55Danzo's planAI Model: gemini-3.0-flashChapter 55: Danzo's Plan
Inside the underground shelter.
Dark and damp.
These were fortifications built during the Third Shinobi War.
The entire space was roughly the size of a football field, several meters high, and could accommodate hundreds of people at once.
In the current era of peace, it had gradually fallen into abandonment, becoming a gathering place for the homeless.
Naruto walked down the steps.
Pushing open the shelter's heavy doors, what met his eyes was a dense, dark crowd of people.
Dozens, hundreds.
Every person wore an animal mask, and the moment he entered, everyone's gaze locked onto him.
In the center of the crowd stood a cross.
Hinata was tied to that cross.
She had no visible injuries but was unconscious; standing beside her was an Elephant Mask Cloaked Figure.
"You've come, Uzumaki Naruto."
The cloaked figure spoke slowly, a female voice ringing out.
"Oh? So many people?"
Naruto spoke as he walked into the shelter.
"Such a grand display... surely it isn't just to kidnap a fragile Hyuga Young Miss?"
"It seems you still haven't recognized the situation."
The Elephant Mask Cloaked Figure lightly raised her hand.
Click.
It was like some kind of signal.
On the periphery of the crowd, several Ninjas wearing wolf, eagle, and fox masks simultaneously formed hand Seals.
Dark red technique patterns began to emerge on the surrounding walls.
A sealing barrier, isolating all perception.
"This is a stage prepared specifically for you."
The Elephant Mask Cloaked Figure's tone was calm. "Every person present has a blood feud with you."
As her words fell, a suppressed commotion rippled through the crowd.
Low breathing and the sound of uncontrollable teeth-gritting came from behind the animal masks.
"That night of the Nine-Tails."
"Some lost parents, some lost children, and some watched their homes be swallowed by flames."
"They should have had happy lives, but on that night, everything was destroyed by you."
Naruto shrugged.
"What the hell does that have to do with me?"
"Why don't you go seek revenge on the Nine-Tails? Why look for me?"
In the crowd, someone immediately growled out.
"The Nine-Tails is inside your body!"
"Without you, how could it have appeared?"
"To still have no remorse even now... you beast!"
The Elephant Mask Cloaked Figure silenced the crowd's uproar and spoke slowly:
"Uzumaki Naruto, I heard you've been performing quite brilliantly in the Chunin Exams lately."
"You haven't gotten carried away using that demon fox's power, have you?"
As she spoke, she pulled a Kunai from her robes and pressed it against Hinata's neck.
"Why is it that someone like you can live happily? Why must we victims live in the shadows?"
"It's perfect. Today, let's have you taste the feeling of losing someone important."
The blade of the Kunai drew a faint trail of blood on Hinata's fair neck.
Naruto stopped walking.
"Are you finished?"
"Oh? Are you finally afraid?"
The Elephant Mask Cloaked Figure grinned maliciously.
Naruto shook his head. "If you're finished, then go die."
In the next instant, Naruto simultaneously activated Tailed Beast Transformation and Sage Mode.
A Kunai engraved with a Flying Thunder God Markwas thrown at a speed that nearly tore through space, accurately knocking the Kunai out of the Elephant Mask Cloaked Figure's hand.
A yellow flash suddenly lit up the dim shelter.
Naruto's figure vanished from his spot; when he reappeared, he was already holding Hinata steadily in his arms.
"Take her back first."
A Shadow Clone was summoned.
Naruto handed Hinata to the clone, who then used a Flying Thunder God Mark placed in a safe location to disappear instantly.
Then, he looked down at the masked people below, his right hand beginning to condense Chakra... in the distance.
On an open clearing.
A sensory Ninja slowly opened his eyes and reported to the old man beside him:
"Lord Danzo, there seems to have been an accident. The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki has rescued Hyuga Hinata."
"Oh?"
A hint of surprise appeared on Danzo Shimura's face, but he quickly regained his composure.
"It doesn't matter. Continue with the plan. Force the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki into a berserk state."
"Yes!"
Another person quickly formed hand Seals.
