Chapter 72

[A/N: Yeah I know it's been a while but you should be used to it by now.

I didn't write anything during the Christmas holidays because I took the time to rest as little and much as I could since I had my midterms exam this week, they just finished so I'm back with the usual lectures and should once again write more often, depends on whether or not I'm loaded with work or too lazy to write when I can.]

====================

"I heard that Han lost against the new Four-Tails Jinchūriki? Is that true?" a small old man with an ugly nose asked with an annoyed tone as he was sitting around a large table along with many elders

"Y-Yes Tsuchikage-sama, but that's not the only issue." one elder exclaimed before looking at someone else, prompting him to continue

*cough* "Many of our shinobi died at the hands of a single man who moved extremely fast within our ranks." another elder explained as he gave a scroll to the Tsuchikage

"And their army? We didn't meet them yet?" Ōnoki asked as he was reading the information given to him, surprised to see that someone could deal so much damage to them while not being known by them

"Unfortunately, we can't reach them from the ground, and they seem to be waiting for that man to reduce our numbers before overwhelming us." someone else clarified before massaging his temples, irritated by how the war was suddenly progressing in Konoha's favor

"I can easily take care of them alone by coming from the sky, they wouldn't expect that." Ōnoki proudly suggested as he started to float from his seat with a smug smile on his face

"But what if the Hokage is with them?" one elder asked, worried about his leader's plan

"As if he would be a problem if we met in a battle, we know that he's fighting against Suna and he will be busy burying his daughter anyway." Ōnoki declared with a smirk as he played with his mustache, proud of what he had done

And as he finished boasting while every elder around wondered what he meant by that, a plethora of yellowish shadow arms broke and appeared from the roof before grabbing them all.

"Wh-" "Surprise." I interrupted them as I landed on the table while all the arms were coming from my back and slowly drained their chakra as it covered their mouth to stop them from yelling as well

"'Impossible, how did he get here' you are trying to say, or something like that, am I wrong? Oh, you can't answer, and honestly, I don't care." I declared as I brought Ōnoki just in front of me

"You see, I was surprised to see that an S-Rank mercenary like Kakuzu was hired to assassinate a six years old girl that still hasn't graduated from the Academy... But I should have expected that from a shameless dwarf who is too scared of facing me head-on but boasts otherwise." I monologued as the building was surrounded by a sound barrier to prevent anyone outside from hearing the commotion, and anyone interfering would be killed the moment they enter the building

"Oh that's right, I also found some garbage on my way here, I couldn't let it rot in the forest so I took it with me until I could find a trash can and... There's one in front of me now." I said as I took something from a storage scroll and made it roll on the table, staining it with blood

"Mmph! Mmph!" Ōnoki tried to say something but only muffled noises left his mouth as he was incapacitated by the shadow arms

"What? I didn't hear you properly." I said as he was seemingly angry while tears formed in his eyes from both anger and grief

"I just found some shinobi on my way here that took part in the war and killed them, something that is bound to happen, you know? After all, they were full-fledged Jōnin fighting at the frontline between our country." I explained as I grabbed the bodiless head that rolled right below Ōnoki, brought it in front of his face, and started to play with its jaw

"'I'm going to be a father in a few months now Kichi-san, I hope that the war will end soon in our favor' I think he was saying to some random guy." I said as I used the head I was holding to talk at the same time

"A pity his child won't see its father and grandfather before being born." I said as I smirked and crushed the head in front of Ōnoki, making blood and some brains chunks splatter on his face

"Don't worry, I won't kill his wife and soon-to-be child, I am a merciful man, unlike you." I first said as I cleaned my hand from the blood that stained it

"No, instead I will let it live and bear the shame that you and your son brough to your village... After all, rumors are so easy to regulate." I started to explain as I no longer faced him and instead had a view of the village from the huge window

"Her father was caught fleeing from the frontline after his whole battalion got defeated, scared for his life because his wife was waiting for him with a child in her belly while leaving his responsibilities behind but was killed on his way back after 'treason', while you couldn't bear both the disgrace he brought and the loss you experienced and killed yourself after writing down all your wrongdoing... And everything will be confirmed by the elders, voluntarily or not." I added as I then looked into the eyes of each elder and used Kunitokotachi to implant my orders deep inside their mind before releasing them from the shadow arms

Even if it was somewhat out of character for Ōnoki to commit suicide, civilians are easily manipulated and all elders will confirm the rumor along with a portion of Iwa shinobi.

As for his suicide... I will make a clone that will fake his death because killing him right here would be a blessing for him.

Instead, he will be experimented on by Orochimaru, and once his usefulness expires, I will leave him to Sasori so he can make another human puppet but unlike Seno, Ōnoki will stay alive during the process.

