Chapter 94: December 12th, Konoha Year 56 (Part 2)
Inside the Hokage's office, the six Police Force division captains stood at attention.
"Salute the Hokage!" Uchiha Douguang ordered, raising his right hand.
"LOYALTY!" the six captains shouted in unison, saluting with crisp precision.
"At ease," Douguang lowered his hand, turning toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"You've certainly been busy tonight, Douguang," the Third said coldly, eyes narrowing. "You didn't even deliver this in person—you sent a shadow clone instead?"
"This matter is urgent. I didn't have time to make a personal report. I beg your pardon, Hokage-sama," Douguang replied politely.
At that moment, Uchiha Fugaku standing beside him slowly opened his eyes—and revealed the swirling pattern of a Mangekyō Sharingan.
Seeing that, Hiruzen halted his next move mid-thought. He had been ready to summon support, but now another Mangekyō wielder stood before him.
"Another one? So the Uchiha had this hidden as well," Hiruzen said, lighting his pipe with a calm but heavy sigh.
He glanced toward the hidden corners of the office—where ANBU guards would usually be stationed—but all were suspiciously absent.
"Hokage-sama," Douguang said with a slight smile, "we'll be here—until you give your answer."
——
Across the village, in the Hokage Advisor's office, Jiraiya and Douguang stood face to face, separated only by a desk.
Jiraiya drew a deep breath. "Why, Douguang? Why are you doing this?"
"Why?" Douguang repeated. "To preserve the purity of the Will of Fire, of course."
"Barging in here with weapons drawn—that's your Will of Fire? You're dragging the entire village into chaos!" Jiraiya shouted.
"Chaos?" Douguang laughed wildly. The sound echoed through the room.
"Is this because of some laughable prophecy you got from the Great Toad of Mount Myōboku?" he asked mockingly once he stopped laughing.
"You're dragging the future into a storm of uncertainty!" Jiraiya roared.
Douguang's smile vanished. "So I should just sit back like you did? Let the world rot in darkness and wait for some miraculous chosen one promised by a hallucinating toad?"
Jiraiya clenched his fists, but Douguang kept going.
"You're a joke. A coward who's afraid to face reality. You've seen the rot in this world—and yet you do nothing. You cling to a prophecy so flimsy it wouldn't fool a child. Now that the toad's fantasy is falling apart, you panic like a child who's lost his blanket."
"You're just like that stupid dream you keep spreading—'peace through understanding'? Who's ever seen that work?"
"I never wanted to fight you. Kakashi and I were walking a new path. But then you just had to show up like a clown, waving your fantasy around in my face. Can't you just stay in your dream and leave the real world to us?"
"You wander the world like a stray dog, filling kids' heads with fairy tales. But everyone who believes you ends up dead. You never see it. You just shake your head and say, 'He wasn't the one,' then move on to the next victim."
Jiraiya's face turned pale. He wanted to argue—but the faces of the dead came flooding back to him.
Yahiko. Nagato. Konan. Minato.
Each one, once filled with hope… and then snuffed out.
Am I… really just a bringer of misfortune? Jiraiya thought numbly, staring at his own reflection in Douguang's crimson Sharingan.
Douguang had ripped the veil away, exposing Jiraiya's beliefs for what they truly were—beautiful lies built atop corpses.
"Jiraiya, have you made up your mind?" Douguang asked quietly. "Will you come quietly, or will we destroy half the village fighting over your delusions?"
Jiraiya looked out the window. The smoke of evening fires rose gently between homes.
He closed his eyes and sighed.
Douguang walked forward and placed his hand on Jiraiya's back. He began forming seals.
Sage Chakra swirled into a sealing formation—cutting off Jiraiya's chakra completely. He offered no resistance.
"Let's go," Douguang said flatly. "And don't bother trying to break the seal. You know what happens when natural energy rampages inside the body."
As they exited, Jiraiya looked around.
