21 Chapter 21

Chapter 21

MADARA UCHIHA

There were few things that were truly eternal. And peace wasn't among them. Peace was respite, a short dream enjoyed by men as they geared themselves up for the conflict that lay ahead of them. Men against men, Clans against clans, Villages against Villages.

War would return, bringing with it death and devastation upon all. Time and time again, fuelled by a cycle of greed, dreams, and aspirations. For it was nothing but a consequence of human nature itself.

They had sought to end this cycle. Him and Hashirama had dreamt the same dream of breaking this cycle. Two boys, born to families that were bitter rivals, torn by war and conflict. Separated by years and years of war and blood. Yet united by a dream.

And perhaps they had achieved their dream for some time. Had ended the years of conflict between their clans, bringing them together to form Konoha. Yet the world shifted once more. Other clans joined up, made alliances, and began to make villages of their own.

He had seen it then, the start of another cycle. Tried to resist the tide, yet he failed. Defeated by Hashirama, only to survive and hide away and watch as the cycle of war and pain ravaged the world once more, proving him right once more.

"How?" he questioned as he stared straight into the young man's eyes. His youth had been spent on the same battlefields, him and Hashirama had sought to empty out. A young Hatake, descendant of the Hatake clan that had once served as samurai in the court of Daimyo of the fire country. His white hair, reminiscent of Hashirama's wretched brother.

The boy gulped and tried to mold chakra, trying to break the illusion as the chains around his body tightened, binding him to the pole. A sense of recognition and trepidation hung in those black orbs highlighting that the boy was somehow not only aware of his identity but also knew of his prowess as well, for why else would a young jounin have such fear in front of an old man?

He had long understood that Hashirama's vision was flawed, yet he couldn't make that stubborn fool see the truth. Mankind had a major flaw in their basic constituency, men sought peace yet felt compelled to dominate and have authority over the next person. It was a duality, a contrast in desire and aspirations that made them incapable of change.

"It seems you are reluctant to answer my question," said Madara with a frown, his curiosity growing as the boy refused to answer his question. He was impressed by his resilience for the illusion he held the boy in, had broken shinobi twice his age in seconds, reducing them to mumbling fools.

"Perhaps a bit of motivation is needed," he spoke as he pushed chakra into his eyes. The years and years of practice made it as easy as taking a simple breath, and he watched as the boy grunted in pain as a nail was hammered into his hand.

"AGHH!" the boy grunted in pain, and though it may be an illusion, it was one cast by him. By Madara Uchiha, and he knew that the pain felt by the boy was in no way lesser than the one he would feel if a pain was truly hammered into his hand.

Yet the boy held his tongue and didn't utter a single word, making him frown. What the hell was he hiding?

The world shifted again, and he pushed his chakra forcing another nail into the boy's body. The another. Then another. And he continued it for quite some time, yet the boy remained tight-lipped and Madara looked straight into the haggard eyes of the boy as sweat and saliva dripped from his chin, his eyes dazed yet still defiant.

A part of him wanted to let it go. And yet he was intrigued, by both the young boy's resilience and the secret he held in his mind.

He brought the first illusion to an end, and the world around him shifted, the lights died down as the darkness of his cave once more enveloped them. He had long since moved away from his chair, and now stood in front of the huffing and haggard form of the young white-haired jounin.

"I have known full frown men who were reduced to mumbling fools by what you just went through," he said as he moved his hand gripped the young man's white hair, and pulled his head up forcefully looking him straight into his eyes again.

"And now I find myself quite intrigued by what secret lies hidden behind these black eyes of yours," he muttered and the boy huffed in the air as he pushed chakra into his eyes once more, making the world shift around him once more and saw the boy still as his illusion began to take hold.

And now he found himself standing back in the world his illusion, the young jounin chained back to the pole yet the ground this time was littered with insects, held back only by his command as they buzzed below them waiting to bite into their pray.

Blood dripped from the young shinobi's body as his body was literally nailed to the pole, and then Madara spoke again, and he felt the world shift as suddenly a nail appeared in front of the boy's face and began to glide near his face again as Madara held it still firmly as he gripped his hair.

"We shall see how long you can last. It's not like I am strapped for time either," he commented as the nail began to near his eye, ready to pierce it.

