Hiruzen took a slow drag from his pipe, letting the smoke curl up toward the ceiling, and then he leaned back in his chair with a tired sigh. "Tell me why you are here again, Danzo?"
He studied his lifelong friend across the desk, taking in the bandage wrapped around Danzo's right eye.
"The relationship between us and the Kagero Village, is it still the same?" Danzo asked flatly.
Hiruzen inhaled again, letting the smoke settle in his lungs, and then he exhaled. "Sadly, yes. I fear that a conflict will become unavoidable before too long." He turned his gaze toward the window, where the stone faces of the Hokage mountain stared back at him.
"It was their own fault for messing with one of our chakra weapon caravans! They have not apologized, and they have not compensated us. So why are we still waiting? Let us simply attack them Hiruzen!" Danzo said.
Hiruzen replied, "That is not possible. I refuse to start a war over a handful of chakra weapons. You know as well as I do that every other village is praying for an excuse like this so they can throw more fuel on the fire and begin the Second Shinobi World War."
*Bam!*
Danzo slammed his fist against the armrest of his chair. "Damn you, Hiruzen! You are far too kindhearted. You were never suited to be Hokage!"
Hiruzen just stared at him with a bored expression, refusing to get ragebaited. After a moment of silence, he said, "So why are you here, Danzo? I know you did not come all this way just to question my right to sit in this chair. Tell me what you actually want."
Danzo's visible eye narrowed, but he stayed quiet for a few more seconds.
Hiruzen puffed on his pipe again, let the smoke drift lazily upward, and raised an eyebrow. "Well? I am waiting."
"I want to take over that Hatake boy's business," Danzo said at last, his voice dripping with cold calculation.
"Heaven's Feel? That company has already spread almost across the Land of Fire, Danzo. Why? Do you think it's that easy?" Hiruzen asked, confused by the sudden interest.
Danzo's voice rose, and a vein bulged on his forehead. "Don't you understand, Hiruzen? That business is a gold mine. It is absurd to think that some damn recipes could generate millions of easy money in such a short amount of time. Do you even need to ask why we should take over?"
Hiruzen said nothing, letting Danzo vent.
"Do I even need to mention that this month alone, those restaurants generated millions of ryo?" Danzo continued, his hands clenching into fists. "People are becoming completely addicted to that food. Other food districts are collapsing and the land around Heaven's Feel is getting more and more expensive every day because everyone wants to live near there and even local vendors and stores are relocating to get closer to the hustle and bustle of that district."
Hiruzen considered all of this carefully.
Danzo was not wrong about the money. The Hatake boy had built something that not only clans, but even the nobles of other countries wanted a piece of. Some nobles even had purchased mansions near the district just so they could eat there on their holidays.
If the business kept growing at this rate, the revenue would become almost impossible to imagine.
Hiruzen said, keeping his voice calm, "Even so, taking over the business would not be easy as I said."
Danzo slammed his fist on the desk. "Hiruzen! We are talking about serious money here. If we bring this business under our control, we could solve our budget deficit. Our resources are already stretched too thin and this food business could help us more than you realize. All that money that should be strengthening our military and buying years' worth of supplies is rotting in the pockets of a useless brat who barely stopped drinking milk!"
Hiruzen sighed internally.
Even though Konoha was the richest of the hidden villages, it was still hard to spend money freely on the ninja forces.
Konoha at this point was rich... among the poor.
They depended on the Fire Daimyo for funding in the past in exchange for protection and other stuff, but now there's not even that.
And the village's tax system, while helpful, was never enough to cover everything. Danzo was making a point, even if Hiruzen hated to admit it.
"Danzo, that business operates squarely within the law. Any attempt at legal or regulatory interference has been met with swift countermeasures. They have zero loopholes for you to use. So how do you plan to take it over exactly?"
Danzo leaned forward with his eye gleaming, "There is no rule that says we cannot influence things around the business. We will create pressure on his operation like sabotages. And if that fails, then I can always spread bad rumors and falsehoods to hurt his reputation. For the past two years, I have had my ninjas spying on his chefs and recreating some of the recipes. It will only take about one more year to gather all the information we need to start our own competing business. In the meantime, we just have to lower his reputation so that later, when our own restaurants open, we will dominate the Konoha's territory market without any competition."
Hiruzen hummed thoughtfully, then asked, "And how do you plan to deal with the Akimichi? They are the real power behind this industry in Konoha's territory. The Hatake boy might be one person and easier to deal with, but a whole clan of people?"
