|I always found something strange about the humans of this world.|
'There are many strange things about them, but do tell.'
|Kumo and Iwa should have a hostility toward Konoha comparable to Isshiki Ōtsutsuki's toward Kaguya, right?|
'Leaving the ego and ancestor complex of the parasite aside, yes.'
|It should be something similar to China and Japan after WWII... or Korea and Japan, USA and Japan—|
'My pattern recognition skill is responding.'
|—Germany and the rest of Europe, the USA and the USSR after the Cold War, and let's not talk about the Gaza Strip, you get my point. These ninjas should hate Konoha after Mito Senju almost drove both villages to extinction.|
'Yeah, I think no human has as many kills under their belt as Mito. Who would have thought such a lovely old lady would be so fierce?'
|As you know, shinobi are not known for their forgive-and-forget skills. Yet... here they are walking around Konoha as if nothing happened, participating in the Chūnin Exams as if it were normal. It's contradictory.|
'Well... humans are short-lived, so they tend to forget...'
|Individually they do, as a village? They are taught to hate since babies.|
'... Yeah, you're right. This is strange.'
|Maybe it's like the 1936 Olympic Games.|
'It's not the same, that was three years before the start of WWII.'
|... You are correct... So strange.|
'So strange.'
Sayaka flew, while concealed, above the bustling streets of Konohagakure. The village was filled with an unusual upbeat energy, as if a festival was taking place.
While the Chūnin Exams might appear as such at first glance, this was more similar to a weapons exposition instead of exams, yet the villagers—the ones usually frightful of war and shinobi—were rejoicing about the 'celebration'.
Strange and contradictory as it was, it did not concern Sayaka and Lucian.
While hovering above the mob, they followed a certain white-haired pervert.
The Pervert Kid.
Jiraiya was being led to a certain place by a lady of unnatural beauty and eloquence. This lady had the 'magnetic personality' that Jiraiya loved and made him unable to get over the multiple rejections of Tsunade Senju.
This lady had dark blue long hair and mothering hips. She didn't walk like all the other mortals—no! She sashayed. She was dressed in a blue dress, tight around her magnetic personality and free-flowing around her hips. With each bounce, sway, and tremor, Jiraiya followed them all with an abnormal dedication.
'Using the Mizukage's body and dressing style as a reference was a good idea.'
|It was. Pervert Kid knows there's something fishy, yet he can't hold himself back.|
'That's probably because I'm projecting my repressed sexual libido on him.'
| That probably has something to do with it.|
'Well, there was no other way. If I wanted to leave Sasuke some of my eggs, I had to rush my puberty, and that sent my hormones into disarray, ergo... I'm fucking horny!'
|If you want I can max your sensibility tonight.|
'Didn't you say that that was not good?'
|But that's because you got hooked on it like a drug, I felt like I was ruining sexual intercourse for you.|
'... You have a point. Let's not.'
The morphed clone of Sayaka led Jiraiya to a house she had prepared beforehand. They walked through the front door and directly to a bedroom, following the hypnotic hips and magnetic personality, he walked through another door, supposedly to enter the bedroom.
Except, there was no room on the other side. There was some grass, the sounds of the seagulls above, the crashing of the waves below, and the humid and salted winds of the ocean around him.
The clone closed the door and released itself. When the door was closed, it disappeared into an implosion of soft light and white sand.
"... Sayaka?"- Jiraiya asked after seeing the withe sand residue.
"Pervert Kid."- Sayaka materialized a few feet away from him.
"What are you doing?"- Jiraiya didn't feel any hostility from her, her relaxed posture, amiable smile, and eyes told him so, but he didn't let his guard down.
"I removed you from the board. After all, your only sin is being duped by Hiruzen and his Will Of Fire."- The ground rose under Sayaka's command and two seats of stone appeared.
"What are you planning, Sayaka?"- Jiraiya asked, alarmed after hearing her words.
"Don't worry, Pervert Kid. I'm not going to do anything to you, and unless you pull a space-time ninjutsu out of your pervert head, you can't do anything."
"Sayaka! What are you planning?!"- He shouted. He was getting riled up by the meaning he inferred from her words.
"Calm down, Pervert Kid. I'm going to tell you all about my evil plan. Just take a seat, like I said, there's nothing you can do now."- Sayaka gestured for the stone seat.
Jiraiya weaved hand signs and tried to summon a toad. But aside from wasting chakra it did nothing.
"I marked you with script when we locked arms."- Sayaka explained. Under her pervasive eye-sight, she could see the script her clone left in Jiraiya under his clothes.
"Don't worry, you'll only be unable to summon or be summoned for a day. See? Nothing you can do."- Sayaka had locked his spatial coordinates, this meant he could move in the normal three directions of space, but not out of them. So no summoning for him.
Jiraiya raked his pervert head to think of a way out of his predicament, however, it was as she had explained, he couldn't do a thing.
"Argh!"- He shouted and then... "*SIGH!*"- Jiraiya slumped into the stone seat in defeat.
"Talk."- He said in a bad mood.
"Do you know where we are?"- Sayaka's words made him look around, but all he could guess was that he was at a very tall rock formation above some sea.
"... Uzushiogakure?"- He asked in surprise.
"Yes, this is where I first met Kushina, two lives ago."
"What?!"
"Pervert Kid, I always disliked ninjas, the descendants of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki even more!"
"Wait! Two lives ago? What do you mean?"- Jiraiya couldn't move passed what she said.
"It means my life as Aya Uzumaki. I met you a few minutes before the end of that life, you were already a pervert then."- Sayaka mockingly smiled.
Jiraiya looked at her with incredulity, but those eyes of her didn't seem to be lying. There was a certain wisdom in them—as hard as that was to determine, considering she had no pupils or irises.
"... You don't have a repository of knowledge."- Jiraiya asked after connecting the dots.
"I do, it's my soul."- Sayaka replied with a cheeky grin.
"..."- Jiraiya didn't find words to reply with. With her age being the least of the problematic implications, Jiraiya's head was in chaos, trying to understand what this implied.
"As I was saying, I hated the descendants of the 'Sage Of The Six Paths'. Belligerent, petty, stupid, narrow-minded, violent, arrogant, warmongers, these and many words could be used to describe them as a whole."
"I hated how they always found a way to destroy whatever I did for them. I healed a village and stopped a pandemic, they went back and spread the pandemic. I set commercial routes to supply the innocents with food even during wartimes, they destroy the routes. I created a place for information sharing among merchants, but it didn't last past five decades before they destroyed and turned it into the black market exchange..."- She gains a distant look, the disappointment was once more getting to her, but she soon snapped out of it and continued.
"I walked this world while teaching and helping you whenever I could. I protected humanity from unnumerable threats. I always tried to be a positive influence. I repaired this world and the surrounding space after it was left with less than a thousand years of lifespan. I... I did a lot for humanity and this planet."
"Years, decades, centuries of helping and attempting to guide you through another path... it worked for some time and then it was destroyed by your hands. It was a cycle, creation and destruction, salvation and damnation, peace and war, love and hatred, you know what I'm talking about, right?"- Sayaka asked Jiraiya.
"The cycle of hate."- He spoke with the weight of experience in his remark.
"I was half a mind away from driving your race to extinction."- Sayaka channeled her hate through her chakra and Jiraiya felt something only those who interacted with the Tailed Beasts before she purified them felt.
Corrosive, corrupt, hatred-laced, violent, hostile chakra.
He felt a pit in his stomach, perspiration covered his back, his heart galloped, his hands balled into fists, blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, and when it looked like it was going to continue endlessly, the pressure disappeared as if it had never been there.
"But then I met the Uzumaki. They were—as a whole—uninterested in the wars. They chose to settle down on this island. Close to their friends—the Senju—but far away from the other clans."- Sayaka made an illusion to fill in the gap left behind by the explosion of the island.
Jiraiya saw the thriving city, the forest, and the parents who came to the local attraction that the sealed gate of hell was with their offspring. It was peaceful, and not in the same way Konohagakure is, no, it was the type of peacefulness that runs deep, not the superficial peace of Konohagakure.
"They cared more about fūinjutsu and food than riches or territory. This was the only clan that never conquered another or a territory. Mind you, they were not sinless, they were not perfect, they had flaws, but they showed me that among the children of Hagoromo, not all were lost causes."- Sayaka released the illusion.
There was silence shared for a moment, not a pleasant one, Jiraiya couldn't forget what he just felt. It felt as if the being seated opposite to him was a monster filled with hate and nothing more.
