join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence 9: Reader for hundreds of additional chapters and over a dozen stories
Deep within the lowest level of the underground prison, even now, distant wails could still be heard echoing.
However, this corridor on the sixth basement floor was, instead, wide and brightly lit.
It added a faint sense of oppression for no reason.
Yet, neither of the two people standing there paid any attention to this minor interlude, simply gazing at each other in silence.
"Even now, have you still not repented?"
"Danzo."
After a long pause, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at him, his hands clasped behind his back, a hint of heaviness in his expression as he faced his old friend.
"The one who should repent is clearly you!"
Shimura Danzo's face was cold, but his voice held an unsuppressable fury: "If it weren't for that excellent student you taught, colluding with that cunning Hatake Sakumo, and suddenly causing such a huge stir, how would you and I have ended up like this?"
He still believed the speech incident was Hatake Sakumo's 'conspiracy' even now.
But the more he spoke, the more Sarutobi Hiruzen got angry:
"Isn't that because you're so out of touch, actually selling information about Tsunade and the others to Kumogakure at such a critical time during the war?!"
"The first time was one thing, Kato Dan is dead after all, but the second time you were actually caught red-handed in the Village?!"
He stretched out his hand, pointing in the direction from which the wails came, his anger flaring: "Do you think I don't know? Hiruko, under your command, is still being tortured, and the Yamanaka clan has long since extracted the information from his mind!"
"Danzo, you're something else!"
"Thirty-five million ryo, such a huge sum, you just took it, and not only did you hire someone to kill, but you killed your own comrades from the same Village?!"
"Do you know that as soon as that money left your hands, Hiruko embezzled ten million ryo? Hmm?"
Danzo seemed to have completely ignored the part about hiring a killer, and immediately stood up from the stone bed, glaring at him: "What do you mean 'second time'? I only did it once that week!"
"The Tsunade incident has nothing to do with me!"
"Moreover, everything I did was for Konoha!"
"For Konoha?" Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at him, his anger flaring, "Weren't you trying to 'immediately use the news of Kumogakure's attack to shift public opinion away from Tsunade and yourself'?"
Shimura Danzo's voice faltered.
Clearly, Hiruko's memories had sold him out completely—these were Danzo's exact words when he was in Root.
But what kind of person was Danzo?
After only a brief pause, his tone immediately regained its previous composure, subtly shifting the focus of the topic: "So what?"
"Hiruzen, haven't you realized how dangerous that brat is?"
"Although my strength has indeed declined during this period, he was able to sever one of my arms with absolute superiority in just one encounter…"
"Even the Third Raikage probably wouldn't be much better, would he?"
"Sawara Kiri possesses such ability, yet he has been content to waste his time in the Hokage Building until now. He has passed by you countless times without you knowing anything about his strength—don't you think deeper, and consider what he truly intends to do?!"
Shimura Danzo's tone was ninety-nine percent threat, leaving only a negligible hint of temptation.
"…"
Sarutobi Hiruzen, however, did not speak, merely looking at him in silence.
It was only after several minutes that he sighed:
"Sawara-kun is a good child."
"Hiruzen, clear your head!" Shimura Danzo looked exasperated, "Since when could Ninja be judged by good or bad?"
"What we need to do now is expose his conspiracy and destroy his ambition! We absolutely cannot let the Village fall into the hands of such a dangerous fellow!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen stood outside the cage, seemingly a little swayed, but still sighed: "However, Danzo, the commotion you caused this time was truly too great."
"Konoha needs an explanation."
"Heh."
Danzo looked at his foolish, feigned expression, feeling extremely displeased: "Isn't that idiot Hiruko enough?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head firmly:
"Not enough."
"Then again—"
"Danzo." Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly became righteous, "Root members are also Konoha Ninja!"
Upon hearing this, Shimura Danzo seemed to suddenly realize something, looking up at him in shock: "Wait? You wouldn't have already taken my Root—"
Sarutobi Hiruzen turned his head, refusing to meet his gaze.
"Only those three squad leaders…"
Hearing him say that, Danzo felt a sense of relief.
Only a few high-end talents were recruited, and no fundamental damage was done. Root could be re-expanded and re-selected; everything could continue.
Then, he heard Hiruzen continue: "Aside from those three squad leaders, everyone else in Root has been taken by me."
"…?"
For a moment, Danzo seemed to be in such sudden pain that he couldn't speak.
Sarutobi Hiruzen also felt somewhat helpless.
When he took action, he also thought he probably wouldn't give this guy a second chance, so he disbanded Root and absorbed its members quite swiftly.
