__________ POV Narration __________

Jiraiya's training started much like his past short session on Mount Myōboku.

The Nature Energy bubble around him was just as thick despite the fact that the Nature Energy around them was considerably thinner... Well, at least that was what Jiraiya had thought at first.

But after a few seconds, the Nature Energy in the surrounding area seemed to skyrocket.

It wasn't long before the Sannin realized that the spike in Energy was all coming from Ken.

He alone was enriching the Nature Energy in that random forest and allowing it to reach the level of Mount Myōboku.

Now, it wasn't exactly shocking that Ken was able to do that.

His office was also pretty much filled with Nature Energy since he was there a lot. Many places that Ken frequented within the Compound were the same.

They certainly held more Nature Energy than places in other villages. But that was just the energy that radiated from Ken's body subconsciously as he blended into the environment around him.

None of the places within the Dark Brotherhood Compound were to the level that Jiraiya was feeling now.

'I guess it's something else entirely when he does it on purpose...'

It was intimidating for the fledgling sage, but he knew that it was certainly going to assist with training.

The training proceeded the same way that Jiraiya was already familiar with.

He was allowed to play around with a wisp of energy. Ken's palm was firmly planted on his back, encouraging him to experiment in safety.

And needless to say, Jiraiya certainly felt safe.

His teacher had absolute control over Nature Energy at the end of the day, it was completely different from his training with the Toads, who needed a stick to beat Nature Energy out of him when he screwed up.

Ken also had the stick tied to his belt, just in case. But Jiraiya was also well aware he could simply suck the Nature Energy out of him at a moment's notice, just like he had done in the past.

Slowly but surely, Ken allowed the Sannin to experiment with more and more Nature Energy, to gain control over more of it in a perfect environment.

Although the Sannin was supposedly talented, he was still starting to sweat when he felt that energy within him.

It was just as violent as he remembered it, the only difference now was that it wasn't rushing into his body at great speeds and threatening to turn him into a motionless statue.

Hours passed, and Jiraiya wasn't any closer to being able to control the blob of energy within him.

Ken sighed as he eventually took his palm off the Sannin's back, extracting the energy at the same time.

Jiraiya gave a long exhale, his entire body was filled with sweat, and his eyes were weary and tired.

"Next time you will try to enter sage mode naturally, and I will help balance the Nature Energy with the Chakra within your body." The Blind Monster's words echoed throughout the small clearing they were in.

Ken slowly sat up and cracked his neck, his hair swaying from side to side as he then wordlessly walked back towards the compound.

Jiraiya was left both breathless and speechless.

'He could've done that all along?!? Wouldn't that have been more efficient?'

But he didn't voice out his concerns. He didn't dare to.

Ken was his teacher, and a student was not to object to the methods of his teacher unless they truly didn't respect them. He had learned that the hard way from Hiruzen, who struggled to discipline him properly his entire childhood.

At the end of the day, Jiraiya had still managed to gain a lot more control over Nature Energy thanks to the current training.

He still had a long way to go before he could actually control it enough to balance it with his own chakra, but he was still closer than before.

And he was bound to get even closer as long as Ken kept training him.

Needless to say, despite having to sleep in the woods, things were looking up for the Sannin.

Not so much for Danzo back in the leaf.

Things were still rather quiet. Hiruzen was still taking his time investigating after he was tipped off by Ken.

In all fairness, it would take a while for him to actually start a formal investigation on Danzo, for now, he was just being cautious and keeping an eye out while the bodies of the would-be Jinchuriki kidnappers were still getting studied.

Hiruzen did notice that the process was taking a lot longer than expected, and this made him even more suspicious.

Danzo did have influence over most affairs within the Leaf, and it seemed that he was, for some reason, delaying the results of the autopsy.

'I guess it's fair to say that they won't be accurate... I'd ask Tsunade to do it since I can trust her, but we aren't on the best terms currently...'

Tsunade was, by far, the best Medical Shinobi in Konoha, but she was currently still grieving the loss of both her younger brother Nawaki and her lover, Dan Katō.

Besides that, the unfortunate and bloody death of her lover seemed to have made her somewhat afraid of seeing blood.

Tsunade was traumatized, Sarutobi knew that much. Having lived through both the First Shinobi World War and the Second, he was very familiar with the feeling of losing someone dear to him.

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He had managed to get over his trauma in the end, but it had taken him decades, and his circumstances were very different.

He had managed to bury himself in work. His duty to the village as the Hokage had kept him busy, and helped him cope with the loss.

But Tsunade was not in a position where she could even work.

A medic developing trauma that led to a fear of blood was simply unfortunate on all observable levels in Sarutobi's eyes.

The worst thing was that he couldn't do much to help. Even worse, he was constantly fighting with her.

She was trying hard to argue with the Elder council to have all squads within the village include one medical shinobi, to avoid future tragedies like the ones she had to live through.

But their current state of affairs simply didn't allow for such a thing. In the first place, Medic-Nin were not that easy to train due to the stringent requirements in regard to chakra control.

The Leaf Village could only really have enough to set up camps near the frontlines of war. And even then, the medics were overworked and barely got any sleep.

Only when the frontlines got a bit more silent would they finally get to rest a bit. But even then they had to abide by strict schedules and still had patients constantly flowing in and out.

It was true that things would become much better if a Medic Nin was included in all shinobi squads. It would certainly make things much better for their village, and lessen the casualties of war a lot.

But they simply couldn't afford such a move. Not anytime soon. It was the type of move that Hiruzen would have to implement later after the war was over by emphasizing more medical training within the academy.

For now, however... Hiruzen was stuck.

He didn't know what to do... And that was when one of his other students walked in.

"You seem quite bothered lately, Teacher... Did something happen?"

