Chapter 86: Heavenly Canopy Iron Ball!
A gift from heaven.
In that moment, Ōnoki sat motionless in the Tsuchikage's chair while a torrent raged behind his eyes.
But the same reservations that had held him back before were still there.
Once you move — you've burned the bridge. If Hiruzen doesn't go down, this becomes a catastrophe.
Hiruzen rose slowly from his seat. He exhaled once, quietly.
Who would have believed it — that everything happening right now had been set in motion by a graduation exam essay from a ninja academy student, four years ago.
Absurd.
But there was no avoiding it now.
"What Fire Country does with its resources is Fire Country's business."
"Who receives them, how much, on what terms — that is not for outsiders to decide."
Hiruzen's clouded eyes went razor sharp. The air around him shifted — the weight of decades, the gravity of a man who had held this village together through three wars, pressing outward in every direction. When he spoke, each word landed like a stone dropped in still water.
"Kazekage. I can petition the Daimyō to ease conditions for the Land of Wind."
"The goods — I can give them to you."
"But you do not take from me."
The words hit the crowd like a sedative. Every panicked heartbeat in the arena steadied.
"You reached out your claws toward what's mine. I cut them off. You will sit there and take it."
And then Hiruzen moved.
Not like a man approaching seventy. Like something else entirely.
Ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu — Hiruzen Sarutobi was a perfect hexagon, with no weak face. At that range and that speed, Rasa had almost no time to react — and in almost no time at all, Hiruzen had a grip on his shoulder and they were both on the arena rooftop.
But a Kage was a Kage. Rasa's body dissolved into a cascade of gold dust that slipped free from Hiruzen's grasp and reformed a short distance away.
"Pretty words."
"You know as well as I do who's right and who's wrong here."
"You chose to do this. Now live with the consequences."
Rasa raised one palm. Hiruzen tensed, watching — ready for some devastating technique.
Instead, a small white snake slid out from Rasa's sleeve.
"That's—!"
Hiruzen's expression darkened.
The snake opened its mouth. A human figure unfolded from within that impossibly small space.
"The Hokage's consequences aren't limited to me, you know."
"Orochimaru — the traitor who defected from Konoha — that's your legacy too, old man."
Rasa's smile was ice.
"It's been a long time, Sensei..."
The man with long black hair straightened slowly. A crooked smile played at the corner of his mouth as he looked at the teacher he hadn't seen in twelve years.
"Orochimaru..."
Even having prepared for this moment, even having seen it coming — Hiruzen felt something hollow open in his chest.
On the rooftop, the Sound Four moved. They'd been in position. Seals flew through their hands in unison.
"Ninja Art: Four Violet Flames Formation!"
A wall of purple barrier jutsu slammed down over the rooftop, sealing everything inside.
From below, Ōnoki felt the chakra signature above shift and settle. His mind clarified.
Hiruzen trapped inside a barrier. Rasa and Orochimaru working together to kill him. And somewhere behind it all, the pre-summoned giant snakes already loose in the village.
This could work.
Today is the day Hiruzen Sarutobi dies.
He began to rise.
A figure in black robes dropped into the seat beside him — the Hokage's seat — without invitation or ceremony.
The figure yanked the mask off their face, pulled back the hood.
A sweep of pale gold hair caught the light.
"What are you looking at?"
Phoenix eyes slid sideways to Ōnoki. The tone carried approximately zero deference for the concept of a Tsuchikage.
"Tsunade... I didn't expect you back in Konoha this soon."
Ōnoki sat back down.
"I go where I want. Since when is that your business?"
Tsunade crossed one leg over the other, laced her fingers over her stomach, and closed her eyes.
Ōnoki said nothing further.
She was a taijutsu specialist. At this distance, she'd dodge Dust Release before the seals were even finished. He wasn't stupid enough to try.
He stayed in his seat and recalculated.
If Rasa wins — after the dust settles, he mobilizes his forces and hits the Land of Fire hard.
If Hiruzen wins — he goes back to surviving on whatever scraps fall through Fire Country's fingers, and he gets to watch Konoha beat a dead Rasa while he plays both sides.
If Konoha turns on him — he contacts the Land of Lightning immediately, force them into a pincer, make Konoha back off.
But thinking about what a Lightning alliance actually entailed—
The web of debts and grudges between Earth and Lightning made Ōnoki's expression flatten.
The four great nations outside of Fire weren't some unified front. They all had grievances with each other — Wind and Water were separated by half the continent and had still managed to generate a standing feud. The chaos of competing interests had once led Rasa to hand his own village's hero, Yagura, straight to Water Country just to buy peace.
On the rooftop, Sakura saw the Four Violet Flames Formation rise and immediately reached for the scroll on her back.
Kakashi's eye twitched watching her.
That scroll is enormous. What on earth is sealed inside it.
"Release."
One hand, sword-seal at her chest.
BOOM — BOOM.
Two objects materialized in front of Kakashi before he could process what he was seeing. Their shadow swallowed him.
He stared.
One eye, wide open, taking in the full shape of the weapon in front of him.
"What the hell is that—"
He stepped back several paces before he could see the whole thing.
Two iron spheres, each surface bristling with spike-tipped protrusions, the metal so dark it drank the sunlight. The chain connecting them was high-grade steel, and it was massive.
Sakura gripped the chain between the two balls and gave it a testing swing. She felt the weight settle.
The links rang against each other — a sound like a very large and very angry bell.
"S-Sakura..."
Kakashi's brain had simply stopped working.
He could not begin to imagine how you were supposed to use this.
"Kakashi. Get ready."
Sakura took one step forward, both hands locked around the chain. It snapped taut. Enhanced Strength detonated through her arms, and the iron balls moved.
The roof tiles beneath her groaned in protest.
Sakura found a moment, even now, to be genuinely impressed by Konoha's construction standards.
"UP!"
She wrenched with everything she had — and the balls swung into motion.
The pink-haired girl became a human top, spinning in place, faster and faster. The sound of the iron spheres tearing through the air sent Kakashi's scalp crawling.
He was starting to think she might not need him for Rasa at all. Two swings of this thing and she'd probably flatten the Kazekage.
"HEAVENLY CANOPY IRON BALL!"
"MOVE!"
The scream tore out of her as the iron spheres broke free from her spin and launched at the Four Violet Flames Formation like two comets on a chain.
(End of Chapter)