Chapter 98: Just a Tiny One-Tail, Easily Handled
"You Sunagakure shinobi dare to lay a hand on one of Konoha's Kekkei Genkai users? Are you trying to start a war?" Sakumo Hatake demanded, his grip tight on the hilt of his white tantō as he attempted to negotiate with Shamon.
Unfortunately, the Second Kazekage was in no mood for reason. With a perfectly crafted scapegoat right in front of him, why would he ever let this opportunity go?
"It is a great tragedy that two shinobi have perished within the borders of our Land of Wind," Shamon declared, his voice devoid of any actual sorrow. "Therefore, we will deliver the body of the former Daimyō's daughter, the Jōnin Kazushi, to Konoha as a formal explanation. I imagine the Leaf will be quite satisfied with this outcome."
Before the words had even fully settled, his hands flew through a series of seals. "Sand Style: Quicksand Abyss!"
By the time Danzō arrived with his shinobi, he was greeted by the sight of Sakumo Hatake being slammed into a vortex of swirling sand by the One-Tail's Jinchūriki.
If Sakumo had encountered the Jinchūriki and Shamon at the start, he might have been able to escape, even if he couldn't win. But he had been running all night with the Hyūga clansman, fought a desperate battle against Kazushi, and then had to break through an encirclement. He wasn't a member of the Uzumaki or Senju clans; his chakra reserves were not built for such prolonged endurance.
He was already at his limit, and now he was trapped, the crushing sand rendering him immobile.
His chest felt like it had collapsed. Blood welled up in his throat with every hitched breath. He'd been struck by some unknown poison, too; despite the severity of his injuries, he felt no pain, only a spreading numbness.
If a miracle didn't happen, this was where he would die.
The downside was that he would perish just as he was becoming famous. He didn't even want the fame, really. A title like 'Konoha's White Fang'wasn't cool at all—Hokage-sama's'Purple Flame Princess' sounded so much better.
The upside? He finally wouldn't have to worry about that headache-inducing homework from the Hokage's elite training class when he got back.
Heaven only knew why he, the dignified Captain of the ANBU Black Ops, still had to do homework.
Beside him, the minor character known as Hyūga Gen hadn't even had a chance to participate in such a high-level battle; he'd been knocked unconscious by the shockwave of a Tailed Beast Bomb long ago.
Taking in the battlefield from a distance, a cold sweat instantly broke out across Danzō's forehead.
This was supposed to have been a simple backup mission. Why in the world was a Tailed Beast involved? That meant he would have to fight a Tailed Beast.
'Wait,'he thought, his eyes narrowing.'The man standing next to the Tailed Beast—isn't that the Second Kazekage?'
Did Sakumo steal Sunagakure's meager village funds? Or perhaps Shamon's private savings? What could he have possibly done to warrant such an overwhelming response?
What should he do? It was a Tailed Beast. Could he handle it?
Decisively, no. He could not.
And yet, after only a second of hesitation, Danzō charged resolutely toward the battlefield.
He remembered that day, back in the Land of Lightning, when Tobirama-sensei had asked who was willing to stay behind as a diversion. He had wanted to stand up, but the cowardice in his heart, the primal fear of death, had frozen him in place. He had desperately wanted to prove himself, but his legs simply refused to obey. That terror of imminent death had overwhelmed every noble instinct.
Saru had been more decisive, stepping forward without a moment's hesitation to volunteer.
In that instant, Danzō knew he would never be able to surpass Hiruzen.
Now, a comrade needed saving. Was he going to be a deserter again?
'It's just a Tailed Beast, isn't it?'he tried to convince himself, his heart pounding.'The Nine-Tails was once the Second Hokage's summoned beast.''The Nine-Tails was captured by the Third.''The Nine-Tails is practically the Fourth Hokage's personal punching bag.''Is it proud of that?' Danzō thought with a surge of false bravado.'It's just a tiny One-Tail. Easily handled.'
He was the first to charge in, positioning himself to shield Sakumo Hatake as he roared a formal reprimand.
"Konoha's Hokage Advisor, Danzō Shimura, is here! Second Kazekage, you attack a Konoha shinobi at will—do you wish to incite a war?"
He didn't give Shamon a chance to answer. "Our Fourth Hokage has been looking forward to speaking with the Kages of the other nations again. After all, she is the only Fourth Kage while the rest of you are still on your second or third. It gets quite lonely at the top."
The meaning was unmistakable: let us go immediately, or our Fourth Hokage will pay the Hidden Sand Village a personal visit for a 'chat.' And believe it or not, she could make sure you were on your Fourth Kazekage in a single breath.
As the words left his mouth, Danzō felt a sudden, invigorating rush. Acting powerful by borrowing someone else's authority was actually quite satisfying. If this round of Talk no Jutsu succeeded, he could hold it over Hiruzen's head for an entire year.
