Chapter 518: The Anti-Danzō Coalition
Ishiro and Akino Atsumi returned to the Iwa branch in the Land of Fire using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Following that, the two used the teleportation formation to arrive back in Iwagakure.
Not long after returning to the village, Ishiro received a war threat from Konoha.
Ishiro didn't pay much mind to Danzō's impotent rage. He had always firmly believed that Konoha's problems couldn't be solved through war.
Konoha's problems had to be solved by Konoha itself. Ishiro had no desire to force Konoha to unite against him as an external enemy.
Faced with Danzō's threat, Ishiro thought for a moment. Considering that Danzō had actually done a decent job after taking power—by accumulating the hatred of all of Konoha's major clans—Ishiro felt he could give him some benefits.
Ishiro sorted through the archives and finally settled on a scroll containing insights into Wood Release.
This scroll was, in fact, the "rent" Obito Uchiha had given Ishiro back when he was still around.
"Danzō should need this, right?" Ishiro thought to himself, holding the scroll.
Ishiro had a copy of the scroll made and then sent an envoy to Konoha to negotiate with Danzō.
A few days later, Ishiro and Danzō reached an agreement. Ishiro had, in effect, traded a scroll of Wood Release insights for Shisui Uchiha.
Danzō truly could not refuse the temptation of Wood Release insights. Before Hashirama Senju died, he hadn't left behind any personal notes.
And with Hashirama Senju's level of intelligence, he probably couldn't have written any decent insights anyway.
Hashirama Senju had conquered the world purely on talent. Although his Wood Release was used in a dazzling array of ways, Ishiro had always believed that he relied solely on the miracle of his chakra, not on any deep understanding of Wood Release or the nature of chakra itself.
And although Danzō had transplanted parts of a White Zetsu clone's body, the White Zetsu's Wood Release was not yet at a level capable of balancing the Mangekyou Sharingan.
The Wood Release insights Ishiro provided could, to a certain extent, strengthen Danzō's Wood Release.
With this scroll, Danzō could not only truly unleash the power of his transplanted White Zetsu body but also bring his Wood Release to the point where it could suppress the Mangekyou Sharingan.
When Danzō heard just a few snippets of the Wood Release insights from the Iwa representative, he was immediately tempted.
Thus, Danzō ultimately chose to swallow his anger.
However, Danzō did state that while he agreed to drop the matter of Ishiro "killing" Shisui Uchiha, he did not agree to hand over Fugaku Uchiha's Mangekyou Sharingan to Iwa.
But Ishiro's representative simply said that of Fugaku Uchiha's pair of Mangekyou Sharingan, one had been used by Shisui Uchiha to cast Izanagi.
It was, they claimed, precisely because Shisui used Izanagi that he successfully held Ishiro back.
And the other Mangekyou Sharingan? It had been destroyed in the battle.
That eye, along with Shisui Uchiha's head, had been pulverized into paste by Ishiro's porcelain kunai.
Ishiro's reasoning was sound: it was a necessary last resort to prevent Shisui Uchiha from casting Izanagi a second time.
Danzō couldn't refute this explanation. After all, he had no proof that Ishiro had obtained Fugaku Uchiha's Mangekyou Sharingan.
Although Danzō felt that Ishiro's words weren't trustworthy, after some thought, he surmised that Ishiro had, at most, obtained only one of Fugaku's eyes.
Regardless of what Danzō guessed or how unwilling he felt, the storm over Ishiro's capture of Shisui Uchiha had finally subsided.
...
Ishiro's surprise attack on Shisui Uchiha didn't attract too much attention from the rest of the shinobi world.
This was mainly because few people had participated. Aside from Ishiro's group, the lucky survivors on Konoha's side were all ANBU elites, and none of them would leak intelligence.
The other ninja villages were, by contrast, more concerned about the explosion caused by the Sage Art: Five Elements Great Consecutive Bullets Technique at the passage's location.
Although that massive explosion—thanks to Kakashi's Kamui—didn't appear as absurdly powerful on the shinobi world's side as it had back in the Land of Wind, an explosion comparable to a standard S-rank ninjutsu was still enough to attract everyone's attention.
