Chapter 88: Brother is Right
Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado never expected to see Renji—supposedly dead—standing in the Elders' Office.
Their gazes snapped to Danzō Shimura across the table. He sat stone-still, expression unreadable. He already knew.
"Danzō!" Koharu's voice cut. "What is the meaning of this?"
Homura's eyes never left Renji. "Weren't you dead? Why are you here? What are you planning?"
Decades of service had kept the elders sharp. In an instant they understood: Renji's staged death and Danzō's silence pointed to something monstrous.
No one answered. Danzō closed his eyes as if listening to something only he could hear.
Renji stepped closer to Homura and Koharu.
"What are you doing?" Homura demanded. "Renji, explain yourself!"
[Ding!]
[Human Malice Value detected: +10,000]
[Cursed Energy converted to Chakra: +10,000]
[Chakra (205,965,002 / 400,000,000)]
[Ding!]
[Human Malice Value detected: +10,000]
[Cursed Energy converted to Chakra: +10,000]
[Chakra (205,975,002 / 400,000,000)]
A chill ran through the two elders. Renji's presence tightened like a drawn wire. Their faces went pale and they stumbled back.
Two silver flashes split the air—too quick to track.
Two dull thuds. Homura and Koharu collapsed. Long, fatal cuts opened across their necks. Blood pooled and spread over the floor.
Danzō opened his eyes and looked at the bodies without a twitch. The shadow in his face thinned; the corner of his mouth lifted in a small, satisfied twist.
Renji bowed once, politely. "You are about to become Hokage. No one should dare question your judgment. With Pain attacking Konoha, who will untangle the truth amid that chaos?"
Danzō inclined his head. "Let us go."
He walked out first. Renji followed; both vanished as if swallowed by the corridors.
…
On the Hokage Building roof, Tsunade stared down at the ruined village, the weight of it pressed into her features.
A presence shifted the air. She turned. Tendō stood five meters behind her—Tendō, the Deva Path of Pain.
"Long time no see, Lady Tsunade," Tendō said, voice flat and hollow. "Of the Sannin, only you remain." The formality fell away. "Where is Uzumaki Naruto?"
"Who knows?" Tsunade snapped. "And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you."
"Most of the Jinchūriki have been captured," Tendō said, sweeping a hand at the devastation. "The balance the Tailed Beasts kept can no longer hold. Even if you guard the Nine-Tails, it is meaningless. Conflicts will come, and we will control them. Help us, and you may be spared. You know our strength."
"Do not underestimate a Kage," Tsunade shot back, fury flaring. "You terrorists would tear down the peace our ancestors fought to build. Your words mean nothing."
"Terrorists?" Tendō repeated. "Do not be arrogant. The 'peace' you praise is violence to others."
Tsunade's expression twisted. "Konoha's past has faults, yes—but I will never accept your methods."
"Mind your words. This is God's final warning. Tell me where Uzumaki Naruto is, or Konoha will suffer more."
"You will never lay a hand on him."
"In the face of overwhelming power, words are empty. You still fancy yourselves the protagonists, clinging to shallow peace. Those who kill are killed; hatred binds them. War brings death and sorrow."
"Our nations have suffered too," Tsunade retorted. "Don't excuse this with logic."
Tendō's voice hardened. "You do not understand pain—feel pain. Accept pain. Know pain. Those who do not know pain cannot grasp peace."
"I will not forget Yahiko's pain," he said, steel in his tone. "From now on, the world will know pain."
"Shinra Tensei."
A white glare bloomed and stole the sky. In a single, impossible heartbeat, a great repulsive force ripped outward from Tendō.
The sound was a keening roar as Konoha vanished beneath that pressure—houses torn flat, trees shredded, the village ground peeled away into a wide, smoking crater.
…
Among the wreckage, Sakura slid free of Katsuyu and dropped to her knees on broken stone. She stared at the ruined horizon, lips trembling. "This… what is this? How did it become like this?"
Tears blurred her vision. The Konoha she knew had been erased.
"Why did this happen?" she choked. "Naruto… Naruto, please hurry!" Her voice cracked across the emptiness.
Too many blows had landed at once: Renji's return, the village's destruction. She felt hollowed out. "Please, Naruto."
BANG.
A column of thick white smoke rose from the crater. Three colossal forms took shape inside it—giant toads.
On the head of the center toad stood Naruto, pupils horizontal and orange markings bracketing his eyes. Sage Mode washed from him like a living force.
He scanned the ruins, stunned. "Where is this? Where is the enemy?"
Gamakichi beside him echoed the question, wide-eyed.
Shima appeared beside Fukasaku. "What happened? Why didn't you summon us into Konoha?" Fukasaku asked.
"This… this is Konoha," Shima said, terse.
Naruto's body shook. Disbelief creased his face.
"Look around," Shima said, voice hard. "The culprit is obvious."
Naruto followed her gesture to the distant Hokage Rock. The plaza and faces of the village were gone—only ruins.
An ANBU pushed aside a slab. "Lady Hokage—are you all right?"
Tsunade stared at the devastation. Her eyes stung; her lips trembled. She drew a deep breath, then ran toward Naruto and Tendō.
As the dust settled, Tendō's tall, cold figure was clear.
"Saves me the trouble of searching," he said without expression.
Energy stuttered in the sky. The Animal, Human, Naraka, Asura, and Preta Paths assembled around Tendō.
"Today, we end this," Naruto said, teeth clenched. He could not forgive them.
"I have drained much chakra; it will not recover quickly. In that case…" Tendō considered.
The Paths reformed. Naraka, the one who heals and repairs the others, was positioned at the rear.
