Chapter 245: Don't Worry, I'll Finish Off the Hokage in a Single Instant
The blinding spray of blood filled every set of eyes in the room, and with it came a jolt of unease that shot straight through Ōnoki's chest.
It's over.
In a summit this solemn, the Mizukage's own personal guard had just had his eye stabbed out by someone the Hokage sent after him.
As far as Ōnoki was concerned, whatever this Five Kage Summit was supposed to accomplish had already become almost beside the point.
Because a personal guard was still just a guard — but it mattered enormously whose guard he was.
"Sakura. Haruno."
At that, Utakata — finally wrenching himself free of the genjutsu — erupted with pure fury, and that ominous chakra began surging around him once more.
But this time, that chakra carried a distinctly more feral, unstable edge than before.
Ōnoki's chest tightened again at the sight.
Iwagakure had two perfect jinchūriki of its own — Rōshi and Han — so he knew this signature all too well.
This is... a tailed beast going berserk?
"What are you shouting about?"
At that, Sakura, the Hokage, finally rose to her feet.
Her green eyes watched the Mizukage — now wrapped in that ominous tailed-beast chakra — with unmistakable interest.
"...Sigh."
Gaara let out a quiet sigh at the sight.
As a jinchūriki himself, he understood this all too well.
Carrying hatred, carrying the wary stares of others, being both the village's greatest weapon and its greatest liability — every jinchūriki grew up living inside that same rejection, one way or another.
Now that he himself was Kazekage, he assumed Utakata, as fellow Mizukage, must love his own village every bit as deeply.
Gaara felt he couldn't stand by and watch this. He decided to step in and subdue the berserk Mizukage himself.
"Hokage. What are you doing?"
Just as Gaara prepared to move, Ōnoki's voice made him pause and glance over.
"Can't you tell?"
"I'm going to knock this idiot back where he came from."
The pink-haired Hokage took a single step forward, and an invisible pressure instantly saturated the entire hall!
Pure, undiluted chakra pressure — the kind that made every heart in the room hammer at once!
Even fragments of the ceiling and walls began cracking loose and falling from the sheer weight of that chakra!
This... this is terrifying!
Deidara, who'd been sitting off to the side purely to enjoy the show, found he couldn't laugh anymore.
Is chakra like this even something a human being should be able to have?
Between the Hokage and the Mizukage standing across from her — which one is actually the jinchūriki here?
In that moment, Deidara finally understood exactly why this pink-haired girl — younger than him, no less — had ended up Hokage.
"GRAAAH!"
By now, Utakata had lost every trace of human shape, his body entirely swallowed in the Six-Tails' purple chakra shroud, corrosive vapor hissing off his skin in wisps.
Clearly one of the Six-Tails' signature abilities.
Corrosion.
"Ho...kage..."
Somehow, Utakata was still managing to hold on to a shred of his own consciousness.
But judging by his current state, that wouldn't last much longer. In the grip of emotion this violent, the Six-Tails inside him would swallow his mind whole before long.
This was something Sakura had learned firsthand, from all her time training Naruto out on Turtle Island.
By now, both Sasuke and Killer Bee had pulled back from their own clash, drawn away by the Mizukage's sudden transformation.
Sasuke stood behind Sakura, watching the Kumogakure contingent warily.
Hikaru, meanwhile, shot the unconscious Ao a look of disgust before returning to Sakura's side.
She particularly despised people who gouged out someone else's eye and then installed it in themselves.
She'd only just developed that particular loathing recently, incidentally, ever since seeing that one arm of Danzō's covered in stolen Sharingan.
"Ho...kage..."
"I'm going to... kill you..."
A bestial, guttural snarl came out of that half-human, half-beast form — and it didn't so much as ripple Sakura's expression.
Plenty of people wanted her dead.
Unfortunately for them, wanting was all they'd ever get to do.
"Seems Mei Terumi's whole friendship-building effort for Kirigakure just got tossed straight in the trash by you."
Sakura took another step forward, her words making Ōnoki's expression flicker.
Does Konoha have some kind of secret arrangement with Kirigakure?
Well, it certainly looked like this current Mizukage had thrown all of that away without a second thought.
Absolute fool. Even if you wanted to switch sides, this was not the place to do it openly. Patience and subtlety would have served you far better.
Thinking back over the earlier online summit, Ōnoki realized this Mizukage's attitude had been off from the start, and silently cursed him for an idiot.
Then he remembered — he himself was the one trying to build unity among the Five Great Villages right now. Cursing out the Mizukage in his own head wasn't exactly helping that effort. And so he silently cursed himself an idiot too.
"Heh..."
"Just... a traitor..."