They all speculated about who could be causing trouble inside the Land of Fire this time.
But there was too little useful intelligence revealed, so after a bit of guessing, the matter was dropped.
Inside Konoha, however, it was a different story. Because the ANBU survivors included shinobi from the major clans, the incident could not be hidden from the powerful clans that Danzō was suppressing.
Hiashi Hyuga, Shikaku Nara, Chōza Akimichi, Inoichi Yamanaka, Shibi Aburame, Tsume Inuzuka, Shinku Yūhi, and others held an extraordinary meeting using their clans' secret techniques.
These various clan heads, taking advantage of the release of the recent Ninja Academy exam results, took their children to the same street in Konoha for a "family dinner."
They each chose a different restaurant. Some booked private rooms; some just dined in the main hall.
These clan heads, along with their wives and children, held a completely normal dinner gathering.
But secretly, the Aburame clan head, Shibi Aburame, was the first to act. Using his Kikaichū, he spelled out words, one by one, in a corner just visible to each clan head's peripheral vision.
Of course, Hiashi Hyuga didn't need this. He had his Byakugan activated, using the pretext of his eldest daughter Hinata's performance to "educate" his younger daughter Hanabi on how to use the Byakugan.
"Tsuchikage attacked. Kakashi heavily injured. Shisui Uchiha stayed behind to cover the retreat. Status unknown." The Kikaichū slowly formed the words, one after another, before the clan heads' eyes.
Shibi Aburame was the most critical messenger in this meeting.
Not long after this line of text was written, a faint barking sound drifted into everyone's ears. It was a few of the Inuzuka clan's ninken, "arguing."
The clan heads diverted a fraction of their attention to listen. Combining the sound with their pre-arranged code, they understood. Tsume Inuzuka was asking: "Can we use Shisui Uchiha's disappearance as a pretext to damage Danzō's prestige?"
Just as Tsume finished her "question," the clan heads suddenly felt a strange chakra wash over them. Having been prepared, they did not resist.
The next moment, each of them entered a very simple genjutsu.
Inside the illusion, Shinku Yūhi said the same thing to each of them: "Although the village's upper echelons know about Shisui Uchiha, the villagers do not."
"Using this to damage Danzō's prestige isn't realistic. Danzō can simply deny everything. That's a move he is perfectly capable of making."
After he finished speaking, the genjutsu shattered.
After a while, a voice suddenly rang out in their minds: "Shikaku, your thoughts. Is there any way for us to use this situation?"
This was Inoichi Yamanaka's voice. He was using his clan's secret jutsu to establish a special telepathic link.
Not long after Inoichi's voice faded, the clan heads saw, in the corners of their vision, small grains of rice, salt, fine threads, or dust that had been "accidentally" spilled. Pulled by a minuscule shadow, they began to form words.
"This incident won't help us. In fact, our situation is likely to become even more difficult."
"When the heavily injured Kakashi returned to the village, he was immediately taken by Root members to the Hokage's office."
"Kakashi stayed in the Hokage's office for over an hour. After that, he has not been seen in public."
"My guess is... he's been placed under the Tongue-Cursing Seal and has joined Root."
Shikaku Nara, all while listening to his wife's nagging, used his Shadow Imitation Technique to transmit his speculations to the group.
Seeing this, everyone was collectively shocked.
Kakashi was their candidate for the Seventh Hokage. He was their biggest bargaining chip against Danzō. After all, after overthrowing Danzō, they had to endorse a new Hokage.
If they couldn't even find a suitable candidate, why would the middle and lower-ranking shinobi of the village support them?
It was all because they, the heads of the great clans, were not up to the task themselves. Not one of them was suitable to become Hokage.
The group fell silent. After a while, a waiter came to each of their tables with a menu. "Good evening. These are our restaurant's new dishes. You are all valued customers; if you'd like to order, we can offer a discount."
The clan heads each took the menu and glanced at it. In addition to the normal menu items, there was a line of text written in a special "ink": "Can we ask Lord Third to come out of retirement? To become Hokage again?"
