An Anbu knelt in front of the Hokage's desk. A tone of urgency could be heard.
Anbu: Lady Hokage, the village is invaded by a group of beasts.
Nervousness invades everyone in the office.
Tsunade: Report on the situation!
Anbu: Understood! Dozens of giant snakes recently appeared in front of the main gate. Fortunately we have managed to keep them in this section and are sending all available personnel to eliminate the threat.
The Sannin took a few seconds to assess the situation.
Tsunade: Deploy teams of Anbu throughout the village to be sure no one has infiltrated the village!
Anbu: At your command!
The Anbu disappeared from the room, to complete the task he had been given. The hokage rose from her seat and turned to her disciples.
Tsunade: Shizune, Sakura organized medical support. I will personally go to the battlefield. Team 8 go to the gates immediately to support the defense.
Shizune, Sakura and Team 8: At your command!
The three travelers felt a lot of appreciation seeing the speed and firmness of the decisions made by the hokage.
Gandalf: If you allow it Lady hokage, we would like to help you defend your house.
Tsunade thanked them for their help and led the group to the battlefield.
In front of Konoha's gates, many giant snakes clashed with Konoha's shinobi. Behind the serpentine horde, Kabuto summoned more and more creatures. His face showed no expression, his eyes showed no emotion, he had only been instructed to cause chaos and die in battle. His week of 'education' with Akeno and his master had turned him into a broken toy, ready to be thrown away after use.
The entire armed forces of Konoha gathered to counter the invasion. Although the initial phase of the attack caused many casualties, the shinobis quickly managed to regain control with the help of powerful Jonin like Kakashi and Might Guy. Dozens of Naruto could be seen pelting the snakes with rasengans.
While everyone was fighting, no one noticed eight shadows infiltrating the village, taking advantage of the chaos and confusion.
It didn't take long for Tsunade and the three former heroes to join the defensive force. The Hokage summoned Katsuyu to help take care of the injured.
Gandalf: Lord Elrond maybe you can show us your legendary skill with a blade?
Lord Elrond: With pleasure my old friend, it's been a long time since I let off steam.
Brandishing his blade, Elrond slashed one of the snakes that was about to devour one of the shinobi. His elven sword pierced the scales like paper. A serpent attempted to charge Gandalf, but a white shield enveloped the wizard, the backlash confusing the serpent. With his Glamdring blade, Gandalf decapitated his adversary, none of his movements showing the handicaps suffered by the elderly.
Losing his summons faster than Kabuto could summon them, Naruto and Kakashi managed to reach the person responsible for the attack.
Naruto: Kabuto! How dare you attack our village!?
Contrary to his habit, Kabuto did not respond to Naruto's provocations, he continued to stare blankly. This increased the confusion of the two Shinobi, they had known Kabuto for a long time, so his habits in their clashes. Kakashi charged his enemy with Chidori.
However, Kabuto surprised them once again, opening his robe, revealing hundreds of paper bombs and explosive seals on his skin. He had become a human bomb. Without being able to avoid it, Kakashi took the explosion head-on.
Naruto: Kakashi-sensei!!!!!
Their master dead, the summons disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Tsunade approached the smoking form of the copy ninja. Kakashi was seriously injured, his right arm missing, unconscious but still breathing. Tears flooded Naruto's face. Tsunade was using all of her expertise to stabilize Kakashi's condition.
Naruto: G-Granny Tsunade! Save it! Please save...
A hand rested on his shoulder. An old man that Naruto had never seen wanted to reassure him.
Gandalf: Calm down my child, Lady Tsunade will do everything possible to cure your companion. You should go home to rest your mind, we'll pick you up when we know more.
Although he did not know this old man, he felt a strong urge to follow his advice. He was helpless and he hated his feeling. He could only leave Kakashi in the hands of Granny Tsunade.
Au cours des heures suivantes, Tsunade opéra Kakashi faisant l'impossible pour le sauver. Finalement, elle réussit à stabiliser son état, cependant la perte de son bras mettrait fin à sa carrière de Shinobi.
