Naruto: The Great change

Ch - 22 : Take a moment to appreciate

Let's get started.
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Inside the cave,

ANBU who reverse tracked the trajectory of the arrow, were looking inside the cave. There was a huge human trafficking ring going on here in Konohagakure. Some specialised Jōnins were also here looking at the sight of the the dozens of men, shinobi and thugs alike sprawled on the floor, everyone of them fainted but none of them were killed.

All the females and the children were rescued. They were searching the perimeter for clues.

"Sir. We've found something." One of the shinobi said over the comms. The Jōnins quickly gathered around the area. There were two men lying. One was under some sort of genjūtsu but the other.... it looked a like a tornado had ripped up his insides. The wall was painted with his blood and insides, his spinal cord stuck on a rock. Actual human spine. Some of them looked away in disgust.

Kurenai and Asuma were looking at the destruction at the cave. Over fifty shinobi and eighty thugs were detained and were sent for questioning.

"Who could have done something like this?" Kurenai looked around the cave, searching every nook and corner. There wasn't even a trace of foreign chakra. Someone covered their steps pretty well.

"Someone skilled." Asuma answered, inspecting a dead body. "Many of these guys are B-rank and a chosen few of them are A-rank."

"Maa maa... we might be jumping to conclusions." Kakashi said, his Sharingan active. "It might be that it's not a single person but a talented group of many skilled shinobi."

"LIKE I SAID, IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE...." They heard Gai argue with an ANBU. The ANBU in question was looked like he was in a fix. "What's up Gai?" Gai who looked ready to chew the ANBU alive looked at Kakashi. "According to the witnesses....

At Hokage Tower,
EMERGENCY MEETING:

"According to the witnesses they only saw one boy wearing black clothes fighting. The other arrested shinobi and thugs are questioned. Yamanaka clans are partaking in the questioning."

"The victims included civilians, children from small clans and from civilian families, women of same status and some our shinobis including Akito who was undercover. She was clearly tortured and reports suggest that she was...." Hiruzen put up his hand stopping the man from continuing further.

He spoke, his voice grave. "Something like this has been going on in my village from how long..... and now I'm being informed about this." It was clear that Konoha was slowly but surely was starting to decline. It was only safe because of the formal glory it had. "Anything else we know about the boy?"

"Based on the hunch of Nara Shikaku we showed them the picture of the so called 'Shinobi' to the trapped victims. They confirmed that the boy called 'Mystery' and the 'Shinobi' look exactly the same." The previous ANBU continues. Hiruzen takes a deep breath. The same face, the same jawline, the same sense of justice.....

Hiruzen spoke, his voice hollow. "Do you think it could be Nazuko?"

The chamber erupted into murmurs. Nara Shikaku stood up. "I don't think that it's plausible. There's no way it can be Nazuko, Hokage-sama."

"Is that really so? Do you really believe that Shikaku? That young boy who came among us, with the same fierce flame of justice and the power to conquer even your greatest fears..... do you really think that this cannot be his job?" The Hokage stood up. "I may be old but I don't think my eyes are deceiving me just yet."

"But that's not possible Hokage-sama!" Kurenai said. It couldn't be Nazuko. There was just no way, it was the same boy. He was the same age as them, if that was true, then he might be in his mid-twenties right now. Not the same as 12 years old.