I blitzed through the sky, fully focused on running as fast as possible, the heavy rain splashing against my face as I picked up speed. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was forgetting something, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't figure out what it was. If it wasn't important, why did it weigh so heavily on my mind?
I decided to create one last Shadow Clone and send it back to the Uchiha District. If I had indeed forgotten something, hopefully, the clone would remember and figure it out. I couldn't let this distraction take me away from my goal; there was a friend to save and a Konoha elder in dire need of proper killing.
I glanced at my two little passengers. The cats seemed to enjoy the ride, their eyes darting around as they took in the scenery.
"Before I make an ass of myself, do you two have names?" I asked them bluntly. They had already shown they could understand me, so simply asking made sense.
The cats shook their heads. The headshake still looked unlike anything a cat would do, reinforcing my belief that they had been raised by other sage cats. I needed to come up with names for them soon; just calling them "cats" felt too detached.
A thunderstorm raged above me, the sky dark and electric with flashes of lightning as I closed in on the chakra signatures coming from an underground base.
Finding an entrance wasn't hard; Itachi's spectacular flame pillar had left a large hole in what used to be the ceiling. The hole extended through several floors, allowing rain to pour freely inside.
I counted at least fifteen floors that had been, let's say... remodeled by that attack.
I slowed down as I entered; the winding passageways significantly limited my speed. Thankfully, I was getting close, and Itachi's chakra was still present, meaning he was still alive. Danzo, on the other hand, didn't seem as lucky.
I could see his outline through my Haki; he was missing his right arm, and his lifeforce appeared weak.
But they weren't the only things I sensed, this thing might not be over yet.
I rounded the last corner and entered a large room, which seemed to serve as the main meeting place for the Root, possibly big enough to hold a thousand people, rather oversized if you ask me.
After tonight, Danzo would definitely need to start hiring again; losing over a hundred of his bootlickers didn't happen every day.
As I approached, I noticed that the conversation between Hiruzen and Itachi was nearing its conclusion. That was good, it meant a fight against Hiruzen was exponentially less likely, and in such a fight, I wasn't confident about our chances.
I finally got a clear look at both Itachi and Danzo. Itachi looked relatively fine, aside from a bloody face, likely caused by his Mangekyo usage. He had a few small cuts on his skin and Anbu uniform but overall looked well for someone who had just stormed the Root headquarters.
Danzo, on the other hand, looked as if he had just been pulled out from an oven. His body was covered in blisters and burnt skin. His right arm, previously prepared for Sharingan implants, was completely severed at the shoulder.
Funnily enough, Hiruzen was currently holding that very arm.
Danzo's right eye socket, which had housed Shisui's Sharingan, was now empty. Itachi must have liberated his friend's eye during the fight, and given that he was using the arm as evidence of foul play against Danzo, it was likely he had done the same with the eye.
Needless to say, the Anbu team's medic was having a tough time keeping Danzo alive. And while I may not be needed here, someone should probably report on the whole Uchiha situation.
I stepped forward, finally drawing the attention of the group.
"Sorry I'm late, but I had to deal with some vermin crawling through the Uchiha district," I said in as emotionless a tone as possible, finally removing my Anbu mask.
Just like Itachi, I also looked like I had just come from a tough fight; my poncho was completely soaked in both water and blood, and the now removed Anbu mask was bloodied as well.
I ignored the pointed stare from Danzo and continued to speak in the same monotone voice.
"You see, near the end of Itachi's assigned mission, around two hundred Root members entered the Uchiha district and started killing everyone," I stated clearly, my tone devoid of inflection or emotion, as if I were discussing the weather forecast for tomorrow.
"I'm sure your Anbu have at least some of them in custody. I was nice enough to only kill most of them." I finished with a glare at Danzo but refrained from openly calling him out; he had already been burned enough for one night.
This got a reaction, primarily from Hiruzen, who looked at his old friend with anger and disappointment radiating off him in waves.
