"Good. Then I have a mission for you. Contact Orochimaru. I've already negotiated a partnership with him."
"How do I get in touch with him?"
"Do I really need to explain that to you?"
"I was wrong, sir!"
"In any case, cooperate with Orochimaru and follow his orders. You must not tell anyone about this. Understood?"
"I understand, sir."
"No, you don't. I mean that once you leave this place, I'll deny ever saying any of this. Keep everything to yourself. You must not mention it to anyone—not even me! Understand?"
Aburame Tatsuma was silent for quite some time. No one knew what he was thinking. At last, he said quietly, "Understood. Everything was my own decision and had nothing to do with you, sir."
Danzo nodded in satisfaction. Since his plan had failed, he might as well put Plan B into motion and join Orochimaru's scheme, adding some uncertainty to the future. He had to make up for at least some of his losses, didn't he?
Otherwise, he'd have wasted this clone for nothing!
"Why haven't you left yet?" Danzo frowned when Tatsuma remained kneeling there without moving.
"There's something I don't understand, sir."
"What is it?"
"Didn't you tell me this morning to go to the Land of Water and deliver the latest codebook to the spy stationed there? Which task should I do first?"
"Contacting Orochimaru is obviously more important."
But as soon as the words left his mouth, Danzo noticed clumps of black "fog" drifting around him. Looking closely, he saw that they were swarms of insects!
"Tatsuma, what are you doing?!"
Tatsuma quickly retreated and said calmly, "You're not Danzo at all. Who are you?"
"Strange. Where did I slip up?" Danzo asked with a smile, seeming not the least bit alarmed.
"Because Danzo's order to me was to 'monitor the movements of the Sunagakure ninja in the village'!"
"You're sharper than I expected. No wonder Danzo thinks highly of you."
"Die!" Tatsuma ordered the swarm to attack.
But a fierce gale suddenly sprang up around "Danzo," scattering the insects in every direction. They couldn't get anywhere near him.
The difference in their strength was simply too great. In an instant, Danzo appeared right in front of Tatsuma, then calmly removed his sunglasses. Their eyes met.
"Genjutsu: Kotoamatsukami!"
The Sharingan appeared in Tatsuma's eyes. He stood frozen in place, wearing a vacant, foolish expression.
"I'm the real Danzo. Everyone else is an impostor. Follow the orders I just gave you!"
"Yes, Danzo-sama!"
Kotoamatsukami had been implanted in Tatsuma. He completely believed that the man before him was the Danzo he served, without a trace of doubt, and vanished in a flash.
Keiichi sighed. If he could have helped it, he wouldn't have wasted Kotoamatsukami on a minor character like Tatsuma. But Orochimaru was just too cunning—he simply wouldn't fall for it.
Now Root had become Orochimaru's accomplice, and the real show was about to begin.
Perhaps this would make the Konoha Crush Plan more dangerous, but Keiichi knew from his past life that Orochimaru's true target was Hiruzen. All the chaos was just a way to create a one-on-one battlefield.
With the handful of people he had, Orochimaru couldn't possibly overthrow Konoha—not even with Root involved.
By comparison, driving Danzo out of Konoha mattered far more.
To Keiichi's surprise, the system spoke up again, though its message left him at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
"Someone's using cheats. Kotoamatsukami has made its first appearance in the story. Earned 10 Magic Modification Points."
Report: I suspect someone's being sarcastic, but I have no proof!
The Path-Blocking Kabuto
Keiichi hadn't caused all this just to be a troublemaker.
He'd been worried about one thing for a while: what would happen to him after Hiruzen died?
According to the story, Konoha would go through a dangerous period without a Hokage. Although the village ultimately made it through safely, that time would be extremely perilous for him.
After the bridge mission, he'd returned to report in and had a brief conversation with Hiruzen. He'd learned by chance that Danzo was very interested in him. If Hiruzen hadn't stepped in to suppress the matter, Keiichi might already have become one of Danzo's men.
