Chapter 50: Chapter 49
Chapter 49
Vultures flew over the heads of the Fourth Kazekage and his entourage. Four guards were with the Fourth Kazekage as he traveled through the desert toward the Land of the Fire. The wind picked up and blew sand around Kazekage. A man stood before him as the sand settled back to the ground. He wore glasses and had grey hair in a ponytail.
"Kabuto Yakushi," The Fourth Kazekage said.
"It seems I wasn't too late," Kabuto replied. "Orochimaru-sama hasn't shown yet? That unlike him."
"I thought you would be with him," The Fourth Kazekage said.
"There were complications in Konoha," Kabuto replied. "We should wait for Orochimaru-sama first before I explain it."
The four guards looked tense at Kabuto. Even though the Fourth Kazekage was working with Kabuto and Orochimaru, they couldn't be trusted. The Fourth Kazekage was the most nervous, as he knew what he risked. The alliance with Konoha has brought many benefits to a weakened Suna, but for his village to survive, he had to crush Konoha.
"There is no need to wait any longer," Another man appeared before Kazekage. "Tell me, Kabuto, what complications did you have to endure?"
"I was found out," Kabuto replied. "Kaen Uchiha discovered me."
"And yet you still live?" Orochimaru asked.
"I had to pretend to be dead to escape, and with the help of Danzo, I hid myself," Kabuto replied.
"What of the plan?" Kazekage asked. "Was it discovered?"
"No need to worry," Kabuto replied. "Only shinobi of the Sound were found out. They have no idea of your involvement, Kazekage-sama."
"Then we should proceed with the plan," Kazekage said.
He had too much to lose at this point. He had to see it to the end. If the Daimyo's plan to outsource the missions from the Land of the Wind to Konoha proceeds, Suna will have no chance to sustain itself. It was already considered the weakest village of the five and could only stand equally with Kiri because of the bloodline purge.
"After you, Kazekage," Orochimaru said, motioning for the Kazekage convoy to proceed.
Kazekage nodded and moved forward with his four guards while Kabuto and Orochimaru followed them from behind. Orochimaru looked at Kabuto. Kabuto nodded in understanding and slit scalpels into his hand in preparation. Seeing the action, Orochimaru sneaked toward Kazekage unnoticed by the guards.
When Kazekage felt danger, it was too late, as Orochimaru had drawn his sword and was about to pierce the Fourth Kazekage. The guards and Kazekage were surprised at the betrayal, but it was too late to make their move. But before the sword touched Kazekage, two scalpels hit Orochimaru's back. Yet no blood was spilled as Orochimaru turned into mud.
"Hmm, when did you find out?" Kabuto asked.
"If Kaen Uchiha had his eyes on you, you wouldn't be able to escape," Orochimaru slithered from the ground and answered. "Kabuto isn't skilled enough to escape you, Kaen Uchiha."
"What is the meaning of this?" Kazekage asked, furious.
"Konoha knows of your actions, Kazekage-sama," Kabuto replied. "And now you know that Orochimaru was going to kill you."
"Why don't you reveal yourself, Kaen Uchiha?" Orochimaru asked.
A smoke explosion came from Kabuto's body as the transformation jutsu was undone. Kaen Uchiha stood before everyone now. Kazekage looked shocked, turning from Kaen to Orochimaru, trying to decide what to do. The four guards quickly surrounded Kazekage to protect him. But neither Orochimaru nor Kaen paid attention to them as they stared at each other.
"Did you kill Kabuto?" Orochimaru asked. "I was worried for him as he didn't contact me."
"Sorry about that. I thought of waiting for him to contact you first, but I just couldn't help myself," Kaen replied. "His neck begged to be snapped."
"As I thought, but how did you know I was going to kill Kazekage?"
"I know everything, Orochimaru," Kaen replied.
"So, you know that you are surrounded?" Orochimaru asked.
