55

~One week Later~~

It was the end of the day in the village of Konohagakure. The stars were sparkling in the dark blue sky, a beautiful sight to witness. Everyone was asleep except for the guards.

The lights were all out except for that weak light that shined clearly in the darkness, coming from the Kage tower. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage was sitting at his desk as he did his paperwork.

The old man sighed as he stood up dropping the pen on the desk before completing his paperwork. He walked towards the exit, closed the lights, and got out of his office.

He made his way to the roof of the Kage tower standing near the fence, his hands resting on the fence as he gazed at the alluring dark blue sky.

"Hokage sama"

The wind blew hard as the old man heard the unknown voice behind him. There is no doubt that this man is Ghost himself, who else could be daring and skilled enough to sneak up on him without getting noticed..!

And just a week ago Kakashi brought him and his entire squad back to the village.

The Hokage closed his eyes for a bit before opening them again, "I have read the reports, good job, since you came back there has been no incident of any sort. However, the psycho who has caused the mass massacre seems to have gone underground"

Ghost did not show any emotion on his face and just nods his head, "Don't worry Hokage sama, with the Uchiha clan leading the criminal investigation along with the Inazuka clan, they will find him soon enough"

"Can't you just sense the culprit?!"

Ghost shook his head, "It's not possible sir, we don't know who did this, whether it's someone from inside the village or someone from outside. Even though I can sense them all, and even feel their emotions, I won't be able to say who is the culprit here"

"However... there is a single chakra that does not belong to this village!! I sent my men to find out about this mysterious outsider"

Hokage sighed again and looked up to see the bright lights shining in the dark, "I just wish for some peace, with you back by my side, all will be well, you are the only one who could lead our village to an era of tranquility and safety"

"I will try my best, Hokage sama"

Hiruzen nods, and when he turns back, he sees a blank and empty terrace. Ghost was gone with the winds.

Hiruzen took a deep breath, "I am too old for this"

Once back to his office the old man just leaned against the chair and closed his eyes.

...

While that was happening in the Hokage tower, Kakashi was following a suspicious guy around the village.

Inazuka clan coupled with the Uchiha clan found something just a few minutes ago and sent teams in couple to follow up on the lead and search for the clues.

Kakashi, who was also present on the scene was chosen to go along with Inuzuzka Hana.

But when they arrived there, they saw a suspicious man prowling around in the alleys. Kakashi stayed in the position while Hana went back to report to others.

Kakashi dwelled in the shadows, following the man's figure as he made his way to the edge of the village. Just before reaching the square, the man made a sharp turn and went off toward the north. Kakashi followed him out of the alleys and into a field somewhere out of Konoha.

"Identify yourself", A shadow came out of nowhere when the man stopped by the hut and made a secret signal of the foundation.

The suspicious man looked around to see if anyone followed him and only after confirming that he was not being followed did he stick his tongue out to show the seal on his tongue.

'Roots', Kakashi who was watching the entire scene from the shadows frowned.

The shadow who stopped the man stuck his fingers onto the seal to verify its authenticity.

"Gah!" The man yelled as pain ran through his body.

The shadow steps back and nods his head, "Danzo sama is currently busy with some important matter..! If there is a message, you can tell me"

The man nods his head, "Tell Danzo sama that I have done checking the streets, his plan of mass genocide is a huge success, now the population of the village has no trust in Hokage and... who is it?!", The man roared, turning back at Kakashi's location.

But before they could take another step forward, Kakashi jumped down from the roof and ran away with a few ninjas at his heels.

...

~~Meanwhile near the Uchiha compound~~

"Only with the power of multiple Sharingan in my hand. I can protect our village from beasts like the Ghost. This is for Konoha. Try to understand", Danzo stared condescendingly at Shisui's eye in his hand, blood was dripping from between his fingers.

Shisui gritted his teeth, half-kneeling on the ground with one hand covering his left eye. He knew this day would come, people's greed knows no bounds, sensei told him this many times, yet he still chose to break the taboo in hopes of bringing a peaceful resolution.

People from roots were wearing animal masks of different colors and stood around Shisui, afraid that he would escape in an instant or someone would come to rescue him.

"Anyway, I would make sure that I will see through your dream of making Konoha the greatest, and I will destroy Ghost for you as well"

Shisui chuckled mockingly with blood on his lips. "Destroy Ghost..?! Old man, for someone who brought him up, you sure don't know much about him, do you? And here I thought you could have stopped him because you grew him up!!"

Danzo smirked slightly, watching Shisui whose one eye has a hole in its place, with dark blood dripping from it. He stretched his hand towards Shisui's other eye.

Grasping this chance, Shisui quickly dropped a smoke bomb on the ground. The space was instantly covered in white smoke and dust.

