Danzou's two ROOT subordinates, positioned beside him, prepared to advance at his command. They were like shadows, silent and deadly, trained to kill without hesitation. Their white masks reflected the light from the office windows, concealing any trace of humanity or emotion. Their hands were already in seal positions, muscles tense like bowstrings about to fire.
Danzou was still standing in the hole in the wall created by Li Shang's first attack.
Dust and wood fragments fell around him like dirty snow. His cloak had been torn in several places, revealing the bandages that covered his right arm. The force of the previous impact had been enough to tear them in some areas, briefly exposing the pale skin underneath before he adjusted the fabric with an irritated movement.
'What's the best way to deal with this damned guy without revealing my powers?'
He studied Li Shang, waiting for any movement or opening, but couldn't find any. The boy stood with a relaxed, almost casual posture, but there was something in the way he held that sword that screamed danger. Every muscle was perfectly balanced, ready to explode into action at any moment.
It was the posture of an experienced predator, not a newly promoted chunin.
'How did he learn to fight like this? There's no record of any special training in the Hyuuga clan's archives.' Danzou thought, his eyes sweeping every inch of Li Shang in search of a weakness. 'And that sword... where did it come from?'
The council members had retreated to the edges of the room, some positioning themselves behind the support pillars. Homura already had his cane in hand, ready to intervene if necessary. Koharu maintained a defensive position, her eyes alternating between Li Shang and Danzou with growing apprehension.
The tension in the air was so dense it seemed to solidify, turning every breath into an effort.
"Tsunade-sama, I apologize for the office."
Li Shang spoke without turning, his calm voice absurdly contrasting with the situation. He raised his hand, the sword disappearing in a flash of blue light.
"Hoshikami Shinsei!"
He shouted, and a force of repulsion focused on Danzou and his two subordinates swept the area, destroying the wall completely.
The sound was deafening. It wasn't a common explosion, but something that seemed to tear the very fabric of space. The invisible wave of force hit the three ROOT shinobis with the subtlety of a war hammer. The wall stones exploded outwards in a storm of sharp fragments. Wooden beams snapped like dry twigs.
Danzou instinctively crossed his arms in front of his face, but the force was too much. His body was thrown backward, passing through what remained of the wall and soaring in an arc into Konoha's open sky. His two subordinates met similar fates, their bodies spinning in the air like rag dolls.
The Hokage's office simply ceased to exist in that section. Where there was once a solid wall, now there was only open sky and falling debris.
Li Shang then activated his Steps Between the Void, disappearing from the office.
There was no smoke, no sound of air displacement. One moment he was there, the next he simply wasn't. It was as if reality had been edited, removing his presence without a trace.
"Tsunade, are you just going to stand there? A shinobi attacked an elder in front of you and you didn't order him captured?"
Koharu Utatane, irritated, spoke after the initial shock. She was worried, her voice trembling slightly despite her attempt to maintain composure. 'Where did that young man get such power? Danzou didn't even have a chance to react to his two attacks.'
As a councilor, even often disagreeing with Danzou, she was still concerned about her old friend. They had fought together in the Second War, had built Konoha with Hiruzen and the others. Seeing Danzou thrown around like a novice brought a sense of mortality she preferred not to feel.
Homura approached the edge of the hole in the wall, his eyes following the trajectory of the falling bodies. "He's taking the fight outside the village." He observed, his voice grave. "This is deliberate. He doesn't want to cause more damage to the structure or to civilians."
"Or he wants space to fight without witnesses." Koharu retorted bitterly.
Tsunade was frozen, her amber eyes wide as she processed what she had just witnessed. 'That power... it wasn't common ninjutsu. The way the chakra moved, the way it bent space around him...' Her hands trembled, not from fear, but from pure adrenaline.
"MOBILIZE THE ANBU FORCE!"
Tsunade, regaining her composure, shouted with an authority that made everyone in the room straighten instantly. Her voice echoed throughout the entire Hokage building, charged with chakra to ensure it was heard even on the lower floors.
She disappeared from the office in a Shunshin, following the chakra trail left by Li Shang as he drew Danzou into Konoha's forest.
ANBU members began to materialize around the destroyed office, their masks turning to follow the direction the Hokage had taken. The sound of dozens of feet hitting rooftops echoed through the village as Konoha's elite force mobilized.
And in the forest, among the ancient trees surrounding the village, Danzou finally stopped his forced fall, his back hitting a thick trunk with enough force to crack the bark. He spat blood, his eyes searching for Li Shang among the shadows of the foliage.
Li Shang smiled, appearing in front of the three like a ghostly apparition.
His hands moved in a sequence of seals so fast that only the most experienced shinobis could follow. Dragon, tiger, dog, pig, snake. The speed was absurd, each seal flowing into the next without hesitation.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
Chakra exploded from the ground in two massive columns of white smoke. The ground trembled violently, cracks spreading like spiderwebs under the combatants' feet. The surrounding trees swayed dangerously, leaves falling in a green shower.
When the smoke began to dissipate, two colossal forms emerged.
Fenrir roared, the sound reverberating through the forest like primordial thunder. The enormous wolf, almost thirty meters tall, had fur as black as the darkest night, with red eyes that glowed with an ancient hunger. Its fangs were the size of swords, dripping saliva that hissed as it touched the ground. He stared at one of the ROOT members, lowering his massive body into a hunting stance.
Alduin landed beside him with an impact that made the ground sink. The dragon destroyed several trees in the process, their centuries-old trunks snapping like toothpicks under the creature's weight. Black and red scales covered its immense body, reflecting the sunlight like polished metal. Its wings spread, partially blocking the sky, and its golden eyes focused on Danzou's other subordinate with an intensity that promised annihilation.
"Shall we let the subordinates play, right?"
Li Shang joked, his voice casual as he slowly walked towards Danzou. His hands were relaxed at his sides.
At that moment, the two beasts advanced against the two ROOT members.
Fenrir launched himself like a living missile, his guillotine-blade-sized claws tearing through the air. Alduin opened his jaws, flames beginning to accumulate in his throat, the heat distorting the air around him.
"GO!"
Danzou shouted to his subordinates, his voice filled with urgency and authority. They disappeared in Shunshins, separating to deal with the monstrous threats.
Then, finally, Danzou began to remove his bandages.
First the eye. The fabric fell, revealing the three-tomoe Sharingan, slowly spinning as it focused on Li Shang. Next, the right arm. The bandages unrolled like a dead snake, falling to the ground in spirals.
What was revealed made even Li Shang narrow his eyes.
The arm was pale, unnatural, covered with ten Sharingans embedded in the flesh. Each red eye pulsed with its own chakra, an abomination that defied ethical laws.
Danzou took his stance, his chakra finally being released without restrictions. The pressure was suffocating, the power of decades of experience and stolen secrets.
"Now, boy." Danzou said, his voice low and deadly. "I'll show you why they called me the Shinobi of Darkness."
[Author's Note: Li Shang's Tenseigan attraction and repulsion powers, named by himself, are:
Pure attraction: Getsuryū Ten'in (月流天引) – "Celestial Attraction of the Moon"Pure repulsion: Hoshikami Shinsei (星神神制) – "Divine Decree of the Stars"]