Danzo's Conspiracy

The Land of Demons.

An unknown location.

"I heard you have the power to bring people back to life?" Danzo narrowed his eyes at the man before him.

"That's right." Yomi folded his arms and sized up the sinister-looking man.

"Torune. Fu." Danzo called softly. The next moment, two figures appeared beside him.

Aburame Torune emerged from the corner, wrapped in a black cloak. The faint rustling of Kikaichū came from beneath his hood. Yamanaka Fu wore a mask.

"Surround him." At Danzo's order, the two quickly closed in around Yomi.

"What is the meaning of this?" Yomi didn't seem particularly afraid. Instead, a playful smile tugged at his lips.

"I need your resurrection jutsu." Danzo's expression twisted as if he'd thought of something.

That old fool Hiruzen was so hidebound and incompetent, always letting those ambitious Uchiha run wild!

Because of them, he'd been forced to fake his death and leave Konoha.

He couldn't accept that he, the Second's disciple and the leader of Root, Konoha's darkness, had been driven to this by the Uchiha Clan.

He would take revenge on the Uchiha Clan. He would claim the Hokage Position!

And the resurrection jutsu possessed by the man named Yomi was exactly what he needed.

Yomi burst into laughter. "Sure! You can use my power however you like."

"But I have one condition!"

"Hmph. You're a prisoner. You think you're in a position to make demands?" Danzo snorted, then ordered, "Fu, move."

At his command, Yamanaka Fu immediately used his clan's secret technique.

"Mind Transfer Jutsu!"

With a soft shout from Fu, chakra carrying his will surged toward Yomi.

The Mind Transfer Jutsu had always been underestimated.

Though it was classified as a C-rank support jutsu,

its actual capabilities far exceeded its rank.

With Naruto Uzumaki's chakra bolstering her, Ino Yamanaka had once used the Mind Transfer Jutsu to control a Ten-Tails clone.

And Yamanaka Fu had even mastered a method for using the technique over long distances.

Just as the purple chakra was about to touch his forehead, four figures suddenly appeared behind Yomi.

One of them stepped in front of Yomi and took the Mind Transfer Jutsu head-on.

The figure who'd been hit suddenly turned and attacked his companion.

Yomi narrowed his eyes.

That technique looked familiar.

Before the rampaging figure could strike his companion, the other two easily subdued him.

At the sight, the Sharingan on Danzo's arm trembled faintly, and his eyes filled with menace.

After that night, Root had been reduced to a shell of its former self.

Only Yamanaka Fu and Torune had escaped with him.

But they'd also been badly injured.

He wondered whether he should keep fighting.

With Torune there, dealing with the people opposite them would be easy. Still, he didn't want to kill Yomi unless he had no other choice.

The resurrection jutsu was his trump card against the Uchiha Clan.

Once he mastered it, he could even bring the First back to serve him.

Then even Hiruzen would have no choice but to yield the Hokage Position to him.

After thinking it over, Danzo decided to hear Yomi's condition.

"Go on. What's your condition?" Danzo said in a low voice.

He quietly signaled for Torune and Yamanaka Fu to stay alert. Kikaichū stirred restlessly in Torune's sleeve.

There'd be time to kill Yomi after he'd learned the resurrection jutsu.

Seeing this, Yomi's smile widened. He spoke slowly. "According to legend, a powerful being is sealed in the Land of Demons. I need you to help me undo the seal."

Danzo fell into thought.

He knew nothing about the legends of the Land of Demons.

Seeing Danzo lost in thought, a barely noticeable gleam of cunning flickered in Yomi's eyes. He then revealed another piece of news that took Danzo by surprise.

"Actually, my resurrection jutsu came from him, too."

"What?" Danzo's pupils contracted. He stared hard at Yomi, as if trying to see right through him. "You're saying the sealed being possesses the true power of resurrection?"

His hoarse voice held both incredulous shock and barely restrained greed.

What did that mean?

It meant he could learn the resurrection jutsu, too.

Once he mastered it, he could bring the First back to life. Whatever schemes anyone might have, they'd all crumble to dust before the First.

"That's right. Once the seal is undone, you and I can both wield that power." Seeing the greed flare in Danzo's eyes like a fire, Yomi's smile grew even more inscrutable.

Once they undid the seal and obtained Lord Moryo's power,

the first person he'd kill would be Danzo.

And he thought he could get his hands on the resurrection jutsu.

Pah.

He'd become a member of my resurrection army instead.

Yomi weighed it all in his mind, but kept his expression calm. "What do you think?"

Danzo fell silent for a moment, then gritted his teeth. "I agree. But don't try anything, or else..." He gave Torune a discreet look.

Torune understood. The Kikaichū beneath his black cloak seethed.

He tore open his sleeve. Tens of thousands of black insects poured out like floodwaters breaking through a dam, weaving themselves into a shifting black carpet across the ground.

The ground melted rapidly beneath their venom, like wax boiling in water. Huge chunks of rock turned into viscous black liquid.

"I'm sure you don't want to find out what that feels like." Pleased with Torune's abilities, Danzo spoke coolly to Yomi.

Yomi nodded.

"Don't worry. I have only one goal: to undo that powerful being's seal."

Yomi raised a hand, motioning for everyone to follow, then turned and headed deeper into the passage. "There's a shrine maiden in the Land of Demons. To undo the seal, we first need to take control of her."

"Yamanaka Fu, go take control of the shrine maiden," Danzo ordered.

"Yes!" Yamanaka Fu replied respectfully.

"Setsuna, take him there," Yomi ordered his subordinate behind him.

"Yes."

The two then vanished in a flash and sped toward the shrine maiden's location.

Danzo and Torune continued deeper in with Yomi and the others.

After they'd left, Uchiha Ao's Shadow Clone suddenly appeared where they'd been.

"Well, look at that. That old dog Danzo found Yomi."

This Shadow Clone was the clan member the real Ao had sent to follow Danzo.

He'd been hiding nearby and had heard their entire conversation.

"Let me think—what abilities does Moryo have again?"

The Shadow Clone rubbed his chin, rapidly searching his memory for what the original story had said about Moryo.

It could endlessly devour negative energy, control the Undead Army, and fuse with others...

Tch, it sounded pretty powerful.

But then again, judging by how it did in the original story,

honestly, it seemed pretty mediocre.

Even this Shadow Clone could take it down.

The Shadow Clone thought silently.

"Forget it. I'll tell the real me first and let him deal with the headache."

With that, the Shadow Clone disappeared in a puff of smoke.