Chapter 58 – The Old Rat Dreams of the Throne
Naruto and Sasuke quickly caught up with Aike's group.
Fighting Jiraiya and the others was the last thing on their to-do list.
Danzo was still breathing. Revenge wasn't finished.
Watching them leave, Jiraiya let out a long, exhausted sigh.
What a mess.
Sensei… you really screwed this one up.
"Right!"
"There's still Orochimaru!!"
Only now did Jiraiya remember the original mastermind.
Too late.
When it came to running away, Orochimaru was in a league of his own.
He had slipped away the moment Jiraiya was busy staring down Carina and the girls.
"Damn it. Gone again."
Jiraiya's face darkened.
A rooftop sweep turned up nothing.
Instead he got a panoramic view of a half-destroyed Konoha.
One night of explosions had plowed through more than half the village.
Only a few clan compounds and the homes of civilians who had never harmed Naruto remained standing.
"Shikaku, take some men to the outskirts. Link up with Kakashi and finish sealing the One-Tail."
"I'll clean up the Sand and Sound stragglers here, then head over."
"Understood."
Shikaku, Choza, Inoichi, and Hiashi took their elite and headed out.
Jiraiya and the remaining jonin began mopping up the invaders.
Inside and outside the village, the collapse was swiftly reversed.
Shukaku was resealed into Gaara without ceremony.
Temari and Kankuro were taken into custody alongside him.
Meanwhile, deep beneath Konoha.
In the cold, shadowy Root headquarters.
"You're telling me…"
"The jinchuriki and Uchiha Sasuke betrayed the village, killed Sarutobi with the help of another Uchiha survivor?!"
Danzo's single visible eye bored into the kneeling subordinate.
"And the village-wide explosions were their doing—for revenge?"
"Yes, Lord Danzo!"
"According to reports, Uzumaki Naruto has learned his true parentage, and Uchiha Sasuke knows the full truth of the massacre."
The air in the bunker turned to ice.
"Excellent. I told you all—jinchuriki can't be trusted. That Uchiha brat neither."
"If Hiruzen had handed them to me years ago, none of this would have happened!"
Rage quickly gave way to smug satisfaction.
Hiruzen was dead.
Homura and Koharu were dead.
No one stood between him and the Hokage seat.
Not even Jiraiya.
And then there were the new players.
A man with unknown power.
Another Uchiha with Mangekyou Sharingan.
Danzo's ambition ballooned to the heavens.
Orders flew fast and sharp.
Tail Aike's group.
Watch Naruto and Sasuke.
Mangekyou Sharingan and the Nine-Tails—both would be his.
"With those two in my hands, who in the entire shinobi world could oppose me?!"
.........
The day after the chaos.
Konoha remained under lockdown, but life was slowly crawling back.
The explosions had taken a brutal toll on population and infrastructure.
Rebuilding weighed on Jiraiya like a mountain.
With the entire elder council gone, the Hokage duties had fallen on him by default.
Even with Shikaku's help, he was drowning in paperwork.
"No way. I have to drag Tsunade back."
Jiraiya rubbed his temples in agony.
The mountain of files on
the desk screamed that the Hokage hat was not for him.
It belonged on Tsunade's head.
"Any sign of Naruto and Sasuke?"
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