Huff... huff...
Crouched deep within the jagged thorns of a thick bush, Shimura Danzō fought to regulate his breathing. His chest heaved out of rhythm, his standard uniform torn and his chakra reserves depleted past the halfway mark. His spiky dark hair was matted with sweat, and the sharp X-shaped scar across his chin stood out starkly against his pale skin. He wore his black Konoha forehead protector pulled low, his dark combat suit reinforced by the customized, charcoal-colored plates of the elite Hokage Guard Squad.
The guerrilla operation had been a masterclass in asymmetrical warfare. Danzō, Hiruzen, Kagami, and the others had aggressively saturated the sector with a web of lethal wire traps, explosive decoys, and tactical misdirections, utilizing Shadow Clones to splinter the enemy's tracking network. Their initial localized ambush had been flawless—they had completely wiped out Kumo's vanguard squad, burying the 2 Jonin and 120 Chunin beneath a cascade of kunais and jutsus.
Operating under the shadows, Tobirama had pushed his poisoned chakra network to its absolute limit, manifesting exactly fifty Kage Bunshin and dispersing them like ghosts in fifty different directions through the forest. The Kinkaku Butai fell for the bait; their commanders systematically divided their detachment, assigning twenty-man hunter squads to track and eliminate each individual clone.
To mirror their master's macro-strategy, Danzō, Hiruzen, Kagami, Torifu, Koharu, and Homura had each manifested five Shadow Clones of their own. They wove these duplicates directly into the tracks of Tobirama's decoys, executing a perfect cell-dispersal protocol.
The strategy was born of cold, mandatory survival logic. If the core disciples and the remaining combat squads attempted to stay bound as a single unit, their collective chakra footprint would become entirely too conspicuous, drawing the entire Kinkaku Force down upon their necks.
Following the protocol, Teams Seven, Eight, and Nine—each consisting of a veteran Jonin commander and three hardened Chunin—shattered their lines. They fanned out across the brush, trailing the path of Tobirama's clones with their weapons drawn, perfectly mimicking the frantic, high-priority escape of an official Hokage escort squad.
***
'Did I shake him off?' Danzō thought frantically, collecting his ragged breath as his dark eyes rapidly scanned the perimeter.
"!"
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
A brutal barrage of kunai rigged with fizzing explosive tags slashed through the foliage, zeroing in on his blind spot. Danzō willed his body to move, but his exhausted legs, saturated with the faint remnants of the battlefield trauma, responded a fraction of a second slower than usual. Before the steel could shred his flesh, a dark silhouette burst from the brush.
BOOM!!!
A massive detonation tore through the treeline, instantly painting the sector in a blinding cloud of smoke, ash, and jagged shrapnel.
"You Okay, Danzo?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice cut through the ringing in his ears. Clad in an identical dark uniform—save for the reinforced armor plating that wrapped entirely over his shoulders and forearms—Hiruzen carried Danzō over his shoulder. Utilizing the rolling smoke as tactical cover, he executed a rapid Shunshin to flash them away from the impact zone. Danzō, however, fiercely rejected his rival's salvation. He violently shoved Hiruzen's arms away, creating immediate distance between them as they slid into a ditch.
"That wasn't necessary, Hiruzen!" Danzō hissed, his pride stinging.
Hiruzen simply offered a small, tired smile. "Don't be like that. We can't afford to lose a vital comrade in a scenario like this, right?"
Danzō glared at him, but before he could retort, two familiar shadows materialized from the undergrowth, seamlessly merging into their retreat.
"Are you two holding together… Kagami, Torifu?" Hiruzen asked over his shoulder.
Uchiha Kagami's armor mirrored Hiruzen's full-plated design, his Sharingan tracking the shifting vectors of the forest. Akimichi Torifu, conversely, wore a light-plated rig similar to Danzō's, though his heavy forehead protector wrapped entirely over his matted hair, its metal edges extending into two sharp, horn-like points at the crown.
"Yeah... somehow," Torifu grunted, his heavy frame shifting as he ran.
"There are simply too many of them tracking our signatures," Kagami reported. "What should we do, Hiruzen?"
