Chapter 4: The fortunate Sand Ninja
September 8, Year 37 of Konoha, night.
Once Akaseki had settled into the stone cell and confirmed that he was safe for the moment, he resumed his Immersion...
This session was ten hours as well, but the story spanned three years!
However, Akaseki failed to finish all ten hours in one go this time. After a little over nine hours, he was forced awake.
Akaseki had no idea what had happened. He only knew that someone had "touched" him, so he opened his eyes, only to see...
Chiyo and Ebizo were both in the stone cell. Several Sand Ninja had gathered there, and Pakura stood behind them.
None of that mattered!
What mattered was the Sand Ninja lying on the ground in front of Akaseki... drooling with vacant eyes.
Akaseki: ...
Akaseki immediately realized that the Sand Ninja must have sent a ninja versed in secret techniques to read his memories and see whether he knew any of Konoha's secrets.
Instead, the ninja had crashed headfirst into his Immersion!
"You damned Konoha ninja! What did you do?" Chiyo snapped at once.
"Sister, wait..." Ebizo held her back, then barked at Akaseki, "Release your technique!"
"Huh? What technique?" Akaseki froze at the question, then caught on and said disdainfully, "Oh, you mean... the Cursed Seal that Adviser Shimura Danzō placed on me to protect my memories? How could I possibly undo that myself? Would you hang the key right on the lock?"
That was right: Akaseki passed it off as a "Cursed Seal," making it seem as though the Sand Ninja had triggered it while reading his memories and suffered its backlash. He pinned the blame on Shimura Danzō without the slightest hesitation.
"You..." Chiyo glared viciously at him, but Akaseki remained unmoved.
"Aren't you