The Seven Swordsmen

Hiroki had gone back to Konoha's battle camp after leaving Orochimaru's lab. Once he got there, he could feel how serious the atmosphere became from when he left. He went straight to Minato's tent.

"Minato-ni, are there any news?" Hiroki asked.

"Hiroki, Kiri has sent many troops into battle last night. We had heard of this just after you left, and as means to deter their troops, we had sent some of our own along with some of Suna's. The news arrived to us that Kiri had only sent their seven swordsmen. Over half of our troops are seriously injured while many have died. I worry that they are going after our young genin, as they are the future of Konoha." Minatos explained.

"And why haven't you gone to battle then? What is keeping you here?" Hiroki asked, a little angry.

"Hokage-sama has ordered me to go to Kumo's borders. I was waiting for you to come back and ask you to please go help in this battle. Sakumo-San has already been sent to help our troops to return to our camp. Hiroki, please, bring as many as you can." Minato asked.

"Damn it. What is that old man thinking? Alright, I'll take care of things here." Hiroki said.

———

Hiroki had left the Konoha's battle camp and instantly teleported to Kakashi's side. He was relieved to see that Minato's genin were alright if not considering the small injuries.

"Kakashi, have you seen the direction the seven swordsmen have gone to? I need to stop them as soon as possible, otherwise we will lose many of our own brethren." Hiroki asked.

"We ran from them as soon as we saw them, but we were still injured by they shuriken and kunais. Some other teams also ran from battle, but..." Kakashi said, but didn't continue as he stayed silent for a few seconds.

"What is it Kakashi?" Hiroki asked. He had a calm mind, but he felt that something was going on as he saw Kakashi's expression.

"Gai's team wasn't able to flee in time. We don't know what happened later, but..."

'BOOOM'

Before Kakashi could finish, Hiroki had already left in extreme speeds. Obito, Kakashi and Rin saw a deep foot imprint where Hiroki was and spiderweb cracks on the ground near it.

———

'Damn it. How could I forget. Gai's team was surrounded by the seven swordsmen and were almost killed by them.' Hiroki thought as he kept jumping from tree branch to tree branch and bursting them into splinters as he used great force to accelerate. He then made a one handed hand seal and four clones appeared, each going to a different direction. Hiroki had told them to scout all areas and help Konoha's and Suna's shinobi to return.

Five minutes later, one of Hiroki's clones had made a Hiraishin seal released itself, notifying Hiroki of an ongoing battle. Hiroki instantly teleported to the battle sight. When he got there, he saw a man in green jump suit protecting three children from a few of Kiri's swordsmen. The man had a powerful dark red chakra overflowing everywhere around him. It was no one other than Gai's father, Might Dai.

Even though he was panting, he still had an unwilling look on his face to protect those children. Hiroki saw that there were four of the seven swordsmen dead on the ground. He then arrived near Gai and his teammates; Ebisu and Genma. They looked at him and had a small feeling of hope build up in their hearts. They knew that he had the same age as them, but his battle exploits was known by all of Konoha. Might Dai felt Hiroki's presence and turned back towards his son's team. He saw Hiroki and a weak smile showed on his face.

"Oi, you don't have the time to look away from us you bastard." The swordsmen holding the sword of thunder said as the thunder sword slashed towards Hiroki's direction, bringing a arc of lightening towards him. Raiga had a smirk plastered on his face as he saw that the young men didn't move.

Hiroki eyes changed along with some marks on his arms and then he raised his right hand and made a small rasenshuriken. The arc of lightening crashed with the rasenshuriken on his hand and was instantly cancelled. Raiga's smirk was instantly replaced with an ugly look on his face.

"You should have run the moment you saw your four teammates falling to their deaths. But now it's just too late." Hiroki said as he released his full killing intent for the first time in many years.

The last three swordsmen fell on their knees instantly once they felt the pressure and weight of Hiroki's killing intent. Even when battling against kage level shinobi, they have never felt this amount of dread and fear in their life.

Hiroki took steps leisurely as he walked towards them and closing the distance between. He then flashed and kicked the tree of them right on their chest, making them fly distant towards the inner part of the forest, destroying every tree in their way.

Hiroki then made four shadow clones.

"Go and seal the bodies and the swords of the already dead swordsmen."

As he said that, he went towards the area where he kicked the other three and found them on the ground under some trees. They had blood covering their whole faces while their clothes were tattered and battered. Hiroki observed them for a few seconds and saw that they had been knocked out cold. He then stopped releasing his killing intent and went towards the three.

"A good man is about to die because of my carelessness. If I had been more attentive, this wouldn't have happened. I know the future, but I can't control the outcome of everything. I hope this teaches me to be more cautious." Hiroki said as he sighed heavily while looking towards the sky. A rain drop then fell on his face.

'I better hurry up and finish this and return to Gai and Dai.' Hiroki thought as he made three more clones and sealed Raiga, Fuguki and Juzo's chakra and sealed their swords as well. He then placed a sword inside separate sealing scrolls.

After doing this, Hiroki walked back to where Gai and his team was. He saw Gai kneeling over his father that was now laying on the ground, powerless.

Dai looked at Gai and said: "Gai, always remember what I have said and taught you. Victory is not beating someone strong. It's being able to protect something important to you. I'm sorry this old man isn't able to see you grow up any longer. Let the light of youth always shine inside your heart."

These were Dai's last words and who better to listen to them other than his son. Gai let the tears flow down his face, but he didn't weep, he gritted his teeth while feeling the loss of the person that had always been by his side, inspiring him since he was a child. After some minutes, Hiroki walked up to him and patted his shoulder.

"Gai, feel proud of your father. He is an upstanding person. What he did was the most righteous thing someone could do. He sacrificed himself for those he love. Don't fell sad. Instead, feel proud of the father you have." Hiroki said.

Once Gai finished mourning his father's passing, Hiroki sealed Dai's body inside a scroll. He the patted Gai's shoulder while his clones took Ebisu and Genma and teleported to the battlecamp, along with the three surviving, but knocked out swordsmen.

———

It had been one day since Konoha fought against Kiri's troops and the seven swordsmen. Kakashi giving support to Gai, Rin was helping the medics heal the injured shinobi while Obito was helping to carry those that couldn't move around normally.

"What have you been thinking about all this time? You haven't said a word since you came back with those three swordsmen from Kiri." Sakumo asked Hiroki, as he saw the young Jounin look at the camp.

"I've been thinking of life and how easy it is to take it away. I've been thinking of ways to help people that are being oppressed and also the best solution to solve this matter." Hiroki said as he continued to wonder and look at the camp.

"Did you find a solution yet?" Sakumo asked, wanting to know Hiroki's answer.

"I haven't. But what I found out is that I can stop these things from happening with force, but then I'd be the one oppressing everyone else, contradicting my purpose. Humans when cornered fight back. No matter if they are weak or strong, they always fight back when things are at their limits. What we can do for now is buy peace for a short time, but at a cost of many lives." Hiroki said as he finally moved from his spot and started walking towards the outside of the battle camp.

"Where are you going Hiroki?" Sakumo asked.

Hiroki stopped, turned around towards Sakumo and said: "I'm going to buy this momentary peace." A black flash was seen before he disappeared.