Chapter 47: Visitor From a Faraway Land.
Arc: Against Foreign Powers
Disclaimer:
I do NOT own Naruto. Naruto is the work of Masashi Kishimoto, please support the original work.
"Hmm," Jiraiya groaned, swiping away the leaf that landed on his head as the two toads on his shoulders bid their goodbyes. POOF! With a puff of smoke, the two elders vanished as his frog-like features slowly diminished.
A moment later, Tsunade came to his side and sighed.
"Time to rest, you damned old man. Though you made a lot of mistakes, you'll forever occupy a corner of my heart. Thank you for teaching me with all your heart, it's a debt I'll never be able to repay," Tsunade bowed as she closed her eyes.
"Just as Tsunade said, I feel the same way. However, I just can't let myself forget and forgive your errors, especially with Minato and my Godson," Jiraiya mumbled making his teammate look at him. Tsunade said nothing but patted his shoulder, expressing her understanding.
Hiruzen could have changed so many things if he had played his cards correctly. Unfortunately, the old professor had turned muddled with age, and his glory had dimmed like a dying star. It was better that he had died today than later when his luster was further tainted.
"Now, it's time to lift the veil of your misdeeds, Danzo," Tsunade said, her tone sharp enough to cut as she knelt, slowly taking off the bandages wrapped around Danzo's arms.
"Eugh—"
She nearly threw up when she saw four wide-open eyes with scarlet pupils, each sporting the signature three tomoe of the Uchiha's Sharingan on Danzo's arm, and six closed eyes that were bleeding away. When she lifted Danzo's shirt, she saw the face of her Grandfather.
"This old fucker," Tsunade cursed, trying to calm herself. If Danzo was still alive, she would've loved to pummel his body for as long as he remained conscious, then throw him to the deepest pits of hell.
"Tsunade," suddenly, the two turned to look at their back. There, they saw Naruto eyeing Danzo's body. "I'd like for my payment to be in the form of Danzo's body," Naruto said.
"No," came Tsunade's immediate reply. "Why?" Naruto asked, a little irritated. Jiraiya was about to explain when Tsunade punched his shoulder lightly, giving him a cold warning gaze that made him sweat all over his body. 'I'm sorry Naruto, but I'm siding with Tsunade with this one.'
Even if the latter hadn't sent him a warning glare, he would've made the same decision.
"Do you think I'd let you obtain all of these eyes just like that?" Tsunade scowled. "And I'm pretty sure his body contains my Grandfather's cells," Tsunade added. "His body is priceless, you can't obtain it."
"Okay, but I demand that you destroy all the sharingan in his body," Naruto said. "Otherwise, I don't think we can be at peace," Naruto said, his face slowly turning dark and before Tsunade could blink, a scroll had already silently slipped into Naruto's hands.
Tsunade hesitated for a while before making up her mind. "Fine," she said and took out a kunai to stab all eleven sharingan eyes on Danzo's body.
"Burn his blood," Naruto ordered. "Shut up, brat," Tsunade growled but did as Naruto asked. She was already going to do it, Naruto's worries were redundant.
"Alright, it's done. I'll pay you for the S-rank mission later, we have to get some business over with. Come with me, Jiraiya," Tsunade ordered as she dragged Hiruzen and Danzo's bodies away. Jiraiya helplessly looked at Naruto and shrugged.
"Wait for me, princess," Jiraiya shouted, chasing after Tsunade after tossing a scroll toward Naruto.
Naruto caught the scroll and opened it, seeing the bold "Late Happy Birthday, x 12" phrase written at the very start, and chuckled. "Silly Godfather," Naruto muttered under his breath and walked away to the opposite of Jiraiya and Tsunade.
As Jiraiya and Tsunade walked toward the Hokage Tower, they were greeted by the two elderly Hokage advisors. "Jiraiya of the Toad Sannin, we want you to become the Fifth Hokage," Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane said, their voice seemingly merging together as they both tried to look imposing on the white-haired sage.
Before Jiraiya could shake his head, Tsunade gripped his arm and made him look toward her. "Jiraiya, world peace was your ultimate goal, wasn't it?" She asked.
"Tsunade..."
"Shut up and listen to me," Tsunade furrowed her brows. "You want to take the world and lead it to a peaceful path, yet you don't want to take action? What a load of bullshit."