Danzo hurriedly made hand signs and blow away the smoke that suddenly burst in front of him.

"Chase him..!! He must not survive", Danzo ordered, the top priority is not to let Shisui run into anyone. Or the consequences will be dire.

Shisui ran like a crazy beast. His speed was inhuman. A dozen men have chased him but they cannot catch up. Always staying about twenty paces behind him.

"Damn this boy! Why is he so fast!!"

The chase had taken them halfway down the hillside where there were more trees and shrubs than before, so there was less chance for Shisui to get caught in the maze of bushes.

While running through the woods, Shisui suddenly had an idea; even though he was injured and was being chased by dozens of armed men but at least now he has a way to survive.

He could hear footsteps following close behind him. As soon as he reached the edge of the waterfall cliff, he leaped off the edge into the river. The current took him swiftly downstream.

Splash.

"Damn it!! where did he go?!", One of the men following Shisui asked loudly, turning around only to find the waterfall crashing into the river and the raging river carrying everything further down.

They turned their attention back to each other, eyes filled with frustration, anger, and hatred. All of them were wondering why Shisui had escaped in such a manner. Now it's gonna be hell trying to find him.

...

Ghost blinked atop a tree and appeared with winds, watching Itachi and Shisui having an emotional moment, saying goodbye to each other, he just rolled his eyes, wondering if he should have brought popcorn with him instead. The two teens are just so dramatic.

The waterfall made a huge sound of water crashing into the river, Shisui closed his eyes and turned his back to the waterfall. After completely losing his strength, the sound of water turned out to be extremely loud.

"I will give you this eye. Use it to protect this village, and protect our clan. And other than sensei, trust no one"

Itachi took the Sharingan, and Shisui's wet and soft eyeballs pressed against his palm.

Itachi wanted to cry, but could not, he wanted to scream but could not. He could just watch his friend die. Shisui smiled and patted Itachi on the shoulder.

"Goodbye my friend, and remember to tell sensei that I am sorry. I should have trusted him more", The waterfall is too loud, and Shisui is too close to the waterfall.

As the sun began rising in the east, Shisui's figure fell straight down from the River.

...

The swirling leaves in the River stream sank.

Itachi stood silently on the cliff's edge, and the three-gou jade in his scarlet eyes quickly rotated. He closed his eyes when all Gouyu condensed.

Once Shisui died, Itachi gained powers beyond his imagination.

...

"I'll miss you, Sensei...", Shisui smiled as he sink deeper and deeper into the sea. He was at a peace with himself.

The water around him is getting tighter and tighter. He thought that he must have reached low enough.

"You are so dramatic I felt like crying,", A mocking voice echoed from far away.

'Sensei?!'

Shisui kicked his legs furiously, holding his neck, and opening his mouth only for the bubbles to come out. He kept kicking when a hand grabbed Shisui's clothes with one hand, and the very next second; they were in his house.

Shisui lay down unconscious, as Ghost concentrated small amounts of electricity in the palms of his hands, giving off a powerful shock.

Right now, the most important thing is to make sure that his heart is beating again, "Come on"

He continues to give the shock Shisui, trying to revive him, "Come on rookie"

Cough Cough

Shisui coughed the water out of his mouth. Ghost huffed a sigh of relief as Shisui's heart was beating again. He hurriedly deployed the green chakra. Trying to hold Shisui's life.

...

"Thank you", Itachi said and bowed to the unknown man in Shisui's house, knowing who it was, who else could it be if not Ghost?!

One might ask if this is Ghost's real face, maybe, maybe not, but Itachi is sure that he has never seen this man in his life.

Ghost sighed while leaning his head on the wall sitting by the window watching the night with stars shining from above. Ghost brought Itachi here just a few minutes ago. Informing him about Shisui being alive.

"I will be busy for some time now. So take care of him", Ghost finally said watching the moon with its silver rays glimmering upon the surface of the Uchiha clan's surface.

Itachi nodded, and Ghost watched the two teens with slight interest; just 12 years old Itachi's extreme talents are no secrets, and then, there is Shisui, a boy whose mind might be on the simpler side, but has more fighting talent than anyone he has ever seen.

...

"Did you find him?!", Danzo asked, they had been searching for Shisui's body for a while now. His hands were dripping blood carrying the bloody eye of Uchiha Shisui.

The root agent was about to answer when a flute melody rang throughout the area. The sound of the tune made everyone present at the scene tremble.

Following the eerie yet melodious sound of the flute, the darkness surrounds the entire area with a thick suffocating dark fog, the song of death instills everyone with a surge of insurmountable fear. The aura of regret fills the air and then suddenly, Danzo's face turned pale and he staggered backward and pukes blood all of a sudden.

