Chapter 16
Gojo had faced many failures in his life. He had failed to save Rin, and Obito. He had failed Minato and Kushina-san as well, but he had been too young then. He had tried his best, and yet each time his power had been inadequate to bring about any change in destiny.
The failures had hit him hard, but Hana had given her hope. Her mere presence was what gave him motivation to keep trying when his life had been plagued with so many failures, but she was gone now.
Dead.
But he refused to accept it. He refused to accept this. To others death may seem seem like the end, but he knew better. He knew of a way to conquer this permanence, and with the gift Hana had left for him, he intended to do just that.
It took him two months to fully recover from the injuries he had sustained on the night of the massacre, but now with his body fully healed he stood alone in the Forest of Death to train his newfound powers.
The seals in the bandages stopped his eyes from draining away all of his chakra. His own mind was yet incapable of processing the sheer amount of information his Kekkei Genkai provided when it was fully active, but to win against the God sitting in Ame he would need to be at his full power.
"Here goes nothing," he whispered as he began to unwind the bandages, and as the seal was stripped away he could feel his chakra stores getting stressed but the second he opened those eyes, it felt as if he could see everything and nothing at the same time.
From the ants under his feat to a child crying in his cradle some two hundred miles away. He could sense it all, and for a second his mind was able to process it all, but it took only a few seconds for it to be overwhelmed as he felt a stabbing pain in his head.
"AGHHHHHH!"
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SAKURA HARUNO
Sakura was no iryo-non but even she could tell that what she was watching was no regular iryo-ninjutsu. She had read about the art after Gojo-sensei had made a mention of it, and so she was not entirely unaware of it.
But she was no expert, yet she could tell that she was witnessing a miracle in the making. Gojo Hatake did not use any of the regular instruments. No. his only instrument was a surgical wire so thin that that she could only view it with the 'magnifying loops' over her eyes.
The wire was about as thin as a strand of hair, and he was using only his chakra to manipulate it. It was unfathomable. She watched him as he cut through the tissues, and removed all of the necrotic areas.
He used the wire to stitch up the cut vessels and repair all of the damaged tissue, and wondered to herself that if he was the second best Iryo-nin of the village then just how impressive was Lady Tsunade.
They were past the half way point, when the sound of the explosions shook the room as Sakura's head snapped towards the door.
"What the hell was that?" she gasped.
"We are under attack," he answered, and Sakura could not believe her ears when suddenly the sound of sirens could be heard from the outside.
"The sirens," and that could mean only thing.
"The village," she gasped, but suddenly she felt as if the explosions were happening just outside our door.
"Someone's fighting outside the doors," she realised, and he did not give her a nod.
"Yes," he answered.
"But they won't be able to attack us for some time," and he seemed rather non chalant over it, and his fingers continued to twist and turn as he continued to work on Lee.
"His teammates are guarding the doors," and she frowned at that.
"Neji and Ten Ten? But Neji Hyuga was set to face Sasuke-kun today," and so if he was here, it meant that he had skipped the match.
"Somethings are more more important chunin exams," and the sound of battle continued to grow louder and louder, as Sakura's heart shuddered with nervousness.
Her heart hammered in her chest when suddenly, the door exploded as a masked nin blurred through the air.
"Sensei!" she called out, as she jumped forward and saw a masked nin swing a tanto towards his neck, but thankfully she was able to bring up her kunai just in time to block the tanto.
"That mask," she recognised, and it was an ANBU mask from their village.
"Why..." but the masked shinobi simply twisted his body, and punched her in the gut making her wince in pain.
But Sakura was not one to give up as she grabbed his hand, and twisted it as she pushed chakra into her muscles as Gojo-sensei had taught her.
"SHAAAAA!" and the masked nin seemed surprised by her attack, but it was too late now, as she tore away his arm and smashed her head into his forehead breaking away the mask.
CRACK!
His back hit the wall of the theatre, and she saw his mask fall away to reveal something she could not fathom at all.
"That hitai ate," she gasped.
"You are a Konoha nin?" she realised, and frowned.
"Why are you attacking sensei?" and the unmasked nin pushed himself back to his feet.
"Because he is a threat to the village," and he jumped forward, and despite his injuries he was far faster than any enemy she had ever faced and just as his kunai was about to cut through her throat, a hand came and stopped it from harming her skin.
"That is quite enough," and she looked up and saw Gojo sensei standing over her, as he held onto the unmasked nin's hands.
"AGHHH!" she heard the bones crack as he stepped forward, and made the attacking nin scream out in agony.
"It seems like you are all out of luck," and he removed from his face to reveal a hidden smile, as the unmasked nin fell to his knees.
"Do you have any idea how long I have waited for this day?" he whispered, and Sakura could not understand what was going on now.
"You! You are a traitor! You won't be able to leave this hospital alive," and then she heard her sensei chuckle, as his smile grew wider and despite his smile she could literally feel the killing intent oozing off of him.
