NARUTO: LIGHTNING AND ROSES CHAPTER 69 (Patreon)

Chapter 69

TSUNADE SENJU

At the end of the Second Great Ninja war, Konoha and all major villages faced a conundrum. A conundrum in the sense that all of them could not use the lands of Amegakure to move their troops. Amegakure offered the shortest route for the troops yet could not be used for a singular reason. A singular shinobi who could annihilate whole platoons without even any support.

Hanzo the Salamander, the singular shinobi that made it impossible for any invading force to get a foothold in Ame. In the end, her sensei, the third Hokage, had decided to make a gamble by sending three of his most prized shinobi to combat the shinobi and buy time for their troops’ movement.

Many believe that all three of them had fought Hnazo. While that is true, the truth was a bit different, Tsunade’s biggest contribution in that fight had not been her fighting prowess. No, it had been her skill of healing that had been her major contribution as she had spent a major portion of that fight keeping both Orochimaru and Jiraiya alive.

“This is bad. Facing Hanzo inside the village like this will be a disaster,” Jiraiya spoke up from the side, and she agreed. Tsuande’s eye scanned the surrounding and saw the evacuations still getting carried out. But even then, if Hanzo were to let loose, the damage would be massive, and his poison would spread to the evacuation chambers, killing everyone.

And soon enough, Tsuande had made up her mind. She couldn’t allow Hanzo to let loose. She glanced at Jiraiya and gave her orders.

“Jiraiya, I want you to leave Hanzo to me. I am leaving Pain up to you and Itachi,” she saw the implication behind those words register to Jiraiya as his eyes widened, and he tried protesting.

“What the hell are you talking about? This will kill yo…” but she simply stepped forward, her back straight as she got ready to do her duty as the leader of her village.

“So, it seems you remain hell-bent on resisting me. No matter the truth is that no matter how much you struggle, it is futile,” Pain began speaking in his ominous tone, making Tsunade frown.

“If you think this attack can bring us down, then you are sorely mistaken! As long as a single Konoha shinobi remains to carry the will of fire, you shall never taste victory!” Tsunade replied as she pushed chakra through her coils, readying herself for an attack.

Behind her, she could sense Itachi getting ready as well.

“Ohh! You are mistaken, you may have survived my initial attack, but in the end, I have already accomplished my main purpose,” and with that, he looked to the ground and spoke up.

“Show yourself,” and Tsunade’s eyes widened as she saw two white cacoon-like masses appear from the ground, unraveling to reveal the form of her village’s two resident Uzumaki.

Naruto and Karin lay tied up and unconscious, right at Pain’s mercy.

“Naruto! What the hell are you doing Pain? Leave him out of it!” Jiraiya screamed out, his voice filled with rage, yet Pain remained unperturbed.

“Karin, wake up! Karin!” she tried to jolt the redhead awake, yet to no effect. Tsuande gritted her teeth as Pain began to walk up to Naruto.

“Ohh! You see, I have no business with the boy, but with what is sealed inside him,” and then she saw him levitate the boy and she understood his intentions.

“He plans to release the nine tails! We must stop him at all costs!” she spoke up, making Pain focus his omniscient gaze on her.

“Ohh! So, you have figured it out. But do you really think you can stop me!” before he could continue further, she saw a blur appear in front of Pain as one of its paths appeared right before being lit aflame by Amaterasu.

And then she pushed chakra into her feet, Jiraya doing so as well from the side as they raced towards Naruto, yet their path was soon blocked by Hanzo and the other Path.

Tsunade pushed chakra into her arms. There was no time to face them at all.

“CHAAAAA!” she punched the ground

BOOOOM!

Debris covered the whole area, and she pushed through the smoke only to find Pain’s hand millimeters away from the seal on Naruto’s abdomen.

“You are too lat…!”

“SUMMONING JUTSU!”

POOOOOOOOOOOF!

Suddenly a cloud of smoke obstructed her vision as she heard the telltale signs of metal clashing!

CLANG! CRICH! CRACK!

0000

C

C could finally breathe, just like many of the shinobi beside him, as they finally finished sealing the two tails. C looked around him at the sheer carnage and devastation left by the two tails and was distraught as he saw the dead bodies, the destroyed buildings, and the haunted faces.

This was a clear attack on their village. An attack that had been clearly planned, and then he remembered how Bee-sama was facing another tailed beast.

“Lord Ay, shouldn’t we move to help Bee-sama in facing the seven tails,” he questioned Raikage-sama who stood at the center of the field, looking around.

“NO! It seems that the beast has suddenly vanished! Bee was able to repel the attack on that side,” and C could feel relief flood through him as he heard those words. Finally, a piece of good news.

“What do you think was their purpose in doing this, Raikage-sama?” C questioned as he scanned his surroundings once more.

Lord Ay’s fists clenched as the air around him sparked, and the smell of ozone dominated the air once more.