"And the Uchiha clan?" he asked, his voice sounding defeated. It seemed he had nothing to do with this betrayal.
"I could not get a proper headcount, but most of the police force was wiped out. On the other hand, a large number of Uchiha civilians are safe." I reported robotically beofre turning to Itachi.
"And yes, I made sure Izumi is safe," I answered the question I knew he would undoubtedly want to ask.
He sighed in relief, looking significantly more comfortable than before, and I didn't need to ask why. And while I hadn't been able to find Sasuke in the chaos, I had a strong suspicion he had hidden him somewhere beneath their house, so he should be safe.
I looked around, ignoring the confused looks from others.
Before long, I was able to lock onto the presence I sensed earlier; it was faint, hidden, but clearly there beneath us.
"I would also like to know why there's a large amount of Biju chakra beneath us," I said, speaking again before anyone else could interject.
"It's rather well hidden; if not for the war, I might not have sensed it at all," I concluded just before Hiruzen exploded.
"What!? Where exactly is it?" he asked in an angry tone, shock etched on his face.
Danzo, on the other hand, just closed his eyes. His fate might have been sealed before, but now it seemed he was out of trump cards. No revelation could save him now; he was beaten and no longer needed.
I pointed toward the signal I had detected.
"It seems there's another hidden floor below us, Hokage-sama." I then refocused and continued my report.
"There are also a few more signals coming from there, although they clearly belong to humans with lower-level Chunin chakra reserves," I concluded, though I was fairly certain Hiruzen expected as much.
Itachi simply looked down, engaging his own sensory abilities.
"Interesting... I can't sense a thing," he mumbled before looking my way, as if asking directions on where to rip the floor open.
"Lead the way, then," he said, still looking my way with those cursed eyes, squinting.
"He clearly lost much of his light; he will definitely need-" I cut off my thoughts, recalling what I had forgotten before.
I simply pointed in the general direction of a room directly below us, not expecting anything grand. Perhaps a focused jet of water to get us through, which I was prepared for.
But Itachi decided to go far beyond that.
He breathed in, focusing intently. The air around us suddenly became hot and dry, as if we were in the middle of a large fire. Embers ignited and danced all around him, bathing him in light as small patches of his skin and clothes began to glow.
Then he pointed his index finger at the ground, and from his finger shot a concentrated jet of flames, bluish-purple in color, hotter than any flame I had ever experienced. It was even hotter than Yugito's blue flames.
In just a few seconds, the ground where Itachi pointed completely melted away. I had to step back to prevent myself from being burned, and the others did the same.
A hole wide enough for a person to jump through was clearly visible, its edges still glowing with heat, leading down to the room below.
A full three meters of rock, steel, and concrete had melted away so quickly. These were no ordinary flames.
I looked at Itachi, my mouth agape, trying to figure out what in the world he had just done. There were no hand seals, no jutsu to speak of; it was pure heat being generated and directed.
He still had completely blank look on his face, as if he just didn't make thermodynamics his bitch.
Itachi then touched the glowing surface as if the heat wasn't even there. He focused again, and the glow swiftly disappeared, as if it had never existed in the first place.
"The way down is safe," he stated matter-of-factly, as if nothing extraordinary had happened. Even the cats looked at him like he completely lost it.
"Right... I guess we can talk about this later," I conceded. There was already enough chaos for one day, and this was just adding to it.
"At least I can't say my life is boring," I sighed internally, jumping down, eager to finally be done with it. I could only hope we wouldn't get into another fight; I was already tired enough as it was.
Itachi wasted no time and followed closely behind me, and from the frantic orders I could hear from above, Hiruzen would be joining us soon.
I looked around, although it was difficult to see in the darkness that filled the room we had fallen into.
My sensory abilities, however, were working much better now. It seemed that chakra-dampening seals had been used to mask the presence of the Biju chakra from the outside world.
Unfortunately for Danzo, he hadn't predicted that a Haki user would pop up and sense it anyway.
