It was night. I couldn't sleep.
The hospital bed… it was meant to provide me with comfort as I sought to slumber… but it didn't. It felt sturdy, too warm, too cold, too… undeserved. I blinked once with my remaining eye, my gaze limited if not halved by the recent happenings I was subjected to. I was tired, and yet not. I was calm and yet horribly furious. I never felt this angry and… now I could see what my previous life's parents warned me about. There are many stages of anger, some that are more prominent than others. But there is one in particular… no one liked it. Both those that were subjected to it and those that were yanked deep into it. The kind of anger that was the highest state of hatred humanly possible, but it was harmoniously enraptured by a sense of unnatural calm and peacefulness. Truth and Lie. I was in a state of pain that was all held within, bubbling and cracking at my composure.
A few hours ago, I had to 'keep strong' as Mito put it. I had to be there with Yoshiko as the girl was inconsolable. I couldn't blame her, and I felt guilty of what just happened. I felt stupid- this all could have been avoided… or maybe not. I could have planned something else, but the Uzukage had been too invested in this diplomatic endeavor. One would think he did so with stupid intention. 'Why would you dialogue with a former ally during the recently-over war?' While common sense as a shinobi dictated that he should have just adopted a tension policy and escalated the matter only if Kiri was willing so, the issue was also tied to Uzu's capacity to wage a war on its own. It lacked the boat supremacy Kiri had and it didn't have enough men to match a Major Village. Not yet, at least.
Hence why there was a diplomatic effort, one that failed from the way I looked at the matter. My empty eye-socket was aching at the mere thought, prompting me to carefully poke at the white bandage covering it. I lost an eye… but it wasn't how it happened to the original Danzou. He lost his eyes and his limbs by incompetence and ill-motivated paranoia. My mistake was being too relaxed. I had lost some of that uneasy edge I had back in the war. The peacetime had mellowed me, just briefly, not to the point of dulling my skills but when it came to brutality alone. And Kiri, much to my frustration, hadn't let go of that viciousness.
So, in a game of tension, they played us just nicely. To make things very complicated for us from a diplomatic standpoint, but just barely due to the timing, the Hozuki siblings were deemed Missing-Nins less than an hour after the passing of Uzushio's leader. Kiri couldn't have known about the news of the Uzukage's death this quickly, not when it hadn't been rendered public until after two hours had gone by. They had staged this assassination to leave them in a good position to claim ignorance on the operations.
Because of that, I didn't plan to let them be left alone to enjoy this victory after this heinous move, and I was in so much pain, both physically and emotionally, that I had no reason to hold back when it came to what I had in mind for them all. The only thing slowing me from going through the morally-stupid but efficiently brutal plan I had prepared during these hours of utter despair was… the little girl I had let sleep on the bed with me. Yoshiko was just too… destroyed by this whole mess. She cried a solid hour over her father's corpse and… that noise. That damnable noise- it made the aching even worse. The only reason she stopped was because she cried herself into unconsciousness. It was an odd development, but one that felt legitimate. She lost her remaining parent, and it happened on my watch. I let her rest with me out of worry more than anything else as it was clear she was in no state of mind to sleep on her own for the time being. Which made my current intentions slightly cruel due to me leaving her alone for an hour or two, maybe three if things got too crazy.
The Uzukage's death wasn't just reason to sorrow, but also worry. The council of sages within the village, those high members of Uzushio that were among the oldest and wisest of the Uzumaki clan, were convened to temporarily hold power over the country. The issue with that move was, as publicly announced by the sages themselves, that the council wasn't meant to fully replace the figure of Uzukage. And that's where a bit of chaos had ensued. Who was supposed to replace the now deceased ruler? Many wanted to proceed by dynastic correlation, but Yoshiko was too young and too inexperienced to rule, and Mito was already married into the Senju family and unwilling to part ways with her husband and children.
The next option was to evaluate a new Uzukage through the list of people that fit the role and… many of those didn't want the hat. It was an odd circumstance but many just didn't see themselves capable of ruling with so little preparation. In the end, the council worked on a possible compromise: in the next few days, Uzushio was going to hold a contest for any locals fitting specific requirements to go through tests and prove their worth as the possible new leader of the mini-nation. Around that time, I wasn't going to be there to watch this unfold, not with how many issues we were meant to go through back home with the ramification of that gesture.