The rest of the group was in shock, trying to avoid the puddles of blood around them as they watch the old man lying on the floor in the middle of a pool of blood, unable to move his body.

But their horror did not end there, as if the song of death was playing for them alone, it caused an eerie sensation that made every single one of them feel like something was watching them from afar.

Then after a few moments, the dense fog dispersed leaving nothing behind except the blood-stained ground. Everyone died...

A series of footsteps went towards Danzo who was lying on the ground, groaning in agony

Danzo barely lifted his head watching the burly figure coming towards him, "Y-You!!"

The figure squatted and leaned on Danzo's ear to whisper, "It feels terrifying right..?! Don't worry father, this is just the start of the show. This horror will only get better and better", The shadow laughed.

He took Shisui's eyes from his paralyzed hand, "This is just one of the many items I will take from you!"

With that said, the shadow rose and vanished into thin air.

Danzo closed his eyes and whispered, "Demon"

He felt weak and lost, unable to muster up any strength he closed his eyes.

The sound of the rustling of the leaves echoed in the night. If one focused a bit then they could hear the faint chirping of crickets, but no other sounds were heard. There are no human beings alive nearby after all..!!

...

Kakashi ran towards the south, dodging all the Kunai and Jutsu thrown at him from the back by his pursuers. As he reached the outer wall of the village, he stopped and looked around. He didn't want to lose any more time when there was so much he could do here.

Lowering his mask, Kakashi revealed his Sharingan and began to scan the area. His eyes scanned across the village and finally landed on a certain place.

Focusing on the chakra and weaving through the hand signs, he fires a single fireball into the sky. The fireball rose high into the air, igniting the night.

When Kakashi turned back towards his pursuers he saw two of them falling to their knees and clutching at the wound on their necks and more than half a dozen more were killed similarly, as Tsume from the Inazuka clan and Fugaku from the Uchiha clan came to rescue him.

...

A while later, back in the tower, Hiruzen looked at Kakashi with a frown.

"Are you sure?!"

Kakashi nods, "Indeed Hokage sama, From what I have heard and gathered I am fairly certain that Danzo sama ordered the mass genocide"

Hokage looked at Shikaku near him, "What do you think?!"

Shikaku thought for a bit and then said, "It's not like he doesn't have a motive, you already control both the elders, and with civilians on your side, you have full and absolute control over the village"

Hokage nods his head, waiting for Shikaku to finish.

"However with this incident, your reputation has fallen a lot, and both elders can be easily controlled, there is also a lot of pressure from inside for you to step down, soon daimyo sama will hear about this and make elder Danzo the fifth Hokage"

Hokage sighed and leaned back in his seat, will his friend do such a thing?! Is he already down to such a degree? "Then why would he order a massacre on his own clan"

Shikaku sighed, "The elder lost his entire clan yet worked day and night for the betterment of the village, and found the culprit after days of not sleeping or grieving"

"..."

"People will eat this story for days, the favor will be on his side, and lastly, with your ultimate demise, it will be a done deal that Daimyo chooses the people's hero as the fifth Hokage"

Hokage frowned and Shikaku continued, "However, this is all but mere speculation of mine, and it could be wrong, this all could be a trap to frame elder Danzo to bring him down, we don't have enough evidence of anything", Shikaku Nara, Hokage's advisor finished talking.

Hokage closed his eyes tiredly when a knock came on the door, and one Anbu came inside, but before he could bow down, Hokage interrupted him in a hurry, "Speak!!"

"Sir, we have found the foreign chakra's identity", The Anbu said, "It's a missing-nin from the village of Takigakure, now working as a bounty hunter, his name is Kakuzu and..."

"And what?!", Shikaku frowned

"Why did you stop, speak up!!", Hokage said sternly

"It's not confirmed but... he seems to be smuggled inside the village by a bunch of Konoha shinobis, It's an inside job and I am pretty sure this Kakuzu is our "Demon killer"

Hokage frowned, "Fukgau..!"

"Yes, Hokage sama!!"

"Root is now a threat to the village and the Police force has absolute authority to make arrests and unwarranted searches through anything Root related... this may include people who are associated with the organization as well"

"Yes, Hokage sama"

"Kakashi"

"Yes, Hokage sama"

"Team up with Gai, and take care of this bounty hunter"

"Yes, Hokage sama..."

"Everyone; dismiss!!"

Once everyone was out of the office, Hokage immediately lit up the silence seal in the office and looked at Shikaku, "Now drop the act and tell me truthfully, Do you really think it was Danzo who did all this?!"

Shikaku shook his head, "I am sure you read the secret report about this genocide..."

The old man nods his head, "Most people included in this massacre are somehow associated with Root in one way or another. And now with his clan gone, Danzo does not have either political power or manpower... I also don't think he is that much of a fool to make a scene like this..."