"Jiraiya, did you know that Danzo Shimura played an important hand in the fall of Uzushiogakure?"
"..."- This was a shock for him, and not because Danzo was scum, everybody above a certain level in Konohagakure knew that.
"Did you know that Hiruzen Sarutobi found out about it and didn't so much as punish him? He took advantage of it."
"..."- Jiraiya was now understanding where this was going.
"The other two wastes of space knew about it and benefited from it just as much as Danzo and Hiruzen did."- Sayaka's emotionless facade was not positively accepted by Jiraiya, it made him churn with trepidation. He had seen this type of face multiple times, and it was never before happy outcomes.
"Revenge."- Jiraiya muttered.
"Yes, but not for the fall of Uzushiogakure. I got over it already, Pervert Kid. I'm petty, but even I can let go after a few decades of healing."
'Not entirely, at least.'- Sayaka thought.
"If it's not about Uzushiogakure, then what's this about?"
"Nawaki's death. Kushina's death. Naruto's abandonment and ostracization. The Uchiha Massacre. Sasuke's Future... and because they did enough to earn my hate. The four cancers of Konohagakure will be removed today by my hand. I don't want you caught in the crossfire, you're just a gullible pervert who drank from the poison chalice of the Will Of Fire."
Sayaka teleported away, without a care about if he believed her or not. She didn't feel like giving him more explanations than she had already given.
She teleported to the Mitokado residence.
Homura Mitokado was going over a few documents pertaining to the agreement they planned to sign with The Alliance.
'What will Hiruzen do about the monster? It's clear she has ties with The Desert, how will she react when Konoha joins the other villages in the efforts of finding the location of Sunagakaure?'- He thought.
"He will be dead by then, and I wouldn't react to watching some ants die to an antlion."- Sayaka spoke from behind him.
"WHA-*Blergh*"- Homura couldn't finish his words after keeling over the desk and vomiting dark blood.
His body convulsed and shook. His muscles violently contracted and snapped his bones. His eyes fully popped out and dangled from the eye sockets by the optic nerve. His bladder and sphincter gave out. Blood flowed out of his respiratory tract. His agony continued for a long minute until his body fell silent, it spasmed a couple of times more, and then he died.
Sayaka touched the back of his head and pulled his soul before it got dragged to the Purelands. She then stuffed the body in her storage script.
His disembodied soul looked at his disappearing dead and bloodied body, aghast.
|What did you do?|- He asked, even if he already knew the answer.
He raised his eyesight from the bloodstain his body left to Sayaka, but when his eyes laid on her visage, he trembled. He didn't know why, he couldn't understand it, but he felt small, insignificant, at her mercy—not that he ever wasn't—he felt inferior in a different way than he did while he was alive.
Sayaka didn't grant him more than a fleeting gaze before she deconstructed his soul and ate it. There were no cries of agony, simply because she didn't allow it, but he lost all reason before his soul fully deconstructed to the pain.
With a subtle glow and residue of white sand, Sayaka teleported to the Utatane residence.
"What are you doing here, girl?!"- Koharu demanded, Sayaka teleported into her room. She was getting ready to join Hiruzen and the other representatives to watch the final match.
She wanted to watch all the battles, but in Hiruzen's absence—while he accompanied the other Kages—she had to take care of coordinating the village's shinobi.
"I'm here for a tumor resection, girl."- Sayaka's words marked the start of her misery.
Blood flowed, muscles broke bones, and Koharu found pain in pain, hopelessness in hopelessness, despair in despair, and hell in life, she lost all rationality before her body spasmed a few times and lost her life.
Sayaka extracted her soul and subjected it to the same treatment as Homura. Her body was stored away.
Sayaka teleported once more.
Inside a secret room, in the arena, Danzo observed furtively the start of the first match.
Sasuke vs Neji.
"Let's see the fruits of the training of that monster."- He released the seals on half his face and arm.
Shisui's eye observed greedily from his right eye socket, the other Sharingan blinked and moved in his white arm, he had the face of a man going shopping for his next collectible. He eyed the bodies of Sasuke and Neji with such intensity that put Orochimaru to shame.
"She trained them well, as expected. It was the correct choice. They will then submit their knowledge to the village after we declare her as the enemy of the Allied Forces."- Danzo muttered.
"Is that so?"- A clone of Sayaka asked from behind him.
Before he could move, his body stiffened, script covered his body, and his chakra was sealed. Sayaka laid her elbows above his shoulders, her chin on her hands above his head, as if they were close friends, maybe grandfather and granddaughter.
*Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud* *Thud*
After a subtle flash of light and some sand, a new head fell from midair. Heads upon heads were teleported to the room. This kept going until Sayaka and Danzo were quite literally surrounded by heads up to their knees.
"In that case, what I'm doing will make it easier for the brand to stick on me, right?"- Sayaka whispered, there was striking happiness in her voice.
"Sayaka!"- Danzo snarled, not because he broke through his binding by sheer will and determination—this was not how it worked—but because Sayaka allowed him to speak.
*Squelch*- Sayaka's answer to his snarl was using her telekinesis to rip out Shisui's eye.
"AGHH!"- He cried in pain, half hoping someone would hear him, but he knew no one would, he set the soundproofing of this secret room himself.
"The most arrogant thing I've ever heard was when you—a tumor of a human—told Shisui that you would use his Sharingan better, only for years to pass by and you never using it."
*Squelch* *Squelch* *Squelch* *Squelch* *Squelch* *Squelch* *Squelch* *Squelch* *Squelch* *Squelch*
Ten sharingan were extracted from his arm.
"I'm guessing you obtained these before I arrived that night, or from the masked man."- Sayaka was sure she obtained all the eyes since the moment she arrived at the compound.
*Thud*- Another head teleported to the room, her main body was busy.
*Squelch* - A Sharingan emerged from the right side of his chest.
"This one was Shisui's grandpa's, right?"- Sayaka commented.
|Yes, he had it in his right eye socket before he replaced it with Shisui's.|
"SAYAKA!!!"- Danzo shouted in rage and pain.
*Thud* *Thud*- From time to time, heads teleported into the room. These were all Root operatives.
"Shut up!"- Danzo's mouth snapped shut, his jaw shattering under the pressure from Sayaka's telekinesis. His teeth breaking and fissuring, filling his mouth with blood and bone fragments, it made him feel like he had broken glass in his mouth.
His muffled cries of pain made him lose his nails after Sayaka pulled them.
"I said, shut up! Next, I will try my Testicular Torsion Release. After that, I will skin you alive. Believe me, I can make sure you're alive and awake while I do it."- Sayaka's words were said with unnatural sweetness and joy.
Danzo swallowed his muffled cries of pain.
"Good dog. The match is starting, so make sure to wallow in pain in silence."- Sayaka waved her hand and the heads lost all flesh, skin, brain matter, eyes, cartilage, and hair.
The soft bloodied waste was left on the floor, and the skulls were arranged into a throne next to Danzo. She floated down and sat on her new throne.
"Meh, it's not as comfortable as I thought, but it's alright. I will have you sit here after I kill you. It's all about theatrics."- Sayaka winked at the rageful and frightfully silent stare of Danzo.
"Now, pay attention to my kids' battles, or I shove a few of these skulls through your ass."- Sayaka's words made Danzo try to bite his tongue, but the script prevented him from doing so.
He felt Sayaka's gaze on him after his failed suicide attempt, and she shook her head in disapproval. She slowly pointed at his crotch, Danzo's eyes became bloodshot and he tried to shake his head, his eyes swimming around, looking for something or some miracle in the room in despair.
"~Testicular Torsion🎵"- She whispered with a singsong to the phrase.
*Squelch* *Squelch* *Squelch*
A pool of blood formed between his legs and started to drip down onto the floor, his eyes closed and opened, and tears flowed. From the pain, he swallowed the sharp fragments of teeth and bones, cutting his throat on the way down.
Sayaka made a motion with her hand, and these fragments made their way out of his stomach, slowly through his digestive system. The end destination of these bone fragments? It was obvious.
Sasuke's and Neji's match started as the fragments' journey did. Danzo passed out, but the script on his body prevented it. He had lost enough blood to pass out, but—then again—the script prevented it.
"Just enjoy the show, Danzo. Don't worry about anything, you won't even die under my tender care."- Sayaka said.
Sasuke and Neji knew that more than a real battle this was an exposition match. So, as the smart teens that they were, they had practiced together at home, turning their battle into a choreography.
