Mokuton Root Agent #10

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Mokuton Root Agent

Chapter 10

–Hiruzen “The Professor” Sarutobi–

He was curious as to who the council would choose as the next Hokage. Realistically, despite him voluntarily resigning from his position of power, he would most probably have the final say in appointing the next Hokage.

Especially since the most probable candidates were his own students.

Thinking of his students, sadness gripped his heart.

Orochimaru would have been the perfect choice for the Hokage after Minato. The only reason he was not chosen as the Hokage was due to many on the council being unsure of Orochimaru’s skills to inspire. Being Hokage means having equal amounts of personal strength and equal amounts of ability to invoke strength in others. Sometimes strength that they themselves were unaware of.

Also, he was aware that many on the council also thought that Orochimaru’s scientific pursuits, while completely legitimate, were a little on the darker side for them to digest.

And with Minato’s popularity on the rise and the fact that having a younger Hokage meant that they had the opportunity to ensure long periods of stability for the village, much like he had to when he was appointed as Hokage of the village in his early 20s, the choice was truly not in his hands at the moment. Not to mention, he had thought that with his interest in the scientific fields apparent, he would have neither the time nor the interest to juggle the never-ending field of administrative tasks that came part and parcel with being Hokage. After all, he had always complained to Orochimaru about his paperwork problem and he had always replied with a tiny smirk, as if he knew something that the Hokage didn’t and found great joy in it.

He was broken out of his thoughts when he sensed one of the nearby ANBU coming towards him. He turned towards her, it was easy to recognize Yugao from her purple hair, to see that she was holding a key of some sort which had a seal on it.

His eyes widened as he recognised the seal on it. It was the official seal crest of the head of the Uzumaki clan. The last known person to have it on their person was Kushina and it was supposedly destroyed due to being corroded after coming into contact with the Kyuubi’s malevolent chakra.

How did Danzo get a hold of it? Not to mention, it seemed to be in perfect condition. He could see no damage on it or on the seal from a precursory glance.

His hands shook a bit as he was reminded of yet another failure from his side.

“Sir?” He heard Yugao call for him and as he looked up from the key, she was looking at him in concern.

How long had it been since someone was concerned for his well-being?

He smiled in an effort to reassure her although judging from her reaction, it must have come out as a grimace, “Just put this in the Hokage’s locker for now. The next Hokage will choose what to do with it now.”

“S-Sir?” her voice came out in an astonished squeak as even through the tiny holes of her mask, he could feel her eyes widening.

Ah, he had forgotten that they did not know about his announcement. Oh, well. They would know about it soon enough. But he was too tired to explain everything to her at the moment, so, he waved her off, “Don’t worry about it too much, my dear. Just deposit that in the Hokage’s safekeeping box.”

She seemed unsure whether to drop it or not but finally realised that it was not her question to ask and thus, she bowed and left with the key.

Now, where the hell was his wayward son?

As if the heavens themselves were answering his question, the entirety of the village shook as a white light shone on the outermost wall’s garrison, the one where the biggest root base outside of their HQ was.

His eyes widened as an anguished scream escaped his throat, “NO! No No NO!” He repeated that word as he desperately crossed the distance between him and his son.

His heart felt cold as he dropped down to his knees when he reached the smoking crater that once was the garrison that housed a Root base underneath.

Now?

Now it was a deep hole with no end in sight.

He chuckled sardonically as he saw the darkness of the hole. It mirrored himself in a way, hollow on both sides.

The strongest Hokage in history, what a joke.

What use was all this strength if he couldn’t even save a single loved one of his? What use was being Hokage and trying to maintain peace if this accursed position was just going to rob him of each and every one of his loved ones?

Maybe Tsunade was right. The position is cursed. It just takes and takes, without ever giving anything back.

Biwako. Minato. Kushina. Oro and now, Shinnosuke.

When will it end?

He screamed as for the first time in years, he let his chakra loose. Thunder clashed as winds howled and pebbles began to rise in the air as his chakra thundered, violently ravaging the surroundings.

