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"I want to stay."
Jiraiya's joking manner was gone.
Orochimaru turned to him with a frown. He didn't get why Jiraiya would give up going home for three war orphans he had just met.
They had seen more displaced children than they could count. If Jiraiya tried to help them all, he would never get back to Konoha.
"Jiraiya, you're seriously staying in this hellhole?" Tsunade stared at him as if he had lost his mind.
She cared, but she would have brought the children to an orphanage in Konoha. Staying to teach them herself was a different story.
"Yeah. I'm sure."
Jiraiya looked at the three small figures hiding behind the rubble and grinned. "I can't explain it, but I feel like I was meant to meet these kids. Don't worry. I won't stay here forever."
Manji glanced toward Nagato. He had already sensed the presence of the Rinnegan, though he had no interest in taking the boy's eyes.
He was content to watch Madara's plan play out and see what kind of trouble the pawn Madara valued so much might cause.
"Idiot," Orochimaru said.
Tsunade sighed and shrugged. "Fine. Do what you want. When the war's over, we're going back to Konoha." She took Manji's hand and walked away.
Orochimaru gave Jiraiya one last look.
"If you need something, ask. Just don't come to me with every little problem. Take care of yourself."
"Heh, I know. Thanks, Orochimaru."
Jiraiya nodded and watched them disappear into the distant smoke. Then he turned to the children and smiled.
"Hey, you three. I'm Jiraiya."
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After returning to Konoha, Manji spent a few more days with Tsunade and taught his students for a while. Then he headed straight back to the front in the Land of Wind.
His assignment was to provide backup for Sakumo Hatake.
Apparently, Sakumo's opponent was Chiyo's son.
'Chiyo's son? Wouldn't that make him Sasori's father?'
In the original story, Sakumo had killed Sasori's parents, though Manji couldn't remember which mission it had happened on. The timing fit: late in the Second Shinobi World War, before the Third.
'If I get there before Sakumo kills them, I'll keep Sasori's parents alive.'
Manji opened a portal out of habit, then closed it right away. Soon, he crossed into the sands of the Land of Wind.
He arrived just as Sakumo slid his bloodstained short sword into its sheath.
"Manji. You're here?" Sakumo wiped a spot of blood from his cheek, sounding as calm as ever.
Manji looked around before turning back to him.
"Where is Chiyo's son?"
Sakumo paused, then pointed at two tightly wrapped body bags by his feet.
"There. Just finished the job." He patted Manji on the shoulder. "Don't worry. When the enemy's high command loses family, we leave the bodies intact."
Manji gave a small nod. He was too late, and nothing he said could change that now.
'Rest easy in the Pure Land.'
Sooner or later, everyone in the shinobi world would end up there too.
"Got it. The war's almost over," Manji said. "Start wrapping things up."
Sakumo stopped short. Hope broke through his composure. "Really? It's finally ending?"
"Yeah."
For a moment, Sakumo couldn't find the words.
Once the war ended, he could finally marry the woman he loved. While he was fighting from one battlefield to the next, never knowing if he would survive, he hadn't been willing to make her that promise.
He might have been sent away right after their wedding and never come back. Now he could finally let himself plan a life with her.
"All right, I'm heading out," Manji said with a smile. "I'll leave the cleanup to you."
Sakumo looked at him helplessly. "Where are you going now?"
"To check the other fronts. I don't want any trouble left behind."
Before Sakumo could answer, Manji had vanished into the blowing sand.
Manji raced from one battle line to the next.
While on patrol, he spotted a battered Konoha squad in the distance and changed course right away. When he got closer, he saw it was Dan Katō's team.
They were in bad shape. Several enemy shinobi kept up the attack.
Dan lay on the ground, barely breathing, while Kunugi Mokume fought alone, covered in blood and struggling to hold them back.
Manji moved in without hesitation.
In the original story, Dan died here with Tsunade by his side. Manji's presence changed that.
Now, Tsunade barely knew Dan. To her, he was just a shinobi who could use the Spirit Transformation Technique. She had no reason to be on this battlefield.
Everyone turned when Manji showed up.
Kunugi's face lit up. "Thank God! It's one of Konoha's Twin Pillars! Dan, hang on! We're getting out of here!"
The attackers recognized him too, and their nerve broke.
"Shit! It's one of the Twin Pillars! Run!"
No one waited for an order. They dropped the fight and ran. On the battlefield, seeing one of Konoha's Twin Pillars was enough to make anyone forget their mission and run for their life.
The danger was gone as quickly as it came. Dan now had a chance to live.
"Thank you for saving me," he said weakly, holding a hand over his wound.
Kunugi bowed too. "If you hadn't shown up when you did, Dan and I would both be dead."
"Don't mention it," Manji said. "Come on. You're heading back to Konoha with me."
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Iwagakure requested a ceasefire.
Amegakure followed, then Sunagakure.
A ceasefire agreement ended the Second Shinobi World War. It also created a rift between Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō Shimura.
Hiruzen looked at the battered village and the long lists of fallen shinobi. When he spoke, he sounded tired.
"We have to stop. If this war goes on, we'll end up handing weapons to children who've never even held a kunai and sending them to the front."
Danzō scoffed.
"If we stop now, every sacrifice we've made will have been for nothing. Konoha's Twin Pillars are still feared across the shinobi world, and the Sannin are at the height of their strength. Concentrate our best shinobi on one target, and we could wipe out an enemy village."
He pressed on. "Even taking down one village would bring us enormous gains."
Hiruzen rejected the idea right away. Then came the argument they always seemed to have when they disagreed.
"You'll regret this, Hiruzen!"
"I'm the Hokage, Danzō!"
BANG!
After the war, Hiruzen decided to honor Konoha's Twin Pillars with the highest distinction he could grant them: the Hokage Half-Sleeve.
Sakumo received one. Manji received the other.
With half a Hokage sleeve each, they were both halfway to the title.
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