RADG: Chapter 44/45

Chapter 44: This Is How You Threaten Someone

Collusion, The Third Hokage's Tolerance of Danzō

Shisui had no choice but to accept the mission, but he was no longer as resistant as he had been at the beginning.

What Shimura said made sense. The value of a Kage-level shinobi was immeasurable.

Especially since she possessed Scorch Style, whether alive or dead, Pakura was of great significance to Konoha.

The only difficulty lay in rescuing her from the ambush set by the Mist Shinobi and the Sand Shinobi, without being discovered by either nation.

Shisui asked for more details, and Yami didn't hide anything, telling him everything he'd gathered from Matsumoto and his own analysis.

After listening, Shisui felt more confident and said decisively,
"I'll go to the Police Department to request leave now. I'll head out tomorrow."

Although there were still more than ten days left, Shisui needed time for thorough preparation. He couldn't afford to waste a single moment.

"Good luck on your mission, Shisui-senpai."

As he watched Shisui's figure weaving through the woods, Yami waved, his voice precisely carried to Shisui's ears.

"I'll be waiting for you with Itachi.."

Shisui landed on a large tree, only to lose his balance and crash through its thick trunk.

That kid's got a mean streak.

...

After leaving the cliffside, Yami thought it over and decided to inform the old man.

After all, once Pakura was brought back, she would be placed under Root's control. It wasn't something he could keep from him.

On Konoha's territory, the old man had more spies than Hiruzen.

When Yami arrived at Root's base, Danzō was, as usual, randomly choosing some poor souls in his office to manipulate.

Yami got straight to the point, explaining his plan and arrangements.

Danzō frowned but didn't interrupt until Yami finished speaking.

After a moment of contemplation, he stood up, pacing slowly as he spoke:

"Yami, you're still too idealistic."

"As shinobi, we are tools. Even if the higher-ups use us in exchange for benefits, someone like Pakura may be dissatisfied, but she must learn to understand."

Yami didn't refute, only nodded.

Not because he agreed, but because in this twisted world, that's how most people thought.

Take Shisui, for example. After Danzō gouged out his eyes, his first reaction wasn't revenge, he simply thought Danzō didn't trust him enough, and he tried to understand him.

Or Itachi—after Danzō killed his dear brother, he still acted as a spy for both Hiruzen and Danzō within the Uchiha clan, feeding them information, and ultimately wiped out his own clan for the sake of the village.

All this just proved that, after generations of brainwashing, many people's thoughts and behavior were no longer understandable to Yami.

But Pakura was different.

In her impure state, she clearly expressed hatred toward Sunagakure, though in the original plot, she was eventually persuaded to return to the Pure Land.

As long as she could be brought back and subjected to over a decade of brainwashing, there'd be nothing to worry about by then.

"Old man, don't be so absolute," Yami said with a smile. "She's a Kage-level shinobi, she's worth a try."

"If it doesn't work, we can just kill her. We won't lose anything."

"That's true." Danzō smiled. "So I'm not objecting."

"Let Uchiha Shisui give it a try. Whether it succeeds or not doesn't concern us."

"But..." Danzō's eyes gleamed coldly. "Your methods of threatening people are too soft. What's an Uchiha Itachi? Next time, if you want him to do something, use the entire Uchiha clan to pressure him."

"For example... Shisui. You don't want your clan assigned to high-mortality missions in the future, do you?"

"Understand?"

Yami: "...."

He had thought he was shameless enough, but it turned out he was still a novice in front of a master.

What else could he say?

---

Elsewhere, the Interrogation Division had finished gathering all the intel from Matsumoto Giku.

Holding the report in hand, Yamanaka Inoichi frowned deeply, as if grappling with a serious dilemma.

As the sun began to set and the warm red glow filled the room, he finally gritted his teeth, took the report, and headed for the Hokage Building to meet with Hiruzen.

"Third Hokage, the spy captured by Hizashi's team has been interrogated."

"Any important intel?" Hiruzen asked, still puffing on his pipe.

"This is the compiled report. Please take a look." Inoichi respectfully placed the information on the desk and stepped back.

Hiruzen quickly skimmed through it, marking several key points in red.

Seeing that Inoichi wasn't leaving, he asked in confusion,
"Inoichi, is there something else?"

"Hokage-sama..." Inoichi lowered his voice, "I found... someone tampered with part of the spy's memories. The method is very familiar, it resembles the Yamanaka clan's secret techniques."

Hiruzen paused and slowly set down his pipe.

"Can it be restored?"

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't manage it," Inoichi replied helplessly.

"I see." Hiruzen didn't blame him, instead gently encouraged him:
"You've worked hard recently. Go home early today and spend time with your family."

"Protecting the village is important, but so is the bond with family."

Inoichi was deeply moved. He bowed again before leaving the office.

Once he left, the smile vanished from Hiruzen's face.

"Danzō..."

How could he not understand Inoichi's implication? The only ones capable of this, and with the nerve to do so, were people from Danzō's Root.

Still, Hiruzen wasn't worried about Danzō's intentions. The two had worked together and clashed for years, their political views dividing and merging again and again. Hiruzen was confident that Danzō would never betray the village.

Even if at times Danzō acted more like a pig teammate than a comrade and often caused more damage than a traitor might, at the end of the day, his intentions were rooted in loyalty.

So after noting the information, Hiruzen didn't give it much more attention and moved on to other matters.

The next document to catch his eye was news regarding the Uchiha clan.

[Uchiha Shisui was accidentally injured while training ninjutsu and requires half a month of rest. Leave has been reported to the Police Department.]

(To be continued.)

Chapter 45: Yugao’s Request

Shimura clan compound, Yami's residence.

