Naruto: Journey Of The Strongest Teacher - Chapter 93

Place Konoha

General POV

During the time the original Ishizu worked with Sasuke, one Wood Clone was hiding in the Hokage room. Its mission was simple: wait for Jiraiya to enter the room and listen to what he says to Tsunade.

And today was that time as the white-haired Sannin came and announced he found the place where Pain was, the Village Hidden in the Rain; Amegakure.

The clone smirked at how smart Jiraiya was, taking Tsunade into the open to talk with her, knowing that people could be listening and in the open, it was paradoxically easier to ignore them.

Yet a Wood Clone was something nobody thought could be there, so he followed them.

Clone POV

Listening to their conversation was interesting. Amegakure was known to be the battlefield in the second Shinobi war between Iwa, Konoha, and Suna, and as in most wars, not even civilians were spared. Many people died, be it old or young, healthy or sick, and as a result, to end the suffering, it gave rise to the original Akatsuki.

Since the war, Amegakure was never stable, with a paranoid Hanzo controlling it and people living in poverty. Ishizu believed in one theory: Ame became like it was now thanks to one person; Shimura Danzo.

Only a handful of people knew the true reason Akatsuki was created, and it wasn’t to collect the Tailed Beasts or to create some giant genjutsu.

After Yahiko died by suicide which was orchestrated by Danzo, Nagato lost his shit, and Pain was born who controlled the land as a self-proclaimed god due to the belief that only a god can have the Rinnegan. Nobody knew what happened inside since then.

“It is dangerous to go alone. If you need a strategy, then talk with Sasaki. He will help you,” said Tsunade.

“I am a Sannin. I don’t need help from him. I can handle it alone,” was Jiraiya’s response. The Toad Sage was confident to find out the truth.

‘In another timeline, we would have seen what happened, but I am sorry, Jiraiya. Not this time.’

I listened to them until the sun started to set.

‘Soon he will leave and then I will make the hardest decision I have ever made.’

Hearing Jiraiya making a bet on him living or not made me smile.

‘This time, Tsunade, you will lose.’

Seeing Jiraiya leave and feeling he was out of range, I made myself known by making a wood prison around Tsunade and placing power seals and genjutsu seals around the area so we wouldn’t be disturbed.

It was time.

General POV

As soon as Tsunade realized she was trapped inside stood a wood prison, she jumped up and hit it with her fist, only for it to stay normal.

“My grandfather’s wood style. Yamato is with Naruto so the only one who can do it is..”

“Me,” came the voice as part of wood opened to let a masked person inside.

“Yamamoto,” growled Tsunade, getting ready to fight.

“Don’t waste your strength. Jiraiya is already out of range and the Genjutsu I alloyed on it will make even a trained Anbu not see us so we can have a pleasant chat.”

“What are you doing here? We thought you are with Sasuke looking for Itachi Uchiha.”

“For being the granddaughter of Hashirama, you certainly forget that he could do a special kind of clone. One that normal means can not distinguish. What stands in front of you is but a Wood Clone while the original is with Sasuke currently on our way to Itachi while easily avoiding the Konoha team your send after us.”

Tsunade had many questions about how he got the Wood Style, but it shocked her because he knew the information about the team sent for Sasuke.

“For how long were you spying on us? You knew about the Kazekage and the Sanbi, but we concealed our conversations with one of the best Fuinjutsu experts we have. Not even Danzo could hear what we talked about unless…”

If Yamamoto didn’t have a mask on, Tsunade would see a grin appearing on his face.

“Unless I was one of the people who were inside the room.”

Tsunade’s mind raced through every single person she knew who was inside to find the right one, but she couldn’t find a sleeper agent.

As if Ishizu read her mind, he spoke.

“I ȧssure you, I am not from ROOT. Danzo has no power over me. I was born in Konoha and was adopted by the best parents I have ever had. I couldn’t be happier living in this village.”

“Then why? Why are you doing all of this to your comrades? If you had such a good life, then why did you betray them?” questioned Tsunade while she grabbed her hands in frustration and hit the wall next to her.

“Because I have a dream. And to fulfill this dream, I had to give up on being a Konoha Shinobi. I am coming closer to achieve it and I don’t want you to feel betrayed in the future, so I came here to resign as a Konoha Shinobi,” Ishizu spoke calmly, yet his heart was beating faster than ever.

“If so, then I demand as the Godaime Hokage to show me your face so I can label you as a missing-nin,” demanded Tsunade as tears flew down her face.

A sigh could be heard underneath the mask.

“As you wish, Tsunade-sama.”

And with that, Ishizu took off his mask and looked directly into his Hokage’s eyes. In response, Tsunade gasped and took a step back.

“Why?… Why are you doing this, Ishizu?” asked Tsunade in shock seeing him standing before her.

Her mind was completely blown away. The one who they thought was another enemy. The one who fought against Naruto and let Sasuke leave with Orochimaru was none other than one of their best shinobi, Ishizu Sasaki.

“I already told you I am doing this for my dream.”

“AND WHAT KIND OF DREAM ARE YOU FOLLOWING THAT MADE YOU BETRAY YOUR VILLAGE?” shouted Tsunade in frustration before trying to hit Ishizu with her fist. The latter just stepped out of the wooden cage and appeared on another side.

“My personal one. The time is drawing near, and I want to make it a reality.”

“Please tell me why you don’t ask for help from us? We could help you, Ishizu. Your friends… Naruto…. we all could help you, so why? What made you think you have to betray us?”

“Unfortunately, this is not possible. The steps I have to achieve are selfish and I am already halfway finished. I need a lot of chakra and by a lot, I am A LOT. Only the tailed beasts can provide me with enough,” Ishizu started telling Tsunade.

