26 Chapter 26

Chapter 26

TSUNADE SENJU

After the discussion with Jiraiya, she had decided to grant the bastard his wish, though she had added conditions of her own.

And so, for this reason, she found herself leaning against the wall as she stood on the roof of the Hokage tower at the center of the village as her old teammate skimmed through the scroll she had handed him.

Konoha would retain the right to call him back in case of war, and his leave was only set to come into effect after the war. Moreover, the Land of Rice would sign a treaty with Konoha, essentially aligning their interests. There were other details in the deal as well, but from the way Orochimaru had reacted, he had probably expected this result.

"That was quite a quick decision, Tsunade-hime," he remarked as he closed the scroll and looked up at her. She gritted her teeth, losing her patience with the man.

"Don't make me regret this, Orochimaru. And if it wasn't already clear, if you ever betray Konoha or put the village in danger even unknowingly," she finished, and let go of her chakra, as she narrowed her gaze onto him.

"You will die. No matter where you hide or who you ally yourself with, you will die. Make no mistake about that!" she finished, and the bastard simply smiled and raised his hands.

"A threat…" but she cut him off.

"No, not a threat," and he narrowed his eyes at her as she clarified in a cold tone, focusing all her bloodlust and killing intent on the bastard.

"A promise!" she reminded him, and she saw him flinch slightly as she focused all that killing intent onto him, removing any notion of mercy from his mind.

"It is interesting to see this side of you, princess," he said with a chuckle.

"Though you shouldn't worry. I am satisfied with your terms. Plus, I never had any intention of betraying the village; the only thing I wanted was freedom, and this grants me that," he said as he waved the treaty scroll before he put it in his pocket.

She pulled back the killing intent and gave him a nod.

"Then I believe it is time for you to deliver on your end of the bargain. Tell me, how do you know that Ohashi is still alive?" she questioned as she stood straight up.

The bastard smiled, and his eyes widened.

"Ahh, yes, Ohashi Hatake, your little apprentice. Now I can see why you were so quick to make a deal," he said with a chuckle, and she gritted her teeth and spoke in a threatening tone.

"Orochimaru, if this is a …"

"Have some patience, princess. I am getting to it," he said as he raised his hand in placating manner, making her stop.

"Now, I worked with Danzo for years and so am quite acutely aware of the skill level of his ninja, and truth be told, it is quite pathetic. Especially given the quantity of recruits his foundation churned out. The man's orthodox thinking destroyed a ninja's most valuable prowess, his creativity…"

"I am losing my patience! Get to the point, Orochimaru! How do you know that Ohashi is still alive," she cut in sharply. Though his incites about Danzo's operations were interesting, she had little interest in them at the moment.

"Patience Princess. Patience, I am getting to it," said Orochimaru," replied making her frustration worse as she narrowed her eyes.

"Now, as I was saying, Danzo's forces are more like mindless corpses, and while himself was once a powerhouse, his injuries had affected his prowess as a shinobi quite severely," and she nodded at the observation.

"I have worked with Ohashi myself once and am quite aware of his skill set. And despite him walking into a trap in that base, I believe there is little chance that Danzo and his men could contain the little bastard," Orochimaru remarked, and then she saw him reach into his pocket as he took out a scroll and passed it to her.

"And so, fuelled by this suspicion. I examined the cave where they had fought, and then I decided to conduct an experiment," he remarked, and she opened the scroll and stilled as soon her eyes landed on the contents of the scroll.

Her blood boiled in rage as she saw what Orochimaru had attempted.

"YOY BASTARD! USING THAT JUTSU! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND!" she screamed as she glared at the bastard, and a part of her wanted to strike him down right there for what he had done.

"Don't be so enraged, Tsunade. As you can see, the jutsu didn't work, and this just confirmed my earlier theory that your little apprentice was still alive," he remarked, though his words did little to calm her rage.

"I should kill you right now for even knowing about that technique!" she remarked angrily and the bastard had the gall to shrug.

"I did nothing wrong, as the technique didn't work, and aren't you elated about the news that your little apprentice is still alive," he countered and her fist balled up, the scroll he had handed her turned to ash in her hands, and then before he could react, her hand gripped Orochimaru's neck, as she pummeled him into the wall.

BOOOM!