While Mito showed some restraint in her own grieving, in the end the woman broke to tears when she returned to her room, mostly alone as a trusty guard took the twins to give her some space to react to this tragedy. Her brother was dead, and she knew that going to war now wouldn't do anything good on anyone around us. Still, all that grieving, all that sorrow… I was partly at fault for it. I should have prepared for that sneak attack, but the Mizukage had sounded so frightened that I didn't expect him to react this harshly so suddenly. Too fast, I thought, this reaction wasn't one connected to the meeting's events. No, it had been planned before the meeting. The Mizukage had not expected things to go that way, with the Hozuki siblings being more of a precautionary step taken to prevent any escape.
It had worked, sorta. They got a diplomatic accident in their hands and… I was planning to show them why that wasn't an achievement they should be proud of. After some careful nudging out of the tight hold the little redhead had on my body, I managed to replace myself with a warmed-up pillow. The other pillows were cold and Yoshiko would have perceived a difference through the change of bodily temperature. With this little switch, I was up to go and go through the deadly plan I was going to execute on Kiri. I just needed to slip through the 'cracks' of the guards protecting the hospital and then get to the docks. Still, one last issue persisted as it joined me while I was checking on my current arsenal and confirmed I got everything I needed for this little 'prank'.
"You shouldn't go. She will notice you're gone."
Kurama was awake and had decided to tag along for the adventure. A bit unusual considering his lazy streak as of recent times, but it became clear his intentions were far from supportive of my current plot. Sitting on my shoulder and speaking as my 'Jiminy Cricket' for this matter. Of course, I wasn't thinking of stopping now that I had just begun.
"Sometimes we have to be bastards to keep those we love safe, Kurama," I replied dully. "I'm not doing this for myself."
"Aren't you?"
My lips twitched at that accusing tone, but I didn't let go.
"Kiri is too dangerous. I will do the world a good service if I cripple their means to attack others."
"That's not what I asked you, Danzou."
"And if I don't answer that question, it means I am not willing to dispense an answer altogether," I half-snapped, growing impatient with this whole speech. "I know you're not here to stop me, what do you need out of this conversation?"
"...Fun."
I frowned, stopping mid-way through the staircase that led to the rooftop. "What?"
"I am not obliged to help you whatsoever, but I know it would be hilarious if I took part in this. Kirigakure… they would cause more headaches if they caused a war. I don't need to receive another line of people begging me, as a deity, to stop the war for you."
"...I guess you could be useful for a bit of threatening. How do you feel about frightening an old man by crapping his pants?"
The crazy smile on his muzzle was enough to show he was invested in what I was planning to do. We used the cover of the darkness to move from rooftop to rooftop, silently rushing for the docks and arriving at the boat I had prepared in the late afternoon with a shadow clone. Everything was set to go smoothly as I left the safety of Uzushio and ventured back to Kiri. As far as I knew, no one was expecting any hasty reaction from the Uzumaki clan, so I didn't expect the fishing patrols to be too guarded compared to the usual. When I first visited, I also glanced at any 'entry point' that could be used to invade the village in case of war. There were a few, with three in particular standing out as the best possible for the circumstance at hand.
Before visiting my first target, I had to make sure that Kiri was in no position to launch any attack anymore. I spent a solid hour looking for any storage building which was being used to keep the military arsenal, but also those places which were used to hold their boats. Seal bombs with increased potency mixed with some handmade gunpowder. While I couldn't do cannons just yet, I could still make powered-up explosives to devastate strategic locations even more than before. Those were placed left and right as I didn't spare any caution to how many I was using on the occasion. At the same time, I also used the same approach with the many 'war ships' that were docked in the nearby pier. This bit was particularly difficult considering the contingent dispatched to keep guard of this vital spot of the village, which is why I managed to plant just a few bombs before going to the next step of the plan. I wanted the Bloody Mist to actually bleed before I left this shit hole, and the fireworks were just going to be divine while I left for Uzushio. There were just a few guards around as everyone was mostly asleep in the main arteries of the village, leaving a desolate setting compared to the one I saw mere hours ago.
