Root

Torune Aburame immediately went on high alert as he felt the ground vibrating. He glanced at his partner, Fu Yamanaka, and they both moved out of their hidden locations. They stood in front of Lord Danzo in a protective stance, expecting an attack to burst through. The rumbling kept on going for a while and didn't seem to be stopping, and the whole underground base kept shaking as a result.

"Fu, Torune, find out what is happening. Handle it," Lord Danzo said as he stood up from his chair with a grave expression on his face.

Without any hesitation, Torune shot out of the room with Fu. Root shinobi were not ones to question their superiors. An order was an order and would be followed. Them not being near Lord Danzo would put him at risk, but they both knew that he was strong enough to hold his own. Even if he wasn't they'd still do what they were told.

The moment they moved out of Lord Danzo's wing, they clearly saw what the problem was. Several new wooden walls had been erected and had blocked various paths. Torune immediately took off his gloves and let his special breed of microscopic kikaichu flow through his hands into one such wooden wall.

The rinkaichu spread through the wood and began to corrode the outermost layer. But before they could go any further, they started becoming dormant. Unlike ordinary kikaichu, the rinkaichu could not operate for long outside his body, so he immediately recalled them back into himself.

By the time he had recalled his rinkaichu, the wall was back to its previous state, without a single scratch. Torune already knew Tenzo's capabilities, so he did not waste time physically trying to break down the wall.

"Can't get through," he informed Fu.

"Alight," said the Yamanaka as he ran through a set of hand seals and let loose a bolt of lightning from his mouth. The jutsu impacted the roof and knocked down chunks of concrete from it. To their annoyance, there was a punctured layer of wood in between the concrete that immediately fixed itself.

Torune looked back and saw that the way they came through had also been sealed up with a wooden wall. There was only one tunnel that was not blocked. They glanced at each other and nodded. There was no way that they were going to spring such an obvious trap.

Unsheathing his tanto, Torune moved towards the wooden wall and began tearing into it with vigor. He increased the speed so that he could carve through the wall before it could completely regenerate. Right as the cuts began healing, Fu shot the lightning release false darkness jutsu once again.

Torune leaned out of the way as he removed his shirt in one fluid motion. His entire torso was purple in color as the rinkaichu covered his body. The rinkaichu inside his body had been churning the necessary poison that he then proceeded to concentrate around his palms.

Fu's jutsu punched a small through the mokuton barrier. Before it could start closing up, Torune unleashed the poison cloud jutsu. The poisonous cloud hit the wall and began corroding it just like his rinkaichu did a few seconds ago. The difference was that there was nothing alive in that cloud for the mokuton to put to sleep. It still wasn't as potent as it would be against other targets, as the poison was usually fatal with a single touch. Whereas the block of wood began resisting the poison and slowed down the corrosion. It still gave them enough time to dash through the temporary opening.

The moment they stepped inside the tunnel, the hole was closed shut by another wooden wall slamming down from the ceiling.

Before he could think about his next course of action, a potent wave of drowsiness washed over him. His limbs felt heavy and his mind was incredibly cloudy. As his vision darkened, numerous nano-sized insects pulsed in unison and snapped him out of the genjutsu. He stumbled for a second before his body returned to his control. The rinkaichu kept pulsing in odd intervals to ensure that the genjutsu did not take hold of him once more.

Torune immediately sent a pulse of chakra into Fu's body and woke him up pronto. It had not even been more than a couple of seconds and they were already under assault from a potent genjutsu. Things looked bleak as he realized that the entire base must have been put out of commission due to the mokuton and the genjutsu.

It was weird how it did not affect his rinkaichu at all. He wondered how that happened, but then realized that there was one specific person whose genjutsu did not affect certain organisms like kikaichu.

This newfound information was pointless as several mokuton branches burst through the walls and proceeded to wrap around the both of them. His focus was split as he expended chakra en masse to counter the genjutsu actively and corrode the wood at the same time.

