Intimidation
Chi Yu answered Hiruzen Sarutobi with a meaning Hiruzen could read between the lines.
Hiruzen set the pipe aside. "We suspect someone helped Kushina Uzumaki leave Konoha," he said. "Chi Yu, as Kushina's friend, do you have any leads? Anyone who might be suspicious?"
Chi Yu's smile never reached his eyes. "Someone who could help Kushina leave? She had few close friends. If you're asking who looks most suspicious, then… it could be me."
Hiruzen narrowed his gaze. "Then… would it be you?"
Feigning innocence, Chi Yu replied, "Third Hokage, do you really think it would be me? If I wanted Kushina to leave, why would I leave the child behind? It would be easy for me to take both Kushina and Naruto out of the village. Do you doubt my ability?"
Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado stared at Chi Yu with cold contempt. His arrogance suggested he regarded Konoha's shinobi as inferior. Yet none of them could produce evidence to refute him.
Hiruzen kept his voice measured. They needed to act quickly. "I trust you, Chi Yu. This incident is classified. Publicly we will report that Kushina was abducted by unknown shinobi. For now, there's more to discuss — you may return to your duties."
Chi Yu inclined his head. "Very well, Third Hokage. I will fetch Naruto from the ANBU quarters."
Danzō's expression snapped taut. Hiruzen fixed Chi Yu with a harder look. "I did not authorize you to take Naruto."
Chi Yu's tone was casual. "Why not? The Fourth Hokage is in a coma. Kushina — humiliated by what has been spread about her and unable to bear it — has fled. How is an infant to live alone in Konoha? Kushina and I are clan kin. Wouldn't it be more fitting for Naruto to be adopted by us?"
Before Hiruzen could answer, Danzō exploded. He had been close to securing custody of the jinchūriki; the idea of Chi Yu intercepting that prize infuriated him.
"Chi Yu," Danzō spat, "you're the most likely to have helped Kushina leave. Your intention is clear: assist her departure, then claim Naruto and control the jinchūriki — and with that, control Konoha. Naruto cannot be handed to you. Give up that notion!"
Chi Yu ignored Danzō's accusation and looked back at the council. "Do the rest of you agree with Danzō?"
Hiruzen, Koharu, and Mitokado exchanged expressions and fell silent. No one intended to place Naruto in Chi Yu's care.
A sneer crossed Chi Yu's face. Then his chakra flared.
Sage power surged through him: subtler than a shout, but undeniable. Horned ridges rose on his brow, scales crept across his skin, and a shivering green chakra wound about his form. In an instant he was before Danzō, gripping the man's head and slamming him to the ground.
The impact cracked the stone beneath them. Danzō's body sank partway into the earth.
Danzō's eyes blazed; he formed seals at once. "Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!"
He inhaled to drive whirling blades of wind toward Chi Yu.
Chi Yu's eyes flashed—Mangekyō patterns shining. Because of Sage energy the pupil bore a strange vertical slit. "Eye Technique: Myriad Rejections."
Danzō's wind jutsu stuttered and fell away. Chi Yu's blows rained down on Danzō's skull.
Hiruzen's shout cut through the room. "Stop! Chi Yu! Are you abandoning Konoha now?"
Chi Yu eased his grip just enough. His Sage-enhanced strength rivaled the strongest of Konoha's prodigies; had he struck fully, Danzō might not have stood.
Lifting Danzō by the hair, Chi Yu met Hiruzen's eyes. "Betrayal? If I wanted to betray Konoha or seize the jinchūriki, I wouldn't do it with theater. I could kill you all here and claim the mantle of Hokage by force. Who in Konoha would oppose me then?"
The councilors paled. None had expected Chi Yu's force to be so immediate and absolute.
"In your hands, petty power games have ruined people," Chi Yu continued coldly. "If you had silenced the vile rumors from the start, would Kushina have left? Minato Namikaze sacrificed the Nine-Tails for the village. He paid the cost. And now you plan to turn his son into a weapon? If Minato wakes and sees this—how do you think he will feel?"
Chi Yu ripped the bandage from Danzō's right eye and sneered at the implanted Sharingan. "Is the eye I gave you useful? How many times have I warned you—don't provoke me."
With a single motion, Chi Yu tore the Sharingan from Danzō's socket.
Danzō's cry filled the chamber. Chi Yu crushed the eye beneath his boot and flung Danzō aside as if he were refuse. He struck the wall with a fist; the building shuddered and a portion of the Hokage Office began to fissure and fall.
ANBU moved to intervene, but Hiruzen waved them back.
Hiruzen's face was grave; the memory of what an Uchiha could become hovered at the edge of his thought.
Chi Yu's voice dropped to an even, dangerous tone. "Uzumaki Mito told me never to become Konoha's enemy, and I honored that. But if Konoha makes me its enemy, that promise is void. If you want proof that I have bled for this village, call me Blood-Eyed Shura — I earned it with my life for Konoha."
He let a calculated silence settle over the room, then smiled. "Have you calmed now? We can talk like reasonable people — or we can let this meeting crumble."
Chi Yu's lips curved in disdain as he awaited Hiruzen's decision.
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