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The link is also in the synopsis
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Under the cover of night, Hiruzen stood in front of the gratings that blocked off the entrance to the sewer system of a city not far from the Hidden Leaf.
"They have built a base in the sewers?" he asked.
"Yes, Lord Hokage," answered one of the ANBU-nin beside him.
"I shouldn't be surprised," said Hiruzen, gazing into the darkness his eyes couldn't peer through, "but I assumed he would choose a nicer base for his hiding place. His penchant for comfort and cleanliness has been clear as he has climbed up in the years." Hiruzen was the same; his old bones demanded clean surroundings and a comfortable chair to sit in.
"What is the possibility of stealth?" Hiruzen asked for the sake of asking.
"Close to nil… none," the ANBU-nin corrected himself.
"Let's proceed then. I shouldn't keep him waiting." Hiruzen understood his old friend well enough that if Danzo were indeed hiding in the base, he wouldn't run away without a conversation. He smiled bitterly. It also meant that Danzo was confident in his ability to escape.
An ANBU-nin stepped forth while unsheathing his sword. In the blink of an eye, the sword returned to the scabbard after imperceptible slashes. There was no commotion; the air itself didn't move as cuts appeared in the iron bars, and a portion of grating fell away, detached from the rest.
Hiruzen rolled his shoulders, feeling the weight of his armor as he stepped into the sewers. The shinobi gear had come a long way since his hay days. The young people these days wore their thinner chain mails and flak jackets—he stuck to his plate armor; he liked the slight weightiness. He was too old to learn new tricks.
The corridors of the sewer were grimy, with water and gunk flowing in between. Hiruzen had to physically stop himself from recoiling at the rotten smell that permeated the entire area. Perhaps this was why Danzo had chosen this base, so Hiruzen would have to walk through this mess to meet him.
"Which direction?" Hiruzen turned to ask the Hyuga among the ANBU-nin.
"Something is blocking my eyes, which means someone is trying to hide something," said the Hyuga ANBU-nin as he stepped ahead of the group of shinobi to lead the way.
There was no hiding from the Hyuga and their Byakugan. Through the years, some fuinjutsu seals had been developed to stop the Byakugan's vision, but because Byakugan was needed to test those seals and the Hyuga had ensured that none of their clan members would ever help in creating something that would give up their Dojutsu's advantage—the anti-Byakugan seals weren't very good. The best ones could block the Byakugan's vision, but when the all-seeing eye encountered something it couldn't perceive, it clearly indicated that someone was trying to hide from them.
There were ways to evade the Byakugan, but that had more to do with tricking the Hyuga, who used the Byakugan, than the eyes themselves.
The small company of shinobi walked through the sewers, where the silence was only interrupted by the flow of water and the squeaks of rats. The silence was then shattered with bright flashes of fire and lightning.
"Incoming," the calm voice of a sensory-nin alerted the group.
Hiruzen didn't need to take a single step as ANBU-nin stepped before him to protect him. Hiruzen gazed ahead in the sewer, and the light from the ninjutsu flooding the tunnels showed him the enemies. Masked shinobi who looked no different from the Hidden Leaf ANBU were attacking them,
'What's the point of all of this?' he thought with a sigh.
The flurry of ninjutsu in the constrained space ruthlessly stripped away the bricks on the walls, and the entire structure shook. The people living above the ground would probably be startled by the sudden earthquake assaulting their homes and buildings.
Hiruzen raised his hands to weave hand seals to perform a jutsu before the jonin around him erased the part of the city from existence. But before he could even mix chakra, Danzo's ROOT shinobi dropped to the ground like flies, like someone had cut the marionette strings from a puppet. Even the ANBU-nin protecting him were confused by the sudden change in the situation.
"We should move onwards."
Hiruzen turned back to look at the ANBU-nin standing in the very back. The fires from the destruction cast a light on his front, and Hiruzen could see the two Sharingan rotating in the man's eyes.
It was Uchiha Itachi.
'Genjutsu…' Hiruzen guessed. 'What terrifying power… and so young.' Hiruzen was envious and glad that the Uchiha clan had produced such a youth. But what Hiruzen valued more in the young man wasn't his talent but the Will of Fire that burned brightly within.
Itachi reminded Hiruzen so much of the father when the current Uchiha clan head was young.
