If you can, read the author's notes, and enjoy the chapter...
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The metallic sound of Indra's cell door closing vibrated in Kabuto's ears. He followed the path as he climbed the damp stone steps, and as he left the basement, the fetid smell of blood and drugs was replaced by the dry scent of sandalwood and expensive incense.
Kabuto walked through the mansion's corridors with efficiency. The architecture was purely Western, with impeccable shoji paper walls and dark wooden beams. To anyone looking from the outside, the clan as a whole was a monument to discipline and purity, with only 250 official members known for the study and cultivation of essence plants, but for Kabuto, who knew the secrets hidden beneath the floorboards, it was merely a luxurious facade for a lineage that did everything for survival.
They presented themselves as botanists who produced rare medicines for hospitals and other clans, but that was just a convenient disguise. In reality, there were hidden laboratories within the clan, where they were dedicated to the mass production of lethal poisons and highly addictive essence drugs, used to destabilize rivals and focused not on killing nightmare creatures, but humans. Behind the facade of "merchants", hid thousands of devoted assassins, and Kabuto was one of the sharpest blades of this shadow, a master who was preparing to face the third nightmare.
While crossing the central courtyard, he saw some young clan members training under the moonlight. They wore white yukatas, moving with an elegance that Indra never had the chance to learn, he had been molded to assassinate, so he was taught efficiency, not elegance. To those youths, the "bastard" in the cell was just an urban legend, a shameful secret that should not be mentioned.
Kabuto finally reached the eastern wing and stopped before the Patriarch's oak door. He waited behind the seemingly fragile door for a few moments and then entered in silence. The smell of old paper and the pungent aroma of toxins under study dominated the vast room. The place was decorated with various Western weapons and armor, as if it were a reminder of where everything originated. In the center, behind a desk covered in documents, was the owner of this place.
Danzo was not just the patriarch, he was a Master whose lethality surpassed his level. Recognized as one of the most dangerous masters alive, if not the most lethal of his generation. At nearly two meters tall, he possessed an imposing body that time dared not weaken. His white hair still held strands of black, and his bone structure was the mirror of Indra's, the same jawline, the dense and straight eyebrows that conferred a perpetual severity to the face, and the same predatory coldness in the eyes. He was the image of what Indra could become.
That was Danzo of the Leaf. The surname Konoha was not a mere distinction, but a sacred prefix personally granted by the Matriarch of the Song Clan herself. The few who could see through the layers of secrets knew that the clan was, in reality, the darkest vassal of the Song Clan.
Kabuto approached the massive desk and stopped at a respectful distance. The silence in the room was dense, he waited for long minutes, watching Danzo's pen glide with icy precision over the paper. Only when the Patriarch sealed the document and raised his cold eyes, Kabuto felt the permission to speak.
"Indra has reached the apex of what the current regime can offer, Master. During the last two years, we subjected him to a constant load of high-voltage electric shocks and lethal poison cocktails. Theoretically, he is a human without a core and this should not be possible, the physical and chemical stress should have melted his organs and pulverized his nervous system. However, his body manifested something that defies logic: a capacity for adaptation and recovery uncommon for a non-awakened, even as we increased the intensity gradually he continued."
Kabuto paused briefly, gesturing to emphasize the anomaly.
"Every time we push him to the limit, his organism not only recovers, but did so at high speed, enough to keep him alive. He created resistance to every toxin and developed a certain immunity to pain. To have any real progress with him, we should start using low-grade poisonous essence plants in the cocktails and in the treatment of wounds, only then can his body finally..."
Before he could finish, an icy voice cut him off, stopping the air in the room.
"Enough, Kabuto."
Danzo raised his gaze, and the pressure in the room seemed to double instantly. His eyes were pits of authoritarian darkness.
"There will be nothing related to essence until he awakens. Those were the direct orders of the Matriarch. She was clear, he must be kept alive, no matter how brutal the conditions, to be forged as the Perfect Blade."
