Chapter 63
Back in Kiri, their forces found themselves being backed into a corner as they found themselves facing the Professor himself, though thankfully, there was little solace for them in the fact that the man was being handicapped by his own summon.
Though when facing a man of such power and stature, such a handicap did little.
"Is there no one competent here?" Enma shouted as he brawled with his old friend and comrade. And he hated being made to do this. Him and Hiruzen had been allies for centuries and now because of that accursed pupil of his he was being forced to fight against his old friend.
"Watch out!" Hiruzen shouted, and despite the warning, Enma failed to avoid the kick aimed at his torso, but the warning allowed him to brace himself as he used his tail to spin in the air and steady his feet, as four shinobi tried to rush towards Hiruzen, but his hands moved in a blur.
"Katon: Phenix Flower Jutsu!" and the orbs of fire rushed towards incoming shinobi, but the men behind him acted quickly.
"Suiton: Water Bullets!" and the water bullets hit the fire orbs, and of the four, two managed to reach Hiruzen, but Enma had seen this trick many a times, and as he saw Hiruzen's body glow, he realised the trap.
"It's a trap!" he warned, but it was too late, and the clone exploded, pushing them back, and if his guess was right, then Hiruzen would appear from below them now.
BOOOOOM!
"He is below us," he tried to warn, but it was too late as he saw Hiruzen's hand grab onto the ankles of one of the Kiri nin.
"AGHHH!" and the man was then pulled into the ground, as Hiruzen jumped up.
"Head Hunter jutsu," one of the Kiri nin gasped, but Hiruzen was not done as he quickly cycled through a series of handseals.
"Futon: Vaccum Slash!" and a massive attack came, and threatened to cut all the shinobi around him in half, and so Enma stepped forward, and pushed chakra into his arm.
"Transform!" and his arm shifted as the adamantine coating appeared on it.
"AGHHH!" and he was able to block the attack, but such a partial transformation left a bruise on him.
"Wind, Earth, Fire. Is there anything he cannot use?" one of the Kiri nin gasped.
"Of course not," Enma raged.
"Have you lot forgotten why he was called the Professor!" and Shinobi had such short memories.
"The man has mastered all the techniques there are. If you can think of a technique, then he has mastered it, and its counter. So go and get me your Kage now, or he will flatten your village," and they shook their heads.
"The Mizukage-sama is not here. She has gone to the Kage Summit and has taken Ao-sama and Chojuro-kun with her," and he grit his teeth.
"Then I am afraid you will have to hold on until help arrives, old friend," Hiruzen whispered, and just the Enma felt another chakra appear, as a kunai whipped past him and towards Hiruzen.
Hiruzen was able to avoid it, but Enma had not missed the unique shape of the kunai, and before he could utter a word, a shinobi appeared over Hiruzen, one with whom he was rather familiar.
"I believe help is here," and it was him indeed, as Enma found himself grinning with relief as a blue orb emerged in the newcomer's hand.
"Ninpo: Rasengan...."
.
.
.
BOOOM!
0000
JIRAIYA—The Toad Sage
Ever since that masked shinobi had appeared, Jiraiya had been expecting an attack, and he was not the only one. So, as the jutsu leveled the ground, the Five Kage found themselves pushed under the ground, as both he and the Tsuchikage acted together and used a Doton Jutsu to push them under the ground, and now with the attack over, they pushed themselves back up as Pain stood there floating up in the air.
"You really need to change your pattern," Terumi Mei taunted, as she shed her cloak and hat just like the rest of them, as they prepared themselves for a fight.
"You have been using the same jutsu over and over again," and Jiraiya tried to locate the other six of Pains so called paths, and yet sensed none.
Their guards had been pushed to one side of the crater, and it was not entirely bad for now, they had to face Pain with just the five of them.
"Impressive," Pain added, and he did look a lot like Yahiko, but Jiraiya knew the truth that this was not really Yahiko. No, it was Nagato controlling him through those rods.
"But I had expected nothing less out of shinobi who bear the title of Kage," and by now they were all ready to fight.
"Do you really have any idea what you have done?" the Raikage shouted as he stepped forward.
"Attacking us here together was a mistake. You seriously cannot think that you will make it out of here alive," he challenged, and Pain raised a brow.
"I am afraid you are wrong in that," Pain challenged.
"It will be you kage who will meet your end here today, and so will your villages," and those words hit hard as silence filled the air.
"What have you done?" Ohnoki questioned as dread filled his heart.
"You need not care for that, for this place here will become your graveyard," and that was the last straw, and Ohnoki cycled through a set of handseals.
"Jinton: Genkai Hakuri no Jutsu!" and a gleaming cube surrounded Pain, and it was the famous Particle style of the Tsuchikage, and should have destroyed Pain, but in the next second, the cube began to change as Pain began to absorb the jutsu.
"He is absorbing the ninjutsu," Temari of the Sand whispered with narrowed eyes.
"But I thought this was the power of one of his other paths," and Pain raised a brow as he absorbed the Raikage's jutsu.
"Was that all?" he taunted, and Ohnoki grunted his teeth.
