Return to Konoha

CH5 Return to Konoha

The rest of the battle was anticlimactic, to say the least. Hayate cast the Flowing Mirror: Shine of Truth and created a domain around him. All enemies inside this dimension will receive a Burned state. His chakra regenerates 15% faster and receives 80% Fire Additional DMG when he fights inside this dimension. With such an advantage along with his base stats which were out of the charts and his invisibility technique. Orochimaru and his snake summon got easily overwhelmed despite trying everything he got.

Hayate chopped off and stabbed Manda until it couldn't bear any damage and got sent back into the Ryuuchi Cave. Then he uses Shadow Clones, summoning 9 clones and turning them invisible. The battle becomes one-sided bullying afterward. Orochimaru got his head decapitated, but he spit out a black substance from his mouth which turned into a giant white snake with a gruesome appearance. The head was similar to the Snake Sannin but bigger, and the scale of the snake is an array of smaller white snakes. 

Orochimaru did not try to fight him head on, instead after transforming into the giant snake he tried to flee from this battle. However, anyone who got trapped inside the Shine of Truth couldn't get away unless one of them was defeated. And thus, at the border of the domain, Orochimaru felt as if he was hit with a solid wall. It has a similar effect as a Four Red Yang Formation Seal. Hayate chopped his head off, deactivating his sword domain, and undoing his invisibility. Letting the Suna shinobi come closer.

'It's not the best fight I have ..., are all the Sannin this weak?' Hayate mused as he turned around.

Circling him were Sunagakure shinobi, all with kunai up or wooden puppets ready to fight him. Without their kage, the highest representatives were the Honored Siblings, Elder Chiyo and Ebizo.

"What is the meaning of this, is Konoha trying to wage war against Suna?" asked Chiyo who controlled three puppets.

"No need to be aggressive Chiyo. Young man, I suppose there's a lot more explanation to this commotion." Ebizo added after patting Chiyo's shoulder.

"Your Kazekage has allied with Otogakure and plotted to invade Konohagakure, I don't know if you're unaware of this or if Sunagakure is just a shameless bunch without an ounce of dignity," Hayate stated as he looked at the Suna shinobi and most of the higher level ninja wore a difficult expression on their face. "Whatever, in short, I was tasked to infiltrate the Suna village and gather intelligence to prepare your so-called invasion. But when I entered the Kazekage office, I was exposed by the fake Kazekage who turned out to be Orochimaru. We fought, and that's led us into this moment."

"Young man, if this Orochimaru has impersonated Rasa all these times. Then where is he?" asked Ebizo.

"I don't know and I don't care." Hayate shook his head, he looked around and spotted the kunoichi who had led him into the Kazekage office. "You there, step forward!"

"Me?" the kunoichi who has a bolt of colt in her hand asked while pointing at herself.

"Yes you, come here ... what's your name?"

"I'm Maki, sir!"

"Maki, you know how to do sealing and stuff with that cloth of yours?"

"I ... yeah, I know, sir."

"Great, would you help me seal Orochimaru's corpse?"

"Huh? Alright, I understand sir."

"Hey hold on, why the hell you're acting like you own this whole village, you Konoha bastard? Maki, step back!" one of the veteran shinobi yelled with indignation.

"I'm not actively seeking conflict, but if you want it I will raze this village, burn every single building, and kill every one of you." Hayate flared his chakra out in the form of heat radiation. "And that's not a threat, that's a promise."

"Everyone calm down, don't provoke him any further," Ebizo asked the Suna shinobi to calm down.

In the meantime, Maki sealed the Orochimaru huge corpse using her cloth binding technique. After she was done sealing the huge corpse, she stored it inside a medium scroll before giving it to Hayate.

"Young Man, can you spare some time..."

"Well sure, but I'll be heading back in 30 minutes. So what is it?"

"Sigh ..., can you deliver this message to the Third Hokage? Everything is orchestrated by Orochimaru, even our Kazekage whereabouts remain unknown. I beg you, our village does not want a conflict with Konoha at this state."

"Well, does that mean you'll still do it if your Kazekage is still here?"

"That depends on Rasa's decision, however, this old man knows that this is not the best time to spark a war."

Hayate looked at the Ebizo and Chiyo elder who looked so burdened and had a tired look on their faces. He also observed how the Suna village is so tense looking at him, and their overall strength isn't much. They only have dozens or so Jonin which was still really small compared to Konoha. If they wage wars, they would only face a certain death.

"I understand, I will convey your messages to the Lord Third." Hayate made a seal and his body blurred into nothingness, "Then, I'll be going."

Hayate headed out from the Sunagakure while still in his invisibility. Ebizo and Chiyo looked at the trail that Hayate left behind and sighed.

"How confident are you winning against that Konoha shinobi?" Ebizo asked Chiyo beside him.