"Indeed, and after this strike right now, he won't even have root either", Shikaku speaks again

After a while, Shikaku chuckled a bit, "This demon killer took everything from the elder. If you ask me, I think it's his revenge"

"..."

"After this, I am sure proof after proof will be put in front of us. Bounties will be placed in Danzo's name and I can't even imagine what they have in the store in the future for that old man. And to cream the crop, you can't stop this, or the mass attacks will never stop..."

Hokage nodded in agreement, but still felt that something was off about the situation, "That's all true, but there is something else that is bugging me for some time now, how did someone bypass my crystal ball Jutsu...?!"

Shikaku frowned...

"Is it because they knew where exactly the seals are placed?! But Mito sama told only a few handfuls where she placed those seals, and now I am the only one alive who knows the seals' exact location. It happened before as well..."

"During the Hyuga incident...", Shikaku said...

"Yes. They can't know it, it's impossible, so the only possible explanation is... they sensed the chakra within the seals", The old man thought aloud, "Last time, and this time too..."

Shikaku sighed, "As you said, there is a good chance that its Ghost who has been manipulating you this whole time, whether it's way back during the Kumo accident or now"

Hokage raised his brow at that...

"At that time, I could understand, But this time, I can't imagine him taking such a long route to frame elder Danzo. I mean he is strong enough to just outrightly purge root from inside out"

Hokage frowned and leaned back on his chair, "From what I understand about Ghost, he is not trying to destroy anything. This is a message... for us; he is not going to just kill Danzo, he is going to outrightly destroy him. Find out what Danzo did. Probably within the last month..."

"The very day of the incident itself is unknown but our men will be able to find something soon enough, please be rest assured Hokage sama. We will get to the end of this", Shikaku bowed, and then he left as well.

...

On the outskirts of the village, Kakuzu was walking around when suddenly the earth began to shake violently.

He looked around and saw a green blur coming at him with great force, he blocked whatever it was, but the force behind the attack was so great that he went flying backward.

Then, before his very eyes, he beheld the man in a green suit and bowel haircut, with veins almost bursting out of his red skin, the newcomer look as though he had been awakened from a deep slumber. It was no other than Gai.

Kakuzu cursed and held his head, stunned by the flash bombs that came out of nowhere, covering Kakashi's arrival, "Chidori", Kakashi cried out.

The sound came too late. Kakashi was already onto Kakuzu with his hand covered in lightning. Due to being stunned, Kakuzu was next to being defenseless against this surprise attack.

The power of Chidori was like a raging river. In an instant, like a sharp spear, Chidori pierced Kakuzu's shoulder.

However, instead of getting captured and falling onto the ground into a puddle of blood, all that was left was the massive crater in which he stood.

It should have been over, the enemy should have been captured, but there was not even a shadow of the man.

"He escaped", Gai said coldly

Kakashi frowned, his eyes gleaming with intend to kill, "This is Konoha. No matter where he runs off to, this man will not escape the village!"

The two men shared a brief gaze and they began their chase, chasing after the unknown bounty hunter.

...

In the forest of death, a single man plays the eerie yet musical sound of the flute. The moon shone through the leafy branches in the forest, casting an unearthly light upon his face as the forest was still as the tomb.

The sound of the flute came softly to his ears — a voice of music and melody — though it is a song that no one dares to listen to, because it's the song of the death played by the devil itself, Ghost of Konoha. This terrifying being kills without conscience and spares no one.

He played on the flute and listened to his own haunting and solemn melody, in the shadows of the woods where none dare to walk, a shadow approaches Ghost.

"If I was killed by those two, I would have haunted you from the afterlife", Kakuzu said as he approached Ghost from deep within the forest. A heavy silence fell over them both; neither speaking more.

They were interrupted when a sudden gust of wind blew through the trees, "Kakashi and Gai indeed make a fearsome combo, they will find you soon enough, so I suggest you start running"

Kakuzu smirked, "I can handle them if I go all out..."

"You can't. They are very strong, and you will get ambushed by nearly half a dozen shinobis in the village if you don't start running now..."

Kakuzu cursed under his breath, "Konoha huh?! Sure enough, this village is called the strongest of the five great nations for a reason"

"Indeed", Ghost said, "This village is filled with monsters, and it's time for everyone to understand that"

Konohagakure, the home of the will of fire. Something that runs strong in the vessels of its shinobi. Something that became a joke.

Countless legends were born in this great village, countless legends were killed by the very village itself. Konohagakure no Sato, the home of the will of fire, his home.

He played the flute for a few more minutes before Kakashi and Gai's chakra approached the forest. Kakuzu was long gone. And Ghost just slowly vanished from his position like a faded mirage, as the pair came nearer to where he last stood.