Raikage and Tsuchikage." Minato points out.
"Ugh… it's so frustrating. But we need their strength to unify the shinobi world and fight against a common enemy." Tsunade pulls her hair in frustration.
"Age is really catching up to me. I will definitely retire after this war." Tsunade plops on the table.
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