As Danzo processed what stood before him, his breath hitched despite his will. His foot slid back half a step before he even realized he had moved.
"You…" His voice cracked, the word escaping him before he could stop it. "…you're alive?" His single eye widened, disbelief finally breaking through the layers of discipline he had built over decades. "You should be dead."
Kagami nodded once, slow and deliberate. His face remained blank, carved from stone, but the air around him felt sharp enough to cut skin.
"Looks like you made a mistake," he said calmly. His voice carried no tremor, no doubt, only certainty sharpened into a blade. "One of the many. Probably the worst mistake of your life, Danzo."
He paused, just long enough for the words to sink in.
"My friend."
The last word was not spoken, it was spat. Like venom flicked from the tongue.
"You're a lot more thorough now than you were back then," Kagami continued, eyes boring into Danzo. "I'll give you that."
Danzo inhaled slowly. The initial shock dulled, replaced by the familiar cold clarity that had kept him alive through wars, coups, and assassinations. His posture straightened. His grip steadied.
"If you were alive," he said evenly, "then why wait until now?" His gaze sharpened. "Why didn't you come out sooner?"
For the first time, Kagami's composure cracked.
His grip tightened around his blade, knuckles whitening. The chakra around him thickened, pressing outward like a storm held barely in check.
"How I wished I could have," Kagami said quietly. Each word carried weight. "If it were up to me, I would have split you and Hiruzen in half, joined them together and hung your bodies on the village gate for everyone to see."
The hatred in his voice was no longer restrained, it was raw and most importantly, it was earned.
Then his head snapped to the side.
"Come out, Hiruzen," Kagami said coldly. "Let us former teammates talk face to face."
The shadows near the edge of the compound shifted.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped forward, the darkness peeling away from him as if reluctant to let him go. He had come to observe Danzo's end, to ensure it happened cleanly, decisively. He had not expected this.
The moment his eyes met Kagami's, his expression fractured.
Elation flashed across his face.
Kagami was alive.
And with it came dread, heavy and suffocating.
This was the man who had ignored clan rivalries, ignored the suspicion of his own blood, and stood beside him so he could become Hokage. The man who had stabilized the village when it could have torn itself apart. And now that same village stood on the edge of collapse.
Hiruzen stepped forward slowly, as if approaching a ghost that might vanish if he moved too fast.
"Kagami…" he said softly, the name filled with years of regret and relief.
The response was immediate.
"SHUT UP."
Kagami's voice exploded outward, his chakra surging unrestrained. The ground groaned under the pressure. Even Hiruzen, who had stood against Kage and monsters alike flinched despite himself.
Still, he held his ground.
"Listen to me, Kagami…"
Steel whistled through the air.
Hiruzen tilted his head just enough for Kagami's blade to pass inches from his ear, the killing intent behind it unmistakable. Kagami's voice followed, cold and merciless.
"I don't want to hear your hypocritical words, Hiruzen."
His Mangekyo blazed, its power pressing down like judgment.
"Sensei trusted you," Kagami continued, each word cutting deeper. "He gave you the seat of Hokage while he gave up his life so we could escape. And what did you do with it?" His gaze burned. "With the village he cherished. With his clan."
Hiruzen's heart twisted. His shoulders sagged, the weight finally too much to bear.
"Kagami…" he said, desperation bleeding through his composure. "It was my mistake, my foolishness, but please, listen to me."
Before Kagami could answer, he shifted sideways in a blur.
A [Wind Style: Vacuum Bullet] screamed past where his head had been a heartbeat earlier. Kagami's blade snapped up, intercepting Danzo's sword with a sharp metallic crack.
His gaze flicked toward Danzo, Mangekyo spinning slowly, mercilessly.
"I am speaking," Kagami said softly.
His voice dropped.
"Do you mind, you traitorous wretch?"
The effect was immediate.
Fear, real, primal fear slammed into Danzo's chest. His legs buckled, strength abandoning him as he staggered back and fell hard onto the ground. His breath came ragged, his body refusing to obey for a moment too long.
Kagami did not move to finish him.
He did not even look at him.
'Twelve years.'
Twelve years of silence, of watching from the shadows as everything he had protected rotted. Twelve years of swallowed rage, of restraint sharpened into resolve.
Now, finally, he would speak.
Only after that, only after every truth was laid bare, would blood follow.
