103 CURRENT OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE

Naturally, they never stood a chance.

Even if my strongest asset, my invisibility, is taken away from me, I am still a fucking Sage.

I am still the only man alive that can still go against Minato in a fight and win.

I am still Hanabira fucking Haruno, the Bloody Wraith of Konoha.

The fact that they thought they even had a chance against me is insulting.

In other news, I did keep my family name, making my full name now Hanabira Senju Haruno.

Anyway, my name isn't really important right now.

I need to find out what is making me visible and how to turn it off.

So I start to inspect my chakra, try to find the source of this effect and what I find is as shocking to me as it is amusing.

It's some kind of Fuinjutsu style curse.

From what I can find, it's effect is simple but quite effective.

The reason it's funny, is because Fuinjutsu is a language, which means messages can be left inside of seals, and the message that now clings to my soul?

'He who kills the bearer of this mark shalt not find rest for three days and three nights.'

It's only after reading that, do I notice how my chakra is pulsing unnaturally in a way that is effectively a broadcasting signal.

In other words I have turned into a beacon to every sensor withing one hundred miles, if I'm reading this right, and unless I can figure out how to turn this off, then it will take seventy two hours to wear off.

Immediately after that thought I set off, running for the border, not straight to Konoha, that would be stupid, but I'd rather be in the centre of the continent that the centre of Kumo, or at least closer so that I can run once this damn mark is gone.

I don't even bother with any of my stealth Jutsu, since a quick check shows that my nifty little curse mark is going to negate anything I can do, even Sage mode.

Which makes sense I suppose, my Sage mode stealth cannot be sensed, but this isn't sensing me, it is connected to my chakra and basically forcing me to reveal myself to the world.

I get a solid few hours of uninterrupted travel, during which I realise the futility in trying to remove the seal.

It has merged itself into my chakra, like contaminated water, only I can't just boil it out.

Leaving the only option for it's removal to simply get rid of every scrap of chakra I have, also known as suicide.

That is a less than ideal outcome.

After realising the futility of my struggle with the seal, I ponder on how this situation came to be.

Obviously, I was betrayed.

The only question is who betrayed me.

It would require someone to know the details behind the centuries old seals that defend the Daimyo, and the only being that could know such forgotten knowledge would be Black Zetsu.

Now the question becomes, why is Black Zetsu trying to get me killed?

I don't think I have done anything that would interfere with his plans, then again, I don't exactly know his plans.

Well, I know the broad strokes, get Rinnegan, use fancy eyeballs to wake up the moon and transform into a woman.

It's basically the most complex transgender transition in all of fiction, now that I think about it like that.

So, what have I done that would affect that plan?

The only thing I can think of is marrying Tsunade, but I also don't see how that would be a bad thing for him, I mean, don't you need Senju and Uchiha to make the magic eyeballs?

So more Senju should always be a good thing.

Maybe he just doesn't like Sages or something, I can't remember why he got Minato killed.

Well, for now I will just assume that Zetsu is jealous of my handsome good looks and focus on things I can actually figure out.

For instance, Zetsu generally works through other people, so the question now becomes, who would Zetsu be manipulating to get me killed.

They would have had to have known about the mission, which already brings the list of suspects down to my close friends and allies.

Frankly I'm wondering why I'm bothering breaking this down when the answer is so obvious.

It is clear that it is Danzo.

No one else that knows about this operation should have reason to betray me.

Maybe Hiruzen and Takeshi are in on it as well, but I don't think that's too likely.

But still, why would Danzo want me dead?

I have never expressed interest in the fancy hat of the Hokage, nor have I displayed any traitorous thoughts.

Maybe it's because he knows Minato is likely to be the next Hokage once this war is over and he want's to get rid of some of his support base?

After all, it's obvious that I would be one of the Hokage candidates, since it is generally one of the strongest ninja of the village, and I fit that role, along with Minato and the Sanin.

And having one of the candidates being supported by another candidate is pretty convincing. Not to mention that my position as the Senju Patriarch, even if Tsunade has more authority there, being Senju by blood rather than marriage.

But still, it's not like she would vote for Danzo over Minato, especially since he's my friend, so I do actually have a decent amount of political pull.

If he is really trying to kill me because he wants that stupid hat, then I am going to be a little bit annoyed with him.

I mean, the guy is really stupid.

The leaf has generated about as many S-class Shinobi as everyone else combined, but a good deal of them have died due to Danzo.

First was his sensei Tobirama, then there was Sakumo, though I'm not actually sure if he was behind that, that's not even mentioning what he's got planned for the Uchiha.

Unfortunately I don't get to ponder any further as the first group of Shinobi finally make there way to me.

In some banal hope that we can simply talk things out like calm, rational people, I don't just immediately murder them once they enter my Field of Death Jutsu.