Danzo was silent.
"Figured as much," Hiruzen said.
Hiruzen stood up and walked toward the window, gazing out at the peaceful streets of Konoha below. The people were smiling, children were playing, and peace was everywhere.
After a long moment, he said, "I have a better idea. Do you want to hear it?"
Danzo did not answer.
"The problem you are ignoring Danzo, as always, is the GMA." Hiruzen took another slow drag from his pipe.
"That boy is not just some random businessman. He is a Gold-rank member of the Global Merchant Association, and he has close ties to Kaneshiro and some other high ranking officials courtesy to those books the boy has published, and Kaneshiro has sponsored him personally. The GMA provides him with Samurai escorts and everything in-between. Any attempt to sabotage his business will be seen as an attack on the GMA, and an attack on the GMA is an attack on the Shogun himself."
Danzo's eye narrowed even further. "But the Shogun is far away, his reach is not infinite Hiruzen!"
"Do not be naive," Hiruzen replied, turning to face him. "The Shogun's reach is exactly why we are having this conversation. The GMA branch in the fire country has more money than all five great ninja villages combined and even more to spare. They have samurai armies stationed at every major trade route, and they have been waiting for an excuse to tighten their grip on Konoha even though they already do. If you give them that excuse, they will cut our merchant access completelyand sanction us. Then no supplies or trade, and no tax revenue from the Heaven's Feel district, because the Daimyo will personally shut us out."
Danzo gritted his teeth. "So we do nothing? We let that brat become richer than us while we barely scrape by?!"
"I did not say do nothing, I said do not be stupid. I have personally tried to persuade the people of the effects of one person having all the wealth and some other things which I know you are aware of." Hiruzen walked back to his desk and sat down heavily.
"The GMA has already infiltrated Konoha through that boy's restaurants. Kaneshiro has placed his own people inside Heaven's Feel as guards and servants and they are collecting information and sending reports back to the Daimyo and the Shogun constantly. If we move against the boy directly, we hand them a pretext to intervene. I have tried many times to reason with Mito-sama about this but she always supported the boy and didn't listen to me."
"Then what is your brilliant plan?" Danzo demanded.
Hiruzen tapped his pipe against the ashtray again. "We attack the business indirectly. Instead of using regulations or rumors, which can be traced back to us, we use the boy's own success against him. The other clans are already envious of the Akimichi, Nara, and Yamanaka because they are getting rich off Heaven's Feel, so we can encourage that envy. Let the other clans petition the council for a share of the profits. Let them demand that the Hatake boy pay higher taxes or contribute to the village defense fund. We just need to make his life so difficult that he comes to us for protection. And when he does, we offer him a deal he cannot refuse."
"And the GMA?" Danzo asked with narrowed eyes.
"The GMA cannot interfere with village council decisions. Those are internal matters. If the council votes to raise taxes on non-ninja businesses, the boy will have to pay. Kaneshiro and those officials will be angry, but he cannot start a war over taxes, not yet at least." Hiruzen leaned back.
"And if nothing works then we can try to push for Sakumo to take over the Hatake clan head position." Hiruzen said.
Danzo stood up abruptly. "I do not like it and you will regret it Hiruzen!"
"It doesn't matter, I am the Hokage, not you." Danzo gritted his teeth in anger at that reply.
Danzo left without closing the door.
Hiruzen stared after him for a moment, then sighed deeply.
"Everything is for Konoha," he muttered to himself.
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_____________________
Danzo's POV/
'You are a fool Hiruzen,' Danzo thought as he walked away, his fists clenched so tight that his nails bit into his palms.
The GMA is a threat, yes, but it is not invincible. Every organization has weaknesses.
Maybe he should start and infiltrate the organization as a merchant. He has been reluctant to do so because of lack of manpower, but after these past years, he now could send some ninjas to infiltrate.
Ninja lives are fragile and no amount of ninja is enough. The breeding program is a long term investment but if he wanted to increase the Root's overall power, then he will have to depend on other unconventional ways.
Buying slaves? Kidnapping? Orphans?
When he got back, he should assign a squad for this mission specifically and plan in detail.
In two years, he must deal a huge blow to the Damiyo and the GMA that they will not know what hit them.
He paused at the end of the hallway and glanced back at the Hokage's door. Then he turned and disappeared into the shadows.
"If you will not act, then I will."
