Chapter 39
HIKARI HYUGA
Hikari woke up at night. He woke up quietly. He woke up acutely aware of his surroundings in a way he had never been until now, and as he lay there in his bed, he took a few moments to understand this newfound power of his.
"Nature Chakra," he realised after a few minutes of contemplation, as he slowly reached for the cursed mark on his neck, and its abhorrent chakra made his blood boil, yet the cursed mark was in many ways similar to a partial or failed Sage Mode transformation.
It was a slow transformation of one's chakra and body into one more attuned with that of Orochimaru. It was a double-edged sword, but right now, this was his greatest weapon.
For years, Hikari had struggled with his lack of sensing abilities, and though he had found a few workarounds for it. The lack of a natural sensing ability had always hampered him greatly, along with his limited reserves.
The mark had mitigated both of those conditions, for even though he sat on the hospital bed, he could sense nearly half of the village without moving an inch. He could sense Ino, and Shikamaru in their homes.
He could sense his own brother's dwindling form a few blocks away from him, and he could sense the half a hundred ANBU circling the village unseen by the naked eye.
His reserves had grown to nearly double their previous size, and he could feel the shift in his chakra as well. It abhorred him to rely on this borrowed strength, but he was running out of time, for Orochimaru's last words continued to ring in his ears.
"Danzo Shimura," and his fists balled up, as he uttered that accursed name. He had thought he would not have to deal with the bastard, yet it seemed like he had thought wrong.
The one-eyed traitor had decided to interfere with his family, leaving him no choice but to move against him, but it was easier said than done. Despite his slumber, he was not completely unaware of the whispers that were uttered around him, and so he knew that the man was being considered for the position of the next kage.
Even without that, he enjoyed much power and clout, and without a Hokage ruling over the village, he had no one to go to with his query. Jiraiya-sama was out of the village, and the rest were all busy dealing with the fallout from the attack.
He had no one he could rely on.
He could ask his friends, but relying on him did not feel right, for he did not have much time.
"I will have to do this myself," and with that, he pulled out the IV line from his arm, and slid out the window as he jumped up on the wall of the Hospital and took a deep breath, as he let his body acclimate itself to its newfound powers.
Of all the powers senjutsu granted, the sensing was on an entirely different level. It made seals, concrete, and distance irrelevant, and as he began to scour the village for Hinata's chakra signature, he found it half an hour later tucked away deep underground.
Dimmed out and weak, but alive nonetheless, and that was all he needed.
And, so he began to focus on her surroundings, as he sat there on the roof of the Hospital, as he felt the mark activate, and expand as Nature chakra invaded his system, allowing him to reach heights and power he had only ever dreamed of.
Perhaps it was his luck that much of the Foundation seemed to have been put out on missions, and he could sense about thirty of them within the village, along with Danzo, who was not that far from Hinata.
He could go and try to simply escape with Hinata, yet even if there was a sliver of chance that Danzo Shimura might just become the Hokage, then he needed to make sure that such a thing never happened.
His existence had already changed things, mostly for the worse, and if one of those changes was him becoming Hokage.
No. Hikari could not live with that.
A man like that needed to die, and he was perhaps the only one who could do it. Danzo was a legend, yet his injuries had left him a cripple. He could be a menace to deal with, but only if he was allowed to activate that left arm of his, for without it, he was no stronger than a simple but experienced jounin, and in his current state, Hikari was quite confident of taking down a jounin.
All he had to do was to make sure to neutralise those stolen Sharingan.
He checked his gear, and he had a single sword in his storage and a dozen or so shuriken and kunai at his disposal, but with the night ending, he could not wait any longer.
"It's time," and with that, he began to move, as he let his presence thin out in the air as he used one of Orochimaru's techniques to let himself vanish into the ground before he appeared at the entrance of the Foundation's stronghold.
Two guards were stationed there, and Hikari slid out of the ground as he grabbed them by the ankles.
"Wha..." yet before they could utter anything else, their bodies were pulled into the ground, and their throats slit as he emerged out of the ground, his eyes gleaming with a golden hue as he scanned his surroundings.
And with that, he ran forward once more, his newfound sensing abilities alerting him to the duo standing guard at the next corner, and yet before they could react, he had placed his hand on their backs.
"Katon: Internal Combustion...!"
FWOOOOSH!
And in the blink of an eye, their bodies turned into charred husks, and within the next thirty minutes, the same fate resulted in the death of over twenty masked ROOT ANBUs, until he finally came upon the bandaged form of Danzo Shimura, who stood in front of a tied-up and battered form of Hinata.
Hikari could see the fear in her eyes, and his enhanced ears allowed him to hear the murmurs as he waited for his opportunity.
"We have found a new, more capable body for those eyes of yours," and he stilled as he heard those words.
"So, I am afraid I no longer have any need for yo..." and Hikari blitzed through the air, his body coursing with the corrosive chakra from the cursed mark, as he swung his blade at the bandaged arm.
"Katon:..." and the man tried to jump away, yet his clone emerged from underneath him and grabbed him by the ankles, as he emptied out a quarter of his reserves in a single technique.
"...KYOSTISUJIN!"
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DANZO SHIMURA
For far too long, the village had been shackled by Hiruzen's naivety, but change was fast approaching.
Oto and Sungakure's betrayal had shaken the very foundation of their village, leaving it without a Hokage in perhaps its most crucial times. His old teammate had once been a great shinobi, yet age and sentimentality had eaten into his greatness, turning him into a shell of the man he once was.