Hiruzen recalled the day Fugaku had informed him that he had named his youngest son after Hiruzen's father, Sarutobi Sasuke, in hopes that little Sasuke would grow to be just as strong as a shinobi. He shook his head. Time and circumstance had changed the man, and Hiruzen knew he was partly to blame. Hiruzen wondered in worry if Shisui's death would change Itachi the same way Fugaku had changed.
"Let's move," Hiruzen said after the fuin-nin sealed the ROOT-nin so they would still be there after they returned. There was information to be extracted from Danzo's pawns.
They encountered more resistance, but they couldn't stop the Hokage's party for long. It wasn't surprising. Hiruzen knew Danzo wouldn't use his best men to buy time. All of this kerfuffle was simply an annoying game to drag the affair out more than it needed to.
"Was the city informed to clear out the area above?" asked Hiruzen.
Ichi replied, "Yes, Lord Hokage. The collateral damage will be the lowest if the situation springs out of control."
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Hiruzen said.
They soon reached the entrance of the underground bunker built well beneath the city, where no normal person would stumble unless they were searching for the location. The heavy metal door was covered in fuinjutsu seals, protecting the bunker from intruders.
"Stand back," Hiruzen said as he stepped forth.
He weaved hand seals and clapped his hands together for jutsu formula seals to spread out in the air before white smoke puffed out and a black bo-staff with gold ends of great thickness and length appeared in his arms.
Summoning Jutsu: Monkey King
Transformation: Adamantine Staff
"—Has getting older given you dementia that you have forgotten your manners, Hiruzen!? Summoning me directly in this form—" The deep voice of Monkey King Enma immediately admonished his long-time friend and summoner.
The surrounding ANBU-nin gazed at the staff in shock and awe. It was the Third Hokage's weapon of choice, whose heavy use through the decades of warfare had contributed to the legend of the 'God of Shinobi.'
Hiruzen smiled apologetically. "Apologies, my dear friend. I require your help, and this day has already been too long for me…"
"—What is the problem, Hiruzen?—" asked Enma with a hint of concern for his friend.
"Danzo," was all Hiruzen said.
"—… I see—" Enma replied. For a moment, the ANBU-nin sensed that the Hokage's summon was looking at them. "—I never liked that man. I warned you to be careful, and yet my sage advice fell like stone on your deaf ears!—"
"Yes, and I shall resolve that today, dear friend," said Hiruzen.
Enma hummed.
Hiruzen turned to the ANBU-nin. "I care for no one less, but we can't let Danzo escape. We must catch him today; cripple him if you must, but don't kill him."
He turned to the bunker door. He lifted the bo-staff, and the weight strained his arms and body. He had used Enma's weight to great advantage in his youth, but it had become a burden with his aging body. His golden years of taijutsu and bukijutsu had long past after all.
But whatever he had now was more than enough.
He dug his feet into the ground and struck the bunker door with Enma. The adamantine staff was akin to Vajra—unbreakable and unstoppable. The fuinjutsu seals protecting the door were shredded and destroyed by pure unadulterated force. The metal groaned as the door bent at the point of impact, but the bo-staff could tear through the metal, the door came off its hinges, blasting it back into the wall behind.
Hiruzen exhaled deeply and stepped into the bunker where a receiving party of masked ROOT-nin awaited him.
"I will say this only once: surrender and step aside, and I will let you live. Get in my way, and I will gut you where you stand." Hiruzen slammed the bo-staff on the ground, his bloodlust and chakra mixing together to create an oppressive environment.
The ROOT-nin stepped back, drawing their weapons in defense. Hiruzen could smell the fear lingering in the air, but seeing they refused to surrender, there was only one response.
"Death it is," said Hiruzen, his eyes losing their luster. He ignored the calls of his ANBU guard and stepped forth.
Two ROOT-nin charged him. Hiruzen swung his bo-staff as they struck out with their swords, their strikes boosted by bukijutsu.
'Danzo trained them well, but…'
"—Weak!—"
They were nothing when compared to Enma.
The bo-staff extended its length at the last moment, sweeping the ROOT-nin in one stroke, smashing them into the walls. Hiruzen raised the bo-staff high and slammed it on the ground— the entire bunker shook as if hit with a high-magnitude earthquake.
Hiruzen took out four shurikens and threw them at the ROOT-nin. A split second after they took to flight, the four shurikens turned into eight… sixteen… thirty-two… sixty-four, and barraged the ROOT-nin, who had limited space to dodge and could only defend them head-on.
