21 Chapter 21: *Spoiler*
(Author note: The chapter title is a spoiler, thus the title will come at the end of the chapter, instead of at the beginning :))
*3rd person POV*
*Hokage office - a few hours after Anya left the village*
Hiruzen was feeling a migraine approaching. A steady stream of report came in to his office this morning. He had not even had time to sit down in his chair and ignite his pipe, before the first ANBU ninja had stormed into his office.
Apparently something big had happened this night, something that Hiruzen had not imagined, when he had greenlit Anya's mission request.
The first reports, where about several ninja leaving the village, during the night. All the ninja that ran away, had the same basic description, and later intel confirmed, they were all Root ninja.
At first Hiruzen thought Danzo was up to something, but it became clear, as time went by, that this was no coordinated effort. It was like rats abandoning the sinking ship. They just fled the village, with no overall plan or scheme.
The next thing that happened, was that several Root ninja, came to report to the Hokage. Hiruzen was not totally convinced at this point, that this was no a trick from Danzo. They guy had tried to kill him previously, and this could all be an plan for another attempt.
However as the Root ninja were reporting to Hirzuen, and ANBU, a more clear picture was forming.
According to the Root ninja, or rather former Root ninja, someone had infiltrated Root headquarters last night, and proceeded to make their way down to the lowest level of the complex. What exactly happened here was still unclear, but one thing was certain, Danzo was dead.
"How do you know he is dead?" Hirzuen asked the young former Root ninja, that was sitting across from him.
The former Root ninja, was still clothed in the standard Root gear, but had been asked to turn over all his weapons, before speaking with the Hokage.
This was no the third former Root ninja, Hiruzen was talking with, and there was at least 10 more to go, by the last headcount his ANBU made.
"As part of Root initiation, we were all branded with a seal, special made by the Root organization" The former root ninja said. With his former organization now up in flames, he had two choices. Run away from Konoha, or try to appeal to the Hokage and still remain in Konoha. This particulare former Root memeber, and the rest waiting to talk with Hiruzen, choose to remain in Konoha.
Hiruzen nodded, and motioned for the ninja to continue.
"This seal is special, and insured the complete loyalty of and Root ninja, towards Root" The former Root ninja continued upon Hirzuen request: "Among the many function of the seal, is a link between the seal keeper and the seal. In Root the seal keeper was Danzo. It was made in such a way that Danzo, with but a mental command, could make the seal explode, and kill anyone the seal was attached to. However, since the seal was formed like this, should the seal keeper ever die, the seal would disappear. Sometime after the infiltrator entered the lowest floor of Root headquarters, the seal disappeared. Thus Danzo is dead."
Hirzuen said in though for a few moments. This was the third former Root ninja he had talked with this morning. They all told more or less the same story. A few more moments passed, then his eyes flashed with determination, and he talked, directed to a few of the many hidden ANBU members, within earshot: "Bring me Anya Uzumaki, as fast as possible".
There was no recognition of his order, but a few ANBU members left the the office and ventured into the village.
"Thank you for this information. Go home, and I will get back to you when the situation becomes more stable" Hiruzen said, directed at the former Root ninja.
One the former Root ninja had left, Hiruzen said: "Bring in the next one"
After having talked with additional three former Root ninjas, Hirzuen could feel that the ANBU had returned.
"Hokage" the three ANBU ninja, that had left and returned, announced their presence.
"Where is Anya?" Hiruzen asked.
"We apologize Hokage, but it seems that Anya Uzumaki is no where to be found." One of the ANBU reported back to the Hokage.
"We believe that she has left the village, Hokage" Another of the ANBU said.
Hiruzen leaned back in his seat. A habit he had developed over the years, when he had to make a though decision. Everything had not gone as intended, and now he had to make a decision about what was best for the village.
At this moment, he couldn't help and think back to what lead to his situation.
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*A week after the Chunin exam*
*3rd person POV*
A young girl was standing in front of Hiruzen's desk talking to the Hokage. Hiruzen was sitting in his chair, both arms under his chin, listening intently, at what this young girl was telling him.
Hiruzen was very impressed by this girl. Not only did she have a bright future ahead of her, but is was only a week after she had shocked the village, with her performance at the Chunin exam, and here she was already working towards a new goal.
"And that is why I think Root is a major danger to the village" The girl said, and stopped to speak.
As she stopped to speak, Hirzuen really looked at her for the first time, without listening to what she was saying. She was a young girl, about 14-15 years of age. Long loose flowing red hair, all the way down to her shoulders , very indicative of her strong Uzumaki heritage. She was about 1,5 meter tall, and would without a doubt grow even further over the next few years. Her skin was a healthy tan color, indicating she spend much time outside in the sun.
She was wearing a loose fitted red shirt and a standard ninja west over it, with plenty of pockets for tools or scrolls. On her legs, she wore a pair of custom jeans, that had more pockets, and even a few hidden places, to hide vital information, or stuff you didn't want anyone to find.
Her shoes were the open toed sandals, that were so popular with todays youth. And although her attire did much to hide it, it was clear that this young girl was well on her way to becoming a woman. In a few years she would be able to make the heart of any woman or many flutter.
Her name was Anya Uzumaki, and Hiruzen had no doubt that she was, and would become even more, a powerful ninja of Konoha.
"That is quite a few indications and insinuation, but there is not a lot of evidence here Anya. What do you suggest there be done about it?" Hiruzen asked her.
Without any moment of hesitation, almost like she was waiting for the question, she answered: "Root, and especially the upper echelon of Root, need to be further investigated. I fear that if left unchecked they will do something that will doom this village" Anya said.
Hiruzen thought a bit, and didn't say anything. But apparently Anya took his silence as if she should continue.
"As I have already proven myself effective, I would like to be part of the team to investigate Root" Anya said.
Hiruzen smiled, "ahh so that was her game" he thought.
"Very well Anya, you have convinced me" Hirzuen said.
"Really? I didn't think you would be convinced with so little actual evidence" Anya said.
"Yes, you are not the first person to talk to me about Root. Everything you say, make a lot of sense. However I do have some conditions, before I allocate recourses towards this "Hiruzen said and pause to make sure his point got across.
"First, let me go over the position that Danzo, the head of Root, has in the village" Hiruzen said, making sure he had Anya's attention.
Anya nodded, indicating for Hiruzen to continue.