"We consolidate our line with the rest of the guard and Hokage-sama!" Hiruzen commanded, increasing his velocity.
Tsk!
Danzō inwardly clicked his tongue in profound bitterness. It infuriated him that Kagami had instinctively deferentially addressed Hiruzen for tactical guidance instead of him. Since their earliest days at the Academy, the burning need to compete with Hiruzen had dictated his entire existence, and watching his rival effortlessly assume command of the squad felt like a slow twisting of a knife.
***
Slipping beneath a heavy grove of ancient, thick-trunked trees, the six remaining members of the elite Hokage Guard formed a defensive circle around Senju Tobirama. The Second Hokage sat motionless, his index and middle fingers pressed firmly against the mossy earth, his sensory net mapping the spatial reality of the hunt.
"We are surrounded," Tobirama announced. His voice was unusually calm, devoid of fear.
"The closing cell consists of exactly twenty high-tier combatants. Judging by their aggressive tracking methodology and the fiery chakra signatures... it is the Kinkaku and Ginkaku brothers alongside their personal guard."
"Compared to their vanguard... and including you, Hokage-sama... we are a total force of seven," Mitokado Homura noted grimly as his fingers tightened on his scarf.
"Where do you think such a weak, defeated attitude like that will get us, Homura?!" Utatane Koharu scolded sharply as her hand locked onto her kunai hilt. She pivoted toward Tobirama. "The enemy has not pinpointed our exact coordinates within this grove yet. We should orchestrate a localized breakthrough—executing a violent ambush to carve an escape route!"
"That is a impossible, Koharu," Kagami interjected softly, his Sharingan spun silently as he counter-analyzed the terrain. "In our current compromised state, our sole viable path to survival requires a single operative to act as a physical decoy, intentionally drawing the brunt of their tracking force away from the rest."
"A decoy...?" Torifu murmured as his voice turned heavy with grim realization. "Death is a certainty for whoever commands that role. Who's it going to be?"
Tobirama narrowed his crimson eyes. Slowly, meticulously, he scanned the faces of his disciples one by one. His gaze locked onto Danzō; the young man's fingers were visibly trembling, his face contorted in an agonizing internal dilemma never seen before. Danzō's eyes darted frantically between the dirt, his shaking hand, and Hiruzen's profile. Tobirama, as a master psychologist, read the terror and self-loathing dilemma within his student's soul.
Then, his gaze shifted to Sarutobi Hiruzen. Across the disciple's features, a hard, unyielding resolve and the pure, blazing light of the Will of Fire manifested cleanly.
"I will do it!" Hiruzen stated firmly.
"Hiruzen!"
"Are you insane!" Torifu and Homura gasped in shock.
Hiruzen simply offered a warm, reassuring smile. "Don't fret. Not to boast, but my versatile elemental skill set makes me the most functionally suited for a delaying action among us. I have no intention of dying out here."
As the squad murmured, Tobirama continued his silent observation of the two rivals. He watched Danzō's expression completely hollow out—a devastating mix of relief, deep shock, and profound self-loathing washing over him before he closed his eyes, lowering his head in a wave of crushing shame.
Hiruzen stepped forward, gently patting Danzō's rigid shoulder. "From this moment forward, I am counting on you to safeguard the others, Danzō. If it's you, I know I can—"
But Danzō's emotional state was a volatile, chaotic vortex. The touch shattered his restraint. He violently swatted Hiruzen's hand away, cutting his rival off with a desperate, fractured roar.
"Shut up! I was on the verge of raising my own hand! Stop attempting to act like a tragic hero alone every single time! I will serve as the decoy!"
Hiruzen recoiled with widened eyes. "Danzō..."
Realizing the hysterical nature of his outburst, Danzō instantly regretted the scream. He sharply jerked his head away, refusing to meet Hiruzen's eyes as he stared at the bark of a tree, his voice trembling as he sought refuge in his lineage.
"My father and my grandfather both laid down their lives on the field of battle as honorable shinobi! Self-sacrifice is the fundamental duty of our blood!"