All the ANBU who had once guarded the office… now stood beside Police Force officers. Watching him coldly.
"Daoka, Tetsusuke," Douguang said. "Take Jiraiya-sama to the holding facility. Treat him well. Fulfill any request—except for releasing him."
"Yes, sir!" the two Uchiha captains saluted and took Jiraiya away.
Douguang turned and walked toward the Hokage Tower.
"Douguang!" Jiraiya suddenly called from behind.
Douguang paused and looked back.
"You'll bring peace to this world… won't you?" Jiraiya asked softly. His voice was filled with longing.
Douguang chuckled. "Naturally. You just sit back and watch."
——
Back at the Hokage's office, Hiruzen watched the entire arrest unfold through his crystal ball.
He looked up, opened his mouth—then the shadow clone standing before him exploded in a puff of smoke.
The door creaked open.
Douguang's real body entered and stood before the desk.
"Now, Hokage-sama," he said. "Will you sign?"
Hiruzen stared at him. "You really pulled a 'sign first, ask later' maneuver, huh?"
Douguang smiled faintly but said nothing.
"If I refuse to sign—will you use that eye of yours?" Hiruzen asked darkly.
"Why would I play my trump card in a game I've already won?" Douguang replied, still smiling.
"You think you've already won?" Hiruzen murmured.
"We'll see, won't we?" Douguang said with a glint in his eye.
——
Meanwhile, inside the ANBU headquarters…
Uchiha Itachi and Nara Shikaku were buried under a mountain of paperwork.
Then a Yamanaka ANBU agent burst into the room.
"Commander Itachi! Advisor Shikaku! The Police Force just declared martial law across the village!"
"What?" Both men shot to their feet.
"What are they trying to do?" Itachi slammed the table. "A coup… it's finally happening…"
Shikaku clenched his jaw but stayed calm. "First, we need to verify what's going on."
They rushed outside—only to find the usually bustling ANBU HQ eerily empty. Only forty or so personnel remained.
"Where is everyone?" Itachi asked furiously.
"Police Force issued a collaboration order. Everyone else is out on a joint mission," replied a Sarutobi admin.
"Who authorized this?" Itachi demanded. "Give me the list of deployed personnel!"
He was handed the document—and saw it was full of One-Heart Society members. All of them had left without informing him.
"Yamanaka Masahiko!" Itachi barked.
"Sir!" Masahiko stepped forward.
"Go to the Hokage Tower and inform the Third!" Itachi ordered.
Masahiko nodded and ran off.
Afterward, Shikaku approached. "Commander, it's likely we're in the middle of a full-scale coup."
"Let's not say 'likely,'" came a voice from the door.
Yamanaka Inoichi entered, panting. "I saw them arresting Jiraiya. I was too outmatched to intervene."
"What?! They already made their move?!" Itachi shouted.
Moments later, Masahiko returned with another agent.
"Commander Itachi, the Hokage Tower is surrounded by Police Force and ANBU loyal to Douguang," reported the newcomer.
"Damn it! They even moved against the Hokage?!" Itachi roared.
"Commander, calm down," Shikaku said. "They probably won't harm Hiruzen. Right now, we need to rescue Jiraiya."
"I agree," Itachi nodded. "What forces do we still have?"
"In total, 24 Jonin, 75 Chūnin from our clans can be fully mobilized," Shikaku answered grimly. "That's all we've got left."
"We can move within 20 minutes," Inoichi added.
"Thank you," Itachi said. Then he grabbed a radio and called Moonlight Tetsuya, captain of the 2nd ANBU Division.
The radio crackled—Tetsuya answered from inside Douguang's command room.
"Itachi?" he asked, surprised.
"Put him on speaker," Yoshimura Ryojin said, walking over.
"Itachi-taichō," Ryojin greeted, "what can I do for you?"
"…Who are you?" Itachi's voice rang out loud and clear. Everyone in the command room froze.
The coup had entered its final act.
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