"Danzo is considered one of four elders of the village, and is fiercely loyal to Konoha. To such a degree that he takes it upon himself, to fix what is wrong with Konoha. This has led him to clash with me as Hokage on many occasions, but keep in mind that for Danzo Hokage and Konoha are not the same thing. So sometimes the village has to be protected from even the Hokage according to him. Many people, and even the civilian elders agree with him, thus that is how Root started. Officially as an alternative to the ANBU, but unofficially as the only thing that could rival the Hokage, if the Hokage ever turned against the village" Hiruzen said, and took a break after his speech.
"So to sum it up, Danzo has a powerful organization as his backing, and powerful political support" Hiruzen said.
Anya nodded, indicating she was following along.
"As such, we have to be able to prove Danzo's misdeed, before accursing him of anything. Or it could be seen as the Hokage trying to get rid of the checks set in place for himself" Hiruzen said, and continued: "To keep Danzo unaware, the team will have to be small. Several ninja working on Root, will be noticed, or information will be leaked."
Anya nodded again, indicating she agreed.
"All right then. Anya I herby promote you to tokubetsu Jonin, to answer directly to me. Your mission is to investigate Root, and find evidence against the organization for their wrong doing. The mission will be classified as an S-rank secret, and not to be shared with anyone not in this office, without my specific consent" Hiruzen said.
"Thank y..." Anya was in the middle of saying, before she was interrupted by Hiruzen
"Before you accept, know that I have one additional request" Hiruzen said, before continuing: "As this is your request to me, only accept this mission, if you are prepare to accept one of my requests in the future".
Anya looked taken back a bit, but only hesitated for a short moment, before saying: "I accept this mission, and the future request you have Hokage"
Hiruzen smiled, and indicated that the meeting was over with that.
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*1 week before the infiltration of Root headquarters*
"I don't like this Anya" Hiruzen said towards the only other person in his office at this time.
Anya showed no reaction towards Hiruzen at first, but eventually said: "I just don't see any other way to get a hold of any kind of real evidence".
"I know you are powerful Anya, but Danzo is smart, cunning and powerful himself. Walking into Root headquarters, without any intel about it, is not a good plan" Hiruzen said.
"But it has to be now. Danzo is at his weakest according to Shisui. The eye jutsu Danzo used, would have rendered his sharingan useless after. And there is never a better pretext to get Danzo away from Root headquarters" Anya said
Hiruzen observed Anya, and noticed that the young girls. No young woman had invested a lot of herself into this mission. Hiruzen suspected that she knew more about this all, than what she said. There was a certain urgency in her insistence about infiltration of Root. Every time Hiruzen started to ask about it, Anya would always answer evasive or change the topic.
"Ok, Anya, we will go ahead with the infiltration of Root. However I want to discuss the most likely outcomes with you" Hiruzen said
Anya nodded, and motioned for Hiruzen to continue.
"Plan A. You infiltrate Root headquarter and find the evidence we need, to prove Danzo has worked against the village. We take Danzo into custody, and Root is dissolved back into ANBU" Hiruzen said
"What type of evidence would we need to archive this?" Anya asked.
"Mission rapport, agreements with other villages, witness statements. All of these together would be best, but anyone on their own should help immensely" Hiruzen said, and continued: "However, I know that each Root member is branded with a seal, that makes them unable to speak about Root. Any seal worth it's salt, would protect the secret information, no matter what. So witness statements would be what were most unlikely to come by."
Anya nodded. Neither her or Hiruzen had ever studied the Root seal, so they had no way to know what would happen to it after Danzo's potential death.
"Plan B. You infiltrate Root headquarters, but are unable to find any evidence. At this point retreat it best, and we will strategize another approach, so getting out of Root undetected is highest priority" Hiruzen said.
Anya nodded again, and motioned for Hiruzen to continue.
"Plan C. This is the worst case outcome. If for some reason you are unable to find evidence, and a fight breaks out, where you kill Danzo. If this happens, you have to leave the village. With evidence of his wrongdoings, killing Danzo can be explained as part of a mission. However with no evidence it will look to everyone like you attacked and killed an elder of the Konoha council, with no regard for the wellbeing of Konoha.
If that is the case, then even my powers as Hokage can't protect you, and to ensure your own life, you have to leave Konoha. It would also mean that you would be declared a missing-nin from Konoha, and a criminal rank and bounty would be placed on you" Hiruzen said, making sure to drive home the severity of this option.
Anya and Hiruzen was silent for a few minutes. If anyone observed the tow at this moment, they would notice that they were both in deep though. Anya contemplating the different outcomes of the mission. Hiruzen, out of respect for the decision and impact this could have on Anya, choose to remain silent. The only sound in the room, was the occasional embers in Hiruzen's pipe making a crackling noise, whenever Hiruzen drew in smoke.
After almost 5 minutes, the silence was broken.
"I understand the risks, and the potential consequences of this mission. However I still want to do this. Danzo is in my opinion to much of a risk for Konoha, and even the Shinobi world itself. If he is left to act, like he has been so far, I fear great tragedy will befall Konoha in the near future." Anya said, trying to be as vague as possible, to not let any of her knowledge of future events be known to Hiruzen.
Anya continued: "If the worst comes to be, and I have to leave the village, I hope that you will look after Naruto. In this case, I fear he will have a hard time, and might even feel like he has been abandoned."
Hiruzen readily agreed. Even if Anya had not asked him, he would have still looked after the child. Naruto was the child of the 4th Hokage after all, and while in the past he had been to busy to really look after him, Anya's influence and frequent praise of the child, had reinvigorated his commitment.
After another few moments of silence, Hiruzen asked the question, that would turn out to have a much greater impact on the world, then what anyone could imagine at this moment.
"If you have to leave the village, what will you do?" Hiruzen asked.
After a few moments of thinking, Anya answered: "Even if I am not in Konoha, I can still protect the village and it's people from afar. So far I have only been trying to protect Konoha from within itself. If I have to leave, then there are plenty of threats outside of Konoha, that can and will become a danger to the village. Even if I am not part of Konoha, I will still do my best to protect it, even from itself if need be."
Hiruzen was not completely surprised by this conviction of Anya. Over the years both Anya and her former teammates have all proven to be powerful ninja, with the will of fire inside. The 3 man team, consisting of Anya Uzumaki, Itachi Uchiha and Uzuki Yugao had all gone on to become pillars of Konoha in their own right.
