While Shanks and Hiruzen clashed in a storm of power and light, Kushina stood at the edge of the battlefield, her heart heavy with turmoil. The ground trembled beneath her feet with every impact of their blows, yet her thoughts were louder than the chaos before her.
She was completely torn—worried, confused, and unsure of what to do or who to stop. Her crimson hair fluttered in the fierce winds generated by the two titans' battle, and her eyes darted helplessly between them. What am I supposed to do…?
Years of trust in Hiruzen, the Hokage, and her deep love for Minato—along with Minato's unwavering loyalty to the village—had shaped her beliefs. She had always thought that the Hokage and Konoha's higher-ups acted for the good of all. Of course, she knew men like Danzo were… different. His cold pragmatism and hawkish views had always unsettled her, but she never truly believed he or the other elders would intentionally harm the Uzumaki clan.
And yet… her clan brothers and sisters claimed otherwise. They insisted that Konoha's own leaders were behind the attempts to wipe out the Uzumaki. The thought alone made her chest tighten painfully. She wanted to reject it outright—to call it a misunderstanding fuelled by fear and bitterness. No… the Hokage wouldn't do something like that. He's not that kind of person, she told herself, gripping her trembling hands together.
Still, as she watched the battle rage on, the conflict inside her deepened. The sound of steel and lightning filled the air, but to Kushina, all she could hear was the war between her heart and her doubts.
While Kushina wrestled with the storm of conflict inside her mind, Danzo's sharp, calculating eyes never left the battlefield. The clash between Shanks and Hiruzen was shaking the very earth, and to him, it was the perfect distraction—an opportunity wrapped in chaos.
Without wasting a moment, he turned toward the surrounding Anbu and Root operatives hidden in the shadows. His voice, low but firm, cut through the noise like a blade. "Immediately capture the remaining Uzumaki clan members," he ordered. "We cannot allow them to escape. If they do, they might bring harm to the village. Capture them at once."
The command was cold, deliberate. Danzo didn't say kill. He wasn't foolish enough to make that mistake here. He knew Hiruzen too well—the Hokage's cautious nature, his desire to keep his hands and reputation clean. If Danzo openly gave an order to execute the Uzumaki, Hiruzen would intervene instantly, and the Anbu wouldn't follow through.
So Danzo cloaked his true intentions behind the guise of 'capture'.Once they're secured, I'll deal with them my own way, he thought darkly, a faint, knowing smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
But the Uzumaki were far from oblivious. The other three—Guy, Mereoleona, and Benimaru—had sharp senses. They weren't deaf to Danzo's words. The moment his order left his lips, their expressions hardened, and a dangerous tension filled the air around them.
…
After hearing Danzo's words, Mereoleona's lips twisted into a sharp, feral grin. The flames around her seemed to flicker in rhythm with her growing fury. She raised a finger toward him, eyes blazing with contempt. "You're that disgusting Danzo, aren't you? The so-called leader of Root."
Danzo didn't answer. His single visible eye met hers with icy indifference, his expression unreadable. He stood perfectly still, not even bothering to deny it. The silence between them was deafening—arrogant, deliberate.
That was all the confirmation Mereoleona needed. Her grin widened, turning into a glare of pure rage. So it's true. The flames around her body suddenly surged, licking at the ground beneath her feet.
In the next instant, she exploded forward, her body a streak of red and gold. The earth cracked under the force of her takeoff as she charged straight toward Danzo, heat waves distorting the air in her wake.
Before she could reach him, a Root ninja materialized in front of her, blade flashing toward her neck with lethal precision. But Mereoleona didn't even slow down. Her right hand, engulfed in roaring flame, shot up to catch the blade mid-swing. The metal hissed violently on contact, the searing heat eating through the steel until it sagged and fell apart, molten fragments scattering across the ground.
The Root operative barely had time to react before fiery chains erupted from behind Mereoleona, snaking through the air like living serpents. They coiled tightly around the ninja, the flames intensifying until his scream was drowned out by the roar of fire. Within seconds, his body was engulfed completely, turning into a silhouette of writhing heat before collapsing into ash.
The chains snapped back toward Mereoleona, their flames still burning fiercely as they hovered around her like guardians. This was her new technique—a devastating fusion of the Uzumaki's Adamantine Chains and her own fire chakra. The ground beneath her smouldered as she glared toward Danzo once more, her voice low and seething.
"Your Root… I'll burn it down to the last ember."
Mereoleona was in no mood to show mercy. The fire in her eyes burned as fiercely as the flames cloaking her body, and hesitation was not a concept she understood. Besides, Shanks hadn't asked any of them to hold back.
Before the battle began, his command had been simple, direct, and absolute: "Do whatever you want. If you wish to kill, then kill. If not, that's your choice."
Shanks had left everything to them, his tone carrying no trace of concern or sentiment. To him, this conflict was not about restraint or morality—it was a statement. He had told Hiruzen as much: he was here to humiliate Konoha, to insult its pride, and to ensure that the entire world saw the bond between the Uzumaki and the Leaf shattered beyond repair.
That alone would be enough.
Even if Hiruzen later tried to keep the Uzumaki clan's emblem etched onto the village monuments or sewn onto the uniforms of Konoha's shinobi, this day would change everything. The memory of this battle, the humiliation, the death—it would plant a seed of hatred deep within Konoha. In time, that hatred would bloom, and the alliance between the two clans would crumble completely. One way or another, Shanks thought, I will achieve my goal today.
On the battlefield, Mereoleona stood amid the charred remains of the Root operative she had just incinerated. The air shimmered with heat, and smoke rose from the blackened ground. But the moment's calm didn't last. Dozens of Root ninjas had already surrounded her, their chakra signatures flickering like faint embers in her perception.
Instead of fear, a wild grin spread across her face. "Killing that guy with my new move was satisfying," she said, her voice low but brimming with excitement. "But it's not enough. Hand-to-hand combat—that's where the real thrill is. That's what I live for."
With a flick of her wrists, the fiery chains that had restrained her last opponent slithered free, retracting and coiling around her arms. The glowing links wrapped tightly around her forearms and hands, forming a blazing, molten gauntlet of chain armor. The heat radiating from her was intense, the ground cracking beneath her feet as she flexed her fingers, ready to strike again.
The Root ninjas tensed, sweat dripping down their brows despite the masks they wore. Mereoleona's grin only widened, her flames roaring higher.
"Come on then," she growled, crouching slightly as the red firelight reflected in her eyes. "Let's see how long you last against me."
----
Want to get daily updates and read 20+ chapters? Then join my Patreon!
Patreon Link: https://[email protected]/Hkj822
Join Discord Link: https://discord.gg/MXPrVTBM