Pre-Chapter A/N: More chapters on my patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)— same username as here and link in bio. Experimenting with two chapters a week, we'll see how long I can keep this up for.
There was only one thought on my mind as I gazed at the empty casket. Danzo. Fucking Danzo. He dared. He fucking dared do this? While I lived? The audacity ate at me. It was a small miracle that I remembered to put the casket back where it had been and arrange things so there was no trace of my presence and actions. All the while, I thought of what I would do to Danzo once I got my hands on him— after I got back my Grandfather's body.
When everything was sorted, I felt for the Hiraishin seal I had on Danzo. He was in his clan compound. Teleporting to him would be a risk. I had no idea who he could be with, I wasn't good enough at genjutsu to make them forget my presence, and killing a random Shimura just didn't feel right. So I did things the old-fashioned way. I tore through the village, practically flying to the Shimura Clan's minor district. It was more a street set aside for their use than a full-blown district like the major clans had. Danzo's building as the Clan head should have been the largest, but I knew he had foregone the Clan Head's quarters and instead lived in a smaller bungalow off to the side.
He probably did it to sell his reputation as a simple, and humble patriot. Even while he schemed and spat on everything my clan had offered him. Would the Shimura even exist by now if Konoha had never been formed? Clans like theirs were exterminated on an almost monthly basis even during the Warring States Period. They would have been just another casualty of the reality of war. A sign of the times.
I scouted the perimeter with Byakugan and looked into the house. Danzo was sat at his desk, doing some sort of writing while two of his clansmen spoke to him. I had two options. Go in now and take him regardless or wait for them to finish. Even with how angry I was, I knew that there were some things it was best not to leave any evidence of. So I settled in and waited. They spoke and worked up until the darkest hours of the night. Even while both of the other men were tired and visibly so, Danzo forced them to keep going, clearly intent on finishing whatever it was that he was working on tonight rather than leaving it till tomorrow.
Instead of just waiting idly, I began to gather and cycle nature energy into my body. It was a form of training that I'd incorporated into my routine. I wanted to get so good at pulling in nature energy that I would be able to do it even while moving. Sure, the frog sages had said it was impossible to do, but Jugo's kekkei genkai allowed him to do precisely that, and Whale Sage Mode allowed them to do the same. So it was not absolutely impossible. It was just seemingly impossible for us humans unless we went through very comprehensive changes. My theory on the matter was that it wasn't impossible. Just merely hard.
Most people stopped training Sage Mode after gaining access to the improved state, assuming that was the pinnacle of it, but what if it could be improved? What if we could train ourselves to be able to do it all the time? It wasn't like the mentality needed to draw in nature chakra was something that was completely opposed to movement as a whole. It was just difficult to do both at the same time. I'd figured it could with time, I thought.
When both of the men stood up and bowed to Danzo, I took it as my cue. I looked through the house again, and once I was sure that there would be none to interfere if I stepped in here, I waited for the two men to leave the building and go their separate ways home. I took a breath and exhaled in Danzo's study, right next to him.
To his credit, a wind chakra-enhanced kunai was making its way for my neck before I managed to get any words out. I caught his wrist, the lengthened blade stopping just a few centimeters from my neck. I watched his chakra flex in an indication that he was about to use some sort of jutsu and I slammed my foot into his chest, sending him flying backwards. He hit his shelf with a crash as books, scrolls, and whatever else he kept there fell to the ground. I winced at the sound and formed two clones that body flickered outside the house. A barrier would prevent us from being interrupted or sensed, and I knew just the one.
He rose to his feet and flicked two shuriken straight at me. I backhanded them to the sides, strengthening my hands with a quick application of earth release. Even the wind release enhanced shuriken were not able to pierce it. I stepped closer again. This time, he moved in for the attack, starting with a kick aimed for my head. I stepped to the side and bodychecked him into the wall of his home and sent him bouncing off it. My version of Sage Mode gave me two key advantages over everything else— strength and chakra potency. The former was used much less often than the latter. I fought with the Gentle Fist most of the time so I never truly just got to bring my strength to bear.
There was something therapeutic about it, I couldn't lie. "You want to be Hokage, huh? Is this the best you can do, Danzo Shimura?" I taunted and he came at me again. He formed the bird seal with his fingers and I scoffed. His wind release bullets were swallowed in my own gale. No seals, no jutsu name, not even a proper jutsu, just a display of elemental control, and I overpowered his jutsu.
