81 81. Regrets and What ifs.

*BOOM*

All of a sudden a huge tree root came out of the ground and destroyed the whole arena. Everyone turned to look at it. Some people who were still evacuating even screamed in fear.

Shiroken made a shocked face and loudly shouted, "HASHIRAMA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHY ARE YOU DESTROYING THE VILLAGE? IS THIS YOUR REVENGE ON THE PEOPLE?"

Hashirama, Tobirama and Hiruzen's faces paled in fright, knowing what was about to come now. They had fallen deep into a trap, and it was impossible to get out.

Except for them, nobody in the village knew that Shiroken could also control wood, and even more. The people who nearly got killed by this sudden wood release cursed Hashirama loudly and ran for their life. Monari was there to direct them away.

"STOP! You will destroy the village like this." Hashirama shouted in worry.

Shiroken smiled, "Hmm, not me, Hashirama... It's you who needs to stop." *BOOM*

A new root, as thick as 30 metres and as tall as 100 metres, came out of the ground in the middle of the now-empty Konoha market close by. The giant root uprooted the buildings from the plumbing to the terrace. The small mountain of rubble stayed there, as a frightening sight to the people of what was going on in their beloved village. Shiroken wasn't even retracting the roots.

*BANG*

Tobirama, the inventor of the Flying Thunder God Jutsu, and the renowned fastest shinobi to ever exist launched a provocative attack on Shiroken. And, Shiroken didn't even dodge, letting him punch him.

If it was the Shiroken from before, he'd be worried, but now, nothing could really hurt his body. He had absorbed the powers of a pure high ranking Otsutsuki after all. As such the attack did nothing.

*BOOM BOOM*

This time 3 roots came out of the ground inside the village, destroying a whole district in an instant. "Hmm, Tobirama, you were probably the best Hokage in Konoha's history, under your rule, the village became a powerhouse. It was able to create many great talents and you as well created many jutsu. But your biggest flaw was how you treated the Uchiha clan. And now, because of you, the Elder Council of Konoha, as well as the Hokage, planned and conducted genocide of all people from the Uchiha clan.

"Haha, the Uchiha clan, one of the greatest assets of Konoha, the clan which made Konoha such a powerhouse even after the demise of the Senju clan, was eradicated by the village itself. Konoha made itself weaker."

This was news to both of them. As souls, they reside in a place called Pure Land. Of course, they had no idea about that since they didn't retain those memories.

Hashirama, in a shock stricken face, turned to Hiruzen, "IS THIS TRUE, HIRUZEN?"

Hiruzen in shame looked down at his own feet, although he tells himself that he let the Uchiha die to protect the village, it was still a shame on himself that the situation became so bad that killing them was the only option left. "Y-Yes... Lord First. They were going to start a civil war, we had no choice."

Shiroken sneered but didn't say anything. He remembered Shisui's words, that he had the chance and ability to fix everything, but he was stopped.

"Tsk... I knew the Uchiha couldn't be trusted." Tobirama scoffed.

"Sure, tell that to all the dead Uchiha babies they killed in the middle of the night. Hashirama, how is it that the one thing you preached your whole life, peace, nobody seems to want it in your village. You all are still the same barbarians, who used to live as warring clans. You just now got together and became a bigger barbaric village." Shiroken shamed them, humiliated them, it was brutal. And it was having an effect on Hashirama, as even his eyes started to flicker and get dimmer. The resolve and confidence in them were broken.

"They... killed the clan that was one of the two founders of Konoha. I have failed as the first Hokage completely." Hashirama breathed the words in a low and disappointed voice.

"Well, your time to feel sad has already gone, Hashirama. You're already dead and hence you are currently here on borrowed time. So, let's get on with it." He rose in the air.

"Get on with what?" Hashirama asked in confusion.

"THIS!"

Shiroken made no hand seals, nor did he need to say some elaborate name of a jutsu, because what he was about to do was just natural to him.

*GRRR...*

The ground started to shake as if a huge earthquake was coming. Just from this, many weak buildings in the village collapsed. However, the main actor of this event was yet to show up. It was not a person, but instead a thousand hand giant statue.