His bindings were suppressing his chakra to such an extent that his progress on both fronts began faltering. As his chakra dipped beyond a certain level, he could no longer fight the genjutsu. The last thing he remembered was watching a purple-haired Anbu wearing a cat mask approaching them.

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As Fu and Torune left to carry out his orders, Danzo moved towards the apparatus that gave him the status of the base. To his rising annoyance, he found that everything had stopped working. He also felt his connection to the various detection arrays placed around the area crumbling.

All of these measures falling apart right at once meant that a high-profile agent was compromised. His mind went through all sorts of scenarios within seconds and he could only find one situation that might lead to anything of this magnitude. He wondered whether Orochimaru had purposefully thrown him to the wolves in order to avoid Hiruzen's attention.

Danzo didn't agree with what Hiruzen did to Orochimaru. Mainly because a lot of what he did was sanctioned by Danzo after all. Orochimaru was a valuable asset that did not buy into Hiruzen's foolish worldview, and it resulted in him being thrown out of the village. Now he was no longer a confirmed asset and instead was a threat due to resentment and spite. He still works with him because Orochimaru has a similar mindset to achieve goals and delivers on promises.

But if Orochimaru had indeed caused this, then Danzo was most likely about to fight Hiruzen. No upstart terrorist would be attacking a base in the middle of the village.

Knowing that he would not be able to overcome Hiruzen in a cramped space, Danzo walked out of his office and sealed it behind him. He briskly made his way to his personal training chamber.

It was an inconvenience, but Danzo could easily see how he could turn this around in his favor. One way or the other, he would finally overcome Hiruzen and become the Hokage. He knew that his old friend would not have the heart to go for the kill, and that would be Danzo's biggest opportunity. Promptly, he reached the massive chamber and waited for the inevitable.

The metal contraptions that sealed his arm fell on the floor as he prepared himself for what was coming. He left the bandages alone since it would be prudent to keep some of his cards hidden.

His wing was isolated from the rest of the base, both with physical means and with fuinjutsu arrays. Whatever had affected the entire base had not, or could not touch his wing. He would figure out which was the case later on.

Nothing happened for a couple of minutes but Danzo was patient. He stared intently at the entrance, waiting for someone to breach his wing.

Instincts honed throughout the years flared at him as he jumped to the side just when a blur rushed past him, leaving behind a shallow cut just above his right eye. The interloper immediately switched directions and began slashing at Danzo with a pitch-black daito.

He was momentarily confused how the damn brat had made it into his wing without tripping any of his detection arrays. He kept dodging the sword strikes as he drew a kunai and jumped back.

"Jonin Haruno, what is the meaning of this?" he asked as the brat rushed at him, impeding his momentary retreat.

"I'd say it's nothing personal. But you decided to fuck around. Now find out!" the jonin exclaimed as he swung his lightning chakra-covered sword straight through Danzo's kunai. The length of the blade ensured that Danzo got a long cut on his torso for his troubles.

Undeterred, he moved around in a pattern all too familiar to him and drew in the pink-haired jonin to the spot he wanted.

Ichigo Haruno stopped the moment he placed his foot on a specific spot. Black lines began to rise from the ground and began traveling up his leg. Unfortunately, he released a burst of chakra that got rid of the binding seal.

"Fuinjutsu traps? On me? You must have really gone senile," said Ichigo as he rushed towards Danzo once more.

It was too late as the momentary delay was enough for Danzo to whip out another kunai and infuse it with the wind release vacuum blade.

As the wind blade and the lightning-covered black blade clashed once more, the wind overpowered the lightning momentarily. But before Danzo could capitalize on it, Ichigo stopped the lightning chakra flow and instead coated the sword with fire element chakra.

The difference was palpable as the next time the swords clashed, the black sword easily overcame Danzo's blade of wind. As they were engaged in a deadly dance of slashes, he could see that most of the attacks were being targeted towards the right side of his face. Frowning at the placement, Danzo inhaled and released several blasts of wind that scattered in front of him, intending to turn Ichigo into a pincushion.

