Tsunade darted across the battlefield, narrowly avoiding the erupting roots of the Wood Release. Each strike she deflected carried crushing force — even an imperfect version of Hashirama's Ninjutsu was not something to take lightly.
As she shattered the last wave of javelin-like trees, Tsunade finally turned toward Danzō, fury blazing in her eyes.
"Danzō," she growled, "why do you have Grandfather's Wood Release?"
Her fists trembled with rage. She already had a terrible suspicion — but she needed to hear it from his own mouth.
Danzō met her glare with icy calm. "You already know the answer," he said coldly.
"Wood Release: Thistle Binding Jutsu!"
Vines sprouted from the ground, writhing toward Tsunade like serpents. Her eyes narrowed. There was no longer any doubt — Danzō had used the bodies of her clan's dead to experiment with Hashirama's cells.
How many Senju lives had he desecrated to steal her grandfather's power?
Back when she was young, there were still many of her clan left — some had even tried to replicate the First Hokage's strength, though all had failed. But now, Danzō — an outsider — wielded that same power, at the cost of countless lives.
Her chakra flared violently. "Danzō! You bastard!"
She smashed the vines apart with a single devastating punch, the ground shattering beneath her feet. Not far away, Danzō's face twisted in pain as his arm began to convulse.
"Damn it—the Hashirama cells are rebelling!"
He bit back a curse, his Sharingan flashing as he forcefully suppressed the rampaging power.
"Hmph! Root operatives — attack!"
He retreated behind a line of Root shinobi, ordering them forward.
But the Tsunade of today was not someone Wood Release could contain.
Danzō relied on sheer numbers. The shinobi attacking her were all Konoha elites — jōnin-level fighters. Hidden behind them, Danzō occasionally launched sneak attacks, ever the schemer.
Jiraiya clenched his fists. He could no longer stand by.
Just as he moved to join the fray, several masked ninja appeared in front of him, their porcelain cat masks gleaming in the light.
"Jiraiya-sama, please do not interfere!" one of them ordered.
Two raised their arms to block his path. Jiraiya's expression darkened.
"Move," he said, voice low and dangerous. "Now."
"We're sorry, Jiraiya-sama!"
In an instant, dozens more masked operatives surrounded him.
Jiraiya's lips curled into a bitter smile. "Whose Konoha is this, exactly?"
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
He formed hand signs; his long white hair expanded like living threads, wrapping around the two nearest operatives and hurling them into a nearby wall with bone-cracking force. They slumped, unconscious.
He didn't want to go too far — not yet. Konoha wasn't just Danzō's village. There were still great clans within the village who had yet to move. If they intervened now, Konoha would be drenched in blood — and the other hidden villages would surely seize the chance to strike.
It was precisely that balance which Danzō feared. As long as those clans remained untouched, he could still claim legitimacy. But if he overreached, Konoha itself would crumble before he ever sat in the Hokage's chair.
Even Danzō knew that.
As long as Tsunade and her allies were eliminated, he believed the rest could be dealt with in time.
In this world, power alone dictates justice.
Meanwhile, within the Nara Clan compound, tension filled the air. The members of the Ino–Shika–Chō trio had gathered, their clan heads seated around a low table.
Akimichi Chōza slammed his massive hand against the wood, shaking the room.
"Shikaku! Are we really just going to sit here?!" he roared.
"We're letting Danzō kill Tsunade while we do nothing!"
Inoichi Yamanaka sighed, raising a hand. "Calm down, Chōza. Let's hear what Shikaku thinks first."
The Nara patriarch rested his chin on his hand, eyes heavy with thought. "We can't act rashly," he said.
"Danzō's position runs deep. Tsunade will be fine — with the Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God protecting her, they can retreat if the tide turns."
He paused, glancing at the others.
"This coup came too suddenly. You all received Danzō's warning, didn't you? It feels like… something larger is pushing this forward."