A pale man with black long hair flowing down his back, he wore a jonin's protective armor, clothing similar to his comrade, Jiraiya.

His eyes were golden and pupils slit, he had purple markings around his eyes and fang-like teeth.

It was none other than Orochimaru, Hiruzen's most studious and observant pupil. He had just returned from the frontlines with the Sand Village.

The war was still ongoing, but he had finished his mission, so he was back to see if there were any other areas where he could assist.

"A lot is happening within the village, not just outside... I'm sure you are able to tell that something is up."

Sarutobi just released a tired sigh, he immediately moved his hand and signaled the Anbu within the room to all go away.

They immediately turned into blurs and left either through the window or the open door, which closed almost as if it was automatic the second the last of them had left.

Orochimaru didn't react to that in any way, he merely smiled at his teacher and waited for more details.

"I'm sure you've heard of the recent attempted kidnapping..." The Hokage started off the conversation while taking a deep huff of his long tobacco pipe.

"Of course I did. It is one of the reasons I came back to the village with such haste. Especially since I heard that Jiraiya is also away now..."

Sarutobi smiled back at his student, his eyes filling with appreciation."You are always reliable, Orochimaru..."

The Sannin simply nodded to his teacher, his expression still calm and collected.

"So... I take it you believe someone within the village allowed that kidnapping to take place?" The Snake Sannin's words were more akin to a hushed whisper as he looked at his teacher with slitted narrowed eyes.

Sarutobi sighed, blowing some smoke out of his lungs as he rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Not just anyone. But Danzo himself... I've had my doubts about his intentions for many years, we don't see eye to eye in many matters... But I never thought he'd be involved in something like this."

Orochimaru's narrowed eyes widened a bit as he heard Danzo's name. His reaction was so small that the Hokage didn't even register it. He also recovered instantly, keeping his poker face intact.

"Would you like me to take a further look into this personally?" Orochimaru immediately offered his assistance with a slight smile.

Sarutobi was once again pleased with his student, but it seemed he had something else in mind.

"No, Danzo is smart. He likely knows something is up already, even if he doesn't believe I suspect him.

He will always be on the lookout for people around me. And you as my pupil are likely one of the people he's most careful around.

He's also already left the village on 'personal business'..."

Hiruzen sighed deeply once more as he rolled his tired shoulders a few times.

Orochimaru's thin eyebrows rose in confusion.

'Left the village? At such a strange time?... I wonder what he's up to...It may be worth learning more about this matter.'

"Still, there must be something I can assist with." Orochimaru continued showing a calm interest in his teacher's affairs. He showed his willingness to help.

"Well, there may be something... Say, I do remember that you've been dabbling in medicinal books. Would you be able to perform an autopsy and verify some bodies for me?"

Orochimaru merely smiled at his teacher's request.

"But of course..."

And while they were having that conversation, Danzo was already well onto his goal...

The 'Personal Business' he was tending to was nothing more than a large-scale meeting.

A gigantic room, it was occupied by a large number of stone chairs which formed a circle around a huge clearing.

On those chairs sat down the Kage of most of the Small Villages in the vicinity of the Land of Iron and beyond. The Kazekage and a representative for the Tsuchikage were also present.

Besides that, there were the heads of many clans as well. Every leader present brought with them at least one bodyguard as well, so the large room was filled up quickly.

And among them stood Danzo, masked and with two of his root anbu with him.

All of them wore masks, even the Kazekage and the Kage from the smaller villages. Of course, Danzo was still able to recognize all of them.

And he was sure that they recognized each other.

But the one that had called the War Room meeting had made it clear. All of those that were present were to wear masks.

No one, not even Danzo himself had any clue who had called all of them there.

Danzo just knew that one of his root agents had intercepted a message that was meant for him.

It showed that the person sending that message had a lot of information on Konoha's state of affairs, and it gave Danzo a nice proposal too.

Helping him cover up his most recent mistake, and helping him get rid of Ken, who was bound to become a headache in the future. Though he already was one.

Of course, Danzo was no fool. He knew that something shady was going on. He had already been on the scene for decades.

Still, his current situation made it difficult for him to refuse such an offer. And that was how he found himself there...

At the creation of a large Shinobi Alliance, not as a representative of the Leaf, but as a representative of the Root, an organization he had created to protect the Leaf from the shadows.

'But who was it? Who has the power and influence to convince this many people to gather up in one place?

Just weeks before, they were all at each other's throats, yet now they are seemingly waiting together and considering an alliance...'

Danzo was pondering the identity of their mysterious host, something strange happened.

The entire room shook, and immediately everyone stood up from their seats and jumped back.

The first thought in everyone's mind was that they had fallen into a trap.

Danzo was still calm however, he had expected something like that to happen. What he didn't expect was for a large pillar of stone to rise in the middle of the room.

The earth parted as the finger appeared, it gave the leader of the Root a very eerie feeling.

He gulped as he then noticed something else...

A projection appeared right on top of that finger. A shadow figure of a tall man with spiky long hair.

But what stood out the most were his eyes... Oh god, his eyes.

Just seeing them made the hair on Danzo's back stand straight. Those eyes were an enigmatic kaleidoscope of otherworldly design.

The man's pupils, instead of conventional circles, were a haunting, ethereal fusion of concentric, interlocking circles that seemed to pierce the very fabric of reality.

These ghostly rings radiated a pale, otherworldly violet hue, resembling the dim luminescence of a distant, dying star.

And just as everyone in the room was taking in those details, their backs filling with sweat, a deep and aged voice sounded out from that figure.

"Greetings... It would seem that my appearance has startled you all."

Suddenly, it all clicked to Danzo.

'I see... He gathered everyone here. To think a man with such power still existed in this world...'

And just like that, the host of the War Room made an appearance. And the meeting officially started.