Chapter 74
Tsunade poured chakra into her hands as she tried to reverse the impossible, even as the rational part of her mind saw the futility of her actions.
"No," yet she refused to accept it. She refused to accept this cruel reality.
"No. No. Nooo," she refused to accept it, as she tried to repair the extensive damage to her only comrade. The apparent injuries were bad enough on their own but Jiraiya had sustained extreme internal injuries as well.
"This is enough Tsunade," Jiraiya whimpered, and she frowned.
"Shut up!" she screamed for she would not let history repeat itself.
"It is over, Tsunade," he added, and a tear slid down her face as she bit her lip.
"Leave me, and run," he offered, and in all their life Jiraiya had never been the one to call for a retreat. Even when they had faced Hanzo decades ago, he had stood tall, and refused to back down and yet today he was calling for her to retreat.
"Tsunade!" he spoke a bit strongly now.
"SHUT UP! I am not leaving you!" she roared back, as she focused on his injuries while the sound of the battle ravaged the world around her.
The ground shook every few seconds, yet she refused to turn her face.
"Are you even listening to me Tsunade?" he roared, but she refused to look up, when suddenly he kicked her in the gut and sent her flying back.
"What the hell are you doing!" she roared back.
"Mizukage! Take her and go!" he roared, and the Mizukage was the only kage still breathing, while the rest were all dead.
"I am not leaving you," and she looked into his eyes again, and saw only despair.
"We cannot defeat him Tsunade," he implored.
"He is too strong," and there was genuine fear in his eyes.
"As shinobi it is our duty to make certain that our legacy survives this monster," he pleaded, but she did not care for legacy. She did not care about this world.
She cared only for her people. Her family and as far as she was concerned Jiraiya was the last one alive.
"I have lost too many people Jiraiya. I cannot lose you too!" she begged, and his lips thinned.
"Please go," and he was begging her. He was begging her, as only the clone of Katsuyu kept him alive, when suddenly the Mizukage's voice came from the side.
"It's over," and her voice was weak and hopeless as well as Tsunade's heart sunk as her head snapped towards the orange haired girl.
"Hikari Hyuga has lost," and she could not believe her ears, and from what she had told them before Hikari was putting up quite a fight. Mei had said that they were nearly on an equal footing but now he had lost as well.
He was their last hope. The last gambit.
"You two need to leave at once," Jiraiya added, as he looked in between them.
"Leave and lead an exodus. Save as many as you can," he said, but Tsunade was not listening to him as she walked up to the edge of the cliff to look at the battlefield itself, and what she saw was a massive thick forest, one that she had heard many a tale about.
"Grandfather," she gasped, and somehow Madara had stolen her grandfather's signature Mokuton, and the combination of the legendary Mokuton along with her grandfather's Mokuton was simply unbeatable.
"He put up a great fight. But I am afraid it was not enough," Terumi Mei added, as Tsunade closed her eyes and prayed to any god that just might listen.
"Please...." and just as she had closed her eyes, she heard a whisper.
"Ninpo:..." and it was not just her, as Mei's eyes widened.
"Impossible," the Mizukage gasped, as suddenly the air began to thin out, as all of the moisture within it vanished in a quick second, and green flames roared forth and charred the entire forest in the blink of an eye.
"...RENGOKU!"
00000
HIKARI HYUGA
Not yet! NOT YET!
Hikari's body was tearing itself apart. He had pushed himself beyond all conceivable limits. He had now used all of the nine tails chakra, along with all of the natural energy he had gathered in himself.
The sensei of immortality and imperviousness that came with his sage mode had now vanished, and he could feel his body struggling to sustain itself, yet he knew that his work was not done.
Madara was no God!
But he was the closest thing to a God alive, and despite taking on so much damage, the man still stood. Hikari's last technique had caught the man out by surprise, and any other shinobi would have been roasted alive, yet the Demon of the Uchiha clan still stood tall, even as half his body was burnt to a crisp.
His entire half of the body was gone, and had been charred.
"To think there would be a shinobi alive who would push me to such an extent," and the man raised his charred hand and looked at it.
"If I did not have Hashirama's Mokuton, I would be dead by now," and the only thing sustaining him was the Shodaime's Mokuton right now, and he looked up at him.
"But it seems like you have run out of the Kyuubi and the senjutsu chakra as well," and now Hikari was but an ordinary shinobi who was barely clinging to his life. He had just enough chakra for one last strike, and he intended to make it count.
"You are not winning this!" Hikari warned him, as he prepared himself for a fight, and the veins around his eyes tightened as he pushed his Byakugan to the limits.
