181 Chapter 176: The Art of War Part 1
Right now, Konan was wearing a black cloak that hid her identity, while Toru simply wore the hood of his own cloak, since, this way, they could avoid causing a stir in Konoha if any shinobi sees them.
"After so long..." Toru let the wind caress him. He felt the breeze of this village again since the last time he was here. It was a rather strange feeling, a feeling that somehow confused his senses.
Without further ado, together with all this group, after entering the village, they began to walk through the streets of this village as if they were simple tourists. In the middle of this night, where there are still people walking back and forth, in this village, in this nostalgic place, Toru felt back in the past even though everything has changed drastically.
"Hm?" Suigetsu looked up in confusion.
At the same time, Toru saw Sasuke climb to the top of one of the buildings. Although it seemed strange for a second, he then understood Sasuke perfectly. So, leaving Konan below, he followed him by jumping up and sitting on the roof.
Up there, they were able to see all of Konoha in fine detail. This was... a gigantic village full of memories.
...
...
"What do you think, Sasuke?" he asked.
To which Sasuke, almost whispering, replied, "This place has changed a lot..."
Toru shared that same sentiment. Even though he was involved in the drastic change of this village, he couldn't help but be overcome with nostalgia. He saw the streets of this place and for a few moments he saw himself in the past.
"Times change, huh..."
***
Underneath it all, watching the two boys up there, Konan saw something special in this scene. Up there, two old friends met the present and the past at the same time. They took some time to put their own thoughts in order and indulged in reminiscing about the old days. They both gazed nostalgically at this place, with that strange lonely aura that always surrounds them.
'I told you Sasuke' Orochimaru smiled wryly. 'Toru and you share quite a few similarities. Not only do you carry the same genetic code as the Uchiha but also a similar way of thinking'
"What are those two doing up there?" Suigetsu put a hand on his forehead to get a good look at these two guys.
Orochimaru replied with pleasure. "They are just like me before I decided to destroy Konoha."
"What?"
"Maybe these two guys have changed quite a bit along with this place, but Konoha is still the place they were born and raised in. They need a moment to get sentimental and clear the thoughts in their minds. Perhaps the past will give them the answer they seek."
For Orochimaru to have brought Toru and Sasuke together was the best decision. An old friend with whom you shared your childhood and best moments can help you find the path you are looking for. It's that simple, quite simple in fact. Sasuke right now is very confused and desperately looking for an answer to all his questions, an answer that will show him the right path. But it wasn't just Sasuke, Toru was going through the same thing, which Orochimaru doesn't know. Although seeing him up there, getting nostalgic next to Sasuke, gave him a lot to think about. Maybe Toru was on the same track as Sasuke and that only made this scene more sad and beautiful.
"Does that mean you don't need them for your evil stuff anymore?" Suigetsu asked. Which made Konan look at Orochimaru waiting for an answer. "Just look at this place. Strong people aren't in the village. This would be the perfect opportunity for you."
Orochimaru shook his head as he laughed sarcastically. "I guess you're right, but you're making a mistake."
"And what would that mistake be?"
"Huhuh... they're not snakes anymore."
After Orochimaru said this, Suigetsu was left confused as he didn't understand the reference and Konan looked at Toru again, only to realize that neither he nor Sasuke were there. In fact, she looked back at Orochimaru and realized that they were all heading in a specific direction. With this in mind, her body turned into sheets of paper, which rose into the sky and followed Toru's chakra face.
-Village of the Ōkami clan-
"What are you doing?" Okaminaru saw the wolves of her clan painting the face of the clone that for some reason Toru left in the village.
Before leaving, Toru summoned a clone with the excuse of protecting the village, but that same clone was now sitting and in the center of the village, arms crossed and with the mark of the senjutsu on its face.
Everyone took advantage of the fact that the clone was motionless and ignored everything around him to play pranks on him. They painted his face with sweet berries and teased him.
"Even you, Mom?" she felt disappointed that her own mother had agreed to this.
"Don't be so bitter, Okaminaru. Come and draw something on his face too."
"Well..."
In the end she couldn't resist and joined her clan as well.
-Konohagakure-
"Then you will talk to the Hokages to make your final decision. Coming from you, that's rather strange. But I guess this world is big enough that strange is still real" Jumping between the rooftops of the houses, Toru looked at Sasuke, who didn't hesitate to respond to the above.
"You have no right to talk about strange things when you haven't seen yourself in a mirror."
"That hurt me....hm?"
Looking beside him, Toru noticed that a small amount of sheets of paper were floating. These sheets of paper suddenly increased in number and gathered together until Konan appeared floating with her paper wings.
"You forgot about me..."
Toru looked up at the sky for a second and realized that being in this place clouded his mind. "I'm sorry. This place brings back memories even though we destroyed it not too long ago."
"It's okay to feel nostalgic in your birth village. Besides, you grew up here, so it's normal."
"Thank you, Konan..."
"You don't have to thank me. I'll be here for you."
This couple started looking at each other completely ignoring the fact that they are being watched in the front row by Sasuke, who at the same time couldn't help but make a disgusted face at what he is seeing. Somehow he saw this with distaste, so, he cleared his throat to interrupt them.
"You'll have time for such things later. Toru, you forget you're in the middle of a mission."
"Sorry. I almost forgot" He returned his gaze to the front. "In any case, let's hurry. There's no time left."
-Ruins of the Uchiha clan-
"How disgusting. There's still dried blood on the wood of the houses. I guess Itachi showed no mercy to any of his comrades" said Suigetsu.
Even though the Shinra Tensei didn't manage to destroy the Uchiha and Asahi clan's estate, the shockwave knocked down all the houses turning them into mere wooden rubble. Toru and Sasuke walked through the streets of this estate and again they felt like they were in the past.
"I used to pass this road to get to your house."
"I remember..."
They both didn't understand how the past could make them feel this miserable. They simply compared their past selves to their present selves and realized how much they both changed.
...
Behind them, Konan watched these two boys silently. She watched Toru's attitude change to a softer, more confused one as he walked beside Sasuke, remembering the past.
'It seems... it was good that Toru took this job.'