Hiruzen was not keen on it, but the dedication Anya showed, and her potentially leaving the village did open up another opportunity for him and the village.
After a few moments of contemplation Hiruzen spoke:
"It makes me very happy to hear this Anya. While the threats inside the village is no to be underestimated, the majority of my worries are still from forces outside the village. The third ninja war is still fresh in most adults memory, and there are growing uneasy between the 5 major hidden villages. Not to mention that many cults, missing-nin or non affiliated organizations have sprung up. Some with considerable power, that might threaten some of the minor hidden villages. The world outside the village is turbulent and dangerous. There is no telling what could or is a threat to the people of Konoha." Hiruzen said, and was clearly building up to something, so Anya didn't interrupt him.
"There is especially one organization that has got me worried at this moment. It has recently started moving, and we know surprisingly little about it. The estimated power this group holds, is concerning, and we desperately need more information about it. All attempts so far, to obtain info on the group, has failed. We only know about their existence from indirect reports, as none who have had direct contact have ever returned to report." Hiruzen to a deep breath, and sighed, before he continued with the conclusion to his buildup.
"If plan C happens, then I task you, Anya Uzumaki, to infiltrate this group, and obtain information and make threat assessment, for what danger it might pose to Konoha. Are you willing to help Konoha once again?" Hiruzen finished his speech, with a question to Anya.
"Yes I am. What group is this?" Anya asked, with almost no hesitation. Thinking back to a few years ago, Anya was sure that with this Hiruzens request have been met.
Hiruzen answered almost as quickly: "We have little information about them, but we do know that they call themselves.... Akatsuki".
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*3rd person POV*
*Hokage office - half a day after Anya left the village*
Hiruzen had interrogated all of the Root ninja, and was now up to speed about what had happened last night. He had even had ANBU investigate the Root Headquarters complex, to piece together what had gone on.
The infiltration plan of Root headquarters had started out as planned, and Anya had made her way through the facility, without killing anyone. However when she had gotten to the deepest part of the complex, something had gone wrong. None of the Root ninja he had talked with was inside the building, and from what his ANBU could gather, a fight broke out. All indications was that Anya had fought against, and eventually killed a bunch of Root ninja and the head of Root, Danzo.
In the ensuing fight, most of the room and evidence had been destroyed. So as their previous agreement, Anya had left the village, believing there was no evidence against Danzo. However neither Anya or Hiruzen could have predicted, that the death of Danzo would remove the seal on all Root agents.
Hiruzen was not sure what to do now. On one hand there was plenty of evidence against Danzo now, with more than 10 Root ninja in the hokage tower alone, that could attest to Danzo's crimes. Anya could return to the village, and the mission could be spun as if the order for Danzo's death had been given to her by Hirzuen, after evidence of his guilt was found.
On the other hand, plan C Hiruzen and Anya had made, was already on its way. Hiruzen was convinced that he needed an inside man in Akatsuki, and Anya was his best bet at this moment.
While Hiruzen was thinking, he opened a draw in his desk, and took out a small wooden box, a piece of paper and an ink brush. He sat there starring at the objects for almost half an hour. He was still not decided on what to do. However he had to make a decision.
With a hand movement and use of chakra, Hiruzen summoned one of his ANBU to his office. As the masked ninja entered his office, Hiruzen said:
"Call for a special Jonin meeting. All Konoha Jonin and Jonin level Anbu, not currently away on missions are to report to conference room B in 30 minuts" Hiruzen then dismissed the Anbu ninja, confident that he would carry out this mission.
Hiruzen then had a look of determination in his eyes, and quickly wrote something on the piece of paper. He then opened the wooden box. The inside of the wooden box was completely dark, and only a single piece of chakra paper. On the piece of paper was a beautiful drawn pattern of writing. To the untrained eye, it would look like a bunch of nonsense, even Hiruzen only understood small parts of what was written there. The piece of paper was about the size of an explosive tag, but the function was completely different.
Hirzuen took out the piece of paper, and held it in his hand.
"Fuinjutsu: Image recording"
While Hiruzen did not need to say, what jutsu the paper was using, it just seemed right to him. Once he was sure the fuinjutsu was active, and sending image to the recipient, he held the seal over the piece of paper.
As Anya had informed him, the seal would be able to see anything in front of it, when active, but no sound could be transferred. Thus he had written his message down on a piece of paper. After holding the seal in front of the paper about 30 seconds, Hiruzen used a small scale fire jutsu to burn the Image recording seal.
When the seal was burned, Hiruzen got up from his seat. It had been a long and difficult day for him. He wanted to take a walk before the jonin meeting. As the left his office, the action of opening the door, and closing it, caused a small wind turbulence in the office.
A single piece of paper, that was on the Hokage's desk, blew of the desk. The paper fluttered in the wind a bit, before slowly falling to the floor. Landing on the floor, if someone had observed the paper, they could see that written on it was the words:
"Plan C is go"
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*30 minutes later - Conference room B*
Hiruzen walked into the conference room. About 100 other people was located in the room already. As time got closer to the predetermined starting point, even more arrived. While about half the jonin in Konoha currently, was on mission, the conference room was starting to get pretty cramped.
Hiruzen took his place at the front of the conference table, and waited a few minutes after the assigned time, to make sure everyone that could attend was here.
While several clans had more than one jonin, it was tradition that each clan had one spokesperson, for meetings of this type. Usually that was also the head of the clan. As an example both Shisui and Itachi was in attendance for the meeting, but the Uchiha spokesperson was Fugaku Uchiha, thus he was placed at the conference table, while all other Uchiha jonin was standing somewhat behind him.
It was the same for all the other clans. However some only had one jonin, like the Hatake clan, who only had Kakashi Hatake in attendance, as he was the only jonin in that clan.
After Hiruzen looked over the room, and was sure there was no one else coming, he started to speak:
"Thank you all for coming on such short notice. A great tragedy has befallen Konoha last night, and were here today to discuss the action to come." Hiruzen started the meeting, making sure he everyone attention.
"Last night Danzo, elder of Konoha, was killed." Hiruzen said. A murmur started out, as several ninja started talking.
Hiruzen held up his had, to calm everyone down, and indicating he had more to say. When there was relatively quite again, Hiruzen continued:
"As a results, of the way Root was setup, after Danzo's death, many previous Root ninja fled the village in the night. Due to this and many other reasons, I have decided to disband Root, effective immediately."