The chakra still surged violently around Utakata, but he fought to hold onto himself, straining to keep his mind clear.
"Chōjūrō... take Ao... and go..."
Utakata turned to look at Chōjūrō, whose expression had turned complicated.
"I can't guarantee... that whatever happens next... won't drag you both... into it..."
"Yes, Lord Mizukage."
Hearing his own Mizukage brand Mei Terumi a traitor, something in Chōjūrō's expression dimmed — but he quickly hoisted Ao onto his shoulder and fled the building at speed.
By now, Utakata was the only remaining member of the Kirigakure delegation left in the room.
"Don't worry... Hokage. I'll... finish you off... in a single... instant..."
With his own people out of harm's way, Utakata let go of the last of his restraint, ready to unleash the full might of the Six-Tails and cut the Hokage down for good!
Ōnoki opened his mouth at that, meaning to say something — then closed it again.
Forget it. Let him try.
Worst case, once this Mizukage's on the verge of dying, I'll swallow my pride and beg mercy for him myself.
And it wasn't just Ōnoki — even Gaara and Killer Bee, as Kazekage and Raikage, wore strange looks watching Utakata.
I'm sorry — you're going to kill her?
Did none of your several thousand shinobi ever tell you exactly how strong this pink-haired menace actually is?
Meanwhile, Black Zetsu, still wearing Tsuchidai's face, watched the Fifth Hokage in silence.
Three years, and she's finally about to make a move again?
If he could gather enough intelligence here, it would prove immensely valuable later — for Pain's planned assault on Konoha and the harvesting of the Two-Tails, Seven-Tails, and Nine-Tails.
Black Zetsu's gaze hadn't left the Hokage for even a moment.
But right then, as if sensing something, Sakura turned and looked directly at "Tsuchidai."
"Your eyes. They're making me uncomfortable."
Yang-Release body cultivation shared some similarity with the Yin Seal.
The Yin Seal continuously gathered up excess chakra day by day, storing it in the seal on her forehead.
Yang-Release cultivation, meanwhile, continuously reshaped the body itself, strengthening it across every dimension.
But Sakura had already seen and reached the ceiling of the Yin Seal.
The ceiling of Yang-Release cultivation, she hadn't found yet.
Yang-Release enhancement worked comprehensively — not just raw physical strength, but nerve response, reaction speed, everything.
Tsuchidai's malicious gaze had triggered something almost instinctive in her — a sense that this man meant her harm.
That he was, right now, brewing some scheme against her.
"The Hokage is a genius beyond her years. Surely I'm allowed a glance?"
"Or does the Hokage intend to gouge out my eyes too?"
Black Zetsu's expression stayed composed, neither servile nor defiant.
He knew powerful figures like this all too well.
Once someone's strength crossed a certain threshold, they started caring about appearances — a sense of "honor" or "integrity" took root in them. And while these figures with their so-called integrity did tend to possess genuinely unmatched personal charisma, that same trait always planted the seeds of certain vulnerabilities down the line.
The textbook example was Konoha's own First Hokage, Hashirama Senju.
On the surface, he'd bound Konoha's many clans together through raw strength — but had anyone ever questioned his personal charisma while he did it?
All of it, that "integrity," had been a direct product of his overwhelming power.
Someone born into the shadows from the start, like Danzō, simply never developed that kind of "integrity" — or perhaps his own strength never allowed room for it in the first place.
But Black Zetsu prided himself on reading people accurately.
This current Hokage wasn't quite the Hashirama type. But she was worlds apart from someone like Danzō, too.
She was, unmistakably, someone who carried that same "integrity."
Which was exactly why she'd become Hokage — why so many of Konoha's strongest fell in line under her command.
Or perhaps: only someone who carried that quality could ever become Hokage in the first place.
And sure enough, exactly as he'd predicted—
"I don't like that look."
The Hokage shot Tsuchidai a cold glance, seeming to have no further interest in pressing the matter — and just as Black Zetsu let himself relax, believing the danger had passed—
"Hikaru. Give him a taste of Amaterasu."
Black Zetsu: ???
Before he could even react, black flames were already blazing across his body!
Black Zetsu stared, stunned, at the pink-haired girl not far off, utterly dumbfounded.
Wait, what happened to following the script?!
Where's your "integrity"?!
Where's your legendary charisma?!
DAMN IT!
This damned pink menace — are the rest of Konoha blind, letting someone like this become Hokage?!
"Hokage!"
Killer Bee's expression changed instantly, and he lunged forward to try to smother the black flames engulfing Tsuchidai.
But in his "panic," Tsuchidai had already ripped off his Kumogakure vest and flung it aside onto open ground, narrowly saving himself.
The strongest Fire Release technique in the world, casually neutralized by nothing more than a discarded vest.
