NOVEL WEB Chapter 61: The End of an Era
On January 29th, a Monday, it was destined to be a memorable day for Konoha.
The previous night, Mito Uzumaki captured Danzo, who had attempted to flee the village. Alongside her were the Uchiha Clan ninjas, who seemed ready to roast him in a pot and eat him down to the bones.
Although the Hyuugas did not share the Uchiha's fury, they also participated in the hunt for Danzo.
Everything he had done throughout the Third Hokage's tenure was exposed.
During the last 16 years that the Third Hokage was in office, Danzo had done many things. At first, he remained quiet, but as he gained power, especially after the creation of the Root Headquarters, he became more uncontrollable, and his ambition knew no bounds.
What brought the most outrage to many Uchiha was the death of Kagami Uchiha. Even though he was extremely loyal to the Hidden Leaf Village, Danzo still killed him and stole his Sharingan.
Evidence of this was that, at the moment Danzo was captured by Mito Uzumaki, he still had Kagami Uchiha's eye in his right eye socket.
"I almost sold my shop and left the village yesterday..." A dango vendor shuddered.
Until then, there were rumors that some of them had been attacked by bandits while leaving the village. But unexpectedly, it was revealed that it was all part of Danzo's plan to steal their money, and after a few days, he intended to gain the people's sympathy by removing the taxes he himself had raised.
The worst part was that everything seemed to be linked to the Third Hokage. The things Danzo did during Hiruzen's tenure—otherwise, all that Danzo was able to do shouldn't have been possible. It was obvious that the Third Hokage was covering up for Danzo.
"I didn't expect the Third Hokage to be like that..."
Of course, many also wanted to believe that he wasn't. However, with so much evidence, how could anyone prove otherwise?
I mean, no matter how foolish they might seem, how could someone manage to do so many things like the disappearance of several ninjas or even experiments in two clandestine laboratories within the village itself without anyone noticing?
And this is just the beginning. Rumors said that the two leaders of the Hyuuga and Uchiha Clans had proof of all Danzo's criminal acts. And Mito Uzumaki also possessed this evidence.
Among them were human experiments, especially with members of the Senju Clan. Not to mention that Mito Senju's son with the First Hokage fell into a trap, along with his wife, set by Danzo.
This was discovered after Danzo's memories were read. And apparently, the Third Hokage knew about it but pretended not to. In Danzo's memories, he implied that he was aware but feigned ignorance. Obviously, the existence of the First Hokage's son was a threat to his position. Maybe that's why he didn't care about the dirty things Danzo did?
"Incredible... I never expected the Third Hokage to be capable of ignoring what this monster did..."
"Hokage? I don't consider him a Hokage! When you think about it, ever since he was elected to the position, our village, which was once highly regarded, began to be scorned by other villages."
"Not only that, as the years went by, fewer geniuses appeared. And whenever one did, they mysteriously died tragically. It's simply ridiculous how we didn't consider that we were victims of a conspiracy by our own people—Even the Hokage was involved in this!"
"It can't be helped. Hiruzen Sarutobi presented himself all this time as the strongest Hokage, but the reality is that he could never compare to the genius of the Second Hokage or the supreme power of the First Hokage, who was and still is hailed as the God of Shinobi!"
"It's laughable that Danzo was the one who set him up to be killed."
"Serves him right! I mean, he fed a venomous snake and expected not to be bitten at some point?"
"Damn, so true."
"But... now that we're without a Hokage, what will become of us?"
This question made the others ponder.
Until one of them said, "It doesn't matter, at this point, I feel like anyone is better than Danzo or Sarutobi."
"Not to mention the current advisors..."
"Yeah, they seem to be a problem too."
══════
It was almost six in the evening when Tanaka decided to leave the Hidden Leaf Village. At this point, he felt he no longer needed to urge others to think outside the box. Now that this has happened, the reign of Danzo and Hiruzen is over.
As for who would be the next Hokage, that didn't matter to him. It was hard to imagine anyone worse than those two being elected Hokage.
Perhaps Tsunade, who, although not yet very famous, since she hasn't even become one of the Sannin, has a chance due to being the granddaughter of the First Hokage. However, regarding Orochimaru and Jiraiya, it's almost impossible with Hiruzen's current reputation.
══════
They say bad news travels fast, and that was very true.
At the northwest base of the Land of Fire, very close to the Hidden Rain Village, Tsunade, who was working as a medic, received a letter. After reading it, she crushed it with great force as her eyes turned red.
'I already expected something like this from Danzo, so I'm not too surprised, although furious. But sensei... Hiruzen Sarutobi was involved in my parents' deaths?'
She wanted to know... She had to know. Dropping everything, she left immediately.
"Tsunade-sama, Tsunade-sama!!"
When they saw Tsunade leave in anger, other medics and ninjas were confused and tried to follow her.
══════
As Tanaka flew towards the Hidden Rain Village, some notifications appeared in his field of vision.