Again a small murmur started out, but before it could pick up steam, and commanding voice was heard asking:
"Was it an attack from another village?" Fugaku said. When Fugaku talked everyone else stopped their speaking.
Hiruzen sighed, and answered: "No, this was done from a ninja from Konoha. Anya Uzumaki, infiltrated Root headquarters, and killed Danzo along side several Root agents. After she fled the village, and is now in an unknown location."
What followed was a long discussion, back and forth about what to do. Some clans and jonin wanted a taskforce to set out, and capture Anya right away, while others wanted to sweep it under the rug, and just forget what happened.
Eventually a compromise was reached. Due to the ability Anya had displayed, in infiltrating Root and getting away, the village would officially brand her an S-rank missing-nin, and place a bounty of 10.000.000 ryo. Of course Hiruzen was the person with the last say in the matter, and the one who strongest argued for classification as missing-nin.
After this part of the discussion was over, Hiruzen asked for all clan leaders to remain, but dismissed everyone else.
"What else do you want to discuss Hiruzen?" Fugaku asked, as only the clan leaders, and ANBU captains were left in the room.
"I have three things, that I wish to discuss. First is about filling the elder seat. I would like to hear, who we should put on the seat. Keep in mind it would not be as head of Root, but to represent ninja, on the Konoha council." Hiruzen said.
After some discussions, and several nominations, it was finally decided that Shikaku Nara would fill in the missing elder seat. Although a bunch of protests were heard, both from Uchiha and Huyga clans, but non stronger that Shikaku Nara himself, who in his own words descried it as: "Troublesome".
"Second, I want to discuss Naruto. He had an almost brotherly relation with Anya. The village already has a bad impression of his, due to the Nine-tails incidents years ago. The situation with Anya would probably make that bad impression even stronger, thus I have decided to take him in to live with the Sarutobi clan. I would appreciate everyone support in this, and the continued secret of Naruto's parents and situation" Hiruzen said.
Everyone nodded to this, showing their agreement.
"This also lead to the next part. It has been many years since the death of the 4th Hokage, and I an not getting any younger. I thus want to start grooming the next Hokage. I personally nominate Shisui Uchiha. He will not take over right away, as he is still a bit young, but with a bit of grooming, in a few years he should be ready." Hiruzen said, and indicated to the room to come with suggestions, comments or questions.
A heated debated started, with many either for or against the suggestion. Most vocal for it was the Uchiha clan, as Fugaku had a big smile on his face during the entire discussion. Most vocal against it was the Hyuga clan, as they though one from their clan would be better suited. At the end however, the Hokage cut the discussion short, when the argument had run in circles 5 times. The conclusion was that Shisui would start to be groomed to become the 5th Hokage, but the final decision would happen in a few years time, when Shisui would be a big older.
With this Hirzuen stopped the meeting, and one of the most busy days in his Hokage life was almost over.
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*3rd POV*
*Conference room B - a few moments after all jonin were dismissed from the meeting*
Itachi could not believe it. One of his best friends and ninja rival, was just declared an enemy of the village. There must be some kind of mistake. Itachi had never met anyone else that cared so much for the village, like Anya did. To think she would attack the village, was just completely insane. There had to be something more to it.
Thus Itachi decided to figure out what was really going on. As part of Anbu, he did have access to read some investigations, and talking to the right Anbu member, he got hold of the investigation report of Root headquarters. All indications seemed like Anya had attacked Root, and ended up killing Danzo, just like the Hokage had said.
However Itachi still didn't believe it, and he decided that the only way he could get answers, was to talk with Anya herself. However the Hokage had mentioned she had left the village. Thus Itachi had to find her on his own.
He used most of the day, and the time was around 15.00, when he finally completed he investigation in the village. Her house was empty, no one had seen her since sometime yesterday. The barrier jutsu around Konoha, didn't even had any registration of her leaving. The village gatekeepers had not seen anyone of her description leaving. Thus Itachi had hit a dead end.
Arguing with himself on what to do, Itachi decided that he could not just sit still, and decided to search outside the village. While he had no idea where Anya was, and by now she could be almost anywhere, there were a few places he though he was more likely to find her. Thus Itachi went out of Konoha to start looking for Anya.
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*POV Anya*
*A few hours after leaving the village*
It has been a few hours since I left Konoha. By now the village must have learned about Danzo.
My chakra, that was almost completely gone, from the fight this night, have started coming back to me. However while I am so low on chakra, my speed is severely limited. And as I am also placing "Image recording" seals on the ground or on trees as I pass by, I have not moved to far away from the village.
I am kind of hoping that Hiruzen will contact me, and tell me I can come back to the village, so I don't move to far away from the village. On the other hand, if I can't come back I also need a head start to get away from the ANBU of Konoha.
Thus as looking for a place to rest and heal up, and await word from Hiruzen, I stumbled on a river. I decided to follow the river a bit, and ended up at the shore of a small lake. The lake had a small clearing around it, with no trees on one side, while the other side of the lake was a big waterfall. This side also had two giant statues on either side of the waterfall. The statues were modeled after the two ninja that have been credited as founding the first ninja village. Uchiha Mardara and Hashirama Senju. Both considered as maybe the most powerful ninja to ever exist, and while history was eventually proven wrong, the story goes that Hashirama killed Mardara right where these statues are placed. I had stumbled upon "The valley at the end".
Taking a few moments to gather myself, I decided to rest here. Mostly because there was water nearby, but also because in direct travel, an average ninja would probably have to travel for a few hours to get here. So I decided I was far enough from the village to take a rest.
However I am still near the village, so before resting I placed several "Image Recording" seals around the area, then sat down recovering my chakra. Once in a while I would use my medical ninjutsu to heal my injury, take a drink of water, and recover more of my chakra.
A few hours passed, and most of my injury's are taken care of, only bruises are left. Not worth using chakra to fix this, as they will be gone by tomorrow. Most of my chakra is also recovered, when I suddenly feel one of my Image recording seals activate. What is unusual about this is that it was not activated by me, but rather by a third party. It takes a few second for the seal to become steady enough for me to see what it records. When it does there is only one short message, written on a piece of paper:
"Plan C is go"
I knew right away that the message was from Hiruzen. A few moments later the connection was broken, most likely because Hiruzen destroyed the seal.
I took a few moments to collect myself, and contemplated what this meant.