How Toru lately looked down and worried, to Konan, seeing him more relaxed and thoughtful eased the worries in her heart. If this encounter with the past succeeded in making this boy find his answer to life, then for her this was fine.
***
After a few seconds of walking, Orochimaru and company arrived at the ruins of Sasuke's house. Once there, Jūgo reached out his hands and removed the rubble, which showed an entrance to a subway protected by a stone and a sealing jutsu.
Toru checked the seal and looked at Orochimaru.
"I can open it."
"Then do it!"
Connecting the seals one after another, while looking at the seal and spreading the chakra under his feet, Toru made the seal react, getting the passage in the floor to open.
"The time has come" Orochimaru grinned mischievously and was the first to enter the guard. Jūgo and Suigetsu followed him.
On the other hand, Toru noticed that Sasuke had been staring at something. It was a four meter tall tree, half of its leaves were dry, but somehow it had managed to hold on to the ground after the destruction of this village. Thinking about it, Toru raised his eyebrows. He realized that that tree is where he met Sasuke.
"That day I saw a strange boy who interrupted my reading," he said, and Sasuke replied.
"And that day I saw a strange boy with no friends."
They both couldn't help but see themselves in the past again.
"Many things have changed; we have changed."
Seeing these two old friends, remembering that day where their short friendship arose, Konan smiled gently. For her, this somehow calmed her down.
'Let me know more about you, Toru...' The more she knew about this boy, the more she felt attracted to him. 'Let me help you...' heal this boy's wounds.
***
Once inside the guardhouse, Orochimaru made preparations for the summoning. First he put on the Shinigami's mask and then cut the stomach of the Angel of Death himself. With this, in exchange for his own life, he regained his arms.
"Now, Jūgo!"
As he felt the life leave his body, Orochimaru ordered Jūgo, who placed his hands on Sasuke's shoulder and injected the Senjutsu state chakra into him. This caused six Shiro Zetsus to come out of Sasuke, which writhed on the ground wondering how Orochimaru managed to discover them. Orochimaru reacted quickly and, with his snakes, held everyone down while using four of them for the next step.
In front of everyone, four flames glowed brightly. The Shiro Zetsus were under those small flames, ready to be sacrificed.
"I will begin the summoning!"
Almost being on the verge of death, in less than a second, Orochimaru connected all the seals and finally hit the ground with his palm.
"Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei no Jutsu! [Summoning: Reincarnation of the Impure World]!"
The Zetsus began to be surrounded by those strange ashes and slowly took the forms of the Hokages. At the same time, Toru watched as Orochimaru entered the mouth of the fifth Zetsu, taking possession of the Zetsu's body. At all this, only one Zetsu was left over, which was being held by Suigetsu. Taking advantage of this, Toru appeared at Suigetsu's side, pushed him knocking him to the ground and raised his chakra making the ground tremble.
"This one is mine!"
As the Hokages began to come to consciousness, Toru pulled out a scroll, spread it out and biting his finger, painted the seal with his blood on the paper.
"Seal!"
"What are you doing!"
Zetsu shouted before being swallowed by the seal on the scroll. Orochimaru saw this as his body regenerated and smiled in confusion.
"If you wanted that thing, you didn't have to push me."
On the ground, Suigetsu groaned, but the moment he saw the Shigan in Toru's eyes, he backed away and hid behind Orochimaru, who had already fully regenerated.
"What do you need Zetsu for, Toru?" Konan couldn't help but ask.
Toru just looked at her silently for a second before looking at the Hokages. "A sacrifice for me Jutsu."
She knew what Toru was referring to. A Jutsu of the magnitude of that day was obviously not something conventional. To get to use it, Toru needed Okamitsuki, a sacrifice and the Shiki Fujin. With all this together, a new form of Jutsu is born.
"Orochimaru again..." The gray-haired man with reddish eyes, Tobirama (Nidaime Hokage) frowned at the sight of the one responsible for all this.
"What do you mean?"
Beside Tobirama, a black-haired man in red armor, Hashirama (Shodai Hokage) looked around curiously. The one who took it upon himself to answer him was the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"He probably removed the seal of the Shiki Fujin that had us locked up and then used the Edo Tensei."
"He really did? Orochimaru-san, how did you do it?" asked the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato.
Orochimaru laughs proudly at himself.
"You're underestimating me too much."
After that, the Hokages took the time to process everything that is going on and catch up with the present of Konohagakure. However, they all came to the conclusion that Orochimaru wanted to destroy the village and that was why he summoned them, but that was far from reality. He no longer wanted to do that, for now he found a different path to follow.
"This time, following certain circumstances, I wanted to create an opportunity to fulfill this young boy's wish."
Sasuke took a step forward after Orochimaru's words and looked seriously at the Hokages.
"I am Uchiha Sasuke. There is something I want to ask you."
From the back of the room, Toru and Konan watched silently. This was a personal matter of Sasuke's, butting in here would not be the right thing to do and they both knew it. Though Toru knew that at some point he would be drawn into this conversation.
-Shinobi Alliance-
"Hinata... please... open your eyes..."
Tears ran down the cheeks of these three people. Neji could not protect her, much less Hanabi and Ino, who could do nothing about it. In front of them, Hinata lay lifeless. The wounds were very deep and Ino could not heal them in time. Although the wounds on Hinata's body were gone, thanks to Ino's powerful Medical Ninjutsu, it did not bring her back to life.
And at the same time, hearing the words of Obito, Naruto stood up and held out his hand. This was hell, full of corpses and suffering. There was no hope here anymore and, because his eyes saw this massacre, they lost their luster. Naruto decided to follow Obito, he decided to leave this hell and move on to a new world.
...
...
Bam!
...
...
He opened his eyes and felt pain. Something hit him in the abdomen. It was Neji, who, with a shadowed look said to him:
"Naruto... what do you think you're doing?"
"Ne...ji..." Falling to his knees, Naruto looked up.
Neji looked down at him with sternness and dried tears on his face. "I asked you, what do you think you're doing?"
He just looked down and closed his eyes tightly. For a moment, he began to deny the reality around him and let himself be carried away by Obito's words.
"Naruto... Hinata-sama protected me... and I protected you..." He frowned and clenched his fists tightly. "Understand... that we will lay down our lives for you..." He looked up at the sky and sighed wistfully. "Your life is not yours alone, Naruto."
