Chapter 34: Killing Izaya

Ting! Ting! Fwish! Zwang!

Ten kunai soared past my head as I quickly ducked and jumped to my side dodging another three shuriken successfully. I held my special kunai in my right hand and successfully parried two kunai thrown straight at me as I jumped on the tree trunk to my right dodging another kunai aimed at my neck. A Root Anbu jumped down from the tree top above me and slashed with his sword prompting me to deflect his attack with my special kunai and spun my body at the same time ending up behind him successfully piercing my kunai into his neck killing him. As he was falling to the ground I grabbed his body and used it as a shield blocking twenty shuriken flying at me. Put Put Put!

After blocking the barrage of shuriken I threw my special kunai in the direction of the attack, however I was forced to jump to my left and up a tree top as a blast of Wind Ninjutsu destroyed the area I was just at. Two Anbu appeared from the shadows of the trees wielding a kunai in their hands. One stabbed with his right hand and the other swept at my feet. I jumped to dodge the sweep and grabbed onto the others hand. Holding tightly onto the Anbu's arm I threw a powerful air kick into his face using the force of the recoil to jump out of the other Anbu's reach. As I landed on another branch three Anbu rushed at me with their swords. I sidestepped two blades, dropped a paper bomb, and flew to the special kunai I threw earlier before the third blade could reach me. Not a moment later the bomb went off causing heavy damage to those Anbu.

As I grabbed my special kunai three Anbu trapped me in their encirclement and unleashed a combination of Wind, Fire, and Lighting Ninjutsu. I quickly jumped into the air to dodge their attack only to be met with three Anbu in the air above me stabbing downwards with their swords. I twisted my body and threw my special kunai to a tree in the distance. Just as the swords were about to pierce me I disappeared and reappeared next to my kunai. I took a deep breath as I thought, Danzo really wants me dead. The Anbu he sent this time are way more skilled and coordinated then the ones he sent in the past, and there's more of them too. I can't even sense their presence until the last moment. What kind of special technique did Danzo place on these Anbu to keep their presence hidden even from me?

Just as four Anbu appeared behind me I jumped to a higher branch and hung upside down as I weaved the signs of Tiger, Horse, Tiger, Snake and said, "Wood Style Great Forest Jutsu!" I stuck out my left hand causing large tendrils of wood to shoot forth capturing two Anbu while the other two successfully jumped out of the way. I clenched my fist as my wood technique constricted and crushed the bodies of the two that were ensnared. Three other Anbu were rushing towards me at this moment prompting me to throw my special kunai at them and weaving the signs of Ox, Dog, Dragon, Rat, Dog, Boar, Snake, Tiger and said, "Kunai Shadow Clone Jutsu!" More than 100 special kunai flew out at high speeds piercing through the air.

One Anbu quickly formed the sign of Tiger, Hare, Boar, Dog and said, "Earth Style Earth Wall Jutsu!" A giant wall of earth successfully blocked the attack, however it impaired their vision so I flew to a kunai near the top of the wall and grabbed two special kunai before doing a flip over the wall. As I was in the air I threw the two kunai and killed two of the Anbu as I landed right in front of the third. He quickly threw a right punch but I parried with my left hand. He kicked with his left leg as I blocked with my right knee. He punched, thrusted, kicked, swept, dodged, blocked, parried, flipped, grappled, and twisted but I countered and met him blow for blow as I finally broke his arm, dislocated his knee, and twisted his head effectively killing him.

A pair of hands shot out from the ground and grabbed my ankles at this moment preventing me from moving as two Anbu shot out at great speeds from my left and right sides thrusting their swords out at my body. Just before the swords reached me I flew to one of my hundred special kunai lying around the forest floor causing the two Anbu to skewer each other as they couldn't react in time at the last moment. I quickly turned my head to the left and kicked with my right leg dodging and deflecting two kunai thrown at me. I jumped up as a large fuma shuriken flew past and stuck my hands out to my sides successfully grabbing two kunai that were thrown at me. I twisted my body in the air and threw both kunai back from their point of origin. Both Anbu dodged behind a tree before they could get hit. Just as I was about to land, a powerful blast of Wind Ninjutsu shot towards me, but I flew to a different kunai in the forest.

A blast of lighting was aimed at me in that moment prompting me to jump up and hang upside down on a branch with my feet. I quickly formed the Snake hand sign and said, "Wood Style Silent Strangle Jutsu!" The Anbu that just appeared on the branch above me was instantly bounded and incapacitated by the thick wood vines. I quickly appeared behind him and was about to kill him when a light flashed beneath my feet instantly rooting me in place.

