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Qianyu's answer carried layers of meaning that Hiruzen Sarutobi was not deaf to.
The Third Hokage ignored the implications. He set his pipe down. "We suspect someone assisted Miyuki Uzumaki in leaving Konoha. Qianyu, as her friend, do you have any leads? Anyone who seemed suspicious?"
Qianyu shrugged. "Assisted her? She didn't have many friends. If I had to name the most suspicious person… it would probably be me."
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed slightly. "Then… was it you?"
Qianyu offered an innocent look. "And do you believe it is, Hokage-sama? If I wanted to help her leave, why would I leave Naruto behind? Helping both a mother and her infant escape would be trivial for me. Surely you don't doubt my capability?"
Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado stared at him coldly. The arrogance. He was outright stating Konoha's ninja were beneath him.
Yet… they couldn't exactly refute it.
Hiruzen had no more patience for this dance. Arrangements needed to be made. "I trust you, of course, Qianyu. Miyuki Uzumaki's defection has been classified. Officially, she was abducted by unknown forces. We have further matters to discuss. You are dismissed."
Qianyu nodded. "Understood. Then I'll collect Naruto from the ANBU base."
Danzō's heart lurched. His gaze turned vicious.
Hiruzen's own eyes hardened. "I do not recall authorizing you to take the boy."
"Why can't I?" Qianyu's tone was matter-of-fact. "The Fourth is comatose. Miyuki Uzumaki, unable to endure the humiliation in her own village, chose to defect. How is an infant less than a year old supposed to live? Kushina was Miyuki's closest friend, her clansman. By any measure of duty or compassion, Naruto should be entrusted to Kushina and myself."
Before Hiruzen could speak, Danzō leaped in. The prize was so close, about to be handed to him, and now this nuisance was interfering again. After being thwarted by Qianyu so many times, Danzō couldn't stomach seeing the prize snatched away.
"It was you!" Danzō roared. "No one else could have done it! Your goal was to help her defect so you could rightfully claim guardianship of the infant jinchūriki! To control the beast's power and seize control of Konoha! You will never lay hands on Naruto Uzumaki! Abandon this foolishness!"
Qianyu ignored him. He looked at Hiruzen, Koharu, and Homura. "And you three? Do you share his opinion?"
The three elders stared back, faces grim. They would never hand Naruto over. Their silence was answer enough.
A faint, dangerous smile touched Qianyu's lips.
Then, a crushing wave of chakra erupted from him.
Sage Mode.
Dragon horns sprouted from his forehead. Scales rippled across his skin. A vibrant, azure cloak of natural energy enveloped him.
He vanished.
Reappeared directly in front of Danzō.
His hand shot out, clamping onto Danzō's head like a vice. He slammed the elder down with terrifying force.
KABOOM!
The floor shattered. Danzō was driven halfway into the wreckage, stunned, half-buried.
Danzō's eyes bulged with fury. His hands flew into a seal. "Wind Style: Vacuum Wave!"
He inhaled sharply, ready to spit slicing blades of air at point-blank range.
Qianyu's eyes shifted. The Mangekyō Sharingan swirled to life, the tomoe framing a vertical slit-pupil from the Sage energy.
"Dōjutsu: Ten Thousand Rejections."
Danzō's chakra flow stuttered and died. The technique dissipated before it could form.
Then Qianyu's fist descended.
Thud.
Thud.
THUD.
The sudden, brutal violence left Hiruzen and the other two elders frozen for a critical second.
"Stop!" Hiruzen finally bellowed. "Qianyu! Do you intend to betray Konoha as well?!"
Qianyu's fist halted. The power of Sage Mode, rivaling Tsunade's monstrous strength, meant a few more full-force blows would have turned Danzō's head to pulp.
He yanked Danzō up by the scalp, holding the dazed elder aloft. He turned his chilling gaze to Hiruzen. "Betrayal? I'm merely demonstrating a point, Hokage-sama. If I wanted to seize Konoha, to control the jinchūriki… I wouldn't need such convoluted schemes."
He tightened his grip. Danzō groaned.
"I could just kill you all right here, right now."
His presence swelled, a palpable, suffocating pressure filling the room.
"Could you even stop me? Once you're gone, with my reputation, who in this village would dare oppose me becoming the next Hokage?"
Hiruzen, Koharu, and Homura felt a cold dread seep into their bones. They had underestimated him. Severely. This sheer, oppressive aura… it was reminiscent of a ghost from the past. A ghost named Madara.
Qianyu's voice was ice. "I have no interest in your petty power games, Third. Your vision is pathetically narrow. Had you stamped out those vile rumors from the start, had you protected the wife of your Hokage… Miyuki Uzumaki would never have left. Even if she'd wanted to, she would have stayed for her son. She would have continued serving this village."
He glanced at Danzō's mangled form in his grip. "And what did you do? Minato Namikaze was a fool. Sacrificing his child for a village like this, letting his son become a vessel, leaving himself broken in a coma. And you… you repay his sacrifice by planning to turn his orphaned son into an emotionless weapon. I would give anything to see his face when—if—he wakes up and learns the truth."
With his free hand, Qianyu ripped the bandages from Danzō's right eye. A Sharingan stared back, wide with pain and fury.
"Do you like the eye I gave you?" Qianyu's smile was frigid. "How many times must I say it? Don't provoke me."
His fingers dug in.
"AGHHH—!"
A wet, tearing sound. Danzō's scream was raw, agonized.
Qianyu held the bloody orb up for them all to see. Then, with a sickening squelch, he crushed it between his fingers.
He tossed Danzō aside like discarded trash, turning fully to Hiruzen. "Perhaps you doubt I could level this village…"
He didn't even look. He simply drove his fist into the nearest wall.
The entire side of the Hokage's office exploded outward in a torrent of stone and dust. Half the building groaned, shuddered, and began a slow, grinding collapse. Alarmed ANBU swarmed towards the breach, but a sharp gesture from a pale Hiruzen held them back.
The Third Hokage looked at Qianyu, the image of the man before him now fully overlaying with the legend of Uchiha Madara in his mind.
Qianyu smiled, a chilling contrast to the destruction around them. "It seems I have your attention now."
He took a step forward, dust settling on his shoulders. "I am a man of my word. Mito Uzumaki once asked me to never raise a hand against Konoha of my own volition. I agreed. But that promise is void if Konoha raises its hand against me first."
He let the silence hang, heavy with threat.
"If you wish to speak of the village's 'debt' to me… I believe the title 'Blood-Eyed Asura' is payment enough. A title I earned spilling blood for Konoha."
He spread his hands slightly, the gesture almost casual amidst the rubble. "Now. I believe we are all sufficiently… calm. Shall we discuss this like reasonable adults? Or…"
The smile returned, sharp and contemptuous.
"Has this conversation reached its end?"
He waited, his gaze locked on Hiruzen Sarutobi, for the answer.
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