Ino and Hanabi looked up and saw Neji. He smiled sadly and remembered the past in the middle of this battlefield. Everything has become so gloomy, but the reason why no one fell into darkness is because they had Naruto, who gave them the hope they lacked.
"You freed me from my curse...you pulled me out of the abyss I had fallen into. I tried to protect you because I was called a genie. I protected you because you saved me. And now Hinata-sama... Why did you save me?"
...
....
Why did she...
...
...
Why she was called a loser... by Neji himself...
...
No one wants to see their loved ones die. Something like that just hurts the heart, shatters the soul and clouds the judgment. If you're not strong enough to move on, you're stuck in an abyss of infinite darkness from which it will be difficult to climb out. But it is not impossible. For Hinata, however, that was not the case. The trauma of seeing her father die at the hands of the man she loved hurt deep in her heart. She didn't want to see her friends die... her family...
That's why...
"If you dare to enter that darkness, the sacrifice of Hinata-sama... of all of us... will have been useless" He looked Naruto in the eyes. "Your words are real, your words are in the hearts of all of us. Therefore, if you dare to accept that darkness... you will be the one who killed them all yourself. You will be the one who killed their friends... That's the way things will end."
The battlefield was filled with silence as Neji's faint voice was heard.
"We are all in this together. We must go forward and not give up on our own words. We must be strong and fight for those who have fallen. Let us not forget them, let us remember their noble sacrifices because thanks to them we will be able to see tomorrow. Hinata-sama sacrificed her life for me, who wanted to sacrifice her life for you" He extended his hand and smiled slightly at Naruto. "No matter how many times you fall, we, your friends, will help you get up as many times as it takes."
Naruto opened his eyes and realized everything. The Kyūbi, Kurama, reminded him that Minato and Kushina also sacrificed their lives for him the day he was born. Naruto's life began connected to that of his own parents and his life will continue to be connected to the sacrifices of his friends, who are giving him the opportunity to stand up and keep fighting.
...
Naruto took Neji's hand and stood up. He took a step forward and Neji put his hand on his shoulder.
"We will all fight together, Naruto, as one."
"Neji...thank you..."
Shining. Naruto's body was wrapped in Kurama's cloak which, for some reason, also affected Neji, giving him the Vermillion Cloak of the same. This caused Naruto to look around confused and an idea popped into his mind.
Almost instantly, various shadow clones shot out in different directions, touching the shinobi's shoulders and bestowing Kurama's Vermillion Mantle on them. The last one was Hinata. Naruto touched her forehead with two fingers and then joined the fight that continued with the Jūbi.
Hanabi and Ino got up from the ground and, like blood boiling with anger, began to block the Jūbi's tails, which whipped the ground with the intention of crushing the shinobi.
-In a strange place-
Everything was white and pure, empty and clean. She looked at all this in confusion. She was supposed to have jumped in front of Neji to prevent his death, taking his place, so this place must be....
"I see..." She smiled sadly. She understood that her sacrifice saved Neji's life, so she hoped that would at least help a little.
...
...
Sob...
Sobbing...
...
...
Something was heard that left Hinata confused. Someone was crying? Who was it? This strange fact led her to walk around looking for the owner of those sobs. Although this place was completely white and empty, it was easy to walk. This helped Hinata to look for the crying person faster.
'What is this...' she touched her chest in pain.
She felt pain the closer she got to that voice, but rather than being a physical pain, it was an emotional pain.
'It hurts so much...'
She continued walking and finally saw something in front of her.
...
Dripping ...
...
Dripping...
...
"Uh?" She felt some liquid run down her cheeks. She brought her hand up to her face and realized they were tears. She looked forward again and finally realized who was the owner of the sobs.
...
That red scarf, worn and dirty. That old black cloak that hugged him and protected him from the pain... There were tears on his cheeks, he had an empty and soulless look. He was crying, crying alone in this place, hidden from everything and everyone, where no one can hear him, where no one will ever be able to reach him.
"¿... Toru...?"
-Konohagakure-
Tobirama explained what love implies in the Uchiha and how it makes them evil. The love the Uchiha feel is greater than the love of anyone else in this world, but when they lose it, darkness invades and corrupts them. This forces them to awaken the Sharingan, the eyes that reflect emotions.
Toru listened to this attentively, for he was in front of the Hokages, those who know everything, so he could not miss any details.
...
Drip ...
...
Drip...
...
"¿...?" Lowering his gaze, Toru realized that there were drops of some liquid that fell to the ground. He looked up to see if it wasn't a drip, but was mistaken.
...
"Toru...? What do you have?" said Konan.
"Me? What do you mean?"
Toru was confused, what was the point of that question? In fact, he noticed that Konan wasn't the only one who was acting strange. The Hokages, Sasuke, Suigetsu, Jūgo and even Orochimaru stood silently watching Toru.
This was strange, for him.
...
"Why are you crying?"
And with these words from Konan, Toru brought his hand to his cheek and realized that what was dripping were his own tears.
"No, I didn't...!"
His eyes widened and a horrible wrenching pain assaulted him. He touched his chest hard and more tears fell to the floor.
...
...
That pain was exactly the same as that night ten years ago, when his mother died. That pain was the same as that moment when he realized that all his friends were dead. That wrenching pain, the pain of loss....
"I don't understand... I don't understand..." He desperately began to wipe away the tears with his knuckles, but they kept coming. "What is this? I... I don't understand..."
"What's wrong, Toru, are you okay?" Konan took Toru's hands and helped him calm down. She was worried the instant she saw Toru's tears, but she didn't understand why this was happening.
Toru just started crying out of nowhere and that had no logic to it whatsoever, but there was something strange about it all. She could somehow feel it.
"It stopped..."
Already after a long and strange two seconds, the tears stopped and that pain disappeared. All this puzzled the Hokages, but the one who was most interested in this and looked at the situation with a serious face was Hashirama.
"Toru..."
"Don't worry. I'm fine. I don't think this was anything serious."
"Are you sure?"
"No, I'm not, but I don't know what happened to me either."