"What the?!" I exclaimed. It was at this moment that two Anbu rushed at me from the front and from behind. I quickly shifted my body as their swords pierced into me just missing my vital points. I held onto the blades of the swords to prevent them from moving as I coughed and spit up some blood struggling to move. "You bastards! This is a Space-Locking Seal. There's no way you amateurs could perform such a difficult Sealing Jutsu. Did Danzo prepare this for you all beforehand?" I said as I gritted my teeth.

"Accept your fate Karasuma Izaya. Today you die here. Activate the barrier!" The Anbu in front of me said. At that moment a powerful barrier field engulfed the entire forest. I coughed up more blood as I struggled to move. "I'm impressed. The Anbu Danzo sent came quite prepared this time. This is also a Space-Locking Barrier isn't it? To prevent me from escaping with my Flying Thunder God, to place this barrier takes quite the time to set up. He's determined I'll give him that."

"Your mistake was your overconfidence and not leaving the moment you noticed something wrong. This barrier is called the Suicide Colosseum Barrier. It creates a powerful illusion on the outside so no one will even suspect that something is wrong inside. It reacts to our chakra and there is only one way to leave. Either the only one left in this barrier alive is us or the enemy. Unless you kill all of us you can't leave." The Anbu behind me said.

"Tch. How troublesome, however, that also means that unless you kill me none of you are also able to leave this place, hence the name suicide." I replied.

"It doesn't matter. You are powerful, I give you that, but not even you have the capability to kill all of us." An Anbu said as more than thirty more Anbu appeared in the vicinity.

"Guess it can't be helped. Since none of us are leaving for the time being anyways." I said as I let go of one of the blades pierced in my body and pulled off my blindfold. At that moment the Anbu in front of me froze up and couldn't move anymore as I stared him in the eyes. "Genjutsu!" I said. I quickly turned my head behind me and said, "Amaterasu!"

"AHHHH!" The Anbu stabbing the blade behind me screamed in agony as the black flames incinerated his body. I quickly destroyed the Space-Locking Seal beneath my feet with Amaterasu before quickly flying to a special kunai out of the encirclement of the Anbu. Just as I disappeared, more than a hundred ninja tools struck the spot I was just at.

"Mangekyou Sharingan?! Shit! He actually possesses the Sharingan?" The Anbu's exclaimed.

"Too bad you can't leave to tell Danzo." I replied with a smirk as more blood seeped out from my wounds and lips. Poisoned blades huh? I mentally noted as pulled out the blades from my body and feeling my body worsening and weakening. Three Anbu ambushed me from the shadows of the trees as I quickly responded by jumping up dodging two kicks and grabbing the arm of the third. I performed a flare in the air using the arm of the Anbu as leverage and kicked two of the Anbu before breaking the arm of the last Anbu and kicking him into two other Anbu rushing over this way. I did a backflip dodging several senbon needles and jumped behind a tree as I felt my head go dizzy. I coughed more blood as I silently cursed whatever poison Danzo had those Anbu use. If it wasn't for my body's powerful regeneration skills I probably would have lost consciousness already.

I jumped up the tree I was hiding behind and dodged several shuriken and then kicked off the tree onto a different one dodging a Fire Ninjutsu attack. Just as an Anbu appeared behind me I did a backflip in the air and arrived behind him as I said, "Taiyougan!" A dense and bright golden sphere appeared on my hand as a loud HUUUMMMMM sound was heard. It looked like a small sun and the core of a nuclear reactor was being held in my hands. I thrust the golden sphere forwards as it instantly pierced the body of the Anbu before a bright golden light erupted from his entire being before all that was left in his place was a pile of ashes.

"W-What the hell was that!" Many of the Anbu exclaimed as they saw one of their comrades instantly turn into nothing but ashes. As they stared at me they collectively thought the same thing. A demon! With my blood red eyes of the Mangekyou Sharingan, bloody wounds on my body, and blood seeping out of my mouth with a power that can turn one into ashes, it gave them the impression that they were fighting a demon instead of a 15 or 16 year old ninja of the Leaf. While they became even more cautious approaching me than before, I pretended to give off an air of confidence when in reality I fought to remain conscious. I have to end this quickly or else it's over for me I thought. I dashed into the midst of their group catching them off guard as they didn't anticipate me attacking them en masse like this.