However, after he personally witnessed Sawara Kiri's strike that penetrated the barrier, Sarutobi Hiruzen, as Shimura Danzo had said, developed a sense of apprehension again.
This young man was truly too outstanding.
So much so that Sarutobi Hiruzen was even unsure whether he should compare him to his own teacher, who enjoyed developing forbidden Ninjutsu, or if he could reach the realm of 'God' that belonged only to 'those two people'.
Would Konoha ever see a second God of Shinobi?
Sarutobi Hiruzen thought this, standing on the boundary between 'full recruitment' and 'complete eradication', hesitating.
His indecisiveness was not a one-day or two-day problem, but a habit formed over a long period of relying on established paths.
Unconsciously, Sarutobi Hiruzen, just like before, came to seek Danzo's help, and unknowingly skillfully provoked him to speak.
Clearly.
Danzo's reaction was very cooperative.
The two of them worked together to assign blame, just as they had rehearsed countless times.
It was just that now there were some minor disagreements on small issues.
"…"
"Forget it."
After a long silence, Shimura Danzo was the first to show weakness, saying coldly: "In short, as long as we give those people an explanation, right?"
"Hmm?"
As soon as Danzo finished speaking, Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly noticed something was off and squinted at the 'Danzo' in front of him.
The next moment, he heard a "hiss, hiss, hiss" sound of airflow from the surface of 'Shimura Danzo's' body, and his skin melted away like water, revealing another person's figure.
Right before Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes, 'Shimura Danzo' transformed into a thin, gaunt, blond middle-aged man.
"Hmm?!"
"Lord Third, this is the Mind Body Switch Technique." The Yamanaka clan Ninja, who served as a substitute, knelt on the ground, expressionless, "Just now, Lord Danzo was conversing with you by attaching his spirit to my body."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's old face immediately stretched long:
"Where is he?"
Only at this moment did he realize that Danzo had somehow infiltrated personnel into this prison, and that scoundrel had already escaped long before he knew it.
Hearing this, the Yamanaka Ninja extended a finger, pressing it to his temple, as if listening to something.
"Lord Danzo says to you: 'This should be enough, right?'"
The Yamanaka Ninja repeated calmly, showing no unusual expression, even though he knew he was about to be traded as a 'bargaining chip'.
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at him, his expression growing even gloomier:
"Very good."
"…"
The Yamanaka Ninja watched him leave.
A few days later, news of a certain Advisor Elder being imprisoned and tried on suspicion of wartime treason appeared in the Konoha Daily.
The following days were so peaceful they were almost boring.
The departure date for Sawara Kiri and his group had been set: seventeen days later, they would set off with the third batch of the main force.
During the remaining time, he had been spending time with Minato, Kushina, and Megumi.
Since the barrier sealing the Nine-Tailed was not yet fully repaired, movement was relatively free, but he was often watched by Anbu with a gaze like they were staring at a thief, which was somewhat unpleasant.
In contrast, his progress in learning Sealing Technique was very fast.
Kushina and Minato were both excellent teachers, and Sawara Kiri had a very specific 'goal', so his progress updated quite quickly.
After these days of research, relying on the characteristics of his Six Eyes, he had generally analyzed the function of the Sealing Technique on his body—the techniques on his brain and heart were both lethal, a part of the brain's technique hadn't been deciphered yet, and the one on his heart was similar to what Obito and Rin encountered in the original story, having a certain puppetry effect, which could prevent suicide and control actions.
The one on his tongue was relatively simple; it controlled vocalization and reacted to keywords.
Besides these, there were also various types on his body that restricted movement or had targeted punitive effects.
None of those mattered.
According to Kushina's explanation, the first three types were all designed to be unbreakable once applied, and could only be solved by destruction, so they were very stable.
Hearing her give such a result, Sawara Kiri felt relieved.
Damn Hidden Mist.
"Hmm."
Sawara Kiri sat in front of the mirror, aiming a Kunai at his mouth, carefully using his Six Eyes and the mirror to assist in alignment.
"Pfft!"
Just a light cut.
Blood spurted out.
Along with it, his entire tongue fell out.
He tightly closed his eyes, forcibly enduring the intense pain, while also concentrating his mind, fully exerting the Reversal Technique.
After multiple experiments during this period, he had confirmed that a part of his body, once severed, could be restored by expending a large amount of Chakra.
It's just—
It hurt too much!
Sawara Kiri forcibly endured it, the Reversal Technique running for about ten minutes.
Only then did he slowly stick out his new tongue in front of the mirror.
"Hmm, hiss…"
"Wait, did it get a little longer here? And it's quite pink."