Neji activated his Byakugan as he made distance from Sasuke.
Sasuke activated his Sharingan as he pulled a javelin from his storage script.
Neji shot a supersonic arrow, and Sasuke parried it to his left with his javelin.
*BOOM*- The arrow hit the wall behind Sasuke, leaving a small perfect hole in the middle of a crackweb.
Sasuke made a circle with his javelin in front of him and the circle came alive with flames. Sasuke threw his javelin through the circle and this one caught fire.
Neji jumped away and rolled while creating a wall of dirt behind him. It was proven to be the correct decision after the flaming javelin exploded in his previous locations and a wave of flames hit the dirt wall he had erected.
"Ninjutsu without hand signs!"- Samui exclaimed. She was among the spectators because her teammate Omoi would participate in the second match.
Neji, taking advantage of the weaponless Sasuke, shot three arrows in a rapid-fire display.
Sasuke activated his cloak of lightning and blitzed through the arena and Neji turned into a stationary artillery in response.
Sasuke made a clone and this one launched a javelin at Neji. Neji barely had time to dodge before the javelin went through his left shoulder, the one holding his bow.
"Hokage, why is the Uchiha brat using the technique of my village?"- The Raikage asked with barely contained rage. His assistant behind him, Mabui, was as surprised and angered as he was.
"Raikage, please understand that there was only one person outside of your village who had ever used the technique."- Hiruzen succinctly sent Sayaka under the bus—not that she minded.
"Aya Uzumaki!"- He growled.
"Sayaka Uchiha, then."- Mabui clarified. Information about the Kūhakugan was spread throughout the elemental nations—it definitely was not Danzo Shimura—so they knew the false fact that Sayaka had access to the knowledge of the previous holders.
Neji ran out of arrows—supposedly—and took a gentle fist stance, his hands gained a green cloak and he moved in a fluid motion and struck forward, at apparently nothing.
But Sasuke materialized in a striking stance at that location.
*BAM*- Neji's chakra scalpel collided with Sasuke's spear hand.
Then there was a screeching sound as the techniques fought for supremacy. Neji knew he was on the losing side, so he stopped pushing back and tilted his body to the side, Sasuke's hand flew forward due to the momentum his attack carried, and Neji used his gentle fist to strike Sasuke's elbow from outside.
Recognizing the danger with his Sharingan, Sasuke turned off his cloak and braved the hit.
Neji's strike of Sauske's elbow sent his hand in a trajectory toward his chest with enough force to stab his heart had he kept his cloak active. Sasuke used his other hand to manifest a javelin and aimed at Neji's stomach.
Neji twisted in time to avoid vital organs and let the javelin spear him. Just as this happened, Sasuke's arm hit his chest and the impact transferred to his heart, making him skip a beat, his arm fell limply after that due to the cut from Neji's chakra scalpel.
*Cough*- Sasuke coughed due to the abrupt change in his heart rhythm.
"Argh!"- Neji complained about the pain of being skewered.
Neji and Sasuke look at each other, and the tension of the stare is felt even by the audience.
The tension escalated until it peaked.
""I surrender""- They said at the same time.
"WHAT!?"- The audience shouted.
Some clapped, some released sighs they were holding, and some looked away from the bloodied boys, but overall, they all enjoyed the show.
"Do my elbow first, I'll help you with the javelin."- Sasuke told Neji.
Neji nodded and healed Sasuke's elbow, then the Uchiha grabbed firmly the javelin and pulled it away. Neji covered his wound on the front with his healing hands and Sasuke moved to his back and covered the other end of the wound with his equally green glowing hands.
A minute later, they both were healed and exited the arena, leaving behind an audience emotionally holding to their seats.
The Kages were no different. The foreign Kages thought about the shamelessness of Konoha in implying that these monster children were genin.
Signless jutsu, abnormal chakra control, abnormal battle experience, and more. They were Jōnin, at least.
"Aren't they great?"- The Kages heard a new voice in the room.
The escorts of each Kage stood protectively around their leaders.
"Sayaka, what are you doing here?"- Hiruzen—the most calmed among the people in the room—asked.
"Nothing much, I just wanted the best seat to watch my friend's performance. Can you believe this is the first Chūnin Exam I have spectated? I never found much entertainment in watching kids beat each other out."- Sayaka moved closer to the balcony overlooking the arena under the tense stares of the others.
"This is not a place for you to be, Sayaka-chan."- Shikaku commented. He was one of the escorts of Hiruzen.
"Is that so?"- Sayaka asked, her eyes moving from Shikaku to Hiruzen, to the Raikage, and lastly to the silent figure of the Tsuchikage.
"How is it that you feel much stronger than her?"- The Tsuchikage asked, he had an eyepatch covering his left eye, and his right leg was made of stone.
"I'm older than Aya Uzumaki was when you and the Raikage fought her."- Sayaka said as if it was logical.
"She was burning her life when she fought us, I don't think that's something you can passively overcome with a few years, girl."- The Tsuchikage's point was that Aya should still be stronger than Sayaka because she was burning her life away desperately, yet, somehow, Sayaka feels stronger.
"This body is stronger because Orochimaru grafted cells from other shinobi into my liver."- Sayaka made an excuse that might not be believable but no one could discredit.
"Did you teach the Lightning Cloak to the Uchiha brat?"- The Raikage asked.
Seeing the passive way in which Sayaka was acting put them at faux ease.
"Yes, It's a very suitable technique for a Sharingan user. Your father has my praise, there are very few techniques in this world that encompass speed and defense in the way that his technique does, actually... I can't think of any other, that's something praiseworthy."- Sayaka said with sincerity.
"It is the technique of my village, it isn't yours to distribute among your friends as you please."- The Raikage glared at her with hostility.
"... I see, how about you look for me after the exams and I'll give you something of equal value? How about that? We both know you can't do anything to me—I'm too strong—but I wouldn't want you going after Sasuke's life, so?"- Sayaka's pleasant smile and compromising disposition made Hiruzen feel like his eyes were failing him.
That was not the smile of the Sayaka he had known for years.
"Raikage-sama, I believe the offer is acceptable."- Mabui whispered to her boss.
"... Very well, but it won't be the end of it if the compensation is not satisfactory."- He calmed down and subtly threatened Sasuke's life.
Hiruzen was edging on his seat, he was sure that now Sayaka was going to kill the Raikage! Even he didn't have the balls to threaten Sayaka's loved ones.
But contrary to what he expected... Sayaka calmly smiled back.
Now the Hokage knew something was not right.
"So, Hokage, can I stay here?"- Sayaka asked after seeing everybody calm down and the next match about to begin.
"We'll talk about this later."- Hiruzen said, as if had control of the situation and could reprimand Sayaka. It was all a show to keep his image intact.
Sayaka nodded at him and then focused on the match.
'See, it was easy.'
'Kuhuhuhu, the Old Man sure has fallen.'
"Did you teach my village's Dust Release to any of those brats?"- The Tsuchikage asked.
Shikamaru took flight and got out of reach of Omoi.
"No, but I did teach them the Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Technique."- Sayaka said with a grin.
Ōnoki stared at her back intently.
"You're gonna make me blush if you stare at me like that."- Sayaka said without turning back.
"You know what I want, girl."- Ōnoki replied.
"Fine, I'll give you something after the exams."- Sayaka replied.
'Will you?'
'As if! I'll be the most wanted after this, I don't care about what they'll do.'
'Won't they target your kids then?'
'No, they won't. They are too valuable to the village, they can't antagonize Konoha so they'll be at an impasse.'
'But the village will be weakened after you deal with the Old Man and Danzo.'
'But Pervert Kid and Tsuna-chan will be forced to return. Besides, overall, by making use of the script I sold Konoha, Hiruzen has been raising the bar for the average strength of the village. The Alliance won't be in a position of strength just because I got rid of Konoha's cancer.'
"I don't think this is the type of match anybody was expecting."- Hiruzen said with an uncomfortable smile.
Shikamaru was simply flying further than the reach of Omoi's Lightning Release and kunai while dropping kunai with paper tags attached.
"Air bombardment is a standard tactic when you count with air superiority, am I right, Tsuchikage?"- Sayaka asked.
The way Sayaka talked without honorifics to the Kages grated more than one, but they swallowed their words back.
"It reminds me of someone I knew."- Ōnoki muttered while reminiscing about Deidara.
"How did you train them to that level?"- The Raikage asked, much to his chagrin he knew Omoi was losing, his faith now rested on Yugito Nii.
