บท 5: Chapter 5
The steady patter of rain was a constant companion as Garp made his way through the outskirts of Amegakure. Two years had passed since he'd begun training Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan, and these supply runs had become a routine part of life. His massive frame was laden with bags of groceries, tools, and the occasional toy – because even future world-changers needed to have some fun.
"Bwahaha!" Garp chuckled to himself, imagining the children's faces when they saw the new training equipment he'd procured. "Those little rascals are going to love these weights. Nothing builds character like a good workout!"
The sack on his shoulder clinked with each step, filled with supplies for his grandkids' training. Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan had grown by leaps and bounds, but Garp knew they still had a long way to go. His five-year plan was far from complete and the three of them had just reached around the same level as a Marine Captain from Headquarters.
As he walked, Garp's mind wandered to the progress they'd made. Yahiko was becoming quite the little lightning rod and could even Elementalize (A few fists of love made him stop thinking he was invincible), Nagato was learning to control his transformations with impressive precision, and Konan... well, the girl could now manipulate her ability to control nature as if it was as simple as breathing.
"Bwahaha! Who would've thought I'd get used to all this rain?" he mused aloud, his booming voice carrying through the misty air.
Suddenly, a distant explosion caught his attention. Garp paused, his keen senses – honed by years of combat in two lifetimes – picking up the sounds of battle. Normally, he would have continued on his way, knowing the complexities of the ongoing war. But something made him hesitate.
Curiosity getting the better of him, Garp decided to take a small detour. He made his way towards the sounds of combat, moving with a speed that seemed impossible due to his size and the burdens he carried.
As he crested a hill, Garp's eyes widened at the scene before him. A fierce battle raged in the valley below, with shinobi from Iwagakure clashing against a smaller force from Konoha. But what caught his attention was a familiar face amidst the chaos – Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin.
"Well, well! If it isn't the Legendary Sucker herself!" Garp chuckled, remembering their brief encounter when he first arrived in the Land of Rain.
Without a second thought, Garp leaped from his vantage point, landing with a thunderous impact that created a small crater and drew the attention of everyone on the battlefield. The Iwa shinobi jumped back, startled by the sudden appearance of this massive, grinning stranger that carried a sack over his shoulder.
Tsunade whirled around, ready to face this new threat, only to pause in confusion. "Garp?" she exclaimed, recognizing the man from their brief encounter two years ago. "What are you doing here?"
Garp straightened up, casually adjusting his grip on the grocery bags. "Oh, you know, just out for a stroll. Thought I'd stop by and say hello. You look like you're having quite the party here!"
Tsunade's eye twitched at his nonchalant attitude. "This isn't a party, you old fool! We're in the middle of a battle!" She glanced around, noting that Dan was holding his own but clearly outnumbered. "Look, since you're here, how about lending a hand?"
Garp stroked his beard thoughtfully, as if considering a trivial matter rather than a life-or-death situation. "Well, I suppose I could stick around for a bit. These groceries can wait, and it's been a while since I had a good workout!"
The Iwa shinobi, interpreting this as a declaration of allegiance to Konoha, immediately launched an attack. A barrage of earth-style jutsu hurtled towards Garp, who stood his ground, that infuriating grin still plastered on his face.
"Take them both down!" an Iwa commander shouted.
"Earth Release: Stone Bullet Technique!" several Iwa nin shouted in unison, launching a volley of rocky projectiles at Garp.
"Now, now." he chided, setting down his groceries with surprising gentleness. "Is that any way to greet a newcomer? Guess I'll have to teach you some manners!"
As the earthen projectiles neared, Garp drew back his fist. "Fist of Love!" he roared, unleashing a punch that shattered the incoming attacks and sent a shockwave through the Iwa ranks, scattering them like leaves in the wind.
Tsunade's jaw dropped at the display of raw power. "What... what was that?"
Garp flexed his fingers, looking almost disappointed. "Eh, just a love tap. These fellows are pretty fragile, aren't they?"
Shaking her head in disbelief, Tsunade decided to take advantage of the opening Garp had created. "I'm going to back up Dan. Can you handle things here?"
"Bwahaha! Don't you worry about me, young lady. Go take care of your man. I'll wrap things up here in no time!"
As Tsunade rushed to Dan's side, Garp turned to face the regrouping Iwa shinobi, cracking his knuckles with a sound like boulders colliding.
"Now then." he said, his grin taking on a slightly feral edge, "Who wants to play?"