"You insolent fool!" and with that, he slapped his hands on the ground.
"Doton: Gōremu no Jutsu," and a massive Earthen Golem emerged out of the Earth and began to attack Pain, and he was not the only one as the Raikage appeared behind him, his body crackling with that iconic lightning cloak of his.
"Raigyaku Suihei Choppu!"
And now he was being attacked from both sides, and yet two arms sprouted out of his body and shot out massive projectile weapons, similar to how Asura Path was said to.
BOOOM! BOOOOM!
The Golem's arm was destroyed, but the Raikage was not to be stopped, as he attacked Pain, who blocked it with his arm, and Jiraiya saw it crack, yet Pain's facial expressions did not shift at all.
"Shinra Tensei!"
"AHHHH!" and the Raikage was sent flying back, and hit the ground as Pain began to lower himself.
"Hah! DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT IS ENOUGH TO DEFEAT ME!" and Unruly Ay was back on his feet in the blink of an eye, but Jiraiya was simply using all this time to prepare himself, for he knew that if Nagato had chosen to show himself, then he believed that he could win.
"You have already lost one arm, and soon enough we will tear you apart limb from limb, and I will have my revenge for my brother," and the Kazekage was on the move, as she furled open her fan.
"Futon: Atsugai!" and a literal storm of wind rushed towards Pain, who chose not to absorb the attack, and let the wind cut his skin.
"Will that be all?" he challenged, and suddenly a massive purplish structure appeared behind him, and he saw his arm twist itself back into shape, and his wounds all began to heal, and in two seconds, Pain was as he had been.
"I see now," and the Mizukage made the same observation as him.
"What?" the Tsuchikage gritted out in frustration.
"His paths. Somehow or for some reason, he has merged them all into that one body," the Mizukage answered, and that changed things somewhat.
"Is that good or bad?" questioned the Kazekage.
"I don't know," Jiraiya answered, and finally, his preparations were complete as he stepped forward.
"But it changes little for us," and with that, he bit into his thumb.
"Whether it's six of them or one," and with the blood, he painted the markings on his face, before he formed the handseal.
"We just have to win," and slapped his hands on the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!" and immediately he felt his body fill with Senjutsu chakra, as the world around him shifted.
"Hatsudō! Sennin Mōdo!" and the two Toad Sages now sat on his shoulder.
"So it is time," Pa asked, and Jiraiya nodded.
"Yeah, I believe it is," Jiraiya answered, as Pain looked him in the eye.
"Did you really think you were the only ones who came here with preparations?" and now he frowned, as Pain bit on his thumb and cycled through a set of handseals.
"You all must be wondering how I was able to defeat Hanzo the Salamander," and indeed that had been on his mind as well.
"Let me show you then," and with that, he slapped his hand onto the ground.
"Kuchiyose..." and then the entire ground shook, as a giant erupted from the ground.
"...Gedō Mazō!"
BOOOOOM!
0000
KITSUCHI—Iwagakure Jounin Commander
Ohnoki-sama had feared this very thing. The Akatsuki was an organization of unfathomable power. Facing one of the Great Hidden Villages was a challenge on its own, and yet the criminal organization had decided to take on all five of them at once.
One could think of it as senseless bravado, but Ohnoki-sama believed it to be a troubling sign. He believed that they had yet to see the full strength of the organization, and that if it had really decided to take on the Five Great Nations, then it was only because it had the confidence that it could win against them.
So, that was why when he had left, the man had put him in charge of the village. Kitsuchi had no doubt in his mind that he was not an equal to the Tsuchikage-sama, but he would do his duty and protect Iwagakure with his life.
A life that he may just might have to forfeit, given that the enemy he faced was one no shinobi would ever have to face. Even in Iwagakure, tales about him and his legendary powers were known to all, and no shinobi in history could ever claim to be his equal.
He was the man who had single handedly changed the course of history. The God of Shinobi. The First Hokage.
Hashirama Senju.
"Doton: Fissure!" and the ground split open, under his feet, yet the Shodaime Hokage simply jumped away, as an Earth Dragon tried to bite at him from the side.
"Futon: Reppūshō !" and a storm erupted from his palm and destroyed the Earth Dragon whole, as the entire squad was sent flying away, as the black-haired menace landed on his feet.
"Watch out!" he said, and Kitsuchi grit his teeth.
"Doton: Fissure!" and it was the same technique that he had used, but the effects were astronomically different, as the ground split in a way never before, and the crater that came was wide enough to swallow half of Iwa.
"You need to close it at once!" the Hokage ordered, and it was easier said than done.
"Together," Kitsuchi ordered.
"DOTON:..." and nearly half a hundred shinobi acted at once.
"...Great Eruption!" and the fissure began to close itself, as Kitsuchi huffed as his reserves dropped to less than half.
"Good," the Hokage praised as he rose up, and to think that he was doing this while holding himself back. Just what kind of a monster was he?
"Are you certain that there is no way for you to summon back your kage or jinchuriki?" questioned the Hokage as he slapped his hands together, as Kitsuchi felt him gather massive amounts of chakra.
"I am afraid not," he answered as he pushed himself back to his feet.
