Chapter 28: Unexpected

Chapter 28

BOOM! Splash!

Thud Thud Thud Thud Thud Thud Thud Thud.

Huff...Huff...Huff...Huff… A lone Anbu stood in the middle of a giant lake as he pulled a kunai out from his left leg. "Ugh." He groaned. Blood seeped down from the side of his face and leg. As he stood there trying to catch his breath he took a look around the lake. Floating above the water were more than 20 dead bodies. He weaved his hands together to form some hand signs causing his hands to light up in a light green color. Using his medical ninjutsu he worked to heal his wounded leg. "Ghost and Reaper are gonna be mad when they see the state that I'm in." He said. This Anbu who killed more than 20 enemy shinobi was exactly Silent Mist.

Right after Kimimaro had been cured of his disease he began training rigorously. He completed his Anbu training not long after his release from the hospital and was named Reaper. After training with Lord Third for three months he joined Izaya and I on a three year long Anbu mission to gather intel on various criminal organizations. Even to dispose of some. Of course, one of the highest priorities of criminal organizations on that list was the Akatsuki, however, they were truly a difficult organization to track. We've been away from the village on our mission for two years already and the organization we were tracking was called the Blood Water organization. We tracked the organization to its headquarters which was situated in the Land of Water Silent Mist contemplated to himself as he healed his wound.

"I'm supposed to meet Ghost and Reaper at our designated rendezvous point. I still have a few hours before the time limit. These guys were more careful than they let on. At least I was able to get what I came for." Silent Mist whispered to himself as he looked at the scroll in his hand. He put it away and was just about to leave when he heard a voice say, "Water Style Great Waterfall Jutsu!"

"AH?!" Silent Mist exclaimed as a giant torrent of incredibly powerful water approached to engulf him. He quickly placed his hands in front of him and said, "Ice Style Ice Barrier Domed Jutsu!" He quickly encapsulated himself in a dome of ice as the vortex of water engulfed him and attempted to crush him. Crap! I've already wasted so much chakra when I fought against my pursuers. Whoever this person is they're much stronger than the guys from earlier. I don't have enough chakra right now to fight him. Best use this chance to escape Silent Mist quickly thought. He placed his hands on the bottom of the ice dome and activated his Ice Style to form a sharp spear thrusting through the bottom of the water vortex and successfully slipping out of its torrential grasp into the lake below. He quickly swam downwards in a dark place of the lake to hide. Just as he was about to activate an ability to help him breathe underwater he saw the dark part of the water become even darker. Greatly alarmed he used his Ice Dome Jutsu once more to cover himself. Just as the dome of ice covered his body a giant maw opened up and swallowed him.

Up on the surface of the lake stood a man with half his face covered. He wielded a giant sword known as the Kurikiribocho, or otherwise known as the executioner's blade. This was Momochi Zabuza. He watched as his Jutsu engulfed the person he was hired to kill. To his surprise however, when the Jutsu dissipated the person was nowhere to be found. "Hmpf. Sneaky. He escaped." Zabuza said indifferently. He looked around and saw the many dead bodies that were killed by that person. "I can see why I was hired, whoever that was, they were highly skilled to kill this many rogue shinobi." Zabuza mumbled as he walked off.

After an hour of observing the inside of the mouth from whatever ate him, Silent Mist took out a long needle and infused it with his chakra. He had somehow managed not to get swallowed down to the stomach and clung to the side of this things lower jaw. He was able to discern some of the properties of this animal and found where its gag reflex was. Silent Mist took his chakra enhanced needle and threw it towards the animals gag reflex. Soon, a loud rumbling sound was heard and before he knew it he was spit out from this beasts mouth along with it's lunch. "Ugh!" Silent Mist moaned. Strangely he found himself within a giant underwater palace. Quickly he weaved his hands to form the Snake sign causing a bubble of water to appear around his head.