At his words, five shinobi appeared and surrounded them. Kaen knew that they were the Sound Four and Kimimaro. They weren't powerful, but if he were alone, he would be in trouble to deal with them and Orochimaru together. Especially Kimimaro, his kekkai genkai was good at offensive and defensive attacks. He would be challenging to deal with.
"I did," Kaen smiled in response. "So, I brought help too."
The Sound Four barely escaped before Anko, Hana, and Yagao ambushed them. The Sound shinobi came to Orochimaru, while the Konoha shinobi came to Kaen. The Fourth Kazekage and his guards stood in the middle between them. Nobody moved and observed each other. Kaen looked over the Fourth Kazekage before speaking.
"You have three choices, Kazekage. First, you can help Orochimaru defeat me, but your plan has already been discovered, and your children will be killed in Konoha if I don't return. And Konoha will bring its might upon you soon. Secondly, you can return to your village and negotiate peace with Konoha or prepare for war. And thirdly, help me kill Orochimaru, and we will try to forget about your transaction."
"You don't leave me with much choice," Kazekage replied before turning to his guards. "Men! Prepare for a battle. We shall support Konoha in apprehending the criminal."
"It seems I am outnumbered," Orochimaru smiled. "I think I need to level the playing field. Summoning Jutsu."
Kaen didn't have time to stop Orochimaru as he slammed his palm into the ground. Two wooden caskets soon emerged. Kaen knew what they contained, but it was impossible to stop Orochimaru now since he would have to go through his shinobi first. The rest prepared themselves, even though they didn't know what to expect.
The Fourth Kazekage's eyes narrowed as he started to swirl his sand around him. The caskets opened, revealing two men. Everyone quickly recognized the two men. While everyone was focusing on them, Kaen molded his chakra, and as Orochimaru finished his jutsu, Kaen created four shadow clones that spread out.
"Yugao, Anko, and Hana take the small fries," Kaen said. "The Fourth Kazekage and I will take on Orochimaru and the previous Hokage."
"Are you mad?" Rasa asked. "You want me to fight the First and the Second Hokage with Orochimaru controlling them? We are retreating."
"Fine, go," Kaen replied. "And let your village be destroyed. Face it. You are reaping what you sow. If you leave now, there won't be a chance for you to plead your case with Konoha. You will lose your tailed beast, and without Daimyo's support, Konoha will destroy Suna."
"Support Konoha," Rasa ordered his guards, seeing no other choice.
Kaen smiled. It seemed that there was no need to kill the Fourth Kazekage now. Orochimaru and his minions haven't moved yet, probably waiting for us to make the first move. Kaen used their inaction to observe everyone and formulate a strategy. It wouldn't be an easy fight, but Kaen could tell that the First and the Second Hokage were still not assimilated to their new bodies, so they would be weaker than they were in their prime.
"Support me, Rasa," Kaen said. "The only way to defeat them is to seal them. When you have a chance, restrict their movements."
The first to move wasn't Kaen or Orochimaru. It was Hana. She used her clan's jutsu to transform herself with her dogs into a four-headed beast. She then rushed at Orochimaru's minions, making them scatter. Yugao and Anko followed them and pushed them away from Orochimaru. Rasa's guards supported them.
"Reanimation jutsu, eh?" The Second Hokage looked at Orochimaru. "So, this kid has summoned us with a forbidden jutsu?"
"Hokage-sama," Kaen greeted them. "It seems we will have to fight."
"An Uchiha?" The Second Hokage asked.
"Isn't it ironic?" Kaen asked, as his sharingan observed them. "You feared we Uchiha would be the downfall of Konoha, yet there we are. I, an Uchiha, have to fight you to protect the village."
"Oh? What is your name, young Uchiha?" The First Hokage looked asked.
"Kaen Uchiha, the future Fifth Hokage," Kaen replied. "Please take care of me."
"Of course," The First Hokage smiled. "And please take us down, future Hokage."