Nevertheless, I made a cursed seal on Ōnoki's forehead that would prevent him from using his chakra and made him consume some paralyzing pills before sending him inside Shiromari, in a cell room where he wouldn't be able to get out from.

"Now I do apologize gentlemen but it is time for me to quietly leave this place." I said as I looked around the room where all elders were now unknowingly working for me and stayed dazed for a while

"I have promised not to destroy this village, and I won't, however, I said nothing about your shinobi army lurking at the frontline... Oh, you won't need more space in your graveyard since they will be annihilated, you should thank Mū for that one, his Dust Release proves to be quite useful once you can use it quickly, unlike some incompetent old man." I added as I vanished from the room as if nothing happened since a clone of mine took Ōnoki's identity and would act according to plan

Since Iwa's army was spread into smaller battalions, I wouldn't go and destroy all of them and instead decided to focus on the bigger one.

Minato did a good job taking care of smaller units, which were still around one thousand shinobi, and now that Iwa's elders basically worked for me, I didn't need to reduce their number more than needed.

They already lost a lot and I was going to increase their casualties anyway.

Appearing far above one of Iwa's frontline settlements, I decided to conduct Onoki's idea as I aimed my hand towards the ground while a white orb quickly formed within my palm.

Though unlike him, I didn't need to concentrate for a long time while using both of my hands only to blow a moderate area with a single orb.

Instead, many orbs started to form around my palm, and before someone could notice me, I launched them in a specific pattern so there would be nothing left the moment they explode on the ground.

And as intended, the orbs rapidly reached the ground before dangerously expanding, erasing the area of any life after generating a blinding light, as if an explosion occurred but devoid of any sound.

"Another job well done." I blurted out as I rubbed my hands and smile after looking over the aftermath

'This giant explosion of light should have been noticed by both sides, let's reassure my shinobi' I thought before closing my eyes to teleport where I sensed Chizu

"Yuichi-sama." I heard as I opened my eyes and saw Chizu kneeling in front of me as if she expected me to appear now or maybe she was always being careful about my possible arrival

Gesturing for her to get up before looking away, I asked "Did you get the Five-Tails into the seal?"

"Yes. Dai-san made it easy for me to transfer the Five-Tailed Beast's chakra after pummelling its Jinchūriki." she said as she pointed at the small urn protected by a powerful barrier

Nodding, I suggested "I will give you a reward of your choice later since the war is almost over." while briefly glancing at her before adding "And no, you will be rewarded regardless of your opinion." as I knew that she was going to refuse any kind of reward from me when I saw her expression

"Yes, Yuichi-sama." she replied as she slightly bowed

Smiling back at her, I finally said "Now follow me outside, I have to warn the camp about what happened." before making a clone to take the urn back to Konoha as I once again looked away

She quickly nodded in agreement and started to walk towards me as the door was on my side but I hastily warned her "It would be better if you dressed before going out, don't you think?" before leaving the room to wait for her behind the door

Only then did she realize that she was pretty much naked as she just finished cleaning herself, her wet neck-length hair pretty much gave it away.

Thankfully, Chizu was far from those girls getting embarrassed and screaming pervert before punching someone in the face after such an event... Well, maybe the reason was that it was me and not anyone else who saw her naked but either way I did my best to avoid glancing at her.

'She might have killed anyone else regardless of who they are' I thought as I shivered from the thought since she could make quite the bloody mess if she wanted

After all, members from the Chinoike Clan could prove to be rather bloodthirsty, though I knew that she tried to hide that side of herself from me.

Jiraiya told me that he would never try to peek at her again after being sent on a mission with her, he only peeked once and didn't get caught because of his experience in doing so but someone else got caught by her and died horribly.

To frighten Jiraiya to the point of no longer having the guts to peek is an achievement on its own.

Nevertheless, after waiting for a few seconds, Chizu left her room with her usual outfit and we finally moved towards the main tent as I morphed my clothes into the Hokage's attire on the way.

I deliberately let my presence known by leaking my chakra to make most of Konoha's shinobi realize that whatever happened already reached my ears and that they shouldn't be as worried anymore.

And the first one to reach me was, without surprise, Minato who hurriedly greeted me and tried to ask something but I interrupted him by declaring "Gather everyone, there is a change of plan... And yes, I'm the one who made the light blast, it's nothing to worry about." as I reassured him first before informing everyone else

"Yes." he shortly replied before teleporting away while I continued to move towards the main tent to deliver my speech to everyone fighting against Iwa

It was time for me to tell them that they will soon be able to get back home.

After all, just like Kiri and Kumo, both Suna and Iwa fell by my- our hands.

Once again, the war was won by Konoha.