Chapter 922 : The Two Possibilities...

[A/N: Sorry guys, fell asleep last night. Today's chapter should be done in 8-14 hours.]

While Danzo was frustrated even in death, everyone else analyzed all the information carefully. Suddenly, Hiruzen's expression became grave. He muttered, “There's another aspect we failed to consider…”

Everyone's eyes turned towards Hiruzen, who gazed at the reanimated Danzo. Hiruzen said, “There's another who's aware of your abilities. The person who helped you modify your arm…”

Shizune and Kakashi were shocked as Danzo muttered with a frown, “Orochimaru…”

He thoughtfully said, “Orochimaru is aware of Izanagi and Lord First's cells, but he doesn't know of Shisui's eye…”

Kakashi interrupted him, “There's someone else who may be aware of that. Uchiha Itachi, who was very close to Shisui until his death. Orochimaru was in the Akatsuki along with Itachi. Akuro may have gained your information from them.”

Hiruzen, Danzo and Tsunade ignored the first part of Kakashi's speculations. Itachi was a spy. He wouldn't leak Konoha's intel unless there was something greater he could gain in return. Since they hadn't received any such information from him, they didn't believe Itachi to be the source of their intel.

However, the second half of his speculations gave Tsunade a headache, ‘The few members of Akatsuki we know are already very troublesome. If Akuro is also a part of them…’

So far, despite their impressive strength, Akatsuki had failed to harm Konoha. On the contrary, Konoha had forced them to retreat several times and Fujin had also killed two members and nearly killed another. So, Konoha's leadership had certain confidence against them, especially since Itachi was a spy in the organization.

However, Akuro's involvement with them alarmed Tsunade. She realized, ‘If Akuro targets Naruto, Jiraiya might not succeed in defending him. His life might be at stake too. Luckily, he has set up communication tags between the two and Mount Myoboku so that the two of them can be reverse summoned immediately to deal with the threat of the Uchiha with Space Time Ninjutsu. However, I'll have to ask him to be more careful. If a Lightning Dragon were to fall on him, Jiraiya may not have sufficient time to use those tags.’

Hiruzen added, reinforcing Kakashi's second point, “It might also explain how Akuro could track you so quickly. Zetsu excels in gathering intel. Perhaps one of his clones was keeping an eye on our village and noticed your departure. His other clones may have also discovered Shirabe, Higure and the vein and connected the dots.

The other Uchiha in Akatsuki, who claims to be Uchiha Madara, may have helped Akuro move over to the vein with the help of his Space Time Ninjutsu…”

Once again, Kakashi and Shizune were shocked. Kakashi exclaimed in a serious but shocked tone, “He claims to be Uchiha Madara?”

Hiruzen nodded, “We gained the intel recently, but I don't see any evidence of him being what he claims. Neither his strength nor his behavior matches with Madara. That is why we didn't spread the intel…”

Kakashi nodded, realizing it'd do nothing other than cause unnecessary panic. Shizune calmed down as well.

Danzo finally muttered, “That would explain many of the coincidences…”

However, he wasn't completely convinced. He thought, ‘Itachi should have reported it to us if Akuro was a member of Akatsuki… However, Hiruzen should have thought of this too. Does he believe Akuro is one of their hidden members, perhaps someone who only their leader knows?

No! Even if Itachi wasn't aware of it, Itachi must have known of the trap they set for me. Seeing how quickly they moved and how prepared Akuro was, Akatsuki must have been prepared to make a move for a long while.

Even if they decided to hide it from Itachi for some reason, someone of his acuity would have discovered the traces of the trap and figured out the details. Though we have had our differences, Itachi wouldn't fail to report this trap as it endangers him too. Regardless, this isn't something we can ignore…’

Danzo's expression hardened as he said, “If this is the case, their target may be more than just Shisui's eye. If they can read memories from Soul too, then they must have learnt of all of my forbidden techniques and the secrets of the village…”

Kakashi's and Shizune's expressions became grave and Tsunade's pupils dilated. Hiruzen only sighed. He had long thought of it. The forbidden techniques Danzo possessed were too troublesome, yet Hiruzen didn't feel that was the worst part. What made him the most nervous was Itachi's identity being compromised. Hiruzen could imagine what would happen once Akatsuki learnt that Itachi was a spy.