The one passing the message was Chōza Akimichi. This street had many restaurants, and it just so happened that all the restaurants the clan heads had chosen belonged to his family.
After reading the intel, the clan heads impassively used their chakra to erase the text.
Tsume Inuzuka said her ninken wanted to try the new dishes and ordered several.
Shikaku Nara handed the menu to his wife, indicating he wasn't the one in charge.
Hiashi Hyuga waved his hand. One of everything. He wasn't short on money.
Shibi Aburame waved it away. His insects were allergic to these new dishes.
Shinku Yūhi stated that they, as genjutsu users, were small eaters and didn't need any.
Inoichi Yamanaka was just about to give his opinion when the menu was snatched away by his daughter, Ino Yamanaka.
After another pause, Shikaku's shadow-words appeared again: "Finding Hiruzen Sarutobi is an option. But this time, we cannot be the ones to initiate. The relationship between Hiruzen and Danzō is... complicated."
"If we are to cooperate, we need to wait for Hiruzen to approach us. We cannot let him know we are already in agreement."
"Also, everyone, gather as much intel as you can on the Tongue-Cursing Seal."
"Kakashi's personality is similar to Tsunade's. They both care about the villagers' opinions. That kind of Hokage is beneficial for us."
"Our first choice is to break the Tongue-Cursing Seal and remove Kakashi's worries."
"Hiruzen Sarutobi is, in essence, no different from Danzō; he's just more subtle. If we can choose Kakashi, we should not choose Hiruzen."
Next, the group discussed various other methods for dealing with Danzō.
The family dinners lasted for a long time before ending. On the way home, Hiashi Hyuga felt he had lost a lot of face.
He, the head of Konoha's most powerful clan, had no way to speak his mind in such an important meeting. In the end, he had to rely on Inoichi Yamanaka.
He was even less useful than Chōza Akimichi! At least Chōza got to say a few words by delivering menus and discount offers.
His Hyuga clan's Byakugan, at this moment, could do nothing but watch.
In the end, he was reduced to the same level as the minor clans like the Gekkō, Mitarashi, Yamashiro, and Shiranui.
Danzō knew nothing of this meeting. Hiruzen Sarutobi also failed to detect it. Other than the clan heads themselves, only Shikamaru Nara felt that his old man had been acting a bit strange today.
His dad, who was normally completely uninterested in menus or bills, had actually taken the initiative to look at them today.
This was so rare that his mother had even praised him, saying he was finally starting to care about the trivial matters of the household.
On this day, the major clans of Konoha formed the official Anti-Danzō Coalition.
But as the first meeting of the Anti-Danzō Coalition ended, no one was in a good mood.
They had originally thought they could do something immediately, only to be told that Kakashi, their chosen spokesperson, was now also in trouble.
...
Ishiro had no idea about the upgraded "Chūnin Exam" that had just taken place far away in Konoha. He was currently looking with confusion at the two young girls in front of him.
Sakura and Karin.
Ishiro hadn't paid attention to this group of children for a long time. But if he remembered correctly, weren't Sakura and Karin on different sides?
One of them was on Kurotsuchi's side, and the other supported Yi Mizunashi.
Why were the two of them suddenly so friendly? Did Kurotsuchi and Yi Mizunashi know about this?
Seeing Ishiro's astonished gaze, Sakura, who was relatively more familiar with him, spoke gently, "Lord Tsuchikage, Karin would also like to learn medical ninjutsu. Is that possible?"
Inner Sakura, meanwhile, was cursing up a storm: "I knew it! The Tsuchikage is just like the rumors say: gossipy, two-faced, and totally unprofessional!"
"That look in his eyes just now was pure gossip!"
Ishiro knew that Karin's constitution also made her extremely suitable for learning medical ninjutsu.
But her situation was special. If Ishiro or the village had taken the initiative to suggest it, it might have made Karin and her mother feel that the village was coveting their special ability.
This sort of thing could be a small issue or a big one, but Ishiro wasn't willing to take the risk. He didn't want to plant that kind of seed in Karin's mind.
Thus, Ishiro put on a curious face and asked, "Karin, isn't it? Why do you want to learn medical ninjutsu?"