"Nya nya nya~"
"Does Reversal Technique have this kind of use?!"
Sawara Kiri muttered quietly, dissatisfied with this and that.
On the face reflected in the mirror, however, was a completely irrepressible, brilliant smile.
On his new tongue, there was no trace of the Sealing Technique.
Clearly, this method was effective!
Although he temporarily didn't dare to operate on his heart and brain, Sawara Kiri at least knew how to solve the problem.
Just as he was playing around sticking his tongue out at the mirror, he suddenly heard the sound of a door closing downstairs.
Sawara Kiri's movements instantly froze, and he swiftly cleaned up the splashed blood in the room.
However, when he excitedly walked downstairs, he saw Sawara Yuki, head bowed, covered in dirt, entering the genkan, with some bloodstains on her left side.
"Yuki?"
Sawara Kiri was startled at the sight, and quickly walked over to check her injuries: "Isn't today a patrol mission? Are you hurt!?"
"No, I'm fine… It's not my injury."
Sawara Yuki looked up, a somewhat forced smile on her cat-like face, then lowered her head, completely devoid of her usual lively energy: "…A few rogue Ninja set up an ambush in our patrol area."
"Mishima fell into an explosive tag trap."
"He died."
"…"
Sawara Kiri was stunned to hear this, and the joy in his heart was suddenly washed away.
Looking at the girl's helpless, fearful, yet forcibly suppressed expression, he was silent for a long while, then carefully reached out and gently stroked the top of her head.
Just this cautious comfort inexplicably broke Yuki's defenses. She immediately buried her head in his chest, clutching his clothes tightly, her body trembling slightly, but she was so choked up that she couldn't even make a sound of crying.
"Kiri…"
After all, she was still a twelve-year-old child.
But the world of Ninja was like this.
Killing others and having loved ones killed were two hurdles most Ninja had to experience.
Even those like Yuki who could hold back their tears until they got home were few; most would cry on the spot, like Shikamaru seeing Asuma die, or fight while crying.
These were all signs of an 'immature' Ninja.
Sawara Kiri couldn't do much at this moment, only carefully comforting her, waiting for her to calm down on her own.
After venting her emotions, taking a good bath, eating a big meal cooked by her brother, then enduring the long night until she couldn't stay awake, and drowsily falling asleep in a nightmare, repeating this a few times.
She would then more or less 'mature'.
This was a Ninja.
Even Sawara Kiri, who could calmly and bravely cut off his own tongue under the pressure of the unknown, fear, and pain, wasn't forged in a day.
"What a terrible profession."
That night, the two members of the Sawara family tossed and turned.
Sawara Kiri suddenly had a subtle 'realization' about his younger sister also being a Ninja.
It wasn't that he hadn't noticed it before, but rather that the previous Sawara Kiri had focused all his attention on his own survival, and simply had no ability or qualification to show concern for those around him.
Even if he did, it was an act.
But now, he seemed to suddenly have this level of leeway.
His methods for dealing with things had also increased.
Connections, strength, public opinion, power.
If he wanted to keep this child safe, what should he do?
Send her to Tsunade to learn medical Ninjutsu?
Safety shouldn't be an issue, whether she learns it or not isn't the main point, the main point is that she can be kept there until he returns from the war, and ideally, she won't have to leave the Village during this time.
Besides that, there were also dangers within the Village…
It was currently the Second Great Ninja War, Konoha's early foundations were still strong, and the Village still offered many benefits to young people.
Recently, the patrol routes of Yuki's team had been considered safe. In these past few months, they had only encountered bandits and the like, and most of their missions were rated C, with no accidents ever occurring.
Under normal circumstances, no rogue Ninja would be so bold as to trespass into Konoha's borders, let alone set up an ambush with explosive tag formations.
Who instigated them to cause trouble here? Did they have a death wish?
He sat quietly by the bed, thinking this to himself.
"Seventeen days, the third batch, I wonder how long it will be until I can return?" Sawara Kiri muttered to himself.
Unconsciously, the confidence brought by his strength was breaking through his cautious mindset as a Hidden Mist spy. The Tongue Curse Seal he had personally severed not long ago seemed to have inadvertently cut that careful nerve of his.
With a sharp weapon in hand, the urge to kill arises naturally.
"What a pity."
"At the time, I was only focused on survival, and my actions were still too cautious."
"I should have nipped it in the bud earlier."
Sawara Kiri exhaled softly, put on his clothes, and casually covered his face.
He was going for a walk.
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence: 9 Reader for hundreds of additional chapters and over a dozen stories