Fire Rages in Konoha (5)

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[Uzumaki Naruto's POV]

Danzō had been defeated. I got Shisui's Sharingan and four random Sharingan for me to implant. The fight was easier than I thought but difficult nonetheless. For the very first time, I felt like I had achieved something. Danzō was tricky and an expert in his crafts. He was less capable than Hashirama and Tobirama but more resistant than them. After all, the two monsters were fighting off Orochimaru's Edo Tensei.

"Ah, people are coming."

My grand plan had succeeded. I could escape Konoha and hone my power without following Jiraiya around. How did I get to this point? Let's take a few steps back and recall what happened during my search for the Ryūchi Cave.

It was said that only those who deliberately looked for it and were willing to sacrifice everything for their greed for power could find it. I was by no means greedy, but I was willing to sacrifice some things for power. Of course, that was not the reason I was confident in locating it. I could feel Natural Energy, so locating another Sennin was not a hard thing to do.

After one week of searching, I eventually stumbled into the place on the outskirts of Konoha. It was hidden by layers of Genjutsu. I dispelled the Genjutsu before entering the cave. As soon as I entered, I was greeted by three passages. It was another Genjutsu, but I didn't bother dispelling it. I kept walking to the biggest source of Natural Energy.

Hiss!

"The Genjutsu doesn't work on you," a feminine voice uttered.

"Yeah, and don't bother me. I am not in the mood of wasting time."

I blasted the entire place with my killing intent and amplified it with Kurama's Chakra. The hissing and slithering noises quieted down. I might be doing something crazy, but I was confident I could get out of the place safely. My Sekigan had debunked the entire place.

The space suddenly shifted. I had seen that coming, so I remained calm. In the next moment, I found myself standing before a white gigantic snake. Without having to pass her trial, I met the White Snake Sage.

"What do you want, young man?"

"I want you to help me practice Senjutsu. I am close to achieving Sage Mode, but I am afraid to enter it without supervision."

"… You want me to supervise you?"

I quirked an eyebrow and the big snake blinked. She mulled over it for a few seconds before nodding her head. It was quite anticlimactic, but who cares? I clasped my hands and was about to access the Natural Energy I stored in my seal when I remembered that I had no guarantee that the oversized snake wouldn't betray me.

"How would I know you would properly supervise me?"

"Make a contract with us."

Bang!

A huge scroll dropped before me. It lay flat on the ground and unfurled. A list of names was written on it, but two names stuck out the most: Orochimaru and Mitarashi Anko. I knew them.

"Yeah, sure."

Shrugging, I agreed to the proposal. I didn't have any Kuchiyose Animal, after all. I bit my thumb and wrote my name using my blood. My name shone before turning black as if it were written with ink. I instantly felt a connection to the White Snake Sage. My instinctive distrust toward her lessened greatly.

"Begin, then, young man."

Clasping my hands, I accessed the Natural Energy in my seal. I mixed it with my Chakra, doing my best to mix them evenly. It was quite a chore given my massive Chakra pool, but I did it. I was one with nature. I could feel the earth breathe and sense every living thing on earth. The feeling was amazing, but I couldn't keep it up for long.

"I am turning into a fucking snake. Can you do me a favor, Granny?"

"… Do I look old?"

Despite having an existential crisis, the white snake freed me of my misery. She tapped me with her tail, expelling the Natural Energy eroding my body. I sighed as fatigue kicked in. It was exhausting using it. It made me wonder how Hashirama could even maintain it for two days straight. Then again, the original Naruto could sleep with it, so I shouldn't be so disappointed. I am him, after all.

I tried to enter Sage Mode once again. I needed to find the equilibrium and maintain it. I didn't even move on my first attempt but still failed to do it. My Sage Mode wouldn't be useful in a fight until I could do it.

"I know you are being creative by using that Seal, but the characteristic of the Natural Energy you attract has been attuned to Orochimaru's Chakra. That is why it is quite difficult to maintain the equilibrium even though you are perfectly tranquil," the white snake suggested.

"Well, I can't seem to cheat on this one," I sighed dejectedly.

