Ch453. Shocking reveal

"Dammit, my back hurt." Onoki grumbled with a grimace, "And here I thought I would outlive the old monkey bastard."

"Eh, you have better chances than him." Rei quipped, knowing that Tsunade could hold a grudge like no one and the mentioned poor son of a bitch was partly responsible for the demise of her clan.

And if the two special chakra signatures around her were any indication, Tsunade was going for a mental breakdown kind of revenge as far as Sarutobi was concerned...

Rei walked towards Temari, sitting down next to her and pulling her head into his lap with a small but proud smile, "You did great." He gently caressed her cheek.

Temari tried to smile back but it only prompted her to release a pained groan as her body hurt like hell.

"Admittedly, the result is not great but it's the effort that matters." Rei chuckled, flicking Temari's forehead when he saw her slightly pout at his words, getting yet another pained and whining groan from her.

Satisfied with her little 'punishment' for losing her focus during the fight, Rei started to heal her, spreading a comfortable and relaxing feeling all over her body, causing her to subconsciously turn over and snuggle her cheek into his thighs.

The sweet atmosphere between them was abruptly interrupted when they heard a shrill, "Grandpa!", making Temari's half-lidded eyes shoot open in wariness, her body involuntarily tensing.

On the other side of the arena, Onoki had the exact same reaction as Temari for all the different reasons.

'Kurotsuchi!? What is she doing here!' He thought, cold sweat washing over him.

He instantly tried to stand up and tell her to run, his brain no longer thinking logically as it entered a protective mode... but as he finally stood up and swayed on his feet due to exertion, Kurotsuchi reached him and shoved him back onto the ground, making him hiss from the abrupt pain in his back.

"What are you doing, old man!? You are hurt! Don't stand up!" Kurotsuchi admonished.

At that moment, Rei chuckled and Temari's wariness disappeared. Kurotsuchi just caused more damage to Onoki in one moment than what Temari managed to do in minutes of intense fighting.

Witnessing that was… hilariously humiliating for Temari.

"Kurotsuchi..." Onoki groaned, "What are you doing here?"

"I am saving your ass!" Kurotsuchi huffed as she kneeled beside him, trying to imitate Rei as she shoved Onoki's head into her lap... banging the back of his head on her bony thighs, making her grandfather hiss from the sudden blow.

When he instinctively tried to stand up, Kurotsuchi took him by the shoulders and forcefully pushed him back, making his back painfully crack enough that his body involuntarily bent with his chest sticking out, which made his eyes go wide and flooded them with a pain-filled look.

The poor Onoki couldn't even speak from the abrupt spike of pain.

Not that Kurotsuchi noticed what her actions did. Her expression was full of worry and resolve to make him feel better.

"Now relax!" She forcefully ordered, putting her hand on his forehead and pushing the back of his head once again onto her thighs, using a bit too much force so his head banged against her bones again.

If Rei didn't know she wasn't doing it on purpose, he would think she wanted to kill or cripple the old man.

'Damn. At this rate, I will have to save him from her.' Rei deadpanned.

Pakura and Konan, who had just arrived at the scene and now stood behind Rei's back, put their hands on his shoulders in a show of support. They could feel his exasperation but the spectacle in front of them was far too amusing for them to intervene.

Realizing there was nobody other than him who would step in before more harm could come to the old midget, Rei sighed and spoke to Onoki and Kurotsuchi, "Onoki, just listen to your granddaughter and relax. We have no intentions to attack you right now."

Onoki's gaze was redirected towards Rei, causing his pupils to constrict a bit when he saw and realized the dynamics between him and the three women around him. They all felt pretty powerful to Onoki and that just made him that much more uneasy.

"And who are you?" Onoki rasped in a tired yet cautious voice.

He had never seen the man who was so tenderly tending to Temari and that made him wary. With his information network, he should have been aware of all the major players in the world.

The man clearly had a close bond with all three women, of which one was Kazekage so that made him Iwagakure's enemy by default.

"Me?" Rei raised an eyebrow at him, feeling a bit mischievous. "I am Rei from Yozora." He quipped and shrugged, enjoying how Onoki became speechless at that admission.

Onoki choked when he heard that.

This was the bastard who invaded his village all those years ago and caused the rampage of one of their jinchuuriki!?

Onoki wanted to stand up and send a Dust Release Beam up the bastard's ass! But since his situation did not allow that, he was at least about to spew a string of very colorful curses at the bastard when Rei spoke again.

"Just earlier I visited your village and Suna's forces had already taken it over." Rei leisurely said and raised his head to look at Pakura as he reassuringly squeezed her hand, "Good for you, your plan worked flawlessly."

That stopped the last of Onoki's silent painful whining almost instantly, making him forget about the surging pain coursing through his body as his mind focused on the outrageous news he had just heard.

Onoki's heart skipped a beat and his throat went dry, his mind in chaos as the possibility of this being the truth sneaked into his thoughts. He couldn't help but turn once again towards Kurotsuchi with an unasked question in his eyes...

"Oh, her?" Rei noticed Onoki's gaze and decided to offhandedly elaborate, "She entered my service to save yours and your son's life. You are lucky to have such a diligent and loyal granddaughter."

"What?" Onoki breathlessly whispered and looked at Kurotsuchi, desperately looking for denial of this news. Iwagakure was supposed to be totally safe right now. He only took barely thirty percent of the village's forces with him to Konoha. There was no way anybody could...

But Kurotsuchi just curtly nodded, her eyes tearing up a bit.

Onoki's eyes suddenly widened as he grabbed at his chest and started silently gasping for air, thrashing around for a second before his eyes rolled in and his body went abruptly limp in Kurotsuchi's arms.

"Huh?" Kurotsuchi blinked before her brain registered what was going on and she immediately checked his pulse, using what she knew of first aid to try and help him all the while she handled him so roughly Rei didn't doubt Onoki had just gained several new bruises.

Realizing what was going on, Kurotsuchi frantically looked at Rei with a look of urgency, worriedly shrieking, "M-Master! I think my grandpa just had a heart attack! Please, save him!"