"Tch..."
Both Sakura and Hikaru looked distinctly unimpressed.
What garbage Amaterasu. Can't even kill some random extra.
Sakura was privately a little exasperated. Just as Hikaru was gearing up to hit him with a second dose, Sakura waved a hand to stop her.
A single lesson was enough for now — they still needed this coalition to actually happen.
Given how far things had already spiraled, Sakura had already given up on assembling this alliance through anything resembling normal means.
She intended to force it into existence through sheer, undeniable strength alone.
After all, she didn't have Naruto's gift for talking people into things, and Gaara hadn't had the benefit of Naruto personally rewiring his worldview in this version of events.
The war had ended only three years ago. Everyone in this room still remembered its wounds vividly. Genuine, peaceful cooperation simply wasn't on the table.
Sasuke, off to the side, cast a brief, disdainful glance at the black flame still smoldering on the ground.
Some 'strongest Fire Release.' Good thing I never bothered picking that one up.
"EVERYONE — SHUT UP!"
At that moment, Utakata finally lost the last of himself entirely, and with an enormous, unearthly roar, several thick, viscous white tails burst from behind him, his entire body swelling to monstrous size!
In an instant, the room could no longer contain him!
"Looks like we'll need to relocate."
Mifune looked up at the still-growing Mizukage and sighed quietly.
As for whether things might spiral out of control — please. That was almost laughable.
Never mind that a Hokage capable of trading blows directly with a tailed beast stood right there — the room also held the Kazekage, Raikage, Tsuchikage, a shinobi-world demigod, and two Uchiha.
For the Mizukage to lose control of his tailed beast in a room like this was, frankly, an embarrassment to himself and all of Kirigakure both.
"Well then — let's clear him some room."
Hiruko, still disguised as Hanzō the Salamander, spoke up calmly, privately thinking this was the perfect chance to slip away.
If he stayed and kept up the act any longer, he'd inevitably slip up eventually.
Never mind the Hokage pestering him for Sannin backstory — Mifune alone wasn't someone he could bluff past forever.
And he'd already made Ōnoki suspicious once already. He couldn't afford to linger here any longer.
If he stayed, sooner or later he'd get caught.
As everyone filed out, Utakata finally burst clean through the walls of the administrative building.
His massive form emerged before the thousand-plus assembled shinobi outside.
Bearing the Six-Tails, his entire body wrapped in a slick, viscous membrane, grotesquely shaped like some enormous slug — the sight alone was enough to turn a few stomachs.
But watching this colossal being loom before them, feeling that ominous chakra saturate the air, cold sweat broke out across the gathered ranks.
"The Six-Tails?"
"Why is the Mizukage releasing his tailed beast?!"
A Kirigakure shinobi in the crowd cried out in shock.
The Six-Tails' appearance wasn't just a sign of a jinchūriki losing control.
It carried far more weight than that.
Everyone knew the Mizukage was the Six-Tails jinchūriki — but what exactly had happened inside, to push him this far?
"Everyone, fall back!"
Ōnoki, hovering high above the crowd, began issuing orders to the assembled forces.
"The Mizukage has suffered a sudden loss of control over his tailed beast. We need to contain him."
At Tsuchidai's silent prompting, Killer Bee spoke up next, his tone carefully neutral, and the tension in the crowd eased somewhat at his words.
"We were only halfway through discussions when the Mizukage suddenly lost control. Rest assured, everyone — we'll have him back to normal shortly."
If there was anyone in that room more eager than Ōnoki and Tsuchidai to see this coalition succeed, it was Gaara.
After all, the Land of Wind sat sandwiched between several small nations and the Land of Earth. And Mōryō would certainly never leave the Land of Wind untouched, either.
Sakura, standing atop a fallen stone pillar amid the ruins of the administrative building, watched the whole scene unfold with cold detachment.
None of her people were involved here.
Not her problem to worry about.
"Everyone, I'll go maintain order out there."
"After all, I'm an old man now — not much use in a situation like this."
Hanzō the Salamander gave a respectful bow and departed.
"Lord Hanzō is quite advanced in years — this kind of chaos really isn't suited to him. We'll leave it to him, then."
Black Zetsu, watching this, realized that Hiruko had officially outlived his usefulness here and needed to disappear.
Judging by the room's overall stance, both the Tsuchikage and Kazekage were clearly in favor of forming the coalition.
And the pink-haired one — though she'd never say it outright — had been the one who'd had the Tsuchikage summon everyone to Kusagakure in the first place.
Clearly, this Hokage was in favor of it too.
As for the Mizukage...
His opinion, at this point, no longer mattered in the slightest.
(End of chapter)
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