22 Chapter 22

Chapter 22

KURENAI YUHI

Kurenai Yuhi couldn't really believe the sight in front of her. Despite a week passing since they had heard the news, the reality hadn't really set in. And now as she stood in the leaf cemetery staring at the gravestone inscribed with his name, it all began to set in.

Ohashi Hatake

Student. Brother. Teacher.

And her vision began to blur up as tears welled up in her eyes. She tried to hold them back. To not cry, tried to be a true shinobi, yet her efforts were futile. And despite her efforts, she felt a small sob escaping from her lips as tears began to fall down from her eyes, falling to the ground.

She heard Asuma sniff from the side, as he struggled to keep away his tears as well, as they stood in front of the grave of their sensei. A sensei who had been a bit hard on them yet had helped them achieve heights they had never thought possible.

"I cannot believe he is gone," she whispered, with a small hitch, "and they aren't even telling us how he died," she said indignantly as she looked towards Asuma, who wiped away his eyes with his sleeve and shook his head with a grimace.

"I tried asking about it, but father said that it is classified and he couldn't disclose it," he replied and she gritted her teeth as she glanced towards the back, where the Hokage stood, dressed in his ceremonial black garb. Though if the rumors circulating were anything to go by, he would not be holding onto that garb for long.

It was rumored that the Hokage was on the lookout for a successor. The person on the top of that list stood right behind her, dressed in a black jacket instead of her signature green one, and her blonde hair tied in a ponytail, Tsunade Senju stood there impassively staring at the gravestone with a complicated expression with her infamous teammate, the Toad Sage standing by her side.

The funeral was quite elaborate and was attended by Leaf's several well-known shinobi, including the Yellow Flash, Lady Kushina Uzumaki, various clan heads and even the matriarch of the Uchiha clan, who stood by their side, along with Kakashi, who had been extremely quiet during the whole ordeal.

The ceremony ended and people began to leave, yet the three of them found themselves rooted to their spots, still reeling from the shock of the loss of their sensei.

And suddenly, they were broken out of their trance when someone softly called out their names from behind.

"Asuma, Kurenai, and Ebisu!" she jerked at her name getting called and looked back to find, the Uchiha matriarch staring at them with a soft gaze, her eyes reddened as she stood there in the ceremonial garb.

"Mikoto-sama," she greeted the woman, and despite the apparent soft and delicate nature of the woman, Kurenai was acutely aware of just how dangerous the person standing in front of them was.

Ohashi-sensei had shared quite some tales about his sensei, and they knew that his strict nature had been inherited by the teachings of the person standing in front of them. Ohashi-sensei had taken them to meet the woman when they had first become his students as well, so all three of them were somewhat acquainted with the retired jounin.

"Though it is getting a bit late I was hoping that I could have a bit of your time?" she asked politely, and the three of them glanced at each other and quickly nodded at the request. The Uchiha matriarch gave them a small smile and asked them to follow her, to the large fire monument just outside the cemetery.

"Mikoto-sama, may I ask what this is about?" asked Kurenai, and she saw her lips thin, as the Uchiha matriarch glanced down before she finally spoke up.

"It is about your team. More specifically, the new sensei you that shall be appointed for team Ohashi," began the Uchiha matriarch, and she stilled at those words. She was aware that they would have to go under the tutelage of a new sensei, and since it was her talking about this. It could only point to one thing.

And her guess was proven right, as the retired kunoichi began slowly.

"As all three of you are already aware, I was Ohashi's sensei, and he also was my apprentice for some time as a chunin, and he often came to me to ask for advice and guidance when he became a sensei himself, though from how much you three have improved, it wasn't like he needed much of it anyway," the Uchiha matriarch said, with a forlorn smile, and gulped as she continued and she saw the understanding appear in the eyes of her two teammates as they connected the dots as well.

"So, it was his wish that if anything were to happen to him, I would take his place as a sensei for the three of you," finished the Uchiha matriarch. She became quiet and the three of them looked at each other and gave each other a small nod, as they made their decision.

