Chapter 356: Danzo: I Don't Know Why, but I Feel Like the Other Side Really Wants to Kill Me
That book was a chakra extraction guide compiled by his teacher. It had originally been given to Kenichi as an introductory text, but who would have thought that he would master chakra extraction so quickly? The book naturally became useless to him, and Orochimaru never bothered taking it back. So now, Kenichi had passed it on to Naruto.
"I wonder how that little guy Naruto is doing now." Kenichi moved swiftly through the dense forest, his mind working as fast as his feet.
He had originally intended to go directly by airship, but there was no helping it. Konoha's borders were now patrolled by airships and hot air balloons. If he flew straight in, it would attract attention too easily.
So Kenichi could only infiltrate the old fashioned way.
Even so, he was still a little worried about Naruto's safety. Naruto was only a child, after all. If the Third Hokage found that book, he would definitely recognize Orochimaru's handwriting at once, and then...
But this was also exactly what Kenichi intended.
In fact, he had already left once before. But after thinking it over, he returned and left the book for Naruto anyway. Otherwise, the Third Hokage would never have noticed.
Kenichi's purpose in doing this was simple. He wanted to see what the Third Hokage would do after learning about it. Would Naruto's life trajectory change?
Although Naruto's safety would be threatened to a certain extent, the overall danger should not be too high. Naruto was still the most suitable jinchūriki candidate. If the Third Hokage wanted to kill him, he would first have to consider the issue of replacing the jinchūriki, and that meant trial and error.
But what if the Nine Tails could not be sealed properly?
What if something went wrong midway?
At that point, if the Nine Tails broke free, could Hiruzen Sarutobi and Tsunade stop it before it caused too many casualties? If they failed, or if the Nine Tails fired even a few Tailed Beast Bombs, Konoha would not know how many years it would take to recover.
Moreover, when the Fourth Hokage sealed the Nine Tails into Naruto, he clearly intended for his son to become a hero. What he did not expect was that Hiruzen Sarutobi would turn Naruto into an outcast of the village instead.
Based on Kenichi's understanding of the Third Hokage, the old man would not dare bear the cost of that kind of gamble.
It had nothing to do with Naruto being Minato's son.
Even if Naruto was the Fourth Hokage's child, the moment Hiruzen concluded that Naruto's existence threatened the village, he would not hesitate.
After all, Naruto was not his own son.
If it were Asuma, the old man would probably think very differently.
"It would be fun to raise a dark, profound, and cruel Naruto..." Kenichi muttered, shaking his head. "But Asura's reincarnation still influences him too much. Just look at Hashirama. He and Naruto might as well have come out of the same mold."
Naruto's personality was probably destined from the start.
Changing it would be nearly impossible unless someone deliberately guided him down that path from now on. But Kenichi was not so idle that he would spend his time doing something so pointless. Compared to a cynical Naruto who hated the world, the current Naruto was far easier to teach, far easier to use, and far more beneficial to the future of the Ninja World.
If Naruto had a personality like Sasuke's, Konoha would probably have been flattened long ago.
After traveling for a while, Kenichi finally began to see the outline of Konoha in the distance.
But almost immediately, he noticed that something was wrong.
"There..." Kenichi's expression sharpened.
He had just spotted numerous black dots rushing around outside Konoha. They should have been Konoha ninja, but why would Konoha send out such a large force at once?
Today was not any special day.
Kenichi had lived in Konoha long enough to know how the village normally operated. Konoha ninja would only leave the village in such large numbers under extraordinary circumstances. Otherwise, they would be busy with missions, training, or regular duties.
As he drew closer, his expression became even stranger.
Because he recognized several familiar figures.
Tsunade.
Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Danzo.
The heads of the Ino Shika Chō clans.
And then several others.
Pain's Six Paths.
"Pain? Why is the leader here?!" Kenichi's expression became extremely complicated.
He had never expected to see the Six Paths of Pain in Konoha of all places, let alone witness a scene like this with his own eyes.
