Chapter 94
At first, Hiruzen felt great. Lightheaded, but good. He had no idea what he drank, but all his worries just disappeared, and his confidence skyrocketed. And all that happened next was nothing but fun and games to him.
Fighting Yagura wasn't anything difficult either. He just dodged his attack and punched him as many times as he could. Since his body felt as light as a feather, it was easy to do so. And he was so relaxed that he didn't take any damage even when he was hit. At least it didn't hurt.
But now reality had returned to him. And it returned with a vengeance. As Hiashi stood before him, Hiruzen felt sick to his stomach. The smell of blood coming from him was sickening. And he felt like he had woken up abruptly from a pleasant dream.
His head spun painfully. Everything and everyone was far too loud. And his body was so heavy that he felt like he was tied to a boulder and dropped into the sea to drown. And the light, for the sake of the Sage, burned his eyes unbearably.
He felt like he was going to collapse at any moment. And if he didn't see the situation before his eyes, he might do that and groan until the pain disappeared. He really wanted to cry at this point. That's why he sent Onoki away the moment he got the chance.
If that old man saw him in this condition, the best thing he could do was turn against him; in the worst-case scenario, he would see it as Konoha's weakness and turn his eyes not to him, but to the village.
So, there they were. Standing before the Fourth Mizukage and his shinobi, Onoki ran away behind them. It didn't seem like Yagura cared about them, as they were preparing to face off against Hiruzen, Jiraiya, and Hiashi.
And once Onoki was out of sight and safely away from them, Hiruzen stopped pretending and just vomited all the vile things that were in his stomach. There were a lot of disgusting liquids that he had to spit out.
"Hokage-sama," Hiashi came to him, and the smell of blood coming from him made it even worse for Hiruzen. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, Hiruzen replied.
He still felt sick, but he had to pretend at least this much for Hiashi to back away. And he couldn't show his weakness to Yagura, as that little bastard was going to use it as a chance to kill him. Though, for some reason, he didn't for now.
"Impossible." All Hiruzen heard from him was him muttering one word over and over again. "No, now I see. From the very beginning, you planned it all out. I thought I had set a perfect trap for you. To finally get you out of this world. So much time spent planning it out, and you, you alone, destroyed it all on our first contact."
"Of course, that's why you drank it all," Jiraiya said as if he realized something. "You did so because your body would naturally fight against the poison. And the more you drank, the faster and harder your body would work to dispel it and cleanse itself of it."
"And that's why you let the Tsuchikage go," Hiashi added with an understanding nod. "Not only do we not need him anymore, but he might turn against us if he felt threatened, especially after he already showed his true colors. Not only did you eliminate a potential enemy without fighting, but you also might have gained him as an ally in the future by doing so. Well done, Hokage-sama."
"Sure." Hiruzen still tried to wrap his head around what they were talking about, so he didn't have any better response.
"Now, as ever, you were always a step ahead of the rest of us," Yagura laughed suddenly. "No plans escaped your eyes; no schemes could trick you. All my life, I heard how great you were, but this time I really thought I would be able to get you, only for you to dismantle all the plans I had laid out immediately. Well, it matters not; I'm still going to kill you. Even if I have to die first."
Though he said so, it wasn't he who rushed forward but the three swordsmen. Hiruzen recognized the swords, as they were quite distinctive. Their speed and strength were probably on the same level as Jiraiya's and Hiashi's. But not Hiruzen's.
He could feel his chakra returning, and although he had no confidence in winning against them, he knew he could tie them up. So, he stepped forward before Jiraiya or Hiashi could. All they wanted was to protect Hiruzen, but that couldn't be allowed if it would cost their lives.
Both of them were too important for the future Hiruzen wanted to build. So, if one of them were to die, it would be him. But not today. With a clear mind, though, he was terrified at the sight of all the shinobi before him; he knew what to do.
"My chakra won't be the same for some time," Hiruzen said, made an excuse, and would push all the fighting to these two while he supported them. "But it is still enough to support you two; we work as a team. As you were always trained to do, and we shall persevere."
Getting a nod from each of them, Hiruzen moved first. He aimed for that big scroll that somehow was called a sword. Hiruzen had one thing, and that was his speed. He believed, no, he knew he was faster than the explosion that sword could produce.
Moving right in front of Jinpachi, who wielded the sword made of an explosive scroll, Hiruzen waited as the sword was swung at him. Rather than dodging it, he blocked, and once he saw the satisfying smirk of the swordsman, Hiruzen disappeared.
His head still spun on its own, making Hiruzen dizzy, and the explosion that rang through his ears didn't help the headache, but he avoided it. The problem was that he now stood before a small girl, and both of them were surprised by that.
As her blades tried to slash through Hiruzen while he stood still before her, and as his head was finally working right, Hiashi appeared from behind her like a ghost and struck her spine, knocking her forward toward Hiruzen.
Not knowing what to do, Hiruzen just kicked her in the stomach, and she folded inward as finally Jiraiya jumped on her, crushing her to the ground. It didn't seem like she was going to get up anytime soon, so whatever just happened seemed to have worked.
"Watch where you are swinging that thing, Jinpachi." While one of their teammates had just been crushed, the other two argued, not even interested in that fact.
"Don't get in my way, and you won't be burned, Juzo." The other one replied, angry at the fact that his target escaped him, judging by the way he glared at Hiruzen. "If you had stayed in your place, they wouldn't have gotten Ringo."
"Fuck you, it was your fault for not noticing the trap set for you, and you fell like a good idiot you are."