~~~
Uchiha Compound
Ren flicked his gaze toward the distant edge of the compound, where flashes of chakra and distorted shadows marked the ongoing clash between Yoru and Danzo. He didn't linger on it for long. The situation behind him demanded just as much attention.
Obito was half a step below Ren's feet, though "below" wasn't quite right. Ren's heel passed straight through Obito's shoulder as if it were smoke, the man's body phasing in and out of reality in that unsettling, instinct-defying way that had made him a nightmare for so many shinobi.
Ren clicked his tongue quietly.
Obito was strong. That much was undeniable. His physical power alone rivaled Kage-level combatants, and his movements were honed, efficient, brutal. His ninjutsu, while not especially flashy, was sharp where it mattered.
His true danger lay in three things, Kamui, Taijutsu refined through endless battle and supplemented by the white Zetsu cells, and the unknown arsenal of weapons hidden within that cursed space of his.
Against most opponents, that combination was overwhelming.
Against Ren, it was… inconvenient.
Ren was painfully aware of it. Not in an arrogant sense, but in the cold, analytical way his mind worked during combat. Obito simply didn't have a clean angle on him. Every strength Obito relied on ran headfirst into something Ren already had an answer for.
Kamui was countered by the Flying Thunder God, timing versus timing, space against space.
Taijutsu was met with Ren's own physical prowess, chakra-enhanced and refined to the point where trading blows with a Kage was no longer a hypothetical.
Hidden weapons were rendered nearly useless by Hyperfocus, Ren's perception stretching moments thin, catching intent before movement, movement before impact.
It left Obito in an unfamiliar position, reacting instead of dictating, defending instead of controlling.
And yet, Ren wasn't winning either.
That was the irritating part.
A few hits had landed. Solid ones enough to make Obito cautious, enough to draw blood and force retreats. But most of Ren's attacks passed harmlessly through phasing flesh or struck nothing but air as Obito slipped into Kamui at the last possible instant.
Neither of them was gaining real ground.
Ren sidestepped as a kunai shot upward from below, its edge grazing the fabric of his pants.
Obito's body followed, sinking into the earth as if gravity had forgotten him.
"Running again," Ren muttered under his breath.
He tapped his foot lightly.
The ground within ten meters detonated in a violent pulse of chakra and force, earth and stone ripping apart as if struck by an invisible hammer. Dust and debris exploded upward, the shockwave tearing through the compound and shaking nearby buildings.
Obito was forced out of phasing, his figure snapping back into reality as he leapt away from the collapsing ground.
Too slow.
Ren vanished.
He reappeared behind Obito in the same instant, space folding seamlessly as the Flying Thunder God activated. His hand lashed forward, wind chakra condensing into a razor-sharp lance that screamed through the air.
Obito halted his teleport mid-transition, letting the [Wind Style: Wind Lance] pass straight through his torso, the attack dispersing harmlessly behind him.
But that pause, that fraction of a second, was all Ren needed.
Obito spun, launching into Ren with a sudden, violent flurry. His movements were sharp, precise, fueled by years of battlefield instinct. A knee shot upward, a blade flashed from nowhere, his elbow drove forward in a brutal arc.
Ren met him head-on.
Their strikes collided with explosive force, chakra-coated limbs crashing together again and again. Each impact sent shockwaves rippling through the ground beneath them, cracks spiderwebbing outward as the earth buckled under the strain.
Steel rang against steel as blades met, sparks scattering in the darkness.
Ren slid back half a step, boots grinding into shattered stone, then surged forward again, his fist driving toward Obito's ribs. Obito twisted, the blow passing through his side as his shoulder rammed into Ren's chest.
The collision launched both of them apart.
Ren flipped midair, landing cleanly, barely bending his knees. Obito skidded backward, his sandals carving deep grooves into the dirt before he stabilized.
For a brief moment, they simply stared at each other.
The compound around them was a ruin. Cratered ground, shattered walls, lingering smoke drifting through the night air. In the distance, the sounds of battle, screams, explosions, the crackle of jutsu, bled into the silence between them.
Obito shifted first.
His body blurred, phasing as he rushed forward again, his arm extending unnaturally as a chain burst from his sleeve, its hooked end aimed straight for Ren's neck.
Ren didn't dodge.
He stepped into it.
The chain passed through his chest as Ren's hand snapped up, fingers brushing Obito's wrist. In the same instant, Ren vanished again, reappearing to Obito's side and driving a chakra-infused elbow into his ribs.
