Chapter 59
JIRAIYA—The Toad Sage
The end of the Warring States Period was marked by a meeting such as this, where the Five Kage of the Hidden Villages had come together to discuss the terms of peace. After the creation of Konoha, the clans quickly realised that they did not stand a chance against the combined might of the Senju and the Uchiha.
Several other clans rushed to join this budding alliance, and so Konoha was formed. Seeing this example, clans in other regions of the country chose to follow in the example, and so began the era of the Hidden Villages.
And once the structure had been consolidated, the fighting resumed once more, and seeing his dream of peace going up in flames, the Hokage of the time chose to act and called the first Five Kage Summit.
And now decades after his death, the five Kage gathered once more as their villages faced an existential threat to their very existence.
"Are we just going to sit here in silence?" the Raikage, Ay, raged from his seat. The tension was palpable, and the room was filled with legends and names that were feared or revered all over the land.
They sat facing one another, for the Akatsuki had left them no choice. Unless they were to come together, their entire world might just come to an end.
"What is there to say?" questioned the young Kazekage. She was the second woman, and the youngest kage within the room. Temari, and from what he knew, she was the daughter of the Rasa of the Golden Sand, and had won herself the title of the Kazekage because of her sheer mastery over Futon techniques.
"The Akatsuki need to be killed. I believe we all agree on that," and there was a consensus on that within the room.
"Indeed, but one cannot move ahead unless we rectify errors of our past," the Tsuchikage added, as he glanced towards him.
"Thousands have died because of this. Someone must pay for this," and Jiraiya knew that he could not back down.
"The Akatsuki had people from every village," and the Raikage scoffed.
"Not ours. None of those bastards comes from my village," added the Raikage, but it was not the Raikage he needed to fear. No, it was the Tsuchikage. The Fence Sitter held a deep grudge against Konoha and Suna, and the reasons for that grudge were simply too many to count.
"The leader of the Akatsuki. You trained him, and so you bear responsibility for many of these deaths," and Jiraiya closed his eyes.
"This is not a fair accusation, Lord Tsuchikage," Terumi Mei cut in.
"You, yourself, were nearly killed by the man, weren't you, Lady Mei?" Ohnoki continued in his rant.
"Tell me honestly, do you hold no resentment for the man who nearly ended your life?" and before Mei could answer.
"Then what about your apprentice, Lord Ohnoki?" Temari cut in.
"Your own student captured and killed my brother. What do you have to say for that?" and the meeting was devolving.
"Perhaps we should refrain from rehashing old grudges and crimes," Lord Mifune's voice cut through the air, and the general from the Land of Iron was to be the arbitrator.
"It is true," Jiraiya added, and all eyes turned towards him.
"I did train Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan," and the trio was the founders of the Akatsuki.
"But I trained them to survive in a battlefield," and now he looked at them as he was reminded of their own crimes.
"A battlefield of our creation," and everyone here knew of the atrocities they had committed in Ame. None would dare deny them.
"I trained so they could live and survive in a country torn apart by our wars. Ours," and just as Ohnoki tried to argue.
"Your..."
"I said ours, Lord Tsuchikage. Not yours. Ours," and Konoha shared some blame in that as well.
"The Akatsuki's creation and its later transformations are a culmination of decades upon decades of death and carnage," he reminded them, and for far too long, Jiraiya had let himself be content in his search for that 'child of prophecy.' He had passed on his dream of peace to that child even before trying, and now did he realise how pathetic it was.
Whoever this child of prophecy may be, it was time for him to do his own part. It was time that he did his own share of the work.
"We all bear the blame for it, but now, as we all gather here, I can only hope that we can rectify these mistakes," and this gathering was the greatest chance he would ever get.
"The Akatsuki are a threat to our existence, but we must not forget that we are not the only ones who have suffered at their hands. I know of half a dozen small villages that have been razed to the ground by them," and yet none of them sat here.
"We will deal with the Akatsuki, for no power can stand a chance against the combined might of our Five Nations," and the teams that they had put together would form one extremely powerful unit that could accomplish anything.
"So, I propose this, that after the battle we hold another Kage Summit, but one that...."