"I don't think I can get him, I can't even sense him when he's in that invisible state. To think that Konoha has such a young and prominent ninja in their rank. The Three Sannins, White Fang, Golden Flash, Blue Beast, and now this. Truly, a cradle of geniuses."

"Let's get everything settled first, and we must find Rasa's whereabouts."

"You're right ..."

———

It took Hayate half a day with this speed to reach back to the village. He reached the Konoha gate in the afternoon. He was wearing an ANBU uniform, and he walked through the front gate. That's something that bothers the two Konoha gatekeepers, Kotetsu and Izumo. After all, the ANBU has its secret entrance route if they want to get in or out of the village.

"Hold on, who are you? Reveal your identity."

"I'm one of the ANBU operatives, why would you stop me?"

"State your identity or I'll push the alarm." the two gatekeepers were adamant about stopping him.

"Okay, goodbye then." Hayate turns invisible afterward, directly entering the Konoha and leaving the two chunin behind. Hayate didn't want to have trouble with them just because he chose the wrong entrance point.

Kotetsu and Izumo pushed the alarm to alert the Hokage and the ninja inside. After all, they let a suspicious imposter impersonate an ANBU operative.

"We're in a big trouble, right?"

"Let's just hope that it's a false alarm."

Hayate quickly entered the Hokage building, it hadn't been a week since he left the village and he already completed the mission. He knocked on the door and waited.

"Enter!"

He flickered inside and kneeled in front of the Third Hokage.

"... Snake, have you completed the mission?"

"Ha! Sandaime-sama, I've completed the mission." 

Hayate took a scroll which was the report he wrote about the situation. Inside was the information on how many Suna and Oto shinobi were in the plan, and every intelligence gathered. But in the last entry, he also added the situation with Orochimaru who impersonated Kazekage and ruled the Sand Village in the shadow. Also about his battle with Orochimaru which alerted the whole Sunagakure.

"Is all of this true?"

"Ha! I've sealed Orochimaru's corpse inside this scroll."

"No, not that Snake-kun. I mean, why and how could you defeat and even kill Orochimaru and leave the Sunagakure without any fight?"

"Well that's ... cough, I think it's because I've perfected my Transparency Release."

"Hmmm, alright ... I want to see Orochimaru's corpse but let's change the place. Follow me." Hiruzen stood up from his chair.

"Wood Style: Smothering Binding Technique!"

But before they could leave the office, three shadows lurked and immediately lunged to attack Hayate. One had a wood that branches appeared from his palm to bind Hayate's body and feet, and then there was one who brandished his kunai and stabbed his neck, while the last tried to slash his chest with a sword. 

'Flowing Mirror: Formation!' 

Hayate created six swords to block the incoming attack and then launch a counterattack on them. Of course, he wasn't going to hurt any of them. After all, one of them is his lover Yugao who seems to have claimed one of his spare swords. The flying sword was deflected and they made a few spaces behind. 

"Sandaime-sama, please evacuate. This is the intruder who impersonated an anbu squad." said the Mokuton user.

"Ahh, there's a misunderstanding Tenzo. He's not impersonating anyone, there's a circumstance behind him wearing anbu uniform, but he's a Shinobi of Konoha and your comrade."

"Huh?" Tenzo looked puzzled and he asked, "Is he a shinobi of Konoha? Are you not mistaken, Sandaime-sama?"

"Yes, so you don't need to worry. Rat and Eagle already know about his circumstances. Tenzo, you go call Suna Jonin Baki and his genin. And Ferret, you go summon Danzo. Tell them to meet me in the Training Ground Eight." Hiruzen turned his gaze to the purple-haired kunoichi, "Fox, you come with us."

The two anbu all went to their mission, with Yugao following closely behind Hiruzen.

"Come to think of it, Snake, what was that jutsu you used? I can feel a chakra of fire element, but I've never seen jutsu like that before."

"It was something that I've been learning secretly, Hokage-sama." 

"Hmmm ... you've grown strong in just five days, do you know what happened?"

"I ... it's probably I awakened something after that day." Hayate tried to explain but he felt like he didn't know how to explain his system. He was unfamiliar with it before listening to Chief's explanation, and he still doesn't get most of it even now.

"I see, maybe it's a kekkai genkai. Well, you got a lot of time to study it properly after this."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

Along the way, Yugao scrutinized her eyes to see this Snake-masked shinobi. For some reason, she felt a familiar feeling toward him. However, she still didn't know who he was and that felt somewhat odd.

Hiruzen along with Yugao and Hayate walked to an open field used for training. The Third Hokage then said. "Alright, Snake ... show me."

"Ha!" Hayate took a storage scroll and took out the huge corpse inside. He unsealed the clothbind and inside it was revealed the snake body of Orochimaru.

Hiruzen looked at this 'corpse' and his heart wrenched in pain. The man-headed snake was a monstrosity, yet the old man could still see the resemblance with his prized disciple. He recalled the very first day he took them as this disciple, and now that ever curious child lay there lifelessly. 

