Chapter 64
Itachi watched with serene satisfaction as Sasuke practiced in the yard in front of him. He felt quite proud to see how much Sasuke had progressed in such a short period of time. Itachi had never thought that he would ever be able to do this again. He had resigned himself to his fate, yet it seemed that the gods had taken some pity on him, for they had allowed him this chance.
Suddenly, he felt tightness in his chest and began to cough up.
"Kugh!Kugh!" he coughed into his hand and looked at it to find blood there. Sasuke stopped his kata and looked at him with a frown.
"Are you fine?" Sasuke asked, and Itachi just waved away his concern. Sasuke did not need to know, not yet. Let him have this time.
"Yeah, it's nothing…."
"That could very well become something if he doesn't start listening to me!" he was cut off by a voice he had gotten quite familiar with in a short time.
"Shizune-san," Sasuke greeted the med-nin as he questioned.
"Are you here for his regular check-up?" before Tsunade-sama's apprentice could reply, Itachi answered first.
"Yes, she just came for a routine check-up. Why don't you try that chakra exercise again," he spoke up, and Sasuke narrowed his eyes but went back to practice though Itachi could feel that he might need to tell Sasuke about his condition soon. His suspicion was rising every day.
"Why are you sitting out here like this? I advised you to complete bed rest!" she began to berate him, and Itachi just shook his head as he simply replied.
"I am not exerting myself. I am just sitting here, Shizune-san," and she just chewed her lips as she took the seat next to him, catching a glimpse of the blood stain on his hand.
"Have you been coughing up blood again?" she questioned in an unamused tone, and Itachi nodded.
"Yes, though it has been less frequent since you gave me the latest medicine!" and it was true. While Itachi had accepted his fate ling ago, she seemed to be resisting it with all her might. Itachi had caught a glimpse of her notes and research and had been surprised by the sheer effort she was putting into this.
She chewed her lips at his reply as she began to go through his charts.
"You don't need to get so worked up about this," he said lightly, startling her. She looked up toward him as he continued.
"I have accepted my fate long ago. Whether by this disease or any other means, I will die one day. So, you don't need to get so worked up about this,"
"You are wrong!" she almost screamed as she smacked the charts on the wooden floor. Itachi was surprised by the sheer vehemence in her tone.
"Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Fate is nothing but a useful tool we use to make ourselves feel good. We are what we make of ourselves, not what has been predestined in some mythical way." Itachi's eyes widened as he saw her sheer conviction.
Her eyes were filled with a light that Itachi had last seen in Shisui. A light filled with enough courage and will to challenge fate itself.
"So, I refuse to accept whatever these fates of yours have decided. I am going to drag from you the gates of the afterlife myself. You aren't dying on my watch!" she snapped, staring him straight in the eyes.
"NEVER!" she added. And it seems Sasuke had listened in on their information.
"What is she talking about, brother?" Sasuke spoke up as he questioned Itachi.
"I have had enough of this! I want the truth of what is wrong with you right now!" Sasuke said with gritted teeth, and Itachi simply sighed as he turned to face Sasuke. And as he was about to begin telling him.
TING.TING.TING.
The sound of sirens went off. Itachi frowned, for he recognized them for what they were.
"There was definitely no drill on schedule today!" commented Shizune from the side, leaving only one possible situation.
"This means that this isn't a drill. Konoha is under attack!" Itachi concluded as he stepped up, pushing chakra into his Sharingan. His blurry vision began to clear up and sharpen up.
"W-What is that?" came the shaky voice of Sasuke as he pointed at the sky, and Itachi turned to look in the specific direction and saw a massive meteor hanging above the village, casting a huge shadow over it.
"It-it's so huge! This will destroy the village!" Shizune concluded as her eyes widened and her face paled. Itachi's focus, though was on the small silhouette floating right above it.
He could hear the panicked voices as people began to evacuate from the main village. Though he did not move for his sharingan allowed him to recognize the shinobi that was the probable cause of this disturbance.
"Pain!" he muttered as he recognized the aggressor. Shizune and Sasuke recognized the name, and their faces paled as the implication dawned on them.
"P-Pain. Then this is an attack by the Akatsuki!" Sasuke spoke up as his Sharingan spun in his eyes as well.
Though it seems the village wasn't defenseless as well as Itachi spotted, two silhouettes appear on the Hokage's tower.
He felt a massive volume of chakra from the Hokage tower, enough that it went ripples through the whole village. Even at such a distance, Itachi could feel the sheer pressure from it.
Itachi looked toward Sasuke, and gave him a slight nod.
"Let's go, Sasuke!" he muttered to the surprise of Shizune, who looked at him with a surprised expression.