As I agreed with Hiruzen, and what he just now greenlit for me, was my infiltration of Akatsuki. With this short message from Hiruzen, I knew that the village would brand me a traitor, or missing-nin. They would most likely brand me an S-rank criminal, as every other member of Akatsuki was S-rank themselves, so my chance of infiltration would go up with this.
However I would need some kind of plan to be approached by Akatsuki first. That would reduce their suspicion about me, if they approaches me first, not the other way around. To be approached by Akatsuki, they first have to notice me, so that were I should start.
I spend the next few hours, thinking over good ways to have Akatsuki notice me, and come up with several plans, none of the particular good. However just sitting here, my chakra is basically at 100% again. The only thing is that I haven't had any sleep in almost 36 hours at this point. While that is not usually a bit issue for ninja, we train to be awake for longer periods of time, it does however take its toll. I can feel that my mental faculties are not up to speed, and thus no good plans will come to me today.
As I decide to call it a day, and move on, preferably to find some place to sleep, further away from the village, I suddenly see something on one of my active "Image recording" seals. A figure was running a high speed in the range of vision, but only for a short moment, not giving me time to identify however it was.
I concentrate, and activate a few more seals, in the general direction the figure was moving. A few moments of nothing, when suddenly the figure shows up again. This time I get a few seconds of sight, and I can see a few details. The figure is short, and wearing Konoha Anbu standard gear, with a sword on his back strapped over his right shoulder. He is wearing a Konoha Anbu mask, that hides his face, however it is a mask I recognize. While most people would think the mask represents a cat or fox, I know that it is suppose to be a kitsune, but only because it was explained to me by the wearer some time ago.
The figure is moving at fast speed in a search grid style movement, following faint tracks I think. With the direction his is moving, and remembering the movement I took earlier today, he is clearly following my track.
I estimate that he will be arriving at the lake, and my current position in about 10 minutes, at his current speed. I have two options. Wait for the figure here, to see what he wants, which would most likely lead to a fight. He would most likely try to catch me, and take me back to the village. He might also be backup, although I can see anyone yet.
Second option is to run. While I am confident I could run away, and escape from the figure, knowing who it is, makes me want to stay and face him.
When the figure is about a minute away, I activate a bunch of Image recording seals, to give me a full view of the lake area. In case the figure has backup, that I have not seen until now.
A moment before the figure bursts out from the forest into the lake clearing, I get up and face place I know he landing on.
The figure lands, facing me. We stand there facing each other for a few moments, in complete silence.
As I don't have all day, to just look at each other, I decide to break the silence, with a single word:
"Itachi" I say, indicating to the figure that I know who he is.
With no surprise, Itachi takes of his mask to reveal who he is underneath.
As Itachi takes of his mask, several things happen at once. I suddenly see movement from on of my Image recordings seals, another figure is here. At first I think that Itachi used himself as distraction, while he had someone else sneak up from behind, and while I am just about to say something, Itachi speaks instead.
"Anya. I finally found you. Do you know what is going on back at the village? They are saying you killed an elder of Konoha. But I know that can't be true, there must be some kind of mistake" Itachi says, trying to keep as much emotion out of his face and speech as possible. Even in this kind of situation, he is a professional ninja.
While Itachi is speaking, I listen to him, but at the same time observe the second figure. It doesn't take long for me to figure out what is going on. It seems that myself and Itachi has an audience of at least two. The figure has emerged from the ground, incased in what almost looks like a plant like structure. His body, half burrowed in the ground still, is split in two colors, one half white, other half black. From the images, he seem to be talking to himself, while observing the two of us.
Zetsu is here. This complicates things, but also gives an opportunity. This can be my way to make sure Akatsuki takes note of me. At this point, I decide to play the role of villain.
"There is no, what they say I did, I did." I say. By the slight tremble in his posture, I can see that Itachi was not expecting this response.
Raising his voice, Itachi asked: "Why? Why did you do this, why betray the village?"
I try to make my voice as cold as possible before answering him: "Because Danzo was a threat to me. Everyone else in that pathetic village could not see through me, only Danzo could."
Itachi was looking confused, and I was silent, to give me a bit more time to thing something up.
"What are you talking about Anya?" Itachi asked, clearly starting to believe the version the village had announced about the events last night.
"I have used the village, to grow strong. Used the recourses and opportunity, to become more powerful, until I could leave the village behind. You, Shira, Yugao even Hiruzen. I used you all, manipulated you for my own benefit. Played your friend, rival, whatever you needed, so I could become stronger" I said, again trying to be as clam and cold as I could, although it was hard.
Itachi was clearly shocked. Never would he think I would talk about him, and my other friends like this.
"What has gotten into you Anya, this is not you" Itachi said, raising his voice even more now.
"You don't know me Itachi. You only know the version of me that I allowed you to know. You have never know the real me. My real ambitions or goals." I said, also raising my voice.
"Then tell me, what are you real goal and ambitions?" Itachi asked
"Revenge for my family. For my revenge I needed power, Danzo was in the way of that power, he forced me to make a move." I said.
"Revenge is never the solution, talk to me Anya, let me help you" Itachi said.
"What would you know. You who has never had tragedy in your life. You have both your parents, even a little brother, that admires you. What do you know about me, someone that has never lost someone, someone who has never experienced tragedy in his life." At this point I was actually shouting at Itachi, I think a bit of that resentment was actually real. It help me sell my performance.
Itachi was silent for some time, after this. He could clearly see that I was reacting heavily to that exchange. I could see that Zetsu was still paying close attention, and having no idea I was observing him the whole time. Eventually Itachi had a look of determination in his eye, and spoke once again:
"You are right, I don't know what you have been through. But I also don't think you are telling me the truth, or at least not the entire truth. If you are not willing to come back to the village with me, I will make you come back with me, so we can sort out this mess" Itachi said, and got into a fighting stance.
"Then I will beat you, and show you that I have no need for the village or you anymore. That I have outgrown this stage, and will not return to Konoha before I am ready for my revenge" I said, also getting into a fighting stance.
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*3rd POV*
Zetsu was observing the two Konoha ninja, as they were finally done speaking, and had both entered into a fighting stance.
They were both standing at the ready, but neither had made any move yet, for now just observing each other.
"Who do you think will win this fight?" White Zetsu asked, in his almost childlike voice.
"Hard to say. Were not aware of either full arsenal of ability. We do know that they are both powerful, and have unique and strong abilities" Black Zetsu answered with a raspy, almost dark voice.
"Ohhh" White Zetsu made an noise.