He screamed and raged at the heavens, at the unfairness of it all until eventually, he succumbed to the darkness.

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–Shisui “Shunshin no Shisui” Uchiha–

Taking the unconscious Kakashi-senpai from the commander’s hands, he dashed out of the root base their squad was tasked with eliminating.

His hands still shook in excitement when he thought about how this would help solve the problems of the Uchiha clan and not bring about that horrible horrible future he had been shown when he had first activated his Mangekyou for practice.

He had just finished dropping off senpai at the shinobi ward and had filled out the formalities when an earth-shaking roar sounded as a white light swept through the entirety of the hospital.

Despite himself, he found himself nearly losing his balance and had to use chakra to stick to the ground.

When the light subsided, he helped the nurse to her feet and immediately jumped through the windows, breaking them.

Emerging on the roof, the scene that greeted him was of immense destruction. He wobbled on the spot as his Mangekyou activated on its own somehow and before he could stop it, his chakra began flowing wildly into his eyes and before he knew it, he saw a vision.

A vision filled with blood as far as he could see.

A rabbit heralded the end of their world as they knew it with only 2 specks that shone brightly bringing any semblance of hope.

Before he could see any more though, he was violently thrown out of the vision and immediately coughed out blood from the backlash.

The last thing he heard before he was banished from the vision was, “Begone, child. It's not your story anymore.”

What did that voice mean? How did his Mangekyou activate on its own and why did he feel so exhausted?

He was not allowed the opportunity to ponder on his thoughts when he heard a heart-piercing anguished scream coming from near the smoking crater that once was the biggest garrison of Konoha, capable of housing hundreds of shinobi at once.

He rushed towards the scream, desperately hoping for the commander to have survived that. The scene that greeted him left him dumbfounded for a moment.

The Third Hokage, the absolutely solid rock of the village was crying his eyes out, kneeling near the crater as his chakra raged havoc on the surrounding.

Even approaching him seemed impossible given his current state but he also couldn’t ignore the man’s plight.

Thankfully, the decision was taken out of his hands as a hand rested on his shoulder and pulled him back.

He then saw the back of his Clan Head and on reflex, he activated his Sharingan, He saw that the clan head was weaving a Genjutsu for the Hokage and could clearly see the clan head’s chakra take hold of Sandaime-sama’s chakra networks.

Normally, Sandiame-sama would have broken out of it in an instant without even thinking about it but due to his mental state, he couldn’t defend against it and fell unconscious.

He could see Inabi-san carefully approaching Sandaime-sama with an army of medics and saw them leaving for the Hokage Tower, for his personal medical ward.

Soon, the other clan heads that were present for the meeting arrived one after the other, as did a wave of concerned shinobis.

The ANBU created a perimeter as he was interrogated about the situation by the clan head. Normally, he would have been nervous but then again, he would normally be questioned by Danzo so this was a welcome change as far as he was concerned.

After telling them about the mission Hokage-sama had assigned them and the fact that the ANBU commander was in the facility when it went up in smoke, he sighed in relief as the medics worked their magic and he was sent to the dreaming world.

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–Shinnosuke “Monkey” Sarutobi–

Opening his eyes, he was surprised to see himself in a white expanse. As far as he could see, there was nothing but white fog.

Spreading out his chakra senses as far as he could, he sensed nothing but neutral chakra, something that was impossible as it was found in tiny amounts only in nature.

“Oh, it's one of the old man Sarutobi’s descendants. I could sense that stench of Monkey Senjutsu from a mile away,” came a female voice with an undercurrent of steel.

He whipped his neck around, only to see the ethereal suspense forms of Mito Uzumaki-sama and the Nidaime Hokage.

“Greetings, shinobi of Konoha. Please state your rank and your hitai-ate number please,” commanded the Nidaime Hokage.

He could only gape in response as he fell on his ass from shock.

“Looks like you broke him, Tobirama”

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Word Count  - 1682