Chapter 27 - 23. DANZŌ'S TRAP

"I have mastered the Uzumaki Taijutsu, Uzumaki Kenjutsu, many Uzumaki Fūinjutsus, Shurikenjutsu and some basic ninjutsu but genjutsu is still foreign to me. I think it's time for me to start practicing genjutsu!"

"I can teach you. I know some very useful genjutsus." Yaichiro suggested.

"Before that I think I must learn genjutsu disruption techniques because once I receive the Fudō Myōō Seal and the Genjutsu Dissipation Method, I won't be able to learn to naturally perform genjutsu disruption techniques."

Yaichiro nodded. That's a reasonable decesion, "Then I should use my genjutsu on you nephew..."

"Nah! I have decided to visit our hideout at Shangri-la. The aroma which the residents uses to produce genjutsu-like effects will help me a lot in honing my genjutsu-repelling abilities." Naruto interrupted Yaichiro.

"That's also a good idea." Yaichiro nodded and resumed, "So you have finally decided to visit your own people! Why did you refused back then when I offered to take you there?"

"I am supposed to be your saviour. Correct?!"

"Yeah!" Yaichiro answered while being a little confused.

"Back then I didn't have any significant prowess in fūinjutsu but now I do. What would have I done if they would have asked me to fight them to test my prowess?! How was I supposed to get those people to keep some confidence in me if I being a descendant of Ashina Uzumaki couldn't perform a simple fūinjutsus."

"Oh! I can understand!" Yaichiro once again was impressed with his nephew's reasonings. That was true!

"We will go there tomorrow!" Naruto declared to Yaichiro, "Will they really accept me as their leader uncle?"

"They already have nephew, mostly because you are the Jinchūriki of Nine-Tails and a descendant of Ashina Uzumaki." Yaichiro revealed the reasons behind why he was already accepted by the Uzushio Shinobi as their leader, "Although the three elders will not allow you to make any decisions regarding clan matters till you have gained some significant experience."

Naruto frowned but he understood why! The power of the Nine-Tails is incredible. "Those fools probably think that our enemies won't attack us because we will have the Nine-Tails in our possession. What a foolish thought! The chance of gaining both the Nine-Tails and our fūinjutsu simultaneously will only fuel those b*stards greed. The power-hungry Raikage won't take a second to order both his army and the Jinchūrikis to attack us the moment he learns that the winner's prize is Uzumaki Fūinjutsus and the Nine-Tails." But Naruto kept these thoughts to himself. He will not reveal these deductions to anyone until he is officially acknowledged as the leader of Uzumaki Clan and the leader of the resurrected Uzushiogakure, and everyone has sworn to serve him faithfully. As for experience in politics! Hahaha! Yoshitsune was used to be called a fox by his great-grandfather and he has Yoshitsune's memories. It isn't going to be a problem. He will allow the elders to do as they please for sometime... They deserve atleast that much for keeping the clan safe.

The Group of Survivors whom Naruto is going to visit in Shangri-La is one of the few groups that managed to escape the 'Great Destruction' and is the only group which hasn't been discovered by Hunter-nins or Bounty hunters so far. It all thanks to Yoshitsune and Yaichiro's efforts. The group mostly has Uzumaki Clan Members, followed by Tatsuguchii Clan Members and Arainami Clan Members with some Fujita Family members. Since the Tatsuguchii, Arainami and the Fujita Family doesn't have significant numbers so they were adopted into the Uzumaki Clan by Yoshitsune. However these clan members were allowed to keep their family names and each have a representative in the councils so that they won't feel that they are sidelined. Why these clan members are so few in numbers? Well! Because it was decided at the time of escape that since the Legions were mainly targeting the Uzumaki Clan so the Uzumaki Clan will try to lure the enemy's attention toward themselves while escaping. In the meantime, the other clans will escape with the civilians but the opposite happened and their plan was discovered. The Tatsuguchii, Arainami and Fujita along with the civilians were attacked and wiped out. Few which were lucky enough to survive such onslaught were later on discovered by the Uzumaki Clan and were adopted into the fold.

DANZŌ SHIMURA,

DEEP IN ROOT HEADQUARTERS,

UNDERNEATH KONOHAGAKURE...

Watching over the procedure, Danzō is patiently waiting for it to be completed. This was no easy task what Fū was trying to accomplish and it required patience as well as great talent and control. His plans had been put into motion and after some searching, his men had found the the perfect scapegoat, just the kind he wanted.

The Chūnin's name was Harusiki and he had lost his entire family in the attack of the Nine-Tails. The Chūnin was of unremarkable talent and had no close relatives, which made him the perfect target for Root. He also lives near the Uchiha Compound. The man also hate the Jinchūriki, but kept it hidden from most of the village.

This was the fifth candidate that they had looked into during the selection process in the last three months. The process involved scanning records for a Shinobi that wouldn't necessarily be missed and served no real purpose in the forces of Konohagakure. He must hate the Jinchūriki and live close to the Uchiha compound. He also mustn't have left the village that day and was returning back home from their Shinobi duties just before the start of the Uchiha massacre.

Danzō wanted someone expendable and out of the several candidates who fit his criteria, it was narrowed down to five. Of the five, the first four had already been drugged and had their minds scanned thoroughly by Fū. It was determined that they were not good candidates because while they disliked the Jinchūriki, their anger wasn't strong enough for what Danzō had planned.

However Harusiki is an entirely different matter. He is perfect. He is prone to quick anger and didn't have the right mindset. He needed someone like Harusiki who had irrational anger and deep resentment towards the Jinchūriki, who was easy to manipulate. From what Fū can tell, it is only a matter of time before Harusiki might attempt to commit suicide to reunite with his deceased family, the man has lost the last of his supporting pillar in the last mission. In Danzo's opinion, Harusiki was perfect for the role of the vengeful man who framed the Jinchūriki. The man no longer cared for the other shinobis, and believes that everyone in the village has betrayed all of victims killed in the attack of the Nine-Tails by allowing the Jinchūriki to survive.