Danzo leaned slightly forward, the light of the lanterns accentuating his dark and cold eyes.
"His organism is capable of adapting and evolving through pure biology alone. He developed at an unnervingly fast rate, even while being deprived of meals and kept under constant torture, he managed to grow and strengthen far beyond any child in his situation. There is something in that blood... something that defies logic. The Queen of Worms knows what it is. That was why she stopped me from exterminating that failure when he was born."
Danzo paused, and the last sentences briefly lit a flash of disgust and resentment in his eyes.
"She wants a blade, Kabuto. And not just any blade. Whatever runs in that bastard's veins is of great value to her, and she believes he will be a good weapon in the war to come. But the Matriarch made a mistake... she gave me custody of the weapon. This blood is our only chance to, in the future, swallow the Song. Currently, my power is not enough to challenge a Sovereign and it won't be, but if I polish Indra correctly for the war between the two clans, I will have in my hands the only thing capable of hurting them. I must mold him as the Blade of the Song, yes... but I will make sure that, in the near future, at the crucial moment, this same blade turns against Ki Song."
The patriarch closed his eyes and remembered his past, he was a man who had made survival a dark art. He remembered the past, he was a man who had made survival a strategy of cruel waiting, waiting for the right moment while others paved the way with corpses. He should have challenged the Third Nightmare years ago with the support of the Asura Clan, but his daughter ruined everything by getting pregnant by a stranger.
Danzo squeezed the arm of his chair, his knuckles turning pale under the dim light. That was a goal he should have started years ago, but his cursed "daughter" had committed the idiocy of getting pregnant by a stranger. A flash of pure contempt and rage boiled in Danzo's eyes at the thought of the woman who carried his blood. To him, she was a complete waste of time, she failed the only mission she was given: to remain chaste and offer herself to the heir of the Asuras.
Her incompetence was such that it provoked a diplomatic disaster: the Asura Clan immediately cut support and demanded heavy remuneration. The daughter had not only broken the engagement, but had the audacity to plan to make her bastard child a legitimate child in a marriage with another man. It was an unforgivable affront, a failure that stained the clan's name and delayed Danzo's plans by nearly a decade.
Letting out a brief sigh, Danzo continued with his icy tone, cutting off any remnant of family matters.
"Enough of this. Report on his progress in the other trainings."
"As you wish, my lord." Kabuto replied without continuing the subject.
With a flash of white sparks, a Memory in the form of a black and white cylinder appeared. The object vibrated slightly before projecting the reports recorded by Indra's four other tutors.
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Assassination and Execution Techniques - Tutor: Hidan "By the Shadow Gods, this boy is an aberration! He already has a high mastery of dark moon combat techniques, he throws kunais and shurikens with trajectories that defy logic, and his short katana never misses a vital point, the only thing missing for perfection is the use of essence. What irritates me is that he doesn't feel the ecstasy of sacrifice. I made him gut innocent civilians who begged for mercy and he did it with the same indifference as someone cutting grass. There is no faith, no pleasure, only mechanical slaughter. A perfect tool, but soulless."
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Poison Studies and Resistance - Tutor: Hanzô "In this crazy world, I've never seen such resilience in a common human. I injected altered doses of mundane poisons that would bring even an Awakened to their knees, but his body adapts like a salamander. On the first dose, he suffers for minutes, on the second, his blood neutralizes the toxin. Already in his studies, he has a high knowledge of botany, he knows how to differentiate between one that saves and another that kills."
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Anatomy and Pain - Tutor: Rasa "He learned that life is as fragile as sand. I taught him anatomy using his own body as a map, I made him feel every nerve and tendon being pressed to the limit so he knew exactly where the pain becomes unbearable. He now dismantles a prisoner with surgical precision, keeping them conscious for hours while observing organic failure. He doesn't see a human being, he sees only a meat machine full of pressure points."