Konan sighed. She was still worried, but there was nothing she could do about it. If Toru said he was fine, even if it's a lie, she won't be able to do anything. However, it's her job to look for a solution to this. After all she loves him and can't bear to see him like that.
"Your face looks familiar..." arms folded, Tobirama frowned.
This was taken into account by Orochimaru, who smiled and approached Toru, grabbing him by the shoulder and forcing him closer to the Hokages.
"Allow me to introduce Asahi Toru. He is the last of his clan. He went through the same circumstances as Sasuke, but he does not seek revenge, I believe."
"Asahi, uh..." Hashirama smiled nostalgically.
"Toru... you... are you Kyoko's son? Now I understand why your face looked so familiar. You look so much like her" Minato looked surprised by this.
While Hiruzen just narrowed his eyes thinking that Itachi also killed the Asahi clan. In fact, Toru should have been killed that night as well, but Itachi himself kept a promise with someone from that clan, so that way Toru wouldn't die.
"I remember that the Asahi clan was full of kind and intelligent people" thought Hashirama, but then a bead of sweat fell down his forehead as he remembered something. 'Although on the battlefield the main family of that clan was very aggressive and to a certain extent, they were a bit crazy.'
"You're forgetting something, aniki. They are just like the Uchiha, don't forget that. However, even though they are weak and mediocre in battle, their scientific advancements and weapon making helped the village greatly, but that's all they could do. Even those who awakened that strange hybridization of the Sharingan were weak."
"Tobirama! I told you not to talk about them like that!"
"Why, brother? If they carry the same blood as the Uchiha running through their veins!"
Toru folded his arms and interrupted.
"This hearing is supposed to be Sasuke's, not mine. Don't involve me in his affairs. Besides, we don't have much time let's say" he stepped back again and stood silently next to Konan.
"Time?" (Minato)
"Fufu. We are currently at war. Uchiha Madara is looking for the last two Bijūs" (Orochimaru).
With these words, the Hokages were conflicted and decided to go to war, but Orochimaru stopped them and convinced them that they had to answer to Sasuke. Although this did not sit well with Tobirama, Hashirama decided to speak up.
It was then that the story of Uchiha Madara and Hashirama Senju began.
-Shinobi Alliance-
She slowly opened her eyes. She heard explosions, battle cries and all kinds of Ninjutsu near her ear. The ground was shaking, which made her get up from the ground instantly. Confused she looked at everything and her white eyes widened as she remembered what she saw in that place.
'The moment I saw it, I... woke up?'
She touched her head in confusion and saw herself. There was blood on her clothes, but she had no wounds. Also, an energy that made her uncomfortable was covering her entire body.
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Those strange words came to her mind the moment she saw that child crying. Suddenly, everything went dark and Hinata fell into a sea of blood in which for some reason she could walk. The atmosphere was cold, but somehow it felt familiar to her.
'That dark place... full of blood... and that voice...'
She tried to search for meaning in what she saw, but the more she wandered, the more questions arose in her mind.
Boom! The ground rumbled loudly, which brought Hinata out of her thoughts and brought her to see what was really going on at that moment.
War...
Everyone fighting to save the world.
'It's true... I can't die yet...'
She stood up and clenched her fists tightly. In front of her, Jūbi was attacking the entire alliance without holding back, lashing his tails against the ground, throwing thorns and Bijūdamas that were stopped by Killer B.
'He still needed to protect them...'
Without thinking so much, she joined the battle.
-Konohagakure-
"Maybe what Madara said is true" Hashirama, sitting on the ground, saw Madara reflected in Sasuke. "Maybe he predicted what was going to happen. I'm the one who created this situation, after all. I thought that was fine until this moment, seeing how it all ended..." Again he stood up and looked seriously at Sasuke. "In the end, even after everything I've seen and experienced, I've come to the conclusion that shinobi are those who strengthen themselves to achieve their goals. Depending on what goal they choose, their lives will change, like Madara and me; like you brother and you..."
Those who become strong seek a path to follow. That path will take them to different places, it will change them forever and that is something Hashirama knows and something Sasuke understands. Madara wants to destroy that using the infinite Tsukuyomi, he will cover the world with an eternal Genjutsu, from which no one will be able to escape.
This last led Toru to rethink everything he knew. It seemed strange to him that everyone had mentioned Madara as someone who revived, so this made his suspicions confirmed.
'The man in the mask is not Madara. Moreover, his Mangekyō Sharingan looks familiar, as if he had seen it on another face' it was then that Kakashi appeared in Toru's mind.
After a few more words from the Hokages to Sasuke, Orochimaru asked the final question.
"What are you going to do Sasuke? Will you destroy Konoha or..."
Sasuke closed his eyes and took his time to think about it. Itachi's words left a deep impression on his heart. All the pain of his older brother, all the sins he carried until the day he died. He felt proud of what he was doing, as he protected the village and his beloved brother Sasuke. Even in his death... he loved his little brother too much... He also thought of Toru, who was the first to forgive Itachi for what he did. However, like him, Toru in the end couldn't handle the anger and hatred, which led him to kill Danzo. Both were on equal footing, both made bad decisions....
In order not to waste the sacrifice of his family, of his brother....
"I will go to the battlefield. I will not allow my brother's sacrifice to be in vain."
Hashirama smiled at such an answer, while the others were simply surprised. Well, Toru simply thought, 'It took you long enough to realize it'
"And you, young boy of the Asahi clan" Hashirama turned his attention to Toru. "You've lived a life similar to Uchiha Sasuke's, you've been driven by hatred too and in the end you decided that revenge was the worst path you could choose. What do you think of this situation? Before we go to war, I want to know what the last survivor of that kind clan thinks."
Konan tilted her head in confusion and looked at Toru.
"What do I think?" his face became completely expressionless from one moment to the next and he replied, "I don't know..."
"Huh?" x8
Everyone reacted naturally. Toru's answer was so simple that it made everyone look confused.
"Hahahahahahahaha!" Hashirama slapped Tobirama hard as he laughed. "That was an answer that brought back very good memories" for him, in his mind, the voice of the first leader of the Asahi clan came to mind. "You are definitely an Asahi."