"A few days ago, I would have put my money on the Uchiha, as he has the sharingan, but the Uzumaki killed a powerful shinobi last night, proving she is much more capable than what we though previously" Black Zetsu continued to speak, mostly to himself, as he knew white Zetsu would most likely not understand much of what he said anyway.
Just as white Zetsu was about to make another noise/comment, the two ninja finally started to move.
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*3rd POV*
Itachi took of, charging straight at Anya. The first stage of the fight was taijutsu. Neither Anya or Itachi specialized in taijutsu, but they were decent at it. Both of them had special circumstances with their taijutsu. Itachi used the Uchiha taijutsu, that relied on their sharingan, to follow their opponents moves, and attack their weak spot. Anya on the other hand could summon chains from any part of the body, and in close combat the chains was used to grab, defend or attack from unsual angels.
Both Itachi and Anya had however only used standard taijutsu so far. Almost like being the first to ramp up the fight, would be admitting some kind of defeat.
Itachi punched out, trying to catch Anya of guard. Anya on the other hand used her knee to deflect the punch up wards, and extended the leg to kick Itachi in the face.
Itachi spun around 360 degrees, and Anya's leg missed his face, while it was turned, only to stare into Itachis face one again as he completed his turn. With he leg outstretched Anya was vulnerable to a punch from Itachi.
Itachi launched another blow aimed at Anya's kidney. With her one leg streched out, Anya stomped down with the leg, resulting in it hitting Itachis shoulder, and lifting Anya of the ground to avoid Itachis punch. The stomp however did no real damage to Itachi, and only resulted in a missed punch, and Anya making a backflip away from Itachi.
However Itachi used Anya's movement in the air, to predict where she would land, and launched a kick timed perfectly, to hit Anya in the stomach.
As Anya landed a chakra infused kick flew at her, and a lound bang was heard, as the kick connected. In the last moment however, Anya had brought her hand up, and blocked the kick, resulting in Itachi on one leg on the ground, with another held by Anya's fist. To make room between them again, Anya showed Itachis leg up, resulting in Itachi making a few backflips, and landing on his feet about 5 meter away from Anya.
While all of this took time to describe, it happened within a few seconds. The level of taijutsu on display had clearly surpassed normal jonin level.
A smile was visible on both Anya and Itachis face.
"That was a good warmup, let begin the real deal shall we?" Itachi asked, and his eyes turned scarlet red. Itachi had activated his sharingan.
"Sure, just try to keep up" Anya said, while making a few hand seals:
"Earth Style: Iron Skin". Anya skin turned gray. While her speed was slightly reduced with this jutsu, it make her resistant to almost all slashing and piercing weapons. Itachi was a prodigy with shurikens, but with this jutsu that was no longer and option.
Itachi then made a few hand seals. He and Anya had trained together a lot, so he know that jutsu, and it's weakness:
"Lightning style: Lightning bird"
As Itachi finished his hand seals, about 10 lightning strikes, formed as birds flew out from him. They all flew in different directions, but all were heading towards Anya.
Anya was not looking happy about this, but after a moment she started to weave another set of hand seals:
"Earth style: Shadow clone"
10 additional Anya's appeared, and all started to move on interception with the lightning birds. Anya use the earth shadow clones, to conserve as much chakra as possible.
The clones intercepted the lightning birds, and 10 large explosion happened, that created shockwaves in the water of the lake, and the trees in the forest.
After the dust cleared, Anya and Itachi was standing 10 meters apart starring at each other, with 10 new holes around the area.
After a moment, Anya charged forward. With her Iron skin jutsu, she had the advangate in close combat.
Itachi knew he would eventually have to engage in close combat, and decided to do so now, instead of running away. He drew his sword, and infused fire chakra into it. The sword started to burn, increasing the cutting ability of the sword. With the elemental chakra on it, it would be useful against the iron skin jutsu.
Anya arrived in front of Itachi, but to Itachis surprise, instead of engaging in taijutsu she fell down on the floor, placing her hands on the ground:
"Earth style: Earth spike"
A bunch of earth spikes started to form on the ground under Itachis feet. Because Itachi had his sharingan activated, he saw what would happen just a moment before he otherwise would have, and started to dodge in time, to not be pierces by the earth spikes. However his retreat became somewhat panicked, and his footing was unstable for a moment.
At this moment a chain broke through the ground, and grappled around his foot, holding him in place. With his momentum suddenly interrupted, Itachi started to fall, only catching himself from falling in the last second.
In the short moment of distraction, Anya one more moved close to Itachi, trying to grab him, with another chain, punching through the earth spikes from before.
In a bit of a pickle now, Itachi took his sword, and slashed at the chain holding his foot. He had no idea if it would work, but the sword met a bit of resistance, before cutting the chain, releasing his foot. Itachi jumped out of the way, as soon as his foot was free, and a split second later, the second chain arrived where he just was a moment ago.
Itachi stabilized himself, but observed an opening with Anya:
"Fire Style: Great Fireball"
A giant fireball formed, and moved towards Anya's position.
Anya had focused on her attempt to catch Itachi, and was surprised that he got free, and even counterattacked. She had no defense up for the fireball, and while the iron skin would take care of most of the impact damage, the fire would still burn.
Making a slip second decision, Anya made a few handseals:
"Earth style: Hiding like a mole"
Anya dived into the ground, and avoided the giant fireball, and the ensuring explosion, which was more than the ground and closests trees above her.
Itachi observed Anya diving into the ground, with his sharingan, so he knew what to look out for. The battlefield was quiet for a few minutes, while Itachi was just observing the ground.
Suddenly a crack appeared on the earth behind him, and Itachi jumped away from the newly formed hole, while sucking in air and aiming the the hole:
"Fire Style: Great Fire Destruction"
A steam of fire released from Itachis mouth, and completely destroyed the hole in the earth, and anything that was there before.
With his sharingan, Itachi noticed and earth style clone dispel due to the fire, and immediately knew Anya was coming with another attack.
The earth behind his new position cracked, and a figure jumped out of the hole, launching a fist at Itachi.
"You should watch your back better" Anya said while her fist connected with Itachis face.
However to Anya's surprise Itachi literally went up in smoke.
"Shadow clone" Anya said, and started to look around to find Itachi.
Suddenly a figure appeared behind Anya, and a flaming sword held against her throat.
"I learned that trick from you" Itachi said, smiling from ear to ear.