Phew. He breathed out a sigh of relief. "AH?!" Silent Mist finally took notice of the great beast in front of him. It was at least 40 meters in length! "A-A Giant Catfish?!" He exclaimed. The catfish just stared back at him before a loud powerful voice said, "You. Human brat. What is your name?"

"Uh? Er...My name is Haku." Haku responded as he removed his Anbu mask. The catfish talked?! Haku mentally screamed.

"Hahahaha! Kid, I'm impressed. Nothing has ever escaped from the clutches of my jaws before. You are the first. So your name is Haku. Mmmm, good name. You may call me Namazu." It then spread out its fins and caused the water in the surrounding palace hall to drain out. Haku just fell to the ground as the water he was suspended in disappeared.

"Excuse me sir Namazu, but can you tell me where this is?" Haku inquired. It took one long look at Haku with its giant yellow eyes before saying, "This place is known as Ryuga-Jo Palace." Haku just continued to stare blankly with confusion. "I still don't understand. Where is Ryuga-Jo Palace? And what is it?" Haku asked. Namazu just laughed loudly and said, "Hahaha! Kid, it's no wonder you haven't heard of it. No human has ever set foot in this place before. Have you ever heard of a place called Mount Myoboku? Or perhaps the Shikkotsu Forest? Maybe you've heard of the Ryuchi Cave?"

"Eh? Big brother has mentioned those to me before. Mount Myoboku is the place where the ancient toads reside. Shikkotsu Forest is the place where the great slug lives and Ryuchi Cave is the place of the great snakes. Supposedly they are legendary places and unexplored sage regions."

"Mn. So I see you've heard of these places. You aren't wrong describing those three places like that, however, this place is Ryuga-Jo Palace! It is even more legendary than those three places. Here the ruler is the great Ocean Dragon Sage! I am one of the three great guardians of Ryuga-Jo Palace."

Haku was incredibly stunned. He never imagined that being swallowed by a catfish would ever bring him to a place like this. In fact, he never imagined that he would ever be swallowed by a catfish. After coming to terms with his situation he said, "Sir Namazu, is it possible to leave this place?"

"Oh? You've come to such a prestigious place yet you wish to leave? Ah well I suppose you didn't come of your own freewill. It can't be helped. Kid, our meeting can be a sort of fate. Since you've literally successfully escaped from the jaws of death, let me grant you a recompense." Namazu said as it opened its giant maw. His tongue rolled out of its mouth as it laid down a large scroll in front of Haku. "Open the scroll and sign your name with your blood on it."

"Alright, but what is this for?" Haku inquired.

"Hahahaha! Well I haven't met many humans in my life and all the ones I did meet ended up becoming food. You however are quite amiable. I don't mind lending you a hand every now and then. By signing your name in blood on this scroll you would have formed a contract with the three great guardians of the Ryuga-Jo Palace. By utilizing the Summoning Jutsu you can summon us to help aid you in difficult situations. We've stayed away from worldly affairs for so long that we guardians are pretty bored now. That old sage just sleeps all day and we've nothing to do. I'm sure you can show us some pretty interesting things outside. After you sign the contract, I'll help bring you out. By the way, although I am very old, you can drop the sir. I don't care for such formalities." Namazu replied. Haku smiled and said, "Mn! Then can I call you Mazu?"

"Whatever floats your boat kid. By the way, I'm sticking to calling you kid. Call me Mazu or whatever you like." He replied as he watched Haku form the contract. "Mn. The contract is done." Mazu said as he closed the scroll and swallowed it again. "Okay kid, jump in my mouth and I'll take you out."

"Alright." Haku skeptically nodded and hopped in Mazu's giant maw. He didn't really seem to have a choice anyways. It was only about a minute or so before Mazu opened his mouth again letting Haku see the light of day.

"That was fast." Haku commented.

"Of course, who do you think I am? Mazu replied. Haku jumped out of Mazu's mouth and back onto the giant lake before bowing respectfully and said, "Thank you Mazu. Although you were the one who swallowed me, you also allowed me to see a wonderful place and benefit from this encounter."