"Normal training, the difference lies in that I recharge them with my chakra when they were spent. I could also heal them, so virtually they could train to their utmost limit with no negative consequences."- Sayaka openly said.
'Is that it?'
'Mostly, I'm also very good at motivating people.'
'That doesn't explain how their chakra reserves grew to this level.'
'I can tune my chakra and healing abilities to allow for an unnatural natural growth of their inborn chakra reserves.'
'Unnatural natural growth?'
'That cursed mark you made could be considered unnatural artificial growth, same as those modifications you did on your people from Otogakure. What I do is similar to the growth the awakening of the Sharingan provides, it's unnatural...'
'Yet natural. It's interesting. Is it possible to learn this power?'
'Not from me.'
'Luci-sama.'
'Yes.'
The other Kages realized it was not a method they could reproduce. They had the chakra for it, and learning to share chakra was not something new, but the healing part? No, that wasn't possible. The paragon of healing, Tsunade Senju, couldn't heal without repercussions, there's no way they had a hidden shinobi capable of more. Now they were thinking about maybe asking her about this training technique instead of a jutsu, they could improve the baseline of their people this way.
Alas, these were all fantasies, never meant to happen.
Shikamaru was declared the winner not long after. Air superiority was like that.
"Would you be interested in signing a partnership with The Alliance, girl?"- The Tsuchikage asked.
"... I don't think so, I lack nothing so I don't think so."- Sayaka replied.
"You could bargain for benefits for your friends."- The Raikage added, there was a threat barely concealed in his words.
"Nah, I don't think so. They are set for life, they don't need anything they can't get with their own hands."- Sayaka answered as if she hadn't understood the hidden threat.
Hiruzen was more and more worried now. This was not the arrogant Sayaka he knew. Something felt off, she was more... patient.
Hiruzen was also getting worried about his council members. They should be arriving soon and he didn't want them in the same room as this weird new Sayaka.
"Will they be allowed to fight using the Tailed Beasts' chakra?"- Sayaka asked as Naruto and Yugito Nii walked to the center of the arena.
"BOOOO!"- The audience booed and hissed at Naruto.
Hiruzen felt that this was it, Sayaka was going to go ballistic on the villagers. Contrary to his prediction, Sayaka smiled sweetly, as if she didn't see anything.
"It's funny how Hashirama Senju said that the villages would strive for a friendly relationship with the Tailed Beast, but you couldn't even have a neutral relationship with your jinchūriki. Was it the same in your villages?"- Sayaka asked while ignoring the uncomfortably looking Hiruzen and glancing at the other Kages.
"The burden of the jinchūriki is such, it is the sacrifice they bear for our villages."- This was all Ōnoki said.
The Raikage's silence was his support of his ally's words.
"Have you ever wondered what would happen if one of them broke free from the brainwashing of your villages?"
The jinchūriki, for all their power, were brainwashed idiots. This was Lucian's and Madelyne's consensus.
"They are not allowed to use the chakra of the Tailed Beasts."- Hiruzen said, interrupting the cataclysmic scenario Sayaka planted in their minds.
"You should let the girl use the kitten's chakra."- Sayaka said.
"Are you saying Yugito would lose to the fox brat otherwise?"- The Raikage asked, gnashing his teeth.
"You couldn't beat his father, what makes you think she can beat Naruto when I trained him?"- Sayaka looked at him oddly.
"Sayaka!"- Hiruzen reprimanded her.
"His father?"- The Raikage asked.
Sayaka kept silent, not because of Hiruzen, but because Naruto was carrying his special kunai.
"Begin!"- The battle started.
Naruto popped a clone and the clone went away, the real body standing between Yugito Nii and the clone. Naruto covered his hands and legs in chakra armor and pounced toward Yugito Nii.
Yugito Nii weaved hand signs and breathed a massive cat-like maw of fire toward the approaching enemy.
Naruto breathed in and then out with force and a massive gust of wind blew clear a path to his enemy.
"Another one that doesn't use hand signs."- Ōnoki commented while glaring at Sayaka.
"Hand signs are a crutch. There was casting without hand signs first, then the ancestor of the Uchiha invented hand signs to make life easier for the average person."- Sayaka enlightened the ignorant.
Yugito Nii pulled out a kunai and coated it with a chakra edge. She swung at Naruto, and he blocked her with his chakra armor claw.
They both moved at a similar speed, something way beyond a jōnin's power.
"He is not as fast as the Uchiha brat."- The Raikage remarked as if mocking Sayaka.
"That's not it. He is equaling his speed to hers, Naruto's base speed is faster than Sasuke's."- Hiruzen replied in Sayaka's stead.
As if to back up Hiruzen's statement, the clone started to fling swaths of special kunai in the air.
"What is the clone do-"- The Raikage started to ask.
"Flying Thunder God?!"- Exclaimed the three Kages.
While ANBU had reported Naruto's interest in the technique, its use was never reported.
Why? Was it because ANBU and the instructors betrayed the village and kept the information secret?
No, Sayaka blurred their memory of it. Even Hiruzen at some point suspected something, but Sayaka always blurred the memory from everybody. Even Naruto, sometimes wondered why the village never made a fuss about him openly using his father's technique.
It was merely that it was rarely seen, and whenever it was seen, people would think that it was normal for Naruto to use the technique, and when they looked away they would think that it was not something important and they didn't need to talk, think, or report about it.
"He's Minato Namikaze's son!"- Ōnoki exclaimed.
"He is Kushina Uzumaki's son."- Sayaka calmly added. Naruto inherited most of his talents from Kushina, had it not been for her rigorous training Naruto would have never been able to develop his spatial sense, of that she was sure.
So he wouldn't inherit much from what made his father notorious, but he did inherit Kushina's chakra reserves and her stamina and life force.
"Sayaka."- Hiruzen snarled, he felt that the way he unnaturally ignored his suspicions about Naruto wasn't right.
'You should have given him his parent's inheritance.'- Hiruzen heard an annoying voice in his mind.
"The girl will lose."- The Tsuchikage stated the obvious.
Naruto was blinking away, from one kunai to the other. To make matters worse, he created more clones—he could use these clones as marks—and then juggled kunai between each other.
The situation was so chaotic that Naruto was leaving afterimages surrounding Yugito Nii.
The girl tried to use area attacks, but Naruto—or the clones—would dispel anything by using extreme gusts of wind.
"We should have let them use the Tailed Beats' chakra."- The Raikage regretted it.
"The arena is not big enough for that."- Sayaka said.
Yugito Nii let the anger take over and spat a veritable dome of blue flames.
Naruto instead of engaging, collected his kunai, dispelled the clones, and appeared near the top of the wall surrounding the arena.
"That means I won, right?"- He asked, out loud.
"Naruto Uzumaki is the winner."- It was announced.
But no one cheered. Silence was his reward. Silence because some of the shinobi connected the teleporting and Naruto's blonde hair and blue eyes with the Fourth Hokage. Silence from the civilians because they realize he is as much a monster as the monster girl they so much fear.
'How much effort did he put in?'
'Maybe a 10%?'
'Kufufufu, sagehood is really a dreadful thing.'
'It is what it is, and Naruto was blessed with a lot of advantages. Uzumaki bloodline, Tailed Beast, Hinata, and me.'
"Kimimaro vs Kurotsuchi"- The next contenders were called.
"I'm going."- Sayaka said.
*Poof!*- She dispelled herself.
"A clone?"- Mabui asked. She was not the only one surprised, everyone was, but for the sake of appearances, they all had to act as if they always knew it.
The Kages focused on the upcoming fight, but Shikaku suspected something was wrong with them.
"He is a Kaguya clan member."- The Raikage commented, trying to bring back attention to the upcoming battle.
"It appears so; the kid might be the last descendant of that curse bloodline."- The Tsuchikage commented offhandedly.
"The fight is about to start."- The Hokage added.
But a fight did not happen.
Kimimaro immediately entered the first stage and then the second stage of the Cursed Seal of Earth, feathers started to fall, and then...
"Dance of the Seedling Fern."- Kimimaro mumbled with the last of his life.
*BOOM*- A forest of bones manifested. Not only inside the Arena but also in the stands and outside the arena. It was a massive area that was turned into a forest of bones.
Luckily the arena was not in the middle of a densely populated area, but that didn't spare the thousands that sat in the stands and were too slow to react due to the sleeping genjutsu or simply couldn't because they were not ninjas.