This was just too absurd.
Nagato had come to Konoha once in the original story. That visit had produced one of the most iconic scenes in Naruto and fully demonstrated the terror of the Rinnegan. It showed exactly why Nagato saw himself as a god, because with that kind of power, anyone might start believing the same.
Of course, in the end, he still could not escape the protagonist's talk no jutsu.
But the problem was, what time was it now?
Naruto probably had not even fully learned chakra extraction yet, and Nagato was already here?
That made no sense.
Even if Nagato somehow learned that Naruto was the Nine Tails jinchūriki, that still did not fit his character. Nagato would first wait until Akatsuki had fully developed before starting the Tailed Beast collection, and even then he would begin with the One Tail.
There was no reason for him to suddenly come after the Nine Tails.
So what exactly was Nagato doing here?
At that moment, countless thoughts flashed through Kenichi's mind.
He knew what kind of person Nagato was. Nagato did not act without purpose. Besides, Kenichi had only recently told him that Akatsuki should minimize its presence, carry out more missions, build strength, and avoid major exposure. Nagato could not possibly turn around and charge straight into Konoha for no reason.
That would amount to slapping himself in the face.
Once today's incident spread, no matter what Nagato's real goal was, Akatsuki would absolutely be put on Konoha's highest watch list.
And the fact that the Six Paths of Pain were here meant that Nagato's real body was almost certainly somewhere nearby.
"Either the organization gave Nagato a mission specifically targeting Konoha... or..." Kenichi licked his lips.
Although it sounded outrageous, there was only one other reason he could think of.
Nagato had learned that Danzo Shimura was one of the true culprits behind Yahiko's death.
Only then would Nagato possibly come here like this.
"It looks more and more like the second possibility..." Kenichi stroked his chin thoughtfully.
The current situation was extremely delicate.
Nagato was ruthless, and his attacks were clearly centered on Danzo Shimura.
Danzo's expression had already darkened to the point of being almost pitch black. He probably did not even understand why the man in front of him seemed so determined to kill him. Although Danzo had indeed taken part in the schemes against the Akatsuki, whether he even still remembered Yahiko's face was another matter entirely.
If Hiruzen Sarutobi and Tsunade had not been there, Danzo would probably already be dead.
Even with them there, Danzo had suffered badly. He was still trying to show his heroic side, charging forward again and again, nearly getting his heart ripped out more than once. If Hiruzen had not intervened, Danzo would already be lying on the ground, one foot in the grave.
Kenichi could not help grimacing.
That old man really never forgot about becoming Hokage. In a way, that could almost be called admirable dedication to his original dream.
But the man facing him was Nagato.
With the Rinnegan, Nagato was forcing Danzo to the edge of death over and over again. If not for the fact that nearly all of Konoha's top fighters were gathered here, Danzo, the so called darkness of the Ninja World, would probably have died on the spot already.
Still, Kenichi's real focus was not the battle itself.
He was far more interested in where Black Zetsu and Obito were.
In his view, Nagato's killing intent toward Danzo was so intense that he must have learned the truth from someone. And only a very small number of people in the entire Ninja World knew that truth.
It could not possibly have been some other transmigrator dropping by to tell him. That would be too ridiculous.
So it could only have been Obito and Black Zetsu.
Which raised another question.
Why would Obito and Black Zetsu do that?
Kenichi did not know.
After all, he was not living inside Obito's stomach.
Everything he knew about Obito came from anime clips and character summaries from his previous life. In the original story, Obito had never done anything like this.
But now he had.
Which only proved one thing.
The entire Naruto plotline had already shifted.
Whether that shift was for better or worse remained to be seen, but Kenichi was certain that Obito had a reason for doing this.
He just did not yet know what it was.
"Obito must know exactly how Nagato would react after hearing that kind of information," Kenichi murmured. "Which means he wanted Nagato to attack Konoha. But what does that accomplish?"
Flattening Konoha would not directly help Obito's plan either.
