Chapter 211: Price of Ambition
Nobody in the Second Hokage's squad was weak, and Danzo, who placed strength above everything, definitely wasn't the type to accept growing weak as he aged. So, even though he was not as strong as Hiruzen, he was still a Kage-level ninja.
If given the slightest chance to flee, he would do so in no time, and a rogue Danzo would be much more dangerous for Konoha than Orochimaru could ever be. That's why Hiruzen had made sure that Danzo could not use any chakra, even going as far as applying all the seals himself.
If not for the Uchiha's demand to get Danzo in perfect condition, Hiruzen might have preferred cutting Danzo's chakra pathways and making him unable to use chakra ever again. He would still have his chakra, but he would be unable to move it. For Danzo, nothing would be worse than that. Though Hiruzen would never do that—or rather, the old Hiruzen would never do that.
The current Hiruzen now knew everything he had actively tried to ignore. He now knew how much damage Danzo had inflicted on Konoha. He could confidently say that the friend he once knew may have died in the past, and the person in front of him was now a different person who just wanted power and would go to any lengths to achieve it.
In a sense, every ninja would do that. But once this started to affect your friends and family, and you become a beast who uses innocent lives to achieve power, you become an enemy of everyone, including your old friends.
"If not for the Uchiha's request, I would have loved to kill you myself," were Hiruzen's last words before sending Danzo to the Uchiha compound.
None of the elders came to Danzo's rescue anymore. He was now a sinking ship, and the best thing everyone could do was take their valuables and run. There was no way the elders were going to drown with this ship.
While Danzo could take some elders like Koharu and Homura with him, since they knew many things he did behind Hiruzen's back, they were so insignificant in his mind that he didn't even think about them. In a sense, it was their luck that Danzo never became Hokage.
Otherwise, the first people who would have died were those corrupted elders. Danzo was not going to keep them in his council. But now, Danzo's mind was only thinking about his mistake—what did he do wrong?
His plan was perfect, its implementation was perfect. Those damned Uchiha didn't even guess that he was sullying their image and making them enemies of Konoha step by step. In a couple of years, when they would have guessed that something was wrong, everything would already be out of their hands. But then that brat came.
He started improving the Uchiha's image in Konoha, and since he didn't have to be discreet in his actions, he almost ruined years of work in just a few months.
Danzo obviously became angry and tried to kill him; it was the logical thing to do. But somehow, that was the point when everything took a turn for the worse. He knew there was nothing he could do now; only death awaited him, and one with lots of pain.
Danzo even tried to commit suicide to take away the pleasure of torturing him from those who wanted to do so, but these pests didn't even allow him to do that.
Now he was just sitting in a dark room; only the gods knew where. But then the gates of that room opened, and someone came in, and the lifeless eyes of the person Danzo hated the most in the world appeared before him. Even though three people came through the door, Danzo's eyes were only focused on Kaida.
"You… I will kill you. It was you who did this to me. If you are a man, untie my hands for a second and see what I will do to you," Danzo said, moving so much that he fell with the chair he was tied to.
"Hahaha, as I said, there was no way that simple mind reading would damage his brain, brother. He is way too shrewd; there is no way his mind would be weak. See, he is still trying to find a way to run away by acting angry," Kaida said, laughing at Danzo's antics.
Then he turned to Kakashi.
"I have a gift for you, Kakashi," Kaida said.
"What is it?" Kakashi was having a hard time not attacking Danzo. He was the man who was responsible for maybe half of his problems. If his father were alive, maybe—just maybe—he and his team would not have had to do that bridge mission, and they would still be alive.
Kaida also understood how impatient both of them were, so not wasting any further time, Kaida took out a bottle of liquid from his bag. The only person other than Kaida who knew what that liquid was lay on the ground, but from the concentrated smell of the liquid, Danzo could easily guess what it was, and for the first time, he now felt fear.
"What is this?" Kakashi asked.
"This is the same poison Danzo used to make your father do that. Also, it is a highly concentrated one, so Danzo will be susceptible to any and every genjutsu after drinking this."
When everyone heard that, they all had different reactions.
"This is the best start for the day. What are you waiting for? Take it and make him drink it," Shisui said to Kakashi.
Kakashi looked at the poison with fire in his eyes, and his killing intent and bloodlust even seemed to threaten the bottle, which was understandable, but Kaida protected it. The bottle was costly and rare, and Kaida had to ask his teacher Mitsuru for help in finding this poison.
"I am sorry," Kakashi said and took the bottle from Kaida.
"No problem."
Kakashi went to Danzo, grabbed his mouth open, and started pouring the poison in his mouth, but Danzo was not swallowing it. Seeing that, Kakashi thrust the bottle down Danzo's throat.
The size of the bottle was much bigger than how much a person's mouth could stretch, causing Danzo's lower jaw to break and his throat muscles to tear. Kakashi kept the bottle there until it was empty.
Obviously, Kakashi didn't care about Danzo's injuries. Normally, it wouldn't have been a problem for Danzo to have torn muscles; his chakra would have repaired the damage in a minute or two.
But now that his chakra was sealed, he was just a little stronger than a common man, so the tear and blood coming out of that injury started stopping the airflow from his lungs.
Kakashi, Shisui, and Kaida just stood there looking at him. After five minutes, Kaida said, "He may actually die like this," and placed a kunai on Danzo's throat. With a small thrust, he made a small hole and took out all the blood, then used the Healing Palm Jutsu to close the wound.
"He is good to go," he said, and then went back to the room. Kakashi and Shisui both activated their Sharingan. Kakashi just removed his headband to reveal his Sharingan…