Beautiful.
So beautiful.
Too beautiful.
Even though everyone present was a trained shinobi, they still couldn't help being pulled in by this woman's presence.
Her looks were maybe forty percent of it. The truly intoxicating part was the charm she radiated—like some kind of invisible magic. It felt as if a feather-light hand were tracing over your skin, never quite touching, never quite withdrawing. That itch–not-itch, near–not-near sensation was what really made people lose themselves.
The young Ino–Shika–Chō trio all flushed red and hurriedly lowered their heads in shame.
Even the old man, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had to admit—his heart skipped once.
After all, the wife waiting at home was already old. Otherwise he wouldn't be spending so much time "monitoring" the women's bath with his crystal ball, for "the safety of the village."
His nose tingled; for a second he almost had a nosebleed.
He clenched his teeth and cursed silently to himself.
Demoness…
But the Hokage was still the Hokage. In just a heartbeat or two he forced himself out of that daze by sheer willpower. His eyes flared with anger and he bellowed:
"You've got some nerve. To dare stand before me, Sarutobi Hiruzen, wearing Danzō's face and trying to gather intelligence!"
"W–wait—"
"Danzō" tried to say something.
But the furious Hiruzen wasn't listening. His fist was already moving.
Bang!
A no-mercy "Face-Breaking Fist" slammed squarely into that enchanting visage.
The impact made her skull buzz, the lovely cheeks rippling from the force. She screamed and went flying, smashing a person-shaped hole through the office door and slamming into the corridor wall outside, where she hung in a spread-eagle shape with a dull thud.
Pig–Deer–Butterfly all winced in unison. That looked like it hurt.
Hiruzen vaulted after her, body flashing out of the office. He clamped a hand around the woman's throat, but his line of sight instinctively shifted away from certain dangerous areas as he snarled:
"Talk. Which village sent you? When did you replace Danzō? Where is the real Danzō?!"
Being throttled against the wall, Danzō had never felt so wronged in his life.
Her eyes went red, glistening with frustrated tears. Those soft lips parted pitifully.
"Stop… Hiruzen… it really is me… I'm Danzō… If you don't believe me, I can prove it—I can prove it!"
"Prove it? How?"
Hiruzen's killing intent didn't fade. For all their infighting over the years, he genuinely cared about this old comrade.
Danzō coughed, then squeezed out in a hoarse, breathy voice:
"Ahem… When you were six, you snuck a peek at Lady Mito in the—"
His mouth was immediately covered by a hand.
"That's enough!"
Hiruzen's face went dark, a vein throbbing at his temple.
"How do you know about that?"
"I told you, I'm Danzō!"
Released at last, Danzō slid down the wall, clutching her throat. She landed in an undignified duck-sit, legs splayed, eyes full of grievance as she looked up at him.
"If you still don't believe me, I've got plenty more. Like when you were eight—"
"Enough! Enough!"
Now Hiruzen really panicked. His scalp tingled.
"Fine, you say you're Danzō. Do you have… any other proof?"
Danzō thought for a moment, then simply yanked open the front of her clothes.
"Here. Ura Shishō Fūin. Do you believe me now?"
No one got a clear look at the Reverse Four Symbols Seal.
Because everyone's gaze was instantly swallowed by the… twin peaks framed in holy light.
Pfft. Pfft. Pfft.
Nosebleeds erupted in a chain reaction.
Ino–Shika–Chō went down first. Even the seasoned veterans at the table either turned away abruptly or pinched their noses in a hurry.
Hiruzen clamped both hands over his own nose as blood threatened to gush out, eyes half-lidded.
"Enough! I believe you! Just—put your clothes back on. Now."
"Now do you believe me?"
Fully wrapped again, Danzō stared at him with a deeply aggrieved expression. The faint redness at the corners of her eyes made her look almost heartbreakingly fragile.
"I believe you," Hiruzen said at last, face complicated. "But…"
He sighed.
"I still don't understand. How did you end up… like this?"
"A… minor mishap."
Danzō's mouth twitched. In the end he chose not to tell the truth.
"I was practicing a certain forbidden technique. Something went wrong. I ended up like this."
The ring had turned him into a woman. But the vitality and bizarre powers that this new body contained had undeniably boosted his strength.
If he told the truth, based on decades of experience with this shameless old monkey, Hiruzen would absolutely find some excuse to "confiscate" it in the name of the village.
"Danzō… are you being serious?"
Hiruzen's eye twitched.
Did this guy really think he was an idiot who couldn't tell an obvious lie when he heard one?
"Believe what you like. That's how it is either way."
Danzō lifted his chin stubbornly.
"If I hadn't turned into this, what do you think I've been hiding for this whole week?"
"Good. Very good. Excellent."
Hiruzen let out a string of cold laughs.
Of course he understood Danzō's thinking now.
He'd been worried, genuinely worried, and this was what he got for it. Turned out he'd been caring into thin air.
The air between them went rigid.
At that moment, Nara Shikaku finished wiping his nose and cautiously raised a hand.
"Um… Hokage-sama? About the war…"
"I'm done talking for today."
Hiruzen flicked his sleeve in irritation.
"Go home, all of you. Think it through, write down your proposals, and report back tomorrow."
After how chaotic things had just become, he had no mood left to discuss strategy. In any case, even if Kirigakure wanted to start something, it wouldn't be in the next few days.
Right now he was far more interested in what, exactly, Danzō was hiding.
The meeting broke up on a sour note.
Before anyone left, Danzō made a special point of warning them—repeatedly—not to spread word of what they'd seen.
Everyone responded with complicated expressions and equally complicated nods.
They promised him.
…her.
Only Orochimaru, instigator of this entire scene, left as if he were merely an observer. His golden eyes were clouded with thought from beginning to end.
In his secret laboratory, once he'd returned, Orochimaru sat down in front of a cluttered desk.
The dim light overhead cast deep shadows across his face. His eyes glimmered with an unreadable light.
One hand propped up his cheek. The fingers of the other tapped lightly on the table, in time with his thoughts.
Two names surfaced in his mind, one after another.
"Uchiha Sogetsu. Shimura Danzō."
He murmured them softly.
"What connection do they have… to Him?"
Ever since the Chūnin Exams, Orochimaru had taken notice of the "techniques" Uchiha Sogetsu used.
Those… did not belong to the category of ninjutsu.
And now, after more than a month, he had sensed the same strange flavor from Danzō.
Something not born of chakra molding or elemental transformation. Something that lay outside the shinobi system altogether.
That could not be explained away as coincidence.
Cautious by nature and driven by a ravenous curiosity, Orochimaru had quietly been investigating ever since he first realized that the power behind "Him" did not belong to ninjutsu.
Now two "coincidental" people showed the same kind of anomaly.
There was no way he could ignore that.
"Heh… interesting."
Orochimaru ran the tip of his tongue slowly over his lips.
Madness flickered in his eyes.
"Whatever you are… I'll figure you out sooner or later."
He was a snake: cold-blooded, careful, always testing, always watching.
Curious. Exploratory.
And never, ever someone who quietly followed the rules.
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