Suguru enjoyed watching his flames burn whatever they came across. He took this time to further understand the difference between chakra-fuelled flames and natural flames. After all, there were a few differences.
The most glaring one would be the apparent viscosity of chakra fire. Instead of acting like the usual chemical change created by combustion, chakra fires were unique in that they acted like a very hot liquid-gas hybrid.
'Or the nuclear fusion that occurs in stars.'
Like Earth's sun, it wasn't actually 'on fire' in the classical sense. Natural fires run on oxygen and a fuel source, usually resulting in combustion. In comparison, chakra fires were an extremely hot something.
So hot, that they glowed, releasing heat and light.
And, given that Oxygen existed around this something, the surroundings would catch fire alongside it. Thus creating natural fires.
Of course, that was the definition Suguru was giving to Fire Release in a strictly technical sense. After all, his theories needed to agree with each other, otherwise he would be contradicting himself in a rather embarrassing manner.
"You... monster..."
A random bandit's dying voice tickled his ear. Suguru looked over and spotted Kamito Akira, moments before becoming a pile of ash.
"Of course I am." Suguru laughed. "I have become an enemy of my species with what I have already done. What other definition could define me more accurately?"
If only Akira still lived to hear his words...
'...Unfortunately, you're already dead.'
Suguru's maniacal giggles filled the burning air.
***
Danzo was gazing out the windows to the Hokage's office.
Despite his sudden rise to power, his demeanor hadn't changed as much as one would think.
Reaching a position and being granted greater power was very different from having the power suited for that position in the first place.
He was still the same Danzo who idealized what a shinobi must be. Secretive, recluse, and uncaring of glory. And a destiny to die on the battlefield.
Only the necessary recognition was all he needed. He could eliminate all those who would serve as hindrances.
All threats would be neutralized in secret.
Danzo recognized this as the true path to peace.
Thus, Konohagakure's roots began spreading, snaking through the earth to draw nutrients from a greater field. Both the shadows and the light of the village were working as one — unified under Danzo's rule and Hiruzen's silence.
'By next year...'
His plans would finally fully blossom.
'However,'
There were still obstacles in his way.
Danzo's eyes flashed. Fuu appeared by his side.
"I came to report, Hokage-sama." Fuu kept his head bowed as he spoke, "Torune has been unable to locate the boy. However, there is a lead."
Fuu handed Danzo a scroll. Upon unfurling it, the recent disappearances in Tanigakure had been written down in detail.
Seeing this, Danzo implicitly understood and a small smile formed on his lips.
'Hiruzen... the child you thought so highly of carries a darkness like mine... Or perhaps Orochimaru's. You were mistaken about his principles, and I was right to have suggested taking him in while he was young.'
He shook his head, 'Your softness has now created a danger for the village once again.'
Danzo continued reading until he got to the burning devastation that Suguru had left behind.
'What a waste. He could have made for a good hidden blade.'
Danzo glanced at the notes Suguru had made on the Real Mirage Formation. It was time to implement stricter security measures and clamp down on the foreign entities contaminating the tree.
As the Shinobi of Darkness, he was very much unlike Hiruzen who was merciful and compassionate. Danzo operated only on the basis that the village had to put above all other priorities.
Like the vacuum jutsus that he specialized in, Danzo was void of any humanity within.
'I am but a Konoha-nin doing what must be done,'
***
Hiruzen spent his time on the outskirts of the village where he had a small house built for himself. Sitting cross-legged, he circulated his chakra and bombarded his tenketsu, per Suguru's instructions on the Blaze Battle Body.
With the original Blaze Battle Body notebook handwritten by Suguru himself, Hiruzen progressed by leaps and bounds. After a few days, he had already surpassed the jutsu's creator.
Hiruzen began transforming the brutish release of chakra and formed something else. As the Professor and a God of Shinobi, he had his means to improve the raw concept that Suguru had initiated.
Now that he was no longer the Hokage, he finally had more time to invest in his strength. Despite his old age, the flames of his soul were being rekindled. This was not like the time that Minato became Hokage, after all. Danzo was a different existence entirely.
Thus, the fiery chakra that exited Hiruzen's tenketsu slowly softened. What had once been raging, unruly flames had become as still as candlelight.
Slowly, this candlelight consistency spread throughout Hiruzen's body, cloaking him in a steady layer of fire.
The first stage of his interpretation of Suguru's jutsu had finally been completed.
***
Uchiha Tatsuya walked around the old Uchiha Clan compound. The desolate streets where he had once lived felt so distant. Just like the life he once lived as a young boy, still innocent of the way the world worked.
"Uchiha... Itachi,"
Prone to love, and prone to hate, Tatsuya was very similar to Sasuke. He hated the man who claimed the life of his only family and forced him out of the village.
Having been hiding like a despicable rat for years on end, Tatsuya had enough of such a life. Hence his reappearance within Kononhagakure.
Tatsuya looked at his reflection through a glass pane.
Hiruzen had personally tested his competence. After witnessing his two-tomoe Sharingan and his proficiency in Fire Release and Water Release, Tatsuya easily became a genin.
Unbeknownst to Tatsuya and the rest of the village, however, Hiruzen had already stepped down. Only the Konoha Council and a few notable shinobi had been made aware.
Danzo was leading Konoha in a sharp yet subtle manner.
Should this news reach Suguru, he would realize that it was very different from the original timeline's Danzo.
Looking away, Tatsuya sighed.
That was when he noticed someone else. Tatsuya knew who it was.
'Uncle Fugaku's son...'
Tatsuya squinted.
'...Uchiha Sasuke?'
To think this would be their first meeting, years after their clan's massacre.
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