*BOOM*- At the same time as Kimimaro entered his second stage, Orochimaru came out of the snake Sayaka's clone had left behind.
"Oroch-"- Was what Hiruzen managed to exclaim before the Kage's room exploded and a pentagonal barrier trapped them with Orochimaru.
Sayaka had modified the Barrier, so Orochimaru's subordinates could still fuel it. Sayaka added a few conditions to it, one was that no one alive weaker than the caster could stay inside of it, the other was that only Orochimaru could dispel it or the deaths of three of the five corner ninjas fuelling the barrier, and lastly it allowed summoning but not reverse summoning.
Because of these conditions, when the barrier manifested, it barreled at the bodyguards and blasted them away. They were shinobi, so they would survive, even if some of them fell badly into the bone outgrowths, regardless, they were out for the count for the fight.
"Orochimaru, what have you done?!"- Hiruzen shouted after jumping away from his former student. He wasted no time hearing an answer, he immediately summoned the Monkey King: Enma.
Enma looked around and found the opponent at the other end. He shook his head in disapproval.
"I told you, you should have killed him when you got the chance."- Enma said to Hiruzen.
"Orochimaru, do you think you can take on three Kages?"- The Raikage asked, lightning flickering around his body.
"[Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World.]"- Ōnoki acted and fired a drill of Dust Release at Orochimaru. He was worried about his granddaughter.
Orochimaru body-flickered away and the drill continued until it clashed against the barrier. Only to be absorbed by it and gain a more solid countenance.
"You should give it up, Sayaka-sama designed this barrier."- Orochimaru looked at Ōnoki with a grin, he was not mocking the Tsuchikage, but it looked that way.
"Sayaka?!"- Hiruzen shouted, and he shared the same uncertainty as the other two Kages.
No one could underestimate the 'girl'.
"You should ask her about it when she arrives, she is busy eliminating all of Root."- Hiruzen's frightened face brought joy to Orochimaru.
Oh, how much he hated Danzo and Hiruzen's relationship.
He hated how Danzo provided for a perfect excuse for Hiruzen, and how the latter gave free reign to the first.
He hated how Hiruzen benefitted from Nawaki's death, above all.
"Raikage, to answer your question, I'm not here to kill you, I'm here to hold the Hokage back while we wait for the esteemed Monster Girl. You and the Tsuchikage are not our targets, you simply got caught in the barrier due to its nature. Don't interfere and we shall not be your enemies."- Orochimaru felt like the Tsuchikage should not be spared, he still remembers the day that he and the previous Raikage ambushed him and Nawaki, but he was following Sayaka's instructions, this was not his play to direct, he merely performed in it.
"Why are you doing this, Orochimaru?"- Hiruzen got ready for the imminent confrontation.
"I could tell you about how I found out that Danzo released Nawaki's information..."- Orochimaru dragged the ending of the sentence to see the contorted face of his old sensei.
"Or I could tell you about my resentment for denying me the Hokage seat because you couldn't control me like Minato, I could tell you about my dislike for your rule, or about how I believe this village would grow brighter without you in it. There are many altruistic and justified reasons for this, but that's not it... In reality, Sayaka is my current boss, so just ask her. Meanwhile... Let's kill each other!"- Orochimaru smiled like a madman.
Orochimaru weaved hand signs and then slammed his hand down and two coffins and one casket appeared.
The coffins appeared covered in white sand and were ornated with gold and silver. One of the coffins had a subtle glow. In comparison, the casket was a simple wooden box.
The lids fell forward, and a redhead, a ravenette, and a blonde appeared.
"I think I've waited long enough for this."- The ravenette coldly spoke.
"Ah, Minato! I missed you!"- The redhead said as soon as she came out of the glowing coffin.
"Kushina?"- The blonde asked, surprised that his equally dead wife jumped on him and glomped him like a koala.
Minato was covered in cracks all over his body as if his skin was made of dry clay, and the sclera of his eyes was darkened. Mikoto looked no different from a living person, and Kushina looked like a living person if one ignored the halo glowing above her head.
These last two couldn't be summoned with the Edo Tensei jutsu, they were not in the Purelands, but Sayaka had created an equivalent jutsu to allow for their descent.
"Minato, these are yours."- Orochimaru said and he threw a vambrace marked with storage script, it contained his kunai.
Minato instinctively caught it.
"Thank you for taking care of my boys, Hokage."- Mikoto's eyes were glowing red with a simple triangle with her pupil centered on it.
"... Mikoto... you... Are you alive?"- Hiruzen asked as he looked away from the enraged Sharingan. She felt alive to him and the other Kages, unlike Minato, who was clearly reanimated, and Kushina, who felt 'different'.
"What's going on, Kushina?"- Minato asked his koala wife.
"Let me share this with you."- She grabbed his head gently with her left hand and a script she had tattooed behind this hand glowed.
To make matters easier for Orochimaru, Sayaka had created a memory-sharing script and given it to Kushina, this way Minato would be caught up to speed and Orochimaru wouldn't need to overwrite his will.
Kushina got down from Minato and then glared at the Kages.
"Orochimaru, are the Kages joining Hiruzen?"- Kushina asked loud enough.
"I don't know. Kuhuhuhu, are they?"- Orochimaru grinned at them.
Ōnoki and the Raikage looked at the other and nodded. They both knew of the objective of the alliance, and their best bet to get the pact signed was the Hokage known for his soft character when it came to outsiders, even better if this said Hokage became indebted to them.
They didn't know what would happen if someone like Danzo—who was known for his ruthlessness—assumed the position or someone like Tsunade—whose brother they were responsible for killing—would do.
"Third Hokage... Why?"- Minato asked after shaking his head for a moment to get rid of the dizziness the sudden influx of memories gave him.
The Raikage and Ōnoki walked to stand beside Hiruzen.
Hiruzen's guilt-ridden face was enough to know he understood Minato's cryptic question.
"I don't think much talking is needed, Minato. It's time for action, not for blabbing."- From behind Kushina, golden chains emerged.
"I will help Orochimaru."- Mikoto said while an orange skeleton manifested.
"Then I'll deal with the flying one."- Four chains stabbed the floor and lifted her to the air, her other chains surrounded her and pointed to the floating Tsuchikage.
"I have to finish what Aya-chan started. Maybe I should leave him alive as a human stump, limbless."- Kushina said with malice in her voice. The Tsuchikage was one of the responsible for the end of her clan—who still breathed—though most would die today.
"Then the Raikage is mine... what a coincidence."- Minato said with a sunny smile, contrasting the mood everyone shared.
Within the memories he got he understood that no one had any personal vendetta with the current Raikage, so he was not going for the kill, just suppression.
"You really should have killed the kid."- Enma said to Hiruzen before transforming into a staff.
The Raikage blitzed at Minato, and Minato—as if by second nature—pulled his marked kunai from the storage script and shot them randomly around the sealed space.
When the Raikage's spear hand reached Minato, most of the kunai were still in midair, that's how fast the Raikage moved.
Minato blinked into another location, closer to Hiruzen. Hiruzen set his staff by his side and breathed a wall of flames at Orochimaru. Orochimaru summoned and coated his Kusanagi sword in wind chakra nature and made a vertical slash at the flame attack.
Mikoto's Susanoo's skeletal hand grabbed Orochimaru and launched him after the clearing in the flames that his slash had made. She then looked at the Tsuchikage—who was trying to keep his distance from the chains of Kushina—and her Sharingan spun.
Ōnoki was building a cube of Dust Release between his hands while swerving in the air when suddenly he couldn't fly anymore and started to fall.
"What?!"- He exclaimed, trying to control his fall while avoiding the chains.
"Thanks, Mikoto."- Kushina joyfully said as her chains followed after the falling Tsushikage.
Ōnoki made a dirt clone and kicked it downwards, the clone smashed into the ground and turned into a dirt wall. Ōnoki controlled his fall and hit the dirt wall at the right angle to stick his hand into it and slow his fall by dragging it down.
But, his relief was short-lived. He had a fraction of a second to dodge the chains quickly plunging at him. He ran on the dirt wall and then jumped to the ground, evading the chains that acted like spears falling from heaven. He managed to avoid all of them but one nick on the left side of his abdomen.
"That was impressive. Especially for your age."- Kushina commented while looking down at him from the higher position her chains allowed her.
"A brat won't understand the experience of my generation."- Ōnoki said in dismissal of her efforts.
"Then you should know what we Uzumaki were feared for, right? You're that old."- Kushina pointedly looked at the small cut on his abdomen.