None spotted me as I carefully moved around and towards the Mizukage's office, climbing the wall from the rear entrance of the building to get to the nearest window that gave to the office. The Mizukage was checking something in his bedroom from the looks of it, grumbling about some 'Konoha buffoons' and all of that, leaving his office unprotected from the looks of it. Kage-level assassinations had yet to prop out, so there was no guard left behind to check the office as I entered inside from one of the open windows. I spared a quick look, trying to sense any surprises but… finding nothing. This was the best setting that I could get to work on a little surprise for the old crazy fuck. I was swiftly setting up the needed seals, making sure that even the windows were rigged to explode at any sudden interruptions, and unsealing a scroll with a peculiar spice I had recovered from Suna. While most of those were meant to give an extra kick to snacks, a couple of those were not suited for normal meals.
Adding the little powder that I chose for the specific ordeal out, I decided to let it trickle down and mix with the dark tea cup left to rest by the desk. Now what was left to do was wait and hope the guy was alone for the completion of this task. Much to my disappointment, he wasn't alone. Someone else entered the room, seemingly trying to argue about the recent events and how those could have been handled better.
"Be careful, Gengetsu. One more word against my decision and I will consider it an act of treason," The old Mizukage barked in frustration, sitting down by his chair and grasping the cup of tea before bringing it close to his lips. "Konoha has been playing the 'big man' for too long. And that brat's little stunt… I heard he lost an eye. I guess that's going to teach him something."
If before I had any doubts about going too far with this whole plan, now I felt more compelled to believe otherwise. The old fart drank greedily from his cup, realizing as he tensed up that he had just taken in something that wasn't his tea. The blond guy, Gengetsu, frowned at the sight, but his posture turned active when he saw his leader suddenly slump as the poison entered in effect, numbing his body and letting him choke on his own spit. I had planned to move in before he could drink the beverage had he been alone, but now this helped me clear out an unreliable narrator and provide me a lone source of information that could be extorted into talking. So, before Gengetsu could have reacted to try and save his boss, he found himself caught on one of the few seals I had prepared for anyone stepping in that specific floor tile when I rendered them all active. Numerous chakra strings emerged and grasped tightly at the guy, neck, wrists, elbows, knees and feet, promptly stunning him long enough for me to rush forth and deliver a solid kick on his stomach, slamming him on the wall nearby. More strings, this time the number alone was keeping the man stuck in his place.
"Good evening, Hozuki Gengetsu. I believe you and I have lots to talk about."
The man was surprised as he caught notice of the attacker's face. "Y-You are-"
"No one if you want to live through tonight… and maybe in the next few occasions," I argued firmly, giving him little space to talk. I was the one interrogating him, not the other way around.
"Where are the two siblings, Hozuki Hachiro and Gura?" I demanded, Gengetsu shivering and not even bothering struggling. He was in the worst situation for any of his known ninjutsu. Water would do very little if he was stuck in a room rigged to explode at any wrong step he took. And the fact I was looming over him, holding him still with reinforced chakra strings, left him with a limited roster of options. And only one sounded like the winning one.
"They are missing-nins-"
"Wrong," I interjected, tightening the strings and making him feel the grasp increasing in strength. "I will give you another chance, beyond that there is no 'third chance' or a 'saving grace' for lying. Where are they?"
"...Why?"
"No, that's not what I asked. Just because it's not a lie, you don't get a freebie, Gengetsu. Let me put it more in perspective so you understand how bad this situation is on yourself and Kiri as a whole," I hummed fiercely, glancing at a smiling Kurama glaring down at the poor bastard. "See, this is Kurama, say hi."
"Hello, human."
"T-The Kyuubi-"
"Yes, now, tell me Kurama, don't you feel a bit… bored after a few months without action? Feeling the need to scratch that need of wandering around and crashing at some parties?"
"Truth be told, yes. Immensely."