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Concealment and Survival - Tutor: Naori "His learning capacity is terrifying, he absorbs survival techniques like a sponge, you can throw him into any environment and he will manage. But that isn't the main part, Indra learned to become one with the environment, suppressing his killing intent in such a way that it emanates the same feeling as a stone or tree. He can stand inches from his prey without being noticed. Unless the target possesses a specific Aspect or Attributes of perception, a common Awakened would never detect him until the steel was already at their throat."
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The last report finished, the cylinder fell silent and the Memory disappeared in particles of silver light. And with that, Danzo smiled imperceptibly.
"A blade that does not hesitate, that ignores poison, knows pain and cannot be seen. Perfect. The foundations have been laid. Now tell me, Kabuto: how is his 'etiquette'?"
"It is going according to plan, my lord. I have been using my Aspect subtly to perform psychic direction." Kabuto replied fluidly. He adjusted his glasses, his eyes shining with clinical satisfaction.
"All the fury he should feel for you, for the clan and even for himself, was redirected toward me. I have become the focal point of his resentment, the fuel for his improvement. Furthermore, the torture sessions engraved in him the idea that he is a living sin, and that the only way to be accepted into the clan is by fulfilling missions and becoming 'worthy'. But it still needs caution, the chains of loyalty are not yet perfect. I am waiting for him to become an Awakened, with a Soul Core formed, I will intensify the manipulation and reinforce the chains."
Kabuto stepped forward with a distorted smile and continued flipping through his mental report.
"I also took care of the theoretical instruction. He already masters the workings of the Awakened world. I taught him the classifications of the Nightmare Creatures, to identify the threats of each level and, primarily, how to behave as a Legacy and what to do or not as one. He knows that, to the world, he is just an unworthy bastard, and that he must move with care, never revealing his true face until ordered."
Danzo nodded slowly, his gaze fixed on the void.
"I understand. He knows what to face and whom to fear. The power of an Awakened will bring a stronger will, and you will need a firmer hand to bend it upon his return."
Rising from his chair with an imposing posture, Danzo walked slowly toward the window. Outside, the view revealed a huge and beautiful full moon, which dominated the dark sky and bathed the clan complex in pale light.
"Preparations are all complete. Everyone has saturated cores and is equipped with the best Memories our gold could buy. Tell the other members: tomorrow we enter the Seed. We will emerge as victors. We will no longer be a gentle clan of merchants, rich but weak, but a great clan with six new Masters. That is what we will achieve. Already delegate the orders to inform the world of our ambition, so that everyone knows who the Leaf Clan is."
Danzo's words carried the weight of decades of planning, but before he could complete his line of thought, a silhouette emerged from the shadows. One of the clan's assassins appeared on his knees beside the patriarch.
"My lord, I apologize for the sudden interruption, but the young master Indra... he has just entered his First Nightmare." The ninja on his knees informed.
Silence took the room for a moment. Danzo didn't move a muscle, just staring at the moon for a few more seconds. Soon after, he shot a glaring look at Kabuto, an expression full of disdain and silent fury. For the patriarch, Indra's sudden entry into the Nightmare before the exact planned moment was a failure of control.
Kabuto, feeling the weight of that gaze, bowed his head in a gesture of submission and shame. Behind his glasses, his eyes flashed with a dark promise, he felt the bitter taste of that humiliation and vowed that, as soon as he saw Indra, he would pay.
"The failure will be corrected, my lord," Kabuto murmured with a tense voice.
Danzo returned his gaze to the moon, his voice coming out as an implacable verdict.
"If he survives and returns from this Nightmare, there will be no reception. Order that, the instant he returns as an Awakened, he be dragged directly to solitary confinement. No light, no food, no comfort whatsoever. And prepare the cell with Awakened-level poisons and if that has no effect, raise the level. I want his first breath as an ascended being to be one of agony. If he now possesses a core, let him learn to use it so as not to rot from the inside out. He must understand that his life belongs to this clan, not to his own destiny."