The Second Hokage moved first. He flanked Kaen and Rasa while the First went in a straight line toward them. Kaen observed Orochimaru before making his move. It seemed he couldn't move as he wished, as he had to control the Hokage. But Kaen must pass the First and the Second Hokage to reach him. And it wasn't that simple, as the Second had already approached him.
Kaen blocked the Second's kick and dodged the First's kunai. Yet before the two could make another move, a barrage of arrows came flying at them, pushing them back. Then, another volley of arrows appeared in the sky, falling straight on Orochimaru. Keeping an eye on the Hokage, Kaen observed Orochimaru as while he didn't use any jutsu. He still could evade the arrows easily.
"Fire Style, Fire Dragon Majestic Flame."
While Rasarestricted the Hokage's movements with his sand, Kaen, not wanting to give him a chance to counterattack, used a powerful fire jutsu. It engulfed the Second Hokage, while the First freed himself from the sand and dodged it. Even while using the jutsu, Kaen didn't stop observing his other foes' movements.
"Water Style, Water Wall," The Second let out a massive amount of water from within himself to block Kaen's fire.
"What?" Rasa was surprised. "In this environment with little water, he made such a powerful jutsu. My sand and your fire should dominate their jutsu."
"This is the difference between us, Rasa," Kaen replied. "There is the reason why they were called God of Shinobi."
"Ha!" The Second yelled out as the fire disappeared into steam, and he gathered the water he had created and pushed it at Kaen.
"Sand Dune," Rasa blocked the water with his sand.
Yet the first has already jumped over the dune Rasa has created. Kaen saw through the First Hokage's plan and grabbed him with his chains before slamming him to the ground. Rasa didn't have time to pay attention to the First, as the Second had already approached him. Rasa had more difficulty controlling the sand as it was wet now.
"Incredible, so this is the power of the previous Hokage," Orochimaru said while observing the fight. "But even then, Kaen can still keep up. It seems it is time for me to join them. I wouldn't want to harm my next body too much."
While Kaen held the First Hokage down with his chains, he noticed something coming from the ground. Without warning, Kaen grabbed Rasa and fell back. Just as they retreated, the whole area became a forest with massive trees coming from the ground. Rasa once again looked shocked at the power of the First Hokage.
"We need to step up if we want to survive, Rasa," Kaen said.
"Then maybe you should stop holding back," The Fourth Kazekage replied.
Kaen didn't have time to reply as a snake came along a branch of one of the trees and went for his neck. An arrow killed it, but Kaen could tell that the trees would make it difficult for his shadow clones to shoot anyone. But he wasn't distressed yet. The battle just began. But it did amaze Kaen how strong the previous Hokages were even when they weren't at their full strength.
"So Orochimaru decided to join," Rasa commented as they saw Orochimaru appearing with a sword.
"He can't use any powerful jutsu, as it takes a lot of him to control the Hokage," Kaen informed Rasa.
"Very well, then," Rasa responded by raising his hands. "Magnet Release, Barrage of Golden Sand."
Bullets of sand shot out from the ground. They decimated the forest and forced their foes to retreat a bit. It seemed that the Fourth Kazekage still had something under his sleeves. Seeing the trees having holes in them, Kaen smiled as fire arrows rained down on the forest, burning it into ash. Kaen didn't want to be outdone by the Fourth Kazekaga and saw an opportunity to end it faster. Kaen tore his jacket and shirt from his body, revealing a set of tattoos all over his body.
"Seal of Hundred Suns, release."
With these words, Kaen's body burst into flames, covering him as the tattoos moved around him, making an external chakra network. Kaen laughed at the surge of power before raising his arms, and the fire from the forest gathered around him. He didn't need to make hand seals to mold the chakra to shoot fire from his mouth. It was time to burn Orochimaru to ashes.
A.N. As always, If you want more, up to seven advanced chapters, you can support me on pa treon. com \ ironwolf852, and now I will take requests from my patrons. More info on my pa treon.
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