“Just like the Akatsuki, one of my goals was to find the Jinchuriki and the Tailed Beasts but instead of suċkɨnġ them dry off their chakra and leaving them for dead, I made a plan where I would find each Jinchuriki and slowly take their chakra away without killing them. Even if I followed my dream, I would never fall so low as to kill children, friends, or my student. It stops one from going crazy.”

“Then Naruto and Fuu?”

“I came up with this plan during my stay with the pandas to extract the chakra eagerly. The first chakra I took was for the Nine-Tails.”

Ishizu held up his arms, signaling for Tsunade to not charge at him.

“It was not Naruto, I swear. I couldn’t bring myself to take chakra from Naruto, for he is my student, and I swore I would never harm him. The seal his father made is one of the most complex ones and tempting with it would risk freeing the Kyuubi. No, I went to the fire shrine, where I found the Pseudo Jinchuriki. Surely you must have heard about that. If not, then I can ȧssure you that he is alive.

Fuu was my next target. When I had my free week with Naruto, we went to the Waterfall village where I took her with me.

You can call it kidnapping and I’ll call it taking advantage of people’s stupidity. Just like Naruto, she was treated horribly, and as I did with Naruto, I gave her a home with a family that loved her.

She would have died either way as the Akatsuki knew where she was. As compensation, I took some of the Nanabi’s chakra. She has a glorious future ahead.

Then I saved him again, where I took my personality as Yamamoto and let Gaara live by sabotaging Akatsuki.

I encountered Yugito Nii and the Nibi a few months ago and helped her survive against two immortal Akatsuki members who she stood no chance against.

For the Sanbi, you know what happened, so I don’t have to say it. For the Yonbi and Gobi, I got through a different meaning I won’t tell you.”

Tsunade listened to what Ishizu’s clone said and was baffled.

“The boy you took the Kyuubi’s chakra did not have much. We know that the Akatsuki kill the Jinchuriki to get every last ounce of chakra, so I doubt that little inside this kid was enough. If you didn’t take it from Naruto, then where did you get more?” asked Tsunade, trying to get more information and hoping somebody could find them.

Ishizu knew she was stalling, but he didn’t care.

“To know about it, I have to tell you that Sasuke did not kill Orochimaru.”

“What?”

“I had a similar expression you have now. I thought by getting rid of Sasuke’s cursed seal and him killing Orochimaru would cause the snake’s death, but even I underestimated the loyalty of Kabuto and the stubbornness of the snake sannin to finally die.

How ironic, once a dangerous Shinobi, he was reduced to living in a tank, just like his experiments.

My spy got the information that he survived and I promised Sarutobi on his dying breath that I would finish what he could not.

But before I could do so, I found a certain scroll with two special individuals. Have you heard of the Gold and Silver Brothers?”

“They lived during Tobirama’s reign as the second Hokage and killed him. What about them?”

“Yes. It is not well known but once upon a time before your grandfather went on Bijuu hunt, they tried to capture the Kyuubi to gain power but failed. The fox literally ate the brothers and, like many, they would have died if not for them getting the ridiculous idea to eat the chakra the fox was made of. How they did it, I don’t know. Some bullshit from Kishimito, but let us focus.

Every other person would have died from consuming such chakra, but they survived. Why?

Maybe they were lucky or some think they were descendants of the legendary figure, the Sage of the Six Paths. What matters is that they, just like the shrine boy, transformed into Pseudo Jinchuriki, but with much more chakra.

Lucky for me, Orochimaru told me where he stored the scrolls of the brothers he had, begging me to let him live, but I did not. I was the one who killed your formed comrade and monster. Hate me all you want for it but he deserved it.”

It was silence for a moment before Tsunade spoke up.

“Even if you have enough chakra from the Tailed Beast, you still have to find the Hashibi.”

“Ah yes, Killer Bee. The brother of the Fourth Raikage, A. Said to be in full control of his Tailed Beast. Orochimaru had once an encounter with the last Jinchuriki from the Hashibi, but that chakra he stole was not enough. As soon as Sasuke finishes his talk with Itachi about the truth behind the massacre, he is going to be the next target. He is strong but I have my ways to get the chakra I need.”

Tsunade didn’t talk, processing the information, so Ishizu continued.

“I think I spoke enough about my plan. Now before we go further into why I am doing this, why don’t I give you some good news.”

“And what ‘good news’ do you have?” Tsunade spoke with partially closed teeth.

“Your little bet with Jiraiya is already determined,” said Ishizu with confidence.

Seeing her confused expression, Ishizu smiled.

“Honestly, I think Jiraiya is a moron. Thinking he can take on Nagato and his 6 Paths. Alone at that. This is a suicide mission and we both know it. Going alone means death. He would stand no chance against someone like him. Not that he wouldn’t go even if he knew the truth and all the power Nagato had, as it would only aggravate him to go even more, seeing as he was once his student. No, what matters is that I, or rather my partners, come in for. I will watch over him, Tsunade, and I will guarantee that he will survive.”

Then Ishizu took his headband from his forehead. He glanced at it as memories filled his head about all the things he did while it was on him. A symbol of his home. Then he threw it before the feet of Tsunade.

“I won’t need this anymore. It was nice having this, but with what I am about to do, I will never be a Shinobi of Konoha. I don’t expect it but I hope you and Naruto and everyone else can forgive me.”

Tsunade could believe that Ishizu Sasaki, a student of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, as well as the teacher of Naruto Uzumaki, deserted.

Title: The Deserter Ishizu Sasaki