Chapter 905 : Root's Revival (2)

Danzo's five Root subordinates flickered immediately in five different directions.They looked for Shirabe and Higure, trying to at least find their traces if not locate the secret signs they left behind for the Root ninjas. An hour later, they returned.

Fu reported, “I failed to find their traces in this direction.”
Torune and a couple more Root ninjas reported the same. However, there was one thing that was odd. Only 4 Root ninja had returned. The last one was nowhere to be seen.

One of the Root ninjas asked, “Where is Rakka?”
Another asked, “Did she find them?”
However, Torune argued, “If she did, she would have sent us a signal. Could something have happened?”
Fu muttered, “It doesn't make sense. If there were other forces, I would have sensed them. Unless they have hidden as well as Shirabe and Higure. However, if there are such forces here… Could they have discovered traces of the vein?”

Danzo said, “There's no point in speculating too much. Since she hasn't returned or given a signal, there's a problem. Trace her steps and we'll find the problem.”

The Root ninjas nodded. They followed Rakka's footsteps while Danzo followed them. Since they were in the Land of Fire, Rakka hadn't hid her tracks. After all, even if any Konoha ninjas noticed them later, they won't find trouble with Danzo. Hence, Fu and the rest were able to follow her traces easily.

Torune analyzed, “Since they haven't hid her tracks yet, she must have just encountered them. We ha… Huh?”

Torune and the remaining Root ninjas suddenly stopped, so did Danzo. Every single one had a weird expression on their face.
Fu muttered, “This smell… Is this…?”
Torune said, “Yeah, there's no doubt! It smells like chicken… Is someone roasting a chicken here?”

Confusion filled Danzo and his Root subordinates. Danzo asked, “Fu, do you sense anyone in that direction?”

Fu shook his head, “No, I can't sense any one yet. However, something feels off. It's almost like someone has used seals to hide the area ahead. That would explain why I haven't been able to sense anyone yet. And, since I can tell it is Fuinjutsu, whoever inscribed the seals shouldn't be a Grandmaster…”

Danzo thought for a bit and ordered, “Move ahead carefully. I'll keep an eye for seals.”

Though it wasn't too widely known, Danzo was a Fuinjutsu Grandmaster too, and a rather excellent one even among the Grandmasters in Konoha. With him watching their backs, the Root ninjas weren't too concerned about walking into an ambush.

Slowly and carefully, they followed the scent until they saw the strangest scene they had ever seen. An individual, wearing a demon mask and completely covered by a large black cloak, was roasting chicken without a care in the world. He didn't even spare the five of them a glance!

Not too long ago, there was another group that witnessed this scene. They were caught completely off guard and suffered heavy losses due to their ignorance. Thanks to their bravery or stupidity, Danzo and his subordinates immediately realized who the masked individual was and raised their guard!

Suddenly, Fu said softly, “Look behind him…”

Danzo was already looking at them. The rest were too distracted and intimidated by Akuro to notice it immediately. Their blood ran cold as they noticed the dead bodies of three of their comrades lying a few meters behind him.

The bodies of Shirabe and Higure were stiff with early rigor mortis and slight discoloration setting in, indicating they had been killed several hours ago. On the other hand, Rakka's body looked freshly killed, blood still seeping from the single slash across her throat.

Fu thought, ‘All three seem to have just one wound on their bodies. They couldn't even struggle against him. The gap was simply too m…’

Torune narrowed his eyes behind his mask and muttered, “Everyone, look at the rock he’s sitting on.”

The Root ninjas glanced at it, confused at first, until Torune added, “My insects are reacting... They’re feeling something. A strong, concentrated source of Lightning chakra. It's immense and pure… This is it. The vein is right beneath that rock.”

Danzo thought, ‘Shirabe's report was accurate. The presence of the Lightning crystal vein is unmistakable. It's very similar to the one in the Land of Iron. Unfortunately, it has gained the attention of this lunatic… No matter, this is a good opportunity in one way or another.’

Danzo's gaze narrowed down on Akuro, observing every little thing about him. Needless to say, the very first thing he noticed was Akuro's mask and cloak, or rather, the dense concentration of seals on them!

He analyzed, ‘Such a high ridiculous number of seals in such a small area. Most Grandmasters disdain to do something so crude. The only one who actively does so is Fujin. Does Akuro have a similar style of Fuinjutsu, or does this cloak have a connection to Fujin?’

The dense concentration of seals reminded Danzo of Fujin's house. Even though it had been several years, the memory of seeing Fujin's house for the first time was etched in Danzo's mind. It was a sight he would never forget. Over the years, he occasionally glanced at Fujin's house. So, Danzo was well aware of how monstrous Fujin's house was. It was why he never messed with it despite repeated baits thrown by Fujin.

The seals on Akuro's cloak were quite similar. Not only were they dense, they were very chaotic and didn't look to have any pattern to it. It looked like an inexperienced Sealmaster decided to inscribe every seal he knew on the cloak.

Of course, that didn't make Danzo underestimate the cloak. Quantity was a quality in itself. Besides, any competent Sealmaster could hide fearsome formations under the supposed ‘chaos’. That is why Danzo didn't step into Fujin's house. Not to mention, Akuro's cloak was already quite famous. There weren't too many things in this ninja world that could provide protection from a transformed Jinchuriki!

Regardless, Danzo's suspicions of a possible relationship between Fujin and Akuro grew stronger. Just the similarity in their styles of inscribing seals shouldn't have been enough to raise such doubts. After all, other Grandmasters could do something similar, even if it was just for experimentation.

However, Danzo had been suspicious of Fujin ever since the assassination of his subordinates and the attack on Root headquarters. The suspicion had grown further continuously, even if just due to his instincts. Now that he finally came face to face with Akuro, Danzo wanted answers!

Danzo said, “The seals in this area follow our guidelines. They must have been inscribed by Shirabe. Unfortunately, they have failed to hide them from him. There aren't any other seals in the area.”

The Root ninjas relaxed slightly on hearing that. Danzo took a few steps forward and asked in a steady and emotionless tone, “Akuro… You’ve wandered deep into the Land of Fire, claimed something that isn’t yours, and left the corpses of my men in your wake. That’s a rather bold way to introduce yourself.”

Danzo stood still, his lone eye fixed on the masked figure as he waited for a response. His Root subordinates, tense and alert, kept their focus trained on Akuro, curious to see how he would react to their leader’s veiled threat.

But Akuro didn’t even glance at them. Forget replying, his attention remained solely on the chicken, slowly rotating over the small crackling fire, as if Danzo’s words hadn’t even reached him!

Danzo's face turned dark due to the blatant disregard and disrespect. His subordinates were furious as well. Had they not known of his crazy actions in the Land of Lightning, they wouldn't have been able to resist from teaching him a lesson!

Even without glancing at them, Fujin could feel their rage, frustration and bloodlust. He chuckled internally, ‘Not bad… Their frustration almost makes it worth the cost. My heart still bleeds due to how many lightning crystals I had to sacrifice to create a replica of the vein in the Land of Iron. Ay will have to give me twice the Lightning crystals he gifted me last time to ease my pain.

Sigh, whatever… At least I finally got Danzo out of his rathole. The weeks of work my clones put to track down his Root ninjas, study their routes, observe the lightning chakra vein and create a formation that could replicate its presence have finally bore results. If he had stayed put in his moldy crypt, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to hold myself back from directly assaulting his Root headquarters again!’

Sensing the intense killing intent, ‘Akuro’ finally turned his head, his indifferent gaze landing on Danzo and his subordinates. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he exclaimed, “Eh?”