"Well, I... I don't know what to think about it" he took Konan's hand. "It's a war, just like any other. Everyone fights for different goals that in the end only lead to the same path, death and suffering. Though perhaps this time it will be different. If Orochimaru says that Madara revived, then that changes many of my thoughts and, if the situation is as dangerous as you say it is, then I..."
Konan squeezed Toru's hand gently. If what Madara was going to do in the world is true, then walking away from this war is not an option. They must fight to keep the future, she must fight to stay together with Toru. But she didn't want to endanger Toru either. She knew that if Toru throws himself into that battle, then at some point he will be forced to use that Jutsu....
"I still haven't finished the job Orochimaru tasked me with. In fact, even though he hired me, I haven't done anything. So, I guess you purposely brought me here to participate in this war?"
"You know me so well."
"Then I have no choice"
"Then we'll go to war" Konan sighed and smiled wistfully. She had already been in many wars and knew the horrors of this very thing. However...
"Konan. Trust me, I will keep my promise. I will not leave you alone."
She only smiled at those words.
"Alright."
Hashirama pointed at Tobirama upon hearing the confirmation of these lovers and raised his voice.
"Everyone get ready to leave!"
***
On the large mountain above the heads of the Hokages carved into the stone, this group of shinobi looked at the scenery before going into action. Suigetsu was nervous at this, so he took the opportunity to run away, but out of nowhere, Karin appeared, kicked him in the face and began to brutally beat him, which caused Suigetsu to take his water form again.
Toru ignored this and advanced together with Konan until he reached the edge of the mountain.
"That's right. There was something I didn't tell you this morning because I thought you would feel uncomfortable" he said.
"What is it?
"Well, I've been with you for a long time and I noticed that your face had a wrinkle or two. It's obvious it's because of your age."
Konan frowned at hearing this, but Toru continued.
"However, this morning I saw something strange about you. All the wrinkles you had on your face were gone, as if you had gotten younger."
"Really?" she touched her face, but since she couldn't see herself, she couldn't be sure about that.
"It may not be such a big deal and I thought you had already noticed. I just wanted to tell you that you're still beautiful" this I say with a completely expressionless face, which didn't show an index of emotion.
Still, Konan likes the flattery from this boy and took him by the hand.
"Thank you" she looked him in the eyes with a smile.
With that, they both looked into each other's eyes and slowly brought their lips closer. However, since they were in front of a lot of people, Hashirama cleared his throat and stopped them.
"Sorry, it's become a habit..." Toru didn't try to hide anything. He felt no shame in showing affection to Konan in front of more people.
Although this did make Konan feel a little embarrassed. Whenever she was together with Toru, she could easily forget about everything around her.
"What are you doing?"
"It's time."
Toru lifted Konan in his arms and a purple light showed in his eyes. Almost instantly he began to rise into the air, which made everyone feel bewildered at what they were seeing. The Hokages especially could not believe what they were seeing.
"Don't ask questions, I assure you I won't know how to answer you" That was the obvious. Toru didn't know how he had managed to awaken these eyes, so he couldn't explain it. "We'd better get going. There's no time left."
And with that last, Toru shot off into the air next to Konan in the direction of the giant chakra that is scourging the world.
-Shinobi Alliance-
Although they all had the spirit to attack again, they quickly lost their energy and were cornered by the Jūbi. Naruto is completely exhausted, Ino tries to heal as many shinobi as possible using her Byakugo chakra and also Katsuyu. Hinata already joined the battle, but the way things were going, there's nothing she can do. Hanabi, on her side, was as close to her sister as possible. She literally saw her die, it was a horrible experience, but even though she didn't understand how her sister came back to life, she wanted to protect her this time.
However, everyone was giving up again.
Suddenly, the ground trembles heavily and the Jūbi begins to open his mouth, extending his jaw outwards like the petals of a flower. In the center of its jaw, a Bijūdama took its form, absorbing the chakra of the world and using its own chakra.
"The Bijūdama... is increasing in size" Shikamaru frowned. He realized that the Alliance was nothing without Naruto's chakra and protection. But he had to think of something fast, he had to do something about it. That was how an idea popped into his mind. "Hey, Ino. I'm sorry to tell you this, it's a bummer, but could you hook me up to the whole Alliance?" Taking advantage of her being nearby, he made his request.
With a frown, not taking her eyes off the Jūbi, Ino nodded her head.
"It's easy," she said.
Without coming into contact with Shikamaru, Ino clasped her hands together and almost instantly, as if hundreds of chakra wires linked the minds of the shinobi, she made it so that Shikamaru could talk to whomever in this place.
"I'll take care of Naruto's recovery! So do everything you can! If we're going to die, then we'll give it our all until the last second!" With her hands on Naruto's back, Sakura tried to increase the healing speed of her Ninjutsu. 'Thank you, Ino. You're helping me so much even at this moment' She looked at the little slug on Naruto's shoulder.
'Zakihhhhhhhhhhhhh!' Jūbi threw his stiff one and the Bijūdama shot out at the Alliance.
In response to this, the shinobi put their hands on the ground and began to erect hundreds of walls against the large bomb that was approaching without stopping. It seemed for a moment that the Bijūdama would stop, but it was only the imagination of these shinobi. All the walls were broken and the Bijūdama advanced.
They all accepted their fate...
But as strange as it sounds, nothing happened. When all the walls were broken, the Bijūdama stopped in front of everyone and began to blink violently. Both Madara and Jūbi looked confused. They didn't understand what happened. The Bijūdama started getting smaller and smaller until, in less than two seconds, it completely disappeared in front of everyone's eyes.
"What's going on?"
"Where did the Bijūdama go?"
"Did we get saved?"
"It seems so..."
...
...
Shining...
...
...
"Uh?"
A radiant light illuminated the battlefield momentarily. Everyone looked up and then....
[Saigo no Yoake]
...
Boom! A gigantic plasma sphere the size of Jūbi himself launched from the sky, smashing into the tailed beast's back and forcing it to sink a few meters into the ground. A large wind wave was caused due to this, which pushed everyone backwards.
"What the hell!"
"What is that!"
"It's like the sun came down to earth!"
Zakihhhhhhhhhhhhh! The beast screamed trying to get up from the ground, but the weight of the giant plasma sphere prevented it.
'And now comes the explosion' falling in front of everyone, his Rinnegan watched the impending destruction.
