157. Onoki's BIG Mistake

"You know him, Tsunade?" He asked her.

She crouched down in front of the wheelchair and asked Shiroken in a low voice, "When did you exactly find him?"

"Umm, about 38 years ago. Who is he?" He inquired, crouching as well.

She nearly cried, her eyes getting teary, "He... He's my brother, Nawaki. I thought he died in an accident during a mission. I only received this locket from him. HOW?... I don't understand." She muttered.

"Ah, I nearly forgot about that locket. Yes, now that you say it, it was indeed like this. And... there was also Orochimaru. He left the poor boy to die and only returned hours later, just to find the dead body. But then I saved Nawaki and put him inside a tree." He revealed to her.

"Orochimaru... let him die?" She was taken aback. As she used to think that Orochimaru before the 2nd Shinobi war was a true friend of hers.

Shiroken patted her shoulder, "Nawaki is alive, but, his body was badly damaged, with half of his face destroyed, one arm and one leg are also missing. He is fine, but... I don't know what's wrong with him. He won't wake up."

She hugged Nawaki and cried, "I... I will find a way to do it. No matter what... I will. Don't worry, Nawaki."

However, there was no movement, none on the face or eyes. It was much more disappointing when you saw this. One person crying, full of emotion and the other not so much.

Haku silently stood beside Shiroken. He had become a friend of this silent boy and used to wonder why he was like this. Now, he got the answer.

"Let's go, Tsunade. Don't cry now, your tears won't heal him. I will help you in finding a cure instead. He has stayed here safely and will keep on living here." He assured her.

She got up and sadly hugged him, whispering words in his ears, "Thank you... I... can not rep..."

"Shut up now, Tsunade. I saved him not for you, I didn't even know about your existence. I saved him because he was just a kid, fighting in a mess made by adults." Shiroken scolded her but also gave her a warm hug while patting her back.

Depressed, she followed him behind to the medical labs so she could start her work. She was excited to work before, now she was desperate. She knew that if she wanted to have her brother again then she needed to find a cure now.

...

Milk Farms,

"Wah... really? Tsunade found her brother?" Saiken and Chomei were gossiping like two neighbourhood aunties.

Chomei nodded, "Yup, little Haku told me about it. Shiro saved that boy a long time ago. Really, the world is so small."

"Yes, who would have thought. Certainly, kindness is never wasted." Saiken muttered.

"MOOOO..." A cow sounded.

"Ah, I'll go back to milking my cows, bye-bye Chomei." Saiken quickly left. Chomei flew away to do some more gossiping with his other siblings.

Eventually, all beasts came to know about this situation. So, they discussed about it, "Hmm, is there any way to help?"

Matatabi shrugged, "If even Shiro can't heal him, then I don't know what can. That kid is as good as dead."

"Ow, don't say that. I'm sure there can be something." Isobu added.

"Have some faith in Shiroken. He is still getting stronger. What's there to stop him from developing some new technique?" Gyuki suggested.

Shukaku happily jumped and started boasting, "Huh, my boy will stomp on the world. He's the best. Now we only need Kokuo to get back. WAIT... NOOOOOO... WHAT THE..."

The sudden outburst took everyone by surprise. But, they too had shocked and horrified expressions. Something immensely bad had happened, something they had not expected. It did not make any sense as doing it would only mean bad for the evil-doers.

"WHY?! WHY WOULD THEY DO SUCH A THING?" Saiken screamed.

"FUCKING HUMANS!" Kurama growled in anger.

Happy go lucky Chomei sadly muttered, "I hate this world."

Gyuki exclaimed at the same time, "SHIRO! HE MUST HAVE FELT IT TOO!"

And they all quickly dashed to the Royal Palace in fears that Shiro might get out of control.

...

Iwagakure,

The village was going through a lot of tensions. In the previous 3 months, envoys from 4 different nations and big shinobi villages had come to tell them to surrender.

The people of Iwagakure at the same time saw the development happening around the world, except in their own homes. Traders would spread words and talk about revolutionary things available in other villages.

The people of Iwagakure felt envious. Seeing this, the senile Tsuchikage, Onoki, banned the entry of non-native traders of Iwa, creating inflation. Still, information spread, as even the native traders of the village would bring in the news.