The Iwa shinobi, momentarily stunned by Garp's devastating punch, quickly regrouped. Their commander, a grizzled jōnin with a scar running down his left cheek, barked out orders.
"Don't underestimate him! Formation Delta!"
At his command, the Iwa ninja spread out in a wide semicircle around Garp. Their hands flew through a series of complex seals in perfect unison.
"Earth Style: Grand Canyon Crevasse!" they shouted in chorus.
The ground beneath Garp's feet began to rumble and crack. In seconds, a massive fissure opened up, threatening to swallow him whole. Any normal shinobi would have leapt away in panic, but Garp merely looked down with mild interest.
"Oh ho! A magic trick, is it?" he chuckled, seemingly oblivious to the danger. As the earth crumbled beneath him, Garp casually took a step forward, his foot coming down with enough force to shatter the jutsu. The ground stabilized instantly, the fissure closing as if it had never existed.
The Iwa ninjas' eyes widened in disbelief. Their commander gritted his teeth. "Long-range attacks! Don't let him get close!"
A barrage of earth and stone projectiles hurtled towards Garp from all directions. Boulders, jagged spikes, and razor-sharp shuriken made of hardened clay filled the air.
Garp's grin never faltered. He raised his arms, coating them with a layer of Armament Haki. "Ara ara, you kids sure know how to make a mess!"
With movements almost too fast for the eye to follow, Garp began swatting away the projectiles as if they were annoying flies. Boulders shattered against his Haki-infused arms, stone spikes crumbled to dust, and the clay shuriken bounced off harmlessly.
"Is that all?" Garp called out, not even slightly winded. "Come now, I thought we were having a serious fight!"
Frustration and fear began to show on the faces of the Iwa shinobi. Their commander, desperate now, decided to risk a close-quarters assault.
"All units, engage! Crush him with numbers!"
The Iwa ninjas charged, their hands already forming seals for close-range earth jutsu. As they neared, Garp's eyes twinkled with mischief.
"Now that's more like it! Group hug!"
As the first wave of attackers reached him, Garp spread his arms wide and then clapped them together with tremendous force. The resulting shockwave sent shinobi flying in all directions, their jutsu disrupted before they could even complete them.
Those who managed to stay on their feet found themselves face to face with a grinning Garp. He moved through their ranks with a speed that belied his massive size, delivering playful flicks to foreheads and gentle (for him) taps to shoulders. Each casual touch sent ninja sprawling, unconscious or too dazed to continue fighting.
"Whoops! Sorry about that. Don't know my own strength sometimes!" Garp chuckled as he accidentally sent one ninja flying halfway across the battlefield with a friendly pat on the back.
The Iwa commander watched in horror as his forces were decimated by what appeared to be nothing more than playful gestures from this monstrous old man. In a last, desperate gambit, he formed a complex series of hand seals.
"Earth Style: Mountain Crusher Golem!"
The ground shook violently as a massive humanoid figure of rock and earth rose up, towering even over Garp's impressive height. The golem raised its fist, ready to smash Garp into the ground.
Garp looked up at the construct, his eyes widening not in fear, but in childlike wonder. "Now that's impressive! Say, you wouldn't happen to be related to Oars, would you?"
As the golem's fist came crashing down, Garp finally took a stance. He drew back his own fist, a faint blue glow emanating from it.
"Let's see how you handle this! Fist of the Eight Impacts!"
Garp's fist met the golem's, and for a moment, everything seemed to stand still. Then, with a sound like a thunderclap, the golem's arm shattered. Cracks spread rapidly across its body, and before the Iwa commander could even process what had happened, his ultimate technique crumbled into a pile of rubble.
"Dan!" Tsunade called out, her fist connecting with the earth and sending a shockwave that knocked the Iwa Shinobi off balance. "Fall back! We need to regroup!"
Dan nodded, leaping back to join Tsunade. "Who's that monster?" he asked, gesturing towards Garp, who was currently using an Iwa shinobi as a makeshift club to swat away his comrades.
Tsunade shook her head, a mix of awe and exasperation on her face. "That's Garp. He's... well, he's something else."
As they watched, Garp grabbed two Iwa Shinobi by their collars, knocking their heads together with a resounding clang. "Come on, you call that fighting? I've had tougher workouts with my grandkids!"
Garp stood amid the destruction, dusting off his hands. "Ah, that was a good warm-up! Though I might have overdone it a bit. Oi, is anyone still up for a round two?"
His question was met with groans from the scattered, barely conscious Iwa shinobi. The commander, the last one standing, fell to his knees in shock.
