~Mito Uzumaki POV~
A small dirty blonde teenager without hesitation shouted out, "Enemy battalion in bound all Shinobi on guard!"
Mito's lapsing attention immediately snapped into focus as her chakra field spread out revealing a grim situation.
They were outnumbered 1-4 and the enemy's main deployment hadn't reached the battlefield yet, only sparse harassments squads had formed up to cut off their escape.
Mito Uzumaki roared, "Prepare to fight, break out when possible immediately! All forces are to focus on retreat!"
Just as Mito was about to rile up the army's morale dozens of Shinobi broke through encampment on either side and Mito grunted before revealing a golden coat and tearing the invaders in halves with a single movement. In the shimmering glow of her slaughter the Konoha shinobi responded with vigor.
As she left her eyes made contact with Naori's expressing that there was a hidden presence stalking her in specific, both made eye contact and confirmed their objectives before Mito's glowing aura burst up with even more vigor.
'Old fox forgive me. I'll be using your chakra again.'
{Hag. You dare ask for forgiveness, after what you've done to my chakra network? I pray you die sooner.}
'Unfortunately I'll be around for at least another 60 years and if I actually figure out how to absorb or convert your chakra into lifeforce? Oh then we'll be together forever. If I did it once you know I can do it again. Cooperate and I promise I'll loosen your chains and reform your seal to be more open and beautiful. Rather than the swamped prison it is now. I won't make false promises like setting you free as that was Hashirama's will, but I also don't be too unreasonable. I'll even teach you how to play games and let others visit you to deal with your boredom. If not let's at least start over shall we Nine Tails? Nice to meet you. I'm Mito Uzumaki, what's your name?'
{Hag. If you really think I'm a child so easily fooled then you've gone insane. At the very least I'll let you borrow a little chakra for now to deal with this enemy, but you must fix this seal or I swear with all my being I'll make your life a living hell.}
'Very well Nine Tails. As you wish.'
Mito's eyes hardened as she once again focused on the battlefield. With each step she moved at speed that caused continuous shockwaves sending wave after wave of Suna shinobi flying and causing several to fall flat quickly. Her speed caused such loud noises to be produced that any lucky Suna to survive the shockwaves immediately had their eardrums ruptured. Genin. Chunin. Elite Chunin. Special Jonin. Jonin. Elite Jonin. Without pause decimated Mito the Suna shinobi in such a way that left a visible trail of blood and corpses. Mito moved so fast that she long left even the Suna forward command center behind leaving a sea of rushing Suna shinobi that hesitated and then routed away from Mito only leaving her with more time to deal with them. As every few seconds a tail of golden chakra crushed a skull. Any who got too far away from her found themselves tripping over as golden chains broke through the ground and wrapped around their legs and sealed their chakra.
'I made this technique to mirror you Hashirama… and Soutarou.'
As the image of those two figures overlapped in her eyes, Mito smiled and clapped her hands together
'Sealing Art: Nativity of a World of Adamantine Flowing Chains!'
The Suna battlefield erupted in a sea of golden chains that sealed and even began to absorb the chakra of hundreds of Suna shinobi. Mito smiled darkly before forming a crushing motion with her fists. And instantly all those unfortunate souls captured in her jutsu found their skulls, necks, and chests crushed. Mito's hands spread out and her chains flew out in a visual.
'You dare covet the land of fire? You dare covet Konoha? Then perish along with your wishes!'
Mito formed a singular hand sign and spewed out a massive wind jutsu, 'Wind style: Infinite Breakthrough!'
The sharp cutting winds slashed through the Suna ranks like butter. To which the few jonin on the Suna side used earth walls in order to protect themselves. To which Mito smiled wider and then followed it up with another singular handsign, spewing out at another wind jutsu.
'Wind Style: Serial Vacuum Waves Jutsu!'
Wide crescent shaped vacuum blades passed through the earth walls with such ease that it looked as if they didn't even stop, the only telling sign that anything happened at all was the blood red tinge that the vacuum blades came out with.
'Hmm? Where are the Suna Shinobi? Weren't there supposed to be nearly Six Thousand of them? Don't tell me I killed them all? Well that was boring. Now I truly understand why Madara and Hashirama went crazy for each other… if no one's on your level the world itself becomes boring. Well I guess the saving grace here is I still have Soutarou and Mikoto to look forward to-'
A grieved roar rang out. Causing Mito to look up, with indifference. Mito looked over as the rain obscured her view, before she finally saw the disheveled appearance of a man in combat attire and a noticeable green and white hat with the kanji "Wind," thrown behind him.
Mito calmly said, "You are Saburo? The so-called Strongest Kazekage? I expected more of you. Now that I've met you in person I have to say you aren't very impressive, even your chakra is so small I thought you were merely a jonin who somehow survived my initial attacks. Has Sunagakure fallen so low that even jonin can be cut down like this?"
The Blue haired, dark blue, almost black eyed man grimly glared at Mito. He roared at her, "MITO UZUMAKI YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!"
Mito rolled her eyes and she said with sassiness, "Pay for this? You think you can afford my prices?"
The man's teeth gritted tighter and tighter. He didn't bother with any further words, choosing to shoot dozens of iron pellets at Mito. To which it seemed Mito didn't even move, but the pellets all passed through her location.
Mito faked a yawn and dusted herself off as she said, "You're quite slow… You should bring Hanzo too, maybe then I'll get to use your little pathetic iron to scrape off my rust."