Soon, the Root members mixed within the shelter crowd received the message.
Two Sealing Squads, two Genjutsu Squads, twenty-eight veteran Chunin, eight Tokubetsu Jōnin and Jonin.
For this plan, Root had deployed nearly a quarter of its elite forces.
"What exactly are you trying to do?!"
At that moment, a female voice suddenly rang out.
Danzo glanced behind him.
"Oh? Kurenai Yuhi, you're awake."
Kurenai was being restrained by two Rootmembers, her body covered in Talismanic Incantations that sealed her Chakra.
"Danzo Shimura, have you lost your mind!"
"I should be the one saying that," Danzo sneered. "Your parents were killed by the Nine-Tails back then. To think that now, you've actually become so close to that boy."
"Kurenai Yuhi, you really have no shame."
Hearing this, Kurenai struggled to stand up, but was pinned back down firmly.
Danzo continued, "But it doesn't matter. The closer you are, the better it is."
"If that boy discovers that his beloved Teacher Kurenai actually hated him from the start, and was even mixed in with the group that wanted to kill him..."
Danzo paused, as if savoring the scene that was about to unfold.
"Do you think he will completely lose control?"
"What benefit is there to you if Naruto goes berserk? Danzo, do you intend to betray Konoha?!"
"Betray Konoha?"
At those words, Danzo gave a dry laugh. "You don't need to know that. You just need to wait quietly... wait a while to be reunited with your parents."
"You!"
Kurenai Yuhi's pupils suddenly contracted.
Anger, humiliation, and fear all surged into her heart at once.
She struggled desperately, but was suppressed by the Talismanic Incantations, unable to mobilize even a shred of Chakra.
Danzo, however, had already stopped looking at her.
He naturally wouldn't tell anyone the secret of Kotoamatsukami.
When are people easiest to manipulate?
It's not when they are angry.
Nor when they are in pain.
It's when they discover they've been betrayed by everyone, sinking into extreme despair, loneliness, and self-negation.
Only when Uzumaki Naruto enters that state will Kotoamatsukami exert its maximum effect.
By then, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki will be completely under his control.
Just as Danzo was immersed in that scene he had repeatedly rehearsed in his mind countless times...
A world-destroying surge of Chakra suddenly came from the direction of the shelter.
BOOM—!
Sage Art: Super Giant Ball Rasenshuriken!
A flash of white light passed through, and the entire underground shelter seemed to be flipped over from the inside by an invisible giant hand.
The ground surface collapsed violently, then was blown away by the frantic shockwave.
The originally enclosed underground space was forcibly torn open with a massive gap.
Countless figures poured out like a bursting flood.
Immediately after, another suffocating surge of Chakra erupted.
Sage Art: Goemon!
Flames soared into the sky, briefly turning the dark night into day.
Konoha residents poured out of their homes one after another, watching the distant phenomenon.
"Wh-What's going on? Has Orochimaru entered the village?"
On the street, Anko Mitarashi, who was munching on a sweet potato, suddenly looked up, her eyes wide and round.
"Look, fireworks!"
Inside the barbecue restaurant, Ino held a piece of beef with her chopsticks in one hand and pointed out the window at the crimson pillar of fire piercing the sky with the other.
"Wow, really!"
Choji also leaned over, but only Shikamaru realized something was wrong.
"You two idiots, how could that possibly be fireworks!"
In the deep mountains, Might Guy, who was leading Rock Lee through recovery training, suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Due to the strong momentum, his feet dragged two deep ruts into the ground.
"Ugh... Teacher Guy, what is that?"
"That... that is..." Guy's mouth hung open. "That is the mark of a youth explosion that transcends limits! Lee, we can't fall behind either. Next is one-handed handstands!"
"YES!!!"
Inside Konoha Hospital.
"Woof woof woof woof woof!"
"Akamaru, hey, don't run around!"
Akamaru was running around in a panic, with Kiba chasing after him.
Neji, who was in the same ward, walked to the window and activated his Byakugan.
He saw in the distance an extremely dense ball of Chakra light burst out from the ground and ascend into the air.