0000

HIRUZEN SARUTOBI

Hiruzen stood in the Hospital's corridor, watching in anger and frustration as the med nin's worked tirelessly to save the person lying on the bed. His feelings were conflicted as he watched his oldest friend lying there lifelessly on the bed. Danzo had disobeyed his orders once more, and had confronted Ohashi.

The details after that were blurry, and he himself knew nothing about what had transpired after their confrontation. There was no sign if young Ohashi anywhere, and while he hoped for the best. A part of him knew that Danzo's days were numbered/

He sighed as he thought about the ramifications of this whole scenario. For all his youth, Ohashi Hatake was quite a well-connected shinobi, a prodigy in the making who wielded quite an influence in the village. There would be questions, and he would need to provide answers.

Answers could only be given by Danzo.

Yet that all would come later once he had talked to Danzo and had gotten to the truth of the matter. He watched as the med nin walked out of the room, giving him a respectable bow as he told him about Danzo's condition.

"Lord Danzo's condition is very serious, lord Hokage. We have done all we could to stabilize him," and the med nin hesitated a bit after that, making him frown, before he suddenly hurriedly added.

"The only person who could save him right now is probably Lady Tsunade," and he immediately shook his head.

If there was one person he didn't want to come near Danzo at this moment was his former student. The whole village was aware of the fondness the blonde had for the young jounin. And Hiruzen knew that if she got wind of Danzo's actions then there would be no saving his friend and while he was angry and frustrated by Danzo's actions, and planned to punish him accordingly, he didn't want to see him killed.

"No, and I want everything about Danzo kept under wra…" but before he could finish he stilled as he felt a massive burst of chakra enter his senses. A chakra filled with unrelenting rage and anger.

The med nin in front of him stilled as well, for there was only one person present in the village apart from him in the whole village who had a presence like that.

"Tsunade," he whispered as he turned towards the entrance of the corridor and watched as his ex-student appeared out of the corner, her face flushed and filled with rage.

He felt her eyes land on him, and a part of him stilled as he felt a shiver run through his spine, for the stare reminded her so much of her grandsire. Hashirama Senju was known as the God of Shinobi and while many remembered him as the benevolent and kind man he definitely was, one didn't get the title of the God of Shinobi in the warring state period without having the necessary cruelty.

As her eyes landed on him, he heard her scoff in rage as she moved past him, her eyes focused on the door to his side that led to Danzo's room and her face was filled with disappointment as he heard her whisper.

"I should have known that you would be here," she scoffed as she moved to enter the room.

And Hiruzen knew that this would not end well, and a small part of him understood that there was little chance of him being able to stop her at this point. Danzo had overstepped too much, and there was little he could do now. Yet he still had to try, so he decided to intervene and he gripped her hand as she held onto the door handle.

"I know you are angry, but don't do anything rash, Tsunade," he remarked and saw her glance back as she said through gritted teeth.

"Let me go, sensei," she said in a grave tone, her eyes filled with disgust and rage, which made him reel back slightly at seeing one of his students looking at him with such eyes. And he knew that there was no stopping her now.

She didn't wait for his reply and pulled her hand away from his grip and opened the door, walking inside. The med nin's stilled as they felt her enter the room, her presence making the temperature of the room drop as she eyed the medics and spoke a single word.

"OUT!" the medics were quick to follow her command and rushed out of the room, closing the door behind them, leaving the two of them alone with the unconscious form of Danzo.

Shimura Danzo was hooked to various machines and tubes, his whole body had been bandaged carefully, and despite the anger he held for him, a small part of him felt pity seeing him in this state.

"He is unconscious. We can do this another tim…." but before he could finish, Tsunade cut in scathingly.

"I need answers, sensei, and I am in no mood to wait, if you are thinking of using your rank, then I can assure you sensei as the last living descendent of the Shodaime, I also wield considerable power. Poer that I won't hesitate to use at all," and that made him stop. Not the threat, but the seriousness of her tone. And so he stepped back, knowing that Danzo had overplayed his hand and had crossed too many lines this time. And he hoped for his friend's sake that young Ohashi still lived.

Tsunade closed her eyes and gripped placed her hand on Danzo's head. suddenly he felt her chakra shift as the seal on her head expanded, the markings expanding as the feel of her chakra shifted.

Her hands began to glow as the characteristic green hue of iryo ninjutsu expanded and began to cover Danzo's body.