Danzo ran through a set of hand signs as Ichigo barely dodged the piercing attacks, accumulating several cuts in the process. Without giving him time to breathe, Danzo twisted his torso and let loose the vacuum wave jutsu.

Several blades of air rushed towards Ichigo at an astounding speed. But before they could reach him, they were consumed by a massive wave of fire. The fire grew in size as it consumed the wind jutsu and headed towards Danzo.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance as he understood what Ichigo's tactic would be. The jonin would just try to counter his wind with fire and attempt to win in an elaborate game of rock paper scissors. He scoffed in derision at that realization. Danzo hadn't survived three wars with just one element in his arsenal.

Focusing his chakra into his stomach, he inhaled deeply as he ran through another set of hand seals. Right as the fire neared him, he exhaled a veritable tsunami. He smiled sardonically as he realized how rusty he had gotten. The jutsu wasn't as chakra efficient as it used to be. Lord Tobirama would be ashamed.

Nevertheless, the exploding water wave jutsu extinguished the flames and went onwards to submerge Ichigo. Knowing that his adversary would escape the jutsu, Danzo began executing the complex motions for a follow-up jutsu now that he had a lot of water to work with. As the wave crashed on Ichigo's position and continued onwards, Danzo began molding the water close to him.

Within a few seconds, a tall dragon made out of water stood in front of him. Without preamble, it shot towards the same spot at great speed.

To Danzo's surprise, at the moment of impact, the dragon and the water surrounding that spot vaporized into a massive wall of steam. He could practically feel the temperature even at this distance. There was a pulse of light, and the temperature spiked even further. All the steam was blown away as a result, only to reveal an Ichigo bathed in fire.

A corona of fire surrounded Ichigo, growing in intensity with each passing moment. The next instant, flames exploded from his back as it propelled him toward Danzo at a dizzying speed.

Danzo moved just in time as the living meteor collided with him. He managed to avoid the worst of it, but he got skewered by Zangetsu regardless. It dug deep into his spleen and the sheer heat began cauterizing his wound. He grunted in pain right as he was punched in the face and thrown across the chamber.

Before he could stabilize himself, he heard a booming sound as the heat neared him once again. A kick from behind sent him tumbling forward. Another bout of explosion rocked his ears right before he got punched again. Propelled by the explosive force of the fire, Ichigo began pummeling Danzo, leaving behind burn marks in the shape of his fists and his feet. It took every bit of his mental fortitude to avoid the killing blows from the sword. But it didn't stop him from getting injured.

It was like a flaming meteor blitzing at him. The sound, heat, and nonstop pain began to overwhelm Danzo as he nearly reached his limit.

With an almighty roar, he ripped open the bandages around his head and looked at Ichigo with Shisui's eye. If the upstart thought that he had an advantage due to the speed, then Danzo would take that advantage away from him.

What he saw though, was something he did not expect. The moment he opened the Sharingan, Ichigo's mouth warped into a malicious smile, as if he was waiting for just that moment.

The next moment, Danzo almost shut his eye as his head threatened to explode. The chakra inside Ichigo was completely obfuscated as if it were covered by a thick membrane of what seemed to be foreign chakra. What made matters worse was that the membrane of chakra strobed with intensity, almost blinding him due to the brightness. All he could see was a bundle of light shaped in the form of a human being that kept flashing in intervals. The fire jutsu surrounding him was just icing on the cake, and he finally closed his eye in frustration.

"Performance issues? It's pretty common in your age group," the insufferable brat drawled in an amused voice.

Without waiting for a response, Ichigo blasted toward Danzo once more and kicked him upwards. Danzo could feel his jaw shattering as his body flew towards the ceiling. He was bruised, burnt, cut, and now sporting broken bones. He was seriously considering the merit of saving his reserves for when Hiruzen would inevitably come through. Ignoring the pain in his body, he quickly made three hand signs, readying a jutsu he did not expect to use in this fight. He acknowledged that if he didn't use everything in his arsenal, he would lose his life.