"Just as you predicted, Hokage-sama," Hiashi said with a smile. "Their teamwork is abysmal. One unexpected factor is thrown their way, and they collapse on their own. With your lead, it isn't difficult to deal with them at all."
"Though I don't like how you throw yourself into danger, you have completely tricked them and allowed us to take one of them out quickly and easily," Jiraiya added. "We follow your lead, Hokage."
Hiruzen wanted to ask them what they meant by following his lead. He knew way less than them about what they should do. He proposed working as a team so he could follow them. It had already gone sideways, but there was nothing he could do now.
For now, he could just move forward. But when he turned to the rest of the shinobi, they were gone, and he felt water gathering under his feet. He looked down, seeing countless puddles beneath them. And the next moment, shinobi burst out of them.
Not knowing what to do, he thought of running away, but where? He was surrounded. Time seemed to stand still as kunai and shuriken flew at him. Hiruzen was fast; he could escape, but his mind just refused to work at the moment, and he found himself standing still.
"Leave it to me." Hiashi suddenly stepped before him.
His hands moved fast; to Hiruzen's dizzy mind, it was incomprehensible. But suddenly, an invisible sphere appeared around them. Every kunai and shuriken was deflected, and even the ground seemed to move away from Hiashi.
Then Jiraiya's hair extended and exploded into countless needles, catching the shinobi by surprise and annihilating them. Though some of them might have survived. Not knowing what to do in this situation, Hiruzen looked around to find the two swordsmen rushing at him.
Retreat? Confront them? His mind worked fast, even as it still hurt like hell, but he had no idea what to do. That was the difference; he had no experience or training to know how to fight properly. In real combat, he was very useless. Still, he had to do something.
His chakra was still pretty unresponsive. He could use it, but that was about it. Any massive jutsu he could use was a bit too difficult at the moment. So, all he was left with was his chakra control, strength, and speed.
Great. While he was thinking about all the unnecessary things, those two swordsmen were already before him. And Hiashi and Jiraiya were waiting for him to do something, as they had already told him that they were following him, not the other way around.
At the last moment, Hiruzen chose to run. Just as Juzo swung his massive two-and-a-half-meter-long sword, Hiruzen moved. He jumped onto the flat side of the sword and, using it as a foothold, leaped over the two shinobi, getting behind them.
Only realizing at that moment that he could use his positioning to attack them from behind, he sharply turned toward them, only to find them being impaled by red chakra tails. Well, since they were defenseless, he put his hands on their backs.
The Self-Cursing Seal was placed on them, and with one hand sign, Hiruzen could now paralyze them. Jiraiya and Hiashi, following Hiruzen's lead, had also retreated to the sides of the two swordsmen, getting away unscathed.
"You," Yagura, completely covered in red chakra, looked furious as he retracted the chakra tails back into himself. "All this time you have played me for a fool. I've had enough. I will kill you!"
He completely lost all reason as massive chakra burst out of him, making even Jiraiya and Hiashi back away farther from him. The shinobi who could still stand on their feet were also blown away, leaving only Hiruzen standing before him.
Come on, it wasn't his fault that he discarded his own shinobi. Though he could understand that Yagura probably thought Hiruzen would stand his ground against those two swordsmen, allowing him to catch Hiruzen by surprise and strike from behind, only for him to bail at the last moment.
But it wasn't his fault either way. So why did he look at him like that? Well, he probably wanted to murder Hiruzen, so his expression wasn't that strange. But still, couldn't he realize that all of this was his own fault?
"I am going to…" Before he could finish his threat, a sword suddenly pierced through his back and out of his chest.
Hiruzen watched in stillness as Yagura's body collapsed to the ground after Mifune pulled out his sword. With a flick of his wrist, blood scattered off his blade. When had he been able to move? And why was he attacking Yagura instead of him?
"Mizukage-sama," Jinpachi, still injured, looked horrified at what was before him.
Then, together with Juzo, he moved to attack Mifune. Hiruzen only moved his hand to make a hand sign, letting the seal he placed on them take effect. They both collapsed to the ground quickly after that, unable to move even their fingers.
"You," Yagura still seemed to want to say something, and Hiruzen was surprised by how quickly he was recovering from a wound that would have killed most people.
"Hiashi, Jiraiya, restrain him; I don't want him to be able to move even his toes." As much as it would be easy to kill him, he couldn't do that. "I am not killing you, boy. But not out of mercy, rather out of practicality. You will return to your village, humiliated and defeated. Having made enemies of Iwa and the Land of Iron. Rather than becoming a martyr, you shall serve as a warning to all those who dare to stand before me."
"I will kill you!" He screamed as Hiashi used a gentle palm to cripple him for a moment, and Jiraiya put a seal so he couldn't use his chakra.
"Next time we meet, I will kill you," Hiruzen replied coldly. "And everyone else who dares to come after me or my village."
"Ding!!! Congratulations. You have survived an ambush set to kill you. Ding!!!"
The ringing in his head and the words appearing before his eyes made Hiruzen finally relax and realize that it was finally over. Now, only the cleanup of this mess was left. And hopefully, because of this defeat, Yagura would lose the loyalty of those lunatics who worshipped strength alone, and he might get ousted from his position.
He should be thankful, since he would be able to retire early, while Hiruzen seemed to have buried himself even farther from retirement. He wanted to say he had done nothing to warrant the look Mifune was throwing him, but words were wind.
A.N. As always, thanks for reading and supporting me, so I can continue writing without any concerns, and if you want more, up to seven more chapters, you can support me on pa treon. com \ ironwolf852.