Joining Root would have been bad enough. What he feared most was being branded with the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal. His life would then rest entirely on someone else's whim, and he wouldn't even be able to fight back.
He was worried that once Hiruzen was gone, Danzo might take advantage of the Hokage's absence to come after him.
So, when hypnotizing Orochimaru failed, he came up with another plan: use Danzo's subordinate, Aburame Tatsuma, to drag Root into Orochimaru's Konoha Crush Plan. That way, whether Danzo liked it or not, he'd have to flee Konoha and become a rogue ninja.
With Danzo gone, Keiichi would be safe.
Call him selfish or heartless—if he wanted to survive, he had no choice but to make things tougher for Konoha.
This mattered even more than earning Magic Modification Points. He had no choice but to do it.
Once everything was ready, Keiichi dispelled Danzo's clone. Orochimaru had made too much of a commotion; before long, the forest would be crawling with Anbu. Keiichi didn't want to risk anything going wrong.
His real body stayed perched in a tree, paying no attention to the chaos outside. When he was hungry, he ate a Military Ration Pill; when he was thirsty, he found a nearby water source. He couldn't have lived more cautiously.
Only when there was an hour left did Keiichi open his eyes. He made his way to the spot where Orochimaru and Danzo had clashed, stopping beneath a large tree.
Someone had left a discreet mark on the tree. It was the one "Danzo" had made. Keiichi dug a deep hole beneath it and, just as expected, found the Scroll of Heaven buried there.
He'd gotten it from Sasuke, after all.
Sasuke had left himself in such a good position that Keiichi would've felt bad not taking it.
Now that he had both scrolls, he set off toward the destination tower.
Meanwhile, Naruto and his team had also reached the tower, but they had another person with them: Kabuto Yakushi.
Kabuto's purpose was obvious. He was following Orochimaru's orders to gather information about Sasuke and protect him.
Orochimaru's plan had been carefully laid out. After Sasuke received the Cursed Seal, he would spend a long time in a state of fusion. If anything went wrong, no one might be able to handle it, so he needed a medical ninja like Kabuto to watch over him.
Also, Naruto and Sakura alone might not be able to protect Sasuke if he lost the ability to fight. Kabuto, on the other hand, was strong enough.
So Kabuto had been ordered to infiltrate the protagonist's group as a mole.
If anyone could claim to be the best at playing the double agent, it was Kabuto. Orochimaru trusted him completely.
But then Danzo had appeared out of nowhere and thoroughly ruined Orochimaru's plans. Kabuto didn't know what had happened and was still following the original plan. He was just puzzled that Sasuke seemed perfectly fine. Was fusing with the Cursed Seal really that easy?
With that question in mind, Kabuto braved every danger and escorted them all the way to the finish.
When he saw the tower before him, Kabuto nearly burst into tears. So much had happened along the way. They'd run into almost every powerful enemy they could have, and he couldn't help wondering if his luck had been especially terrible lately.
The worst part was that he had to hide his true strength, which meant getting beaten up by a bunch of people far weaker than him.
Especially those three ninja from Sound Village. They'd gone too far. He'd nearly lost his temper and slapped them all upside the head.
Fine, you want to play for real? Just wait until I've given up my identity as a Leaf ninja. I'll deal with you when I get back!
"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, why don't you go in first?" When they reached the entrance, Kabuto seemed to suddenly notice something. He gave them a harmless smile and spoke softly.
"Huh? Why aren't you coming in with us, Kabuto-senpai?" Naruto asked, puzzled.
"Sorry, I have to wait for someone here."
"But time's almost up."
"Don't worry. It won't take long."
Kabuto insisted, so the three went on ahead and entered through the door.
Kabuto slowly let his smile fade, then looked in a certain direction. A figure was slowly approaching.