At the same time, away from the Jūbi, Madara frowned as he saw that person appear in front of the Jūbi, in front of that gigantic mass of chakra.
The sphere immediately began to compress, giving the Jūbi hope of being able to get up, but that was simply it, as what followed next was worse than the beginning.
BOOOOOOOOM!
The sphere spread violently, illuminating the entire battlefield, becoming even larger than at the beginning of the attack. This caused the beast to scream in pain, as its upper body was beginning to disintegrate. When the sphere was able to expand, it exploded and generated a shockwave that looked like it was going to reach and scorch the entire Shinobi Alliance. However, the person who landed in front of them extended his hand and the shockwave stopped, as if there was an invisible wall that prevented it.
The wind generated by the explosion made it so that everyone could see that this person was wearing a cloak and, this cloak, as it fluttered in the wind, an emblem could be seen on that person's back.
"The emblem of the rising sun..."
"It's an Asahi..."
At the same time, in front of Naruto, a strange kunai stabbed into the ground and, materializing in front of the boy, Namikaze Minato appeared.
"Sorry I'm late, Naruto."
"Hehe... it's okay, tou-chan."
Sakura was confused seeing that man who was strangely similar to Naruto. Moreover, Naruto called him tou-chan.
"So you were the one who did this?" asked Sakura.
To which Minato replied, "Not at all. A friend of Naruto's did it."
"A friend?" Naruto thought who it could be and Sasuke came to his mind. But also someone else...
***
Nearby, three more people landed and everyone in the Alliance stopped paying attention to the guy who hit the Jūbi with a small star. These three characters were the remaining Hokages.
"That someone from the Asahi clan could do something like that is worthy of recognition" (Hashirama).
"Just as dangerous as an Uchiha" (Tobirama).
"He has grown up and become stronger. It's a pity that strength comes from suffering. But we are shinobi, suffering is our daily dish" (Hiruzen).
***
Reacting at last after protecting everyone from the explosion that the same gender, Toru sighed tiredly. That Jutsu drains half of his chakra.
"Thanks to the fact that I managed to absorb the Bijūdama with the Rinnegan, my chakra reserves are at 100% again."
He sensed that a commotion was brewing among the shinobi due to the Hokages having already arrived on the battlefield. It seemed that Madara wanted to fight Hashirama, but Hashirama himself ignored him and, together with the other Hokages, rushed to activate a powerful cubic barrier around the Jūbi.
"They didn't waste any time, huh..." The barrier looked pretty sturdy to him. [Konan, what do you see from above?] Using Rinnegan again, he activated his telepathy and spoke to Konan.
[Someone from among all the shinobi approaches you at high speed. He seems to have no good intentions]
[I see. I was expecting that. Help the wounded. Take them to the back, where the ten-tailed beast can't attack them. So they can recover without interruption]
[Understood. What will you do?]
[I have unfinished business with the past that I must clear up before I launch into a fight]
[I see...]
[You care about me a lot. Thank you. I really appreciate it, Konan.]
[You'll thank me when this is all over, won't you?]
[Of course]
They both smiled and ended the communication.
Almost a second later, hundreds of sheets of paper began to push the wounded away from the barrier. This also made the Hokages feel more relaxed. With the wounded recovering behind the danger, the others could attack.
-A few minutes earlier-
"You're Naruto's father," he said, carrying Konan in his arms as he flew next to Minato.
"You're very perceptive, are you friends with Naruto?"
"I once was, but I did some things that made him angry. But he's not a bad person. What's more, Naruto seems disgustingly nice to me."
Konan nodded, "Naruto is the flower of hope this world needs."
"I see... it seems my son has grown even more since I last saw him..."
"We're almost there," Toru said. "I'll prepare a full-scale attack. Konan use your wings and arrive after me."
"Okay."
"Don't worry, I can do better. Don't waste your chakra" said Minato.
"Leave this to me, Hokage-san. I have a way to replenish chakra pretty good" he released Konan and she spread her wings and tried to fly behind Minato and Toru as fast as she could. "Shimikomaseru, Shakuton: Rei Zero [Imbue, Scorch Style: Double Zero] Pulling the daggers from the seals on his ankles, Toru imbues them in Shakuton, turning them into swords of fire.
With this ready, he launched two slashes of fire into the sky, which turned into that giant sphere.
-In the present-
That sphere exploded in front of everyone and, in front of all the destruction, just like that day in Konoha, Toru was there, in the middle of it all....
Hinata's eyes widened in disbelief at the sight of him, did this guy have no shame? He appeared in front of all the people of Konoha and the Shinobi Alliance after what he did. Just thinking about this made her gaze fill with anger and hatred. She clenched her fists tightly and scowled as the veins around her eyes throbbed.
When she realized it, she was running towards him, ready to unload all her spite, her hatred, her pain....
***
Ino stared at Toru, thinking over and over what that woman, Asahi Kyoko, said to Kakashi and Gai.
[My whole family... my mother... my father... my grandfather... my older brother... all died before my eyes. I think all of us Asahi have lives full of misfortune, misery and suffering. My son was no exception... he too has suffered. Fufufu... it's as if the world hates us just for existing. That is so unfair. I don't want my son to suffer just like me and the rest of my family. Ha~...I always dreamed of a quiet life for my little Toru-chan, keeping him away from everything that could possibly end up hurting him, but in the end that just leads him to the same path I once walked. I don't want that... I don't want my son to die too. I... I don't want to see my son in the afterlife at such a young age. That would break my heart into a thousand pieces...]
Ino remembered Kyoko's words perfectly. She saw this woman's suffering in her gaze, in that sad beaming smile and in the way her voice broke as she spoke. When she saw Toru, Ino couldn't help but think that her own suffering, compared to Toru's or his mother's is nothing. And she could see that in Toru's expression the first time they saw each other after three years. But she still couldn't forgive him. He did all that, made them hate him on purpose.
"How much is in your mind that you considered that was the best choice, Toru?"
***
"Onii...-san..."
Hanabi witnessed Toru's return. When she saw him, she remembered how this same one stabbed Hiashi. That horrible scene still lingered in her mind....
"I don't even know what to say about it..."