"In this entire world, you are the only shinobi to best me. Even Hashirama would not have been able to push me to this extent," and that did not matter now as Hikari began to rouse up what little chakra he had left.
"But the fate of this battle was decided the second it began," and Hikari clicked his tongue.
"Then it's a good fucking thing that I do not care about the fates at all," and since Hikari had undergone the modifications, he could still not use ordinary ninjutsu, and his chakra networks were simply too strained to handle any complex jutsu.
So, he had to rely on the basics, and then, much to the surprise of the Uchiha, legend took an extremely familiar form.
"Ninpo:...." and even though he had not practised it for some time now, each and every technique of this kinjutsu was ingrained into his very being, for this was the signature fighting style of the Hyuga clan.
This was the Gentle Fist, the very technique that had allowed the Hyuga clan to go toe-to-toe with the likes of the Uchiha and the Senju clan for centuries.
"Eight Trigrams," and then he burst forth and appeared infront of him in surprise.
"Two strikes!" and while few could compete with the Senjus and the Uchiha when it came to ninjutsu and genjutsu, respectively, it was widely known that the Hyuga's specialty was taijutsu.
Their techniques were traditional and orthodox, but they were unmatched when it came to close combat, and so even as Madara tried to block his attacks, he failed as Hikari's hand cut through his defences and targeted his tenketsu.
"AGHHH!"
"Four Strikes!" and so he struck again, and Hikari could perform this even without his Byakugan, and ever since he had gotten them back, he was able to reach the pinnacle of the Hyuga clan kinjutsu.
"EIGHT STRIKES! SIXTEEN STRIKES! THIRTY-TWO STRIKES!" and Madara saw his defences fail him as he grit his teeth.
"ENOUGH!"
And he saw trying to push his chakra into the Rinnegan, and yet, much to the man's surprise, the intended effect never came.
"SIXTY FOUR STRIKES!" and his pace of strikes only increased as he tore through the tenketsu of his arms, and because of the Shodaime's chakra, he was rather resilient, and so Hikari was not simply blocking them with simple chakra.
No.
He was using molding his chakra into katon at the last moment and burning his tenketsu, making it impossible for him to simply unblock them.
"ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY EIGHT STRIKES!" and now his entire limb was made useless, but he could not relent as the man tried to strike back with his own taijutsu, but Hikari slid through his attacks
"TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY STRIKES!" and by now he could feel his arms grow heavy as he struck him hard, but he was not done yet. His reserves were now empty, and he could feel the world spin, yet still he pushed himself to achieve the ultimate form of the Hyuga clan taijutsu.
"FIVE HUNDRED AND TWELVE STRIKES!" and he felt his own chakra networks burst, as blood spilled out of his muscles.
"AGHHHH!" and Madara grunted as he was pushed back, while Hikari found himself standing there as his arms lay limp, while blood dripped down from them.
His Byakugan was gone, and he was huffing now, and his muscles had all been torn apart. But it was over.
It was all over.
"Five hundred and twelve consecutive strikes. I have never seen this technique," and of course he had not.
"Because I am the one who created it," Hikari answered.
"Now all of your major tenketsu have been destroyed! You are done!" Hikari whispered.
"Not quite!" and suddenly he noticed one his fingers shift slightly, before suddenly he saw it transform into a wooden spear and extend towards his heart.
"I win!" Madara declared, and Hikari could not move an inch, and his heart became heavy as he prepared himself for his demise.
But just as the wooden spear was able to pierce his heart the ground shook as a loud voice tore through the clearing.
"CHAAAAA!" and the pain he was expecting never came as he looked up and saw Lady Tsunade standing there in front of him holding the wooden spear.
"You can rest now, Hikari-kun," and tears slid out of her eyes as she glanced back at him.
"I will finish this" and she cracked the wooden spear, and began to walk forward.
"Madara Uchiha!" she roared forth.
"I will not let you make a mockery of my family's kekkei genkai anymore," and the man frowned.
"Family?" he whispered, and then she began to walk forward until she was right above him.
"Aye, I am Tsunade Senju! The granddaughter of Hashirama Senju, and you have done enough harm today," and Madara chuckled.
"I see now. No wonder your chakra felt so familiar to me," and he knew that that this was over, but Lady Tsunade did not wait for long as she pushed the wooden spear into his chest, and tore up his heart.
"GUGHH!" the man coughed up blood, as his life flew away.
"What a coincidence," he whispered.
"I have lived twice now, and yet every time your blood has managed to stop me in my plans Hashirama...." and for all his might Madara Uchiha had pushed himself way past his human limits, and so with his heart gone he died soon as Hikari closed his eyes and let himself fall to the ground with a sense of accomplishment.
"It is finally over...."
0000