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Garou's POV/
I was walking through the hallway of my home after coming back from my training session, where I had spent the better part of the afternoon beating the shit out of my dog Rover.
The reason for that was simple... I wanted to make him stronger, because I could feel that he was on the verge of reaching chunin level in terms of raw power, and to make sure his foundation was solid.
I had used multiple martial arts styles on him so he would get used to how humanoid fighters moved.
'I need to ask Gintoki to train him too since he took a liking to the dog.' I thought while rubbing my chin.
If Gintoki throws some ninjutsu at him, Rover will slowly build up a resistance to all kinds of natural elements. He already has a slightly weaker version of my regeneration, so getting hurt won't be a problem.
Just as I was turning the corner toward the living room, I heard a familiar, lovely voice floating through the air.
Tsunade was talking with my mom.
I quickened my pace, slid open the door, and stepped inside.
"When did you come here, angel?" I asked with a smile.
Tsunade spun around instantly, her face breaking into a bright smile. Then she ran toward me and threw herself into my arms. I hugged her back, lifted her up until her face was level with mine, and gave her a quick peck on the lips. A soft blush spread across her cheeks.
"I was on a mission and I missed you," she whispered near my ear, burying her face in my neck.
I smiled gently and held her tighter.
"Ara ara," my mom said from the couch, her hand resting on her cheek, "you lovebirds do not even feel shy about being affectionate in front of me."
I just shrugged, then carried Tsunade over to the couch and sat down with her still clinging to me like a koala, her chest pressed firmly against mine.
"Can we go outside for a moment, hubby?" Tsunade asked, pulling back just enough to look at my face. "I want to tell you something."
I nodded, then stood up again, and headed for the door.
"My little Akira is growing up so fast," my mom said while her voice cracking. "Soon he will leave his mother Sob sob sob sob."
I stopped in my tracks for a moment.
'Akira? Who the fuck is that?' I thought as I briefly glanced at my mom still looking lovingly at us with tears running down her face.
Tsunade looked up at me with concern. After a moment though, I just continued walking outside, giving Mom a small smile as I passed.
Something about her had been off lately because she was more emotional, crying at random things, and acting strangely protective or sometimes distant. I had chalked it up to menopause or just old age, but I don't know what's wrong with her, I am not a doctor.
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Once we were outside, I set Tsunade down, grabbed her hand, and started walking along the paved path that led to my training ground.
A huge tree grew near the center of the clearing, and it had become our regular spot over the years. We would sit under it together, with me resting my head on her thigh or her resting her head on mine, talking about everything or nothing at all.
As we passed by Rover, who was still lying on the ground looking like a beaten ragdoll with a tiny white soul coming out of his mouth, Tsunade finally spoke.
"We will have a council meeting in a few days, are you ready for that?"
"It is just a meeting," I replied calmly. "There is no need to worry. It will probably not even take an hour. But that is not what you really want to talk about, is it?"
She looked down, worry visible on her face. "No."
"I am all ears, then."
She stopped walking, so I stopped too. "You know," she said hesitantly, "I have been coming to your house mainly to see you at first when not in our own house. But these last two times, I only wanted to check on your mother. I felt something strange about her."
I frowned immediately. "So?"
"So I checked her many times, indirectly and directly, without her knowing." She paused, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "After all of that, I am sure that your mother..."
I did not say anything. I just looked at her with my fists clenched at my sides.
"Your mother has frontotemporal dementia, Garou."
The words hit me like a punch to the gut.
All those little things... her crying at sunsets, her sudden protectiveness, her odd emotional swings, forgetfulness, suddenly made a terrible kind of sense.
"Is it really bad?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
"It is still early," Tsunade said, reaching for my hand. "But it will get worse quickly. I am sorry."
I stood there for a long moment, staring at nothing.
Then I squeezed her hand back. "Is there a cure?"
She shook her head, and her head dropped low as she whispered, "I will try my best and find a cure for her."
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________________________
He found himself standing on something that had no right to exist.
The ground beneath his feet was not dirt, not grass, not stone, but It was FLESH!
Pale, cold, and lumpy flesh that squelched with every movement.
Dark fluid oozed up between his webbed toes, warm and sticky, and when he looked down, he saw that it was the color of old blood.
Above him, the sky was a solid ceiling of churning black clouds that wept a thick, oily rain.
The droplets did not splash when they hit his skin. Instead, they clung to him like tiny leeches, pulsing gently as if they were drinking something from him.
His ancient heart pounded with a sudden incomprehensible fear he had not felt in longer than he could count.