"Mn. Don't forget to call us out when you need help. I'll tell the other two about you when I get back. I'm sure they're itching to get a good look outside. Take care kid." Mazu said as he sunk back down into the deep recesses of the water.

Phew. Haku breathed out a sigh of relief. I should quickly head to the rendezvous point. Unexpectedly I came out of that situation with gains instead of losses and it didn't waste too much time. He put his Anbu mask back on and made his way over to the meet up location.

"Do you think Silent Mist is okay?" Reaper asked.

"Mn, he still has a few hours left before the deadline of our meet up. If he isn't back by then I'll just fly to his location." I replied.

Fwish!

A figure landed on a nearby tree before dropping down to the ground. "Ghost, Reaper, I'm back." Silent Mist said. Reaper and I just looked at Silent Mist's tattered form before rushing over to him. "Oi! Are you alright? What happened?" I asked with concern.

"Are you seriously injured? Reaper asked.

"I'm fine I'm fine. I got what we came for. I just met a bit of resistance before making it back. There were 20 rogue shinobi waiting in ambush, but I disposed of them so there's no need to worry. There was one really strong person who showed up after but I didn't get a good look at them. I managed to escape and was swallowed by a giant catfish. It brought me to a place called Ryuga-Jo Palace. After talking things through we ended up forming a contract and it brought me out of that place. Then I ended up here." Silent Mist said recalling the events up to now.

Phew. Reaper and I sighed in relief. "Glad you're okay Silent Mist. But what's this Ryuga-Jo place?" I asked curiously.

"Well...According to Mazu, one of the three guardians of the place, it is a legendary location of an unexplored sage land like Mount Myoboku." He replied.

"EH? A legendary location like Mount Myoboku?" I exclaimed in shock. What the hell is that place? There wasn't a place like that to my knowledge in my past life. Was there really other legendary places aside from the land of toads, snakes, and slugs I mentally questioned.

"We should find a place to let Silent Mist rest more comfortably." Reaper suggested.

"Mn. I've already prepared a place." I said as I placed my hands on both Reaper and Silent Mist's shoulders. "Flying Thunder God Jutsu!" We disappeared with no one the wiser and ended up in a room.

"Eh? Where are we Ghost?" Reaper asked. I took off my mask and said, "I rented this room yesterday just in case for situations like these. We have it for a week. There are two bunk beds so it'll definitely be enough for the three of us. Haku, you get some rest first. I'll take the scroll to the drop off point."

Kimimaro and Haku took off their masks as Haku handed the scroll to me. "Alright then big brother, be careful in case of anything unexpected happening." Haku said.

"Are you sure you don't need me to come with?" Kimimaro asked. I shook my head. "No, I'm going to teleport to a location nearby and then make the rest of the way over by foot. It'll be faster and more inconspicuous with just me. Once I hand over the scroll to Lord Third's agents and receive our next task, I'll head back immediately. I'm not sure whether or not Lord Third's agents will be late or early so give me a weeks time before you guys decide that something might be wrong."

"Mn. Safe travels." Haku and Kimimaro said. I nodded my head and placed my mask back on before I disappeared.

Swish!

I dashed through the forest towards a remote shrine that was designated as the meeting spot. It took me about an hour to get close from my initial transfer point, however, as I neared the shrine I noticed something off. I stopped a few miles away on a branch in the forest as I closed my eyes to focus on what the situation was. Eh? Why are there three signatures? Lord Third only sends two people as agents at a time, never more, never less. Something is wrong. It's a good thing I decided to place my marker away from the meeting point like I always do just for cases like these. As I continued to focus the situation seemed graver and graver. The two familiar signatures that usually come as Lord Third's agents, Bird and Hawk, are trapped in the basement below the shrine. Their chakra signature is in disarray. Genjutsu maybe? There's one person watching over them, one person outside the shrine in the shadows, and one person waiting in front of the shrine.