0000

TSUNADE SENJU

The atmosphere in the village was testing, and it felt as if the whole village was on a knife's edge. The funeral for Ohashi would have been a rather simple affair, if not for the presence of the presence of nearly all of Konoha's premiere shinobi. The tension was palpable, as the whole village collectively held its breadth for the Council that was set to happen in a day.

It was the first time that a founding clan had used its authority to call a Grand Council, instead of a Hokage, and it had sent the shockwaves throughout the village. Her sensei had been trying to make her back off, trying to make others intervene, as he tried to salvage his reputation, and the reputation of his council.

He had used his authority to declare all matters regarding Ohashi's death as classified yet his action had been futile, and many were already raising questions about how one of Leaf's prominent elite jounin had been assassinated like this.

"Hime-sa….," began Jiraiya in his unbearable tone, but she cut him off.

"Shut up! If you speak anymore, I will turn back right now," she spoke scathingly as they walked towards the Hokage office, with him calling in one of the favors she owed to the idiot.

The smile was wiped off of his face, and gone was the unusually goofy teammate replaced by Jiraiya the Toad Sage, one of Konoha's most renowned shinobi.

"So, are you really dead set on this?" he questioned, the cheer gone from his voice, as they came to a halt near the entrance of the Hokage's room.

And she turned to look straight into his eyes and saw his eyes narrow as she put her hand on the door handle.

"What do you think," she retorted angrily as she pushed open the door, and entered the office. The Hokage office was filled with palpable tension, and the usual chair occupied by the Hokage was empty. Her eyes moved towards the edge of the room where a number of sofas were placed, and there she found her sensei sitting in one of the sofas, his pipe in his mouth as he sat there, joined by two other persons. Persons she didn't wish to tolerate, and just as she was about to turn away, Jiraiya held her arm.

"Just listen to him this one time, princess," and as she saw about to berate him for taking the side of his sensei, he cut her off quickly.

"I am not asking for you to agree with him. I am asking you to listen to him. Just listen to him, and I will then support you no matter what you decide," he reiterated, and she bit her teeth as she thought about his offer, and in the end, decided to listen to this nonsense.

"Ok! Let's get this over with," she said as she pulled away her arm from Jiraiya's grip and began to walk towards the sofas. She saw Koharu, the old hag, frown in anger as Tsunade refused to greet the woman as an elder given her status, as she simply took the seat opposite to her sensei, who appeared to have aged a decade in the past week.

She looked straight into his eyes as Jiraiya leaned on the wall to the side, acting as somewhat of an arbitrator for this meeting.

"When you called for this, I had hoped that you would have realized your mistake in trusting these old coots," she said derisively, and the two elders spluttered in rage at her remarks.

"You insolent…!" the old bitch from Sarutobi sensei's side was about to begin when suddenly the man cut her off.

"Koharu, Homura. Enough!" cut in her sensei in a sharp tone, his chakra roaring at his command. The two elders became quiet in an instant, sweat dripping from their faces as Sarutobi sensei met her gaze and spoke up in a softer tone.

"Have you reconsidered your actions, Tsunade? Calling a council at this time could unravel the whole village structure, destroying decades of sacrifices of our ancestors, of your ancestors," her sensei began once more, and she scoffed at his words.

"I believe you see, should have thought about this before giving free rein to your treasonous lickspittles. And as for the legacy of my ancestors, I am quite sure both Hashirama and Tobirama oji-san would be reviled by yours and Danzo's actions," she retorted and saw her sensei look into her eyes, and she didn't waver and stared right back.

"You ungrateful bastard! Do you have any idea what we have done for this village? The village would be nothing without…." Utatane, that old bitch couldn't keep her mouth shut, and before Tsunade could intervene, someone else appeared right behind the woman, a kunai held at her neck as Jiraiya appeared behind the woman and spoke in an ice-cold voice.

"I am kind of getting tired of your voice," he began, and the whole room stilled as the old woman gulped nervously and glanced back at Jiraiya, who had a menacing expression on his face.

"So, you better shut up, or I will have to make you shut up," he said as he brought the edge of the kunai closer to her neck, making the old woman splutter.

