Chapter 27
He had lost. He was completely defeated and spent. And even with the man who began it all right in front of him, Iruka just couldn't see what he could do. But he had no choice but to try to move forward and end this one way or another.
Iruka saw his opponents not moving in on him, so he forced his chakra, which was sluggishly responding to him, into his feet. Pushing too much of it, he shot forward. But he was too slow, as shuriken flew right at his face the moment he moved.
Almost breaking his back by leaning back, Iruka avoided them, only to have four shuriken strike his right leg, forcing him to fall to the ground. Ignoring the pain as his painkillers were starting to wear off, Iruka got back to his feet, only to be met with two almost invisible giant shuriken with wind chakra imbued in them that flew at him.
One low, one high; their width made it impossible to move out of the way in time. Iruka spun his body in the air without jumping too high, going right in the middle of the two shuriken that could have cut him to pieces if they even touched him.
The landing was rough, as he still had four shuriken stuck in his leg, and it was bleeding heavily. But before he could do anything about it, fire almost engulfed him, forcing him to once again jump away from it and away from his enemies.
They wouldn't let him get any closer to them than this. After all the shinobi Iruka had killed, after all that Danzo had lost, now he had decided not to risk it. Playing it smart, even though he didn't need to anymore. As Iruka was on his last breath, but now they decided to play it smart.
No, Iruka realized the true motive behind Danzo's actions, even with his muddled mind. That bastard still wanted Iruka alive after all of this. He still needed Iruka, and he wouldn't let him just die until the very end.
But without Yamanaka, how was he going to take Iruka's body and force him to do his bidding? The answer was obvious; it was just hidden behind Danzo's bandaged eye. So, as long as his body could move and do what Danzo wanted after he captured Iruka, it would be his complete victory.
It seemed that Iruka didn't have much of a choice either. Fight. He could only fight and move without stopping until he dropped dead. Dodging more thrown weapons, Iruka ran in circles, trying to find an opening. But the last ones left were tight in their defenses and wouldn't allow Iruka to use any tricks to break into their formation.
Danzo still didn't take any action, just watched Iruka's worthless efforts. Like a spectator who had no connection to any of this. His whole organization was nearly destroyed by Iruka, and he didn't care in the slightest.
Well, it wasn't these people who made his organization; it was him alone. The only one Danzo couldn't replace was himself. So, why would he care about tools he had chosen to be useful and discarded when they were no longer needed?
In the end, Iruka couldn't watch it anymore. Even if it wasn't the Uchiha incident, Iruka wouldn't have been able to just watch from the outside as Danzo used shinobi and then threw them away after their usefulness was spent. If only he had the power to do something sooner.
But maybe this would be enough. Probably not, but Iruka was left with no choice but to try and believe that everything he had been through wasn't completely useless. From his right, more wind-infused shuriken flew at him; from his left, lightning ran along the ground. And right in the middle of it, a torrent of flames was coming to turn Iruka into ashes.
Taking a deep breath, Iruka dove into the flames, letting them burn his body as he used them to shield himself from the eyes of everyone else. Finally, he reached the one who used the jutsu, just as his chakra was running out, barely protecting him from being completely turned to ash.
Catching his enemy by the throat, Iruka used all his strength to bash him into the floor before quickly taking his sword and jumping at Danzo, who was closer than he had ever been. He was almost within Iruka's reach.
A sidestep to the side in unimaginable speed and swiftness made Iruka miss his slash. A knee to his stomach lifted Iruka from the ground, and then he was bashed in the back of his head, crashing onto the floor.
Before he could even try to roll, a foot descended on his back. Then Danzo kicked him in the side, rolling Iruka onto his back so he could look down on him. Danzo's foot on his chest made Iruka unable to move. Even breathing was controlled by Danzo's strength in his leg.
Still, Iruka's hand moved for the leg, only to be stabbed to the floor too. But that was fine, Iruka rolled his tongue, spitting the hidden needle he had saved at Danzo, only for the bastard to see through his trick and block it with his bandaged arm.
"Are you done?" Danzo asked, waiting for Iruka to do something more.
"Yeah, I'm done," Iruka replied, knowing it was the end for him, but the end for Danzo too; he just needed a bit more time. "What now?"
Iruka looked at Danzo in the eye, making him focus on his eyes as he drew a seal with his finger while his palm was nailed to the floor with a sword. The blood from his hand was a good enough medium. But it was extremely difficult to even move his finger, so he needed more time.
"Now, it is time for you to do what I need you to do." The moment Iruka saw Danzo undoing the bandages of his eye, he rushed to finish drawing the seal while closing his eyes. "Hmm? So you knew of it? I guess I should have known better, since your relationship with the Uchiha wasn't secret. But I didn't expect Shisui to inform you of this. If I had known, I could have used you sooner and for more important things. No matter, you fill a role, I need you. Open his eyes."
While one held Iruka's head in place, another pried open his eyelids. It was fine; he had finished the seal and only needed to control his chakra to activate it. Even if the explosion wouldn't kill Danzo, it should be enough.
