"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it."
— Nelson Mandela
--
Danzo's voice cut through, harsh and commanding.
"From the back. Surround them!"
The formation shifted immediately, Root shinobi appearing from every shadow. The children were boxed in.
Shisui's eyes flickered around the chamber, taking it all in. Danzo hadn't come here with just a handful of soldiers. No, this was everything. His full hand. All cards on the table. The full force of Root was here.
Danzo had planned this all along.
He knew once he captured Otis, once Hiruzen even caught a whiff of what had been done, there would be no forgiveness.The bridge was already burned.
Danzo was finished with Konoha. He had abandoned the village in everything but name.
But a major decision that swayed Danzo was this—he had found something else. Something more valuable and powerful than Konoha itself. His ambition wasn't shackled to the Leaf anymore.
The village was expendable to him now. A stepping stone.
But he would return for it—when he was ready.
That was his plan.
"Your eyes, your bloodline, your life…" Danzo rasped, stepping forward, "…they will all serve a greater purpose. You cannot win here. Surrender now, and I may grant you a quick death. Accept defeat, Shisui. This is already over."
Shisui's lips curled into the faintest smirk. Slowly, he lowered his blade and closed his eyes for a brief moment.
The Root operatives tensed. Orochimaru tilted his head curiously, tongue flicking across his lips. Danzo's single eye narrowed.
And then—
Shisui opened his eyes.
The three tomoe spun once… twice… and then twisted, reshaping into something darker. A new pattern bloomed.
A four-pointed pinwheel.
The air itself seemed to shift, thickening with the weight of his chakra as his Mangekyō Sharingan bled into existence. The atmosphere grew heavier, sharper, filled with invisible blades of killing intent. Shisui's chakra surged.
"Well," Orochimaru murmured, his voice tinged with delight. "So the rumors were true."
Shisui's gaze locked on Danzo. His voice was calm. Low. Deadly.
"Over?"
He raised his tanto again.
"No… this is where it begins."
And then the chamber erupted.
Orochimaru lunged with serpentine speed, Root shinobi swarming in from every side.
Amid the storm, Sayuri, Sasuke, and Hinata found their opening. Hearts pounding as they slipped along the edges of the chaos, weaving through flying sparks and feathers, inching closer to Otis.
***
[First Person POV – Otis]
Darkness.
My head throbbed like it had been split with an axe. Each breath burned in my chest and even the smallest shift sent fire crawling through my body. My arms were still bound, lashed tight against the chair. The ropes dug deep into raw skin, every fiber biting like teeth.
But something was different this time.
Noise.
The chamber wasn't silent anymore.
I forced my eyes open, vision swimming, and the world slowly came into focus. Dust and smoke filled the air. The walls were cracked, pieces of stone littered the ground. The floor trembled under distant impacts, and the sound of claws tearing through flesh carried through the chamber.
And then the haze sharpened.
Shisui.
He was everywhere at once. One second to the left, the next to right. A storm of crows exploded outward, blotting out the Root shinobi lunging at him. His blade flashed, and a mask split in half before the body even hit the ground.
Flames roared from his mouth, heat rippling through the chamber. Shuriken spun through the air, every strike precise, deadly.
His eyes burned crimson.
Mangekyō.
Even from here, bound and useless, I felt it—the crushing weight of his chakra. The air itself was sharp, dangerous, like standing too close to lightning.
And who was he fighting?
The Sannin. The snake. His blade—if you could even call it a blade—slithered from his mouth, clashing with Shisui's tanto. Sparks exploded, the ground cracking beneath them.
Every strike was fast enough to kill me ten times over.
And beside him—
Yuki.
The damn bear. My bear.
The polar bear tore through shinobi like paper dolls, its massive frame smashing into Root operatives who didn't even have time to scream. Its jaws clamped down on one poor bastard, tearing half his torso across the floor. Blue light shimmered around its claws—chakra. Yuki was learning. Growing.
My chest tightened—relief, rage, pride, something in between, all tangled together.
My chest tightened. Relief. Rage. Pride. All tangled together, choking me. That's my bear. Mine. And I'm sitting here rotting in ropes.
I pulled until the bindings burned into my skin. My body screamed, but my eyes stayed locked on the fight.
I need to get out. I need to move. I can't just sit here. Dammit
***
Meanwhile, in the village, Hiruzen had received the location from Shisui and wasted no time. He ordered an elite team to move out at once.
Danzo would not slip away this time.
Hiruzen knew his old comrade too well.
The man was a coward, yes, but he wouldn't be a simple foe. Not because of strength, he wasn't truly powerful in open battle. But it was the rest of him that made him dangerous. The schemes, the hidden exits, the backup plans within backup plans. He was a snake through and through.
So Hiruzen went himself.
Before leaving, he sent word to Guy, Maruboshi, and Mikoto, ensuring they too were informed. With sharp strides, he led a squad of elite jōnin toward the outskirts of the village, his robes snapping in the wind.
***
Orochimaru moved first, his body flickering forward with impossible speed. His sword, the Kusanagi, shot out of his mouth like a serpent striking prey, aimed directly for Shisui's chest.
But Shisui was already gone—his body bursting into a storm of crows. Feathers cut like blades, slashing eyes and throats. Root operatives swung wildly, carving through illusions. Blood sprayed across stone.
Shisui reappeared behind Orochimaru, tanto raised, his Mangekyō gleaming. The blade came down in a deadly arc—
—but Orochimaru twisted unnaturally, his spine bending in ways no human's should. The tanto cut only through his cloak, the sannin's laughter echoing as he countered with a sweep of his sword.
Steel met steel, sparks flying across the chamber.
Root shinobi surged to overwhelm Shisui. But Yuki was already upon them. With a roar, the beast slammed its glowing claws into the ground, a shockwave rippling outward that hurled bodies like ragdolls through the air. One operative was caught in his jaws—bones popped and crunched before the corpse was ripped in two.
Sasuke and Sayuri staggered back, eyes wide, hands trembling—but still, they pushed themselves toward Otis.
Hinata clutched at her chest, every breath a battle under the suffocating weight of Orochimaru's killing intent. Her Byakugan flared as she forced herself to see through the suffocating haze.
"There's… too many," she whispered.
--
(A/N)
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