Chapter 46

Chapter 46

The Third Hokage looked at the body of Kabuto and bound Baki with concerned eyes. Danzo stood nearby but was silent. Gekko explained what he heard, and Kaen presented the plans that Kabuto gave to Baki. It was enough to paint a picture of what was going on. Suna's betrayal and Orochimaru's strategy of attacking Konoha were apparent.

"Seize the genin from Suna," Danzo ordered Kaen seeing that the Third Hokage was still thinking.

"Hokage-sama?" Kaen ignored Danzo and turned to Hokage.

"The genin are to be bound inside a house. They are not to leave it until chunin exams," Third Hokage said. "Take Baki to Ibiki and see what else he is hiding. My ANBU will do it. You two did well and can rest."

"Very well, I have to leave to train my apprentice for the chunin exam, so don't expect me for a month," Kaen said. "I did my share of work."

"That you did," The Third Hokage agreed. "You are free to leave."

Kaen nodded and left. He had a lot to prepare for tomorrow, so he didn't waste time and went home. But as he left the tower, he noticed he was followed. Danzo kept his eyes on Kaen. It wasn't surprising or disturbing. Kaen expected Danzo to watch him more carefully, so he didn't tell Hokage what he knew, for it was time for Danzo to disappear.

…

Getting inside his house, Kaen was greeted by Ash. The cat rubbed his head on Kaen's leg, trying to get his attention. Kaen scratched the cat's chin before leaving. It was already late, and there were many things he had to prepare for. Getting into the basement of his home, Kaen activated the seals on the floor and walls.

The seals had many functions, but Kaen used them now to conceal himself. Unless they used sage mode, no sensor could sense him using chakra. The seal on the floor was a copy of his chakra network, so everyone could only sense the copy, while Kaen could do anything he wanted without anyone noticing anything. He could even keep other people in the basement; nobody could sense them.

"Summoning Jutsu," Kaen bit his thumb and slammed his hand on the ground.

"Nya, Kaen-sama," Bakeneko appeared within the smoke.

"I have work for you, Bakeneko," Kaen said. "You are to pretend to be me for a month. You are to take my apprentice and teach him about sealing and chakra control. Ensure you go outside the house, but don't wander in the village."

"You want me to trick some pesky eyes, nya?" Bakeneko asked.

"Exactly, I had other work to do," Kaen answered. "Well, I leave it to you. You won't find me. If I need to tell you anything, I will find you."

Bakeneko understood me well and turned into a perfect copy of me. Bakeneko possessed an ability that let him mimic other people perfectly under certain conditions. Kaen's summon could perfectly mimic Kaen in all his skills and mannerisms, except for sharingan. It was because Kaen had a special bond with Bakeneko that let it happen.

Bakeneko could mimic others too. But he needed to observe someone for some time to imitate them and taste a droplet of blood to turn himself into someone else. And even then, it might not be a perfect copy. It was better than shadow clone as Bakeneko not only possessed Kaen's abilities, but he had his own too. Kaen sometimes wonders how strong Bakeneko is.

Too bad he didn't have a chance to push Bakeneko to his limits, as the cat refused to use more power than Kaen had. It was clear that the cat was quite lazy, so it wasn't surprising that he never tried to fight with his full strength. But now that Kaen must face Orochimaru, he might need Bakeneko's strength.

"Very well," Bakeneko agreed to Kaen's request. "And I was wondering if you wanted to try to learn sage jutsu again."

"I know I don't have enough chakra to balance it with natural energy. It would overtake me, and not only would I not be able to use it, but the energy would also be harmful to me," Kaen sighed in defeat.

"Good to know you learned your lesson, nya," Bakeneko replied. "It only took you three times. And almost dying once to learn."

"I thought the third time would be a charm," Kaen smiled, not ashamed of trying to learn sage jutsu.

In the end, learning sage jutsu was a pointless endeavor. Kaen didn't have enough chakra to balance it with natural energy. And sage jutsu could only be used when his chakra and natural energy were balanced. But natural energy was more potent than chakra, so it would be impossible to use without a powerful chakra of his own.

At best, Kaen wouldn't be able to use it. At worst, the natural energy would take over him and turn him into stone. It almost happened on his third time trying to learn sage jutsu. If Bakeneko didn't interfere, Kaen would have died. From then on, he didn't waste time learning it as it wasn't something he could learn.

Changing his attire, Kaen was about to leave his home but stopped as Ash meowed at him. Letting a sigh of regret that he would have to leave Ash for some time again, Kaen decided to play with Ash for an hour. It was the least he could do for the cat. Kaen would be sad if Ash forgot him after being so absent.

…

Utilizing what he learned from Jiraiya, Kaen moved through the village unnoticed in the dark of the night. With seals on his clothes and his almost perfect chakra control, no sensor was able to notice him as he sneaked into Hokage Tower. No matter how good ANBU were, Kaen has already surpassed them.