"As Hokage of this village," Tsunade said, planting herself between Naruto and Tendō, "I will give everything to defend it. Even my life."
"No." Naruto stepped out from behind her, eyes hard. "I'll avenge Renji. I'll avenge Ero-sennin. Leave this to me, Granny Tsunade."
"Gamakich," He turned to the toad. "Carry Granny Tsunade to safety. Leave the fighting to me."
Gamakichi nodded, wrapped Tsunade in his tongue, and leapt away.
"Tell everyone not to interfere!" Naruto shouted. "If I have to shield them all while fighting, it'll only make things worse."
Tsunade looked back as she was borne off. The boy she knew had become a man. For an instant her mouth softened. This child has grown.
"Understood," she called.
The Animal Path sank both hands to the earth. "Summoning Jutsu."
White smoke boiled as countless summons poured out. A massive rhinoceros charged, shaking the ground.
"Sage Art: Frog Call!" Shima and Fukasaku cried together, leaping from Naruto's shoulders. Sonic waves rolled outward; the summoned beasts staggered, stunned.
"Sage Art: Massive Rasengan."
Naruto's shout split the air. A titanic sphere bloomed in his grasp and smashed into the rhino, hurling it like debris. Nearby toads drew long blades and closed in.
As the beast fell, Naruto spun—his fist striking the Asura Path's flank and sending it crashing.
"Naruto, so you learned Jiraiya-sensei's Sage Art as well," Tendō said, a hint of surprise threading the flat tone.
Jiraiya's name lit a fire in Naruto. "You killed Jiraiya-sensei! How dare you talk of peace after murdering him! This is your doing!"
He charged. "There is nothing peaceful in what you've done."
Tendō's reply was cold. "You see only a tree, not the forest. You are far from grasping peace. Surrender—your death will bring it closer."
Naruto's eyes flared. "Wind Release: Rasenshuriken."
A blinding white bloom of wind exploded from his hand. Tornadoing blades screamed toward Tendō.
…
"What is that light?" Shikamaru sat on a broken stone and watched the distant flare.
Katsuyu beside him said, "Naruto returned with Sage Art. He fights Pain alone."
"What? Alone?" Shikamaru tried to rise, pain biting his leg. "Stay. Naruto told us not to interfere," Katsuyu urged.
"Tch. Why the theatrics," Shikamaru grunted. Anxiety pressed at him. "That's the one who destroyed the village. Does he really think he can take him on?"
Shikaku appeared behind him. "With Sage Art, he's on another level."
Shikamaru frowned, holding back.
"Not getting in his way is the best support," Shikaku said.
…
On the crater floor, tension coiled.
Tendō watched. "Your movements have slowed. Your Sage Chakra wanes."
Naruto gasped, sweat slicking his brow. "Did that last strike drain my Sage Chakra?"
He didn't answer. His eyes fixed on the Animal Path. Sage Mode was unstable. If he couldn't break the tide now…
"We must sever the Rinnegan's shared sight," Fukasaku said. He and Shima exchanged a look.
Fukasaku formed seals. Wind rose and whipped dust into a choking yellow haze. Vision failed; even the Rinnegan's shared view broke.
With a thunderous crack, the Animal Path was hurled back and shattered. The summons dissipated. But the fight did not end.
Naruto threw a scroll; Fukasaku snatched and unfurled it. "Reverse Summoning Jutsu."
At Mount Myōboku, a Sage clone stirred as birds pecked it awake. The clone dispersed; Naruto's main body reentered Sage Mode.
…
Time crawled. Paths fell lifeless across the ground, but the battle pressed on.
"Shinra Tensei."
A colossal repulsive wave flung a charging giant toad away.
"You are strong," Tendō said quietly. "You're the first to push me this far. However…"
He paused. "Universal Pull."
An invisible force seized Naruto and yanked him in. In an instant he was bound and pinned.
"This is as far as you go."
Fukasaku lunged. A Chakra Black Rod arced through the air and pierced him. Naruto watched, horror-struck, as Fukasaku fell and stilled.
Tendō choked Naruto and slammed him into the stone. Two black rods drove through Naruto's wrists, pinning him in place.
"This should make you more docile, Nine-Tails," Tendō said, kneeling.
"Who are you? Why are you doing this?" Shima's voice broke with grief.
"Events occur; reasons follow," Tendō said. "But my aim is peace."
Hearing that word from Tendō felt obscene to Naruto. "You killed my teacher, my comrades, my home. What right have you to speak of peace?"
"What is your goal?" Tendō asked.
"I will defeat you. I will protect the peace of the shinobi world."
Tendō sighed. "You lack the depth war teaches. It was Konoha that twisted my village, my family, my people into what they became. Do not speak to me of justice."
Naruto's eyes widened.
"Your view is narrow, centered on Konoha. Look beyond and you will see the small nations crushed between the great. Compared to our suffering, yours is small. We seek the same peace Jiraiya spoke of—but by our means. The pain of loss is the same in both our hearts."
"The shinobi world runs on hatred, an endless chain. I formed Akatsuki to break it. And you? How will you stop it?"
"I do not know." Naruto shut his eyes. He did not have an answer.
"My method is to gather the Nine-Tails and forge a Tailed Beast weapon that can erase a nation in an instant. Fear will end war."
"That's a lie," Naruto spat.
…
"Foolish. Only under Mother's rule can the shinobi world know true peace. If not for Hagoromo and Hamura, there would never have been wars."
Far above the crater, Renji stood on a high rock, watching the battlefield with cold detachment.
Beside him, Black Zetsu inclined his head. "Brother is right."
----
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