"AH? This chakra signature. It's Danzo? Don't tell me he's here for me? Shit, what if he wants me for my Wood Style? Did Orochimaru tell him about my Wood Style? I can't meet him by myself in case he decides to cast Shisui's Kotoamatsukami on me. His two guards must be Yamanaka Fu and Aburame Torune. What to do what to do...I'll have Kimimaro deliver the contents. I'll mark Kimimaro with my Flying Thunder God Seal and if Danzo casts Shisui's Genjutsu on him, I can fly to him instantly and release the Genjutsu. Heh, trying to play me? I don't think so Danzo." I placed a few of my special kunai in this area before teleporting back to the room with Haku and Kimimaro.

Kimimaro was just about to head out the door when he saw me appear right in front of him. "AH?!" He shouted as he fell backwards from shock. I quickly extended my hand out to grab him and prevent him from falling. "Izaya? That was fast." He said.

"Ugh. Maro what's wrong?" Haku said as he slowly rubbed his eyes and sat up in bed.

"Ah, sorry Haku, I didn't mean to wake you." Kimimaro said. Haku shook his head and said, "It's okay, did you need something? Eh? Big brother? You're back already?"

"Ahem. Actually there's a bit of a problem. When I was getting near the meet up point I noticed something off. It seems the two agents, Bird and Hawk, are currently incapacitated. The one behind this is Danzo. I'm guessing he finally couldn't wait any longer and might be aiming for me and my Wood Style." I said as I told them what I suspected.

"Tsk. Damn Danzo. Always doing things by himself without regard for other people's livelihood." Haku cursed.

"I'll be right back, I need to prepare something quick." I said as I disappeared. Not long after I reappeared in the room. I turned to Haku and said, "Haku, I want you to continue resting here. You just came back from a big battle not long ago. I already have a plan so let Kimimaro and I handle this. Danzo may be a crafty old bastard but I won't let him pull one over on me. Not a lot of people are aware of his abilities. I'm an exception. We'll go meet him and foil his plans and save Lord Third's agents while we're at it."

Haku was silent for a moment but ultimately agreed. "Alright, since you're taking Maro then it should be fine. Come back immediately if things go south." Haku said.

"You got it chief." I replied jokingly. "Ready Maro?" I said.

"Mn." He nodded. I placed my hand on his shoulder and we disappeared from the room.

"Be careful." Haku whispered to himself.

We arrived a few miles away from the shrine where I placed one of my special kunais. After taking a moment to confirm that the situation didn't change since I was last there I turned to Kimimaro and said, "Alright Maro, here's the plan. I'm going to mark your body with my Flying Thunder God Seal and I want you to use the Transformation Jutsu to look like me. If Danzo really is after me then he'll probably try to recruit me into Root which is his Anbu division that's supposed to be disbanded by now. I'm sure you'll know how to handle that situation. When he gets refused there's a possibility that he'll use a powerful Genjutsu known as Kotoamatsukami. It'll have the ability to influence your thoughts and choices without your knowledge. I'll monitor your situation with my senses and Sharingan. If he does use it I'll know right away and fly to your side dispelling the Genjutsu. You take that chance to enter the shrine and save Bird and Hawk. There's one person guarding them. My guess is that the one guarding them is Yamanaka Fu. He is a sensor type shinobi, heh, but obviously not as good as me. Seems he hasn't noticed our presence yet. Probably can't sense us this far away or he isn't actively searching and we've never formally met, so I don't think he'll be able to tell whether you are me or not. I'll hide myself from his detection when we get closer. Don't let him take control of your mind when you confront him. I'll hold off Danzo and his extra guard in the shadows. Once you have the agents immediately escape. The farther you go the better. That'll let me teleport to you and then teleport all of us to safety before Danzo and his guards can catch up."

"Alright. What if he doesn't use Kotoamatsukami?" Kimimaro asked.

