Filthy Gamer in Narutoverse

Chapter 98: Perfect Vacation (3)

Hiruzen had long realized that becoming Hokage did not turn him stagnant and turn to narcotics to calm his nerves. It was his own vice of complacency. Sure, it took having his best friend betray him and a crushed throat but Hiruzen had gotten better. He smoked his pipe rarely. He had taken firm decisions to set up a board of missions that gave Jonin Commander a fair share of responsibilities, much to Nara's despair, and Hiruzen himself would handle the final assessment of missions and hand out said missions for rank B and above, or, for some rare individuals, he would still relay lower ranked missions to interact with them.

All this had turned his life around. He could take time from his work for his family.

He... trained. Something he had almost 'forgotten.'

His wife was happy and thus, in direct correlation to it, he led a happier life. And while Hiruzen did feel troubled at a few moons about dismissing his pals as the elders of the council... the thought of efficient work done by the current elders, especially Hizashi, made Hiruzen sleep better.

Sure, accepting Hizashi DID cause some friction between him and the Hyuga Clan since it meant freeing a branch family member off of their caged seals that allowed the main family elders to have direct control over the bodies of the branch members but... tough! Hizashi was the most proactive of the three elders. Having an early retirement from his shinobi duties did not mean he stopped training and having no political power or asset did not mean that he wasn't accepted.

Hizashi, single-handedly, rooted out a band of misfits in Konoha within the Intelligence Department that used the knowledge gained from other prisoners to sell it to bounty stations spread across the continent. But he didn't stop there. To any Hyuga Branch Member... their clan's seal was the most sensitive subject.

Most of the youth's time was spent finding ways to tackle this very situation.

There weren't any peaceful options yet but Hiruzen believed all they needed was time.

However, despite all the personal progress he made, Hiruzen would relapse momentarily when problems of the past would return to haunt him. Sure, Koharu and Homura were sour with him but they knew better than to tackle a Hokage still in his prime who had shown with his actions that he was done with their shit. Instead, this 'problem' was deeply rooted in a few inconsiderate decisions he made FOR Tsunade.

While Hiruzen lit his pipe, a man slowly opened the door to his office. His long, pale-blue hair stretched past his shoulder while he supported himself with a crutch in his left hand. He wore loose, light grey clothes that matched his sickly appearance far from his handsome visage of the past.

The sight of the man struggling to walk well even now and after multiple healing sessions revealed how threatening his injuries were and how incompetent the previous doctors were that made the situation worse... or was it intentional? After all, Jiraiya healed quickly in comparison and was... stronger than before getting hospitalized.

In sheer monotone, the youth who once looked up to him and the position of the Hokage brought Hiruzen out of his thoughts, "Hokage-sama."

The greeting was stale and dry as their situation had become. Nodding, Hiruzen commented after inhaling another stream of smoke from his pipe, "Dan, have you considered my proposal?"

Dan's current situation, in a way, was entirely on him. But, Dan also knew the 'risks' yet the rewards in the form of Tsunade Senju and the entire Senju Clan were equally enticing to the Shinobi who aspired to become a Hokage.

Although Hiruzen's offer was truly what Dan needed, he still shook his head and instead replied dryly, "I don't wish to meet Tsunade Senju, much less let her heal me, Hokage-sama. That would be... distasteful. I landed myself in this situation and I would like to go through rehabilitation without having it sped up by her."

Hiruzen nodded.

Dan was special. To be specific, his family's inheritance was quite unique, and as such, in return for being allowed to stay in Konoha in relative peace and protection, only one individual of the Kato Family may learn their most dangerous technique not only considered forbidden, but also a secret known only to Kato Family and the Hokage.

Currently, Dan was the said individual who mastered the technique that allowed him to turn his soul into an existence similar to a ghost that allowed him to possess others. In other words, this was a technique similar to Yamana Clan's Hiden but more powerful as the Spirit Body can also perform certain jutsus of Yin Nature and the possessed individual can easily be killed, too. This also made it so that anyone who learned this Forbidden Jutsu to carry on the family tradition MUST enter Anbu and wear the Will of Fire's seal.

The Will of Fire Seal was something like the Guardian Seal Kai had for himself. This made it impossible for Dan to think or act maliciously against the village but he had relative freedom otherwise which meant that he COULD try and act against Tsunade as a personal vendetta. But what was the point?

The moment Dan used this technique, Hiruzen WILL know of the symptoms and in return, Dan will end up losing Hokage's trust entirely.

After a few more minutes of discussion where Hiruzen tried to persuade Dan to reconsider his options, the man finally left. He could feel that Hiruzen was beginning to suspect that he was upto something but the Will of Fire Seal was a classic. It did stop someone from thinking and acting against the village maliciously but Dan was informed by his predecessor that their Jutsu was made to tackle such a situation itself.

As he walked away from the Academy where the Hokage's office was situated and mingled with the pedestrians on the street, a tiny smirk graced his thin lips as his previously dull gaze grew biting and cold.

'Take pity from her?'

