The battlefield lay in an eerie silence, broken only by the soft crunch of bones and the panting of the ninja Kaguya. Covered in wounds and blood, he stared at Danzo with a mixture of hatred and resignation. His body could barely move, and the bone armor that protected him had been reduced to fragments.
Danzo approached with slow but determined steps. His cold gaze fixed on Kaguya, while Tatsuma, Kinoe and Shisui watched from the rear.
"Your strength... will be mine" Danzo said with a calm voice.
Without further ado, Danzo extended his right hand towards Kaguya's chest. A black, viscous substance began to emanate from his palm, moving as if it had a life of its own.
The ninja Kaguya tried to resist, but her body was no longer responding. The dark substance slowly spread, covering her torso, then her arms and legs, until it completely enveloped her figure. Her screams were stifled when the substance covered her face, leaving only a subtle tremor in the air.
Shisui frowned. "What… is this?" he muttered, his voice barely audible.
Kinoe, who had always maintained an unfazed façade, couldn't help but let his eyes widen slightly, though his posture remained rigid and alert. "It's… something beyond what we know," he whispered.
A minute later, the black substance began to retract. It moved in an unnatural manner, until it was absorbed by Danzo's skin.
And where the body of the man Kaguya once was, there was nothing left.
Danzo closed his eyes.
A torrent of images, sensations and memories invaded his mind as if they were his own. It was one of the effects of the Chimera Jutsu: the victim's memories flowed back to the user, revealing secrets, traumas and fragments of their lives.
Suddenly, Danzo found himself seeing the world through different eyes, the eyes of Kaizen Kaguya, the man whose power now coursed through his body.
It was a little boy, no more than four years old, running through a foggy forest. His laughter echoed as he chased a group of butterflies. The sky was clear, and for a moment, everything seemed perfect. But then, the memory changed abruptly.
I was in a dark, damp room. The cold stone walls gave off a feeling of oppression. I could hear voices outside.
"Kaizen... awakened the Shikotsumyaku."
"Great new weapon of massacre, last user is already dead."
"Let's lock him up before he becomes difficult to control"
The words of his relatives were venomous, they saw him as an object and not a person. The following images were even more heartbreaking. Kaizen was chained in a cell, barely lit by a couple of torches. Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. He was barely fed. He only saw his family when they needed something from him… when he had to go out and kill.
Another memory hit him like a blast. He was older now, maybe 8 years old. He was being led out of the cell, his chains clanking as he walked down a long hallway. When he reached the outside, the sky was covered in clouds, and in front of him was a group of enemy ninja.
"Kaizen, clear the way," his father ordered, without even looking him in the eye.
He raised his hands, and his Kekkei Genkai activated. Bones emerged from his body like deadly weapons, and his dance began. The enemies fell one by one. In the end, Kaizen stood, covered in blood, both his enemies' and his own.
"Good job, monster," said one of his older brothers as they chained him up again.
A mixture of rage and sadness filled Kaizen's heart at every scene. The pattern repeated itself: days, weeks and months in darkness, only to be released when he was needed to kill.
Danzo felt the intensity of Kaizen's hatred for his family, for his lineage, for a world that had never seen him as anything more than a tool. But he also felt something deeper: a desperate longing to be accepted, to be free, to have a life outside the cell that imprisoned him.
In the next memory, Kaizen had managed to escape after one of the many massacres he carried out in the name of his clan. He ran for days, without food or water, until he found a small town. For the first time, he tried to blend in with normal people. He worked as an assistant in a lumber shop, hiding his abilities. For a brief moment, he experienced something close to peace.
But when a group of rogue ninja attacked, he had to use his Kekkei Genkai. The sharp bones that sprouted from his body made him an unstoppable force. He eliminated the ninja with brutal efficiency, but the fear in the villagers' eyes was deeper than any wound they had inflicted on him.
"It's a monster!"
"Get out of here, monster!"
Stones, mud, weapons, they threw everything they had at him.