I dodged three blades and jumped onto the shoulders of an Anbu twisting his neck killing him. I used his dead body to block several ninja tools before dashing out to the side and sweeping the legs of two other Anbu. Before I could kill them I backflipped away dodging the blades of two others and flew to a special kunai dodging an Earth Style Ninjutsu. "Fire Style FireBall Jutsu!" An Anbu shouted. I flew to another kunai out of the way and formed the clone seal saying, "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Four other clones of me appeared. Five Anbu formed hand signs and unleashed a barrage of Fire, Wind, Earth, Water, and Lightning Style Jutsu at me. The four clones and I also formed the same hand signs at the same time using Fire, Wind, Earth, Water, and Lighting Style Jutsu. I then focused my left eye on all five nature techniques and said, "Kuninotokotachi!" Immediately all five elemental attacks that my clones and I used shrunk to half their size, however, their power became twice as strong in their condensed form and easily overpowered the Jutsu of the five Anbu effectively overtaking them and causing massive damage where they stood.

"Impossible! His technique became smaller, how did he overpower them?" The surviving Anbu's exclaimed in shock. The four shadow clones jumped in the midst of some of the Anbu as I activated the Shadow Clone Explosion Jutsu effectively blowing them up. Before the Anbu could have anymore time to contemplate I combined the power of Amaterasu and Kuninotokotachi and aimed the technique at ten Anbu in the vicinity. I created a large flame with Amaterasu, but made it incredibly small with Kuninotokotachi making it not only even more powerful, but also undetectable to the Anbu. Without knowing what happened they screamed in agony as their body's had a large hole appear in them with black flames burning throughout. "That was more effective than I thought." I muttered to myself as I suddenly swayed a bit and clutched my eyes. Shit, I probably don't have much time before the poison incapacitates me.

Splish Splish Splish!

"Agh!" I groaned as three shuriken sunk into my right leg, my left shoulder, and my right chest. I quickly placed my right hand up and blocked a kick to my chest while the force flung me into the trunk of a tree. I spit out more blood as I quickly rolled to my side dodging a sword that was thrown at me. I formed the hand sign of Ox, Hare, Monkey and said, "Chidori!" I grabbed the sword and channeled the Chidori into it as I blocked the blade of an Anbu above me and cut through his sword killing him by slicing his throat. I did a backflip dodging a Fire Ninjutsu attack and threw the Chidori enhanced sword as it stabbed into two Anbu killing them. I huffed and panted and struggled to remain awake. They somehow are able to conceal themselves from my senses. I can find them with the Mangekyou but that's only if they are within a certain distance. If they hide further back in the forest they can escape my eyes. They only have to whittle down my strength and wait for the poison to completely overtake me. Guess I'll just let loose.

I quickly dashed to the edge of the barrier and said, "Yo, have any of you ever faced the attack of a Tailed Beast Bomb?" The remaining Anbu's narrowed their eyes in confusion at what I was about to do.

"Heh, I'll let you have a taste of a precursor. It's not exactly a Tailed Beast Bomb but it really isn't too far off." I said. I placed both palms in front of me and said, "Great Taiyougan!" A small golden sun-like energy sphere appeared in the palm of my hands and in the next second grew to a size as large as myself. An incredibly loud HUUUUUUMMMMMMM sound erupted from the giant sphere. This is like the equivalent of Naruto's Big Ball Rasenshuriken, only more dangerous since this combines four chakra natures and not just wind nature. Before, I controlled the tunnel of the wind to force all the condensed energy in a confined direction so this technique doesn't just explode everywhere. That's why that Anbu I used this technique on earlier turned to ash and nothing else happened to the surroundings. This time I'll just let the force go everywhere. No matter where you are hiding you can't escape from this I smirked and thought to myself. Although, that includes me too since I'm trapped in this damn barrier I lamented.

"W-What the hell is he going to do?!" The surviving Anbu's exclaimed with panic.

"Heh, die!" I yelled as I shot forth the Giant Taiyougan as far as I could so I would only be affected by the residual blast. I then activated my left Mangekyou Sharingan's power, Kuninotokotachi, to further increase and double the size of the technique to ensure an even greater area of damage. This won't increase the power, but it'll increase the area that is affected. Good thing Hiruzen-sensei let me make a contract with the First Hokage's summoning I mentally thought. I then quickly placed my hand on the ground and said, "Summoning Jutsu Quintuple Rashomon!" Five Giant Monstrous Gates appeared in front of me to help minimize the force of the explosion as I also weaved the signs of Rat, Dog, Tiger and said, "Wood Style Wood Dome Jutsu!" Large thick branches of wood quickly covered and sheltered me in a protective shell. Just as I braced myself for impact a colossal explosion filled the entire forest and shook the very core of the ground. The barrier quaked and creaked at the impact of the force as the forest was razed to the ground. The five Rashomon Gates were blown to bits and pieces, however, it was successful in greatly reducing the force of the impact with each destroyed gate. The powerful force of the explosion tore open the Wood Dome and blew me straight into the barrier's wall.

