The Encounter! Part-2

{Training Ground 21, Konohagakure}

{3:27 PM, 27 March 78 Yrs}

Danzo arrived at training ground 21 almost half an hour before Hiroshi was expected to come back, a team was surveying everything around the training ground as Danzo looked around, the training ground was quite isolated and frankly a good place for the current Hiroshi to stay out of the limelight.

'...It was said that he had above-average chakra control, so it's possible he has learned the water walking exercise, but he had to do it somewhere other than here, he can't even practice shape manipulation here, that type of advanced chakra control training would have raised some eyebrows, but then again he is just a genin so he wouldn't be able to gain access to advanced chakra control techniques which means he naturally has a greater chakra control, which might mean his natural resistance to genjutsu might be higher...'

As Danzo pondered on what to use Koi jumped to his side, "Danzo-sama, Hiroshi left the library early he should be arriving soon."

Danzo paused as he pondered over the coincidence before he shook his head, there was no way his coming here had anything to do with Hiroshi changing his schedule, he just would have to increase the amount of killing intent to take care of any variables.

Danzo saw him before he did, the kid dressed like a typical Aburame even though he is not part of the clan, according to the reports his hands and body are covered in scars like the other members of his clan and he doesn't like showing those off. His eyes were unfocused and Danzo frowned, either he was too good at the foolish act and he noticed something, or he needed to be properly drilled to keep his concentration even within the safety of the village.

Danzo saw the recognization flash in Hiroshi's eyes, for some reason the kid at the very least recognized who he was, he paused for a brief moment before he continued, his eyes scanning his surroundings. Danzo had planned to just use the genjutsu right from the start but that Hiroshi recognized him made him want to just test something out.

"Hiroshi Aburame..." Danzo spoke with a level tone, his eyes scanning for any abnormal behavior Hiroshi might exhibit. He should have realized he slipped up since he paused, it was easy to see he recognizing me, now that also could be because it was strange to find someone waiting for you at an isolated place, and according to his psych eval, he should stay away.

"Elder Danzo..." Hiroshi replied before he dipped his head a little, his eyes never leaving Danzo's as they both regarded each other for a moment.

"...it seems the reports were true, you do spend a lot of time reading in the library," Danzo spoke, he started manipulating his chakra towards his throat and let it mingle with the words, the first sentence was just to make sure once again that the kid couldn't detect chakra, once he confirmed no reaction from him, other than confusion at his words Danzo hummed.

"..Hmmm." He leaked his Killing intent and directed it at Hiroshi, he saw his knees buckle at the invisible pressure which masked the trigger of his genjutsu technique. There was only one reason why Hiroshi regarded him as Elder Danzo when they have never met before, he was addressing his position as an Elder of Konoha trying to gauge his intentions while also clarifying that it was the reason for his pause and bewilderment.

'Demonic Illusion: Serenity Dream Sleep'

It was one of his most effective ways to start the genjutsu trap, most of the lower-level ninjas are not ready for a sound-based trigger for a genjutsu, and the genjutsu he used was a common one that dulled someone's senses, independently it wasn't a good technique to use but when layered with other genjutsu's it could be used to make a surprisingly strong genjutsu.

Rat -> Ram-> Boar-> Bird-> Rat

'Demonic Illusion: Double-Layered Seneory Overload'

Danzo went through a series of hand seals and carefully manipulate his chakra to mingle with Hiroshi's, the first thing he needed to do was make his auditory senses overload, making the first genjutsu stronger because it uses his ears as the medium, while at the same time, it keeps increasing the pressure he felt from his Killing intent.

Bird-> Snake-> Rat

'Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique'

"You are hiding your real strength, why?" Danzo kept applying pressure, and the three techniques that he used worked great in conjugation, the Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique is supposed to show someone his worst nightmare, but the Demonic Illusion: Serenity Dream Sleep interferes with that as it is supposed to dull his visual senses, so right about now he should be seeing colors pop up on his vision, they both work as hypnotic but also subconsciously place the thought that the reality is bending as the line between fantasy and illusion became unclear in the back of Hiroshi's mind.

The Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique is the best way to end this combo because it also dulls the response from the part of the brain that whatever you were seeing couldn't possibly be real or the entire purpose of attacking someone with their worst nightmares wouldn't work because most of the nightmares people have are fantasies. Danzo watched as Hiroshi thumped onto his knees, his back was still straight as he was staring into space in a daze, it took a few moments for him to start talking again.

"why?... WhY?... WHY!!!... w... h. ...y ? ? ??" his voice went in and out as Danzo closed the distance between them, another jolt of Killing Intent focused his attention back on the question before a brief moment of confusion overtook his blank facial features.

"I... Just... want... to...want... survive...Just... want... want" He paused for several seconds at times trying to comprehend what was happening, the Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique was currently suppressing his processing power leaving him a husk of intelligence to try and figure out what was happening.

"is happen...ing is swirling...at did he do?...feels weird..." His voice kept slurring before he was able to answer for longer, the inhibition between his thoughts and speech was removed at the moment so Danzo asked the question he most wanted to know right now, the rest could be tackled at a later date.

"Say the first thing that comes to your mind when I say, Konoha?" It was a standard question that anyone who was under the stage 1 interrogation routine was asked, Hiroshi thought for a moment before he spoke.

"Konoha???... Konoha... Naruto...'s home... the...center of... the... story..." Danzo froze for a moment, it was an answer that he never expected and wasn't ready for, he felt the genjutsu break, his connection to his chakra broken he pondered over what Hiroshi meant as he saw the kid dry heave in front of him for a moment.

After half a minute he saw the kid look up, his eyes were sharp as they both eyed each other, Danzo didn't know what was going through his mind, there was no hesitation in those eyes anymore but he was sure that something was different from the reports he had read. For any paranoid person, he would subconsciously back away after going through a reality-bending genjutsu, especially the ones that attack the link between his thoughts and speech.

But Hiroshi's consciousness right now was clear, his eyes were laser-focused as if he was watching for Danzo's next move, they both stayed like this before Danzo was the one who broke the silence.

"What do you know about Uzumaki Naruto?" There was no hesitation on his face again, his eyes were still focused on Danzo.

'There's hostility hidden deep within his eyes but he keeps on suppressing them, he is quite good at masking his real intent, but it seems like it hates the Kyuubi container...' Danzo observed but his real attention was still focused on the words spoken by Hiroshi, the Kyuubi Jinchuriki's home should not be his first thought when asked about Konoha, and he followed it by saying 'the center of the story', now the interrogation technique isn't foolproof, some thoughts stay in the target's mind while the rest he spoke so it could easily be the center of his story or something along those lines.

'But why would he associate the Kyuubi Jinchuriki's name with Konoha... even if it was possible that there was something he thought about before or after Naruto...'

Danzo's mind was thinking of the possible words that could be inserted in those gaps to be used to form meaningful thoughts but right now he was drawing a blank, it was Hiroshi's voice that broke his thought chain.

"I don't remember my parents Danzo-sama, they died in the Kyuubi attack, I have heard whispers going around the force about Naruto Uzumaki being the Jinchuriki of the Demon Fox..." Danzo observed Hiroshi's face as he spoke, there was no malice in his voice but his eyes were darker, "...maybe if they had lived... then maybe my situation would be different-" he cut himself off as he shook his head, he closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, slowly he stood up, reaching eye level to Danzo.

"I'm hiding my real strength because the Aburame clan wants to kill me, they even managed to get to my team captain, I noticed he was acting strange during the last mission, so one day if anything does happen, I want to have the strength to at least, survive-" Danzo observed how Hiroshi's eyes gleamed at the last word, he suppressed a frown as he remembered what Orochimaru's parent's death did to him, the will to survive was a strong motivator if channeled correctly.

One thing was still clear to Danzo though, all Psych evaluations done by Rikari Namikana needed to be looked at again. He looked at Hiroshi's aggressive posture and dismissed his evaluation about paranoia being Hiroshi's dominant trait.

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AN- A shorter Author's note, there you go, the chapter's word limit is adjusted from here on out, also if someone would like to read the omake I was talking about. I have started writing it slowly, just enough that it doesn't harm my schedule.

'Orochimaru and the Hunt for the Horcrux' What do you think? I think I'll post the first chapter today or tomorrow so I hope you guys like it!

P.S- Read Chapter 45 - 6th Simulation! Part 2 at my P.atreon- p.atreon.com/DesMark