Kaizen fled the village, pursued by the very people he had saved. Without direction or hope, he made a painful decision. He returned to the Kaguya clan.
Although his family despised him and treated him like a tool, at least there he was a useful monster, an accepted being under conditions. He returned to the cold, dark cell, resigned to his fate.
Danzo slowly opened his eyes, his expression unfazed as always, but inside he was processing what he had just experienced.
Danzo stood up straight, taking a deep breath as his chakra fluctuated ominously. His eyes shone with a glint of satisfaction, and a palpable aura of power enveloped him.
"Now... this power is mine," he said in a calm voice, looking at his hand calmly, as if analyzing every change in his body.
"A power born of suffering," he muttered to himself.
Tatsuma, Kinoe, and Shisui watched him in silence, not daring to interrupt. Danzo looked up and stared at the horizon. Kaizen's memories were now a part of him.
"The world is full of broken beings," Danzo said, addressing no one in particular. "But even fragments can be forged into something useful."
Shisui took a few steps closer, still with a mix of caution and curiosity. "Danzo-sama, that jutsu... is not something I've seen before. What kind of technique is that?"
Danzo turned his head to Shisui, his eyes cold as steel. "It is a power necessary for true peace. You do not need to know more for now, Shisui."
Kinoe nodded quickly, regaining his usual composure. "Whatever he's done has strengthened Danzo-sama, his chakra seems to have increased greatly… and as long as Danzo-sama is stronger that's all that matters."
Tatsuma simply bowed his head in respect, though his gaze remained fixed on Danzo. The Root's devotion was absolute, and though what they had witnessed was disturbing, none of them would question the man who led their lives.
The wind blew gently over the battlefield, carrying with it the smell of blood and death.
Danzo walked calmly towards the wooden cocoon that held Ao prisoner. Tatsuma, Kinoe and Shisui followed at a short distance, watching silently.
Danzo raised his right hand, and in a fluid motion, a sharp bone emerged from the palm, like a natural blade. The sunlight reflected off the smooth, white surface of the bone, catching the attention of the three Root shinobi.
"That's... the Kaguya clan's Kekkei Genkai?" Shisui muttered, his eyes fixed on Danzo's transformation.
"Impressive," Tatsuma commented quietly. "The technique he used integrated the Kekkei Genkai into his body naturally."
Kinoe, though accustomed to Danzo's extraordinary feats, couldn't help but show a slight expression of wonder. "The power of a legendary clan... now in his hands," he thought.
Danzo didn't stop at their reactions. With precision, he slid the bone through a section of the wooden cocoon. The blade cut through with disturbing ease, as if the sturdy wooden jutsu was paper. A segment fell to the ground, revealing Ao's face, who was conscious, though weakened.
Ao's eyes flashed with fury and defiance as he looked at Danzo. "Who the hell are you? Why did you attack us?" he demanded hoarsely, forcing his body to stand firm despite the restraints.
Danzo tilted his head slightly, as if considering an answer. His gaze pierced Ao. "A dead man needs no answers," he said calmly.
With a swift and brutal movement, Danzo raised his arm and cleanly cut off Ao's head with the sharp bone. The execution was precise, leaving the body to fall to the ground with the wooden cocoon, which Kinoe deactivated in that instant.
Danzo then placed the bone he had used next to Ao's headless corpse. "This will be enough to divert attention. When the Kirigakure ninja find the body, they will believe that he was killed by a member of the Kaguya clan."
Carefully, Danzo picked up Ao's head and examined it closely. The Byakugan was still there, intact. He took out a storage scroll and, after forming a few hand seals, sealed her inside the scroll.
"The Byakugan is ours now," he declared firmly as he tucked the scroll into his robes.
Shisui didn't say anything, but his gaze remained fixed on Danzo. His leader's ability to take the Kekkei Genkais of others was as effective as it was terrifying, and although he didn't question the actions, he couldn't help but reflect on what it could mean for his clan, possessor of one of the most praised Kekkei Genkais.
Danzo carefully put the scroll away before turning to his subordinates. "There is no time for complacency."