Karin looked conflicted. She had only come to find Sakura because her mother had told her to.
Karin's mother had explained in detail about their mother-daughter special constitution, and had stressed that this was something only Ishiro could know.
Karin glanced at Sakura, who had introduced her to Ishiro, but still said in a small voice, "Lord Tsuchikage... I want to talk to you alone."
Sakura's head snapped toward Karin. At this moment, not only was Inner Sakura letting loose a string of curses, but even Outer Sakura could barely maintain her composure.
Karin looked down, not daring to meet Sakura's eyes. She felt she had let Sakura down.
Ishiro watched the "little boat of their friendship" capsize just like that, and he was inwardly ecstatic. He decided to add some fuel to the fire. "Karin, since you have a little secret you can't tell your best friend, then..."
"Sakura, you wait here for a moment. Karin and I will go chat in the corner."
Karin looked on the verge of tears at Sakura, who had been trying to pretend she didn't care but was now on the verge of breaking.
The worst part was, she couldn't explain. She could only follow Ishiro to the corner, looking back at Sakura with every step.
The two of them left Sakura and walked to the side. Karin immediately said, "Lord Tsuchikage, my mom said... my body has a very strong self-healing ability. If someone is injured, they just have to bite me and drink a little of my... chakra... and they can recover." (Translator's note: The text says 'blood', but in Naruto, this ability is tied to her chakra. We'll stick to the text's "blood" for accuracy to the raw, but "chakra" is the canon mechanic.)
"So, my mom told me to ask you, Lord Tsuchikage, to learn medical ninjutsu."
Ishiro pretended to look at her in surprise, then feigned a long, weighing pause, before finally saying with a grave expression, "Karin, first, I can accept you as my disciple, just as I did Sakura."
"I will give you all the materials you need to learn medical ninjutsu, and I will also provide you with opportunities to practice. You must not tell anyone else that I have taken you as my student."
"But there is one point you absolutely must remember: this secret of yours cannot be known by anyone else. That includes your good friends."
"Finally, go back and tell your mother to rest assured. The village will treat every villager fairly. Tell her to live peacefully in the village and not to worry about anything bad happening to you."
Karin nodded, only half-understanding. Still at an age where she daydreamed about cute boys, she didn't yet grasp the deep meaning behind Ishiro's words.
After they finished talking, they returned to Sakura's side. Before Karin could speak, Ishiro spoke first: "Sakura, from now on, Karin is my disciple, just like you."
"Karin's talent for medical ninjutsu is no worse than yours. You'll have to work hard, okay? Don't let her surpass you just because she started later."
Karin's mouth fell open, hit by Ishiro's directness, and for a moment she didn't know what to say.
Sakura, meanwhile, nodded with a stiff expression. Inner Sakura had already cussed out Karin—who had stolen her teacher—a thousand times over.
"Bitch! Green tea bitch! She's definitely a green tea bitch! I must have been blind to ever be friends with her!"
After lighting the fire, Ishiro strolled away.
When he was far enough away, he could faintly hear their conversation.
"Sakura, listen to me, it's not what you think!" This was Karin's meek voice.
"Hmph. Karin, congratulations. From now on, we are fellow disciples. I'll be in your care." This was Sakura, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Ishiro, his back to them, let a small smile spread across his face. Very good. Competition breeds motivation.
In the original story, Sakura's desire to become stronger was the most intense in the entire shinobi world. She had the ambition to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with two world saviors.
It was precisely because of this ambition that Sakura was able to become Kage-level.
But the original Sakura was still not enough. Sakura's greatest talent had still been wasted.
That evening, Ishiro first sent someone to the medical department to get a copy of the study materials from Nakata Hajime for Karin. Then, he went alone to Sakura's house.
When Sakura saw Ishiro had come to see her, she suddenly felt aggrieved, and tears welled up in her eyes.
She had acted strong in front of Karin during the day, but she was still terrified on the inside. She had no confidence in her own talent.
As a civilian-born, she was slowly beginning to feel the gap between herself and those from famous shinobi clans.
Ishiro ruffled Sakura's hair. "Sakura, Karin's talent is stronger than yours."