"Koharu, Homura. Leave us," her sensei finally said with a sigh, and she saw the eyes of the two elders widen, but one glance from him, had them on their feet in an instant as the two elders walked out of the room with flushed faces.

Her sensei sighed as soon as the door closed, stood up, walked towards one of the windows at the back, and began to stare at the expanding village basking in the Sunlight outside.

"If you are truly set in your decision, then I believe we still need to discuss how the whole thing will proceed," her sensei began conceding and she saw Jiraiya's head snap towards the man, who turned to face her.

"And though my words may not mean much to you, I always tried to live up to the legacy of the Hashirama and Tobirama-sama," he began, and Tsunade chewed her lip, knowing that despite the man's numerous faults, he was not a linear and he did believe that what he was doing was for the best of the village.

"I know, and perhaps it is time we move on from what they would have done to what needs to be done," she answered, and her sensei's lips turned up slightly as he spoke in a barely audible tone.

"I am proud of you, Tsunade."

0000

ZETSU

The alien being stared at the withering old form of Madara Uchiha, sitting on the throne as the young silver-haired jounin they had captured months ago. The silver-haired shinobi had been in a trance for the entire time, caught in a special genjutsu cast by the legendary Uchiha. A genjutsu that, according to the old Uchiha, was supposed to transform the very trajectory of the fate of the young man.

Zetsu wasn't quite aware of the details, but he was beginning to suspect that the jutsu had failed, for despite it being months, the boy remained static in a trance-like state, with no movement.

He burrowed through the cave, appearing beside the old Uchiha and speaking slowly.

"Lord Uchiha, perhaps we must look for a replacement. It has been months since we captured this candidate and there has been no change in him in all…" but the old Uchiha patriarch cut him off.

"NO!" the voice was sharp and reverberated throughout the cave, as he felt the Sharingan land into him, and a part of him felt as if it was Indra himself staring at him.

"He shall be the one to carry my will, we just have to wait," answered the man cryptically the Sharingan moving from him to focus once more on the still form of the silver-haired jounin bound in chains.

"For how long, Madara-sama?" he questioned, and the man's gaze didn't move away from the bound jounin as he simply answered.

"For as long as it takes."

0000

OHASHI HATAKE

Ohashi Hatake's chest burnt from the pain, and he felt his very soul twist as he saw the scenes of carnage and destruction spread around him. The ground was cracked, buildings had been reduced to rubble and the ground was flooded with blood with bodies floating in the pool of blood.

He had lost count of just how many times he had found himself looking at such a scene. He fell onto his knees and looked down at his reflection in the blood flooding the ground. Blood that belonged to his own comrades, family, and friends. Blood of the very people he had once vowed to protect

The person staring at him was unrecognizable, with a long mane of white hair that had become scarlet and was covered in blood, much like his whole body. He gasped for air, as he felt his body tire and he stilled as the reflection in the blood transformed as an old man with a glistening Sharingan appeared and uttered slowly.

"You do know, you could have prevented all this had you acted. You could have brought true peace to this world, a peace that would have lasted for eternity, yet you chose not to act," the man said scathingly, and suddenly, he found himself switching places with the man.

He found himself submerged in blood, sinking deeper and deeper, his body refusing to follow his command as he tried to push himself up. The light died down, and his body ran out of oxygen. And he felt his head grow lighter as his vision darkened, and the last thing he found himself staring at was the dreaded three tomoe sharingan as he heard a whisper.

"You could have prevented it all!"

*

And then suddenly he felt his body burn once more, as he felt himself whisper for perhaps a millionth time.

"Kyōmon Kai"

And the cycle began once more.

00000

A/N: If you haven't guessed it already. Madara has trapped Ohashi in Izanami, and though Ohashi may be aware of the jutsu's effects, it doesn't make it any less potent. Yet he is resilient since Kabuto broke from the technique in hours, and Ohashi still resists despite being trapped in it for months.

What is Izanami? It's basically a time-dilation genjutsu that brainwashes a person. Using it costs an eye and it is said to alter the very fate of a person.

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