Hiruzen threw his bo-staff toward the ROOT-nin on the left while he rushed to the left. Enma transformed back into his original body and jumped on the group of ROOT-nin with the ferocity of the monkey king.
On Hiruzen's side, a ROOT-nin weaved hand seals for a ninjutsu.
'Boar, tiger, snake, tiger… Fire-Release.'
The first few hand seals reflected in Hiruzen's eyes.
He deduced the ninjutsu… and moved to counterattack. Hiruzen's hands moved faster than the ROOT-nin and completed his ninjutsu a split second before the ROOT-nin despite starting considerably later.
A stream of water slammed into the jet of flames and extinguished the fire before it could even pick up significant heat. Steam sprayed out of impact, and the ROOT-nin squinted his eyes, trying to peer through only to see Hiruzen breaching his personal space with a kunai.
He tried to parry, but Hiruzen's strike was a feint.
The second kunai strike went through the ROOT-nin's chest and heart, passing clean through the body. The kunai appeared out from the body with the Hokage's arm deep in the ROOT-nin's body. Hiruzen watched the light leave the ROOT-nin's eyes before pulling his arm out of the body.
He turned to face another ROOT-nin. Before the masked shinobi could react, Hiruzen weaved one-handed hand seals as he pulled the sword from the man he had just killed.
The ROOT-nin flinched and jumped up—but it was too late as two earthen spikes shot up from the ground, tearing through the metal floor; they went clean through the man's legs, fixing them to the ground. A split second later, Hiruzen drove the sword through the man's heart.
Hiruzen pushed the dead man to the side and, without even looking, shot his arm to the side and tightened his claw grip.
The space, which had been empty a moment before, shimmered, and another ROOT-nin became visible. Hiruzen lifted the man in the air, and as he stared into the ROOT-nin's eyes, Hiruzen tightened his grip and crushed the man's neck with one hand.
Without a word, Hiruzen dropped another body to the ground.
He looked to the other side of the bunker, where Enma had literally ripped a man's body into pieces and was pummeling another one into the ground.
In the half minute, they had entered the bunker if, including Enma's contribution, six men had died due to Hiruzen while his ANBU guard had been only left with two ROOT-nin to contest against.
His skin was wrinkled, his back was crooked, there was barely any muscle on his body—he very much looked like a sickly old man. But with three dead men laying at his feet, his arm dripping from someone else' blood and not a sign of exertion on his body—there was no denying it…
Sarutobi Hiruzen was still one of the deadliest shinobi on the planet.
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AN:
New Cover.
By — Kodah
Instagram @ Kodah.art
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———
Chat with me and the rest of the community on our DISCORD server.
The link is in the synopsis!
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to Patreón @
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The link is also in the synopsis
———
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With Enma, back on his shoulder in his bo-staff form, Hiruzen led the group through the bunker. There were a few traps that Hiruzen crushed on first notice, but no more ROOT-nin popped up to stop him.
Hiruzen could tell that it was time for him to meet Danzo.
"Don't forget my words," he reminded his guard.
They soon reached the core of the large underground bunker, where both the Hyuga and the sensory-nin in the group informed them that Danzo was behind the door before them. Hiruzen didn't bother waiting and slammed the metal door down.
Standing on the other side of the corridor was Danzo, alone without any guards, as though he was leisurely waiting for them to arrive.
Hiruzen scowled at him as his former friend, but before he could speak, mini-crossbow turrets mounted on the walls around the room shot multiple kunai with explosive tags on their tails at Hiruzen and the ground.
Hiruzen flicked his wrist, and a gust of sharp wind pulsated outwards, blowing away the kunai barrage and cutting every single explosive tag in half, forcibly rendering them defused.
"Is that all, or do you have more juvenile mechanisms to throw at me?" Hiruzen asked, slamming the bo-staff down and shaking the floor.
"They were a welcome for you, Hiruzen. This is the first time you have ever visited one of my homes. A bit too late though," Danzo said calmly as his eye drifted over the ANBU guard behind Hiruzen. He lingered on Itachi standing in the back. "And I see you have brought companions."
Hiruzen noticed Danzo still had his two eyes, black pupils in both.
'He hasn't transplanted Shisui's eyes then,' he concluded.