From the cut, ink spread until half of his abdomen had markings of script and fūinjutsu.
"What have you done?!"- Ōnoki demanded.
But he suddenly got the answer when he saw he couldn't change the nature of his chakra to earth release.
"I wonder how many nature transformations I have to seal before you are left fighting only with neutral chakra."- Kushina smiled.
On the other side of the battlefield, things were not looking good for Hiruzen.
Mikoto stayed behind Orochimaru while he engaged in close-quarter combat against his old teacher. Orochimaru knew that in jutsu mastery and variety, they were almost evenly matched—with himself being slightly less experienced—but his sensei was old, while he wasn't. So he made use of this advantage.
Hiruzen would gain distance after a considerable effort and try to weave hand signs for an area of attack, but one of two things would happen, Mikoto would use her Susanoo to shield Orochimaru or suddenly his jutsu would vanish.
It wasn't long for him to understand that Mikoto was using her Sharingan to somehow cancel his jutsu.
"It's called 'Reality Denial'."- Mikoto softly said, belying the anger in her eyes.
"On that day I craved for nothing more than to wake up from the nightmare that reality had become... Now, just like how my nightmare became reality, reality can be just a nightmare. Something that's only in our minds."- Mikoto was gratified by the panicking expression of Hiruzen.
Hiruzen blocked Orochimaru's decapitating slash with his staff and shifted his location to have Orochimaru's body blocking him from Mikoto's view.
After exchanging attacks with his old student, he managed to free one hand and made hand signs for two shadow clones.
"How smart of you, ~Sensei."- Orochimaru congratulated him, but the mocking tone while he called him sensei was anything but complimenting.
The two clones separated from the deadlock and attacked Mikoto, but the latter remained impassive within her Susanoo.
She wills it, and her skeleton waves its hands in retaliation to the clones. While the attacks are useless, Mikoto has to pay a smidgen of attention to the clones—which was Hiruzen's objective.
*Clang*- In the space between Orochimaru and Mikoto, the ultimate spear and the ultimate dexterity player clash.
But this all happens so fast that Mikoto and Orochimaru only know it happened afterward.
"[Rasengan.]"- Minato hits the spear hand with a Rasengan for the nth time.
"It's nice when you don't have to worry about chakra expenditure."- Minato mutters happily before teleporting. The Raikage appeared over his previous position in a piercing stance.
"RAGH!"- The Raikage exclaims in fury, their speeds were similar, very similar within their realm of movement, but Minato was fast enough to avoid all of his attacks.
Suddenly everybody but Mikoto and Minato cruncheed. Minato simply teleported to a cleared location.
A white cylindrical laser passes above all in a sweeping motion until Mikoto's Mangekyō Sharingan denies the attack and it flickers off. The duration of the sealing on his Earth Nature chakra had run out.
"AGH!"- The Tsuchikage cried in both pain and exertion.
"Two more to go."- Kushina declares while one of her chains held up high the bleeding leg of the Tsuchikage.
"Hokage! This can't go on!"- The Raikage exclaims and flickers to Ōnoki.
It was already a miracle that Ōnoki could move his rock prosthesis using only chakra manipulation after Kushina sealed his Earth Nature Chakra Transformation, but he definitely couldn't create another rock limb if his Earth Release was sealed.
"I never thought I would be subjected to this shameful position."- Ōnoki says as the Raikage lifts him to his back. He seared the wound shut with his Fire Release.
"I can't deal with my opponent either."- The Raikage admitted.
"Out of tricks?"- Kushina asked. Minato teleported to her side.
"Hold them back, I just need a few seconds!"- Hiruzen shouts with effort as he parried another killing attack from his student.
"I'll keep the Uchiha woman occupied."- The Raikage murmured and then blitzed toward Mikoto.
Minato teleported with a Rasengan in hand in his way, but he had to teleport away from the incoming attack of Fire Release from the Tsuchikage, who was holding with his everything onto the Raikage's back.
"Can't you use Dust Release?"- The Raikage asked while evading an attack from the golden chains.
"The girl sealed it again after taking my leg. I need about a minute."- Ōnoki confessed.
While fighting Kushina he had to focus on eroding the seal by forcefully using his Earth Release. Now on the Raikage's back, he could erode it faster.
"Then let me lead the way!"- The Raikage exclaimed and concentrated a massive portion of his chakra in his stomach.
"[Lightning Water Dragon Bullet!]"- He spat a dragon of water with bright yellow eyes, lightning flickering menacingly around it.
Minato teleported to Kushina and she retracted her chains to avoid the electricity. Minato teleported them to the shoulder of Mikoto's Susanoo, and Mikoto lifted Orochimaru from the ground with her skeletal hand.
The Lightning-Water Release combination jutsu snaked its way to the Susanoo and flooded everything on its path with electrified water.
The jutsu collided with Mikoto's Susanoo and this one withstood it. But the confrontation lasted enough to allow Ōnoki to erode the seal Kushina left on him.
He pointed his drill-like construct of Dust Release at Mikoto and fired a beam right after the dragon lost the battle against Mikoto's defensive jutsu.
The beam flew true and landed square on the chest of the chakra skeleton construct, but before it could penetrate further, it flickered off under the dōjutsu of the Uchiha.
"Don't stop."- The Raikage said while he used his speed to run around the skeleton.
"You don't need to tell me!"- The Tsuchikage burned through his chakra reserves and started to fire his kekkei tōta without reserve.
A beam of white light would flicker on and off while the Kages were circling the orange chakra skeleton. Minato and Kushina would attack the Raikage to disrupt their combined attack, but now that his Earth Release was unsealed, Ōnoki used it on the Raikage to lighten him, so their combined speed was above that of the Raikage alone.
"They are now as fast as me."- Minato informed the rest.
"[Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes.]"- A countless number of summoned snakes crawl out of Orochimaru's mouth, the previously wet ground is covered by the snakes and the sealed space is turned into a pit of snakes.
The snakes opened their maws wide and Kusanagi-like blades extended.
"..."- His partners felt the need to comment on how disgusting his tactics were, but they held their tongues back.
Not out of respect for Orochimaru, but because they didn't want to see him talking while snakes were still crawling out of his mouth.
*Clang* *Clang* *Clang* *Clang* *Clang* *Clang* *Clang*- The swords clashed with the impenetrable chakra cloak.
Though the blades would obviously not penetrate the cloak, they were getting in the way.
"[Rasengan.]"- This time it was Kushina's, from the tip of one of her chains a massive Rasengan followed after the Kages.
*BOOOM*- The Rasengan missed the Kages but the flying dust and debris were enough to force the Raikage to an impasse.
Mikoto took advantage of this and denied the Raikage's Lightning Cloak. The sudden change made the Raikage falter and Minato teleported above him—where he had flung a kunai—and slammed a Rasengan on the Tsuchikage.
The Tsuchikage used his Earth Release to harden and strengthen his defense, the Rasengan slammed on him and sent both Kages stumbling away.
"*Cough*"- The Tsuchikage successfully defended from most of the attack... most of it.
He coughed blood and had difficulty floating to his vehicle—the Raikage. But the difficulties ended when Mikoto denied his floating and he fell to the ground.
When it looked like they were about to lose the fight, they heard the Hokage.
"[Sealing Jutsu: Reaper Death Seal.]"- They turn to Hiruzen. Minato and Kushina understood the gravity of the jutsu.
"That's bad news."- Minato exclaimed.
"Orochimaru and Minato, don't get caught by him or his clones."- Kushina informed the vulnerable ones.
"What jutsu is that?"- Orochimaru asks after the last of the snakes crawled out of his mouth.
"Is a soul-sealing jutsu of the Uzumaki clan. Sister said your soul is particularly lacking, so with all the more reason stay close to Mikoto."- Kushina's explanation made him shiver.
"Hiruzen, don't you feel shame using the jutsu of my clan against me after your buddy got rid of my people?"- Kushina exclaims accusingly.
The Raikage and Tsuchikage appear next to Hiruzen. His clones had kept the area around him clean of snakes with a combination of Fire and Wind Release.
"Kushina, let the sins of my generation end with me. Look at the state of the village, please don't let it escalate!"- Hiruzen pointed at the destruction that snakes, Otogakure, and rogue shinobi were bringing to Konoha.
The rogue shinobi was Sayaka's contribution to Orochimaru's forces. She had sent her clones to capture them and then slaved them with her psionic energy.