The man's gaze turned increasingly dark; he put both of his hands out forming a massive iron dome as he gutturally yelled, <"Magnet Style: Iron Domain!!!!!!!">
Mito's eyebrow rose and she smiled, "Much better, now I'm willing to acknowledge you as at least an elite jonin."
Mito similarly raised her hands as her chains once again shot off her back and she menacingly, yet softly said, "Sealing Art: Domain Breaker."
Golden chakra chains trashed and slammed into the individual grains of iron sealing each piece of chakra inside of them piece by piece.
Saburo's expression turned even graver as he realized what had happened, he simply retracted the remaining half of the domain to behind him, leaving an opening on Mito's side.
Forming hand signs with one hand, Saburo forced his other hand up as he forced his Iron into the sky.
Mito watched curiously.
'Ohoho? I see copycats really are everywhere. I suppose I can see why Tobirama hated the Uchiha so much. Well let's let this little Kazekage have his fun. It's better to take that sliver of hope away once they realize they can't win no matter what.'
Mito purposely ignored the rising iron and instead spat out a few dozen vacuum bullets at Saburo.
'Wind Style: Vacuum Bullets.'
Saburo slammed his foot onto the ground after completing his handsigns and a massive wall.
Saburo still jumped above the wall and then responded in kind. Causing the two to play cat and mouse, though Mito's vastly greater speed not only made Saburo take several hits, it also made him waste chakra unnecessarily.
Saburo continually tried to corner or box Mito and was continually forced to sacrifice his chakra infused iron until his domain turned from a massive multi-mile circumferenced dome to a few dozen feet.
Mito frowned and said, "Stop wasting chakra on unnecessary jutsu. Weakness disgusts me. We aren't on the same level. This level of playing is getting boring now. Use your trump cards or I'll just kill you."
~Saburo POV~
Saburo began to laugh helplessly as he realized Mito was truly being serious, he the Third Kazekage, a strong figure, was only that a kage level figure, not on her level.
As Saburo's resolve began to falter and his eyes began to water in, the realization of his impending failure began to set in. His life flashed before him before his mind paused on memory…
~Saburo Flashback~
The wind howled across the unfinished Kazekage tower, carrying sand that scraped endlessly against stone.
In the midst of the starting sandstorm, a blue haired boy swept with reluctance. As each stroke of the broom barely mattered. Yet he gritted his teeth and kept going.
Above him stood the Kazekage, who had his hands clasped behind his back, watching the village drown in sand around them.
"Shamon," the man said quietly. "Who is that child?"
Shamon hesitated. "Ah that's… that's my nephew… Saburo."
The Kazekage walked over to the boy and, once at eye level with the boy, said, "Saburo is it? Tell me, Saburo. What do you see?"
The boy clenched the broom tighter.
"People who are tired," he said, "people who work until their hands bleed… and still have nothing. Just sand."
The Kazekage did not deny it.
"Yes," he said, "that is Sunagakure."
He looked back at the village with subtle regret, and he spoke softly, "At the Five Kage Summit, I begged for aid. They smiled. They nodded. Yet in the end they refused all the same."
Saburo looked up and with confusion in his voice asked, "Then why didn't you fight them?"
The Kazekage smiled, not kindly, and replied, "Because we would have lost."
He reached down and let sand slip through his fingers.
"We are not the mountain. We are the storm that wears it down."
He pressed a single grain into Saburo's palm.
"One grain is nothing," he said. "But the sand never ends."
His next words were muddled as the sandstorm of old memories swallowed them…
~Scene change, At the end of the First Great Shinobi War, at Sunagakure's border with the Land of Rivers.~
Saburo's heartbroken voice rang, "Shamon-sensei!"
"Enough Saburo. I won't make it. I'll hold back the Konoha invading force. Sunagakure cannot afford to lose a Kage here."
Saburo's eyes widened in realization; he protested only for Shamon to reply, "Even one grain of sand. That's all it takes. So be strong Saburo, Sunagakure needs you, for the Will of Sand, FOR SUNAGAKURE!"
Saburo's eyes watered, as he held back tears, as the clashing of hundreds of puppets and fearsome wind techniques rang out…. And eventually a corpse was returned to Sunagkure, holding one metallic grain of iron sand…
At that moment Saburo's eyes flashed in understanding and regret.
'The will of sand… it was never about winning… it was just lasting long enough to matter.'
~Flash Back End, Return to Saburo POV~
Saburo's fading will snapped into full flare as he shouted, "Mito Uzumaki even if I fall today I shall at least take you with me! Do not mock the Will of Sand! Even a grain of sand can weather the best fortress, grind the largest rock, and humble the strongest of beings! For Lord Reto! For Lord Shamon! LET'S GO TO HELL TOGETHER!!!!!! MITO UZUMAKI!!!!!!!!"
A roar of persistence Saburo's chakra began to surge visibly, causing literal waves of chakra to flow off of him.
~Mito POV~
Mito smiled and thought to herself, 'As expected when pushed far enough a kage is still a kage. No matter which nation. Will of Lightning, Will of Rock, Will of Water, Will of Sand, and of course the Will of Fire… how beautifully terrifying.'
Saburo's eyes burned with determination and he began to draw on iron from the blood of the hundreds of fallen Suna ninja, their kunai, their shuriken, their shirt buttons, every piece of magnetizable metal in a more than three mile radius (***5KM~***) was drawn towards Saburo.
Mito smiled deeply and said, "Good. Good, let's see your resolve Saburo of Magnet Release!"
Saburo pushed his hands outwards as blood began trickling out of his mouth, he bellowed, <"MAGNET STYLE: ALL PIERCING RAIN!!!">