88. Sand Monster

They had a situation, forget defeating Shiroken, Hiruzen ended up defeating himself. Hiruzen was still alive, but that would happen as long as he was connected with the Shinigami. His soul, on the other hand, had already been taken away.

"You truly are... Too strong. *Cough*" Hiruzen coughed out blood and mumbled. He finally admitted defeat. Dead Demon Consuming Seal was the strongest Jutsu that could threaten even the strongest beings like Hashirama. But, here he saw it, the Shinigami making a face like he lost his own soul.

Shiroken broke the awkwardness by walking to the Shinigami. "Hmm, you are a being made of Natural Energy? Why do you take souls?"

He asked him but expected no answer. The Shinigami was either a mute or just couldn't speak in the world of the living.

"I will ask you some questions, you can answer yes by nodding and no by shaking your head. Okay?" Shiroken asked, trying to communicate with this strange creature.

The Shinigami nodded quickly. He had no idea if he could kill Shiroken so it was best to cooperate.

"Good, now tell me, are you really a Shinigami? Or are you some other creature who the people just call Shinigami? For Shinigami, nod, if you're some other creature, shake your head." he questioned.

*SHAKE*

The Shinigami shook his head. This shocked Hiruzen, wondering who he even gave his soul to. "THEN WHAT ARE YOU?"

Shiroken felt like laughing. "Okay, nod if you're from outer space, shake if you're a native of this planet."

*SHAKE*

"Oh, so you're an original person? What are you then? Umm... let me take some guesses. If I am right, just nod. You're an evil spirit? You're a manmade being? You're a part of this planet? You were a Natural Energy practitioner... Y-YOU WERE?" Shiroken finally stopped when the Shinigami nodded.

He quickly came up with a theory. "Were you born before the tailed beasts appeared?"

*NOD*

"Were you born before humans even learned to use Chakra?" he inquired.

*NOD*

"Then... were you the first person to ever harness the power of natural energy? And when you died, the planet's Natural Energy turned you into this?"

*NODS INTENSELY*

*Sigh* Shiroken could understand it now. This person was neither a Shinigami nor a Ghost. He seemed to have been given a role by the nature itself. Most likely him learning how to use Natural Energy without having Chakra made him too combined with nature.

"Thank you for telling me all this. You may leave now... but you should leave behind Hiruzen. Maybe take some part of him but I want him alive." Shiroken ordered the Shinigami, as he had some plans for Hiruzen. [A/N: Danzo isn't punished yet. And it's Hiruzen's punishment to live a crippeled life and see how all his decisions get proven wrong.]

Shinigami looked at the soul that he had caught and seemingly thought which part it should take. The condition was to let Hiruzen live. So, in the end, it decided to take both arms and feet. He had to take something, that was the deal for asking him to come to the realm of the living.

*THUD*

Hiruzen coughed out a mouthful of blood and fell to the ground. His chest still had a hole but it was healing quickly. However, what shocked him was that he could not feel his arms and legs. The Shinigami was also nowhere to be seen.

Shiroken walked to Hiruzen together with everyone else. If someone were to see them, they'd never think these 6 men were just fighting not long ago. They didn't even act hostile with Shiroken, well, except Tobirama, but that man probably hated everyone.

"I think he took your arms and legs. Didn't even know your body parts were attached to the soul parts. As per the contract, you lost, and now Konoha can never meddle in anything outside your village or create any propaganda against me."

He then turned to Hashirama. "Hashirama and Tobirama. I hate you two, and probably always will. But, my family is alive and I am getting them back one after another, while yours is all dead, pitiful to be honest. So, I am ready to half-forgive Konoha. The rest is up to whoever becomes the new Hokage. If they can make the village better and rise above the hatred, then I might consider a friendship. But, until then, I and Dama country will be neutral. You two, on the other hand. I did vow to destroy your clan, but surprisingly I didn't even have to do anything.

"You two are the only ones left, so this is time to send you to the afterlife as well." Shiroken made his final decision. He initially was very angry with everything about Hashirama or Konoha. But, even after he had destroyed half of the village, he didn't feel any good. Instead, he felt bad for destroying and disrupting the lives of so many people. Maybe it was his flaw, he was too humane even though he was not a human.

As for Hashirama, Shiroken was somewhat uncaring now. He agreed with some of his words but disagreed with all his life's actions.

Hashirama silently accepted it. As long as Shiroken was not against the village, that would mean it would be safe. He closed his eyes and nodded, "Thank you, Lord Dama."

Shiroken neither nodded nor shook his head. He just put his hand together and made some hand seals. Rat -> Ox -> Monkey -> Tiger -> Dragon -> Boar "RELEASE!"

This was what Orochimaru had told him about the release of this seal. If Shiroken wanted he could have ended the fight long ago. But, he liked to give them hope and destroy it completely, so they don't have any strange ideas later on.