"What... what are you?" he managed to stammer out.
Garp walked over to him, his carefree grin back in place. "Me? I'm just a grandpa out for a stroll. Now, how about we call it a day? I've got ice cream melting in one of these bags, and I'd hate for it to go to waste!"
As if to punctuate his statement, Garp's stomach let out a thunderous growl. He laughed heartily, patting his belly. "See? Even my stomach agrees it's time to wrap things up!"
The Iwa commander could only nod dumbly, too shocked and awed to do anything else. Garp gave him a friendly (if somewhat overenthusiastic) pat on the shoulder, nearly driving him face-first into the ground.
"Great! You might want to gather up your friends and head home. And next time, why don't we skip the fighting and go straight to sharing a meal? It's much more fun!"
With that, Garp turned and began gathering up his scattered grocery bags, humming a cheerful tune as if he hadn't just single-handedly defeated an entire platoon of elite Iwa shinobi.
As the dust settled and the groans of defeated Iwa shinobi faded into the background, Tsunade and Dan cautiously approached Garp. The legendary sannin's eyes were wide with a mixture of awe and disbelief, while Dan seemed to be reevaluating everything he thought he knew about combat.
Garp, having gathered up his scattered groceries, turned to them with his characteristic grin. "Ah, there you are! I hope I didn't interrupt your date too much. Though I must say, you folks have an odd idea of romance!"
Tsunade, finally finding her voice, shook her head. "Garp, that was... I've never seen anything like it. You took out an entire platoon of Iwa's elite forces without even trying!"
"Bwahaha! Oh, that? Just a bit of exercise to work up an appetite!" Garp laughed, patting his stomach. "Speaking of which, is there a good ramen stand around here? All this playing around has made me hungry!"
Dan, still looking somewhat shell-shocked, managed to stammer out, "T-thank you for your help. We are in your debt."
Garp waved his hand dismissively. "Don't mention it! Always happy to lend a hand to youngsters in need."
Tsunade, her tactical mind already working, saw an opportunity. She exchanged a quick glance with Dan before turning back to Garp. "Actually, we'd like to repay you properly. Why don't you come back to Konoha with us? I'm sure the Hokage would want to meet you, and we could treat you to the best ramen in the Fire Country."
Garp stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Hmm, a trip to Konoha, eh? Sounds interesting!" His eyes then lit up as if remembering something. "Oh, but I can't leave my grandkids alone for too long. They might slack off on their training!"
Tsunade, sensing his hesitation, quickly added, "Of course, your grandchildren are welcome too. I'm sure they'd enjoy seeing the village."
Garp's grin widened. "Well, in that case, why not? It's been a while since we've had a family trip! Alright, you've got yourselves a deal. Let me just drop off these groceries and round up the little rascals, and we'll meet you at the border in, say, two days?"
Tsunade nodded, a smile of relief and excitement on her face. "Perfect. We'll make the arrangements. Thank you again, Garp. You've done Konoha a great service today."
As they said their goodbyes and parted ways, Garp maintained his jovial exterior. But beneath the surface, his mind was racing with calculations and memories from two lifetimes.
'Konoha, huh?' he thought to himself. 'That means dealing with the old monkey Hiruzen... and that war hawk, Danzo.'
Images flashed through his mind - memories from the anime he'd watched in his previous life, knowledge of the dark undercurrents that ran through Konoha's history. He thought of ROOT, of the Uchiha massacre that was yet to come, of all the machinations that would shape the ninja world's future. He then thought of the ROOT Ninja that came to his home, with him unconsciously tightening his hands a bit further.
'Maybe it's time to nip some problems in the bud.' Garp mused, his internal voice taking on a more serious tone. 'Danzo... that old bastard could be a real pain in the ass if left unchecked. But eliminating him could cause its own set of problems.'
As he made his way back to his home in Amegakure, Garp's mind continued to work through scenarios and potential outcomes. On the surface, he was the same boisterous, carefree Garp, excited about a trip with his grandkids. But underneath, the strategic mind honed by years as a Marine Vice Admiral was already planning several moves ahead.
'Well.' he thought as he approached the house where Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan waited, 'Whatever happens, it's sure to be an interesting visit. And who knows? Maybe the brats will get inspired to up their training.'
With that thought, Garp burst through the door, his booming voice filling the house. "Oi, brats! Pack your bags! We're going on a field trip to Konoha!"
The excited chatter of the children filled the air, but even as Garp laughed and joked with them, a part of him remained focused on the issues he would have to deal with in Konoha.
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