The battle was over. The clearing fell into a tomb-like silence, broken only by the faint, agonizing whimpers of the dying.
Saiki stood motionless in the center of the carnage. His long blade, 'Thunderstorm', remained pristine and bloodless.
The people who needed to die were dead, but his eyes held no spark of triumph—only a heavy exhaustion, irritation, and a flickering sense of directionless boredom.
I just wanted to live my comfortable little life. Why did these fossils have to drag me into their mess?
Thinking of this, Saiki felt a surge of residual hatred, wishing he could resurrect Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others just to grind their bones into dust one more time.
But murder solved nothing. The High Command of Konoha had been erased. The resulting power vacuum was gargantuan, and Saiki knew the coming days would be stained with a fresh tide of blood and steel.
Did he care if Konoha fell? Not particularly.
He only cared that the inevitable instability would disrupt his peaceful life and the lives of the women he had collected.
Killing Hiruzen had solved the immediate annoyance, but it had birthed a thousand greater problems. Saiki, a man who prioritized convenience above all else, felt a massive headache coming on.
"Shit," he cursed, using a blunt, modern expletive.
The white raiment of his Sage Mode faded, and Saiki took a long, steadying breath as he sheathed his blade.
Nono'u Yakushi walked toward him. Her face was a map of anxiety and complex emotions, her eyes shimmering with a mix of terror and relief. "Saiki... are you... are you really alright?"
She had intended to help him, but the scale of the power Saiki had displayed was so incomprehensible that she could only stand on the sidelines, paralyzed by awe and fear.
As a kunoichi, Nono'u's conditioning dictated she should have died protecting the Hokage. But the one killing the leaders was Saiki—her lover and the boy she had raised. She hadn't hesitated to choose him.
If Saiki had lost, his death was guaranteed the moment Danzo fell. Furthermore, Saiki had committed these atrocities specifically to save her. She could never choose the village over him.
Saiki looked at Nono'u. Despite his internal frustration, he managed to offer her a wide, genuine smile. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
Knowing the magnitude of the disaster Saiki had just triggered, Nono'u found his casual smile both infuriating and heartbreakingly naive.
"How can you laugh?! Do you have any idea what you've done? You need to run! Now, while no one else is here, get as far away from the Leaf as possible!"
Saiki shook his head decisively. "No. I'm not leaving. If I run, what happens to you? What happens to the orphanage?"
Before she could argue, Tsunade finally arrived on the scene. She skidded to a halt, and her world turned white.
Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado were easily recognizable despite their severed heads, but the remains of Hiruzen Sarutobi—split perfectly into two symmetrical halves, with red gore and white brains splattered across the grass—were almost beyond recognition.
Human beings are contradictory animals. One could say Tsunade was far too kind-hearted for her own good. If Saiki were in her position, he would already be planning the total genocide of the Sarutobi and Shimura clans to ensure they never sought revenge.
With her medical expertise, Tsunade could have erased entire bloodlines without anyone ever suspecting foul play. But she lacked that particular brand of darkness.
Staring at the ruin of her teacher, Tsunade felt a crushing weight of grief and righteous fury.
"Oh, hey, Sister Tsunade," Saiki greeted her casually. Having already committed to the path of the traitor, he spoke as if they were meeting for a midday snack.
Seeing his total lack of remorse for the carnage, Tsunade's temper exploded. "You little monster! Look at what you've done!"
She lunged forward, her fist aimed at his head.
Saiki tilted his body slightly, letting the punch whistle past. He maintained his faint, irritatingly calm smile.
"Sister Tsunade, don't be so angry. I just took out the trash. They were long overdue for disposal," Saiki said, his tone dripping with indifference.
Tsunade glared at him, her chest heaving. "trash?! By what right do you play god and decide who lives and dies? Do you understand the catastrophic fallout this will bring to the village?"
Saiki met her gaze with a flat, cold stare. "I know exactly what I'm doing. But I wasn't going to stand by and watch the Director and my family be threatened. You know what Hiruzen and Danzo were. Or... would you have preferred I just let them kill me?"