"Is this the immortality you sought after?" muttered Hiruzen.

"Hiruzen, what's all this commotion? And what is this abomination?" asked an old man who had a bandage covering his left eye and damaged arm. He was one of the Konoha advisors, Danzo Shimura. He came with two ROOT members as his bodyguards and also the ANBU Ferret mask.

"I'll explain it to you, but let's wait for another to join us," Hiruzen said with a tired voice.

Before long, there's another shadow approached. They were Baki and the Three Sand Siblings. As they approached, the purple-haired kunoichi couldn't stop her hand to take a grab of the sword hilt. However, Hayate who was at her side grabbed her arm and shook his head, despite Yugao's protest. 

"Does Third Hokage want to see us?" Baki warily looked around and planned an escape route if worse came to worse. He also made a mental note on the purple-haired kunoichi who didn't bother to conceal her killing intent.

"Suna Jonin Baki and the children of Kazekage Rasa. Your Kazekage has been missing and even might be murdered, the one who gave you the order to follow the Konoha Crush plan is my former disciple Orochimaru who impersonated Fourth Kazekage." Hiruzen turned his head and looked at the giant man-headed snake corpse, "This is Orochimaru's corpse, I believe with him killed you won't continue the plan."

"That's impossible!?"

"You're speaking nonsense!"

"..."

"... but how?!" Baki asked in disbelief, after the outburst of the three siblings. Gaara looked at the Konoha Hokage with hatred in his teal eyes.

"You can validate the truth yourself. However, this ... if anyone in the Elemental Nation has the means to turn into this, then it would undoubtedly be my former disciple, Orochimaru."

"Hiruzen, is this all true? Who in the Konoha is capable of doing this? Is it Jiraiya? Kakashi?" Danzo asked as he didn't believe that the collaborator of his flawless plan to ascend into the Hokage office would get killed this easily.

"No, neither of them." Hiruzen stated while looking at this old friend with a calculating gaze for a second, "The matter of who did this does not matter. What matters is, that I want you to give up your foolish plan! Your village elder has passed down a message, they did not want a conflict with Konoha when they have no Kage backing them up. I will let you join the Final Stage of the Chunin exam, however, don't try anything funny."

"Ha. I understand Hokage-sama."

"Very well. As long as you know that all I want is peace between two villages." Hiruzen nodded at Baki. "You may dismiss."

"Let's go!" Baki and the Three Sand Siblings left the training ground.

"Hiru-"

"Danzo!" before Danzo could say something, Hiruzen interrupted him by calling his name loudly. "I can tolerate you doing your things with that ROOT of yours, but betraying the village by giving information to your enemy. Is something that even I can not tolerate."

"Hiruzen, what are you talking about, you can paint me black but does that mean I'm truly black!? I never done such a thing. Everything I have done is for Konoha! You're simply accursing me, Hiruzen!"

Third Hokage threw a scroll into Danzo, and he caught it without any difficulty. But what makes things awkward for Danzo is that, without even opening the scroll he knew what was the content. After all, it was him who passed this scroll to Yakushi Kabuto. Danzo pretended to open it and his guess was correct, this was the same scroll containing Konoha's intelligence.

"Danzo, I will declare that the ROOT operative will be terminated effectively starting from now. Member of root will be assimilated into ANBU force and you will be stripped off from your position as a Konoha advisor."

"Ohh, you can't do this, Hiruzen. You can't do this to me! Do you know how much I sacrificed for this village!?"

"You collude with the traitor who planned to invade this village. Is that what you call a sacrifice!?"

"Hiruzen! I'm doing this for the village!" Danzo Shimura shouted, trying his best to control his emotion who's almost out bursting.

"For the village you got some screw lose in your head, get the hell away from this place Danzo!"

Hiruzen might be too soft especially toward his old friend. Beside, he let him do whatever he wanted with the ROOT for far too long that it developed beyond his control. The power balance between his ANBU and Danzo's ROOT might be on par, and ROOT may come as the winner if they clashed on head-to-head. 

But now, Hiruzen got a new trump card. It was Hayate Gekko. He was surprised seeing him capable of killing Orochimaru, but more than that when he sensed his chakra Hiruzen felt that he had kage-level reserve. Along with the mysterious kekkai genkai, Hayate might be someone that could handle the mantle of Hokage. That's why, Hiruzen has the guts in opposing Danzo openly right now. 

"...!" 

"Snake!" Hiruzen called the Snake-masked anbu. 

"Ha!" Hayate responded perfunctorily. It was quite awkward seeing the person who killed him, and even more so seeing two old man in arguments.

"You will follow Danzo to the ROOT headquarters and supervise him. I want to see ROOT base cleaned up within a day."

[Quest]

— Infiltration & Espionage Sunagakure [Completed], Gained 200 Point

— Shut-down ROOT [New!] 

"... understood, Hokage-sama."