"W-where are you going? The evacuation tunnels are the other way?" Itachi looked back at her and gave her a small smile as he gathered chakra, just like Sasuke beside him.
"We are going to stop that meteor. You should evacuate with the rest!" before she could react, he jumped away alongside Sasuke as they gathered enough chakra for their move.
"SUSANOO!"
"SUMMONING JUTSU!"
And these screams were heard just as the colossal meteor began its dreaded descent.
0000
KAKUZU
Kakuzu felt the wind strike his face as he looked down at the village down below. He was still partially shell-shocked by the revelation about Madara Uchiha. He was still in denial.
How could he still be alive? How? A part of him still had doubts regarding the efficacy of that claim, but he was in no position to question it. He raised his hand to his chest to feel his newly implanted heart.
"When are we going to attack?" questioned Sasori as all three of them flew over Iwagakure on the paper birds made by their leader for this mission.
This would be his first time seeing her in action. Konan, God's angel, the title she had been given because of her loyalty and service to Pain. He had never fought her, but he could understand that she had not gotten that title without reason.
She stood on the bird without giving them a reply as she scanned Iwa. After some time, she finally spoke up.
"I will begin the attack, I have located one of the jinchuriki, and as per our reports, one of them is outside the village. So, we will not concern ourselves with him."
She then turned to look straight at him, and Kakuzu felt his senses bristle up as he made eye contact with her.
"Kakuzu, can you take on Han?" she questioned him, and after considering everything, Kakuzu nodded.
"Yes, I will tackle him," he replied, and then she turned to face Sasori.
"I will be dealing with Onoki while you are to give support!" Sasori nodded as he pointed toward the casket placed behind her.
"And what's that for?" and the purple-haired kunoichi simply looked ahead.
"Well, he is going to be our little distraction!" then Kakuzu saw her raise her hand, and he felt huge ripples of chakra, and he looked up, and his face paled as he saw two whole clouds break down into streams, and streams of paper.
But it wasn't any regular paper. No. They were paper bombs. Hundreds of thousands of them as the two clouds dissolved into simple sheets of paper.
"Be ready!" she said, and the papers aligned themself over the whole of Iwa. Kakuzu saw the scene and felt shivers run down his spine.
This was going to destroy Iwa.
And then he felt the chakra thicken as he heard a small murmur.
"NINPO: DIVINE DESTRUCTION!"
And the paper bombs fell. They all rushed down towards Iwa, and then hell began.
BOOOM. BOOOM. BOOOM. BOOOM.
0000
KABUTO
Kabuto nudged his glasses as he stared at the village in front of him. Sunagakure was quite aptly named, given its location.
They were the weakest of the five great nations, and it was up to him to carry out Madara-sama's will here.
"Ohhh! So, we are finally here. Honestly, I was getting quite tired of all the walking. So, tell me can I slaughter them all in the name of the great Lord Jashin!" screamed his companion for this mission, and Kabuto shook his head at his antics.
Immortal Hidan was a very special specimen, and it was a good opportunity to observe him. Honestly, he wanted to test out his four special edo tensei creations, but Suna was deemed conquerable without them. Hence he had been sent here with Hidan, though he had been given liberty to carry out the mission as per his plans.
"Yes, though might I advise you to start with the Kazekage himself, after all he is our main target," and the man frowned at this.
"AGHH! But I am getting tired of walking in all this sand! Maybe I should just start with the border patrol! We could deal with that Kazekage later."
Kabuto couldn't let this happen. This would make the mission ten times harder and give Suna enough time to prepare.
"Well, maybe I could solve your little sand problem!" Kabuto began to cycle through a series of very familiar handseals as he gathered the required chakra.
"SUMMONING JUTSU!"
BOOOM.
And a huge snake appeared in front of him. The summoned snake hissed, and Kabuto reciprocated; this one was quite easy to command, unlike Manda of Orochimaru-Sama.
"YOU COULD HAVE DONE THAT FROM THE START! YOU MADE ME WALK THROUGH THE SCORCHING SAND FOR NOTHING!" Hidan screamed in frustration, and Kabuto simply ignored the man as he commanded his summon.
"Saruba! Get us through!" and the snake began to slither as Kabuto cast one of the few senjutsu techniques he had learned. Unless Iwa had a sage, their approach would be undetectable.
"SENPO: WORLD MALIGNING!"
Well, it was time to get started!
0000
Now all villages are under attack. This is all Obito's plan, and soon we will see what this entails. I don't know how I am going to think up all this content, but we shall see how this all goes.
As always, you can read ahead and support me on P@ tre 0n. Your support helps me out a lot, so if possible, have a look and consider supporting me if you can. I shall be extremely grateful!
www.P@ tre 0n.com/Drkest
Thanks for reading!