It started with notifications of attribute gains from performing repetitive actions like squats, sit-ups, etc. However, what appeared next caught his attention.
══════
[The skill [High-Speed Transcendental Calculation] has awakened because you have INT greater than 400!]
[High-Speed Transcendental Calculation (Passive) Max Level]
With a brain that surpasses that of a normal person, you perform calculations almost at the speed of a quantum computer, and your memory also increases to many times that of an ordinary person.
Effect: Allows quintuple casting.
Effect: Magic casting time reduced by 50%.
══════
[The skill [Legendary Magic] has awakened because you have INT greater than 400!]
[Legendary Magic (Passive) Max Level]
A natural ability of people with magic powers so strong that they become legendary even among those who are skilled in using magic.
[Effect: 100% increase in MP-based attacks]
[Effect: 80% reduction in MP consumption.]
══════
Legendary Magic replaced the 'Ultimate Magic' he had, providing a 50% increase in MP-based attacks and a 30% reduction in MP consumption. As for the first one, it was something he didn't possess yet, which made his eyes shine, as it was something he desired.
'Allows quintuple casting.' It goes without saying how incredible this was. With this, perhaps even using the Sharingan and Byakugan at the same time wouldn't be such a distant dream...
While flying, he closed his eyes. When he opened them, he activated the Byakugan and immediately tried to activate the Sharingan. For a brief moment, he succeeded, but then felt such an intense headache that he automatically deactivated both.
'Urgh... One is canceling out the other...' Tanaka sighed but didn't give up.
Even if only for an instant, he felt he had succeeded. But the problem was the pain he felt in his head, as if someone very strong was crushing it.
Opening the ghost dungeon, he stopped flying and immediately activated his Psychokinesis ability. Adamantine Chains emerged from both sides of his body, manipulated by Psychokinesis.
Then, he formed two Rasengan in his hands, which quickly detached from direct control and began to float under the power of Psychokinesis. He repeated this process until he had created a total of 10 Rasengan. Activating the Byakugan, he pulled several stone spheres and made them float around him.
When the ghosts started to appear, he waited for the right moment until finally using Precise Throw!
"Whoosh! Whoosh...!"
Chains, Rasengan... Everything was thrown at the same time in different directions.
"Boom! Boom! Boom...!"
[You obtained...] [You obtained...] [You...]
Consecutive sounds of explosions echoed. In particular, the Rasengan caused the most destruction.
Then, another Rasengan appeared in Tanaka's left hand. As he began to incorporate the fire element, his hand quickly transformed into a sinister tornado of flames.
Even so, he still maintained a certain degree of control.
Then, he used Precise Throw, aided by Psychokinesis to help with control.
"WHOSHHHH!!!"
It was a true disaster.
The mere sound it caused was disturbingly menacing. The previously cold climate became almost immediately warm. As the attack fell, the lamenting cries of the ghosts could be heard. Even before being hit, some of them were extinguished by the intense heat of the attack, which grew as it descended.
When it hit the ground, a tornado of flames formed and began to spin through the dungeon, killing the ghosts at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In moments, more than 500 ghosts were exterminated.
When the minibosses appeared, even they had no chance.
'What did I create?' Tanaka was astonished.
It was as if the tornado of flames had a life of its own, wandering through the dungeon and killing ghosts.
Of course, Tanaka still had some control over this attack, but he couldn't control it completely.
As he directed the attack, mainly using Psychokinesis, something appeared.
══════
[A skill has been created by repeatedly performing an action!]
[What do you want to name it?] [_____]
══════
He murmured 'Flaming Rasen-hariken' in his mind. Soon, a new page appeared.
══════
[[Flaming Rasen-hariken] (Active) Lv1 EXP: 0.0% / 100MP]
[Flaming Rasen-hariken] is an advanced technique that fuses the Rasengan with the fire element, creating a spinning sphere of flames in the palm of the hand. When released, the flaming Rasengan expands into a tornado of fire that advances at high speed, transforming into a flaming hurricane upon hitting the target, burning everything around with intense fury.
Effect:
[Increases fire damage by 200%.]
[Increases MP rotation control by 25%.]
[Creates a fire tornado that transforms into a flaming hurricane upon hitting the target.]
[Reduces execution time by 15%.]
Range: 5 meters (short-range projectile)
Active cost: 100MP per minute.
══════
No wonder he was losing a lot of MP, though his own MP regeneration was higher than that, so it didn't make much difference to him.
He continued controlling until the boss appeared.
His MP was still being used, but at this point, it wasn't enough for him to feel even a tickle. Moreover, even though it was stated that the cost was 100 MP while the skill was active, this didn't take into account the MP cost reduction he possessed. In other words, at the moment the skill became active, the cost to maintain it decreased.
And although it was said that the range to control the skill was 5 meters, he managed to extend that with Psychokinesis.
||- Note -||
- Chapter 83 is already released on Patreon!
- patreon.com/Tozoku