Too bad Iruka wouldn't see his students reach their potential, but he had already given them a path to follow and could only trust them to grow by themselves. With this, there was no saving him, and hopefully, Danzo will receive his share of damage too.
"I told you, do not give me a reason to interfere." Just as the red eye met Iruka's eyes, a figure appeared behind Danzo.
Before Danzo could react or finish what he started, a hand went over his eye and ripped it out of his skull. The shinobi holding Iruka moved away but didn't engage the figure, watching as Danzo covered his bleeding, empty eye socket.
Before the opportunity passed, Iruka grabbed the sword, pinning down his other hand and wrenched it free, and with one swift movement, cut off Danzo's covered arm all the way from the shoulder, taking it and retreating away. He looked at the Third Hokage standing above Danzo, holding the eye he had just ripped away.
"Hiruzen," Danzo looked between the Third Hokage and Iruka, realizing how things were going to be. "Why are you here?"
"Do I need a reason to come see you, my friend?" the Third Hokage replied, looking around at the carnage Iruka had made. "I have been here from the very beginning, watching. But I promised I wouldn't interfere if you didn't give me a reason to do so. Yet here we are, look at yourself, using the power you so much despise."
"Shut up! You know nothing. You should just keep your eyes closed and enjoy the peace you so much desire. I did your work, and now all you are doing is interfering with things you shouldn't have."
"Even with this eye, you are blind, Danzo," Hiruzen said, sorrowfully looking at him. "Shisui and Itachi's eyes were far better than yours, and better than mine, too. I should have trusted them more than I trusted you. But I was blind, and I have made a mistake that I will regret for the rest of my life."
"Why?" Danzo seemed desperate now as he looked at the arm Iruka was holding. "For him? You decided to open your eyes for the first time for him?"
"You look at him, and yet you still cannot see," Hiruzen said, genuinely disappointed. "Have you not realized what he has managed to do? He killed your subordinates, discovered your secret base, and got to you."
"And? Should I be impressed that he got rid of my useless tools?"
"I pity you, Danzo. I truly do. And I regret ever believing that you wanted the best for the village. How can you not see that Iruka accomplished everything without using anything you are so proud of? Can you not understand that he is what a true shinobi of Konoha is supposed to be? My son saw it, and it took me time, but I saw it too. I thought maybe you would be able to see it as well."
"See what?"
"He, who doesn't have any remarkable talents, without using the power of others or relying on forbidden or secret techniques, has reached you. Using only what anyone could learn. And look at yourself, look at what you had to resort to to stop him. With him, how can you or your organization have any meaning anymore? It isn't your subordinates who have become useless tools. It is you, Danzo."
"Then, as every useless tool, it is time I get discarded," Danzo replied as black seals appeared around his body. He glared at the Third Hokage and turned to Iruka for one last time, finally showing emotion while looking at him. "But I won't be going alone."
"Will you shut up already?"
Iruka didn't have enough strength to listen to this nonsense anymore, and he wanted to be the one to finish what he started. With one hand sign, the seal he left behind under Danzo's feet activated. The explosion was neither too big nor too small, just enough to engulf everything around it in extreme heat.
Without his eyes and caught by surprise, Danzo couldn't do anything to defend himself. Even if he did, the Third Hokage would have stopped Danzo. When the flames subsided, there was nothing left but a burned carcass, blackened and lifeless.
With it all over, Iruka looked at the arm he was still holding, and using the last bit of his chakra, he burned it until there was nothing left but ash. Not even bone survived it. The Third Hokage only sighed at the scene before him, then walked up to Iruka.
He caught Iruka by the elbow as he fell and helped him to stand. Iruka could feel his body falling apart as the medicine wore off. Without tension in his body, he had no will to hold on any longer.
"You did an excellent job, Iruka-sensei," the Third Hokage said as he carefully laid Iruka down.
"It was nothing, sir," Iruka replied, barely managing to breathe. "I just did my job."
"You have done far more than could be expected from you or anyone else," the Third Hokage said. "Rest now. I will take care of the rest."
"Then I will be leaving it to you, sir," Iruka murmured, closing his eyes as it became too hard to keep them open.
As the last specks of light left his eyes, he wondered if he would wake up if he succumbed to sleep now. But if he didn't, he didn't mind too much. He had done his job, and for what little it mattered, he had made some changes. Maybe his life wasn't pointless and worthless in the end.
Even if Danzo's death wouldn't change much of the future, he had managed to change something far more important. Now, those stupid students of his would be able to learn to be true shinobi without anyone interfering. That was far better than anything he had hoped for to accomplish in this life.
A.N. Hopefully, you all got better holidays than I did. Somehow, my whole family got the flu after Christmas. And since my health wasn't good to begin with, I still have it. Only yesterday did I finally get better enough to get up from bed and not feel like I was dying. Good start to the new year.
As always. Thanks for reading and supporting me. If you want 7 more chapters of this story and 42 chapters in total with all my current stories, please consider supporting me on pa treon ironworlf852. Thanks in advance.