47 Chapter 47

— Jiraiya —

"GAAAH!" Danzo shouted, some of the needles pierced his legs as he jumped away.

"Jiraiya! What is the meaning of this?!" Hiruzen asked, ready to stop Jiraiya here and now. His chakra flared to life and his hand came up in a seal.

The ANBU, Boar, Fox, and Dragon all clashed with Danzo's two ROOT shinobi, engaging in an intense battle.

"I'm not even going to try and explain anything. Good thing we planned ahead."

'Release!'

— Flashback Yesterday —

He sat down at the table the oldies were meeting at. The meeting was very exclusive. Only He, Sensei, Homura, and Koharu were in attendance, all sitting silently.

"So, you truly plan to arrest Danzo?" Koharu questioned, letting out a tired sigh and rubbing her temples. "To think it has come to this."

"I do, it's a necessary move. Every moment he's free he threatens the security Konoha possesses." Hiruzen said, his voice was tired, perhaps the most tired Jiraiya had heard since his son had died.

His sensei hid his pain well, but anyone who knew him for a great deal of time could see the pain he carried within his body every day.

Everyone in the room could see it.

"I hold no opinion." Hamura tapped his fingers on the table. "Danzo is a friend, but if you see that he is a threat, then as Tobirama-sensei's successor, the decision falls solely to you."

"Yes, I'm quite aware." Hiruzen groaned. "I appreciate the words, but this meeting isn't to ask for your permission."

Hamura gave a curt nod, leaning forward a bit. "Then please, proceed."

Hiruzen let out a brief sigh, eyes steeling. "We believe Danzo may possess the eyes of Shisui Uchiha."

Both elders' mouths dropped open for mere moments before their questions flew.

"How could that be?!"

"Are you sure, Hiruzen?!"

Hiruzen held up a hand, and both former teammates of the current Hokage calmed down, waiting for him to explain.

"I am unsure if this is a fact. I do, however, believe it is highly likely."

"How do you know?" Hamura asked, much more calmly.

Hiruzen looked over to Jiraiya and the latter let out a sigh.

It was always him reporting, it seemed it was all he was good for nowadays-

No, he had his books…his art.

"We conducted an…experiment of sorts." Jiraiya shrugged, he liked getting these old birds curious.

"Spit it out, Jiraiya." Koharu frowned.

She was always rather spiteful towards him. Considering he had peeked at her more than a hundred times during their lives, it was well deserved.

What a beauty she once was, time is cruel.

Jiraiya shook his head, adopting a more serious expression. "Well, we wanted to see if Danzo could possess one of Shisui Uchiha's eyes in his right socket."

Hamura went into thought hearing that while Koharu was ready with a follow-up question. "Did you find anything? A sharingan should have a constant flow of chakra."

"That's just the thing, we didn't-"

"Then why are you wasting our time with this?" Koharu asked with a deep frown. "If you didn't sense anything then he doesn't have that boy's eyes. At least not on him.

"Let him finish, Koharu." Hiruzen chastised.

She didn't like him, did she? Well, he can't even be mad at her. Some of the ladies just can't handle the Gallant Jiraiya!

"What I was saying, is we didn't find anything…the first time."

"The first time?" Hamura sat forward, his curiosity peaked.

"Yes, when we monitored Danzo from a distance, his chakra flowed normally, with no abnormalities whatsoever."

"So you observed him again?" Koharu asked, crossing her arms under her chest. A saggy chest, damn, once upon a time they held themselves up with purpose!

"We did." Hiruzen nodded.

"Oh, you participated, Hiruzen?" Homura asked, a slight smirk tugging at his lips.

"I did."

"Anyways." Jiraiya caught their attention. "We observed Danzo again, this time Sensei made a surprise visit to Danzo while he was eating at one of the village's restaurants. One of my Hyuga spies was perched several miles away. It was then that something interesting happened."

Everyone remained quiet waiting for him. They were no fun!

"His chakra flowed differently. As he spoke to Sensei about some changes to his ROOT, a new chakra released in his eye."

A tense silence descended upon the room as the two elders processed the information.

"Then it must be true." Koharu sighed. Her face hardened a great deal, as did everyone else's. For good reason. Shisui, a monster of an Uchiha. A shinobi who unlocked his Mangekyo Sharingan at the young age of 7, and the grandson of their good friend, Kagami Uchiha. For Danzo to possess at least one of Shisui's eyes, boded horrible things for Konoha as a whole and more than that-

It spat in the face of Kagami's legacy.

"There's more."

The elder's eyes snapped back to Jiraiya who put on a more grim expression.

"The chakra in Danzo's eye coursed through his body, more specifically down his neck and into his right arm. The rest of the chakra within his body was normal with no abnormalities.

"That's…unusual. The chakra of a sharingan implant should not spread to an arm." Koharu frowned and she was correct. Kakashi Hatake was living proof of that. If a Hyuga looked at Kakashi with their Byakugan, they would see his normal chakra flowing throughout his body and the chakra of Obito Uchiha lingering in his sharingan eye.

"Yes, it is, we don't have any definitive answers, but there are many different theories we have come up with," Hiruzen spoke up. "Some of them are better than others."