That felt a bit more real than I wanted, I could definitely perceive the craving to sow some destruction on his path and… I would have to handle this later on. Soon I was back to Gengetsu, sparing him no other pleasantries about the matter.
"So, here is the situation, chief: You give me their location, the place doesn't get blown up into nothingness. Is it simple, right?"
"...I… I think so?"
"Good, then, what do you want to pick? Life or death?"
A few minutes later, I was strolling around the coastal area of Kiri, still keeping away from any patrol as I got the location that was being used by the two 'missing-nins'. Gengetsu was happy to be alive, less happy that I put the very hat that was once of his predecessor on his head and told him 'You are the Nidaime, the Shodaime got killed by an adult missing-nin.' When he asked 'why should he accept this and that?' I reminded him that Tailed Beasts could launch long-range nuclear blasts if necessary to prove a point. And yes, I was pissed enough to consider nuking the place if there was no chance for aggressive diplomacy to beat through the opposition. That 'warning' seemed to steer any stupidity out of his mind, but I knew I had forfeited any chance of befriending Kiri for a long time. A bit disappointing, but I was too pissed to actually care on the spot.
The next step of my jolly spree was to finally deal with the two bastards that killed the Uzukage, and I knew that they were hiding in some 'secluded' cave. It wasn't that 'secluded' if there was literally a 'scary-looking shark' entrance to it. It would be more of a landmark. A scary one, but still a landmark by all accounts. Kurama remained behind, mentioning that the 'humidity' would upset his fur. Which made me question how he knew about humidity, but ultimately keep that question for later. I had two sharky-sharks to kill. The cave had numerous sections from the very entry point which offered the means to enter underwater tunnels connected to the sea. This was a nice spot to begin setting up some shark-countering measure, starting by applying a little variation of the Lightning Armor. Instead of remaining constantly active, the armor would remain in a passive state which saw most of its chakra-born electricity harmlessly coat my skin and clothes, leaving me particularly tense and… nervous. A single slip in my control and that shit was going to give me a full-body zap. Nothing deadly, but an unpleasant development nonetheless.
This decision was born from a single predictable issue. Sneak attacks. The way I lost my eye forced me to be a little less 'picky' on where to pick my fights. I was never going to fight Water-specialists while standing on bloody water. In fact, since I could now fight standing on some solid ground, I could effectively kick asses when necessary. And I got results as soon as I found my way into the main room where the two 'missing-nins' were preparing some bags. I saw some explosive papers and… I could tell they were planning some serious sabotage meant for Uzushio. For a moment, I thought that I was still undetected, but that flimsy thought was shattered the same way the water lines on the side cracked as two sharks jumped towards me. Ready to maul me on the spot, but stopped as the Lightning Armor turned to full effect. The summons were electrocuted, cleaning my path towards their summoners as they had noticed I was there.
"Would you look at that, sis! Danzou-chan is visiting us to play. I'm sho sorry, Dan-chan, we're currently busy~!"
"Nah~, big bro! I wanna play with Dan-chan! He owes me a nice playdate~!"
"Uhh, what I'm going to do with ya~!" The demented bastard bemoaned stupidly before looking at me with a smug look. "By the way, Dan-chan. How's your eye?"
I stared dully at Hachiro, keeping quiet for a few seconds and then… smiling. Not a normal smile, but neither an insane one. It was a vicious one of my own.
"Itching and aching, how it should be considering what happened to it," I replied happily, stunning the two with that change of pace. "Pray tell, how's your heart?"
The question stunned them even more, with Gura being the one to recover first.
"H-his heart-"
Too little, too late. She saw a blur, the rush, but only silence… until the crackling of thunder exploded from within her brother's chest. Wind Armor plus Raikiri, a deadly combination with an equally draining effect on my reserves. I wasn't playing around with these two. I lifted Hachiro as his dying corpse stared at me in shock. Samehada left his weak grip and fell on the ground.
"Y-You-"
"Scum," I judged angrily, pulling my arm away and letting what was left of the guy's heart splatter on the floor. He landed from that fall, but his legs lacked the strength to keep him standing up. He was soon collapsing backward to the floor, a single thud echoing through the cave as his last noise.