There were billows of smoke all around the village, giant snakes were fighting the shinobi, explosions rang in the background, and ninjutsu could be seen used on a large scale.
"With what face are you worrying about the village after allowing Danzo Shimura to fester for generations?"- Mikoto asked.
"If only the Uchiha were here to help."- She said in a mocking tone.
"Where are the Hyūga?"- The Raikage asked. He was well aware that Konohagakure's main force was currently the Hyūga.
This is in part, the reason why his village coveted the Byakugan, or more specifically, a female of Hyūga blood.
"..."- Hiruzen observed that indeed the Hyūga were missing.
It's not true that they were missing, they were not seen in combat because they were evacuating the villagers out of the way, this was the task Sayaka had given them to avoid earning the enmity of the other clans while not obstructing her operation.
"They are busy."- They heard a new known voice.
Sayaka was standing before the Shinigami Hiruzen summoned.
"Go back."- She said coldly and the soul of Hiruzen was given to her before the Shinigami disappeared.
Hiruzen's eyes almost popped out, and he felt the hand of death grasp his heart tighter.
"I supersede its authority when it comes to souls."- She seized Hiruzen's soul by the neck and squeezed.
"*Cough* Sayaka! *Cough* Is this how you repay us? *Cough*"- Hiruzen exclaimed in anger while having a coughing fit.
"There's no need for empty rhetoric at this point, Hiruzen."- Sayaka made a lazy trace in the air with her index and middle fingers and Hiruzen's legs were cleaved from his body.
"AGHHH!"- Sayaka slowly floated down to wailing Kage.
The Tsuchikage and Raikage made way and stood aside, their chakra—all the remaining they had—was virtually prime and loaded, whether for a kamikaze attack or a last hail mary to end Sayaka was not clear.
What was clear was that it was no longer a battle, it had turned into an execution.
"Sayaka! What are you doing?!"- Shikaku exclaimed from outside the barrier. A few of the ANBU were there and some of the Jōnin were starting to arrive.
Among them, Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi were the firsts.
"You'll lose your place in the village!"- Hiruzen exclaimed amidst his suffering.
Mikoto depowered her Susanoo and walked closer to Sayaka with Orochimaru, Kushina, and Mikoto.
"But I never needed nor wanted a place in this cesspool of corruption you call a village. There's no need for this, Hiruzen. As we speak, my clones are spreading proof of your sins. Though I must confess that you were mainly the enabler, Danzo was the main perpetrator."- Sayaka made a tear in space and a throne of skulls, and blood and viscera fell through.
*BAM!*- The throne proved to be sturdy as it fell through and kept its shape. Sayaka had used Lucian's biokinesis to fuse the skulls.
Danzo, or what could be considered a skinned body with Danzo's head, was sitting upright—the skulls Sayaka fussed into a column that she speared through his sphincter were doing their job right—his abdomen bulging unnaturally, his hands nailed to the headrest of the throne, one above the other, his eyes with still flowing tears of blood, the face of Hashirama Senju was visible to all on his right shoulder, the same arm had bloodied holes where the Sharingans used to be.
His muscles were visible, some parts of his abdomen had windows to his insides, and bloodied drool flowed from his mouth while he muttered.
"K...ill....me...K...ill....me...K...ill....me... ple...ase."- Danzo was forcibly kept alive, even while most of his organs had been squished by the skull column inside of him.
"Monster!"- Hiruzen exclaimed.
The Kage's were used to blood and torture, so this was simply hypocrisy. Proof of this was how no one was puking their guts out, not even outside the barrier. They had all been part of the previous war and they had seen similar scenes, that's how grim normalcy was in this world, and why Madelyne was disgusted by them.
"Hiruzen, you will only die, don't worry. I don't hate you enough to put you through what Danzo went through."- Sayaka ignored his 'insult' and pulled Danzo's soul out. Ending his misery by deconstructing his soul and eating it.
To the others who couldn't see souls, with a gesture of hers Danzo died.
"Goodbye, forever."- Sayaka decapitated Hiruzen and deconstructed his soul, and ate like the rest.
"NOOOO!"- Asuma shouted and slammed his fist on the barrier.
"SAYAKA!!!"- He cried with venom in his eyes.
But Sayaka didn't pay attention to him. She was staring at the Tsuchikage and this one was feeling overbearing fright from her, unlike anything he ever felt. To him, at least Madara Uchiha felt like a human, a terrifying human, but human nonetheless. Sayaka to him—and most of the present—felt like something else, like maybe the feeling a celestial body evokes in an insignificant human.
'I don't know what to do about him, I don't feel anything aside from apathy for him.'
|Maybe kill him either way, the redheads did die because of his direct actions.|
'You're right...'
Sayaka's body slowly morphed into that of a certain redhead and her stature decreased.
"I don't hate you enough, either."- Sayaka spoke with a different tone of voice.
"Aya Uzumaki."- Ōnoki recognized her, just like Orochimaru and Kushina.
"It's easier to blow yourself up if you know you are not eternally dying, Ōnoki."- Sayka said.
"... So that's the answer."- Like many, Ōnoki often wondered where the line was drawn between each holder of the Kūhakugan.
If memories make people who they are and the holders of Kūhakugan gained access to these memories since birth, how much were they influenced by these memories? Who was Sayaka Uchiha? Who was Eiko Senju? Who was Aya Uzumaki? Where was the line between each holder drawn? Who were the holders of the Kūhakugan?
Many wondered about this, and most of them never thought about an immortal reincarnating being, and the ones who did, quickly dismissed the crazy idea.
"Although I don't hate you enough to eat your soul like I did the tumors of this village, I would be disrespecting the sacrifice of my friends if I let you go."- Sayaka's statement made Ōnoki open his eyes wide in shock.
His head fell with his eyes still wide open and his last image was of Aya Uzumaki transforming back to Sayaka with his grandaughter standing behind her behind the barrier.
"GRANDPA!!!"- Kurotsuchi cried and fell to her knees, slamming her head against the barrier.
"Your father is dead, and with his death, his debt to me died."- Sayaka said to the Raikage offhandedly, she paid no attention to the cries and gasps outside the barrier.
"..."- The Raikage didn't reply, he knew at this moment his life was cheap, so he was missing his characteristic bravado.
"The Root organization led by Danzo Shimura was the one that staged the attacks, posing as People of the Sand. You'll find proof of that among the documents I'm releasing. If you still want to find Sunagakure... just know that I gave you a chance to spare your men a pointless death."- Sayaka's words made the Raikage's eyes widen almost as much as Ōnoki's, and then he tightened his fist in rage.
He was played like a puppet, he was about to sign a military agreement with the village that had attacked his country, and that's how stupid he felt.
"It's time to go."-Sayaka said to Orochimaru.
Mikoto was looking in the distance at her son, her son was looking back at her with an uncharacteristic smile, beside him were Ino and Karin. Seeing the girls supporting her child Mikoto returned the smile to Sasuke.
She knew, because of her actions today, she couldn't return to her son's side, yet.
Kushina and Minato were looking at Naruto who had just body flickered to outside the barrier. He had tears flowing down his cheeks. Sayaka had used a clone to explain to him the truth behind the kamidana after he won his match.
Many things made sense to him after hearing the explanation. How the taste of the kamidana's food could only be found in Sayaka's house and Sasuke's, how he met Hinata and Sayaka, how whatever she taught him complimented what he learned from the kamidana, and many other 'coincidences' he overlooked before. This made him realize that even in death, his mother had sent someone to him, how Sayaka was both his friend and his parental figure.
He always wondered why Sayaka—who disliked Konohagakure—didn't leave the Village, why Sayaka dealt with the unpleasantness of the Village's higher-ups against her likes and wants, but it made all sense when he understood that she did it to stay beside him while he grew up.
Hinata flickered next to him and supportively placed a hand on his back, she had also been briefed about the situation by one of Sayaka's clones.
"Sayaka! What have you done?!"- He shouted in rage. Fake Rage.
He had to act as shocked as everyone if he didn't want to be branded a traitor, the fact that Sayaka never informed any of her friends about her plans protected them, but even if he didn't care about the Hokage's death, he had to act like he did. Sasuke felt like he couldn't act so he was keeping his distance.
In Sayaka's explanation, she had told him that it was not the right time to speak with his parents, so he was not making a bigger deal out of the situation than it demanded.
"Minato, come. I will mark your soul."- Sayaka ignored everyone outside the barrier and addressed Minato.