She was reminded of her fight against Zabuza and Haku and how she had felt when they had first faced Zabuza, but that was nothing compared to this. Her entire body was literally shaking, and it was as if her body had already accepted that death had come for them.
"You are dead," the shinobi countered, and then in the blink of an eye four masked nin came at him at the same time.
"Sensei," she called out, but amidst all that she saw his lips move as a slight whisper reached her ears.
"Ninpo:..." and then she felt the world end for a moment, and when she opened her eyes a blink later.
"...Infinite Void!" the room was filled only with blood, and the masked nins attacking him had been reduced to pile of blood.
It was a horrifying sight, and she saw his face turn as he looked directly at her.
"The operation is complete," he ordered.
"Have the Iryo-nins take him to his room! He will wake up in a few hours," and with that he simply vanished as Sakura found it impossible to stand with her trembling limbs.
Suddenly she heard the sound of footsteps once more, and her heart began to hammer but she felt relief asa familiar face stepped into the room.
"LEE!" and it was Neji-kun.
"He is fine," she answered, as his eyes fell on her.
"Sensei finished the operation. He says that he will wake up in a few hours," and she saw Neji kun nod, as he walked up to her and helped her stand.
"I need to speak to the Iryo-nin to move him back to his room," she spoke, and Neji-kun nodded.
"I will do it," and by now she was on her feet, and saw him run out of the room. She gave Lee-kun a final glance before she walked out of the room herself, and as she did the sight outside made her stomach twist for the walls of the entire wall were laced with blood, all the while unshattered ANBU masks floated in the pool of blood on the floor.
"What is this, sensei?"
0000
DANZO SHIMURA
Konoha was burning but sometimes one must suffer to achieve greatness. Hiruzen's naivety had left Konoha weak, and this attack would cleanse their village of all the rot and weakness.
The culling was to begin with Sakumo's youngest child, and perhaps it was as if the Gods themselves had chosen to stand by him. In his naivety the boy had decided to help the young genin from Gai's team, a failure of a shinobi who could not even use Ninjutsu or genjutsu.
He respected the boy's devotion, but his future as a shinobi without the two essential arts was bleak, and yet Sakumo's youngest child was using his powers to heal him.
It was beneficial to him for despite years of training there was a limit to how long the boy could use his powers. His new Kekkei Genkai was perhaps the strongest he had ever seen, but those blue eyes of his came with a lot of burden.
They allowed him to see too much, and the simple truth was that the human brain could not comprehend all that information. He knew that the boy had been trying to push the limits of his power, but even geniuses could not beat physiology itself.
"Your kindness will the instrument of your destruction," and the boy was soft, just like his own father.
He probably suspected his plot and yet he had still chosen to help that failure of a genin, and now he would suffer for it. He was standing in his lawn when he felt it though, and for a second he felt as if the world had paused.
The presence that had been ever present for the last few minutes became domineering over the very air for a fraction of the second and as he opened his eyes once more two heads fell to the ground, as their blood splattered on the grass of his garden.
His heart skipped a beat as he recognised those faces.
"Himura, Koharu," and their heads had been severed and there was only one person who would dare touch them.
"You," he glanced up, and there he stood up in the air looking down at him, with blood splattered over his face. Unlike five years ago, there was no rage on his face, as he looked down at Danzo like a god looking down at a pest.
"I told you didn't I," he repeated.
"I will kill you," and Danzo's heart hammered in his chest as he realised that his plan had failed.
"The only reason you pests were able to breathe for so long was because of Sarutobi, yet you chose to betray him for your ambitions," and he smirked.
"You truly are a fool," and so he knew of his deal with Orochimaru.
"The only fool here is you," Danzo countered.
"Do you really think that you can carry the burdens of war all by yourself. Your father tried it once, and we all know what became of it. Compared to him you are nothing," and this could not be happening.
No.
He had to buy time. He had to, for the only way he could survive now was through Hiruzen.
"My father was ten times the shinobi you will ever be," and he did not doubt that.
"Yet the world swallowed him up," Danzo countered.
"Your fate will be no different," he finished, and the boy simply brought his hands together.
"We will see about that," and suddenly.
"Ninpo: Ao...." and a blue orb appeared behind him, as Danzo began to cycle through a series of handseals.
"Ninpo Hanten: Aka..." and then a red orb appeared besides the blue orb, and he had seen these techniques before, and so he knew that his defence would be able to protect him against them.
"Ninpo:..." Danzo pushed his hand onto the ground, and this technique was one that he had inherited from Hashirama-sama himself.
"Sanju Rashomon!" and three giant Rashomon gates rose out of the ground, but Sakumo's youngest child seemed unfazed.
"Kyoshiki..." and the two orbs began to merge into one another as he pushed one of his hands forward, and Danzo had not seen this before.
"Murasaki!" and the two orbs merged into one another to form a purple sphere which rushed towards him, and he could only watch as it tore through the Rashomon gates, in the blink of an eye and tore through his body.
"Impossible..."
BOOOOOOM!
0000
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