Anya using an image recording seal on her back, could see Itachis face, while facing the other way, and said:
"You seem to be enjoying yourself. Is it because we can finally find out, in an all out battle, who is the strongest of the two of us?" Anya asked, referring to their years long rivalry.
"I have to say, it has been a question I wanted the answer to, but I thought it would have been more of a challenge" Itachi said, clearly indicating he had already won the fight.
"Haha, there is that delightful Uchiha arrogance. Always so sure of yourself, and confident. That arrogance will be the Uchiha clans downfall, if you are not careful" Anya smirked.
"What do you mean?" Itachi asked.
"Well you say you learned that last move from me, but don't you think I would have made that move even better?" Anya asked him, and suddenly disappeared in a cloud of white smoke.
"Shadow clone!" Itachi was surprised. Not only had Anya used the earth clone, but also a shadow clone to trick him.
Before Itachi could do anything further, a bunch of chains broke through the ground sourounding Itachi, the chains were creating a enclosure, that Itachi could not escape from. As Itachi tried to move away from the center of the enclosure, the chains tightened more and more.
"It worked before" Itachi said to himself, and selected the closest chain, and slashed with his fire sword. As the sword came into contact with the chains, it meet resistance, but unlike before the chain was not cut. Instead the chain resisted the slash, and grappled hold of the sword. Yanking the sword from Itachis hand.
"Adamantine sealing chains - earth style"
Anya was raising out from the ground, in the hole made from the shadow clone before. With her raise, several chains were attached to her. In total it seemed like 12 chains to Itachi. 10 were surrounding him, and 2 were used by Anya to rise out from the ground.
"I used my earth style chakra, to strengthen my chains. The chain you cut before, was jut a normal chain." Anya explained to Itachi, when she saw his confusion.
Itachi was silent, trying to figure out a way to escape the chains, however before he could come up with something Anya continued.
"It's time to end this" Anya said and made a motion with her one hand, and all the chains started to close in on Itachi, not to crush him, but to capture him.
Itachi used his sharingan to the maximum, to avoid the chains, for as long as possible, but he had limited space to move around, and eventually one of the chains caught his arm. After that, with his movement even further restricted, the remaining chains bound him, making him look like a mummy, but with metal chains instead of bandages.
"Adamantine sealing chains - chakra absorption"
Anya said, and started to drain all of Itachis chakra.
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*POV Itachi*
*Inside the mass of chakra chains*
I can't believe how powerful Anya has become. I can't find a way out of this. All it took was one slipup, and she had me beat.
I can feel her starting to drain away my chakra. Once she is done with that, she will leave the village, and probably never return again.
For years, we learned together, played together, fought together. Why was I never able to reach her, never able to tell the darkness inside her.
Was she truly ever my friend? Or was I just a tool for her to use?
Was what she said today her real feeling, or something to do with what happened last night?
I refuse to believe that. All we have been through, I can't imagine her betraying Konoha. Something else must be going on. I will believe this fact, not because it is right or wrong, but that is what I want to believe.
I can feel that more than half my remaining chakra has been drained now. When it is all gone, she will win. And she will leave, maybe forever.
Only a few moments, before I loose.
I will loose a friend... a rival... a partner...
Suddenly my eyes are hurting. But I feel a new kind of power.
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*3rd POV*
*The forest area close to the valley of the end*
"I think we know who is going to win now" Black Zetsu said.
"Huh?" White Zetsu said.
"The chains of that Uzumaki girls is terrifying. Though, strong, mobile and worst of all chakra absorbing. Once caught in that, there is almost no hope left. Lets leave, this fight is no longer intersting" Black Zetsu said again, more to himself than his other part.
Zetsu started to sink into the ground again.
However when only the head was remaining above ground, something happened. A huge burst of power, came from Itachi. The power burst launched all the chain off of Itachi, and he landed on the ground, breathing heavily, with blood falling like tears down from his eyes.
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*Anya POV*
*A few moments before*
I think I won this. Itachi has more than half his chakra drained, and I can move on, leaving him here for a Konoha patrol to find.
However before it is over, I will not let my guard down. I can still see Zetsu is here, however he seem to be leaving now.
Suddenly, there is a huge power spike, coming from Itachi in the chain mass. All of the chains a blown away from Itachi, but not broken. As a result I am pulled closer to Itachi, and can get a better look at him now.
His eyes are close, but there seem to be tears running down his face. However usually tears are clear, these are not. Ahh it's blood.
Ohhh... poop...
Even before Itachi opens his eyes, I know what is going on.
A few moments later when Itachi opens his eyes, I confirm what I already knew. His eyes are no longer the normal sharingan. His sharingan now is a lot more dark compared to red. The pattern in his eyes have changed. It looks like a 3 sided shuriken, surrounded by a red moon.
With it is the first time, in this life I see these eyes, there is no doubt. Itachi just awakened his mangekyou sharingan.
This fight is just about to get a lot harder. My only advantage is that Itachi just awakened the eye, so he probably does not know how to use it.
Oh, scrats that. As I look a Itachi I can see the outline of a skeleton starting to form. Or at least the upperpart of a skeleton. Complete with two arms, hands, ribs and a skull.
As I watch him, forming his Susano, the skeleton starts to form muscle fibers, then skin. At this point I know this is a fight I have to go all out in.
I retract all my chains, and chancel the jutsu.
At this point, Itachis Susano has skin, and the form is starting to be clad in armor.
I activate my most powerful jutsu:
"Adamantine sealing chains - 24 chains"
Just as a sword and shield is formed on Itachis Susano, and he is ready to engage, 24 chains each about 100 meter long for from my body. I condense the chains down, to about 15 meter in length, as they are easier for me to controls that way, and I wait for Itachi to make his move.
What feels like an eternity, were standing staring at each other. Then without any signal, we both move at the same time.
Itachi charges at me, shield in front. I decide to test out the durability of his shield, and send 10 chains towards it. I keep the rest back for defense and movement.
My chains collide with Itachis shield, but the chains don't even slow him down, they just deflect of the shield.
Itachi is now within sword striking distance. The Susano sword is decending down, from a onehanded Susano chop. I place 4 chains, with barriers between myself and the sword, so that each barrier enforces each other.
The sword and barrier collide. After a few moments, where it looks like the barrier will stop the sword, the barrier unfortunately crumbles. Both of them, and the sword continues towards me.
