Although somewhat unexpected, Sarutobi Hiruzen's actions were ultimately within expectations.
After agreeing to the two Clan's request to go to war, Akira sent the others away but kept Nawaki and Fugaku behind.
Once inside the side hall, Akira looked over the two children he had watched since they were young and felt the stirrings of a headache.
Fugaku was relatively alright-he was supposed to father the destined protagonist one day, afterall-and he didn't look like someone who would die early. Nawaki, on the other hand... his fate was miserable.
Hashirama's grandson, and the Senju heir... dying roadside like some meaningless casualty. Someone dug out his internal organs before he was even cold. No saving that kind of death.
In that kind of battlefield-chaotic, savage-a person had time to dig out organs. Anyone who believed it wasn't intentional had to be incredibly stupid.
"Are you preparing to go to the battlefield?"
"Um!"
"Certainly!"
Two different replies but both obviously the same answer.
Seeing their eager expressions, Akira knew there was no point trying to talk them down...
Bang!
Murderous aura flooded the hall with crushing force. The pressure alone caused parts of the building to collapse instantly. The entire side hall reduced to cracked stone and splinters in seconds.
Frozen in place, both Nawaki and Fugaku were locked down by instinct, their bodies refusing to move under the killing intent alone. Pressure built around their lungs until every breath felt impossible to take. Their muscles trembled on their own.
Outside, the sudden burst had already drawn attention. Mito, already in a sour mood after hearing about the war plans, flared up immediately when she felt Akira's chakra erupt-
"Who dares...?" her words came out low, dangerous, as she burst through two walls in succession toward the source.
Landing near what used to be the side hall, she spotted Akira and instantly powered down.
"Don't take too long," she said bluntly.
With that, Mito lifted two children who had approached out of curiosity and vanished from sight without further comment, leaving behind Nawaki and Fugaku, both gritting their teeth under pressure that refused to stop crushing them from above.
"What? You two already giving up?"
"I…"
Fugaku, stronger by comparison, tried to speak, then Akira increased his aura. The added weight choked off his words completely. He couldn't even force out another syllable as trembling forced him lower to the ground.
Pfft!
Blood burst from Nawaki's thigh-a deep self-inflicted puncture. Despite being shaky and near collapsing from fear, he managed to speak through his teeth in gasps.
"I am... gonna be Hokage... I won't... lose... to some... test…"
Pain carved through his thigh and helped burn away the paralyzing fear. He strained every muscle and finally pulled free of that suffocating state-his legs wobbling, but moving again.
Fugaku looked over, startled by Nawaki's action, then reached for his own kunai without hesitation. He stabbed his own leg cleanly without hesitation-
Sssshk!
Blood trickled down his pants-but it worked. He could move again too.
"My dream is becoming the Hokage too… I'm not afraid of you."
Though shaking under pressure, both boys showed determination in their eyes as they raised their chins slightly-faces stretched into forced smiles against the sheer pressure bearing down on them.
"Good," Akira said simply. "Congratulations… you've earned an invitation to death."
Those words made them oddly proud-it felt like passing some invisible test.
"Wait-what does 'invitation to death' even-"
Boom!
One massive blast knocked both boys across the courtyard in one swing-neither able to brace before slamming into the ground hard enough to black out instantly.
As their heads lolled in unconsciousness behind him, Akira's tone turned cold-
"You both want to be Hokage? Better make sure your corpses don't disappear on the battlefield first."
…
Tensions surrounding Konoha's emergency war preparations spread quickly across borders-no effort was made to hide it. Hiruzen had no intention of masking anything; he wanted the other clans worn down anyway. Peace only slowed his true aim.
In no time at almost unnatural speed-spies confirmed it: Konoha was preparing for war. The only mystery left was who they planned to target first.
As expected, the entire ninja world entered crisis mode almost immediately. The four major nations: Wind, Thunder, Earth and Water-each called urgent meetings when they realized what Konoha might be planning together with its clans.
First came questions about dividing Whirlpool Country's inheritance…
Next came potential alliances forming in response that might change balance forever.
When the Mizukage appeared for the first round of talks-the other three Kages froze momentarily.
Injuries were common among ninjas... but this was absurd. Bandaged head-to-foot until nothing of him remained visible-the Mizukage looked mutilated enough to rival Tsuchikage's corpse look. The only recognizable part of him were those familiar eyes-and only that convinced anyone this was actually the Third Mizukage...
Raikage spoke first, unable to hide blunt confusion-
"Mizukage, seriously... what the hell happened?"
"Injured," Mizukage croaked harshly. "In Whirlpool."
"Huh?"
His tone might've been calm but his damaged vocal cords distorted every word. The other Kages shared glances-this wasn't minor injury… this was near death-tier damage…
For now though-with greater threats looming-they tabled that line of thought temporarily.
"There was someone strong enough in Whirlpool Country… to do that?"
Despite knowing better, the Tsuchikage played innocent for diplomacy's sake. Mizukage stifled irritation and responded evenly-
"They used themselves as bait… blew up half the country, including me."
Hiss…
Everyone understood now, the destruction explained… the injuries explained… the losses explained. No one dared say it aloud but everyone silently calculated how many soldiers Mizukage may have left after that assault...
None of it mattered quite enough though, not when there were rewards hanging in front of them already ready for carving up-
"Alright… but the legacy items from Whirlpool..."
"They're GONE," Mizukage snapped suddenly-slamming his table once with gloved hands for emphasis. "What do you even want me to give you?! We lost people, we walked away with nothing and now you want compensation?!"
Raikage snorted, a grin tugging loosely at his cheek without humor behind it.
"Let's not pretend we don't know what happened next… None of your soldiers survived-but three ships sailed away full that night. Three full ships."
"You didn't even leave room for wounded…"
Exposed in public view, the Mizukage didn't even bother showing shame or denial anymore. Cold expression replaced everything else as he leaned forward-
"So what do you want?"
"Nothing excessive," Tsuchikage answered immediately with gruff calm. "We'll divide it up based on earlier agreement."
One Jinchūriki per sealing technique…
Water keeps their shinobi blades...
Lightning and Earth take money...
Wind takes seals…
Konoha's share? That would wait until they saw which direction they'd move next...
Cornered by collective interest-the Mizukage nodded reluctantly-
"Fine. I'll ask for extra compensation-this war cost me heavily. And if Konoha attacks us-you'd better honor our alliance terms."
"No issue there," Raikage replied smoothly with zero hesitation.
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