Naruto rentra chez lui, mais alors qu'il allait allumer la lumière, huit ombres l'attrapèrent
Naruto: What the...
A few hours later
Tsunade went back to her office, Shizune accompanied her while Sakura continued to take care of the wounded admitted to the hospital. She was exhausted but she needed to take notice of some things. She brought the three travelers back to continue their conversation.
Gandalf, his voice again speaking like a gentle, wise grandfather: Lady Tsunade, what troubles you?
Tsunade: Kabuto, the man who launched the attack, didn't have his usual behavior, he almost looked like a puppet. Do you think the Bright Lord might be responsible for this?
Gandalf: Indeed, there was something evil about him. Although I could not identify the source, it is not impossible that Celebrimbor was responsible. It's the kind of thing you need to be wary of, even the people of your village aren't immune to its influence.
Tsunade sighed. She felt many headaches coming.
Tsunade: You mentioned that Sauron's name while in disguise was Annatar?
Elrond: Indeed, the Lord of Gifts was his title and with it he tricked the world into making the Rings of Power. After the deception, he created the One Ring, a Master Ring that towered above all others.
Tsunade: Tell me more about Sauron, he looks like an indomitable foe, not just in power but also in spirit.
All three had downtrodden looks, neither did more Gandalf himself.
Elrond: We've been living a long time, we were all alive when Sauron was at the height of his power, Gandalf himself was one of the Five who was sent to Middle-earth for the sole purpose of fighting the Darkness. He had actually known Sauron when he was first known as Mairon, his name meaning "The Admirable".
This caused Tsunade and Shizune to question what they had heard so far.
Shizune: The Admirable? I find that hard to believe with all the stories we've heard.
It was then that Gandalf smiled softly, remembering the last time he said those words to a certain Hobbit.
Gandalf: No creature starts out as evil, even Sauron himself was once an incredible force for good. He...was actually a very dear friend of mine...a long time ago.
They could see the depression and age on the old man's face, the thousands of years he had traveled in Middle-earth. The betrayals he had suffered, the wars he had waged. It was then that he began his story.
Gandalf: You have to understand that he was very different then. He loved life more than anyone. He and his wife actively participated in the construction of the first civilizations that populated Arda.
(Author: I know, you wonder how long Sauron has been married? But from the beginning, I make some references to it, especially in chapter 4 and 7. His wife will appear later in the story.)
Gandalf: He had been an individual that all Maiar and below strove to be: honest, hardworking, loyal, intelligent, strong, incredibly strong in fact. He had been the greatest warrior against darkness when Morgoth became the First Dark Lord.
Tsunade: Wait…another Dark Lord?
Tsunade gasped, she knew Sauron, she couldn't believe there was one before him.
Galadriel: Indeed, Melkor was of a more powerful class than the Maiar, they are known as the Valar.
It froze their blood, someone with more power than Sauron?
Gandalf: Melkor was the strongest, the favorite, but he had become power hungry, wanting more. So when Creation began, he twisted and corrupted it, betraying all immortals and becoming the first Dark Lord: Morgoth. He possessed terrible strength, the Valar rose against him, loyal to Illuvatar: the creator. And one of the most influential pieces that fought against the Darkness was Mairon himself. The latter won many victories, and in his few defeats he made sure that the enemy suffered for them. However, there was a battle where they were outnumbered, with the Dark Lord himself leading the charge, Mairon himself sending everyone else away so they could live. Before leaving, he left his black blade Gurthang with Turin Turambar, a human, telling him to handle it well.
Gandalf: Knowing he would die, Mairon held nothing back, slaying monsters, demons, orcs, trolls, nothing stood before him. Piercing even the fiercest dragon's scales. However, as the hours passed, even the great warrior grew weary. For even Mairon had limits as he got tired enough where Morgoth appeared and dropped his Grond on him, knocking the Maiar out. Everyone watched in abject horror as Mairon's body was taken away, the beasts of darkness roaring in victory. It may have been a defeat for good, but Mairon had dealt such a crushing blow to their forces that the enemy was forced to fall back and regroup. This gave our forces the time they needed to prepare and defend themselves. The time Mairon gave them allowed them to prepare for anything.