She marked Minato's soul and Orochimaru released the jutsu. The body of Hayate Gekkō was left behind in a pile of paper.
Sayaka touched Mikoto and she disappeared in an implosion of sand and light. On Kushina's back, an angel wings-shaped script glowed and her halo grew and made a portal, it fell and Kushina disappeared into it, the halo broke into fragments of hard light after closing the portal.
The five subordinates of Orochimaru walked inside the sealed space and the barrier started to glow down and disappear. Before it could fully dissipate, they all made contact with Sayaka and they disappeared in the same manner Mikoto did before.
The barrier fell and only the corpses of two Kages and Danzo along the Raikage were left.
That day the crimes perpetuated by the Third Hokage, Root, and the Council Elders were known by even the youngest child who could read. Sayaka's clones had done a tremendous job leaving behind enough evidence so that it couldn't be covered up.
The Shimura, Sarutobi, Mitokado, and Utatane clans were placed on the spotlight. While they were not exactly guilty, they had benefited from the crimes of their leaders. And not all of them were innocent, some helped in the dark dealings of their clan leaders.
The truth was that if the Hyūga had not intervened, these clans would have been attacked by the enraged villagers and shinobi.
They had participated in wars that had been basically started by the leadership of the village, knowing that their loved ones bled and died for the selfish and misguided ambitions of a few enraged them to no end. A few mobs were coordinating by the end of the day to attack these clans, the recovery of the Village was paused and the air felt was that of bloodlust.
So the Hyūga put a temporary stop to the madness and instructed them to wait for the ruling of the next Hokage. Shikaku was made the regent Hokage, although he preferred for the clan head of the Hyūga to take this place he was told that the Hyūga had never dealt with politics and would not start during a crisis, they were not equipped to handle it.
Shikaku felt immense relief when Jiraiya arrived at the village, but this was short-lived when Jiraiya explained that he was going to bring Tsunade Senju back. He said he came in contact with Sayaka Uchiha and was not sure if he had been marked in some way by her script, so he would be a liability to the village if he is crowned as the Hokage.
Shikaku understood that this was an excuse because it had surfaced that Eiko Senju and Sayaka Uchiha were the same being, meaning that Tsunade Senju could also be a liability, but he saved it to himself because he understood Jiraiya was in no mental space or had the capabilities to lead the village. Reluctantly, he resigned himself to the role and accepted the upcoming suffering. It would be only for a few weeks, he told himself.
Jiraiya thought about getting Naruto to accompany him to find Tsunade, but he was not sure how much Sayaka had influenced him, he was one of the few who knew Naruto had been raised by her, so he didn't, and then departed from the village in a rush to bring back the next Kage.
The Raikage, seeing as he was not in a position of power to force Konoha to pay reparations—nor in a favorable moral standing to do so—accorded with Shikaku to visit Konoha after the new Kage was appointed.
He departed from the Village with the representatives of Iwa behind, as the sole remaining leader of the Alliance, the Iwa-nin followed him.
During the time Jiraiya was out, looking for Tsunade, Naruto and company were dedicated to helping with the reconstruction efforts, there was a sense of fulfillment in their hearts and they put to use the teaching of Sayaka—as ironic as that was—into something good.
In a dango store, one of the few unaffected by the fighting, Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki sat, opposite them, Sasuke Uchiha was enjoying some dango.
"Itachi, your little brother is either fearless or stupid. I wonder which one it is."- The shark demihuman said.
"Neither."- Sasuke replied flippantly.
"Maybe he will not be in such high spirits after I slap him around a few times with Samehada."- Kisame put pressure on Sasuke with his chakra.
"Kisame, control yourself. Don't let a child taunt you."- Itachi spoke softly.
Kisame released the pressure he put on Sasuke—not that it did anything to him, he was used to Sayaka's, Kisame's felt like a chilly breeze, nothing more.
"It seems you have grown stronger under her care, Sasuke."- Itachi said.
"It was that or dying. Anyway, Itachi, I have a message for you from Sayaka. Here, you can have this."- He handed Itachi a scroll.
"Also, as the head of the Uchiha clan, you're disowned. I know it matters little to you, now that Shikaku has officially backed my proposal to keep you as a rogue shinobi, but for formality's sake, you can call yourself anything other than an Uchiha... again, not that it matters to you, but it does to the new Uchiha clan."- Sasuke spoke to Itachi with an apathy that wounded his heart.
"Goodbye, forever, Itachi."- Sasuke stood up and left his broken brother behind.
"Itachi... he went away without paying."- Kisame smiled at his partner.
Outside of the store, a few blocks away, Kakashi stood next to Sasuke while they observed the robed figures exit the store and walk to exit the Village.
"Are you sure about that, Sasuke? We could have dealt with him."- Kakashi asked his student—though they were most accurately fellow students of Sayaka.
"That was a crow clone... and you know his life is not his own, right?"- Sasuke said with a sadistic smile.
"Our troublemaker 'Sensei' marked him?"- Kakashi asked.
Initially, he was as shocked as any shinobi of Konoha by the betrayal of Sayaka, but upon seeing the evidence relating to his father's suicide, he felt no hostility toward the monster girl.
"Yes, Sayaka had told me beforehand that she would hunt Itachi after dealing with what she called the KC4."- Sasuke grinned at this.
"KC4?"- Kakashi asked, he had an inkling about what the term meant.
"Konoha Corrupt Four. Appropriate, isn't it?"- Sasuke let out a shallow laugh.
"Yes, that's very in her style."- Kakashi remembered how she would often mock him while she trained him, it was her way of getting even with him for abandoning Naruto. But she respected that he had no responsibility to raise Naruto just because he was his teacher's son, she also understood that Kakashi was in no headspace to raise a toddler.
"What will you do now, Sasuke?"- Kakashi asked, as they saw Itachi and Kisame's clones dispel.
"I have a formal engagement to address with Ino."- Sasuke.
"The 'Main Wife'?"- Kakashi asked.
"Yes, Ino will be my First and Main Wife, Sakura the second, and Karin the third. I have officially taken over my clan and Sayaka left me enough assets for the bridewealth of about ten women, so I have to get to work if I plan to build my own clan."- Sasuke numbered his immediate tasks.
"I see... The path of the Stallion!"- Kakashi grinned under his mask.
"Shut up, Kakashi! You should think about repopulating your clan, instead of making fun of me. Or else, you'll end up as a lone wolf."- Sasuke went away after taking a jab at Kakashi's single status.
Seeing the shrinking back of his 'student' Kakashi couldn't help but wonder if there was some truth to his words.
While Kakashi contemplated his life choices, Kisame and Itachi made their way to a designated location.
In a cliff that had been born after the explosion of Uzushiogakure, still within the Land Of Fire, facing what used to be the Land Of Waves, Sayaka was eating some Lemon Pie while she hovered, overlooking the sea.
"Hello, Itachi."- Sayaka said without turning back.
"Sayaka."- Itachi managed to reply. The subtle feeling he used to get from Sayaka all those years ago, that feeling of making him feel weak while she appeared immutable, had worsened.
She made him feel as if he would be crushed if he earned her ire.
"Sharkman."- Sayaka said to Hisame.
"If you don't put away that hostility of yours..."- She dragged her words while the feeling of dread she exuded escalated.
Kisame took his trembling hand away from Samehada's handle.
"My apologies. It's in my blood and training."- Kisame said.
"Apologies accepted, but just because I think sharks are interesting. Now, with the pecking order out of the way... take me to your leader!"- Sayaka clapped her hands and her Lemon Pie disappeared, she turned to look back at her previous friend and the Sharkman.
She smiled sweetly, in a way Itachi had seen before while growing up, but this time it felt like a death sentence.
____________________________________
{A/N:
Done with the chapter about Konoha. Canon is pretty much out of the window, and we are finally closing to the finale of this arc! Next week I'll upload a Side Story because the next chapter will be as massive as this one.
The next chapter should be about Sayaka's integration with Akatsuki and a time skip—similar to the one in canon—after that, it'll be the 'capture' of the Tailed Beasts and then we would be making way for the last chapter of this arc.
So the next chapter will be something of about 40K words, or more. Hopefully, I'll find a way to shorten it without compromising quality. If I see that things are taking too long, I will write another interlude about Marvel, for example, about the babies of Margaret Carter and Natalia Dragondottir (Who should be delivered around this time).
It's been 7 chapters so far for this arc, but we're finally getting ready to return to Marvel!
Thanks for reading! I always have fun reading your comments and reviews!
}