Harusiki was the best candidate of the five and Fu's initial mind scanning proved to be very successful. The chunin's memories and temperament showed that he can be easily influenced by others and could be readily manipulated. The man was currently sitting in front of him, still heavily sedated, in a chair next to one of his Root ANBUs. That particular Root ANBU was the one who had rigged the proofs in order to frame the Jinchūriki on his orders previously. Now, the memories of that shinobi are going to be copied and transferred into Harusiki's mind.

By the time Fu was done with rigging Harusiki's memories and combined with his own technique, using his newly acquired sharingan, the Chūnin Harusiki would literally think that he had been the one to frame the Jinchūriki for murder. There would be some distortion in Harusiki's memories since Harusiki had never actually thought of personally harming the Jinchūriki but using his Sharingan he could implant many thoughts into the man's brain and enrage him enough to neglect those distortions and completely believe the information. With the rage Danzō would induce, Harusiki would never think that his own memories are fake or actually delve too deeply into his own motivations. He would ignore these acute distortions in his memories in favor of the satisfaction of finally avenging his family's death.

With the false memories, combined with the mind controlling abilities of his Sharingan and Harusiki's background, he was confident that by the end of the day Harusiki would believe that he really was the one who framed Naruto Uzumaki in revenge for the murder of his family by the Nine-Tails. It was a great plan. A much better than the previous one.

When the initial phase of Danzō's plan will be finished, Harusiki would fully believe that he had been solely responsible for framing the Jinchūriki in the Uchiha massacre. Anyone scanning Harusiki's mind would have a hard time proving that the memories were false. Tomorrow is Harusiki's wedding anniversary. According to Danzō's plan implanted into his head, the Chūnin would drink a lot and then will proclaim infront of his family's grave how he took revenge from the Nine-Tails! How he framed the Jinchūriki but the stupid Third Hokage somehow saved it from execution! How the village has betrayed him! Kakashi Hatake will hear Harusiki's proclamation while performing his patrolling duties in that area. He would then apprehend Harusuki and then inform Hiruzen about this development.

Danzō has taken three months time so that Hiruzen doesn't suspect anything from his side. The last time Danzō had discussed the Jinchūriki with Hiruzen, he purposely gave the impression to Hiruzen that he has no problem with the imprisonment of the Jinchūriki. Infact he supports the Jinchūriki's imprisonment on the grounds that it has brought more stability to the village. He is only concerned about the Jinchūriki's training.

Once Harusiki will be handed over to Konoha for interrogation and questioning. The man would easily break under interrogation and spill everything. Harusiki would confess everything without any regrets. Even if a mind scan is performed by a Yamanka, the modifications to the man's memories concerning the night of the incident would hold up under scrutiny and Harusiki's background would only further incriminate the Chūnin. It was very unlikely that a mind scan would delve too deep to find out if Harusiki really framed the boy. The Third Hokage would be so thrilled at the evidence that it was highly unlikely that another mind scan would be used to delve any deeper. Why bother when the all evidence was there? When the evidence will be enough to free his beloved Jinchūriki from prison.

All the blame will be piled upon Harusiki and away from himself and the Foundation. He wasn't foolish to think that Hiruzun hadn't suspected him of something but there is nothing that the Third Hokage could do with the real culprit confessing his crimes while believing that he really had done everything. The ensuing problems in the village with the Jinchūriki's return would no doubt push aside the Third Hokage's investigation into his involvement and the Foundation still being active.

Harusiki would probably claim that he took vengeance on the Nine-Tails, on behalf of the all the victims that have lost somebody or something in its rampage and tried to finish what the Fourth Hokage started, as the man believed that the Jinchūriki should have been executed instead of being sent to prison. There was nearly a whole lot of villagers who felt the same way and it wouldn't be hard to believe.

Once the truth is revealed, it would shock the villagers and Shinobi alike, who all had believed that the Jinchūriki was guilty. The Hokage would release the boy from prison, but his plan wouldn't stop there. He now knew what the reactions of the villagers would be as he had been wrong before about just how strongly they would react. The release of the supposed 'demon' would start a chain reaction in the village. Panic would likely set in as even if the boy wasn't guilty, no one would want him back in the village or to go to the ninja academy.

To deal with the uproar in the village, one of his supporters would suggest to Hiruzen to bring back the arbitrator who had previously judged the case relating to the Jinchūriki. Sarutobi was unlikely to refuse such a request. Once the arbitrator arrives in Konoha to give a fair decision regarding where the boy would be staying. Danzō will unveil the next phase of his plan. Before anything is decided, his supporters in the council will suggest to the arbitrator to make the kind of decision that he would like. The civilians and perhaps even a majority of the Shinobi Council will support him this time, especially with the knowledge that the Jinchūriki hates the village.

The civilians wanted nothing to do with the boy and would support any decision that kept the boy out of the village or made sure that they didn't have to see or be near him. Hiruzen will probably want to put the boy back in the academy to become a Shinobi. However, most of the Konoha councilmen had children studying at the Konoha Shinobi academy and they would have predictable reaction, even if the boy was innocent and is acquitted of all charges. The possibility of letting a former prisoner in the same classroom or even the same academy building as their children would force them to look for another option. Danzō would then step in and deliver the speech he had originally planned to deliver two years ago.

This time everything would go the way it should have gone. The arbitrator will agree with him and make a judgement in his favor that the Hokage could do nothing about. The boy would become his weapon and Hiruzen would be helpless to stop him.