There were big roads outside the country, there were big bridges, new towns, and all countries had one huge city that once used to be the home of the Daimyo. Nobody dies of hunger anymore and most were getting jobs. For a poor village, it was an opportunity.

The truth of the matter was, the people who are the most patriotic are usually the middle-class. The upper-class rich don't care about patriotism, they only want money. And the lower-class poor don't have the luxury of being patriotic, since their day starts with the worry of finding food for the day and ends with the worry about tomorrow.

Hence, the pandering of Onoki about patriotism was only working on the middle class. He was telling them to ignore all the warnings and the envoys and to fight to stay independent. He knew how futile it was, but the people did not.

However, then the public proclamation came, that people can vote to either allow Onoki to stay as their Tsuchikage and ruin the village or make him step down. There was not much confidence boost when they found out that the Earth Country Daimyo had also surrendered. Now, it was just their village that was left.

Of course, the people would support the removal of Onoki. However, Onoki did not want that. He'd rather die in a war than allow the village to surrender. It went against everything he was taught by his ancestors. It was his pride, his confidence and his hazy self-image of being mighty in his own mind that made him this senile.

And now, he had only one option left. If he could not take the fight to the man behind all his misery, then he would force that man to come to him. Only then can he show the village that he is still strong, that he can still keep the village safe. It was his conscious blindness that made him ignore what he had heard about Shiroken. He was one to only believe in things only if he had seen them. But the problem was, most of the people who had seen Shiroken's wrath were dead.

"DON'T GRANPA... DON'T DO IT. You will doom us all, not just yourself. This is a million times worse than surrendering. Let your pride go. Lord Dama's rule has already proven itself to be much better for every country in the world." Kurotsuchi ran after Onoki to stop him.

"Stay back, Kurotsuchi. I must keep the spirit of Iwa strong. I will die if I have to, but if it can reignite the fire in the hearts of the common Iwa shinobi, then it is worth it. I will not see Iwa's legacy be wasted and erased." Onoki replied and continued on his way.

Kurotsuchi, seeing it was pointless to talk to him, ran back towards the village. She had to take action before it was too late.

Onoki meanwhile went inside a prison dug under a mountain. In the middle of it, a body was hung with chains tied to the arms. It was a man, naked from the top. He looked weak as a wrinkly hundred-year-old man, as his bones were visible and his face had dried up. His eyes were barely open.

The man was Han, Jinchuriki of the Five Tails, Kokuo. Han had been imprisoned for the past few months. This was what Tsuchikage referred to as their last option. But, today he was here to do something.

Han weakly murmured. "O-Onoki... god will not forgive you... L-Lord Dama will not forgive you."

"Huh, so you have been talking to your beast as well? TRAITORS... ALL OF YOU! First, it was Kumo, then our Daimyo and now you as well." Onoki raged. It seems the betrayal of Kumo and the Earth Daimyo had stung him hard.

"I will keep my grandfather's legacy going. This village was made with our blood, sweat and tears. I will not allow some lord to steal it... I DEFEATED MADARA! WHAT IS HE?... *WOOSH*

He used his dust release to send a thin long projectile to Han. *BAM* Next thing, a bony head rolled onto the muddy flood with a thud.

Han was dead. Kokuo... was dead. Han's last words were for Kokuo, a simple and short "Thank you,". While Kokuo's last words were for her family, "See you soon."

...

Dama City, Hospital.

Shiroken was walking with Tsunade towards the laboratory. Tsunade was telling him her various ideas about creating a cure for her brother. She was over her sadness now and instead felt relieved that her brother was at least alive.

"... and this way, we can probably rejuvenate his mind... Shiroken?" Tsunade realised he had stopped following her.

She turned around to call him, but her mind went blank in an instant and a sense of fear took over her being. A few steps behind her, he stood. Not moving, as if dead. His eyes widened and shining red. His face slowly contorted, with anger apparent. It was enough to make her dread.

But she saw grief in his eyes as a small tear fell. A look from him made her feel numb. Gone was the cheerful man, the devil had come.

[A/N: Yes, Kokuo could have avoided it. But she did not. Stay tuned to find out more in the next episode of...]

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I WANT STONE!

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