Hidden Leaf Village, Hokage's Office
Hiruzen skimmed through the latest mission reports, lifting his brush to make a note.
Crack!
Before it touched the paper, a sudden chill shot through his chest. His hand jerked, snapping the wooden brush in half.
He froze, frowning.
"…Something's wrong."
After a moment's hesitation, he reached for the crystal orb on his desk, formed a familiar set of seals, and murmured:
"Telescope Technique."
The mist inside the sphere swirled, revealing every corner of the Leaf.
Nothing out of place. No alarms. No chaos.
"Did someone get hurt? Danzo"
The second the name crossed his mind, another tremor struck his heart. His fingers twitched again, and the orb slipped from his grasp.
This time he reacted quickly, catching it with an agile swoop, an old shinobi's reflex.
"Is it really Danzo…?"
A frantic knocking rattled the door.
Shimura Shikaku's father, Sakumo Hatake stepped in with a serious expression.
"Who's been injured?" Hiruzen tightened his grip on the crystal ball.
Sakumo blinked.
"…Inochi's boy, Shinnosuke. He"
CRASH!
The sphere exploded against the floor.
Hiruzen swallowed. "…Shinnosuke, you said?"
"Lord Hokage? What's gotten into you? The boy was ambushed on the front lines. Minor wounds, nothing life-threatening."
Hiruzen's eyelid twitched.
So all that panic… for nothing? And my crystal ball is gone…
Meanwhile — Far Overseas, on an Unmapped Island
At some point, a tall stone tower had been erected at the island's center.
Inside, a young man with short twin-knots of hair held his hand above Danzo's lifeless body. Between his fingers stretched a thin, translucent thread of soul-chakra. His eyes were closed in deep concentration.
After a long moment, he opened them again, revealing rippling rings of the Rinnegan.
Staring at Danzo's corpse, he sighed.
"Stubborn old warhawk… Two months and you still refused to talk. I had to take the hard route.
If I'd had your kind of grit back then… heh."
He shook his head.
"Still, I got what I wanted. The memories I needed. Edo Tensei is mine now."
He formed seals.
"Reanimation Jutsu."
Limbo — The Pure Land
The Sage of Six Paths hovered cross-legged in the void. His brows suddenly pinched.
"Another attempt to summon Indra's reincarnation? Lately it's becoming excessive…"
Concern flickered across his face. He lifted his staff to intervene
But when he traced the chakra back to its source
"…Impossible."
With that moment of hesitation, Madara Uchiha's soul flickered into the void beside him.
The Sage's staff lowered.
"…This shouldn't be happening."
Back on the Island
The young man smiled faintly.
"Good. It worked."
A coffin pushed itself up from the ground, though when it surfaced fully, its lid didn't open.
"Did it fail?"
He stepped closer… just in time to see a small gap open on the coffin's right side.
A pair of eyes peeked out.
Then a large hand shoved through and tore the lid aside, revealing Madara Uchiha.
"So it was you. You've learned that detestable jutsu?" Madara's voice boomed. His gaze slid toward Danzo's corpse. "You stole it from him?"
"…Yes."
"How far has the plan progressed? And why drag me back with this method?"
"Everything is on track," the young man said calmly. "The boy who'll bring you back properly has been chosen. All that's left is for him to grow."
"As for summoning you now…"
He smiled.
"You really can't guess?"
Madara's expression darkened.
"That cursed old bastard, isn't it?"
"Correct. Uzumaki Akio is too strong. I need backup."
"Old bastard…" Madara clicked his tongue.
"Even if I regained my full strength, he might still overpower me."
The young man ignored the brag.
"That's not the help I want. I mean the Uchiha clan's relic."
"The fan? That ridiculous"
"No. The Heavenly Swamp Spear, the legendary weapon left behind by the Sage's elder son.
You know where it is."
Madara stiffened.
"That weapon doesn't answer to just anyone. Not even I could wield it at will."
"I'm stronger than before. Much stronger."
Madara studied him for a long moment.
"…Let's hope you're not all talk."
BANG! BANG! BANG!
A man's panicked screaming erupted from another room.
"Lord Minato! MINATO!! Let me out—!"
Madara scowled.
"You have a lunatic locked in here?"
The young man chuckled.
"He's our backup plan. Someone blessed, cursed with an immortal body by that cult's ritual.
If needed, he can stall Uzumaki Akio for a while."
"Immortal, hm?" Madara scoffed.
"Edo Tensei is also immortal. How is he better?"
"Because I'll make his immortal body the vessel for your Edo Tensei form."
Madara stared at him.
"…Fine. I'll take you to the spear."
"But let's be clear, you're only coming because you're afraid I'll cancel your reanimation."
The young man's smile sharpened.
"And I swear you're not related to that damned old man? Your sarcasm sounds exactly like him."
A pause.
"…Maybe I picked up the habit."
Madara breathed deeply.
"Come. We have relics to retrieve."
"And," the young man added, "now that I've mastered Edo Tensei, we might as well boost our ranks.
You know where the Uchiha clan's ancestral crypts are, right?"
Madara froze.
"…You're planning to dig up our graves?"
"Yours, and anyone else useful."
Madara silently vowed that once he revived as the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, he would beat this brat and that old Uzumaki into the same crater.
Land of Whirlpools
Kushina stared wide-eyed.
"You're telling me… the moment I said Danzo deserved it… he actually died?"
Akio nodded.
"Your curse hit harder than you thought."
Kushina stared for a few seconds—then burst into laughter.
"Oh come on, you expect me to believe that? Danzo's gods-know-where hiding. How would you even know if he died?"
Akio paused.
"…If I said we had some spiritual connection, would you believe me?"
Kushina snorted.
"I'd pretend to."
He sighed.
"Fine. Last time I smacked him around, I left a sensory seal on him. It just faded."
Kushina nodded slowly.
"That makes more sense. But that doesn't prove he's dead, maybe he figured it out and dispelled
Wait, no. He couldn't break your seal."
Akio shook his head.
"He's dead. No doubt."
Kushina brushed Naruto's hair fondly.
"Well… he won't be missed."
Akio wasn't mourning either, just confused at how Danzo went out.
"Who saved him last time, anyway? If it was Orochimaru, maybe he took Danzo apart like lab equipment…"
He trailed off.
"And if it wasn't Orochimaru…"
---
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