There was a reason why a clan like the Uchiha, who were so fiercely protective about their dojutsu, had allowed an outsider to retain and wield one of their precious eyes. Hatake Kakashi had obtained the eye that had given him the moniker the Copy Ninja from his friend and teammate who had died during the Third Shinobi World War—and everyone, including the man himself expected the Uchiha to come knocking on his door so much so that Kakashi had taken the initiative to visit the Uchiha to return the eye.
But contrary to everyone's expectations, the Uchiha clan had allowed Kakashi to retain and wield their eyes. It was an absurdly shocking incident that had been on everyone's lips for months; everyone aware of the matter could only speculate why the Uchiha would do so.
Hiruzen himself couldn't understand the reasoning. What was the ploy? He had initially thought that the Uchiha clan was trying to gain Kakashi's favor and bring him under their umbrella—but he disposed of that idea faster than it rose—even the Uchiha wouldn't use their precious Sharingan as a bargaining tool.
He found the truth later through his successor, Minato, Kakashi's jonin teacher.
Uchiha wanted to know how the Sharingan would react and function in the possession of someone who lacked their bloodline. Like all the kekkei genkai-possessing clans, the Uchiha wished to study their dojutsu further and boldly used the situation with Kakashi as a way to do that. It was a risky move, but it paid dividends as they found a lot more about the Sharingan.
When transplanted into someone who lacked the Uchiha bloodline, the Sharingan remained activated. Kakashi had tried to solve the problem as the Sharingan drained his chakra constantly, restricting his other abilities due to the ever-present load on his chakra reserves, making chakra resource management an altogether new challenge.
It wasn't a problem with talent as Kakashi knew how to use the Sharingan better than the majority of the Uchiha clan—something the latter would never admit as the truth displeased them.
Seeing Danzo without the red in his pupils meant he hadn't yet transplanted Shisui's eyes.
'We must catch him alive to locate the eyes,' Hiruzen thought.
"Why did you do it, Danzo?" he asked with the feeling of sorrow in his heart. "You sacrificed a young man's life with boundless potential… for what? So, an old man like you could have a second wind? You sacrificed the village's future so you could hoard more power?"
"I don't know what you're trying to insinuate, Lord Hokage," Danzo said, eyeing the ANBU-nin who entered and spread out in the wide corridor. Against Hiruzen and his guard, he stood alone.
Hiruzen sighed in disappointment. "Only you knew the truth. It could have only been you. I blame myself for trusting you with the information. You are a disgrace to the village, to our teacher, and to the Will of Fire."
"Your anger has blinded you, Hiruzen. I wasn't the only one to know, was I? There was another one." Danzo's eyes briefly lingered on Itachi. "Maybe a genius got envious and sought to gain more power."
Hiruzen glanced at Itachi. The young Uchiha looked like he wanted to jump at Danzo and shred him into pieces.
"Your means, your way of dealing with problems that plagued the village and the nation… was necessary," Hiruzen started, gazing at Danzo with a somber tone. "They kept us safe, and I and the village were grateful for it—"
Danzo scoffed.
Hiruzen continued, "So I allowed you to operate as you wished. Perhaps it was because you produced results, or maybe it was because our friendship blinded me that I granted you autonomy"— Danzo's brown knitted together—"but you should've known better than anyone what would happen the moment you turned your weapons against our own—it's your responsibility to deal with threats like yourself currently." He sighed. "I blame myself for this situation. I pushed the darkness onto you when you offered to bear it. I should have considered it more; I should have known that, given your history, it would turn out like this…
"Power corrupted you, Danzo. I imagine our teacher saw this coming, so he made me the Hokage rather than you. He was wiser than both of us combined…"
Hiruzen gazed at Danzo. The man he knew always hid his emotions. No matter the situation, Danzo would conceal his thoughts and schemes behind the cold, stone exterior. That's what made him the dangerous shinobi and strategist he was.
But Hiruzen knew Danzo better than most people—he knew where it hurt the most.
"…You are correct. It is your fault, Hiruzen," Danzo stood there just as calm as before, his voice flat and controlled, but if the venom in his eyes was any indication, Hiruzen knew his words had gotten through. "Everything I did was because of you. All my actions were in the hopes you didn't ruin the village our teacher helped build. If you wish to shoulder the blame, then feel free to do as you forced me to take the actions I did."
"How much are you going to disgrace yourself, Danzo? At least be honorable to take responsibility for your actions," Hiruzen said, exasperated.