Although without chakra sensing, it was harder to tell human and Biju chakra apart, thanks to my close encounter with a Jinchuriki, I managed to do it. Whether that was fortunate or not remained to be seen.
"Looks like you fried the lighting system," I joked, my voice laced with mock annoyance.
He finally managed a smile, albeit a small one.
"Well, next time you're the one digging through reinforced concrete," he shot back, his mood seemingly improving.
Even the cats made a sound that suspiciously resembled a snort.
"They get more and more anthropomorphic by the second." I really needed to stop thinking about today's events; it all felt so bizarre that I started questioning whether it was just some insane fever dream.
Shortly after our brief exchange, Hiruzen dropped down behind us. He scanned the room, and his eyes sharpened with concern; he clearly did not like what he saw. Honestly, I couldn't blame him.
Looking around again, the space resembled a grim fusion of a large laboratory and a butcher's shop. Dozens of tables stood scattered throughout the center of the room, on which lay many small, dissected bodies.
Who were they? Why were they here? I had no idea; I wasn't even sure if Hiruzen knew who they were.
Some of the bodies bore clear signs of charka burns, the kind only extremely corrosive chakra could inflict. Only one Biju had a chakra that could cause burns like this, Kurama.
We delved deeper, walking past the tables. I activated my rebreather to escape the horrible stench; some of the bodies had clearly begun to decompose. It seemed nobody had been here to remove the corpses for at least a few days.
We reached a locked reinforced door, but it wouldn't stop us. I infused Armament Haki into my arm and punched right through the locking mechanism, tearing it out of the door and clearing our path once more.
Hiruzen gasped as we opened the door; the sight must have stirred some very unpleasant memories for him.
"Just like Orochimaru's-" he whispered, fear and regret evident in his tone.
He was right. Lining the walls were numerous tanks, at least fifty of them. Although some were empty, many contained children suspended in liquid.
I quickened my pace; this specific room ignited a burning hatred within me, and I could only hope the next room would be better. However, that room contained Biju chakra, and I wasn't holding out much hope.
Hiruzen stood stunned, still in the middle of the room, muttering something to himself.
Itachi, however, was right behind me, ready to back me up if necessary. We approached another door, an ordinary wooden one that wasn't even locked.
I glanced at Itachi.
"This might get ugly," I said, no longer expecting anything good to happen.
He nodded, activating his Mangekyō once again. He was ready, and so was I. I grasped the handle and opened the door.
Inside was a medium-sized room with a holding cell on the other side.
The entire room was covered in sealing formulas, most of which were designed to suppress chakra and contain it within the room. The presence of Biju chakra was clearer than ever before, and its source was a young boy lying on a small bed in the cell.
He was smaller than me but looked only slightly younger, possibly around Sakura's age. He had medium-length, messy blood-red hair and wore very simple clothes. He didn't strike me as someone who was here willingly.
However, further observation could wait; there was Biju chakra to suppress, and he radiated an ungodly amount of it.
Itachi stood guard as I began to analyze the sealing formulas around the room, hoping there were no traps.
After a few minutes, I concluded there were none, but the seals had another purpose. They helped the boy contain the corrosive chakra inside him.
It appeared that the seal directly on his body wasn't stable enough to handle it on its own.
"Hokage-sama!" I called out loudly. I would definitely need his Fuinjutsu expertise here.
Wing it, and I might kill the kid or unleash that corrosive chakra upon the village.
My loud call startled the young boy awake, and he immediately tried to retreat as far back into the cell as possible, his deep violet eyes scanning for threats.
The Biju chakra, spurred by his awakening, started leaking even more. His emotions clearly allowed it to flow freely.
We locked eyes for a brief moment, and he seemed to calm down slightly, sensing I wasn't a threat.
Just then, Hiruzen entered the room, looking as if today had taken another decade off his life. He quickly assessed the situation after glancing around the room.