Yami sat cross-legged on the tatami, unrolling a scroll nearly as tall as he was.

It was a replica of the Scroll of Seals that countless shinobi dreamed of seeing with their own eyes… Danzō had tossed it to him after hearing Yami wanted to learn sensory ninjutsu.

It really paid to have connections. For ordinary shinobi to even qualify to learn a Forbidden Jutsu from the scroll, not only did their background have to be spotless, they also had to make major contributions to Konoha. As a reward, Hiruzen would let them select one jutsu to learn.

But for Yami, he could study as much as he wanted without restriction.

That said, Danzō had warned him: certain techniques marked as extremely dangerous required permission to learn, while others did not.

Well… the Scroll of Seals also contained regular ninjutsu.

It was likely that Senju Tobirama had created a jutsu, and Senju Hashirama, without even looking at it, ordered it sealed.

After Hashirama died, Tobirama seemed to develop a habit of sealing everything he made.

Water Style: Severing Wave (modified), Water Dragon Bullet (three-hand seal version), Water Dragon Bullet, Hard Vortex Water Blade, Water Riding Strike...

Looking at the long list of Water Release techniques, Yami was dazzled.

But he didn't forget his main purpose. Ignoring the techniques that would drive any Water Release user crazy, he focused on locating sensory-type jutsu.

Eventually, he found it at the very end of the scroll.

Spirit Wave Illusion Touch Super Sensory Tracking Ultimate Detection Shadow Style (crossed out) - Mind's Eye of the Kagura (Universal Version).

Yami's mouth twitched.

That naming style… it had to be Namikaze Minato.
The simplified name afterward was probably Kushina's doing.

By connecting the fingers to the ground and scattering a large number of chakra threads, it allowed the user to sense life energy within a certain range.

Compared to the original Mind's Eye of the Kagura, the range and precision were significantly weakened, but it was still a powerful sensory ninjutsu.

Most importantly, it didn't require the Uzumaki bloodline. As long as chakra control was accurate enough, it could be mastered making it very suitable for Yami.

After copying down the training method for Spirit Wave Illusion Tou—ahem, Mind's Eye of the Kagura (Universal Version),Yami started selecting other techniques.

To his surprise, Uchiha Madara's signature Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame was recorded in the scroll, as well as other Fire Style, which had already been lost within the Uchiha clan.

Copy it all. Just copy everything.

That way, he could learn whatever he wanted later without having to keep borrowing the Scroll of Seals from the old man.

After transcribing about twenty jutsu and their training methods, Yami stopped, rubbing his sore wrist.

He already had several jutsu from all five chakra natures, plus Bringer of Darkness Technique, Flying Thunder God Technique, and Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags.

As for Wood Release, Dead Demon Consuming Seal, and Impure World Reincarnation, he either wasn't ready to learn them yet or couldn't use them even if he did, so he didn't pay them much mind.

He wasn't Orochimaru; he didn't have the urge to learn every jutsu in the world.

But with all five chakra attributes and high talent, why not?

Learning more jutsu wasn't just for combat, it was also important for experiencing chakra nature transformation during the learning process.

It was a shame that Kakashi's signature technique Raikiri and Minato's Rasengan weren't recorded in the scroll.

Rasengan was easy enough, it likely had the most detailed training instructions among any Hokage-developed jutsu, so he could learn it on his own.

Raikiri, though… he'd have to find a way to get it.

It had many derivatives, and its effectiveness was solid.

Well… he couldn't just feed enemies skewers of meatballs forever, could he?

As for Flying Thunder God Technique...

Although he was still one talent fragment short, Raidō Nimiashi and Shiranui Genma were on the frontlines. He'd definitely be able to get it once they returned.

If all else failed, he could forge a bond of life and death.

While choosing jutsu, Yami noticed something, Konoha had very few advanced Wind Release techniques. Only the A-rank jutsu Wind Scythe, which had been taken from Sunagakure.

A rough idea began to form in his mind. It seemed he would have to rely on himself to revive the glory of Wind Release.

---

The next day, Hizashi was still recovering from his injuries.

Just as Yami was preparing to go find a place to train his jutsu, someone came to find him again.

"Yugao?"

Seeing the purple-haired girl in front of him fiddling nervously with her fingers, Yami asked curiously, "Why are you here? Do you have a mission?"

"No, no mission." Yugao shook her head and bit her lip lightly.

Finally, she made up her mind, bowed deeply, and said sincerely, "Yami-kun, please teach me swordsmanship!"

Yami was taken aback. He hadn't expected Yugao to come for that.

In truth, what he didn't know was that Yugao had been wrestling with this for several days. The idea had actually taken root when she lost to him.

During their Journey, after receiving some of his guidance, she realized just how far apart they were in swordsmanship.

It wasn't just about strength, it was about vision and foundation.

The reason she hadn't come earlier wasn't because of pride. For the sake of improving her swordsmanship, pride didn't matter.

But swordsmanship transmission was a sensitive subject anywhere. Back then, her father had worked for years to earn the chance to study Dance of the Crescent Moon under Hayate's father before being accepted as a disciple.

Even though Yami was younger than her, if he agreed, she wouldn't hesitate to become his student.

Yugao knew this was impulsive, but she had her reasons.

"Sit down first. We can't talk properly like this."

Yami snapped out of it. After collecting his thoughts, he pulled Yugao inside and brought her into the tea room.

After a server delivered two cups of cold tea, he spoke slowly:

"Teaching swordsmanship is no big deal to me, but the old man always says, you shouldn't suffer any loss. You have to earn something for your effort."

"We can talk about the reward later. Can you tell me why you're so desperate to improve your swordsmanship?"

(To be continued.)