"Here. Take this." I said as I gave him a scroll. "This is a fake. If he isn't after me and is actually after the scroll we obtained then just give it to him and leave. We'll come up with a plan after. Although it might be possible that he's after both. When he asks for the scroll, get as close to him as possible and try to stay as close to him as possible."

"Mn. Then I'll head over." Kimimaro replied as he activated the Transformation Jutsu.

Swish!

"Mn?" Danzo turned to look at Kimimaro who was transformed as me appear.

He transformed himself as one of the messengers Kimimaro mentally noted as he looked at Danzo.

"Oh? Fair weather today fellow traveller. Might you have spare change as a donation to the shrine?" Danzo said.

Hmpf. He's even using our secret greeting. Probably got all the info from the two messengers he put under Genjutsu Kimimaro noted. "Change? I've only enough for food and water. I can only offer my prayers and blessings." Kimimaro replied.

"I'm glad you made it. Where are the other two?" Danzo said as he confirmed the password and continued to play the part of a messenger.

"It's just me today. We're stationed too far, it's inconvenient for all of us to come. Where's your partner?" Kimimaro inquired.

"He's hidden in the shadows for safety measures. Do you have the scroll?" Danzo replied.

"Mn. Here it is." Kimimaro said as he walked closer and handed over the fake one.

"Mn, I appreciate it. Has anyone ever told you that you're a pretty talented shinobi and Anbu? There's a person in our village called Danzo. He's looking to recruit some talented individuals like yourself. Interested?" Danzo said.

He really is looking to recruit Izaya Kimimaro thought to himself. "Actually I-...I think that sounds like a pretty good opportunity. How do I get in touch with Danzo?" Kimimaro replied.

Damn he really did it! He was actually aiming for me and cast Kotoamatsukami on Maro? That bastard I'll make him pay! I marked the tree I was standing on with my Flying Thunder God Seal and before Danzo could react or do anything else I infused my right hand with a medical ninjutsu technique I learnt as an Anbu, appeared in between him and Kimimaro, and struck at Danzo's right eye tearing through the fabric that covered it and stole Shisui's Sharingan from him.

"AH!" He screamed. I then placed my hand on Kimimaro's shoulder saying, "Release!"

"UH?" Kimimaro snapped out of his daze.

"Go!" I shouted. Kimimaro instantly dashed inside the shrine. I then flew to the tree I marked earlier and put Shisui's eye in a special container I prepared earlier and teleported it away.

"You bastard!" Danzo shouted as he clutched his eye. Torune also appeared next to Danzo in that instant. BOOM! Torune and Danzo quickly jumped off to the side to avoid being hit by what seemed to be large protrusions of bones from the shrine. Kimimaro quickly grabbed the two agents and dashed off as the guard Fu was unconscious, impaled, and stuck to the ground by a large bone spike.

"Fu!" Torune shouted in alarm at this unexpected turn of events. I stood on the tree branch and stared at them.

"Danzo oh Danzo. I'm afraid activating Izanagi right now won't help you restore Shisui's eye to you. If only you had activated Izanagi the moment we arrived, then you might of had a chance to turn this reality into nothing but an illusion. Unfortunately you didn't. You thought you could play me? Think again."

"Ugh! You...You bastard! I am one of the elders of the Hidden Leaf! You dare attack me? That is an act of betrayal!" Danzo shouted.

"Spare me your nonsense. Although you think you have the Leaf in your mind for every action you take, what you truly are is a scared little pretentious cat who thinks that you're the only one who cares for the Hidden Leaf. Suspicious of everything and everyone who isn't under your orders. What's more laughable is that you think that only your actions are the correct actions. You're a sorry excuse as one of the so called leaders of the Hidden Leaf. More like a leech that's draining the Leaf of its life." I berated Danzo.

Danzo was extremely surprised at everything I said up until now. "How did you know about Uchiha Shisui and that I possess his eye? It also seems that you know of its power since you elected to steal it. You even know of the power of Izanagi. Who are you really?" Danzo asked cautiously and angrily.