The wall cracked behind him from her strength, and Orochimaru coughed out blood as she stared straight into his eyes.

"If you ever even think about using this technique. I assure you I will make sure that you wont even find respite in death. Do I make myself clear?" she said in a cold, thawing tone, and the bastard grunted in pain as blood dripped down from his mouth and slowly nodded.

"Kukh… I… understand," he said, and she loosened her grip on his neck and turned away from the bastard.

"kukh…kukh…, you have become quite scary, Tsunade," the bastard spoke up as he massaged his bruised neck, and she really considered twisting it fully right then and there.

"However, I believe I have just received another piece of interesting news from Amegakure," and she stopped as soon as she heard that. The news from Ame had dried up suddenly, and it was a complete blackout.

"Danzo had a squad placed in Ame. They were working for Hanzo the Salamander, allowing him to conduct off-the-books operations in Ame. They were about twenty or so of his best men," and she looked back at him and saw him smirk as he continued.

"Yesterday, all twenty of those men died!"

0000

JIRAIYA-The Toad Sage

The atmosphere in the village hidden in the rain was tense. He had been ordered by Tsunade to lead an investigation into the happenings in the village, yet the task proved much more difficult than usual.

The Village was on full lockdown and none of his usual leads had yielded an answer. The whole village was on edge with squads upon squads of shinobi moving around the village.

In the end, he had found a lead, Shirahoshi Hattori, Hanzo's second in command. Surprisingly, the man had been the one to approach him, and that was why he found himself standing in this narrow alley as he waited for the man to show up.

He glanced out into the street as he heard the sound of footsteps moving into the rain before a singular figure appeared at the edge of the alley. Jiraiya's eyes narrowed as he saw the Amegakure symbol on the man's headband.

And he observed, impassively as the man slowly walked towards him. He had a suspicion that this was the man he had been waiting for. His brown hair and the scar underneath his eye indicated to him that this was none other than Hattori himself.

"I never thought I would be approached by Hanzo the Salamander's second in command?" Jiraiya said, as the man leaned onto the wall opposite to him.

"And I never thought that I would ever seek out the infamous Toad Sage of Konoha, but here we are meeting in a dark alley?" said the man, his voice gruff and grazy though he didn't miss the hint of anxiety and caution in that tone. The man continuously looked around and seemed rather nervous, for some reason.

"So, tell me, why did you want to meet me?" Jiraiya asked as he closed the book he had been writing in and looked at the man with his full focus. The man hesitated for a moment, and Jiraiya saw his lips thin before the man finally spoke up.

"Allaince, I wish to make an alliance with Konoha," and Jiraiya was surprised by those words. AN alliance with Ame would aid Konoha substantially, and would allow them to strike at Iwa.

But the offer seemed off, for as much as he knew, Hanzo the Salamander had declared neutrality. Much like he always had, deciding not to pick a side, hoping that his village would be safe.

"Oho, has Hanzo the Salamander finally changed his views?" Jriaya asked jollily, fishing for more information, and the man shook his head as he looked towards him with a fear-filled gaze.

"No, the offer is not from him. It is from me," the man spoke and Jiraiya immediately frowned at those words.

"Have you lost your mind? Are you asking us to help you remove against your leader?" Jiraiya spoke angrily. The very notion was idiotic. For all his faults, Hanzo hadn't moved against Konoha, and the man was still a legend. Aiding a rebellion like this in a foreign village went against so many treaties.

"Haven't you heard? Hanzo-sama is dead," and Jiraiya frowned as the man spoke up with a shaky tone.

"What!" Jiraiya was shocked by those words. Hanzo the Salamander, the monster who had faced all three of the Sanin at once and had won. The man who was said to be powerful enough to go toe to toe against the Titans like The Professor or the Fence Sitter, had died.

"How?" Jiraiya questioned incredulously, reminded of the prowess of the man, from the time he had faced him.

"He came to Amegakure one day and began putting down our ninja. We thought it was just a rogue nin trying to drum up trouble, but how to wrong we were?" said the man, his face pale, as he gritted his teeth.

"He slaughtered the men we sent, sparing those who chose to follow him. And then he challenged Lord Hanzo and attacked him straight in his stronghold," said the man, and Jiraiay didn't know whether this newcomer was stupid.

"Then what happened?" Jiraiya questioned.