He was Konoha's ray of hope even in its darkest hour. But that Sun had now set, and it was time for the village to face its darkness. He had hoped that Hiruzen would have handled his former student by himself. Yet, Orochimaru was as slippery and cunning a shinobi as could be and had proven it by escaping the village despite his little ploy.
Still, with his arms sealed, Orochimaru was no longer a threat to him or his rise. Neither was Tsunade, and he was in many ways lucky that Jiraiya had refused to accept the position, for the daimyo had been in favor of his nomination over him.
But Hiruzen's prized student had always shirked from his responsibilities, content in galloping around the world, and wasting his time on his useless hobbies. Tsunade was the only hurdle that remained, yet Danzo was certain that the naive girl no longer had the heart to take up the mantle as she wallowed in self-pity and despair.
"No matter," he whispered as he read through the latest report from his operative tailing Jiraiya and his little apprentice through their journey, and according to the report, the Toad Summoner had already found and reached Tsunade in but a day, though it mattered little.
"You can try all you want. But none shall defy me my rightful place this time," and soon enough, he would don the hat and would lead the village into an era of peace and prosperity.
"Danzo-sama," the masked nin behind him began as Danzo burned the report.
"The preparations have been made to move the Byakugan," and that was another one of his goals achieved, for he had long hoped to obtain the fabled doujutsu for himself, yet procuring it was no easy task.
The Hyuga clan was far more orthodox in protecting their doujutsu from rivals and thieves. But the wait was over, and now he had Hiashi's daughter slumbering within these Halls, while his own men made all the necessary preparations.
He had taken inspiration from Ao of Kirigakure, the only other shinobi who had successfully obtained the fabled Byakugan for himself, and had designed seals to make sure that none would be able to recognise or see the stolen eyes even with the Byakugan itself.
"Lead me to her then," he ordered, and the masked nin led him to Central Hall, where the girl lay on the ground, seals and chains keeping her bound. A seal covered her eyes, and Danzo stood over her as the girl whimpered on the ground.
Hinata Hyuga, and Hiashi's daughter, was far more interesting than one would think. The girl, much like her wayward cousin, had chosen to defy the clan's dogma of shunning ninjutsu and had begun to dabble in Raiton.
It was somewhat of a shame that he had to get rid of her, but she was already too old and too set in her ways to conform to the principles of his Foundation.
"A shame that you are too old now. But I have found someone far more deserving of those eyes of yours," and with that, he raised his bandaged hand, as wind chakra laced his arm.
"So, I am afraid I no longer have a reason for keeping you al..." yet as his hand moved, he felt the air shift slightly, taking him by surprise, before he felt a figure blur in front of him.
"Katon:..." the blurred figure whispered, his face covered by strange red and dark markings while two misshapen wings sprouted out of his back, and Danzo tried to jump back to avoid the massive chakra-laden blade coming for him.
"Wha...' yet he found himself unable to move, and glanced down and saw a pair of arms holding him down, and in an instant his plan shifted as he chose to retaliate, and brought his arm up to protect his neck.
"..Kyositsujin!" yet the sword was not swung at his neck, nor his face, but towards the shoulder of his sealed arm—his secret weapon.
BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!
And just as the blade touched his shoulder, he felt his entire body burn as his secret weapon was burned to a crisp in but an instant as the masked nin behind him chose to intervene just in the nick of time.
"Doton: Toujinbo!" and the earth under him shifted, in an instant as the arms holding him down vanished, as the ground erupted in a blur right between them.
"LORD DANZO!" his masked nin jumped forward and pulled him away, as Danzo reached for the charred stump, for it was all that remained of the arm that he had made specifically for this day.
"Danzo-sama! Danzo-sama," the man came and supported him, as he coughed out blood, and he was alive only because of the Mokuton chakra that laced his prosthetic arm, yet still, he could think of but a few people who knew of the secret that hid under all those seals.
His men began to gather, as Danzo looked around and saw but a handful of masked nin come to him.
"Where are the res..." yet before he could continue, chakra surged from the devastation infront of him.
"Kaiten!" and he watched a blue orb of chakra emerge, and blast away the rocks and pillars as five masked nin stood in front of him to guard him, and as the blue orb vanished, he saw the attacker in his full form for the first time.
His counter had struck, and of the two misshapen wings, only one remained. His skin had a mix of red and dark marks over it, and Danzo could sense nature chakra oozing from him.
Not in ways of a true sage. But still, it was rather intriguing. Behind him, the blue-haired girl stood tall once more, bruised, battered, yet defiant as she activated her Byakugan.
"You are not getting your hands on her," the intruder challenged, even as his sword crumpled away, as Danzo finally recognised him.
"Hikari Hyuga," he whispered as he stood tall once more, and the boy was becoming quite a thorn in his side. It would have been so much easier had Hiruzen simply handed given the boy to him, all those years ago.
Such talent and prowess wasted!
"You could have lived had you stayed away. But now you have sealed your fate," Danzo declared, for there was no way that he could let the boy live after what he had seen and done.
But he wondered how the boy had come to learn of his arm? and what it held. The boy was an ANBU, and given the opportunity that he had created, he should have swung at his neck to end his life.
Yet he had not.
He had specifically gone after his arm, showing that he knew of Danzo's most well-guarded secret. And if he knew of that, then it made him wonder just what else he was privy to.
The loss of years of work and effort made him grit his teeth, for without that arm, Danzo had been weakened considerably, and already the chakra was off balance within his body because of that.
"What are your orders, Danzo-sama?" his men questioned, and he grit his teeth as he gave the command.
"Kill the boy...."
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