“I don’t know nor care about their purpose. BUT ONCE I FIND OUT WHO WAS BEHIND THIS! I WILL BUTCHER THEM LIKE SCUM!” and rage and anger radiated off of Raikage-sama.

Then suddenly, C felt his senses scream at him as an intruding presence suddenly appeared out of thin air.

“Ohh, I am afraid you will not find it as easy as you think,” and C looked wide eyed as a shinobi suddenly appeared on top of the sealing pot.

He wore an orange mask with a swirly pattern and his robes were the signature red and black of the famed criminal organization, Akatsuki.

BOOOM!

C watched as Raikage-sama’s body was once again coated with his signature lightning cloak.

“EVERYONE GET OUT OF THE WAY! HE IS MINE!” he screamed, making everyone else back off, leaving him alone with the Akatsuki member. From what C could recall, a member that was not on any bingo book.

“YOU MUST HAVE SOME AUDACITY IN COMING HERE LIKE THIS! BUT I AM GOING TO MAKE YOU REGRET THIS!” and then Ay-sama vanished in a blur heading straight for the masked man.

BOOOM!

The ground exploded once more from Ay-sama’s attack. But C’s senses could no longer locate the masked man’s chakra. Was he dead?

But as the smoke cleared, C watched as A-sama stood at the center of a crater alone, with no sign of the masked man and, more worryingly, of the sealing pot.

“BEHIND YOU!” C suddenly felt the masked man’s chakra once more. Ay-sama reacted immediately, his fist ramming across the space, but instead of hitting the masked man, it passed right through him.

“Well, before I leave, I must thank you for sealing up the two tails. You saved me quite the hassle, Raikage-sama,” and then C watched as the man began to vanish once more, but not without any effort from the Raikage-sama.

Yet C watched with wide eyes as Lord Raikage’s attacks seemed to pass through him.

“AGHHHH! DON’T RUN AWAY LIKE A COWARD! NO MATTER WHERE YOU HIDE, I WILL FIND YOU AND MAKE YOU PAY!” Raikage-sama screamed as the masked man vanished completely, leaving a bitter taste in C’s mouth as he saw the devastation and the loss of life around him, all of which had become meaningless, for Kumogakure had just lost one of its jinchuriki.

Suddenly a shinobi landed beside them, whom C recognized as the head of the intelligence division.

“Lord Raikage! I have concerning news!” the man said as he kneeled on the ground. A-sama was still flushed with rage, his lightning cloak thrumming with lightning.

“WHAT IS IT?”

“We have reports about all of the five great villages facing similar attacks! Akatsuki has attacked all five at once!”

0000

KISAME HOSHIGAKI

Kisame watched with irritation as the kid vanished with the three tails in a puff of smoke. Though, his irritation was short-lived as he broke out into a laugh as he found himself getting duped by shinobi so young.

‘So young and dangerous,’ he thought as he observed the signs of battle. Even though Kisame had his reservations about the reanimation jutsu and its efficacy, the truth of the matter was that even at half his strength, the Third Raikage was a beast unlike any in the shinobi world.

And the kid had defeated the man, which was something Kisame could not say confidently, given what he had heard of the man. He kneeled down, picked up the broken pieces of a sword, felt the chakra remnants in them, and smiled as Samehada suddenly began to devour them voraciously.

“Ohh! You seem to like them. I wonder what this strange chakra I sense in them is,” he commented, not perturbed by the behavior of his sword.

Suddenly he felt a very familiar chakra signature appear next to him as a Zetsu appeared out of the ground.

“What is the status of your mission Kisame-sama?” the white humanoid creature questioned. Kisame thought about his mission objectives and, after a second or so, spoke out.

“The mission was partially successful. Kiri has been decimated by Deidara’s bombs and six tails rampage, yet we were unable to secure the three tails,” and the humanoid creature closed his eyes for a moment, probably conveying the message to the leader before speaking up once more.

“What about the six tails? Is it feasible to capture it?” and Kisame shook his head.

“No, doing so would not be possible. What about the others? Is there any update from them?” he questioned, a bit curious about their progress.

“The mission in Suna and Kumo was successful with the capture of the one and two tails. However, the mission in Iwa has shown mixed results. We captured the five tails, but both Sasori-sama and Kakuzu-sama lost their lives, though, on Iwa’s side, the Third Tsuchikage has also been fatally wounded.”

And Kisame was surprised by the result. It seems the rumor about Han were true, he will have to find out further details about this.

“And what about Konoha?” he questioned, his interest a bit more personal due to the defection of the man he considered a friend.

“There are as of yet no reports from Konoha. Though I have orders for you, you are to retreat with Deidara-sama and return to Amegakure using the previously secured route,” and with that, the Zetsu once more vanished into the ground.

Kisame looked around the whole area again, his mind going over the young shinobi’s features that had escaped his hand.

“Well, we will meet again, little runner, and my gut tells me it won’t even be that long,” he whispered before jumping away.

It was time for him to get that mad bomber, lest he gets himself killed!