Putting my finger on the seal on my neck, I removed it. I should have expelled the Natural Energy first before doing that. The blast almost turned me into stone. Thankfully, I had the White Snake Sage. Moving on, I gathered Natural Energy manually. With my seal, I could do it in a second, but manually, I did it in a minute.

"Oh, you are right. It is a lot easier to maintain the equilibrium," I remarked after entering Sage Mode. "I think I can even move around with it."

I did some acrobatic moves and practiced my Taijutsu with a shadow clone. I could easily maintain the Sage Mode. My only problem was that I looked like an accursed child between a man and a snake. I had nothing against a hybrid child, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't a good thing in Sage Mode.

Your mastery of Sage Mode is shown by the animalistic traits you show when you are using it. The less you show, the more you master your Sage Mode. My goal was to become a perfect Sennin, so I couldn't accept the outcome. As such, I decided to spend some time at Ryūchi Cave. By the end, I had vertically slitted pupils, yellow irises, and white markings around my eyes.

"Why do I look like Pedomaru?"

"That is a bland jab at me, Naruto-kun."

The White Snake Sage might have ratted me out or it might have been a coincidence that Orochimaru visited Ryūchi Cave. Either way, I was glad he came. I had been racking my head on how to find him the whole time. Although I knew he had a hideout in Kusa, I couldn't track it without raising some suspicions.

"Perfect timing."

"Oh, have you made your decision? Come to me and I shall tell you something about your parent that Sensei doesn't even know."

"Yeah, we will get to that later. Do you want to make a deal?"

Surprised, Orochimaru looked at me silently. I waited until he was ready to speak.

"If you help me out, I will give you immortality and asylum."

"Bold of you to say I even need asylum."

I appeared behind Orochimaru and grabbed his shoulder. He tried to move but found himself immobile. His eyes widened in fear as he looked around. No longer at Ryūchi Cave, he was tied to a Shinjū in the middle of a deserted plain.

"Genjutsu, huh…? The last person who caught me this way was Itachi. I hate it how easy monsters like you to do it."

I clapped my hand and dispelled the Genjutsu. Orochimaru could move again. He sighed defeatedly, but a brief of anger flashed across his face. He looked at me stoically and spoke, accepting the deal.

"What is the deal?"

"Let's make a fake war."

"Huh…"

So, Orochimaru disguised himself as one of the higher-ups of Iwa and contacted the Prajñā Group in the Land of Woods. It was easy to convince them since they had prior resentment toward Konoha. Coincidentally, Otogakure showed interest in participating afterward. We blew the rumors of the proxy war in Suna and Konoha immediately got restless.

The hardest part of this charade was kidnapping some Suna Shinobi and brainwashing them to make Iwa's involvement more believable. One thing led to another and I finally got to eradicate Root and kill Danzō.

"Naruto, what is the meaning of this?"

I turned to Sasuke who was not having it. Someone seemed to have gotten too attached.

***

[Uchiha Sasuke's POV]

The destruction in the surroundings and the corpses littering the ground made me recall that night. I wished I was overthinking when I felt Naruto's Chakra, but I wasn't. When I arrived at the scene, my heart sank to the bottom of my stomach. Naruto was standing before the corpse of one of Konoha's Elders. The moonlight shone down on him, accentuating his red eyes as he looked at me.

Memories of what happened that night flashed across my mind. I ran to him and hoped there would be a sound reason behind this.

"Well, Sasuke… there are truths hidden by the record and lies written on it," was his cryptical answer to my question. He put his hand on my head. I hated it but didn't knock it off. "The truth shall come to light eventually, but you may seek it at your own risk. Look underneath the underneath and you will understand why I did what I did."

He smirked a little and retracted his hand.

"Reality is the truth, but people like to have their own. If you want to take a risk living a bitter life, find out the truth and if you don't… make your own. My message is to trust no one but yourself."

It was a mumbo jumbo and I couldn't wrap my head around it. However, despite hearing what Naruto had done the next day, I was sure he did nothing wrong and Konoha was hiding a dark secret.

I will figure it out.