Obito twisted away at the last moment, the blow grazing instead of crushing, but the force still sent him staggering.
Ren pressed the advantage, his movements relentless. A kick followed, then another, each strike perfectly timed to land the instant Obito became tangible.
But Obito adapted just as quickly.
He let one kick connect deliberately, using the impact to trigger Kamui and slip backward through space, reappearing several meters away. His breathing was heavier now, his movements sharper, more desperate.
Ren exhaled slowly, eyes tracking every shift, every flicker of intent.
This was the problem.
Obito couldn't dominate him.
Ren couldn't finish Obito.
A stalemate born of counters stacked against counters.
~
Their fight continued however the next moment the air shifted.
It wasn't subtle. It wasn't something only sensor-types or veterans would notice after years of conditioning. It was a violent, suffocating spike of chakra that rolled through the village like a shockwave, heavy enough that even the night seemed to recoil.
Ren felt it instantly.
So did Obito.
Both of them froze mid-motion, their instincts overriding momentum. Ren had been half a step into a forward lunge, muscles coiled to strike; Obito had been phasing forward, his body already beginning to blur. Both halted as if someone had slammed a hand against their chests.
The chakra was deep in the village.
From the direction of Danzo's compound.
Ren's breath caught.
For a split second, just a split second, his eyes widened, and all the noise of the battlefield dulled. The distant screams, the clash of steel, the crackle of jutsu faded into background static as his attention snapped toward that presence.
That chakra wasn't wild.
It wasn't explosive.
It was controlled rage. Dense and pressurized, the kind that came from someone who had spent decades never letting it surface and finally deciding not to hold it back anymore.
Ren's face shifted.
Panic crossed it, raw and unfiltered.
Obito noticed immediately.
He straightened slightly, posture loosening as realization dawned. He didn't even need to guess who it was. That chakra had a very particular weight to it, measured, lethal, familiar in the way only long-lived monsters were.
"The ANBU commander," Obito said, voice low, almost amused. "Looks like your little plan might be in danger."
Ren didn't respond.
His eyes were still locked on the distant skyline, jaw tightening as another pulse rippled outward. Obito could practically feel the emotion behind it now, anxiousness.
Obito's mind raced, cold and calculating.
He was highly sensitive to chakra fluctuations; he'd learned to be. Spikes like that didn't happen casually, not from someone like the ANBU Commander. A man like that didn't lose control. Didn't let emotions dictate his output.
If that chakra was leaking now, then something had gone catastrophically wrong.
And Obito knew what that meant.
Danzo had crossed a line.
Someone like the ANBU Commander only lost composure when something deeply personal was exposed. And once composure was gone, balance followed. Once balance was gone, the fight tilted.
Obito's lips curved beneath the mask.
'Perfect.'
Ren, on the other hand, was panicking for an entirely different reason.
His thoughts spiraled in a completely unrelated and far less noble direction.
'Dammit,' Ren thought wildly. 'The drama has started.'
Another pulse of chakra rolled through the village, heavier this time, sharper, like a blade being slowly drawn from its sheath.
'No way. No way this is happening already.'
His brain raced.
'Three ex-teammates, one presumed dead, one about to die, one about to get emotionally eviscerated.'
Ren swallowed.
'This is premium tea.'
'Historic tea.'
'Once-in-a-lifetime tea.'
His fingers twitched.
'I absolutely cannot miss this.'
Obito misread the silence completely.
To him, Ren's reaction screamed concern, panic for an ally, fear that the tide was turning. A distracted opponent and a worried one was a vulnerable one.
'Good,' Obito thought. 'If I keep him here a little longer, the situation might resolve itself.'
Ren's gaze snapped back to him.
Whatever hint of casual amusement, whatever relaxed confidence had lingered earlier was gone. His posture straightened, spine aligning as if a switch had been flipped. The playful looseness vanished, replaced by something sharp and focused.
Obito felt it.
The pressure shifted, not outward, but inward, like the air was being pulled toward Ren instead of pushed away.
Ren's eyes hardened.
'This bastard,' he thought flatly, 'picked the worst possible moment to exist.'
~~~~~
{Ren just lives for the tea, and don't we all.}
{Anyway, you wanna guess some things, or do you want to just read them directly, whatever you want, find out in the next episode of Dragon Ball Z}