"Jiraiya, show me the energetic and optimistic Jiraiya that I love and hate, the Jiraiya that chased after Orochimaru to bring him back. Show me that your fire still burns bright within you, show me that you still have ambitions for the future. Jiraiya, I want you to become the Hokage," Tsunade said, her eyes basking in the glow of the setting sun as she stared unlinking at Jiraiya's dark-brown eyes.
"But Tsunade!"
"No! Don't you want to repay Minato for not being there for his son? Don't you want to make the village bright and sunshine again? Don't you want to give hope to the dreadful villagers again? Jiraiya, we just experienced an invasion, the village needs hope. And that hope is you, Jiraiya," Tsunade said, a bit of anger and hope floating inside of her amber-brown eyes.
"Tsunade... do you really... trust me? Do you think I can do it?"
As soon as Jiraiya finished voicing his doubts, Tsunade slapped his shoulder and laughed. "Are you really the Jiraiya I know? Where's your confidence? Did you drop it somewhere? Come on and take the hat already, I'll be waiting for you at the lobby," Tsunade grinned and turned back while waving her hand.
"TSUNADE!" Just before Tsunade closed the door behind her, she halted as Jiraiya yelled out.
"I'll only accept the hat if you stay in the village and help me manage the medical ninjas," Jiraiya said, his tone uncharacteristically solemn. Although he couldn't see Tsunade's face, Jiraiya would bet on his life that Tsunade had a silly grin on her face.
"Idiot," she mumbled.
SLAM!
Jiraiya laughed, seeing the closed door that nearly fell off its hinges.
CREAAAK—
"What took you so long?"
Inside a dimly lit room, a girl with long, dark-blue hair spoke with her eyes closed when she heard the door creak open.
"I was dealing with some issues," the welcomed intruder replied, his voice flat and void of any emotion.
"That's rude," the girl said when she heard his tone, smiling as she opened her eyes. When she saw the red hair she missed so much, her heart started pounding as if wanting to burst out from her chest as she suppressed the desire to embrace the boy she longed for.
She couldn't pinpoint why, but her heart belonged to him from the very start and even after so many years had passed, her love never once waned.
"It's been a while, Naruto-kun," she said, her eyes gleaming with expectations.
"It has been, Hinata," Naruto said as he walked out from the shadows to reveal his face to the girl he loved just because.
"Huh?"
In an unknown place, a voice echoed out, his tone indescribable as if it came from ten different beings from different races.
"The resurrection... was hastened," the voice muttered, his tone containing doubt and pleasant surprise.
"What happened out in the real world? Did someone open that accursed prison?" The voice said, remembering that humiliating day. He was strolling about, visiting from planet to planet when he stumbled across what he described as a "gold mine."
He thought he had struck the jackpot. He never expected that behind the lustrous gold coin dangling in front of his face was a deadly explosive and a potent poison. One touch and he almost lost all his grace.
"That damned crazy bastard, I almost died," he roared, wishing nothing more than to tear that person apart.
"Hmph, thinking to defy me is all for naught," as much as he hated that person for defeating him through mysterious ways, it was a blessing in disguise. Because thanks to that man, he now had a better vessel to use.
"When I return, I will let the world taste what I tasted. I'll make this world kneel in shame," the voice echoed out, his laughter reverberating throughout the land on which he was trapped for years. He would've been sealed for hundreds more years if not for someone opening his prison.
"Whoever opened the barrier, I thank thee," he laughed louder.
BANG!—BANG!—CAW! CAW!
ROAAR! ROAAR!
"It's happening again," a boy with long, brown hair and dark-brown eyes mumbled as he looked at the giant birds and animals running amok inside the forest.
"How many times was it now?" a man said beside the boy with long hair. He was holding a giant broad sword with his right hand as he leisurely sat on the ground, lazing next to the long-haired boy and a giant black crow.
"The fifth time already," the giant crow suddenly spoke, but it seemed as if the two humans were already used to him speaking as they didn't even flinch.
"It's the fifth time this week that the chakra beasts have gone on a stampede," the crow continued, his eyes filled with suspicion and doubt.
"I hope master will come soon, otherwise I don't know if I can keep resisting that voice," the crow said as he closed his eyes to regain his energy after a long, arduous battle that the two humans beside him could never understand.
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