The streets of Konoha near noon were bustling with people under the warm sunlight.
Kei strolled towards the jonin standby station, savoring a red bean chestnut yōkan. His gaze drifted across the merchants, civilians, and ninjas along the way.
Ordinary villagers rarely had any tags, and even when they did, they were mostly useless white or green ones. In contrast, ninjas had a higher probability of possessing them, though not all did—many were blank slates.
"No matter the world, there are always more ordinary people," Kei mused, tossing the yōkan wrapper into a trash bin just as he was about to step into the jonin standby station.
A three-seater wooden sofa suddenly shot out of the entrance with a sharp whooshing sound.
Before he could even register what had happened, a powerful surge of chakra erupted from within.
Then—boom!
Every glass window shattered simultaneously, a deep crack ran from the floor to the entrance, and even the walls tilted and crumbled.
In mere moments, the once-intact jonin standby station had turned into a condemned building.
A gust of wind quickly dispersed the thick dust, revealing two figures still locked in confrontation.
Kushina and Danzō.
Swish, swish, swish—
Three Root ninjas clad in ANBU uniforms and animal masks instantly appeared behind Danzō, assuming attack stances against Kushina.
Kei's eyes narrowed slightly. In a single step, he appeared behind Kushina.
Alongside him arrived Chōza and Dōtō from the Akimichi clan, Suzaku from the Nara clan, Gaku from the Inuzuka clan, and Murakumo from the Kurama clan.
As for the other jonin who had originally been in the standby station, whether out of fear of the Hokage Advisor's authority or simply unwilling to be entangled in high-level conflicts, they had all vanished without a trace.
"Danzō! I've already made myself clear—I will never hand over the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques to you!"
Now realizing she wasn't alone, Kushina's already fierce presence intensified further.
Hearing this, Kei immediately understood.
No wonder, aside from the Ino-Shika-Chō clans aligned with the Hokage, even the Kurama clan head had chosen to stand behind Kushina.
Danzō must have crossed a line that the ninja clans couldn't tolerate.
"An unstable jinchūriki who cannot control her emotions will only bring disaster to the village," Danzō's cold eyes held not a shred of emotion.
"I will request from Hiruzen that you undergo Root training." Without sparing Kei, Chōza, or the others a single glance, he simply dropped those words and turned to leave.
Kushina looked momentarily stunned. Even Chōza and the others were slightly taken aback by how easily he backed down.
Kei hadn't witnessed the entire conflict, so he couldn't determine Danzō's true motives. But the way this old schemer had so readily given up suggested that his real objective wasn't the Uzumaki sealing techniques.
In fact, he likely wasn't even serious about forcing Kushina into Root training.
After all, even if Hiruzen had been kicked in the head by a donkey, there was no way he'd allow Danzō anywhere near the control of the Nine-Tails jinchūriki.
Kei couldn't fully decipher Danzō's intentions, but he was certain of one thing—this old man was up to no good.
Before, he might have been helpless against Danzō's authority and influence.
But now… System, gift Shimura Danzō the trait: [Big Brainstorm].
A flicker of black light, visible only to Kei, shot into Danzō's body in the blink of an eye.
Danzō, mid-stride, felt a brief chill at the back of his head. Assuming it was just the lingering hostility from Kushina and the others, he remained completely unaware of the impending disaster.
Crack!
A wooden beam from the collapsing jonin standby station suddenly snapped with a sharp noise and came crashing down.
The entire structure began to collapse rapidly.
The moment the beam broke, Kei and the others instinctively used Body Flicker to escape.
The three Root ninjas trailing behind Danzō reacted a step too slow.
The three ninjas exchanged glances.
Seeing no sign of Danzō, they hurriedly began digging through the collapsed rubble.
No way—this thing is that effective?
Kei was both shocked and thrilled. The black trait's effect was downright explosive! He had barely attached it to Danzō, and the guy was already buried alive.
"Hahahahaha! That's what happens to people who do too many bad things!" Kushina stood with her hands on her hips, openly mocking the buried Danzō.
Her laughter grew even more gleeful when the three Root members, after exhausting every ounce of strength, finally managed to drag out a battered, bloodied, and disheveled Danzō from the wreckage.
Danzō, his head throbbing and vision spinning, instinctively circulated chakra to check his body.
A moment ago, as he had been using Body Flicker, his calf had suddenly cramped for no apparent reason, causing the collapsing beam to slam directly into his forehead.
If he hadn't reinforced his vital points with chakra at the last second, he would probably be dead already.
Is this a side effect of my transplanted Sharingan? Chakra depletion causing muscle and nerve dysfunction? Finding no other abnormalities, Danzō could only attribute the incident to the aftereffects of his ocular implants.
He had no time to bother with Kushina, who had deliberately stepped closer just to laugh in his face. Forcing himself to lift an arm, he made a vague hand signal.
The three Root ninjas hastily performed first aid, roughly bandaging his wounds before carrying him away toward the Root headquarters.
Kei watched Danzō's retreating figure, eyes filled with contemplation.
---
[Name: Shimura Danzō]
[Career: Ninja]
[Traits: Single-Eyed Three Tomoe (Blue), Wind Release Mastery (Blue), Brainwashing Specialist (Blue), Sealing Mastery (Green), Ruthless Strategist (White), Cold and Merciless (White), Big Brainstorm (Black)]
---
In terms of sheer number of tags, Danzō had the most Kei had ever seen.
Especially those unrelated to combat—Brainwashing Specialist for mind control, Sealing Proficiency for behavioral control, Ruthless Strategist for sacrificing relationships in favor of objectives, and Cold and Merciless for enhancing intimidation at the cost of humanity.
Stacking all these effects together, no wonder Root had been able to run rampant within Konoha for decades.
"What a nice day today! Ah~ thanks, everyone!"
Kushina stretched with satisfaction, then turned to thank those who had stood behind her.
Her radiant smile bore no trace of the fiery-tempered "Red-Hot Habanero" from moments ago.
"No need for thanks, Uzumaki jonin." Murakumo gave a slight nod before turning to leave with the composed demeanor of a clan leader.
He had only sided with Kushina because Danzō's demand for Uzumaki clan secrets had crossed the line for ninja families.
Had Danzō chosen a different excuse to provoke her, he would have left the jonin standby station much earlier.
Kushina paid no mind to his aloofness.
After exchanging a few words with Chōza and the others, she suddenly smacked Kei on the shoulder with a grin.
"Pig girl, long time no see, ya know~!"