A medical-nin from his squad immediately rushed to the edge of the battlefield, dragging the two casualties—Sakumo and the other man—to safety and beginning treatment.
The Sand shinobi, however, did not move.
Shamon now found himself in a passive position. He hadn't expected Konoha's reinforcements to include such a heavyweight. Konoha wasn't some backwater village where geniuses grew on trees, but shouldn't they have just sent a couple of elite Jōnin squads? Why dispatch a Hokage Advisor?
Do your Hokage Advisors just leave the village so casually? You're the head of one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, have some standards!
Shamon was panicking.
What now? If he didn't kill them, the fact that he had personally set a trap to murder Kazushi would surely be exposed. Given the nature of inter-village politics, Konoha would undoubtedly exaggerate the incident until his reputation was in ruins. To appease the shinobi and civilians of his own village, he might even be forced to step down.
But if he did kill them… what then?
They truly couldn't defeat the Fourth Hokage. If they could, Sunagakure wouldn't be so damn poor.
Shamon's indecisiveness flared. He was an expert in internal affairs but a complete amateur in foreign policy, a trait he was now demonstrating to its fullest. He felt as if he were being roasted over a fire, completely unable to make a decision.
Then, the One-Tail made the decision for him.
The current Shukaku did not have a good relationship with its Jinchūriki, Bunpuku. It had even been beaten down by Kazushi during a recent rampage. After Bunpuku had undergone the Tailed Beast transformation, Shukaku had been fighting to break its shackles and suppress its host's consciousness. Now, it had finally succeeded.
With its notoriously violent temper, the beast opened its maw and fired a Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet directly at Danzō's head.
'Holy crap, they're actually fighting!'
His attempt to act tough had backfired spectacularly. "How dare you!" Danzō bellowed in anger. Konoha had a Fourth Hokage! How could they still act so brazenly in his presence?
Unfortunately, Shukaku's Drilling Air Bullet wasn't like other Tailed Beast Bombs; it had no long charge time, no dramatic wind-up. It used small, concentrated portions, spitting them out in rapid succession as if they were mere saliva.
Danzō was sent scrambling, chased all over the desert like a cornered animal.
Though he was in his prime, Danzō possessed no special Kekkei Genkai, nor did he have that infamous arm studded with Sharingan that would serve as his revival tokens in the future. His mastery of Wind Release was consummate, but fighting a Tailed Beast was a life-or-death gamble. With the situation so unclear, how could he possibly risk his life so casually?
Fortunately, Shukaku was in a state of complete berserker rage. It wasn't just attacking Danzō; it was attacking Shamon's forces as well. Although the One-Tail had the least chakra among the Tailed Beasts, that was only a relative comparison. The Drilling Air Bullet was a ninjutsu it had specifically developed to conserve that chakra, and it was brutally effective.
For a moment, the scene descended into utter chaos as the Tailed Beast's massive body rampaged, attacking everyone in sight.
Danzō tried to escape with his team several times but failed. The Konoha shinobi nearby attempted to distract Shukaku to rescue him, only to be swatted away by its massive, sand-caked tail.
Meanwhile, that dog Shamon still wanted to eliminate Sakumo to secure his scapegoat. He executed a feint, tricking Shukaku into missing him with a Drilling Air Bullet.
A fully charged, oversized blast of compressed wind suddenly shot from the center of the battlefield to the outskirts, hurtling straight toward the wounded Sakumo Hatake.
"Oh no! Sakumo!" Danzō cried out in alarm, trying to rush toward his unconscious comrade.
But the distance was too great. He would never make it in time.
It looked as though Sakumo Hatake and the medical-nin attending to him were about to be obliterated.
At that critical moment, a purple stream of light flashed through the void. It moved with impossible speed, a violet meteor streaking through the air, appearing in the trajectory of the Drilling Air Bullet in the blink of an eye.
Immediately afterward, a powerful surge of chakra exploded in the air as the purple light intensified. Then, a hand pressed against the incoming sphere of wind.
BOOM!
The terrifying attack was held steady by that single, slender hand. Violent energies clashed, emitting a piercing shriek, yet the blast could not advance another inch.
The next second, her wrist flicked, and she slapped it—hard.
That fearsome Drilling Air Bullet was sent flying back, moving even faster than when it had arrived, arcing back across the battlefield and returning directly to the feinting Shamon.
Her purple combat uniform rustled in the wind. Because of her extreme speed, her waist-length hair was only now slowly settling around her. Her entire body was shrouded in an aura of violet flames. It was Konoha's Fourth Hokage, Ida Stelle.
She turned her head slightly, glancing at the two people she had just shielded.
"Sakumo, are you alright?"
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