Chapter 38: Chapter 38-A New Era Begins!
Chapter 38
HIRUZEN SARUTOBI
Hiruzen seethed in rage as he looked at the bloodied remains of his comrade.
"How could you let this happen?" he questioned in a steely voice as the ANBU captain knelt behind him.
"We are not sure yet. It was as if we were under a genjutsu," he excused, and Hiruzne's gaze turned toward the head of the Yamanaka clan head.
"Inoichi, have a full workup done on everyone guarding this place and have the report on my table by the hour," he ordered. The head of the Konoha intelligence division vanished as Jiraiya sat beside Shimura's remains with a complicated expression on his face.
"What is it?" he questioned as Jiraiya continued to look around the room at the two bodies lying there.
"This is a ROOT agent," he said as he pointed towards the masked nin lying dead beside Danzo.
"Do you think the ROOT agent killed Danzo," and Jiraiya shook his head.
"No, this is the work of a third party," he said as his eyes narrowed.
"Shimura was poisoned before he was killed, and I have seen that poison before," Jiraiya said with thin lips.
"Where?" he questioned, and Jiraiya looked him in the eye.
"Orochimaru," and Hiruzen was shocked by that word.
"You cannot mean," and Jiraya nodded.
"I do, it seems this was Orochimaru's doing," and Hiruzen felt that with passing hour the day was becoming more and more troublesome.
"Lion!" he uttered, and the ANBU captain appeared behind him.
"I have a mission for you. Alert all the ANBUs. Run a full sweep over all of the territory, find and arrest Orochimaru, and confiscate all his holdings and laboratory. And also have his apprentice brought into T&I," he ordered, and the ANBU captain vanished as he sighed.
"You will not find him," Jiraiya said as he sat down near the whitened woody mass that was wrapped around Danzo.
"Shimura died hours ago, and whatever this whitish thing is was mimicking his chakra signature well enough to fool a Byakugan. By now, he would be far, far away," he said as he began to take out a sealing scroll.
"What even is that thing?" he questioned as he observed the humanoid-looking whitish mass.
"I do not know, but I plan to find out," he said as a seal erupted on the ground and engulfed the body and took it in.
Jiraiya pocketed the scroll.
"Let me ask around about this, but we have another problem now," he said, and Hiruzen nodded, realizing what Jiraiya was eluding towards.
"Send a missive to Tsunade and Minato, have an account of Shimura's death conveyed to the new daimyo," and he sighed.
"This will not reflect good on us," he complained, and it could be even worse.
"The new daimyo could suspect bad faith and could suspect us complicit in this," he said, and Jiraiya nodded.
"He could now let us hope that Tsunade is able to convince him otherwise," Jiraiya began as both of them looked into each other's eyes.
"Orochimaru," he spoke half in pain and disappointment.
"Orochimaru," Jiraiya agreed, his lips quirked into an angry snarl.
"How could he do this?" he questioned. This was the second betrayal he had suffered in as many days—the first of his dear old comrade and now his most prized student.
"He was very close to Danzo. We should have expected this," Jiraiya added, and Hiruzen slumped as he felt the weight of the whole world on his shoulder.
"I should have," he corrected as all his failures stared him in the face.
He looked up at the sky, tired and frustrated with all he had seen in the last face.
"Perhaps it is good that Minato is set to replace me, the hat grows heavier by the second," he uttered forlornly, destroyed as he realised just how badly he had failed the legacy of his sensei, the Nidaime.
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TSUNADE SENJU
It had been quite a few years since she had visited the Daimyo's castle. And though she had been a somewhat regular visitor of the castle in Shinoi, the Royal castle held little similarity to the rather functional castle of Shinoi.
The halls were studded with gold and jade ornaments. The floors glistened as servants rushed to wait on them.
The host himself seemed different as well. Akihito now sat in Royal garbs with the Royal crown sitting atop his head, and though he had aged little since their last meeting, he seemed older to her countenance as she looked him up and down.
"You have changed," she remarked as she sipped the tea they had been served, and she could see Minato's eyes glance up and down their new fire daimyo as well.
"I would hope so. This whole set of clothes costs nearly as much as my previous annual budget," he joked, trying to ease the tension in the room. She did not correct him about how she was not referring to his clothes, though she did not think the correction was needed.
"So, I have heard that Shimura is dead," he began, and she did not miss how Minato tensed besides him at those words. This was a point of contention, one which could cause much strife in the relationship between him and the village. Though she did not know him to be overly aggressive, she could not underestimate the influence of pride and power.
"He is. We are still investigating how this happened, but he is dead, and we apologize for our incompetence," she said as she bowed her head.
"Hmm, this is the second time the village has failed in its duties, and while I can understand that these mistakes were not deliberate, I would hope that such instances and laps of judgement shall not be repeated," he said in a stern voice. She sighed in relief as Minato from her side spoke up.
"We shall endeavor to live up to your expectations," Minato added, and Akihtio smiled and nodded before turning towards her.
"So, tell me, have you changed your mind about taking your sensei's place," he offered, and she could tell that the words surprised Minato, yet she could tell this for the joke it was.
"If daimyo-sama values his life, he will not make such statements," she remarked as Minato paled by her side.
Akihtio chuckled at her answer.
"So be it then," he began as he turned towards Minato.
"I believe you let me and the next Hokage talk then. Shizune-san has been wanting to meet you for some time."
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MINATO NAMIKAZE
Minato Namikaze had been born an orphan, and his parentage remained obscure to him to this day, even as he sat infront of the most highly-ranked noble of the realm.
Akihito Shirahoshi, the jito of Shinoi, the young Oni, the person infront of him had many names. Some more flattering than others but few could deny that he was an anomaly among the natural order of things, much like himself.
Both of them had little in terms of pedigree or family support yet were now set to take the highest positions in their respective fields. There was a sense of comradeship in that.
"You were not surprised by the news of Danzo Shimura's death?" he questioned. He was not fond of courtly obscurities and tact, so he spoke straightforwardly.
The young daimyo sipped his tea and nodded.
"I was not," he agreed to his assessment as Minato continued.
"How?" he questioned.
The young daimyo smiled obscurely as he replied.
"Contrary to popular belief I am quite knowledgeable to the happenings of the village, and had suspected such an event," he replied and he recalled how all those years ago he had rescued the two Uzumaki's, and then there was also the issue of Rin.
"Then why didn't you warn us," he questioned.
"Because I had a suspicion, a minute one at that, and I was busy fighting my own war. But that is water under the bridge. I know Shimura's actions were carried out independently, and though the village shall receive an official rebuke, you can be assured of my support otherwise," he told him as they sat once more.
"Then let us talk about the most pertinent issue at hand," he began, and the young daimyo nodded.
"Where is Rin?" he questioned, his tone sharp yet respectable, and the daimyo smiled.
"How am I to know the whereabouts of your student?" he said with a smile, and Minato's gaze narrowed.
"Though I disagree with Danzo Shimura's notion of you being a traitor, your deep connections to Kiri's rebellion forces are not lost to me. Kiri is not fond of keeping prisoners, let alone someone as special as Rin. Yet, for some reason, they not only rescued her from a cruel fate but now hold her as a hostage, alive and seemingly well-treated," Minato concluded. Being a student of the Toad Sage, Minato dabbled into espionage as well, and his special Hiraishin made that task much easier than many realized.
So, he was aware of Rin being kept as a hostage by Kiri forces, and the seal he had placed on her told him that she was alive and well.
"So, I ask again, where is Rin?" he questioned, and the young daimyo smiled.
"Your student is fine."
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