Tobirama decided he had seen and heard enough of the psychological friction. Standing straight, his silver hair catching the wind, he spoke with absolute finality.
"The role of the decoy belongs exclusively to me. You are the vibrant, young leaves of Konoha—the flames that must survive to protect the village and cultivate the next generation with your Will of Fire."
"That is impossible!" Danzō yelled, turning to face his master in panic. "You are the Hokage! There is no greater tactical asset or grander shinobi within the walls of the Konoha than you!"
Tobirama fixed Danzō with a calm, penetrating gaze, his voice carrying the stern weight of a father reprimanding a child.
"Danzō... you are perpetually competing with Saru over every microscopic milestone, are you not? But what our village requires at this exact precipice is for you to unite as comrades. Do not permit your personal insecurities to infect a military operation of this gravity. The objective truth is that your decision-making was slow. First, cool your head, return to the village, and take a long, honest look within your own soul to discover who you truly are. Right now, your compromised mentality will only put everyone in danger.
Danzō lowered his head, his spine bending under the weight of the truth. The realization of his own hesitation cut deeper than any blade; he knew he had crossed a line born of fear.
"Regardless, Danzō... Saru..." Tobirama's voice softened slightly. "There is no need to rush toward a grave at your age. That hour will find you soon enough. Until that day arrives, protect that life."
The Second Hokage turned his back to them, facing the direction of the approaching Nine-Tails chakra. He knew his body's chakra network was failing under the Suna poison; holding off the Kinkaku and Ginkaku brothers simultaneously with his current state and condition would most likely cost his life.
"Saru…"
Hiruzen snapped his head up, his eyes locking onto his Sensei's profile in sudden, breathless realization.
"Protect those who love the village and those who believe in you. And take care of those whom you will entrust the next generation to. Starting tomorrow... you are the Third Hokage!"
A collective gasp ripped through the grove. The disciples' eyes dilated in staggering shock.
"Saru, Take good care of Konoha for me!"
"HA!!!" (YES SIR!!!)
Hiruzen dropped to one knee as a solitary tear sliced through the dirt on his cheek as he bowed his head in binding obedience to the final command of his Sensei. Behind him, Danzō, Kagami, Torifu, Koharu, and Homura slowly dropped to their knees as well, their shoulders trembling with a heavy mix of grief, profound shock, and acknowledgement for the rightness of the succession.
"Sensei…"
"You must all move now," Tobirama ordered coldly as his chakra sensed their pursuers closing the distance. "YYou all should have realized by now. Their primary target is me. If I do not remain behind to anchor this sector, their entire vanguard will hunt your signatures to the edge of the border. Furthermore, if you do not extract yourself now, there won't be a second chance. Remember! pull all active forces completely out of the Land of Hot Springs. Don't get entangled in Kumogakure's civil war."
The disciples offered a silent, unified nod. Through the telepathic feedback of their dispelled Shadow Clones, they knew the truth. Tobirama's fifty shadow clones had possessed minimal chakra reserves, and they were rapidly and systematically hunted down by the four-man Jonin cells leading the Kumo pursuit squads. If they didn't exploit this exact window to retreat, all six of them would be slaughtered in the woods.
Without uttering another word, Senju Tobirama vanished from the grove. His navy-blue battle armor cut through the foliage as he leaped directly into the path of the Gold and Silver Brothers.
"SENSEI!!!"
Hiruzen, Danzō, Kagami, Torifu, Koharu, and Homura stared at the empty space where Tobirama had stood for one final, agonizing second.
Wiping the hot tears from his eyes, Hiruzen stood up.
"Let us not render sensei's sacrifice meaningless. Move at maximum speed. If we execute a clean extraction early enough, Sensei may find a window to deploy a Hiraishin and escape this predicament himself!"
"You're entirely right, Hiruzen!" Kagami roared, his Sharingan blazing with newfound determination. "Let us sprint for the border and ensure we do not hold Tobirama-sensei back!"
With their hearts hardened by grief and their eyes fixed on the future, the new generation of the Leaf sprinted southwest, disappearing into the depths of the forest as the thunder of the final battle began to echo behind them.