Dan sneered. Everything was ruined for him. He may not have been a Jonin Elite but he was a Jonin regardless with adequate skill and a technique that could be considered quite a menace if used appropriately. Dan knew that he WOULD have been considered a Hokage candidate just because of this technique but his failure in managing to 'get along' with Tsunade Senju, and her act of beating him into a coma made it so that Hiruzen could never trust Dan to NOT hold a grudge.

And Hiruzen would never consider a shinobi who had such a past with one of the two founding clans of the village. Compared to the Senju... Dan and the Kato's Spirit Transformation Technique was wholly insignificant.

Soon, Dan reached his 'home.'

The Konoha Hospital.

His family and relatives would visit him rarely. Like the situation in any other family, just because Dan had cousins and other relatives did not mean that they were on good terms. In fact, when growing up, Dan had to beat all his cousins in many internal and strict competitions to see who would get to learn the so-called secret technique of the family.

So, Dan's room was usually... plain. Previously, he at least had his ambition. Now... he had nothing.

Except for a dream.

And Dan wanted his dream fulfilled at any cost.

So, after settling on his bed in the Hospital, Dan 'slept.' He made sure to eat and take care of any other business the nurse might want him to attend to before channeling his chakra through his chakra coils and weaving three hand seals discreetly. Too discreetly, in fact, as he weaved a single sign with a gap of ten minutes.

Invisible to the naked eyes, Dan 'stepped' out of his body. His current form was translucent and bluish. Ghost-like. He was no longer injured as his body levitated in front of his physical form.

Not waiting a single second in this sick hole, Dan phased out of the hospital and flew with a single direction in mind. Soon, near the Academy grounds where graduates would train and the location where he had taken his leave from almost half an hour ago, Dan set his sights on a young, tomboyish dark-haired girl with pitch-black dark round eyes and an overall cute appearance in her tanned shirt and cyan shorts.

"Shizune, do your best!" One of the nearby boys cheered as the girl nodded and grinned before throwing a training kunai towards the practice target accurately.

Impressed at his younger cousin's talent in weaponry, Dan still plunged down and 'entered' the body of the girl named Shizune.

For a second, Shizune's usually attractive and lively eyes grew unfocused before she seemingly 'regained' her clarity and exclaimed, "Ah, I forgot. I promised to bring back vegetables from the market. I'll see you guys tomorrow!"

With that, not even staying around to hear any complaints, Shizune jogged away. The girl ran while adopting a cheeky, cheerful grin, greeting a few who would greet her and running despite feeling her body grow heavy and her cheeks flushed like an excited girl she was.

Yet, deep down, Shizune was scared.

Her body was moving on its own. Her cheeks felt strained as she was in a state of constant smiling. Her legs ached as her body was forcefully moved without a hint of care.

Her eyes, however, could not even reveal a look of fright. She looked... normal to everyone who knew her and didn't until she made a few turns and arrived near Senju Compound. Not far from the entrance, Shizune smiled sweetly at an old man fanning himself with a small paper fan while keeping a look out for his wares as many pedestrians looked through them.

"Grandfather, I'm back!" The girl cheered excitedly at the man Shizune swear she had never met in her life. The old man looked at Shizune kindly and nodded, "Hmm, get inside brat. I can't cook up the mean mess only you can create."

Shizune giggled and entered the small house with a storefront and entered the kitchen before losing all her facial expressions. There, she pulled open the leftmost cabinet drawer and picked out a covered pan. Under the lid, Shizune's gaze narrowed as she silently unfurled the scroll placed within and observed its contents.

With a wicked grin twisting her lips, Shizune safely kept the scroll under her clothes and walked out from the exit of the house within the kitchen itself. Taking a longer route, Shizune once again huffed and puffed over to the entrance of the Senju Compound and looked at the guards with an awkward and nervous expression as she clutched the edges of her shirt, "Um... can I meet Konan-san? She said that if I have anything, I should come here to talk with her..."

"Konan?" Giving Shizune a cursory glance, one of the guarding Shinobi shrugged and found nothing wrong with Shizune as most 'civilian' kids are often easily intimidated by the Senju Clan's reputation and it did not help that Tsunade always appointed the scariest looking out of the bunch to guard the entrance even if they were one of the softest softies inside.

"Go straight ahead. Konan's usually training with Kushina-chan in Matriarch's training ground."

Shizune nodded and thanked the two profusely while... feeling that she was caught in something too terrifying. She had seen that scroll. She knew of its contents. And the fact that whoever was controlling her wanted to meet with Konan... simply made no sense to her.

Sure, being older than others in the class and the remnants of the talented bunch like Nagato and Yahiko who applied for early graduation and passed, Konan was regarded fairly well. Even Shizune looked up to Konan since the bluenette had a stellar record yet strangely decided against graduating early.

Children who have seen war... are simply different. Many would get used to the horrors of it, but a few, like Konan, valued strength and loved avoiding unnecessary conflict as such, staying in the academy while training achieved these two things Konan desired itself.

Only Yahiko chose to throw himself into conflict but the remaining two were passive. They enjoyed peace while the former wanted to work for that very peace and spread it.

Still, Shizune didn't know all this and she quickly went in the direction pointed out to her.