I use another chain, to yank myself away from the swords path. The sword hits the ground, where I was a moment ago, and leaves a 5 meter deep crater. Damn that sword is much stronger than I thought. If I get hit, I am done for.
I have no time to think of a plan, as Itachi closes in once more.
This time I have no intention of blocking the sword, or attacking his shield. So I try to test out the maneuverability of the Susano.
Using my chains, I dodge and move out of the way, of the Susano. This goes on for a few minutes, and I learn a few things. The Susano form is strong, and this is only a partial form. The power of a full Susano is to strong to think about right now. The Susano is fast a charging, and movement in a straight line. The defense and offence are both terrifyingly strong.
However there are also a few weaknesses I can use. While the Susano is fast in a straight line, it is slow to turn. I use this to my advantage and can easily get behind it. Itachi inside the Susano can still follow me, so there is no surprise attack, but he also can attack behind him, as his Susano arms don't bend that way. So I try to stay behind, to not get attacked by him to much.
The other weakness, which is what will lead me to victory, I think. The Susano is a chakra construct, just like my chains. Thus it is composed of chakra, and there is only one of us who can absorb chakra.
I already tested it, and I can absorb a chunk of the Susano each time my chains make contact with it. Of course the Susano just reforms, but at the expense of Itachis chakra each time. So to win, I simply have to avoid the Susano's attacks, and hasten Itachis chakra use.
The battle has entered a stalemate. Itachi can't hit me with his sword, and I keep stealing a little chakra each exchange we have, however like this it will be some time before a winner is decided. Itachi know that he will loose like this, so I expect him to try something soon.
As I think this, I can see the Susano and Itachi is stopping, and the sword disappears. Instead a ball of chakra is formed in the Susano's right arm.
I am confused by this, and still keep my distance from Itachi.
After a few moments, I am surprised, when Itachi throws the chakra balls towards me.
Ranged attack eh? Well since it is just chakra, I can just block it and absorb it with my chains.
20 chains are setup to block the chakra ball, as it is flying towards me. Just as it is about to reach the chains, I can Itachi say:
"Amaterasu"
Suddenly black flames appear on my chains, and in a matter of moments they are burned through, enough so that the chakra ball passes through, and is now heading directly for me.
As a last ditch to save myself, I do the only think I can think of:
"Earth style: Mud wall"
I make the wall as thick as I can, and brace for impact.
A moment later, my whole world explodes. My mud wall evaporates, and the shock wave of the chakra ball, throws me hundreds of meters behind me. I just manage to cocoon myself inside my chains, before crashing into a rock wall, and fall into the lake at the bottom of the valley of the end.
My world is turned upside down, and it takes me a few moments to orient myself. When I do, I summon all my willpower, to not just go to sleep here and now, and make my way to the surface of the lake.
I return to the surface, just in time to see Itachis Susano finally run out of chakra. Itachis eyes return to normal. No longer any chakra to maintain even the regular sharingan.
I make my way towards him. None of us has that much chakra left, and were both on out last leg. I have only 2 chains left, and Itachi has take a kunai out.
We both know instinct that the next exchange will be the last of this fight.
We charge at each other. We no longer have any though of defense, and Itachi drives low to avoid my attack. However I knew he would do this, and his face meets my knee, knocking him back. In a last ditch effort to recover something from that exchange, Itachi throws the kunai at my face. With no time or energy to completely dodge, I move my head, so that my forehead protector intercepts the kunai, leaving a big indentation in the metal, crossing over the Konoha logo.
Itachi falls down. He is unconsious.
I breath a sigh of relief. This was by far the hardest day of this life so far, and it is not over yet.
I move over to Itachi, and look him over.
"Its probably for the best, that you are not conscious for this" I say to him, and move my to chains over him.
I fortify my resolve, and infuse chakra into my 2 remaining chakra chains.
With the piercing power of my chains, and the force I can muster after such a draining fight, I plunge the two chakra chains into Itachi's chest.
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*POV 3rd*
*Konoha hokage office - at the same time as Anya and Itachis fight is concluded*
Hiruzen was ready to call it a day, when one his Anbu report a missing Anbu agent to him.
"Who is missing?" Hiruzen asked.
"Kitsune" The Anbu answered.
"Kitsune... Is that not Uchiha Itachi?" Hiruzen asked
"The very same sir" The Anbu answered
Hiruzen took a few moments, before adding two and two together, and figured out what Itachi was up to.
"Gather a team as soon as possible, and bring Itachi back to the village. He is going after Anya Uzumaki." Hiruzen said, with great urgency in his voice.
The Anbu left, and Hiruzen was left behind.
"Lets just hope Anya was not forced to harm Itachi in any way" Hiruzen said to himself. He knew both of them, and had no doubt who would win in a fight between Itachi and Anya.
A few moments later, a team of 10 Anbu was leaving the Konoha gates, heading out to find Itachi.
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*Anya POV*
*30 minutes after the conclusion of the fight"
This was so much harder than what I thought it would be.
As a final farewell gift to Itachi, I had decided to get rid of his lung cancer. Thus I was using my chains as a makeshif scalpel, while running medical ninjutsu chakra through them, to cut out the cancer and heal Itachis lungs.
It was a long process, as I could not damage his heart or other organs. And if I left to big a hole in his lungs at a time, I could not heal them properly.
However after about half an hour, I was finally done.
Time would have to tell, if he was completely healed, but there was nothing more I could do for him now.
The sun was just passing down over the horizon, as I stood up and stretched my legs. Night time was here.
"Second day in a row, where I end the day with barely any chakra left. Lets not make a habit of that" I said to myself.
"So, where to now?" I asked myself, and the sorrundings had no good answer for me.
"Lets just pick a direction, and find some place to rest first. Then we can figure out the rest after" I once again said to myself. Before picking up a flare from Itachi's Anbu kit. Lighting the flare over Itachi, I picked a direction and started to run.
15 minutes later, a few Anbu arrived, and took Itachi back towards Konoha.
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Once everyone had left, there was only Zetsu left. After almost missing an important event before, he had decided to stay until everyone had left the area.
"Interesting fight" White Zetsu said.
"Yes very. And best of all, we have a new candidate to join us. Let go recommend that to Pain" Black Zetsu said.
"Okay" White Zetsu said with clear entusiasme.
Zetsu then merged down into the earth, and started to make his way towards Akatsuki base.
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Chapter 21: Battle at the valley of the end
