Chapter 87: Encounter
Land of Fire, Northern Region, a forest one hundred miles from the Konoha border camp.
A squad of shinobi was moving quickly through the trees.
"Lord Jiraiya! Lady Tsunade! Lord Danzo is two kilometers ahead, heading this way! He appears to be... injured!" a Hyuga ninja suddenly called out. As the team's eyes, he activated his Byakugan every few minutes to scan their surroundings for ambushes.
Jiraiya's expression brightened. They had finally caught up. But then he frowned, catching the key detail in the man's report. "Hyuga Tai, is it only Lord Danzo?"
The veins around the Hyuga ninja's eyes bulged as he scanned again, then confirmed, "Yes, sir. Only Lord Danzo. I do not see any Root operatives."
Jiraiya's pupils constricted. He and Tsunade exchanged a look. "Danzo is injured, and all of his Root shinobi are gone... Something's very strange," Jiraiya muttered.
A cold smirk appeared on Tsunade's face. "Hmph. Serves him right. Maybe this will teach him to stop strutting around the village like he owns the place." She had zero affection for the cold-hearted man. If her grandfather or grand-uncle were still alive, would a mere Shimura clan member dare to act so arrogantly?
Jiraiya frowned. "Tsunade, now is not the time for personal feelings. I know you have issues with Danzo, but he is still a Konoha Elder. Who in the Land of Fire could possibly injure him?"
Suddenly, both their expressions changed.
"Don't tell me... the Hidden Cloud is attacking?!"
At that thought, Jiraiya immediately quickened his pace, rushing to meet Danzo.
In the green, budding forest, a white-robed figure leaped through the branches. A large, dried, crimson stain on his chest marred the elegance of his white robes, a shocking sight.
Danzo spotted the large group of shinobi ahead and stopped, his eyes narrowing. He scanned the white-haired man in the lead, and his shoulders relaxed slightly. He then glanced at the dozens of animal-masked shinobi behind him.
Anbu... he thought with an internal snort. He instantly understood why they were here.
He pushed off the branch and moved to join them, his voice low and commanding even before he landed. "Jiraiya, Tsunade! You're with me. We are going to kill someone."
SWOOSH!
The squad came to a halt. Jiraiya and Tsunade walked toward Danzo, who had also stopped. Tsunade looked down, avoiding the sight of the blood on his chest, her face creased with impatience. "Danzo, do you have any idea what you're doing? Are you trying to start a war?!"
Jiraiya quickly pulled her arm, warning her to watch her tone. This man was, after all, their teacher's contemporary.
"Lord Danzo, was it the Hidden Cloud?" Jiraiya asked.
Danzo's face darkened. "It was a Hidden Hot Water ninja," he said flatly.
The Anbu behind him gasped, staring at him in disbelief.
"Danzo, are you kidding me?" Tsunade scoffed, her arms crossed.
Danzo's brow furrowed, and he glared back at her. "Tsunade, I don't care if you are Lord Hashirama's granddaughter, you do not have the right to speak to me in that tone. I am an Elder of Konoha. You are merely a Jonin. Remember your place."
Tsunade gritted her teeth, her face flushing with anger. She was about to retort when Jiraiya cut her off.
"Lord Danzo," Jiraiya said, his own voice filled with disbelief, "are you serious? You were truly injured by a Hidden Hot Water ninja?"
Damn it all... Danzo cursed inwardly, his expression souring. This idiot Jiraiya, whether he was doing it on purpose or not, was twisting the knife, rubbing salt in his wound.
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. He knew that Jiraiya, Tsunade, and the Anbu were some of the few people in Konoha who didn't have to obey his orders. The two Sannin were his old friend Hiruzen's students, and the Anbu answered only to the Hokage.
He felt a surge of impatience. He turned to Jiraiya, who was easier to talk to. "I am not joking," he said gravely. "If you must know, I was indeed injured by a Hidden Hot Water ninja in his teens. My entire Root contingent was wiped out. Now do you understand the severity of the situation?"
"How is that possible?!" Jiraiya exclaimed, his face scrunched up in confusion. Tsunade looked just as baffled. The information Danzo had just dropped was too much for them to process.
A teenage Hidden Hot Water ninja had injured Danzo? This had to be the biggest joke since Konoha's founding forty-three years ago. Danzo was one of the most renowned Wind Style masters in the world. Even Jiraiya and Tsunade together weren't confident they could beat him. And a teenager had done this? Not even Orochimaru, the genius of their generation, or the new Jonin, Namikaze Minato, were that strong at that age.
Danzo's face remained an icy mask. "The kid's name is Kael Cross. His own strength is negligible, but he controls a number of summons with bizarre abilities. I was careless and got caught."
He was too proud to admit that he had been a hair's breadth from being killed.
"Several of his summons are massive, with a wide range of strange powers. But after analyzing them, I've found they're not invincible," Danzo continued.
"One is a giant rock beast that has mastered Earth Style. Its defense is incredible—it tanked my full-power Wind Style—and it can spit a beam of light that petrifies people on contact. It must be some unknown, extreme form of Earth-nature transformation.
"Another is a flying eagle that commands both Wind and Lightning Style. Its lightning jutsus are extremely powerful.
"He also has two other summons that can control a person's will. That's how I was caught off guard.
"But the most shocking of all... one of his summons has mastered the Hidden Cloud's signature Lightning Style Chakra Mode, as well as the Third Raikage's Four-Fingered Spear Hand. I don't need to explain what that implies..."
As he finished, Danzo's face turned grim, but he was secretly watching Jiraiya's reaction.
At that moment, a single, inconspicuous fly landed on a tree trunk a hundred meters away. Its compound eyes, like the world's most precise machines, stared unblinkingly at Danzo and the two Sannin.