Soon, Shizune saw Konan running around while sending a volley of chakra-enhanced paper shuriken towards...

A menace.

She moved quickly. Too quickly for her eyes to catch her form as the figure only left a red, phantom trail as a burst of chakra, too focused and large to be considered normal did a quick work of the Origami Shurikens before a keen sound of a sword-filled the region and the blade of tanto was pressed right against Konan's neck as the figure finally became visible to be a well-known redhead with her long hair tied into a ponytail as she positioned herself once again in a relaxed manner and drew her blade back.

Konan, however, still stood with a drop of cold sweat marring her forehead as Kushina grinned, "Heh, I won~! You're getting better but why don't you just turn to regular shurikens? It's too simple to spar against the paper."

Coming to be and pouting, Konan scoffed and plopped down her butt, "I'll get better. Besides, paper is efficient. I can have weapons in any location using this concept..."

Noticing another presence, Kushina turned to Shizune and raised her brow, "What is it? Hmm? You're not from the compound."

Shizune, or rather the one controlling her, noticed how subtly Kushina's grip around her sword tightened while her right hand had already made half a seal of confrontation.

Not losing her composure and still keeping in her act, Shizune's expression turned tearful as she heard Konan speak up.

"Shizune-chan? Uh... why are you here?"

"It's... It's that damn Asuma-kun, Konan-san..." lowering her head with choked sobs leaking through her lips, Shizune added, "He... he..." before Shizune could claim the most devastating lies about the son of the third Hokage, she looked up to note their reactions yet a clenched fist rightly impacted the bridge of her nose before sending Shizune flying away.

While 'Shizune' truly couldn't handle the pain and was knocked out that very instant without suffering at all, she still stood up with her nose bent sideways and a massive bruise already forming around her bloody and broken nose. The impact of the punch itself generated enough force to throw the little body far away as Kushina followed up quickly with Konan still too stunned to speak.

"What are you doing?" Kushina hissed, "The girl's chakra pathways were completely stagnant! Someone is controlling her! Alert"

Exactly so.

Every technique has a weakness or tell. Just because it's not known doesn't mean it didn't exist. It simply meant that it wasn't discovered.

Even Dan's Spirit Body Formation Technique had a tell that could alert only the most experienced sensor shinobi, which Dan did not consider Kushina to be. Yet, that didn't matter.

Before Kushina could even complete, Dan's chakra hidden within Shizune instantly roused as the girl unfurled a sealing scroll right at dusk

*Poof*

Kushina stopped quickly and pulled back to let the smoke clear up as she could easily sense the Jonin under the guise of smoke while Shizune narrowed her gaze and looked at her almost broken form.

'You did well... young cousin. But it's time for me to move on.'

With a single thought, Shizune's body fell to the ground as her own blood leaking from her nose would eventually choke the life out of her.

Noticing all this as the 'presence' disappeared from Shizune... Kushina's expression turned grave and she whispered to Konan, "Get out... take that girl away."

Not trying to act out of authority given the change in the situation, Konan, too, realized that the quickest way to help Kushina was to get out of her hair. The other Senju Shinobi would quickly surround the enemy anyway.

Yet, as the plume of smoke disappeared...

They found nothing.

But Kushina who quickly parried a bladed attack with sparks flying out and Konan hurriedly rushed away realizing that the enemy may as well be invisible. The moment Konan held Shizune in her arms, she didn't look back and rushed out, feeling like absolute shit but instead of making out of the training ground, she banged into an invisible wall.

Uttering a groan, Konan barely managed to regain her balance with Shizune in her arms but already alarmed and fearing the worst, Konan's expression twisted into an absolute viciousness as she controlled paper tags filled with her chakra to slip out of her clothes, revealing dozens of exploding tags that would explode at a touch being touch sensitive.

Yet, the attack she expected didn't come in any manner. Instead, Konan still heard Kushina clashing with air.

Hesitating, Konan pulled back while still keeping many exploding tags around her at an appropriate distance while one of them was plastered on the invisible wall.

*Tsss Bang*

After the explosion, Konan hurriedly rushed out and nudged the 'air' with her knees only to find that the smooth and invisible wall... was still intact.

*Gahk*

Shizune involuntarily coughed and sputtered her blood over herself and Konan inwardly panicked.

"Ku" Before she called Kushina out, Konan recalled one of Nagato's rants about vomit actually being a rare cause of death and hurriedly lay Shizune on the ground and then turned the girl onto her side before quickly patting her back as Shizune involuntarily coughed out a mouthful of blood. Unwilling to waste time by hesitation or distracting Kushina, the bluenette quickly took out her handkerchief to cover Shizune's bleeding nose.

'Shit... shit... SHIT!' Konan looked towards Kushina only to find her occupied with air, or more precisely, the invisible opponent.

'You got this... what would Kai-san do?... Beat the enemy.

Not an option... Shizune is bleeding too much... and only Kushina-san knows iryo nin...'

Thinking till here, Konan felt the wall around while returning to Shizune after every two seconds and soon realized that this 'wall' was more like a dome surrounding them and they were probably trapped the moment 'Shizune' summoned the enemy.

***

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