Both Jiraiya and Tsunade of Sannin have trained Kaen. Kaen wouldn't claim he was stronger than Sannin, but he was definitely on their level. Every Sannin had incredible abilities and much experience, so it would be hard for Kaen to win against them if he didn't fight to the death. Still, Kaen was confident that he would win if he prepared enough and could ambush them.

Kaen had no trouble reaching the Hokage Tower. Infiltrating inside gave some challenges to Kaen, but he managed not to be detected by anyone as he reached Hokage's office. But once he got inside the office, Kaen knew that the Third Hokage sitting by the table noticed him. Kaen knew that the Third Hokage wasn't a sensor, but he was powerful and experienced enough to find Kaen, no matter how well he hid.

"What are you doing here?" The Third Hokage turned to Kaen as he emerged from the shadows.

"It seems I was right that I would find you inside your office so late at night," Kaen replied. "You should be home by this time, Hokage-sama."

"Did you want to find me?" Hokage asked.

"I did," Kaen replied. "I wanted to share the information I held during our report earlier."

"It is about Suna and Orochimaru?"

"Yes," Kaen nodded.

"Why didn't you inform me of it earlier?"

"There were too many ears around you, Hokage-sama," Kaen answered. "Danzo can't be trusted. Did you not question how Konoha gained work from Daimyo of the Land of Wind?"

"I knew that it was Danzo who broke the deal under my orders."

"But was it your idea?" Kaen asked. "You had to realize that Danzo is manipulating you, Hokage-sama. And you refuse to accept it because he is your old friend."

"You are throwing many accusations without proof," The Third Hokage said, but Kaen felt he was listening and not dismissing him.

"You should have heard of how Orochimaru attacked me first when I was with Jiraiya," Kaen said and waited for Hokage to nod. "Orochimaru told me that he found me it with Danzo's help."

"He could have lied to you."

"Then let's ignore that there was no reason for Orochimaru to do so and focus on the fact that Kabuto, confirmed to have worked with Orochimaru, was a member of Root under Danzo," Kaen replied. "It is clear that Danzo is working with Orochimaru, and the goal is to get rid of you, Hokage-sama."

"Again, you accuse an elder of the village and a student of the First and the Second Hokage, as well as my old friend, without substantial proof of his wrongdoings."

"I did, and it is up to you to decide what action to take with everything I have said," Kaen understood what Hokage wanted. "I will take my leaving now."

They might not have noticed if it was someone else, but Kaen could tell Hokage believed in his words. But he could not act only on words. He needed hard evidence before he made his move. Danzo held a lot of power and influence in the Land of Fire. If he were attacked unjustly, the Daimyo would be involved, bringing instability to the country and the village. It was something that must be avoided no matter what.

"I had given Danzo orders to mobilize the Root to other countries and investigate how well Suna is prepared to bring war upon us," The Third Hokage said before Kaen left. "Danzo will be busy watching foreigners in the village and looking out for hostile movements from other countries."

It was more than enough information for Kaen. Kaen nodded thanks to Hokage and left. With Danzo having his hands full, Kaen would have to chance to infiltrate Root's base. Kaen already started to plan how he will do it. He will observe the base for a few days to see if Danzo followed Hokage's orders and then infiltrate it like last time, but this time he will take evidence to take down Danzo.

…

While Kaen observed the base of Root, he studied the cursed seal on Anko when he had time. He was getting close to cracking it. But getting close meant nothing. Not only was the seal complicated, but inside the seal was part of Orochimaru's soul. If Kaen messed with the seal, he couldn't predict how the soul inside it would react. If he made a mistake, it might kill Anko.

It might be best to seal the seal, but it was, at best, a temporary solution. Kaen didn't like to leave it to be. It didn't sit well, unable to break Orochimaru's seal. If he gave up, he would accept defeat. The defeat was something Kaen Uchiha could never accept. So, he would continue working on it, no matter how much time he had to spend.

The days passed quickly as Kaen observed the base of the Root and tried to learn how to break the cursed seal. Kaen also checked on how Shino was doing in his training from afar. It seemed that Shino was taken well in learning more sealing jutsu, and his chakra control training went quite well. At least Kaen had one less thing to worry about.

After observing the base for almost a week, Kaen knew that Danzo didn't risk it and had sent most of his men to keep an eye on other countries and villages as Hokage demanded. Yet there were still quite a few Root members in the base guarding it and coming to and from it. It wasn't something that would hinder Kaen much.

Already knowing the layout of the base, Kaen quickly infiltrated it. Knowing where Danzo kept information on his experiments, Kaen had no trouble retrieving them. As much as Danzo was paranoid, he couldn't destroy the critical research he conducted with Kabuto and Orochimaru's help. Kaen could find everything he needed to prove that Danzo worked with Orochimaru.

The research was quite interesting, and Kaen would lie if he said that Hashirama's cells didn't interest him. But he would feel disgusted using it, knowing what was done to come to this research. Yet part of him didn't want to destroy the research, as it might be useful. Either way, Kaen had everything he needed for Hokage to make his move without persecution.