"Aren't you jumping the gun a bit?" and in the blink of an eye, their guards were infront of them, and the Samurai general had moved as his sword cut through the body of the intruder.
Yet much like before, the blade cut nothing but air, as the masked nin simply stood there hanging upside down on that wall.
"That cloak!" Raikage raged, as his chakra flared in an instant.
"You are from the Akatsuki," and he was finally here. The masked nin who was behind it all.
"Indeed, I am, and before you do anything stupid...." and the Raikge did not let him finish, as he appeared infront of him.
"I have got you now," and he punched the bastard.
"HELL'S BOLT!" and yet much like the blade, the fist hit nothing but air, as the masked nin simply stood there upside down.
"...I must warn you that your attacks are quite useless against me," and Jiraiya could sense Kakashi's unease, as he gazed at the masked nin.
"Not yet, Kakashi," he whispered as the Raikage jumped back on the table, and broke it with his landing.
"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" and so this was the attack they had planned.
"I am here to make a proposal," and everyone in the room frowned at that.
"And what proposal is that?"
"Well, you may think that your little alliance may stand a chance against us, but that is simply not the truth. Even together, none of you stand a chance against the might of Akatsuki, and so I offer you this," and now his voice grew thick and cold.
"Give me your jinchuriki, and no one shall have to suffer," and the room all scoffed at once.
"Do you really think of us as fools?" Lady Mei uttered, but Jiraiya's mind was racing already as he tried to think up a proper reason for being here.
"No. I believe it is a rather legitimate offer. Because we are going to get those bijuu one way or another. So, why don't you make it easy for yourself and simply hand them over on your own?" and the entire room did not even deign that question worthy of a reply, and as silence filled the room, he spoke once more.
"No takers?"
"Do you not see that no one here wished to partake in his deal of yours?" Lord Mifune questioned.
"But I offer you this," and he rose up from the chair and offered it to him.
"Come and bring your leader here," he offered.
"Everyone here admits to the pains they have caused Amegakure through their actions in the past. So many have suffered already, and it would be best if this great tragedy could come to an end now," and the masked nin scoffed.
"I am afraid the time for talking is long gone," he answered, as he jumped down from the ceiling and landed on the ground.
"Afterall I quite expected such stubbornness," and Jiraiya's eyes widened at those words.
"No," he realised the implications faster than anyone else.
"What?" Gai questioned.
"We need to get back to the village," Ohnoki announced, as he rose from the chair.
"That is why each of your villages is being razed to the ground by my agents as we speak," and the words caused a stir in the room.
"All those who stand in our way shall die," he announced, as Terumi Mei screamed.
"That chakra. It's him! Pain is here!" and he sensed it as well.
"Including you lot" and then Jiraiya felt the chakra shift in the air, as suddenly, the ground began to tear itself apart, and he heard a loud voice.
"SHINRA TENSEI!"
BOOOOOM! BOOOOOM!
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SHIKAMARU NARA
For the last few months, Shikamaru had been preparing himself for the fight of his life. He had asked his father to intercede on his behalf to have his name put on the list for the unit being assembled to take down the Akatsuki, and though he was strong, Shikamaru knew that if he were to face those monsters, he would need to get stronger.
Far stronger.
And so, for the first time in a decade, a Nara had put their foot down and pushed themselves to surpass their limits. Shikamaru may have the brains, but he was not naturally gifted for the shinobi life.
He did not have Naruto's massive reserves, or Sasuke's battle instincts, or whatever magical blood that flowed through Hikari's veins. On most of these aspects of the shinobi life, he was rather average, and even though he could train like a maniac, he would never be able to fight on an even footing with such monsters.
And so, he had to have a trump card to even the battlefield, and this was it. A kinjutsu that had been created by one of their founders some hundred years ago. A technique so dangerous and difficult that no Nara since him had managed to master it.
Few even dared to try, but Shikamaru knew that if he were to have a chance at evening out the odds against the monsters of Akatsuki he had no better option than this.
"Lee, take Naruto and run," and darkness enveloped the entire room as he held his seal.
"Bu..."
"NO BUTS! TAKE HIM AND GO! RUN!" he ordered, and thankfully Lee knew better than to argue with him, as he jumped out the hole in the wall, before a dark shadow covered it as well and drenched them in a pool of darkness.