"It was a slaughter. An absolute slaughter," said the man with a shaky tone, and Jiraiay could hardly believe the man's words, and it all began to make sense. The killings on the border the atmosphere in the village. It began to click together.

"I have never seen anything like it. The fight was so one-sided Lord Hanzo used everything in his arsenal, yet it all failed. Everything" said the man through gritted teeth.

"Are you saying that Hanzo was killed by a single shinobi?" Jiraiya questioned, and the man shook his head.

"No, not just Hanzo. He slaughtered all those who refused to follow him as well. There was so much blood that the whole streets were dyed red for days," said the man with a shaky tone before he abruptly looked up at him.

"Only few us, loyal to Lord Hanzo live now, that is why I wish to make an alliance with you and your village, aid us in getting rid of this man, and Ame will provide Konoha…."

But then Jiraiya's senses screamed at him to run away, as hair on the back of his neck stood up. He jumped back on instinct, and immediately the water from below rose up and enveloped Hattori in a swirl, forming a cacoon around the man.

"You are far from home, Jiraiya-the Toad Sage," a very calm and serene voice called out as he heard someone approach them from the dark end of the street. Someone very powerful.

The very feel of their chakra put him on edge, the feel reminiscent of the feeling he got whenever he faced his sensei.

"ARGHH! AUGH!!" Hattori struggled to breathe as the water wrapped itself around him, encasing his whole lower body.

"It's him!" were the words he said, and Jiraiya understood what he meant. The newcomer stepped out of the shadow, and Jiraiya was surprised by their stature. They were smaller than he had expected, his body covered by a black robe.

Yet his face was invisible. The cloaked covered the lower portion of his face, and bandages were wrapped around his eyes while his wet white hair fell down on his face.

"So, you stooped to this level, Hattori, colluding with foreigners. Tsk," said the newcomer, and Jiraiya felt the air shift as the man simply raised his hand.

"But this ends now!" he simply waved the hand, and Jiraiay's eyes widened as he saw the water compress suddenly and crushed Hattori's body in a split second before he could even react.

BOOM!

"ARGHH!" the man had barely let out a grunt before his body exploded, splattering blood everywhere, as his head rolled onto the ground.

Jiraiya's senses were screaming for him to get away as he saw the man walk towards him.

"Now, what am I to do with you, Sanin no Jiraiya?" said the man and Jiraya felt that gaze rip through him. It was as if he was being stared at by an omniscient gaze, something that saw through him.

"I would say letting me go would be nice," Jiraiya teased as he slowly reached for the scroll bound to his back and pushed chakra into his legs. The man raised his hand and made a tiger hand.

"But I don't think it will be that easy!"

"Sution: Thousand Needles of Death," and in an instant, the raindrops around him turned into sharp senbon and rushed towards him.

"Ninpo: Summoning Jutsu!"

BOOOM!

0000

In another corner of the village hidden in the rain, a trio of shinobi dressed in similar gowns with the signature Ame hitai-ate were taken aback by the words they had just heard out of their informant. The three of them were the leaders of the rising organization known as Akatsuki.

"What do you mean he is dead? How can Hanzo-sama be dead, he is so powerful," the one with orange colored hair spoke gruffly and the person opposite to him simply shook his head.

"He is. This new person was very powerful. I have never seen anything like this. He slaughtered everyone who opposed him and has now ordered a complete closure of Ame borders," spoke the man, much to the surprise and frustration of the three young shinobi.

"He also sent me here with a message for you three," spoke the other man, and the three leaders of Akatsuki looked towards him with widened gaze as the man handed them a scroll.

"He has asked for you three to meet him. He is giving you a month's time. Failure to comply will result in the annihilation of your whole organization," said the messenger, and the three of them became cautious at once. A threat like that, coming from a man who had allegedly killed Hanzo-sama, was no small matter, and the way the three leaders of the Akatsuki stilled at those words, they understood that as well.

The sole girl among the trio took the scroll, and the messenger turned away from them, not before giving them a final warning.

"And Yahiko, my advice is to accept the offer, for if you don't, he will eradicate you and your men without any mercy," said the messenger.

"What is his name, and what the hell does he want?" the one named Yahiko questioned angrily.

"I don't know his name, and as for what he wants is change. He promises to change the very world."

0000

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