Chapter 138: The Root is All My People
"Trash! All of you are trash!"
Danzo Shimura was furious in the Root base. "I sent nearly a squadron to capture the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. While you didn't fail, do you really think that level of commotion is something a twelve-year-old kid could create?!"
"Jiraiya appeared suddenly, we were caught off guard..."
"Commit seppuku!"
"Yes, Lord Danzo!"
The Root Ninja reporting to Danzo Shimura was quick. Without any defense, he placed his ninja sword against his neck and slashed hard. He lay on his side, twitched a few times, and soon stopped moving.
"Since it's exposed, then go prepare for battle and get ready to face their counterattack." Danzo Shimura had no other choice now. Once the covert operations were brought into the light, all that remained was a head-on collision of force.
"However, with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki in hand, supplemented by the control of the Sharingan, I think my chances of winning are over seventy percent!"
Danzo Shimura adjusted his mindset quickly. Although the armed struggle for the position of Hokage was now inevitable, and no matter who won or lost, it would drag Konoha Village into another abyss, none of that mattered—at least in Danzo Shimura's eyes.
"Lord Jiraiya, are we really going to storm the Rootbase?"
Asuma Sarutobi was hesitant. He had already foreseen the scene of Konoha Village falling into internal strife; both sides suffering losses was bound to happen.
"Before Danzo Shimura has completely controlled Naruto, we have no choice but to fight to the death. Otherwise, Konoha Village will sooner or later become a plaything for Danzo Shimura!"
Jiraiya had a gloomy face. Although he had instructed Naruto and even sent extra guards to protect him, he was still lured by Danzo Shimurathrough Uchiha Sasuke to Uchiha Itachi, and Naruto was kidnapped to the Root base again.
Undoubtedly, as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, no matter which side controlled Naruto, he would become the greatest deterrent to the other. After all, the Nine-Tails was different from the One-Tails Shukaku; it was the strongest of the nine Tailed Beasts!
And Jiraiya was not confident that he could subdue the rampaging Nine-Tails single-handedly...
From this point of view, destroying the Root under Danzo Shimura's control before he could control Naruto was the optimal choice.
Otherwise, once Danzo Shimura controlled Naruto, it would be too late, and Danzo Shimura becoming the Fifth Hokage of Konoha Village would be a done deal!
"Let Kakashi rest here for now. The situation is critical; we can't wait for him to wake up!"
"But Uchiha Sasuke..."
"We can't worry about that much. After dealing with Danzo Shimura and his lackeys, we'll send people to look for him!"
Since the death of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the trivial matters of Konoha Village had come one after another, so many that Jiraiya suddenly had the illusion of being short-handed, because too many things exploded at once, and each was more troublesome than the last.
"Jiraiya was just pretending to leave, but actually had a secret plan?"
Danzo Shimura, on his way to the dungeon where Naruto was held, received the news that Jiraiyahad not left the village. He wanted to scold his subordinate, but held back. As long as he had the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki in hand, let alone one more Jiraiya, even if the three Sannin gathered, he was confident of victory.
"I was wondering why the Third Squadron hadn't sent any news. It turns out Jiraiya never intended to leave the village!" Danzo Shimura thought he had found a reasonable explanation. "You say you don't want to succeed as Hokage, but your actions still told me your truest thoughts."
"Creeeeak..."
The iron gate outside the dungeon was in disrepair, so the sound when it opened was creepy, and the moldy smell wafting from inside was nauseating.
However, Danzo Shimura seemed accustomed to this. His expression remained steady as he walked forward, quickly passing through the winding corridor and arriving at the deepest part of the dungeon.
"Open the cell door."
"Yes, Lord Danzo."
Danzo Shimura walked to Naruto, lifted the hem of Naruto's clothes, and nodded with satisfaction after seeing the Sealing Jutsu imprinted on it.
"Now the Nine-Tails is mine! I am about to become the Fifth Hokage of Konoha Village, and the entire Ninja World will welcome the king it has been waiting for!"
"Is that so?"
Naruto, who was tied up tightly and pretending to be unconscious, suddenly raised his head. His tone was filled with disdain and mockery. Looking at the shameless Danzo Shimura in front of him, he suddenly thrust out his right hand!
"Ah...!"
Misfortune following joy is the biggest joke life plays on people. It was even more applicable to Danzo Shimura now. The Mangekyo Sharingan of Uchiha Shisui, which he had painstakingly planned and exhausted his efforts to obtain, was instantly gouged out by Naruto.
"Yo, that's everything. If Uchiha Shisui knew about this in the afterlife, he should thank me."
Naruto dodged Danzo Shimura's furious attack with agility mixed with elegance. He even had the leisure to put Uchiha Shisui's right eye into a bottle of saline solution for safekeeping.
"Kill him!"
Having lost the suppression of Uchiha Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan, the Hashirama cells in Danzo Shimura's body, which had been tending toward balance, became unbalanced. This was a bomb he had planted himself; he couldn't blame anyone else.
But the Root Ninja behind Danzo Shimuraremained motionless, as if they hadn't heard his order. Not only did they not act, but they also flashed to protect Naruto's left and right sides.
"Didn't expect it?!" Naruto sealed the saline bottle into a sealing scroll. "I thought you would have guessed it long ago... but, your brain doesn't work that well either."
Naruto reached out and tapped his own head, tilting his head to look at the retreating Danzo Shimura. "Can't guess when it happened? Then I'll give you a hint: do you remember those improved Hashirama cells that 'Tian' gave you?"
Naruto approached Danzo Shimura step by step. He felt exhilarated. Naruto, who didn't want to talk too much, broke his own rules again. After all, the person in front of him was his enemy, and if he didn't let him die knowing the truth, it would be a disservice to his own years of lying low, as well as the grave he had personally selected for Danzo Shimura!
"You are Tian?!"
"Surprised?" Naruto took out a uniquely shaped three-pronged Kunai from his clothes. "Although I haven't used it as a marker for a long time, I still kept one as a souvenir."
"I should have guessed it earlier!" The rampaging Hashirama cells in Danzo Shimura's body gradually calmed down under the suppression of the Sharingan on his arm. "Then... please go die!"
A wooden spear made of Wood Release struck at Naruto, fast and urgent, and its power was not to be underestimated.
"You're old..."
Naruto calmly extended his right hand. A bright blue Rasengan lay quietly in his palm. The violent power hidden under the stable Chakra membrane exploded suddenly after contacting the wooden spear!
"Rasengan?!"
Danzo Shimura, who had been pushed far away by the shockwave of the explosion, looked even gloomier. "You're becoming more and more like the Fourth, but you don't look like him at all! You are cunning! Insidious! Hypocritical! You are a complete villain!"
"History, truth, and lies are all written by the victors. I think you should have realized this long ago." Naruto shrugged. "The me who should have enjoyed the treatment of a hero and a happy childhood seems to have been rewritten into this state by you victors."
"Does the death of Hiruzen Sarutobi also have something to do with you?!"
By this time, Naruto had reached the point of telling everything. After all, the entire Root, except for the imprisoned Fu Yamanaka and Aburame Torune, was now his own people!