Both the bodies of Hashirama and Tobirama started to shine in white light and they started to slowly disintegrate. After a few seconds, the bodies of two genin who had participated in the Chunin exams appeared. It was used as a base for Hashirama and Tobirama.

The souls of Hahirama and Tobirama were visible for a few seconds, as they were seen ascending towards the sky. Strange enough, Tobirama had a smile on his face for some reason. Maybe Hashirama told him something funny.

"These two are dead," Shiroken announced after checking the two genins.

"THAT OROCHIMARU! How low has he fallen." Hiruzen cursed from the ground.

Minato, who had been silent up until now, moved, "Lord Dama, what will happen to me now? I believe I was reanimated to fight you."

Shiroken smiled. To him, Minato was probably the only Hokage who was somewhat likeable. He also noticed the hidden worry and uneasiness in Minato's face.

*PAT*

He patted his shoulder, "I'm going to be taking away Kurama now. So, I guess Naruto will need someone who could train him and help him get stronger. We can't leave everything to this old pervert. What if your son turns out to be an even greater pervert? How will you show your face to your wife?"

Minato gratefully smiled. He knew Shiroken was doing him a big favour. After all, he had no reason or need to let him stay alive. If nothing, Minato was a danger. But, Shiroken still let it happen. Behind this though, Shiroken had his own personal pain. He saw Naruto as someone a bit similar to himself.

If one day, Shiroken found out he had parents, and they were alive, he'd want to spend time with them too, but sadly, he never had one. Naruto was just a kid and seriously needed Minato by his side. Every child deserved the love and warmth of a family.

However, Shiroken had some conditions, "But, you must make some promises first. One, you shall never interfere in the working of the village or fight for them in any way. You will never reveal your identity to anyone who's not here. You will hide your identity, maybe colour your head, and make sure Naruto gets all your attention. If you break these conditions, I shall release your soul. Do you agree?"

Minato immediately blurted, "I AGREE! I am a dead man, Lord Dama. Even getting the chance to meet my son is god's gift. I will not use this gift on things that do not concern my son."

Shiroken nodded, he turned to Jiraiya next. "Congratulations, Jiraiya. You will most likely become the next Hokage. I feel pity for all the women of the village. But, that does not concern me. I am just informing you that I will be searching and reading scrolls from the Ninja Scroll Storehouse under the Hokage residence."

Jiraiya scratched his head in awkwardness, "I don't think I will become Hokage. I don't want to."

"Even in a time of crisis like this?" Shiroken inquired.

"My uses are a lot more if I do not become Hokage. Lord Third knows this already." Jiraiya responded.

Shiroken immediately thought of the reason, "Ah, I nearly forgot, you are also a spy. Hmm, indeed, you can not be Hokage. But, I will still be looking into the storeroom. Okay, let's return now. You probably need to focus on rebuilding the village."

As soon as Jiraiya and Hiruzen heard this, it left a very bad taste in their mouth. Here they were talking with Shiroken as if they were friends, while he was also their biggest enemy.

~*Sigh* Enemy? We're not even worth being looked at in his eyes.~ Hiruzen scoffed at himself. However, he was thankful that people didn't die.

Jiraiya picked Hiruzen's body and nodded towards Minato. Shiroken didn't trust them that much so he flew. His speed was already fast enough to reach the destination in the blink of an eye. But, he had to control his arrival this time or he'd end up destroying the remaining village.

Surprisingly, when Shiroken was slowly descending on the now destroyed village, people cheered crazily. They saw no Hashirama or Tobirama and probably thought he helped them defeat the two crazy brothers.

~Hmm, this is good for me. I should smile and wave.~ Shiroken, like a hero returning to the people, waved his hand and smiled. His white hair fluttered in the air, giving him a very angelic aura. To intensify it, he let out some Natural Energy, to make people feel his presence.

He decided to address them, "People of Konoha. What happened today was very unfortunate. But, we were able to save half of the village. The remaining shall be rebuilt soon. Remember, it is not the houses, the land or markets that make Konoha, it's you... THE PEOPLE. Wherever you are, Konoha is there."

This earned him another loud round of cheers. Some women were seen sending him kisses too, and their husbands were giving him a bad look. To their defence, they didn't even know who Shiroken was, seeing their wives mad for him felt weird.

Shiroken also silently decided to walk to the side.

*BOOOM*

"GRAAAAA..."

All of a sudden a loud deafening roar resounded. He turned to look and saw a giant figure made of sand. It was in the jungle just outside Konoha's destroyed boundary.

He facepalmed himself, "OH YES! Shukaku is here too."

He quickly flew in that direction.

...

Jiraiya, Minato and Hiruzen at the same time appeared near the Ninja clinic, to allow Hiruzen to get some treatment.

[You can see Tobirama, Minato and Shukaku on my Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn OR see them on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mister_immortal_novel]

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