Chapter 37
DANZO SHIMURA
Danzo Shimura could scarcely believe his life as he sat in his home as a prisoner. Hiruzen had refused to see reason, seeing his actions as treason.
Treason! As if he would ever. He simply saw what everyone else was blind to. The young lord had a reputation; he was an anomaly, a harbinger of change, a disturbance in the great order of things. Danzo could not let that happen just like he could not let Namikaze become the next Hokage.
Being the leader of a country and the village was a responsibility, one that came with darkness that few could understand. A burden that only he could bear.
Yet his reasoning had gone unheard, as his own home had been declared a jail. He sat there surrounded by shinobi who allowed him neither a foot beyond the premise nor any contact with anyone outside.
So, he sat there infront of a table doing calligraphy biding his time. Waiting.
And as the shadows shifted behind him he felt that it was time.
"Everything is ready Danzo-sama," came the voice as one of his men knelt down in the shadows, his presence so thin that one could miss it while staring at him.
"Where are the rest of you?" he questioned. Their chakras may be hidden, but Danzo had seals placed on all of his operatives to keep track of them.
"Many have been captured, my lord. the Hokage has ordered a shutdown of ROOT. Jiraiya-sama led a special team to bring everyone in. Few resisted, but many were lost," and Danzo's lips thinned at those words, yet his anger and frustration did not show apart from the small crack in the brush in his hand.
"How many of you are left?" he questioned.
"Twenty, Danzo-sama. We have made all the preparation..." But suddenly his operative began to choke. Danzo's eyes narrowed as another figure came out of the shadows, his skin pale as snow, his chakra absolutely absent, yet that showed only his mastery of it.
His golden eyes gleamed in the dark as Dano felt himself at unease after a very long time as those slits narrowed towards him, as his agent lay there dead.
"What do you think you are doing, Orochimaru?" he questioned as he looked at the Third Sanin, the only one who shared some of his beliefs. Their similarities were thin, for while Danzo believed himself to be a servant for the greater good of the village, the snake sanin was filled with avarice. His actions were driven by personal ambition and greed, not the well-being of the village.
"Tying up loose ends," the Sanin said and Danzo saw a tanto gleam in the moonlight.
"Do you really think you could get away with that? You and I worked together, and soon that all shall come to light, and when it does, you will find yourself in a place much worse than I," Danzo warned him as he put down the brush.
"You and I are in this together. If we can...
"It is over Shimura." The pale jounin said as he threw a missive towards him.
"The boy has become the daimyo. You are done," and Danzo was surprised by that. He had sent a special unit after the boy, yet he had still lived.
"Namikaze was able to intervene in time and save the boy, and now he has slain all his enemies. He is the next daimyo, and he shall not forget about your betrayal. Your fate is sealed, and there is nothing sensei could do to save you," the snake sanin said, gritting his teeth as he realized the truth of that statement.
"The same goes for you," he snarled in rage as the sanin's lips turned up.
"I am afraid not," said Orochimaru as Danzo felt his body stiffen Poison, a very deadly poison he realised. And as he was about to push chakra into the eye, he had always kept bandaged, pain rippled through him as he found Orochimaru in front of him, his fingers digging into his skin and plucking out the eye.
"AGHH!" Danzo tried to scream, yet no voice came out as his vocal cords had been cut.
Orochimaru gouged out his eye as he smiled down at him.
"You see I have found myself a rather interesting opportunity, and you were the last loose end."
He tried to activate his seals, yet somehow, all his chakra seemed to have been cut off, as he hankered for breath and his vision dulled.
And the last thing he saw as Darkness overcame him was a plant-like structure erupting from the ground and enveloping the Snake sanin and himself.
0000
AKIHITO SHIRAHOSHI
The war was over. The battle won, yet that did not mean his struggles were just done yet as him and his procession made their way to the capital.
He rode at the front, surrounded by four samurai with the other two behind him riding alongside the carriage of Miyuki and Mayumi as they rode towards the capital gates.
The capital was still guarded by the Temple, so he had not brought his whole contingent, only those he had felt were necessary.
And on the massive gates, a retinue was waiting for them. The whole Royal army stood in rows along a path that led to the main castle, and leading them was the small retinue of the Prime Minister, the leader of the Fire Temple and a few other ministers.
Akihito halted his halt as the Prime Minister stepped forward. He had met the old man with the hunched back, Hayama Sosuke. He was a genial man, yet he also knew that underneath that civility and joyous nature lay a ruthless man.
"My lord, the preparations are complete," he said as the whole contingent bowed to him. Akihito nodded, and he rode past them, moving towards the castle.
The stage had been prepared as the priests stood there with the special haori's and the crown. Akihito got off his horse and then walked back towards the carriage and helped out Miyuki, who looked around the capital with a forlorn and sad expression. However, he did not miss how her gaze chilled when it moved towards the part of the castle where the previous daimyo's concubines stood.
"Let me aid you, empress," Himiko stepped forward as she led her towards the stage alongside him.
Akihito came and stood infront of the throne, and the proceedings began as the special haori was tied around him, and he was dressed in the royal garbs. The layers of cloth were enough to break one's back, yet he waited as the proceedings were finished before suddenly Miyuki stepped out of the castle, clad in Royal gowns as she had been when he had first seen her.
She walked past him and up the stairs as the prime minister, standing at the sides of the emperor's throne. Chiryuu, the leader of the fire temple, stepped forward and, after a small prayer, motioned for the stairs.
"Arise," he said, and Akihito nodded as he began to ascend the stairs. The whole palace was quiet except for the sound of his steps as he ascended to the throne.
He sat down on the throne as the Prime Minister stepped forward, and the ceremonial crown was handed to Miyuki.
"I give you the fourteenth daimyo of the land of fire!" his voice boomed across the clearing.
"Akihito Shirahoshi-sama!"
0000
HIRUZEN SARUTOBI
Hiruzen read the reports from Jiraoya about the ROOT operation, and the more he read, the more damning it felt. It was a travesty, such that if it ever got out, the whole village could end up in shambles. And all this had gone on under his watch.
"How could this happen without anyone noticing?" he questioned, and Jiraiya raised a brow as he leaned back.
"People noticed, many did, including me, and tried to warn you about it. Yet you refused to listen, always taking his side," Jiraiya accused him, and he wished he could retort and deny that accusation. Yet he could not.
He had put too much trust in his friend, and now that was costing him. No, it had cost him.
"Word has come from the capital that Akihito Shirahoshi was crowned as the next daimyo a few hours ago," Jiraiya told him. Though he had expected the news, it still surprised him.
"So, it seems my time as the Hokage nears its end," he said, and there was some comfort in that.
"Not until you solve this whole mess; you cannot leave it all for Minato," Jiraiya added a bit sharply.
"What do you recommend I do," he questioned and Jiraiya seemed surprise by that question.
"Are you not going to ask your esteemed council members?" Jiraiya asked, indigent in his tone, and Hiruzen sighed.
"Just answer me," he said, and Jiraiya leaned back.
"From what I know of Shirahoshi, he will demand...." but Jiraiya's words were cut short as an ANBU appeared in the room, and that meant only one thing.
"What happened?" he questioned, for they were barred from the office unless there was an emergency.
"Sandaime-sama, we have an emergency!"
0000
In a desolate cave on the continent, a black and white human-like figure sprouted out of the ground, his body human-like like yet none would doubt it for one. It stood infront of a massive statue as it spoke.
"We have a problem."
0000
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