As soon as Ishiro said this, Sakura's heart filled with panic, terrified that his next words would be that he was dropping her as his disciple.
But Ishiro continued, "However, I have more faith in you."
Sakura's head snapped up, and she looked into Ishiro's sincere eyes.
"You are a genius I specifically snatched back from Konoha. Although Karin has extraordinary talent in medical ninjutsu, you have an advantage that she doesn't."
"Your talent for Yin Release is also very strong." Saying this, Ishiro took out the scroll that Katsumata had tinkered with, the one used for practicing Yin Release.
Ishiro handed the scroll to Sakura and said very solemnly, "Sakura, this is a secret Yin Release training manual from your teacher."
"This is different from the study materials from before. This is a secret manual that one only has the chance to be taught by the village after becoming a ninja and displaying talent for Yin Release."
"In the entire Ninja Academy, you are the only one I have given this to. You must study it well. At the same time, you must keep it a secret. Do not let anyone else know."
"Teacher doesn't want to be accused of playing favorites with you. This belongs to the village, and by doing this, Teacher is already breaking the village's rules."
Sakura was incredibly moved. She clutched the scroll tightly to her chest, already treating it as her secret weapon to completely crush Karin.
Seeing this, Ishiro immediately barked, "However, Sakura Haruno! Even though you have talent in Yin Release, I expect you not to lose to Karin in medical ninjutsu either!"
"As the disciple I have the highest hopes for, the junior I have the most faith in, you must be perfect. I look forward to the day when I see you reach the pinnacle of the shinobi world in both medical ninjutsu and Yin Release."
"A mere Karin is just a stumbling block on your path of growth. If you can't even surpass Karin, I will be deeply disappointed."
Both Outer Sakura and Inner Sakura stared blankly at Ishiro. At this moment, Sakura felt that Ishiro's image was so tall and great. At this moment, she felt as if she had found her direction.
Ishiro smiled inwardly. "Sakura, what you lack in talent, you must make up for with hard work. You can use the time that fangirl Karin wastes on looking at cute boys to study and train. Do not disappoint your teacher."
Outer Sakura and Inner Sakura both nodded vigorously at the same time. Then, she hugged the scroll and ran back into her house to train.
Ishiro was very satisfied. Sakura's previous study and training habits had been too lax; she lacked pressure.
Karin's addition was perfect. The two of them could push each other forward.
When Ishiro returned home, his assistant had already brought the materials from Nakata Hajime.
Ishiro took the materials and went straight to Karin's house. Karin's mother was also home.
However, Ishiro just nodded to her and called Karin to the side.
"Lord Tsuchikage..." Karin said, her spirits low.
Ishiro said, "Karin, when there's no one else around, you can call me Ishiro-sensei."
Karin, still listless, called out, "Ishiro-sensei."
Ishiro nodded. "Karin, Sakura cried."
Karin froze, looking at Ishiro in disbelief. During the day, Sakura had acted so strong. Karin never expected that such a decisive Sakura would cry.
Ishiro handed the medical ninjutsu materials to Karin and continued, "Karin, this is the study material for medical ninjutsu. This is where Sakura learned her knowledge."
"Sakura is a very proud girl. If you want to regain her friendship, you have to show talent that is no weaker than hers."
"Sakura's talent isn't that much worse than yours, but she had a head start. Although you're a year older, while you were looking at cute boys, Sakura has been studying hard."
"Therefore, you still have a long way to go to reach her level."
"If you want to mend this friendship, then train hard. Catch up to her, surpass her, and in the future, even guide her in medical ninjutsu."
"If you can do that, will you still be afraid of Sakura ignoring you?"
Karin's eyes lit up. She felt that Ishiro's words made a lot of sense.
Seeing Karin's expression, Ishiro smiled to himself. "Study hard. You are the disciple I have the highest hopes for."
"You are the child with the strongest medical talent in the village. I hope you will not betray your mother's and my expectations for you."
Karin nodded heavily. She looked back at her mother, busy in the house, and then thought of Sakura, whose heart she had broken today. Karin felt that she really, truly needed to study hard.
(End of Chapter)
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