I laid pushed against the wall with no strength in my body as the force of the explosion continued to keep me pinned there for the next 5 seconds before dissipating. A giant crater with destroyed wood pieces on the outskirts of the barrier was all that was left of this place. I noticed the barrier begin to disintegrate and smirked. Success. I mentally rejoiced as blood pooled out from my mouth. I struggled to raise my right hand into the seal of confrontation and said, "Flying Thunder God Jutsu."

Puff.

A plume of white smoke filled the air as Hiruzen walked around Konoha enjoying a less stressful life without having to focus on the paperwork a Hokage had to do. Oh? I wonder if something is wrong. Hiruzen thought as he saw Hyuga Hinata comforting her younger sister Hyuga Hanabi. In a dark corner filled with shadows stood Danzo as he observed the situation. "Damn Hiruzen. I had wanted to drive a wedge between the Hyuga Clan and Izaya. Frame Izaya for injuring the young heiress and justify my actions for his assassination. This would gain the approval of the Hyuga Clan, a powerful Clan that is important to the Leaf. Not only would Hiruzen be forced to consider the stance of the Clan over a mere boy, so too would Tsunade. In the end, with everything I prepared for the Anbu they should have no problems killing that child Izaya. Once he's dead we'll clean up the evidence. With no evidence they cannot convict me and as an elder of the Leaf I hold more importance than a dead child. I need to leave before Hiruzen notices my presence." Danzo slowly faded away, disappearing completely.

"Ahem. Ahem. What a beautiful evening wouldn't you say so?" Hiruzen said out of nowhere.

"Eh?" Hinata replied in surprise as she turned around to see Lord Third.

Sniff. "Excuse me for my improper display of emotions Lord Third." Hanabi said as she wiped away some tears and bowed respectfully.

"Hm? What improper display of emotions? If you do not cry when you are sad or do not smile when you are happy, then I would consider that an improper display of emotions." Hiruzen said. "What seems to be troubling one so young such as yourself?" He asked. Hanabi calmed down her emotions and said, "I don't mean to trouble you with my personal issues Lord Third. It's just that I had an argument with the Clan Head. He gave me an order that I didn't believe in and I refused to follow. He is, however the current Clan Head and so his orders are absolute. I am the next in line as Head of the Clan and therefore, if I show any disobedience to the current Clan Head it would also set a bad example in the Clan. I'm not sure what to do." Hanabi turned and looked at Hinata and said, "I always wanted to better understand how and why Hinata and Neji decided to take fate in their own hands and stand up to the rules of the clan, but I never really understood them. Now, for the first time I think I can understand their actions."

Puff. Hiruzen had a pensive look in his eyes. "Fate huh? Hm...We are shinobi. To shinobi we are the ones who defy fate. To be a shinobi means that you forge your own fate. That becomes your ninja way. Shinobi take on dangerous missions everyday and can lose their lives at any moment, but many still aspire to become shinobi. Why is that? It is because we all have something precious that we wish to protect. In order to protect something precious to you means that you may have to go against fate even if the odds seem to be against you. A shinobi is one who endures all hardships and continues to work against fate by forging their own path. Even if we shinobi may lose our lives one day we still forge a path of our own choosing because those who resign themselves to the fate of other's making means that they have not only given up on themselves, but that they have abandoned the very things they wished to protect.

As the Third Hokage I have many things I wish to protect and I will use my life if need be to protect those things that are precious to me. The sad part is not dying itself. Rather it is dying without following your own path and beliefs. In this life one should decide whether they will they be happy resigning themselves to a fate of someone's choosing, or will they forge a path ahead themselves and capture their own happiness. Whether your road ends long or short, you must at least answer this question, were you truly able to smile from the bottom of your heart at the very end? That is why so many struggle everyday to find what their ninja way is. They wish to forge a path that they can be proud of so that in the end they may meet the crossroads with a smile from the bottom of their hearts... Well, these are only words from an old man now. Hanabi-chan, Hinata-chan, I hope that whatever path you choose to take, you will be able to smile from the bottom of your hearts."

Puff. Another plume of smoke filled the air as a silence fell over the three of them. Hanabi wiped away all the tears in her eyes and said, "Thank you Lord Third. Your words have helped me clear my mind."

"Mn." Hiruzen smiled, however in the next moment he was instantly shocked.

Thud.

Cough. Izaya vomited a mouthful of blood at this moment as he appeared on the ground next to Lord Third.

"Izaya!" Hanabi shouted in alarm.

Why does that sound like Hanabi's voice? I swore I teleported to Lord Third I thought to myself before everything went completely black. Hinata was shocked and horrified at the bloody sight of Izaya.

"Not good!" Hiruzen said with a shocked expression. He quickly picked up Izaya's body and disappeared in a puff of smoke.