The trees shrank from the vicinity of the area, roots started to rise from the ground and intertwined themselves, they grew up and up, until they towered over a large part of the village. Everything under its body was destroyed, turned into dust. The people of Konoha looked at their beloved homes getting flattened.

But the words they spoke were music to his ears. "DAMN YOU HASHIRAMA!"

Hashirama looked at the giant statue, it was his own jutsu, but for the first time, he felt frightened and scared after seeing it. Since the statue was not under his control.

"So, are you going to fight me? Why don't you go ahead and stop that statue from destroying the whole village? But there is a catch, you can not use senjutsu, well even if you wanted to I won't let you. Go on, I won't stop you." Shiroken spoke to him as if he was shooing a dog.

Hashirama felt helpless, and so did his brother, who now knew that he was no match for Shiroken.

Shiroken continued after seeing this, "Do you feel it now, Hashirama? This feeling... Of helplessness, fear, hopelessness and utter defeat? Anger, yet knowing you can't do anything. Do you feel it?"

"This is what I felt when you were enslaving the tailed beasts right in front of my eyes, as I helplessly tried to save this planet from a genocidal alien. Go, save your village before it's completely gone." he waved his hand.

Hashirama clenched his teeth, he looked at the giant statue, moving around and levelling the entire village slowly. But what could he do to stop it without using senjutsu? Without that, he would be limited to his arms and feet and some jutsu, which can't really stop something this big.

On the other hand, he also understood that if he went to save the village, he would have to stand on top of the statue, and he knew what the people would think when they see this.

His arms and feet felt weak to him. His body, seething with power, was useless today. And yet, he couldn't bring himself to get angry at Shiroken nor to curse at him. He was not that dumb, what was happening was due to his own actions.

~If this can end this cycle of hatred, maybe something good can come out of it.~

He faced Shiroken one last time, "Lord Dama, If I could go to the past, the first thing I would do is to kill myself and erase my existence." He looked down, a rare sign of weakness and emotional vulnerability was showing on his visage, "I have caused too much pain and suffering to people. Please... forgive my village after this... I will take all the blame.

"I can only say this, I am sorry for causing so much pain and suffering to you, your family and your people. Maybe, if I had instead befriended you... haha... Maybe I'd still be alive, playing with my grandkids and true peace might have been achieved." He looked at the rainy sky with regretful eyes, "It does paint a very beautiful picture when I think about it."

"I know you're not a bad person, Lord Dama, why else would you evacuate the villagers first? I... I hope your path to peace works."

*WOOSH*

He jumped away silently, not even looking back. He had made peace with whatever had happened and was going to happen.

Tobirama silently nodded towards Shiroken and also jumped away.

However, Shiroken felt like he was really the bad guy now. But he quickly dispelled such thoughts, ~I respect your wish for peace, Hashirama. But you were too short-sighted and narrow-minded, you only thought about keeping your village safe, while handing weapons of mass destruction to enemies. *Sigh* Only if you had made a different decision that day and had instead helped me to defeat the Otsutsuki.~

He sighed and turned to look at Orochimaru. Now that Hashirama was there, people would think he was really controlling the statue. But, Tobirama was going to use his large scale water jutsu to stop it, which would cause people to become suspicious. To make sure that does not happen, he made the giant statue move in ways that would seem like the two brothers were working together to destroy the village, instead of fighting each other. But, sensing there was a need for a bigger explanation, he decided to further his act.

Once again, he amplified and shouted in a shocked voice, "OH NO! OROCHIMARU IS CONTROLLING TOBIRAMA! BOTH BROTHERS ARE NOW DESTROYING KONOHA!"

Orochimaru's already pale face paled further, he cursed under his breath, "F*CK!"

He clapped his hands and made a few seals, "Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation!"

All of a sudden a new coffin started to rise from a portal on the terrace. Shiroken amusedly looked at it in wonder, "Whom did you summon now?"

But in reality, Orochimaru had not summoned this one to fight Shiroken, instead, it was so he could run away with the person inside it.

[You can see Hashirama, statue and Orochimaru and the village on my Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn OR see them on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mister_immortal_novel]

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