Chapter 10:- Cancer of the leaf

[Atop the hokage mountain]

As they sat on the hokage mountain, holding hands, Akane leaned onto his arm, finally able to feel the loneliness that had been consuming her for the past 8 years. She lifted her head, smiling as she kissed Kenshin again.

"Mmm, you need to be more careful though. You're a terrible kisser." Kenshin teased, although his tone made it evident that it was sarcasm.

"Says the brat whose first kiss was his own sister." Akane replied, resting her head on his shoulder as they stared at the stars. The night was clear, and the light of the full moon was dazzling bright. Suddenly, they both activated their sharingan.

"You sense it, right?" Kenshin asked, his expression calm.

"I do. I might be genin but that's because of my teammates. I'm just as good as Lee-kun in terms of taijutsu." Akane said as they stood up and turned around.

"So? It's not like I'm a genin because of a skill issue as well." Kenshin said, before turning his attention to the root shinobi still lurking in the shadows. "Come on out, we already know that you're here." Kenshin called out, holding 4 kunai in his right hand which was hidden because Akane happened to stand in front of it. Slowly, over 20 root shinobi came out, each preparing to fight.

'Judging by their chakra levels, they're all high chunin or jonin level. Even with shadow clones, it'll be a hard fight. Not to mention my left mangekyo ability is still uncertain.' Kenshin thought as both sides stared at each other, waiting for the opponent to strike.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" He created 20 shadow clones of themselves for each of the root. "Aka––" just as he was about to call out to Akane, a smoke bomb exploded at their feet and amidst the smoke, Akane felt snake-like things wrap her body, restraining her. Usually something like this wouldn't be a problem but the snakes were too many. When the smoke cleared, Kenshin saw Akane being captured by them.

"Wait hold on! Let's talk this out. Let her go." Kenshin said, holding his hands up. 'Everything is going according to plan.' He thought as he smiled internally.

"Kenshin you little wuss!!! They caught me and you're just giving up?! What the hell?!" Akane screamed as she tried to break free but it was futile. Her chakra flow was disrupted while she got captured and thus she couldn't break free.

"Nee-san, you're my priority here. I can't have you get hurt. Let me guess, your Lord Danzo wants to see me?" Kenshin said calmly.

"Yes. If you come with us, we'll let the girl go." A root shinobi told him. Kenshin nodded in agreement and let them restrain him before taking him to Danzo. Meanwhile, two root shinobi took Akane away after the others had taken Kenshin away.

"Wait what's going on? You guys said you were gonna let me go." Akane said seeing that she was being taken to the jungle behind the hokage mountain.

"You'll see." One of the root shinobi said coldly.

[Meanwhile at Danzo's hideout]

The root shinobi took Kenshin to Danzo who seemed dissatisfied. "You took too long." He said coldly.

"Lord Danzo,"Kenshin spoke. "I believed there's been a misunderstanding. I do not wish to harm the leaf. I simply came here to have my mother treated."

"I am aware. But you see..... you possess something incredible. Something potentially dangerous. And as the protector of the leaf, I cannot let you run free."

"Can we not negotiate our situation?" Kenshin asked calmly.

"Negotiation would require for you to have some sort of leverage over me. Enlighten me boy, what could you possibly know about me?" Danzo scoffed as he say down, amused by his proposal.

"Well for starters, how about the fact that you cooperated with Hanzo of the hidden rain to take down a peacekeeping organization? I believed I don't need to remind you of the name of said organization?" Kenshin spoke, smiling confidently.

Danzo's eyes twitched slightly but he maintained composure. "Is that all, young man?"

"How about the fact that you took Shisui Uchiha's right eye, in order to obtain his famous mangekyo sharingan? The very eye you keep bandaged? Or that right arm containing 10 sharingan? Or the fact that the arm itself is made from the first hokage's cells, and supplied by Orochimaru?"

Danzo is taken aback by his claims and he wonders how Kenshin managed to obtain this information. "And how may I ask, did you obtain this information? Based on your confidence, you believe it to be true."

"I have my ways. And I'm not obligated to share." Kenshin replied calmly. 'Still going according to plan.'

"You seem to be a decent information gatherer. It'd be a shame to kill you. However," Danzo took off the bandage on his right eye, revealing Shisui Uchiha's right eye. But just as he activated the eye's mangekyo sharingan to cast kotoamatsukami on Kenshin, Kenshin slammed his head into the floor and disappeared into a puff of smoke.

Danzo's eyes widened in shock as he realized what just happened. 'Shadow clone!'

[Meanwhile, at the hokage's office]

"Hokage-sama! I've confirmed it. Lord Danzo does in fact possess a mangekyo sharingan in his right eye. And therefore Kenshin's other allegations might be true as well." Inoichi Yamanaka told Tsunade. The moment Kenshin's shadow clone disappeared, it's memories came back to the main body, which was with Tsunade. Inoichi used his jutsu to look at those memories and confirmed that Danzo possessed sharingan.

"That bastard! Arrest him right away! Guy, Kakashi, you two are currently our best option at taking on someone with the sharingan. So you two will head this attack. Do whatever you need." Tsunade ordered.

"Yes!" Guy and Kakashi both replied before setting out to capture Danzo.

[In the forest behind the hokage mountain]

Akane could feel her chakra flow still being disrupted by her binds. But she could still use hand to hand combat, though she'd have to be extra careful. 'The guy behind me is short enough for me to stun him with a headbutt. And the one in front spreads his legs just enough for a kick to his nuts. I can't depend on anyone else, nobody knows that Danzo captured us. I need to break free and inform the hokage if I want to save that wuss.' Akane thought as she prepared to break free from them.

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