She was confused. There was a thin thread dividing her hatred and her affection for Toru. Neither was greater than the other, that hatred and love was balanced in equal amounts, which made her hesitate. Still, forgiveness was something Toru didn't deserve, right?
"Toru... you're not onii-san anymore, but maybe you can make amends for what you've done" she clenched her fists. "I won't forgive you for what you did, but I'll try not to hate you so much..."
***
Toru, still with his back turned, heard Hinata's footsteps. He simply did nothing, he just stood there and closed his eyes. Only in a second, that girl's footsteps stopped being heard and Toru felt a strong blow on his back, which made him fall face first against the ground.
Still, he did nothing...
Hinata kicked him and, when Toru was on the ground, she grabbed his shoulder and forced him to look at her. This boy's eyes were covered by his hair, he was quiet, not moving, as if he was accepting everything that is happening.
"I hate you!" She raised her fist and punched Toru in the face. "I hate you!" raising the other fist and continued... "I hate you! I hate you!" her gaze was filled with hatred. There was so much rancor in her every word... "I hate you! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!"
Her fists began to fill with blood, her screams echoed across the battlefield. Hinata struck Toru with the little strength she had left. But there was something strange about that moment. Hinata, while "killing" Toru, began to remember her whole life together with this boy.
Drip...
Drip...
She didn't understand this, but as tears ran down her face, she continued to hit without stopping. She wanted to get rid of these emotions that hurt her so much.
She loves him.
She hates him.
She can't forgive him...
She was hurt...
"Die! Die!"
While he was brutally beaten, Toru could see Hinata's face. She was crying, in her look he could tell she was hurt.
'It's my fault...'
One after another, he accepted Hinata's blows. He didn't move, didn't speak, didn't do anything. To him, this was fine.
Hinata had been in love with Toru for a long time, but he ruined everything. He became the villain in this girl's life. Her hatred consumed her, her love hurt her. Anger made her act without thinking. She was broken because of Toru.
'This is all my fault...'
It was obvious. It was all because of Toru's decision. No one else was to blame for this. That's why he had to face this situation now. After all he...
'I think I'm finally finding out who I really am...' thought Toru.
In the end, when she got tired of hitting, she took a heavy breath and lowered her arms looking up at the sky.
...
...
"I'm... sorry..."
Hinata's eyes widened with hatred at hearing that. Toru was still alive and yet he had the nerve to say something like that. This made her raise her fist to hit Toru again, but she stopped when she heard his voice again.
"No matter how much I try to apologize, nothing will make the anger you feel subside. But still, I'm sorry..." He sighed painfully and continued. "I'm sorry for leaving the village. I'm sorry for attacking the village. I'm sorry for killing your father. I'm sorry for all those years of pain I put you through. I'm sorry for being a jerk. It's my fault and no one else's. Everything I did up to this point has done nothing but hurt you so I'm sorry. For me there is no way to remedy what I have done, in the end I am just left to say all this" He looked up slightly and his blood stained silver eye could be seen in between his hair. "With this I am not asking you to forgive me because I know what the answer is. I simply want you to hear how I really feel. I simply want... that neither you, Ino nor Hanabi fall into the same abyss as I did."
She had her eyes closed as she heard this. She clenched her fists tightly and looked down. When she opened her eyes, for a moment she saw that crying child alone reflected in Toru.
'I remember... although I had no way of knowing it, I felt the same thing that child was feeling. It was horrible, that child was feeling pain that surpasses mine...' She got up from the ground and turned her back to Toru. "I hate you, I don't think that's going to change."
On the ground, Toru smiled slightly. "I know. That's fine with me. Thank you, Hinata..."
Finally, although her hatred hasn't disappeared, the pain she felt somehow vanished.
***
On the other hand, Madara felt completely ignored. Everyone had turned their attention to Hinata and Toru. This annoyed him a little, but a clone of Hashirama appeared in front of him.
"Sorry if I kept you waiting."
"Huh. I don't want to fight a clone. I'll wait for the original."
"Have it your way" he sighed. 'At least he's not attacking the shinobi.'
***
"Doing unnecessary things is something you're known for, isn't it?"
Ino crouched down and looked at Toru lying on the ground. She clearly saw that he had a broken nose and one of his eyes looked like it wanted to explode. She was angry too, she also wanted to hit Toru, but doing so would be an unnecessary thing to do, at least right now.
"Ha~ I also owe you an apology."
"No apology. If you know we won't forgive you, you're wasting your time. Besides, I'll have time to beat you to a pulp after this war" With a serious expression, she placed her hands on Toru's face and began to heal him with her Ninjutsu. Also, a small slug jumped off Ino's shoulder and stuck on Toru's face.
"You're lucky, Asahi Toru," said Katsuyu.
"The last thing I have is luck."
***
"So it already stopped..."
Konan watched from the sky as Toru was hit by Hinata. She wanted to help him, but Toru used his telepathy to tell her to stay away. "It's okay. Don't worry," he said.
"Ha~ What you do the most is worry me, Toru" She shook her head.
The wounded were already in place and with that, Konan had finished her part. So she descended to the ground
***
"Looks like there's also commotion about Sasuke" After being healed, Toru sat on the ground and looked in Naruto's direction, where Sasuke had already arrived.
BOOOOM! The ground shook. The Jūbi wanted to get out of the barrier. He fired his powerful Bijūdama, but surprisingly, the barrier managed to resist.
"The wounded are safe" Landing next to Toru, Konan frowned at the sight of Ino.
"Thank you, Konan. In any case, we should join the battle. It looks like Hashirama-san is making openings in the barrier for the shinobi to enter and fight against the little clones that started coming out of the beast with tails."
"We have to attack the main body now that the beast is trapped by the Torii gates."
Ino for a second frowned seeing these two talking so easily.
"Then don't waste time" getting up, Ino ran towards the barrier along with the other shinobi.
Toru also took advantage of this and entered the barrier next to Konan.
***
Once inside, Toru gathered next to Sasuke and Naruto.
"I'm surprised you decided to come, Toru" (Naruto).
"Some things happened. Konan came to help too" (Toru).
"Don't be distracted. We still have the enemy in front of us" (Sasuke).