"I'm an Anbu under Lord Third. I specialize in assassination, information gathering, and interrogation. How can I not know. Root has been disbanded yet here you are still trying to secretly control the organization. The truth is that you are just a power hungry old man and an incredibly stubborn control freak. I won't kill you because you aren't worth shit in my eyes. Someone else has your name on their hit list. They'll come after you eventually so you best prepare yourself for the day of your judgement. Shimura Danzo." I said condescendingly as I looked down at them.

"Torune, help me kill him. I must reclaim Shisui's eye." Danzo said.

"Yes Lord Danzo." Torune said as he took off his gloves.

"Heh." I smirked as I disappeared in an instant.

"NOOOO!" Danzo screamed.

"Eh? What's this?" Haku said to himself as he picked up a special liquid container with a Sharingan inside. "Did big brother send this here?" Haku placed it over on a table as he continued to wait for Kimimaro and Izaya's return.

Fwish!

I appeared next to Kimimaro who had already run away quite far and was waiting in a clearing of the forest. "Izaya." Kimimaro said as he noticed me appear next to him in a flash.

"Mn. Let's keep our masks on and use our codenames again. I'm going to release these two from the Genjutsu they're in." I said.

"Alright." He nodded. I placed my hands on both of the agents shoulders and said, "Release."

"Ugh…" Bird and Hawk said as they regained consciousness. "Bird, Hawk, are you both alright?" Kimimaro asked.

"I think so. We were attacked and restrained." Bird replied.

"It was Danzo." Hawk said.

"Mn. We know. They cast Genjutsu on you both and Fu extracted the information they needed from you both. I'm afraid it's too dangerous to hand over our mission item to you guys. For now we'll hold onto it and deliver it at a later date." I told them.

"That sounds like a good plan. We have to return and let Lord Third know of what happened here today." Hawk said.

"Mn. We'll be counting on you both to do that. I'll send you both as close as I can with my Jutsu. Although it'll take up a lot of chakra to send you both that far, it can't be helped. The situation is special. Before I do that, was there anything Lord Third wanted you both to pass onto us?" I said.

"There was something. We did have your next mission scheduled but Danzo has that information now as well. It isn't ideal to have you take on this next mission, therefore, continue your other objectives such as gathering intel until further notice. When we return to the Leaf to inform Lord Third he'll decide how to proceed from there. The last piece of information we were told to deliver to you was that Gaara, the Fifth Kazekage was abducted by the Akatsuki. They successfully extracted the One-Tails, Shukaku. An elder of the Hidden Sand used a forbidden technique to save the Kazekage's life after the extraction." Bird said.

"What?!" Kimimaro and I said at the same time.

Was it that time already? I suppose it has been two years. Although I know the future I don't know the exact dates that events happen, I only know when they generally happen. Since I wasn't in the village I couldn't help. Damn. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I had already sent some info to Lord Third over these past two years to be mindful of the Akatsuki's moves on the One-Tails. Some events are still happening as they did and some events are now completely foreign to me. The fact that Danzo has his eyes set on me now and that I stole Shisui's eye from him means he'll send his Root members to kill me. This is a mess I thought to myself. I let out a sigh before saying, "I see. Is there anything else?"

Bird and Hawk shook their heads.

"Very well then, I'll send you both off. Be careful though. Danzo probably has Root division members monitoring the situation in and around the Hidden Leaf from the shadows."

"Mn. Thank you Ghost. You too Reaper." Bird and Hawk said. I placed my hands on their shoulders and sent them off.

"Ugh!" I groaned as I tipped over losing my balance. Kimimaro caught me and helped me steady my footing. "Sending them both from the Land of Water to the Land of Fire sure takes a lot of chakra. Reaper, I saved just enough chakra to send us both back to Silent Mist. Once I do, I'll probably lose consciousness. I'll be counting on you and Silent Mist if anything unexpected happens." I said out of breath.

"Mn. Don't worry about anything. We'll handle it." Kimimaro said. I nodded my head as we disappeared in the next moment.