When Danzō returned home, he saw that green-skinned freak once again.
Yo-Yo Ma stood like the most diligent of housemaids, respectfully waiting at the entrance to Danzō's residence, even holding out a pair of indoor slippers for him.
"Oh, you're back just in time," Yo-Yo Ma said cheerfully, completely ignoring the thunderous storm cloud on Danzō's face. "Dinner is ready! And if you'd prefer a bath first, I've prepared the water—it's at the perfect temperature!"
Before Yo-Yo Ma finished speaking, Danzō had already driven his cane straight through its head.
This time, it wasn't a Root agent who struck—it was Danzō himself.
He'd scanned the room once, and his expression turned black with fury.
The housemaid in charge of cooking and cleaning was sitting frozen on the couch, staring in horror at the green creature. As soon as she saw Danzō, she tried to speak—but only a shrill whistle, like a boiling kettle, came from her mouth.
Danzō flashed to her side in an instant, while the Root agent who'd returned with him moved toward Yo-Yo Ma.
Just as the agent prepared to interrogate the creature, Yo-Yo Ma, despite having a cane stabbed through its skull, grabbed the staff tightly and stared straight into his eyes.
"You want to know where your comrade went, don't you?" it said, opening its mouth as bees and mosquitoes came swarming out.
None of them were dead.
They shot from its mouth like they'd just been reborn.
Yo-Yo Ma seemed annoyed by their escape. It flailed its arms wildly, catching each bug and stuffing them back into its gaping maw.
"Too late. He's already dead. If you keep following Danzō, I'll have to get rid of you too," it said to the Root ninja, though its eyes never left Danzō. "Have you prepared yourself for death?"
A sudden sting at his neck snapped the Root operative out of his trance.
He slapped at the pain and found not just a crushed mosquito in his palm—but a dark, clean-edged puncture wound.
"A mosquito? So they're part of its attacks," he realized instantly.
Ignoring the others, he inhaled sharply to prepare a jutsu—only to find that the air he drew in felt thick, as though it refused to fill his lungs.
He reached for his throat in a panic. His face had begun to melt. Literally melt.
The technique he'd prepared was lost. He opened his mouth to warn Danzō—only to find that his mouth was gone. Dissolved.
Yo-Yo Ma turned to Danzō and began advancing.
Now only Danzō remained. The mission was nearly complete.
A fan spun lazily in the room, its breeze drifting over Danzō and his maid. Tied to the fan's edge was a strip of damp cloth, fluttering with the airflow in rhythmic waves.
Danzō, now beside his maid, finally noticed the dark perforations riddling her body—especially along her neck. The sight was ghastly.
Yet there was no blood.
Her skin had dark punctures, but her face was flushed red—on the verge of suffocating.
Danzō didn't waste time examining her further. He turned—and found Yo-Yo Ma standing right beside him.
At the same moment, the two ANBU operatives burst into the room, drawn by the commotion.
The first thing they saw was the Root agent lying dead in the foyer, his body marked with deep, clean holes and signs of tissue liquefaction.
And at the far end of the room stood the green-skinned creature known as Yo-Yo Ma.
One ANBU drew his blade immediately, rushing in for a decapitating strike. The other ran to Danzō.
"Lord Danzō, please leave! Your condition—"
The ANBU trailed off, hesitating.
He had just noticed something on Danzō's body.
Tiny holes. Puncture wounds.
Alarmed, Danzō followed the ANBU's gaze and finally sensed the abnormality himself.
His eyes locked on the only moving object in the room—the fan.
Drool. Mosquitoes. The signs were all there.
He raised an arm to shield himself.
Instantly, his arm—directly facing the fan—began to sprout new holes.
There was no pain, but that only made it more terrifying.
"It's the saliva!" Danzō growled, forming hand seals.
Wind Release: Vacuum Bullet!
Chakra burst from his mouth, smashing the fan into fragments. The holes on his raised arm ceased.
"Restrain it. Gag its mouth. Keep eyes on it at all times," Danzō said, face like stone.
His body had already suffered dozens of punctures, but for now he ignored the pain. What mattered was Yo-Yo Ma.
He had to take back what he said earlier.
Whoever sent this thing hadn't underestimated him.
This Stand… was lethal.
The ANBU wasted no time. They wrapped Yo-Yo Ma's entire head in thick towels, then bound its entire body tightly in heavy cloth, immobilizing it.
Minutes later, medical-nin arrived and began treating both Danzō and the injured housemaid.
Soon after, the Third Hokage himself arrived.
He found Yo-Yo Ma already secured within a powerful barrier erected by the Barrier Unit.
It simply sat there, drooling, eyes still locked onto Danzō. It didn't struggle or scream—just watched with an idiot's grin and endless, leaking saliva.
"Danzō, I got your message. You suspect this creature—Yo-Yo Ma—has ties to Kumogakure?" Hiruzen asked gravely. His brows were furrowed—if not for his enhanced sensory skills, he'd barely be able to see the blurry mass inside the barrier.
"Do you have any proof?"
When Hiruzen first received the alert that Danzō had been targeted by an assassin, he was stunned.
Then he learned Danzō suspected Cloud involvement. That shocked him even more.
"It said so itself," Danzō replied. "It was sent here via Heavenly Transfer Jutsu. Ask it yourself if you doubt it."
"…Very well." Hiruzen nodded, his tone dark.
Anyone who dared launch an assassination attempt inside Konoha would pay the price.
And now that the assassin was in custody, interrogation was no longer just his job. The Code Division and the T&I Unit would begin their own extraction procedures.
"But since this thing has clearly targeted you, I'll need you to stay put for a while. The affairs of Root—I'll handle them personally," Hiruzen added.
A pretext. A move to limit Danzō's power under the guise of concern.
And Danzō had no room to argue.