"I see... At least this young one might be spared," he said, a note of hope in his voice.
"I take it you need help with making a proper seal, Ryuuzaki-kun?" He asked, and I nodded in agreement.
"I'm not sure how to proceed. I've never created a seal meant to hold such potent chakra," I admitted.
This amount of chakra would require layering two Four Corner Seals to create the famous Eight Trigram Seal. And despite my talent, this was still far beyond my current level.
The boy's eyes widened in fear when I mentioned a seal. This might get more complicated than I thought.
"Easy there," I said softly, trying to calm him.
"That wild chakra inside you is killing you. We need to seal it away." I explained slowly, unsure if he was familiar with inner working of Fuinjutsu.
He calmed down a bit but still didn't move away from the wall.
"What's your name?" Hiruzen asked, sounding like a gentle grandfather.
"Noriaki..." he whispered. "Uzumaki," he added, as if his name were a lifeline.
I wasn't surprised; his appearance tipped me off, but having a confirmation was nice.
It seemed Danzo had been quite a busy bee, he even managed to find and kidnap a young Uzumaki boy.
Hiruzen looked like he was holding back immense amount of rage. If Danzo hadn't been done before, he certainly was now.
"Get to creating the first Four Corner Seal, Ryuuzaki-kun," Hiruzen commanded, clearly eager to resolve this as much as I was.
"Of course," I affirmed and moved slowly closer to Noriaki.
He looked extremely uncomfortable but lifted his plain gray shirt, revealing a monstrosity of a seal.
Whoever drew this had clearly had no idea how to properly seal a Biju. It was a chaotic amalgamation of multiple weak seals, held together by a Fuinjutsu approximation of duct tape and chewing gum.
I facepalmed at the sight. This seal would need to remain until the new one was constructed, but in doing so, it would make seal creation needlessly more difficult.
I unsealed my supplies from my right forearm, starting with the chakra suppression tags. I applied them generously around Noriaki's body, hoping to force the harmful chakra into the seal I was about to create.
Then, I slowly used my own chakra to draw the first Four Corner Seal under the watchful eye of Hiruzen.
He hummed and nodded as he observed me work, making me confident that I was doing a good job.
It took longer than I care to admit to finish the first seal. The abomination disguised as a seal that I had to work around made it far more difficult than it should have been. But finally, the chakra was safely contained, cut off from Noriaki's own chakra. Unfortunately, we weren't done yet.
The next step was to layer the second Four Corner Seal over the first one, allowing a small pathway for the Biju chakra to flow into Noriaki's chakra. Leaving him and the Biju chakra separated would only create a walking bomb, and we weren't about to do that.
Hiruzen looked over my work and hummed in approval.
"Very impressive work! I dare say we have a Fuinjutsu master in the making in you," he praised, pride emanating from his words.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama, but I have no idea how to continue from here," I admitted bluntly.
If I attempted to continue on my own, it would likely fail, and I wasn't taking chances with this.
Hiruzen simply smiled and knelt down beside me and Noriaki, placing his hand over the seal I had painstakingly drawn.
He closed his eyes for a moment, and then another seal appeared on Noriaki's abdomen, perfectly overlapping mine.
"But you still have much to learn," he said with a small smile, like a teacher revealing the correct answer to a student.
I nodded, knowing he was right.
The last thing he did was touch the old, faulty seal, causing it to disintegrate completely. Although that couldn't have been hard to do; it was already falling apart on its own.
I removed the chakra suppression tags from Noriaki, but the corrosive chakra never returned, remaining obediently contained within the seal. I would have to speak with Kurama about this. If anyone can help Noriaki further, it would be him.
"There, that chakra won't harm you again," Hiruzen said, encouraging Noriaki and lifting his spirits.
"But I believe it's high time we go outside now. I have an old friend to deal with..." His tone dripped with venom when he mentioned the 'old friend.' It seemed he had finally seen Danzo for what he truly was. A monster.