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Danzo had coveted the title of Hokage his entire life. He forever regretted the moment he hesitated, the moment that led the Second Hokage to choose Hiruzen over him.
But Danzo never truly grasped what it meant to be Hokage. The courage to sacrifice for comrades was just the simplest part of it. Blinded by his past regrets, Danzo would always be a step behind Hiruzen.
Even after becoming Hokage's Advisor and a Konoha Elder, seemingly just a step away from his goal, Danzo's influence was entirely granted by Hiruzen.
Root itself was a splinter group from the ANBU, and most of its members came from the ANBU ranks, an organization firmly under the Third Hokage's thumb.
Danzo might have believed his schemes were hidden, that he could deceive everyone, but could any of it truly succeed without Hiruzen's quiet assent?
It felt like a familiar pattern, didn't it? Like a powerful vassal whose strength derived solely from the will of their liege, like a Minister getting their powers from Daimyo.
If Hokage, the leader of Konoha, was the Daimyo, then Danzo's Root was the Daimyo's Guardian Ninja's, and Danzo himself merely the seemingly powerful head of that guard.
He saw himself as 'Darkness of Konoha' just a step away from becoming Hokage, yet in reality, all his power stemmed from the Hokage's authority, which could be revoked whenever the true authority willed it.
Yet, this head of Root, Danzo, could never see himself for what he was. He constantly harbored his own ideas, his own plots, always scheming in the shadows, always striving to elevate his status to Hokage.
And so, once the Uchiha clan problem was 'resolved', Danzo became expendable. He could be recalled only when needed again. Root had even been 'disbanded' once before, during the Orochimaru incident. As long as Hiruzen lived, Danzo could never truly break free.
Danzo believed that encountering Naruto at his lowest point was fate handing him an opportunity.
He couldn't have known his every move was anticipated, his path already laid out. These 'coincidences' were carefully orchestrated. Experiencing the road many of his victims did.
Naruto had seen through Danzo completely long ago. This was a setup from the very beginning, and Danzo walked right into the trap.
Danzo wanted to control Naruto, while Naruto valued Danzo's knowledge. Danzo would never have dreamed that after finally escaping one snare, he'd immediately step into another. Used his whole life, a tool both pathetic and hatefully persistent.
In this elaborate dance, Danzo stood on the first layer of planning, Hiruzen on the fifth, and Naruto, far above them both, on the tenth.
Since he was tasked with teaching Naruto ninjutsu, Danzo wasted no time and began immediately.
"To learn ninjutsu, you must first determine your chakra nature," Danzo explained, taking out a Chakra Paper. "Everyone has an innate nature and those elements are easier to master and utilize, though you can also learn others later, though the power will be weaker while chakra consumption and training time would be higher."
He handed it to Naruto. "Inject your chakra into this paper."
Chakra Paper, as the name suggests, detects a ninja's chakra nature. It's simple: inject chakra, and the paper reacts differently depending on the element. It can only test the five basic elements, not Yin-Yang Release. Fire makes it burn, Wind makes it split, Lightning makes it wrinkle, Water makes it wet, and Earth makes it crumble.
Danzo paused, adding with feigned concern, "You know how to inject chakra, right?"
Naruto took the paper, nodding dutifully. "Yeah, the Sensei at the Academy showed us."
'Actually, while the Academy sensei was lecturing, I was usually training,' Naruto thought. 'My shadow clone supposed to be listening in was often asleep.'
It was actually Minato, who had taught him. Minato knew Wind Release, but Naruto figured he needed some believable reason for knowing ninjutsu, even simple stuff. He couldn't exactly open every fight with a Kamehameha, cool as that would be, it was too flashy and made it impossible to work his angles from the shadows.
Actually, if he were being honest, the main reason was that Naruto just didn't think Minato was a great teacher when it came to elemental jutsu.
'Aside from single-hand-sign jutsu like the Shadow Clone Justu, I trained with him for ages and barely grasped one of the Five Nature Transformations.'