"Then you need to get me as far away from your village as possible. I have been holding myself back despite the multiple seals inside me, but with this jutsu, it won't matter much," he warned, and Kitsuchi grunted his teeth and cursed himself.
"Everyone, we need to act now," and with that, they cycled through handseals once more.
"DOTON: GRAND MOBILE CORE!" and the Earth under him split open, and pushed him down, into the ground, hoping to trap him. But it was easier said than done, as the First Hokage's voice boomed through air.
"Mokuton:..." and immediately, the air began to tremble at his presence.
"...WOODEN GOLEM JUTSU!" and the ground shook, before it cracked, and then out of it emerged a massive humanoid golem with the Shodaime Hokage sitting atop its head, as Kitsuchi saw his men gasp and step back in fear.
"What the hell!"
"Just what kind of a monster is he!"
"Do we really stand a chance at all!"
And he would be lying if the same doubts did not fill his own heart. Kitsuchi was much older than they, and had heard tales about the man from people who had once faced him, and had thought it all to be exaggerations.
He had thought that they were lies, and that no shinobi could be so strong.
But now, as he stood in the presence of the God of Shinobi, he realised that those tales may just have underplayed his powers, for they had thrown everything at their disposal at him and had yet to land a single blow on him.
A single damn blow.
Perhaps the men were right. Perhaps he should give up and run away. But as soon as the thought came to him, he put it away, for Lord Tsuchikage had tasked him with protecting the village.
And he would rather die than let any harm come to the village.
"Do not lose hope!" Kitsuchi shouted as the massive wooden golem, and such was its might and mass that the entire ground shook because of its actions.
"Ohnoki-sama left the village in our hands! He trusted us to keep it safe! Will you all disgrace yourself, or will you show the world the true power of Iwa's Will of Stone!" he asked, and the men began to rise.
"We must stop him! If we can't, then we must delay him even for a second so that the people behind us can save themselves! This is our calling as Iwa's finest! This is our calling as Iwagakure's Wall!" and with that, he roused up all his chakra.
"We are going to crush him," he ordered, and prepared himself to use all his chakra.
"Doton:..." he whispered, as he quickly cycled through a set of handseals.
"...CRUSHING MOUNTAINS!" and two massive mountains rose from the ground from the massive golem's sides, and tried to crush it in between.
CRUNCH!
The golem moved its hands to block the mountains, and now it was a test of willpower as he and his allies pushed their chakra into the ground to move the mountains, while the Shodaime did the same for his golem.
CRITCH! CRITCH!
He felt some joy as he saw the wood in the golem's arm fray and crack, and for the first time since the battle had begun, he felt hopeful.
"We can do this! STAY STRONG!" he roared, and the mountains inched closer and closer, and the wood began to crack as the golem roared in agony.
"You have done well, Iwa shinobi," the Shodaime praised as he began to cycle through a set of handseals, making his heart sink.
"But I am afraid that it is not enough," and then he raised his hands.
"Mokuton: Wooden Dragon Jutsu!" and a massive wooden dragon emerged out of the ground and encircled the wooden golem before it turned its maw towards them all, and plowed through them all.
BOOOOM!
"AGHHH!" Kitsuchi grunted as he was thrown back, and the world began to spin as screams of his men filled the air. Still, he pushed his eyes open and tried to get back to his feet, yet could not push himself beyond his knees.
He huffed, and when he saw a giant shadow come over him, he found himself looking up as the giant foot of the Wooden golem descended on him, and for the first time, a sense of hopelessness hit him as his men's screams reached his ears.
"Captain!" "Kitsuchi-sama!" they screamed, but he was done. He was chakra, and his body refused to follow his command, and in that moment, he grit his teeth.
"Forgive me, Tsuchikage-sama," and with that, he accepted his fate, as the Golem's heel came down on him, but then suddenly, he heard a kunai hit the ground.
"Hiraishin!" he heard, and in the blink of an eye a new shinobi emerged infront of him.
"I do hope you are ready, Hikari-kun," and though it had been decades ago, but it took him but a second to recognise him. And why wouldn't he, for the man infront of him had terrorised their country for years, and had single-handedly killed more Iwa shinobi than any other shinobi.
And then he placed a hand on his shoulder, and Kitsuchi felt his world shift, and in a second, he was back in the village, and watched as the wooden statue stepped forward.
"You have done well, Kitsuchi-kun," and it was him, the man who had destroyed Iwa's Bomber division single handedly. It was the Yellow Flash.
"You are..." he gasped, as their most formidable enemy smiled at him.
"But we will take it from here," and he had said we.
"We..." and then a shadow figure blurred past above him, and Kitsuchi followed it and saw a shinobi with massive green fiery wings sprouting out of his back flying straight towards the giant golem with a glowing green spear cutting through the skies.
"AGHHH!" the golem roared, and tried to attack it, and as the fist of the golem met the massive green fiery spear, all Kitsuchi could hear was a whisper.
"Senpo:...."
"....Hell's Trumpet!"
"NINPO: Five Layered Rashomon!"
BOOOOOM!
00000
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