"Worthless. What in the seven hells could have convinced you that you were good enough to stand as the steward of the great tree?" I enjoyed the way he gritted his teeth with every word that fell from my lips. He was already beginning to blush down to his neck. He was clearly not used to dealing with mockery that was so poignant. Still, he was at least sharp enough to know he stood no chance in hell of managing anything against me. He turned and moved to jump through the door and leave the study. I moved, easily getting to the door before him and standing in his way. Even without the Hiraishin, I was still so fast that I could practically run circles around him. How shameful.
He moved, fist aimed at my head. My Byakugan allowed me to deconstruct the plan in seconds. It might even have been brilliant if it was against anyone else. I caught the fist and then the hand detached, proving to have been a mannequin substitute that exploded in my grip. Using the puff of smoke as cover, he flew out of it, knee aimed for my head. I stood still and took it, not bending. Instead, I caught him by the neck with one hand while grabbing his waist with the other and tossing him straight into the floor. He rolled backwards with the hit, not even reacting to what must have hurt like a motherfucker.
He rose, four senbon in his hands that he fired at me with wind release amplifying their speed. I stepped through them like they were nothing. "Did you think Hiruzen was your equal? Me? My one-handed cousin would wipe the floor with you," I taunted. Was it true? Probably not, but one of the keys to a good diss was that it did not need to be true. It just needed to hurt.
I stepped into his space and he spat a wind bullet straight at my head. He'd held it back from that initial barrage, building it up in his throat, sharpening it with more and more shape transformation. It moved so quickly that one second it was leaving his mouth and the next, it was passing through the space my forehead had occupied nary a second earlier. It was a good trick; I reluctantly admitted it might even have worked if I couldn't just see the chakra for the attack building within his throat. Nothing was hidden to the Byakugan. And crafty as Danzo felt he was, there was a point where even the best strategies and tactics fell apart in the face of overwhelming power. No genin could strategize their way into beating a Jounin. In much the same vein, Danzo couldn't strategize his way through the power gap that existed between us.
I stepped backwards, into the reach of the clone that just tore through the floorboards. Its attempt to stab me in the neck from behind failed and I lifted my hand to catch a hold of the outstretched arm as its elbow stopped against my neck. I was so much stronger than him that I only needed to pull with one hand to lift him over and slam his body into the ground. While I did so, I fed my chakra into the floorboards to strengthen them.
The clone burst into smoke, dispelled from the force of the landing. He slid through the smoke still trying to surprise me. His sandaled feet came to a stop right next to my head, as I moved slightly to the side to dodge. The sandal fell off and I tracked it with my eyes for a second. A second that let me see just what seals were on it. Crafty. I deactivated my Byakugan the second before the flashing went off.
I was still blinded, but not in crippling pain at least. He moved forward instantly, credit where it was due, not even hesitating to try to finish me off in my moment of weakness. Of course, he had no idea that as a Sage, I did not need eyes to see. And without the distraction that was sight, my vision became all the clearer.
He moved his feet into my space, and I yielded to him drawing him in. He attempted a punch. I slapped it aside, and then in a move that no ninja would ever make in a serious fight, I bitch-slapped him with all I had. His head snapped to the side, and he staggered backwards. I stepped forward, back into the space I had yielded and slammed my foot into his chest, cracking at least a rib or two as he flew backwards, crashing right through his desk.
He lay on the floor for a second or so while I waited for him to get up. This time, he did so slowly. So slowly that without the Byakugan, I might have even fallen for it and assumed he was on his last legs.
"What is the meaning of this? Showing up to my house unannounced? Attacking me? A sitting clan head? You must have grown arrogant in your position if you think the village will stand for this? You'll never be Kage when I'm done with you," he spat, the vitriol in his voice was so apparent it hung in the air even after his words had passed.
"This? This is just stress relief. We'll get to the matter of why I'm here in a few," I said, and then took a step backwards while his clone shot out through the floorboards in front of me. That was only half the plan though. Danzo jumped backwards, sailing through the glass of his study and into the field outside as he formed the rat seal. The entire study exploded with me inside. At least he must have thought he did.
"It takes a certain kind of man to blow up their own house," I said from my place behind his shoulder as he stood outside breathing heavily staring at the explosion. If he were a lesser man, he might have yelped in shock. At least he managed to avoid doing that. Instead, he turned about, spitting a senbon from his mouth straight at me. I leaned down a slight bit, allowing the senbon to ding against my headband and be repelled.
"Also, you should know that it isn't cool to stare at your own explosions," I said, as he near about roared in rage, forming the seals for a summoning jutsu. Baku the nightmare eater appeared in a giant puff of smoke. I might have been impressed if he wasn't smaller and less impressive than even the baby whales I'd seen.