Something has gone terribly wrong.
He looked around, and his stomach turned upside down.
All around him lay corpses and he recognized every single one of them.
Fukasaku was lying against a broken pillar, his head twisted at an unnatural angle. His mouth was wide open, and a thin black vine with thorns like teeth was growing out of his throat. The vine moved slowly, as though it was tasting the air.
Shima was crushed under a massive boulder, only her face visible. Her expression was frozen in pure terror.
The Great Toad Sage tried to stumble backward, but there was nowhere to go. The meat ground stretched endlessly in every direction, and his legs felt like they were made of wet clay.
Gamabunta lay in a pool of dark fluid nearby, his immense body ripped open from throat to tail. His ribs had been pulled apart like curtains, and inside his chest cavity there was nothing. Something had carved him out and left his shell behind as a decoration.
Gamahiro and Gamakichi were fused together into a single mass of flesh and bone, two heads sharing one melted torso. Their mouths moved silently, as if they were trying to speak, but no sound came out.
And Jiraiya...
'My god!'
Jiraiya was kneeling with his hands pressed together as if he were praying, but his hands had been severed at the wrists. Blood still dripped from the stumps, each drop hissing when it hit the meat ground.
His face looked calm, almost peaceful, but his eyes were gone. Just empty sockets with something dark moving at the back of them.
"No," the old toad whispered. "This cannot be. This is not the future I saw."
*Step Step Step.*
A figure was walking very slowly toward him across the meat ground. It was tall, with a mane of writhing veins that pulsed with a sickly blue light. He had two eyes. One on his head and the other on his chest.
And those eyes were looking directly at the Great Toad Sage.
The old toad tried to speak, "W...who a...re you?"
The figure raised one hand, It pointed at the old toad, and then the old toad's body began to change.
"Ahhh..."
His skin split along invisible seams, and something dark poured out of him which caused an insane pain that he hasn't felt since his birth!
Memories, and centuries of knowledge, all of it spilling onto the meat ground like spilled ink and moved towards the Being.
*Step Step Step.*
Suddenly, behind him, he heard another figure who was approaching.
The Great Toad Sage could not turn his head to look, but he could feel its presence.
It was worse than the first!
The first figure shook the world, but the second figure erased it. Where it stepped, the meat ground turned into nothingness, a void that spread like cancer.
The old toad was dying.
He could feel his consciousness fading, his connection to Mount Myōboku severing like a cut rope.
The second figure walked past him without looking. It was heading toward the first as they were going to clash.
And then, he heard it speak.
The voice was not loud, but it sounded weird and otherworldly, it cut through everything, the black rain, the distant screams, the wet squelching of the meat ground.
As if nothing mattered except for what the being had to say.
"Old shitty Toad... I don't have anything to tell except for a big fat f.u.c.k y.o.u. Also, If you saw that lil bitchy ass motherfucker I put my trust on, beat the crap out of him for me. That fucking retard!"
*SNAP!*
The being snapped his finger and then the world went white... literally.
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_________________
Mount Myōboku – The Great Toad Sage's Chamber/
"AHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHH!!! NO NO NO STAY AWAY!!!"
The old toad woke up screaming.
His body was drenched in cold sweat, and his single eye was so wide open that the pupil had contracted to a tiny pinprick.
"Aghhhhhhhhhh!!"
Fukasaku and Shima heard the screams and rushed to his side immediately, their faces pale with fright.
"Old Toad Old Toad! What happened?!" Fukasaku cried.
"Hufff hufff hufff!"
The Great Toad Sage stared at the ceiling as he tried really hard to calm down, his chest heaving. He could still feel the phantom sensation of his skin unraveling and of his memories spilling out.
"Huff... the future," he whispered fearfully. "The future has changed. Something... something is..." He couldn't describe the feeling.
"Tell us what you saw," Shima urged.
The old toad closed his eye.
Tears leaked from the corners and ran down his wrinkled cheeks.
"I... I saw death!" he said.
"Huff! Not war or not destruction, but... but literal Erasure! The world was being unmade in front of my eyes, and there were two beings standing at the center of it all." He paused and trembled fearfully. "One of them spoke to me, and he... insulted me."
"When he spoke, It was as if... as if he knew I was from the past."
Fukasaku and Shima exchanged horrified glances.
"We must warn the other-zzzzzzzzzzz!" And the Great Toad Sage went to sleep mid conversation.
The End.