Unfortunately, he was completely helpless. There was no way Konoha could act faster than Akatsuki. Even if Akatsuki didn't act immediately, Konoha couldn't act as they would likely fall into a deadly trap! It was already a lost cause… Needless to say, both Tsunade and Danzo understood it.

Hiruzen said, “Even though it makes sense, don't forget this is still just speculation. It may not truly be the case. Or perhaps it may be only half true mixed with some that were genuine coincidences.”

Shizune asked, “But how can we confirm what is true and what isn't?”

Danzo replied, “That is easy.”

Shizune turned her gaze towards Danzo as he continued, “We have to target the one person who can give us the most information. Orochimaru…”

Without a hint of hesitation in his voice, Danzo said, “Orochimaru has to be captured and his memories must be read to get to the truth of this matter. Or, he must be thoroughly killed and reanimated to access his memories.

If he never gave my information to anyone, then our speculations are incorrect. If he gave them directly to Akuro, then perhaps Akuro may not be a part of Akatsuki. If he gave the information to Akatsuki, then our speculations are most likely accurate. Only by interrogating Orochimaru will we know…”

Danzo turned his eyes to Hiruzen and said, “You can no longer show any compassion towards him…”

In his latter years, Danzo had committed various acts that harmed Konoha directly or indirectly. However, Hiruzen wasn't completely blameless either. Sparing Orochimaru's life was a grave mistake Hiruzen committed. If Danzo's death was a consequence of that, then Konoha had paid a grave price for that blunder.

Hiruzen replied, “I know. If I hadn't run out of chakra, I'd have sealed his main body during his attack…”

Danzo didn't say anything else. He knew Hiruzen would make hard decisions when needed. However, Shizune asked, “We have been searching for Orochimaru for over a year now without any luck. How can we suddenly capture or kill him now, especially since we'll have to be careful against any attacks Akatsuki may do with the help of your memories…”

Danzo immediately answered, “Their ninjas are strong, but they lack numbers. We'll use numbers to transform Konoha into a fortress while focusing everything we can spare on Orochimaru. The mission is no longer about rescuing Sasuke. The sooner we get his memories, the sooner we'll know what to expect in the future…”

Danzo paused for a moment, before saying, “Actually, everything we have discussed so far is merely one of the two possibilities…”

Over his long life, Danzo had seen various calamities befall Konoha. Countless crises had plunged Konoha into chaos and spread terror. Yet, Danzo's voice had never been as grave as now.

His breathing as well as his voice was unsteady as he said, “The first possibility, as we discussed, is Akuro either being a member of Akatsuki or having some sort of cooperation with them. I'm not sure why he's running around pretending to be an ancient expert. I also don't know what devious schemes are running through his head. But interrogating Orochimaru will give us some clues.

I know how grave the consequences of Akuro being a member of Akatsuki is. However, I'd much rather this be the case than the other…

The second possibility is my death being caused by nothing but a string of unfortunate coincidences and everything Akuro claimed to be the truth. If it's the case, we would soon face a calamity that might completely consume our village…”

After he established Root and became Konoha's darkness, there had been very few instances when Danzo lost his composure. This was one of those few…

Just Akuro, who hadn't recovered his strength, made Danzo feel so helpless. He couldn't imagine anyone surviving when forced to face more of those ancient experts after they had recovered their strength. There was simply no hope of survival in a direct confrontation.

Even though Danzo didn't completely believe everything Akuro said and was very suspicious of him, he understood he couldn't ignore it. Even if there was only a minute chance of it being true, Konoha had to prepare. An experienced schemer like Danzo would never leave it up to chance.

Tsunade couldn't help but think, ‘No matter which possibility it is, both are catastrophic. The second possibility almost makes me feel helpless…’

Just like Danzo, others too felt overbearing pressure on them. Tsunade's expression soon became determined as she decided, ‘No matter what is the case, I won't let my grandfather's legacy end in my hands! Konoha will survive this calamity!’