My fingers flicked through seals and the nightmare eater sank into the ground swallowed up in a matter of seconds. It tried to fight its way out but my control over the earth was undeniable. I went through more seals then, and borrowing one of Uzume's new favorites, ended on the tiger seal. "Fire Release: Majestic Flame Missile," I said, concentrating a massive amount of fire, about half as much as would have gone in a great fire annihilation and concentrated it into a spinning spear within my throat. I breathed out, bringing it into being and the sounds of the nightmare eater being burned alive echoed about the empty space for a few seconds before it returned itself to its realm.
"Now I wonder, is that all you have?" I asked, tilting my head at him and trying to plant the most bored and uninterested expression on my face that I could form.
I waited to see what he would try next, and was slightly disappointed when he shot to his feet and instead of closing the distance again, began to weave seals at a rapid pace. He breathed a wind release vacuum wave in my direction. I broke down the technique with my Byakugan as I saw it form and be sent at me. Danzo was well known as one of the most dangerous wind release users in the village— if not the most dangerous because of his invention, the Vacuum techniques. While standard wind release was weak to fire release, the vacuum subset of techniques did not share that weakness. Sadly, they sacrificed some of the power of the higher tier wind release techniques for this advantage. So it was just a matter of stomping a foot on the ground to create a wall that blocked the attack.
He moved, body flickering to the side, as he weaved even more seals. I watched him take a deep breath before he began to exhale, forming a giant invisible sphere of wind release chakra inverted into a vacuum. He shot it towards me and I stretched my hand, forming a Rasengan in it. The vacuum wave hit the Rasengan, and exploded, leaving me unscathed and not managing to dissipate my stolen jutsu. He jumped backwards, barely managing to avoid me shoving said Rasengan into his stomach. I watched him jump away with a smile and then teleported right behind him.
"This was entertaining and all, but if that's all you have then there's nothing more you can do," I whispered to him before I pressed two fingers into his neck, interrupting the flow of chakra and blood to his brain and knocking him unconscious.
Orochimaru did not invent curse seals. That had been interesting to find out years ago. The Uzumaki clan had a whole subset of the sealing arts known as curse seals. They weren't as bad as they sounded. Mizuki Uzumaki was even the foremost master of curse seals in the clan these days and she was quite a personable fellow. The initial seal I'd placed on Danzo had been a form of curse seal. Albeit a very interesting one. It sensed intention towards the caster. Basically, if Danzo ever spoke about me while feeling negative emotions, then the seal would activate. It was the best I could think of for ensuring loyalty. Of course, I'd lied to Danzo about what the seal's limits were, expecting it would buy me time, and it had.
Caution regarding the seal had probably stayed his hand from a lot of things but that had clearly not stopped him from putting his hand in the cookie jar.
I dragged his body into the house while my clones maintained the normalcy barrier which would create a genjutsu that deceived all but those who looked really closely into believing that everything was as it ought to have been.
When we arrived at his seating room, I shoved his body against the wall and unsealed my brush. If I wanted to do this right then the seal I would apply would have to be a more complex one. The curse seal of honesty was an old Uzumaki seal passed down from so long ago that no one could say when it was actually invented. What made it special was that it was one of the few seals that were that old that hadn't been changed a lot since then. For context, another was the Reaper Death Seal.
I painted all over his body, thankfully not having to remove his underwear to get it done. When I was done painting the script, I stepped back and weaved a set of 26 hand-seals. The ink glowed a bright blue before burning into his skin and then shrinking to form a triangle on his neck.
"Wakey-wakey, Danny Boy," I said, slapping him straight across the face.
"How dare you—"
"Shut up. Okay, I'll be straight with you. There's a curse seal on you right now. If you lie, I will know and you will suffer. I have a single question," I said, watching his face closely.
"Where is the body of Hashirama Senju?" I asked leaning closely to stare into his eyes.
"What? What the hell are you talking about?"
"Just answer the fucking question," I said, remotely activating the first seal I placed on him those weeks ago. He screamed as all his pain receptors were dialed up to a hundred. No amount of training could make you resist. The pain was entirely in his head, and there was no escaping, zoning out, or tolerating it.
"It's buried in the Konoha cemetery. Is that a trick question or something?" he asked when I finally stopped pushing. He wasn't screaming in pain. There was no reaction at all from the curse seal of honesty. He hadn't lied. Fuck. He hadn't lied.
A/N: Oops. Shori probably shouldn't have just assumed Danzo was up to no good, should he? Next five up on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)(same username as here and link in bio), support me there and read them early.