Tsunade was well aware of the friction between Saiki and the Elders, but she still roared, "That didn't give you the right to commit a massacre!"
"Sister Tsunade... do you really want me dead?" Saiki asked quietly.
Saiki was genuinely disappointed by her reaction. Nono'u, despite knowing the illegality of his actions, had chosen him without a second of hesitation. Tsunade was still clinging to the corpse of a corrupt system.
Being asked that twice, Tsunade felt a surge of agonizing conflict. She certainly didn't want him to die, but the sheer scale of the incident was overwhelming.
Seeing the stalemate, Nono'u stepped forward to take the heat. "Lady Tsunade, Saiki did this to protect us. The deeds are done. We need to focus on what comes next. If the village demands a sacrifice, I will take his place."
Tsunade looked at Nono'u, her mind a whirlwind of static. She took a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves. "Stop talking nonsense. The entire High Command has been slaughtered. Both of you need to leave the Land of Fire immediately. I'll stay behind and try to fabricate a story."
Saiki rolled his eyes at her. "Are you treating the surviving Anbu like they're blind? And how do you plan to 'explain' a bisected Hokage? If you want to be useful, go heal the ones that aren't dead yet. If we let them all die, then we really are in trouble."
With the leadership decapitated, if this wasn't managed perfectly, the Leaf wouldn't even last a week in the Third War; they'd have to surrender unconditionally.
Saiki was the only one thinking clearly. Tsunade and Nono'u were both in the throes of a panic attack.
Faced with Saiki's logic, Tsunade's instincts as a medic took over. She bit her thumb, slammed her hand into the dirt, and a massive slug materialized in a puff of smoke.
"Lady Tsunade," Katsuyu greeted her in a gentle, melodic voice that contrasted sharply with her slime-covered exterior.
"Katsuyu! Divide and stabilize the survivors. We have a mass casualty event!"
The slug split into dozens of smaller versions that began crawling toward the mangled Anbu.
As the healing began, Tsunade started to regain her composure. But seeing Saiki standing there with his hands in his pockets, watching like a bored tourist, she snapped again. "I told you to leave! Why are you still standing there like an idiot?!"
"Leave? Where would I go? Besides, we have guests arriving," Saiki replied flatly.
While Tsunade and Nono'u were tending to the wounded, Saiki was calculating. He was wondering if he should just start a "slaughter series"—exterminating the Sarutobi, Shimura, Utatane, and Mitokado clans tonight.
Those clans didn't just represent individuals; they were political power blocks. With the patriarchs dead, those families would scream for blood, and the village would tear itself apart from the inside.
Saiki didn't want to be a mass murderer of innocents, but sometimes, the only way to protect your own is to erase the enemy's entire lineage.
Cutting off someone's wealth and power is worse than killing their parents. Saiki didn't want to go that far, but the world was quickly running out of alternative options.
He sensed signatures closing in fast. He narrowed his eyes, unimpressed by the Leaf's response time. "Pathetically slow."
In reality, the silence was because the high-level communications and the Anbu chain of command had been severed. No one knew what was happening yet.
Once the immediate medical crises were stabilized, Tsunade grabbed Saiki's collar. "Leave! Now! My words are not a suggestion! If you stay, you're dead!"
"You're both here. I'm not going anywhere. Sister Tsunade, you need to understand: sometimes the only way to secure a future is to stop running and fight back. I refuse to live like a rat in the sewers for the rest of my life," Saiki stated with absolute clarity.
"If you truly care about my survival, then launch a coup. You take the hat. You become the Hokage."
Tsunade stood paralyzed. A coup?
Me? Hokage?
The idea was so brazen, so absurdly violent, that her brain stalled.
But as she looked at the carnage, she realized the logic was sound. The High Command was gone. The vacuum was absolute. This was her chance.
A coup isn't a game. It requires support, blood, and a terrifying resolve.
But Saiki was already prepared to pay that price. If Tsunade became Hokage, he would be the razor-sharp blade in her hand that silenced any dissent.