Chapter 93: Those Who Defy Konoha's Dignity
Where's my backup?!
WHERE IS MY BACKUP?!
SOMEONE PLEASE COME HELP—
Kakashi stared up at the Kazekage, hovering in the air above him on a column of gold sand, arms folded, completely unbothered, and his eye went as dead and flat as a fish on ice.
He'd held this man off with five chakra natures and sheer stubbornness until his reserves hit zero. That was, objectively, more than anyone had a right to ask of him.
The problem was that he had absolutely no counter for an enemy who just floated.
"Heh. A reputation well-earned after all."
Rasa looked down at Kakashi catching his breath and felt something that was almost appreciation.
"Kakashi Hatake — you really do have something to you. Getting this far against me."
Which was precisely why he needed to die.
The pretense was done now. Konoha and Sand had dropped all masks. The next war was coming, and Kakashi was the kind of shinobi who would fill enemy body counts until someone stopped him.
Men like that didn't get to survive this kind of encounter.
And — Rasa's thoughts moved quickly — this was the White Fang's son. Sakumo Hatake, who had cut down Lady Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law in the Second War. Bringing Kakashi's head back to the old woman would guarantee her full support.
The corner of his mouth went cold.
Both hands came together in a seal. He began gathering chakra for the finishing technique.
Then—
A sound. An enormous sound. Air being displaced at speed.
A shadow swallowed him.
Rasa looked up.
His eyes went wide.
A demon-faced iron gate was coming straight at him, full speed, point-blank range.
What—
No time to think through options. He was already moving to evade—
And Kakashi, who had been waiting for exactly this moment, reached into his pouch for the last shuriken he had left, and threw it.
Then he gathered every last scrap of remaining chakra into his hands and flew through seals.
Shuriken Giantification Technique.
A move he had, entirely by accident, copied from Sakura in the middle of all this.
The palm-sized shuriken exploded into a Wind Fūma Shuriken mid-flight — and it landed precisely in the one escape corridor Rasa had left himself.
In any other circumstances, Rasa had a hundred ways to handle a single shuriken. But the gate's attack radius was massive, and the Sharingan-guided throw had read his retreat vector perfectly and closed it.
He had to choose.
Time stopped for half a heartbeat.
Crimson arced through the air.
A severed arm followed it.
The arm of a Kage. One of the Five Great Villages.
Rasa pressed the stump against his body, watching the blood run. He didn't look at Kakashi. He looked outward, taking inventory.
The reincarnated Senju brothers — sealed.
Orochimaru — pinned between Hiruzen and Tsunade together—
And himself: one arm lighter.
"Tch."
He pressed his lips together. Then he turned and walked away without looking back.
A loss.
A complete, total loss.
Preserve what's left. Get Temari, Kankurō, Gaara, and Baki out of Konoha. Now.
Sand's contribution to this assault had been minimal — most of the actual forces were Sound ninja and Orochimaru's dragon cave serpents. The main thing Sand had brought was the One-Tail's jinchūriki, and Orochimaru couldn't complain too loudly about that.
"So you still had enough left in you to turn this windmill, Sensei..."
Orochimaru looked at Hiruzen — leaning on the Adamantine Staff, breathing, upright — and his voice carried something that wasn't quite admiration and wasn't quite regret.
"At this point, Orochimaru — what exactly is there left to say?"
Tsunade's fist was clenched. Her eyes were cold as she watched the man who had been her classmate for decades.
Orochimaru ignored her. He was looking past both of them, at the two Hokages half-submerged in slugs at the edge of the rooftop.
Tobirama was still talking to Sakura. Earnestly, by the look of it.
Orochimaru had no intention of letting that continue.
His hands moved through seals.
"Impure World Reincarnation — release."
He wasn't leaving the two Hokages with Konoha. Especially not Tobirama.
In this early, imperfect form of the technique — Tobirama's value vastly exceeded Hashirama's. Everything inside that man's head was irreplaceable.
As for Hashirama...
Complicated. Best left unsaid.
"Heh heh. Farewell, then. I hope at our next class reunion, that idiot Jiraiya actually shows up."
He smiled, the smile of someone who had already left.
"And do prepare yourselves for war."
Then Orochimaru came apart into dozens of small white snakes that scattered in every direction and were gone.
"Orochimaru—!"
"You're just going to leave—"
Tsunade's voice cracked with anger.
What did he mean, prepare for war? What is he planning?!
"Tsunade. Let him go."
Hiruzen's voice stopped her.
"Old man, how can you just—"
She was already turning to argue — and stopped.
Hiruzen was leaning on the staff. His face had gone pale. He was on one knee, breathing in hard pulls.
"Old man!"
Tsunade was moving before she finished the word.
"It's nothing. Chakra depletion."
He stopped her from supporting him with a small motion.
He couldn't go down. Not here. Not now.
There was too much left.
The village had to be rebuilt. Negotiations with Ōnoki had to begin. And then — as Orochimaru had just promised — the war with Sand.
Sand had just attacked Konoha during a joint exam, in front of foreign dignitaries. If Konoha responded the way it always had — smoothing things over, seeking the path of least escalation — the shinobi inside the walls would be furious, and every nation watching would decide the great tree was hollow at the core.
Sometimes you had to fight.
Hiruzen made himself stand. He looked out at the wreckage of the village around him, and his eyes were a blade's edge.
If the Land of Wind can't hold itself back from this — did anyone think Water, Earth, and Lightning were sitting quietly?
Water was distant for now — the ocean made large movements obvious, and any military action would be visible weeks in advance.
But Lightning had never once been quiet.
Hiruzen walked toward where Sakura was standing — toward the two Hokages, more precisely. They were already beginning to glow, white light spreading from the edges of their forms. The Edo Tensei was releasing. Their time in this world was ending.
"Monkey." Tobirama looked at Hiruzen. The question he asked was his last one. "What's your next move?"
Hiruzen didn't hesitate for even a fraction of a second.
"Those who defy Konoha's dignity — we will strike them down."
(End of Chapter)