"This won't work. Shadow Possession is useless against m...." the revived Kage began to utter, and tried to teleport away, and yet if the surprise on his face was anything to go by, then he must have failed just as Shikamaru had intended.
"I am not able to teleport," he uttered with a smile as he focused his gaze on him.
"That was the plan," and Shikamaru could feel his chakra pool drying, and he could only pray that Lee and the rest would be able to take advantage of the opportunity he had provided them.
"You are Shikaku's kid," and Shikamaru had never expected that a day would come when he would find himself facing a Hokage, let alone a dead one. But here he was facing the Fourth Hokage himself.
"Yeah, and you are Namikaze Minato," Shikamaru answered, with reverence. All of the kids his age had grown up hearing tales about the legendary Yondaime Hokage, who had single-handedly ended the Third Great Ninja war before sacrificing himself to save the village from the terror of the Kyubi.
"How are Shikaku and the rest?" he asked, and the rest included nearly seventy shinobi, all of whom he had dispatched in little over two minutes.
Two minutes to decimate a force of nearly a hundred. No wonder Iwa had put a Flee-on-sight order on him. The man was no human.
He was a damn monster.
"Fine. Sasuke's taking care of them now," he answered, and his reserves were now at half their original volume.
"Good. Still, how is it that I am not able to use my Hiraishin?" and that was because of the technique he was using.
"Well, my technique doesn't just bind a person's body, it allows me to bind their chakra as well. So as long as you are here, you won't be able to mold chakra at all," and that was good.
"Still, I can see that it's quite chakra intensive," and Shikamaru nodded.
"I don't think I will be able to keep it up for more than two minutes," and the blonde shinobi nodded.
"Well, then you need to find someone who can stall me or defeat me. Fugaku may be able to do something about the seal," and Fugaku. That name seemed familiar to him.
"You are speaking of Fugaku Uchiha. Well, I am afraid he is long gone," and he saw the man's face shift.
"Is there any shinobi in the village who can fight me on an even footing because the only way to deal with me as I currently am is to either seal me or break the control seal," and he knew that.
"The sealing squad can seal you up, but for that, we will need to defeat you first," and that was easier said than done.
"And is there anyone in the village who can do that?" and Shikamaru had caught a glimpse of him fighting, and the Yellow Flash was feared for good reason. He could think of only one shinobi who just might be able to stand a chance against him.
"There is someone," and he read his face.
"There is one person indeed. But he is not currently in the village," and what a tragedy it was.
"Then you need to contact him," and he already had.
"Still, how much longer can you hold on?" he asked.
"Thirty seconds," he answered.
"Then, as soon as the jutsu drops, I want you to run. I want you to simply focus on fleeing. I am moved to see that Naruto has such loyal friends, but the simple truth is, as you are right now, you are no match for me," and Shikamaru chuckled as he nodded.
"Don't I know it," and he was not delusional enough to think that he could match him, and so he pushed and pushed himself as much as he could.
Yet despite that, the jutsu fell in the end as the Yondaime announced.
"RUN!" he ordered as he threw a kunai towards him, and Shikamaru tried to run to the side, but in the next blink, he was right behind him, and it was only because of pure instinct that he was able to partially avoid the attack on him.
"AGHHH!" he grunted as the kunai cut through the jacket and his skin, but thankfully, it was a shallow cut. The man was not done yet, as he grabbed him by the neck and pushed him to the ground.
"Shit! Use the Substitution jutsu," and he would if he had any chakra left, but the tank was empty and he could only pray as he saw the kunai coming towards his neck, before suddenly the air grew still, as a slight whisper reached his ears.
"Hiken!"
.
.
.
In the Ryuichi cave, a young boy stood in front of the Great White Snake Sage, who sat on her throne, laughing as she gazed at the wonder in front of her.
"So, you really did it," and now his eyes were surrounded by green markings, and a fang could be seen sprouting from his forehead. But the real changes lay in the tenketsu that could not be seen by the naked eye, yet the Great Sage saw it all.
"In all my years, I have never seen someone like you," and she had lived a long, long time.
"Go now, and make me proud, Hikari Hyuga. The First True Sage of the Ryuichi Cave...."
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