"Y-You-" A frightened Gura said, raising her stance as she held her trident tightly and ready to hit as soon as I got too close.
The problem with that mindset was one of speed and reaction time. Something I had her beaten about in both cases. The Wind Armor was soon back on, and I slammed her away onto the nearby wall, forcing her to drop her weapon and for me to retrieve it and store for later occasions. Raikiri was too costly to use again to end the deed, so I decided to go on with a more hands-on approach. Soon, I rushed back at her, picked her off the ground in a stranglehold and then slammed her hard on the small spikes by the wall. She gasped in shock as a few of those stabbed onto her back and tail.
I was about to press her more into it, but I noticed just in time as a shadow loomed over me. Samehada had managed to crawl up to me, its true form revealed as it tried to attack me and… it failed as I enabled the content of a scroll I took just for the occasion. The original purpose of this scroll was to fight off the Dust Release through a very odd but truthfully stronger means to erase 'reality'. Not entirely, but a fraction, kind of like The Hand in Jojo. By 'mixing' two storage seals into a dysfunctional one, the result yielded a powerful blackhole that didn't store but tore things from reality. Thus, the sword was instantly pulled inside as it was ground into pure nothingness. It whined, feeling its body being consumed by the void, but the pull was too strong and soon it was completely devoured by the greatest hunger possible, pure emptiness.
Now, where was I- Oh right!
I tightened the stranglehold I had Gura in, eliciting a pained yelp as I further pushed And it was there that I saw something… bizarre. Her red eyes, her red highlights- they were now a peaceful and frightened blue. Tears flowing out of fear and… regret.
What?!
"S-sooo-sorry-" She begged, not for life- "K-Kill me."
She begged for death.
"What?! What are you blabbering about?"
"H-Hachiro- He… That sword… it-it did things to- to me."
"Bullshit, how the fuck does that even work! Samehada isn't capable of controlling humans- no matter how shark-like they look."
"I-It did and… please, kill me."
…
…
I slammed her on the ground below, right into the pool of water beside me. She shrieked, but didn't react much more as she was suddenly pulled into the depths, blood pouring out of her injuries. I felt something unpleasant coursing within my chest as she 'confessed' the truth. Something about what she just said sounded genuine and… I would let nature itself dictate if she lived or not. I… I had spilled enough blood for once. Especially since I had bombs to activate. I spared a look at the deceased Hachiro… and delivered a strong Fireball Jutsu to carbonize the bastard. I didn't need to face any unneeded resurrections in the near future.
The boat trip back to Uzushio was a mostly quiet one. Kurama stood by the edge of the wooden construct as he stared in pure delight as sections of Kiri suddenly exploded at my 'Kai', activating other explosives held within the storage buildings and shredding a few more buildings than I had planned to destroy. Collateral damage, I numbly thought as I saw this as one of the rare war-related developments during a world-wide peace time era. If Gengetsu was going to have any fear about my possible return, this was going to cement me as Kiri's personal boogeyman anytime they tried to do anything cray-cray.
"That was a brilliant spectacle. But alas, not a satisfactory one for yourself."
"I didn't do it out of personal pleasure, Kurama. Sure, it makes me feel slightly better but… it's not a complete problem-solver," I admitted. "I might be happy they are dead, but this will not bring anyone that died back to us."
…
"At least you're not a pacifist fool. You know when violence is needed."
"We're not patient beings, we humans. We are equally violent and equally kind."
"...Fair enough."
My walk back to the hospital was equally quiet, with Kurama finally closing his eyes and falling asleep as I made my way toward that 'uncomfy bed' waiting for me. It was roughly midnight, so I planned to get a few hours of sleep before facing the 'shock' that the First Mizukage had died during the night and his successor didn't plan to crap on Uzushio anymore. There was a minor issue with the notion of finding some rest tonight. As I carefully pushed the hospital room's door open and stepped inside, I noticed that someone was looking right at me. Yoshiko was awake, sitting on the bed with a blank look on her face.
"Danzou… Where were you?"
Shit.