"Right. Then I'll go to the left next to Konan. The rest of you take the right" (Toru)
"How arrogant you are, as usual" Appearing out of nowhere, Kiba was surprised by the fact that Toru wanted to go alone to fight half of the enemies.
"It was him who threw that giant sphere at the Jūbi" (Shino).
"What?! Are you serious?!" (Enko)
"I guess we have someone strong on our side" (Hakuto).
"Ha~ How did we come to all this?"(Tenten)"
"Now I feel more motivated. Let's make the power of youth explode" (Lee).
"Calm down a little, Lee" (Neji).
"I think there are too many of them" (Chouji).
"It looks like the whole class gathered in that place..." (Shikamaru)
"Let's not waste time" (Sakura).
"Omoiken..." (Hinata)
"Let's go!" (Ino)
When the Fourteen of Konoha gathered, the Jūbi clones began to launch an attack on everyone. Almost immediately, Ino, Sakura and Hinata jumped up to hit them all. The same with the others.
Toru clasped his hands together as he ran towards the beasts and performed a jutsu. "Moku Bunshin no Jutsu [Wooden Clone Jutsu]." A wooden clone came out of Toru's back and ran next to Konan, while the original took over using the daggers with Shakuton.
"Let me boost the damage of your jutsus" the clone took Konan's hand, who nodded and together they rushed to fight.
...
"Dansu Gyakusatsu [Dancing Massacre]" sharpening his eyes, Toru ran against the beasts and stopped in the center of it all.
The beasts attacked him with swipes one after another, but Toru dodged all of these and, as he did so, cut all the beasts' death lines, causing them to fall one after another at his feet. His speed was greater than that of any shinobi present, comparing to Minato's speed. This surprised some, but there was no time for admiration.
The clone and Konan soared high on angel wings. Activating his Rinnegan, the clone floated behind Konan and pointed his palms at the woman's back.
"Like that time against the fake Madara."
"Yes!"
Konan stretched out her arms and the sheets of paper parted from her body. In the entire sky inside the barrier, hundreds of spears formed and aimed at the beasts Jūbi was releasing.
Together, as one...
"Shinigami no Mai: Hakunetsu Harubādo [Shinigami Dance: Incandescent Halberd]"
Like hundreds of kites, the spears shot at the beasts. Each spear managed to hit one of the beasts and this was good. The beasts were immobilized on the ground while burning inside. With this, it was only enough for the other shinobi to finish them off.
But even though it seemed like everything was going well, Jūbi began to release larger and larger beasts that prevented them from reaching the main body.
Toru noticed this and frowned. However, three chakra explosions were heard nearby, immediately, Gamakichi, an unknown giant snake and a Katsuyu twice the size of Gamakichi and the snake appeared.
Naruto had done his summoning together with Sasuke. Sakura and Ino were not left behind in this. In view of the fact that the shinobi were getting hurt because of the beasts, they both agreed and summoned Katsuyu simultaneously, resulting in this gigantic version of it.
"I guess I should do something about that too" He connected the seals and hit the ground with his palm. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
Puff! Two large bursts of chakra turned into clouds of smoke, from which two giant wolves emerged.
"You brat, how dare you bring us into a human war?"
"Toru... I told you to call me when you need me, but I didn't think you'd call me for this."
"I'm sorry. I need the help of both of you. The beasts are suffocating the Alliance. We need to break through to defeat the beast with tails."
Okaminaru and Okamitsuki sighed. Although looking at this situation better, there were a lot of punching bags here. Immediately the blood began to boil in the body of these she-wolves and a smile formed on Okamitsuki's mouth.
"Well, since the brat is so insistent."
She disappeared before everyone's eyes wrapped in electricity and reappeared in front of the beasts. She gave a bloodthirsty grin as she raised one of her paws and then a loud explosion echoed. She, just by moving her paw, managed to knock down more than five of the beasts thanks to her perfect electric ninjutsu.
"Let's not waste time, Okaminaru. Let's go too."
"Hehehe. Here we go."
With that, the fight resumed. Both Naruto and Sasuke attacked with their respective summons, while Toru went ahead and defeated the beasts in front with the help of Okamitsuki and Okaminaru.
"An opening!" shouted Naruto.
To which Sasuke, using his right eye, activated Amaterasu and began to burn the beast with tails. Too bad the same beast ripped off the part that was being burned by the flames of the Amaterasu.
***
Above the Jūbi, Madara heard a moan of agony fall beside him. It was Obito who appeared out of nowhere. This caused him to frown, for it was time to proceed with the plan.
'It's time to revive with the Rinne Tensei.'
With that, he raised a hand in front of his face and began to control Obito. Who let out a scream as he tried not to let himself be controlled.
***
Toru noticed how Madara began to revive. He quickly realized that he was forcing Obito to use the Rinne Tensei that Nagato used that day to revive everyone in Konohagakure. If what the Hokages were saying is true, then that man's revival is a big problem. It would be an assured defeat for everyone.
"Then he must be stopped."
Removing Okaminaru and Okamitsuki's summoning to conserve chakra, he deactivated the Shigan and activated the Rinnegan. This way he was able to fly as fast as he could to where Obito so he could kill him.
'I don't know what your name is, I don't know who you are, but I promised I would kill you myself.'
Even though he said that, the Hokages, Naruto and Sasuke also swooped down to stop Madara from reviving. Before they could realize it, Minato appeared in front of Obito and slit his throat instantly. This caused Toru to stop dead in his tracks in midair.
"Too bad..."
Obviously disappointed, he thought that now all that was needed was to finish off the beast and seal Madara. But that was easier said than done, Madara's still incomplete power was too devastating.
"..."
Toru narrowed his eyes. Something weird was going on.
"It can't be!"
Throwing himself towards Jūbi to use Shinra Tensei, Toru realized that something was going on with the tailed beast. The beast was disappearing, as if it was being absorbed by Obito. With his Rinnegan, he could see how the bastard was acquiring the beast's chakra.
"I realized it too late. Those seals weren't from the Rinne Tensei..."
Obito... wrapped in strange scales that fell to the ground, looked up to the sky and beheld his own power, the power the Jūbi that now belonged to him.
He became the Jinchūriki of the Jūbi....
To be continued...