The other two exchanged uneasy looks.
"We can't pick a side yet," Shikaku continued.
"If we support Danzō and he falls, we're finished. If we side with Tsunade and the Hokage fails to hold the village, Konoha will collapse — and the other great villages won't hesitate to strike."
He leaned back, his voice low.
"What I can't understand… is why Hyūga Hiashi would side with Danzō at all. Aligning with him is like playing with fire."
The room fell silent.
Even among Konoha's most calculating minds — no one could see how this would end.
"Moreover, Danzō is not a worthy Hokage. He'll fall sooner or later," Shikaku said calmly, his voice carrying a quiet conviction.
For now, all they could do was wait.
Bang!
"Wait? You expect me to sit here while Lady Tsunade fights for her life?!"
Akimichi Chōza slammed his massive fist onto the table, the wooden surface creaking beneath the force. "No! I'm going to help her!"
"Sit down, Chōza."
Inoichi Yamanaka's tone was firm, but not unkind. "You're not a genin anymore. Don't be reckless. You have a clan to lead — remember that."
"Relax, Chōza," Shikaku added, his usual calm demeanor never wavering.
"Don't forget — there's someone else."
Chōza blinked. "Someone else?"
Inoichi's eyes widened slightly, realization dawning. "You mean… Uzumaki Naruto?"
Shikaku nodded slowly.
"Yes. Naruto took Shikamaru with him back then. As the Fourth Hokage's son, he's bound to return eventually."
Inoichi fell silent, his expression clouded. He knew exactly why Shikaku said that. The power Naruto had shown in the past was astonishing — almost beyond human. It was said he had even tamed the chakra of the Nine-Tails itself.
And the truth about Shikamaru… only they knew it.
Officially, after the Konoha Crush incident, Shikamaru was listed as missing — presumed dead. But they had received a single, secret letter from him.
If Danzō ever learned that Shikamaru was alive and working alongside Naruto, he would use that as an excuse to purge their clans entirely.
Inoichi exhaled slowly.
"Hmm… if what Shikamaru wrote is true, then Naruto's vision is far greater than we imagined. The way the Shinobi World is changing… it's becoming harder and harder to predict."
Shikaku nodded.
"That boy… he's something extraordinary."
He reached into his cloak and produced an unfamiliar object — a pistol.
The weapon gleamed under the lantern light. It was a gift from Shikamaru, proof that Naruto had not abandoned his ties to Konoha. From the shadows, he had established a new force — Umbrella — one that was quietly infiltrating the village's systems.
Naruto had persuaded Shikamaru to place his faith in this new order. But Shikamaru had admitted he couldn't guarantee that his clan would follow.
The pistol was his token — a message from son to father, and from student to strategist.
Even without words, Shikaku understood perfectly. Something like this — a weapon that even an ordinary civilian could wield — would change everything.
The entire world was shifting.
"He's even greater than his father," Shikaku murmured. His gaze softened as he thought of Minato — that brilliant, golden-haired young man who once carried Konoha's hopes. He had believed that under Minato's leadership, Konoha would enter a golden age. But fate, as always, had been cruel.
"Don't worry," Shikaku said at last, slipping the pistol back into his cloak.
"Danzō won't last long. We can't expose ourselves yet — not now. But soon… we'll have to choose a side."
He rose to his feet, walking toward the window. The wind rustled through the open shutters, scattering a few papers across the room. One of them — a booklet stamped with Umbrella's crimson insignia — fluttered open to a page filled with dense ideology.
"This… is a change unseen in a thousand years," Shikaku whispered, staring into the night sky. "If we cling to the old ways, we'll be swept aside — just like leaves in the wind."
The candlelight flickered. Shadows danced across his face.
Shikaku Nara — Konoha's most brilliant strategist — already knew the truth.
Naruto Uzumaki was not fighting for the Shinobi World alone.
He was fighting for the world itself.
...
TN:
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