In Konoha, in the deepest reaches of Root, stood a secret chamber with twisted sealing runes carved all over its walls.
The air smelled of old blood and rust, bitter medicine, and the rank, sandalwood-like odor of burning animal fat, mingling into a deeply unsettling atmosphere.
Several sickly green ever-burning lamps were set into the corners, their dim light stretching everything in the room into wavering, ghostly shadows.
At the center of the chamber, an unconscious Naruto Uzumaki lay on a simple stone platform, secured spread-eagled by specially made chakra metal chains.
His face was pale, his blond hair drooped over his forehead, and even unconscious, his brows were tightly knitted, as though he were resisting something.
Shimura Danzō stood before the platform, his single exposed eye gleaming with something close to fanaticism.
He had removed his usual tightly wrapped robes and wore only a black underlayer. His exposed right arm and right eye were covered in dense white bandages.
Now, he carefully took a palm-sized box carved from ebony out of his clothing.
He opened the box. Inside, on a lining of crimson velvet, lay several oddly shaped, dark metal spikes. Sealing runes finer than hair were etched along their shafts, shimmering ominously beneath the green light.
Beside them sat a small jar of special ointment, thick as ink and giving off a pungent odor.
"After all this preparation... at last, they'll serve their purpose." Danzo's voice trembled slightly with excitement. He extended his withered fingers and gently brushed the spikes, as though caressing a lover's skin.
"They were originally prepared for Kushina Uzumaki... Hmph, that hypocrite Hiruzen kept saying the Jinchūriki was the village's most important weapon, a comrade, yet he kept the strongest weapon firmly in his own student's hands, treating it as the private property of