Elrond: Almost anything...
Galadriel: Rather than the Dark Lord leading the charge was now another being, his black armor was a terrifying sight. He wielded Mairon's mace in his hand, and when he teleported away, a fiery eye with a black slit appeared to be replaced by the dark warrior. And his powers weren't limited to the battlefield either. His cunning and deviousness were equally terrifying, able to penetrate and twist the minds of those around him. He tore up anything that stood in his way.
Gandalf: When Morgoth was finally defeated, the black armored warrior assumed the title of Dark Lord and wreaked havoc wherever he went. Through the ages he has earned many titles…The Enemy, The Shadow, The Lord of the Rings, The Dark Lord, The Lord of Wolves, The Evil One…but the name all have come to know and fear … was Sauron.
And so the White Council informed them of everything that happened in the time of Sauron, how everything he touched became foul and twisted. Only the strongest or most innocent minds could resist its power. And even then, if they got too close, none resisted him.
Gandalf: Even I couldn't resist him, only Lady Galadriel succeeded while he was weakened and she was almost consumed by darkness to do so.
Shizune: So I guess it's a good thing he's dead...
That's when they saw the downcast face of the White Council. A cold realization entered the minds of the two doctors.
Tsunade: He's not dead...
Galadriel: The Dark Lord...he has the most indomitable will, far beyond even the fiercest of warriors. Even more so than Morgoth himself, it honestly makes me wonder how he himself felt about the darkness in the first place…
Elrond: It's a mystery we'll probably never find out.
Galadriel: After Sauron's defeat, a trial was held in Illmarin, however he managed to escape thanks to Melkor. We tracked him down for a long time, to no avail. Much of the Dark Lord's life force and spirit was found just outside the Land of Mordor which was sunk into the pits of Hell.
Tsunade, concerned about the risk of Sauron returning: Where is that energy now, surely you didn't leave it?
Gandalf: No, indeed, good lady, using our magic we made a cage and placed her power there under the protection of all sorts of curses and spells, light and dark, that each of us knew, the three of us even used our own Rings of Power to the point of exhausting their power in order to seal his grave for eternity. The crypt used for the bodies of his most faithful servants forms the first seal of his prison. The maiar Yahweh placed the prison in a sub-dimension almost cut off from the world, called High Heavens.
Tsunade was reassured that kind of place was like the legendary Shikkotsu Forest. Entering these sub-dimensions was not easy.
Galadriel: However, even then her defilement was seen. A civil war broke out between the angels under the protection of Yahweh against Lucifer, whom he considered a son. Both died in the conflict. Fortunately, nowadays Lucifer's descendants, the devils, protect the first jump into the Underworld, while the angels protect the cage. The terror of Sauron will no longer reign over Arda.
At this point, the white council saw the face of the Dark Lord in their minds, emerging from the flaming eye and striking down anyone who stood against him. His vast armies rolling across the world, the many puppets he claimed to have made his own: Saruman, Angmar, the Nazgul, the Balrog, even the warlords of Uruk and many more. The joy they felt when he was FINALLY defeated, the horror when they saw him flee Illmarin, they even felt phantom pain when they thought of the exhaustion they felt using their power to seal his power.
Elrond: Even when the One Ring was destroyed, he was reduced to a weak spirit, but not really destroyed. He has lasted all these Ages but he can never regain his strength again for his soul is but a fragment of what he once was, destined to wander until the end of the world. However, there is someone who has power similar to his. Celebrimbor was the one who created the Rings of Power in the first place. He is also the only other to ever use the One Ring. However, the thing had a mind of its own and an unwavering loyalty to its master. We believe he survived as a specter and refused to disappear when Sauron was defeated and is now trying to take over your world.
The others stared at the White Council, completely forgetting about Annatar...their golden rings having an imperceptible glow.