"I can think of a few myself." Koharu hummed. "Tell me, were there any different chakra signatures within the right arm?"

"No," Hiruzen answered. "It was just Shisui Uchiha's. Though I believe we have come to the same theory?"

"If your theory has something to do with the other eye of Shisui Uchiha being implanted in Danzo's right arm, then yes…we do." Koharu rubbed her temples. Koharu was an absolute genius in the medical ninjutsu scene, not near Tsunade's level, but it's not unusual for the student to surpass the master.

"Indeed, that does seem to be the most likely conclusion." Jiraiya crossed his arms. "We don't have much else to go off of, but we do know of Shisui's ocular abilities, or at least the one he shares with Kagami Uchiha."

"Kotoamatsukami." Homura sighed. "Such a thing…in Danzo's hands."

Hiruzen nodded. "A very powerful genjutsu, once someone is trapped in it, they bend to the will of the user, enacting out the caster's will as if it were their own. It's a jutsu with no weaknesses"

Silence returned to the room as both Jiraiya and his sensei let the two elders process everything before they got into the real business.

"Every jutsu has a weakness, Sensei taught us that," Homura said after a while and Hiruzen smirked at his old teammate.

"You're right, Homura. There is a weakness, a few actually, weaknesses that can only be removed through extreme measures."

"The usage time." Homura's lips twitched upwards.

"That's one of them." Jiraiya nodded.

"Ten years between each usage, for Danzo to use it once, it means he wouldn't be able to use it again for an entire decade." Koharu hummed thoughtfully.

"That's not much of a weakness though if you get caught in it. And we are of the belief he would not have used it for something so minor If he had to wait decades between uses." Jiraiya shrugged. "We believe he has found an answer to that weakness in that arm of his. Which is why the chakra went down to it"

"...That's true and concerning." Koharu's scowl returned. She really hated him.

"Yes, and there's no real way around that. That's the kind of shinobi Kagami and Shisui Uchiha were. There's a reason they both had run-on sight orders."

"Then I assume you mean to capitalize on another weakness?" The lone woman in the room asked.

"We do." Jiraiya stroked his chin. "Kotoamatsukami poses a dangerous threat, but the only way to beat it is to know that you're being affected. It's strong because it's indecipherable and unbreakable, but that only applies to the order…"

"The order?"

"Well, for example, say I have Koto, and I ordered you not to kick any rocks for the rest of your life." Jiraiya started, earning hesitant but understanding nods from the elders. "You wouldn't be able to purposely kick any rocks for the remainder of your life, but nothing would stop you from picking them up and throwing them, or accidentally kicking them. Kotoamatsukami rewires the affected person's brain to follow an order, but the order is only carried out based on how competent that person is."

The two elders grew thoughtful at that. It was a pretty basic concept that was overlooked because of how much anyone who fought with Kagami Uchiha praised him. His eyes were powerful, frighteningly so, but they weren't perfect. That imperfection was passed off to Shisui.

"I understand, so what is your plan regarding Danzo?" Homura asked, ready to get to the climax of this meeting.

"There will be no stopping Danzo from using Shisui's eyes if he truly possesses them. This means someone will have to take the brunt of the jutsu, while simultaneously providing a more passive approach to Danzo so he doesn't feel backed into a corner. If he gets pushed too far, his order may be more severe, but if he's just getting arrested, his order shouldn't be anything too mind-altering."

"It's a shot in the dark, but killing a shinobi like Danzo through assassination is just not happening." Jiraiya reached into his pouch and pulled out a seal written on chakra paper. "This is a copy of a seal that was created by me along with Inoichi Yamanaka, it's a seal that can be used directly on someone's mind."

"What are your plans with such a seal?" Homura queried.

"The first was already used when we tested to see if Danzo had the eyes, in case he had the Memory eye instead of the Order one, my memories of all this were sealed at the time so Danzo could not see them. Jiraiya's expression turned grim once more as Hiruzen answered. "I will be the one to bear the weight of Kotoamatsukami, should Danzo use it. If it is just the Memory one the seal will inform me of the truth and thus break its intended effect. But if it's the Order one then the Seal will place my mind into a Coma until Danzo is dealt with so I do not unwillingly interfere on his side. "

"No!" Koharu shot up. "You fool, what if he takes control of your mind completely?!"

"Then Inoichi, Shikaku, and Jiraiya will ensure that both I and Danzo are laid to rest," Hiruzen answered with finality.

"Are you insane?!" Homura questioned this time, and Jiraiya partially agreed with them. They could at least attempt an assassination on Danzo before resorting to such a thing. It's true that if Danzo was made aware of such an attempt he would use Kotoamatsukami on Hiruzen anyway, or if Jiraiya were a part of the attack, he would use it on him to gather intel.

It was a dirty situation that would reap dirty consequences, no matter how they played it.

"If Sensei falls under Danzo's control, I'll use the seal on him. It's laced with Inoichi's memories of a talk we had similar to this one. It shouldn't counter Kotoamatsukami, but it should fill Sensei's mind with the mission. Let one thing be known for certain though…if Danzo uses Shisui's eyes, he's dead."