"Hey, this is our first time meeting, isn't it, Keiichi?" When the other person came closer, Kabuto greeted him with a bright, sunny smile and a wave.
"Oh, it's you. What are you doing here? Waiting for someone?" Keiichi asked casually, as if he'd run into an acquaintance.
"Yeah. Waiting for you."
"Waiting for me? We know each other that well?"
"No."
"Then why are you waiting for me? I'm in a hurry to turn in my mission. Let's talk another time."
But Kabuto stepped in front of Keiichi, clearly unwilling to let him pass.
Keiichi felt a little nervous. He knew who Kabuto really was. Though he was a double agent, his true loyalty lay with Orochimaru. Had Kabuto discovered that Keiichi had impersonated Danzo?
Why else would Kabuto pick a fight with him?
"Did I do something to you?" Keiichi frowned.
"Did you do something to me?" Kabuto could barely keep his expression under control. He took out his Ninja Knowledge Card and asked, "Are you really going to claim you didn't steal my idea?"
What an ignorant country bumpkin. He'd never seen the age of gacha games flooding the market. Why would Keiichi need to steal his idea?
"Sorry, but do you have any proof?"
"I..."
"If you think I've wronged you, go complain to the Konoha High Command. What's the point of coming to me?"
"Are you saying you didn't invent the Ninja Star Scroll?" Kabuto had never met someone so shameless. Even when he was right, he couldn't get a word in. His anger flared.
"I did. So do you understand the business logic behind collectible trading cards?"
"..."
"If you don't, what makes you think I stole your idea?"
"Then why did you put me in the SSR category? Were you mocking me on purpose?" Kabuto's eyes reddened with anger.
"Not at all. I just thought you'd been unable to pass the Chunin Exams for so many years, so I wanted to cheer you up."
Kabuto trembled all over, too furious to speak.
Keiichi just watched him, a mocking smile on his lips, looking so infuriatingly smug that he seemed to be daring Kabuto to hit him first.
"You seem to... really hate me," Kabuto said through clenched teeth after regaining some composure.
The hostility seemed to come out of nowhere, which confused Kabuto. Shouldn't Keiichi have been the one to offend him? Shouldn't Kabuto be the one who was unhappy?
"If you got home and found a stray dog with nowhere to go blocking your way, what would you think?"
Perhaps the words "stray dog with nowhere to go" struck a nerve. As soon as Keiichi finished speaking, Kabuto shouted and charged at him, stabbing toward his chest with a Kunai.
Keiichi spun aside to evade him, then slapped him so hard his glasses flew off.
You're angry now, aren't you? Lost your temper, have you?
Come on. Show everyone what a Jonin can really do.
Keiichi could hardly wait.
Almost Went Too Far
Keiichi knew perfectly well that he and Kabuto were both seasoned operators pretending to be weak. But when it came to their true strength, Kabuto could crush him without breaking a sweat.
Kabuto was a genuine Jonin. Keiichi, by contrast, was just a Commoner Ninja who'd become a Special Jonin in his previous life through seniority. The gap between them was obvious.
But Kabuto had chosen to fight here, and that meant Keiichi had nothing to fear. He was already in an unbeatable position.
This wasn't like the Forest of Death. The examiners were watching from inside the tower!
If Kabuto didn't reveal his true strength, Keiichi wouldn't be gentle with him.
If he did reveal it, all the better. Konoha's Anbu would naturally investigate him.
He'd have to explain who taught him all those techniques.
Did he think he could withstand an investigation?
As expected, Keiichi struck with a flurry of heavy punches, leaving Kabuto completely unable to fight back. His once-handsome face was now bruised and swollen, and blood stained the corner of his mouth.
He'd acted every bit like a lowly Genin, making it easy to see why he'd failed the Chunin Exams year after year.
The smile on Keiichi's face faded a little, because he realized Kabuto could really take a beating. It was as if he'd deliberately waited here to get beaten up.
What exactly was he after?
Before you continue