Danzo shook his head.
"Don't try to twist my words, Hiruzen. I know what I did, but you forced my hand. You were leading the Hidden Leaf into weakness," he said with a hint of anger. "It all started after the Second War, your policies and decisions slowly began to soften. Your iron rule became more malleable. It wasn't obvious then, but with hindsight, I could see that the once fierce Third Hokage had reached the tail end of his prime.
A mocking smile appeared on his face. "I always wonder what was the catalyst. If one was to ask me, it was the Slug Princess' downfall. Tell me, Hiruzen—did seeing your student suffer because of the war crack your shinobi heart?"
"Danzo," Hiruzen warned.
Danzo continued unperturbed. "That softness of yours was why the Hidden Stone and the Fence-Sitter Onoki dared to declare war against us, which led to the Third War. Your weakness let the smaller powers in and outside our borders dare to harbor even thoughts of rebellion. Oniki saw your weakness and sought to take advantage. Your weakness was the reason why Hidden Cloud and that generation of Raikage dared to enter the war because they didn't see us as strong enough to fend off two nations
"Would they have thought that when the First Hokage founded the village? Would they have dared when the Second Hokage led our glorious village into prominence? Would they have dared it when the Hiruzen of old was keeping everyone under his heel?"
The memories drove away Hiruzen. He was as naïve as any youngster in his youth. Power was the truth; power was absolute. He didn't understand what the Hidden Leaf stood for, what the Hokage's true duty was supposed to be. It was training his dear students that led him to enlightenment. It was from seeing their growth, their potential, their brightness— that he understood the Will of Fire.
'You're so blind, my old friend,' he thought.
"I was happy when you decided to step down as the Hokage and passed the hat on to Namikaze. We never agreed on many things, but I understood why you chose him," said Danzo, surprising Hiruzen.
"Namikaze was such a force to be reckoned with during the Third War that an unwilling Onoki was forced to sign the peace treaty—that was the dominance that a Hokage should have. I had liked the young Orochimaru with his mind, ability, and zeal— but Namikaze was a better choice. He even had the jinchuriki under his control. A truly shrewd hand to marry the jinchuriki just like the First Hokage; I'm still surprised that Jiraya was the one to train him."
Hiruzen felt a bad taste in his mouth as Minato's memory was tarnished right in front of him.
"I pity you, Danzo. You can't help but see everyone as tools and pawns," he said.
"Keep it to yourself," said Danzo. He continued, "I had high hopes that the young Namikaze would lead the Hidden Leaf to its previous heights under his reign—but tragedy struck…" Danzo heaved a sigh as though feeling remorse.
The Nine-Tails incident. The tragedy had killed shinobi and civilians alike. The incident had taken away his wife from Hiruzen, the Hokage from the village, and countless loved ones from the people who were fortunate to survive.
"But the true tragedy was when you re-instated yourself as the Hokage," Danzo said. "When the village desperately needed strong leadership to keep it together and put forward a powerful front for the world to see while it repaired itself and regained strength—you failed the village. You couldn't control Orochimaru, you let the Uchiha step all over you, even the pathetic Hidden Frost had the gall to betray us and join hands with Hidden Cloud.
"Without my work, keeping everyone in check, you would've made a mockery of the Hokage. Without me, you would've long ruined the Hidden Leaf. You speak of the Will of Fire. I'm the roots that feeds the great tree. I ensured it would flourish even if it meant stealing the nutrients from others who rely on the same ground. I have done more for the future than you."
Danzo raised his hand to point at Hiruzen,
"I respected the man who was titled 'God of Shinobi'… that man is dead because you, Sarutobi Hiruzen, are no longer him. You aren't even the pale shadow of the man," Danzo said.
Hiruzen took in a deep breath before picking up his bo-staff.
"Shisui's death was good for the village's future?" he asked.
Danzo spoke as though it was obvious. "The last time a Uchiha had that much power, we almost lost the entire village if not for the First Hokage, who we also almost lost because of him. As the teacher once said: that clan is cursed, and they will ruin the village if not kept in check."
Hiruzen closed his eyes for a moment but when he opened his eyes, the anger mixed in with the chakra pushed against the walls of the chamber. Everyone looked nervously at Hiruzen.
"If you want the Sarutobi Hiruzen of the old, then that's who you will get."
He would end this twisted fire that threatened the tree.
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———
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The link is in the synopsis!