As his body crashed into the ceiling and began descending towards Ichigo, he saw that the flame surrounding him had disappeared completely. Instead, black chakra was oozing from Zangetsu.

"Getsuga," he said as began swinging the sword upwards, "Tensho!"

Danzo watched unblinking as a massive blast of chakra shot toward him. The crescent-shaped blast completely engulfed him as he felt his entire body breaking down into nothingness.

For the brief second that he could feel the jutsu impacting him, he could feel how it corroded everything within and without. A truly fearsome sword.

"Pity," he said as he materialized back on the ground, a safe distance away from Ichigo, "You could have been a massive asset to the village. Yet, you had to waste all that due to your selfishness. Selfishness that finally drove you to treason."

Danzo was looking at the ceiling -or the lack thereof- the entire time he was speaking. The attack had carved through the ground, through the various layers of the underground base. Sunlight now streamed in through the massive cut that had cleaved through the ceiling.

He was now unblemished, unburnt, unbroken. All it cost him was a massive lump of chakra, and one of the eyes embedded in his hand. Izanagi truly was a masterful jutsu. It was a shame that it had such a steep cost. But then again, if it didn't cost them their damn eyes, who knows what the Uchiha would have done with such a jutsu in their repertoire.

"We have different definitions for the word treason. Traitor," snarked the boy right back as he leveled his sword at Danzo.

In that brief lull, Danzo came to a decision. It was not worth wasting the remaining nine eyes in his hand. The chakra cost for each Izanagi would wipe him out. At that point, even if he killed Ichigo, he would have to face other capable shinobi like Jiraiya, Kakashi, and worst of all, Hiruzen. If that happened, he would lose.

On the other hand, if he had Ichigo backing him up, the both of them could subdue Hiruzen. Then all he would need to do would be to wait for several hours. By that time, the augmentation he received from Lord Hashirama's cells would allow him to cast the Kotoamatsukami once more.

Danzo opened up Shisui's eye once more and looked at the mess of light that was Ichigo. Fighting through the headache, he triggered kotoamatsukami. He felt the genjutsu taking hold of his target, but the next instant, it shattered due to a weird pulse of chakra that rippled through Ichigo's entire body.

He watched on in stupor as the boy began laughing in earnest. Kotoamatsukami was supposed to be undetectable. It made no sense to Danzo how Ichigo had broken through it.

"Oh boy, I didn't expect you to panic and use it this quickly," The pink-haired jonin said with mirth as he pulled out a pronged kunai from his pouch.

Dread pooled in Danzo's stomach as he realized the extent of how much he had been outplayed. The entire fight was orchestrated for this single moment. Ichigo was waiting for Danzo to be at his lowest and use Shisui's jutsu. Hiruzen knew about the jutsu after all, so he would have avoided taking such a risk and had sent someone who could somehow break through it.

"How?" he asked, mentally preparing himself. In a way, it turned out to be the right choice to use the jutsu when he had the reserves to continue fighting.

"It's called an event listener," Ichigo nonchalantly replied as he threw the pronged kunai to the side.

The next instant, four people appeared right next to the kunai. Genma, Raido, and Iwashi stood in a triangular formation while Hiruzen stood in the center of the formation, clad in his black battle attire. Hiruzen got out of the formation and nodded at the three shinobi accompanying him. The Hokage Guard Platoon saluted Hiruzen in return and got into formation once more. They immediately disappeared using their variation of the hiraishin.

Seeing no reason to hide anymore, Danzo completely removed all the bandages on his arm and laid the Sharingan bare for the world to see. He could see Hiruzen stiffen at the sight of the implants. He scoffed as Hiruzen seemed to have come to a decision.

"It ends here, old friend," said Hiruzen.

"We shall see," responded Danzo as he stared at his two opponents. This would not be an easy fight.

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A.N: I started this chapter with a completely different sequence of events in mind, but ended up where we are. I hope you liked the fight.

Just in case anyone is confused, rinkaichu is a breed of kikaichu that only Torune and his father were able to use.

If you want to talk to me on discord, please find the invite on the auxiliary chapter.