I have been using it since I realised my stealth was useless, after all, it isn't very chakra intensive and there is no point in wasting my chakra with Sage mode just for the sensory enhancements.

Plus, with the butterfly tattoo on the back of my neck, it's not like it is a particularly mentally demanding Jutsu to keep up.

I jump to a slightly larger rock, since this is Kumo rather than Konoha, there are a lot less trees to hop between, right now I am on the side of a rocky mountain, not a tree in sight.

After I stop, clearly not preparing for a fight, a group of Kumo Shinobi surround me, all Jonin.

"Denji Danuja, if that is your real name. You are under arrest for the murder of the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning." One of them says, surprisingly casual considering the situation.

Oh yeah, I am still looking like Denji, that's funny. They probably don't think I can resist them.

But I kind of don't want to be arrested, it seems like something that would be bad for my health.

"When you say 'under arrest', you do mean that you're going to execute me, right?" I ask, just as casual as the one who spoke before.

"Well, you did kill a Daimyo." The wryness of his voice is evident.

"You can't prove that!" I reply immediately, almost reflexively.

We all pause for a moment, as I look down on myself and they all give me a quick glance top to bottom, noting the dully glowing orange covering my form head to toe.

Ok, so maybe they can prove it a little bit.

"Right.." comes his sceptical reply, "So, are you going to resist?"

I theatrically put a hand on my chin, the other hand holding my elbow up as I feign a pondering expression for a moment.

"I think I should, it would feel wrong if I made this too easy on you, you know?"

At my words they all tense, ready to burst into action.

Only, before anyone can make a move, with a flex of my will all of the air is ripped from the lungs of everyone present, myself excluded.

With cold, uncaring eyes, I watch as the men surrounding me all suffocate to death.

It's like I said, just because my greatest asset has bean taken from me, that doesn't make me helpless.

As for how I am doing this?

Well, you know how Tobirama was famed for his masterful control over water?

With the assistance of my Field of Death Jutsu, I can do the same, only the element I use is wind.

Now, I can't technically control the air in peoples lungs, for the same reason you can't just control peoples blood with Suiton.

Peoples own chakra works as a form of defence, so you can't just control the elements inside of them, nor can you summon a fireball in someone's head, otherwise fights would be a hell of a lot shorter.

However, physics is still a thing, so all I need to do is make a vacuum of sorts and the air in their lungs will be expelled, even without my direct control.

Like just now, all I did was put a barrier of air around us all, then I brought all of the air into a dome surrounding me alone, leaving the rest to slowly suffocate to death.

This is such a pain in the ass, not being able to just go invisible I mean.

Now, I have two choices as I see it, I can either buckle down somewhere, play tower defence, or I can keep moving.

Either way, they will find and dog pile me, but if I'm running around then at least it won't be so easy for them to surround me full force.

Decision made, I get going, ignoring the corpses as I start running for the border.

It should normally only take me a day or two to reach the border, but not only am I likely to be getting frequently side tracked, but I am also going to be conserving my stamina, rather than running full tilt the whole way.

An hour later, and another group, this one about twenty strong.

Except, saying strong would be an overestimation of their abilities, since most of them weren't even Jonin.

Naturally, they didn't stand a chance.

Only, this time I didn't want to waste time suffocating them, so I just made twenty wind blades and decapitated them all before moving on.

Another hour later, and this time it's a group of one hundred, all Jonin.

Looks like they've finally realised that I am not just some nobody.

It would have been nice if they figured it out a little bit later though, if I'm being honest.

So, here I am, standing in a dry, rocky valley between two mountains.

There is some vegetation here and there, but it is mostly brown, arid land with rocks ranging in size from pebbles to the sizes of houses, one of the larger ones of which I stand.

And in front of me, is a small army of Shinobi, each of them ready to fight, or ready to chase if I run away, but that would be stupid.

Kumogakure is behind me, going in that direction seems like a bad idea, since the Third Raikage could snap me in half if he gets his hands on me.

That really sucks too, because I distinctly remember that he should have died in this war, the only thing I can think of is that in the original timeline, rather than sending me to get Kumo to end the war, that would be when the army of ten thousand showed up.

I would assume that Kiri, Iwa and Konoha teamed up against Kumo to get them to stop the war, this would have likely happened around about now, or in a month or so.

Instead I got sent, and now I have to survive three days and three nights, just like the Third Raikage did.

Is this some joke by Fate?

Because it's actually pretty funny if it is.

Anyway, that doesn't matter right now. I need to kill these guys quickly and get back on the move.

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A/N: He~llo! Dear readers!

Changed my cover pic to see if the clickbait anime boy brings in a larger audience. It's a little science experiment.

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