Then, almost immediately, another possibility occurred to him.
"Unless... Obito did this to lure Hiruzen and Tsunade out."
A feint.
Lure the tiger away from the mountain.
That kind of tactic was as old as war itself.
After all, once Nagato learned the truth, he would definitely target Konoha. That meant Obito wanted Nagato to attack, and once Nagato attacked, Hiruzen and Tsunade would have no choice but to step in.
Even if they tried not to at first, once they realized Nagato's strength, they would be forced to intervene.
The heads of the major clans and the high end forces like the Ino Shika Chō would also be drawn out.
And once that happened...
The interior of Konoha would become empty.
Was that what Obito wanted?
Did he want to slip into Konoha and cause trouble?
No.
More likely, he wanted to enter Konoha and retrieve something.
Thinking that through, Kenichi immediately withdrew.
He had no intention of joining the main battlefield.
Nagato was extremely strong, but with Tsunade and Hiruzen both present, even he would have trouble ending things quickly. That meant Kenichi had the perfect chance to enter Konoha and see what Obito was really after.
The moment he slipped into the village, he noticed something strange.
The two Anbu guarding the entrance to the Hokage Building had dull eyes.
They were under Sharingan genjutsu.
"Obito's here for the forbidden scroll?" Kenichi muttered, instantly understanding.
He moved quickly into the Hokage Building. As he passed through it, every Anbu he encountered who had fallen under genjutsu only confirmed his suspicion.
Kenichi put on his mask, reached the Hokage's office, and pushed open the door.
Then he saw a figure rifling through the room.
"Who's there?!" Obito noticed the door at once.
He turned and saw the mask Kenichi wore, and immediately recognized the man he hated more than anyone.
"Hm? Tobi? Why are you here?" Kenichi asked with a cheerful smile as he stepped inside and shut the door behind him.
At the same time, lightning like markings appeared at the corners of his eyes as he activated Sage Mode.
He also became sharply aware of his surroundings.
Obito was here, so Black Zetsu was likely nearby too. That thing's methods were strange, and it could also use White Zetsu to lurk around. Sage Mode would at least heighten his senses and help prevent him from being ambushed.
It would be far too embarrassing if a transmigrator ended up getting stabbed in the back the same way Madara had.
"Eh? Senior Kenichi!" Obito heard the name Tobi and nearly wanted to spit blood.
At that moment, he truly wished he could travel back in time and slap his former self several times.
Why had he chosen the name Tobi?
Why had he deliberately adopted that ridiculous persona of admiring Amamiya Kenichi?
Now look at him.
The man was practically dancing on his face, and he still had to play along.
It really was...
"Tobi, is this an Akatsuki mission?" Kenichi asked with a smile as he walked deeper into the room.
He did not believe for a second that Obito was here to collect Nine Tails information.
"Ah, no! I just came to look for clues about the Tailed Beasts in Konoha!" Obito answered immediately.
At the same time, he subtly moved to block Kenichi's path.
With Kenichi here, he could no longer search freely. At this point, all he could do was stall for time and leave the actual gathering of information to Black Zetsu.
"The leader is still outside, Tobi," Kenichi said lightly. "Go help him. I'll handle the information here."
Obito's face tightened behind the mask.
Kenichi, meanwhile, smiled beneath his own.
He absolutely did not believe that Obito had come here for any so called Nine Tails information.
First, Akatsuki had no plans to begin collecting Tailed Beasts this early.
Second, even if they did, why would Obito personally come gather such information? Black Zetsu would obviously be the one to handle that.
So there was only one real possibility.
Obito was here for the forbidden scroll.
Which raised the next question.
Why?
Did he want Edo Tensei to revive Uchiha Madara?
That was certainly possible.
After all, Kenichi knew very well what kind of pressure he himself had been putting on Obito lately. Under that kind of pressure, Obito might have decided to revive Madara early.
Or perhaps...
This was Black Zetsu's plan all along.
.....
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