He gulped as the feel of Danzo's chakra shifted and suddenly he felt his friend's eyes flutter as he suddenly opened his eyes.

Yet before he could react, Tsunade had her hand on the man's throat as she snarled angrily.

"Now, the only thing stopping me from ending your miserable life is my concern for the whereabouts of young Ohashi. So, I am going to ask you this one question, and you better reply quick," she muttered angrily as she took out a bloodied headband from her pocket and thrust it in his face.

"Where is he?" she questioned, and he saw Danzo's eyes move towards him, yet he found himself not inclined to help him. Tsunade caught his wandering gaze and tightened her grip, making Danzo grunt in pain.

"Don't look at him! Look at me and answer, you bastard!" she snarled angrily, gripping his head and turning it to face her.

"Where is he!" she snarled angrily, and he saw Danzo grit his teeth as he finally shouted.

"He is…" and his voice was hoarse as he spoke through gritted teeth.

"Dead!" and Danzo's words confirmed the disaster he had suspected. He closed his eyes, stilled by a sense of betrayal and loss. Tsunade had stilled at those words as well, her grip slackening slightly, as Danzo wheezed out.

"He was a…. traitor."

SPLASH!

Before he could react suddenly the whole Danzo's head was crushed to a pulp by Tsunade, showering the whole room with blood and brain splatter. His

He gulped at the scene in front of him, as blood dripped from Tsunade's hand as she turned to face him. Her face was covered with blood and brain matter, and he felt her eyes land on him, and before he could reprimand her, the look in her eyes stopped as she began to speak in a monotonous tone.

"With the power vested into me as the head of the Senju clan, I call for a Grand Council," she spoke, staring straight into his eyes, and he felt his heart drop as she finished her sentence.

"And the Senju clan uses the power vested to them as a founder clan and moves to depose the Third Hokage, and his council on the charges of treason," and he knew that there was a storm headed his way.

A storm caused by his inability to curtail the actions of his friend.

0000

OHASHI HATAKE

He screamed again and again, soon loosing even the energy for that, as nails ripped through his body Pushed painfully into every crook and cranny of his body, with the last going into his eyes ending even the mere luxury of vision.

A part of him began to look forward to a short respite of darkness, yet hankered for he knew that after that it would begin all over again. Again. And again.

By this time he had lost count of how many times this had happened, lost count of time he had spent in this illusion. Unaware of exactly how much time had passed in the outside world.

"I...know...the....future… of th….world!" he uttered, and finally the pain stopped. And he saw as Madara's eyes shifted the nail aimed at his eye stopped, and the torture stopped. Finally stopped.

He huffed, as his body struggled to breathe, as he glanced up at the man who had tortured him for all this time, with his sole functioning eye. And watched as the ghost of the Uchiha frowned at his words.

"You know the future of this world," commented Madara, and he slowly nodded the small motion, making his whole body convulse in pain.

And then, just as the implication of those words dawned on the man, he used his final gamble, and using all his willpower and strength, he pushed his chakra to follow his command, making it flood his choils, ravishing them as he pushed his whole boy beyond its limits.

"Kyōmon Kai," he whispered and felt the whole world surrounding him shake as the old form of Madara was forced to step back. He felt the illusion fall as the seal placed on his body tried to keep his rampaging chakra under control, yet failed.

And with a mad push, he pulled the very chains holding him to the ground, making the whole area explode.

BOOOM!

0000

Days had passed since they had first captured the silver-haired jounin from Konoha and he had recognized Madara Uchiha at a single glance, sparking the man's curiosity. The infamous Uchiha had tried everything to make the boy talk, entrapping him illusion that would have broken many men.

Zetsu himself had been surprised by the boy's knowledge and was waiting for the answer. He watched as Madara sat on his throne, staring at the still form of the boy chained in front of him with a scrutinizing gaze.

A silent whisper rippled through the cave and he failed to catch what was said and suddenly he felt a shiver run down his spine as he felt Madara's chakra shift suddenly. Yet the feeling was lost as soon as it had come, and he glanced at the man once again and found him sitting in his chair like before, his sole visible eye still focused on the form of the young Hatake.

And in that moment, had he looked closer, he would have seen, the other eye of the man lose its light as the man lost half his vision and silently muttered a single sentence, in a barely audible tone.

"Future, heh. Interesting!"

0000

What was the whisper? 😉

HINT: Itachi used it.

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