As Naruto channeled his chakra, the paper in his hand reacted instantly. It split cleanly down the middle.
Wind nature.
Danzo's single eye gleamed. 'Fate truly is helping me. Wind nature, just Wind nature chakra. It matches my own perfectly!'
Naruto might only have one chakra nature, which was common throughout the shinobi world, but his status as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki made him anything but ordinary. 'Even with just one nature, I will forge him into a powerhouse,' Danzo vowed.
He looked at Naruto, his intense gaze. 'Once the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki inherits my legacy, once he bears my mark... Let's see what you do then, Hiruzen.' Thinking this, Danzo felt a surge of power.
However...
Reality, as it often does, delivered a harsh blow. It felt less like a slap and more like a punch to the gut. Danzo thought his lungs might explode with frustration.
Three months. Three full months under his meticulous, constant guidance, and Naruto couldn't even manage the simplest C-Rank ninjutsu, Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Jutsu.
Three months! Just for one ninjutsu! Even the dullest ninja would have learned it by then. Sasuke Uchiha took only a week to go from novice to mastering Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu.
Danzo swore on his eye, he had never encountered someone so... talented in other areas, yet so utterly inept when it came to elemental ninjutsu.
Compared to his talent for ki, which he'd intuitively grasped within seven days under Goku's tutelage, Naruto truly had practically zero talent for ninjutsu.
Aside from techniques that didn't require hand signs, which he learned instantly, mastering the Five Nature Transformations was agonizingly difficult. Just as Minato had once put it: Naruto was a born Taijutsu user.
Naruto sighed inwardly, looking with a mix of envy and resignation at the scrolls Danzo kept, filled with powerful Wind Release jutsu. If he couldn't even manage a C-Rank, the others were definitely out of reach. Wind Blade, Vacuum Bullet, Vacuum Wave, Pressure Damage... forget it. Maybe it was better just to focus on the simpler things, the things he could do by just... bringing his hands together and trying really hard.
There was a saying, wasn't there? If God opens a door for you, He'll surely close a window. Or 'Am I butchering the quote? Regardless It seemed the door opened for me was talent for Ki, and the window slammed shut was for elemental ninjutsu.'
Maybe training under Goku had changed something fundamental within me. So this might've been the cost for being able to use Ki.
It looked like he was destined to walk the path of a martial artist, whether he liked it or not, not that he didn't like it, there is certain enjoyment in punching people in the face.
Yet, in his spare time, he picked up the Dance of the Crescent Moon, one of Konoha's assassination techniques. Watching Naruto instantly split into three, carving the stone wall before them into matching pieces with extreme efficiency, Danzo fell silent. In that moment, he remembered what Hiruzen had told him long ago.
'This child has good Taijutsu talent.'
Looking at Naruto's amazing knack for instantly grasping even the most complex Taijutsu, Danzo fell silent.
'Damn you, Hiruzen,' he thought, the familiar bitterness rising. 'Was this also within your calculations?'
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Narrator:
Danzo's dreams of molding the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki into the ultimate Wind Release weapon have... blown away!
Danzo thought he'd found a prodigy. Instead, he found a punch enthusiast with the elemental finesse of a brick.
While Danzo wants to impart his legacy to Naruto, could the true legacy of Root be... protein powder and green spandex?
Despite Naruto's Taijutsu talent having nothing to do with Hiruzen will Danzo ever stop seeing Hiruzen's shadows at every corner? Or Has Hiruzen already foreseen Danzo's slow descent into madness? And Hiruzen has been aware of this?
And now that Danzo knows Naruto is destined for Taijutsu greatness, will he start fearing the ultimate threat... a chance meeting with the green beast of youth, Might Guy? Could Guy infect Naruto with his Youth?! Will Konoha survive the explosion of energy, eyebrows, and green jumpsuits?
Stay tuned for: - From Elemental Zero to Musclebound Hero!
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