The reality of the situation was clear to Tsunade: this was Menma's way of torturing Konoha, a twisted form of revenge. Yet, she was powerless to stop him.
She knew only too well that with his overwhelming power, he could obliterate Konoha in an instant, but he chose not to. Instead, he drenched them in despair while dangling a single, fragile thread of hope.
His goal was to turn Konoha into a living hell, a pit where its own people would turn against one another. He didn't want those who had wronged him to die quickly, but to be consumed by terror and agony first.
Even Tsunade found herself clinging to that slim hope, praying that the next ten days would bring some miracle to distract Menma—an invasion by another great nation, or perhaps the rise of a power even greater than Akatsuki.
For now, she could only do her best to maintain order and protect the remaining civilians, trying to ensure their survival.
As Tsunade and the other shinobi leaders finally departed, the remaining ninja turned their gazes toward the lifeless corpses hanging from the village walls. Their expressions were a grim tapestry of resolve, resignation, and quiet fury—mixed with sheer terror, desperation, and the brink of madness.
Konoha had become a stranded island in a sea of destruction, and the only way off was to build a raft from the lives of others.
If they didn't escape, they could only wait for the disaster to strike and die.
And the clock was ticking. Only eight days remained until the deadline. Their lives had been reduced to a single week.
Primal survival instinct screamed at them: no one wanted to die.
But this long, oppressive wait, counting down the seconds until death, was a torture all its own. If death had come instantly, or in a blaze of glory defending their homeland, most could have accepted it. They would have died for the Will of Fire, for their families.
But now, with destruction hanging over them, there was a way out. Some had already used this method to survive, securing their right to live.
With that precedent set, a wave of imitations was sure to follow.
Many of the shinobi present were thinking the exact same thing. If others could survive by handing over villagers' ears, why couldn't they? Why not their own families? If everyone was doomed anyway, why not sacrifice a few lives to let the rest survive?
And here was Tsunade, protecting those doomed villagers. Was she hoping to save them so the shinobi clans could be saved in the end? After all, if she surrendered at the last moment, she wouldn't die, would she? Plus, the surviving shinobi clans would be the perfect foundation for a new Konoha.
Under the threat of death, every mind was racing, stability fraying. And this instability would only worsen with time. It was easy to predict that in the final days, the entire village would become a literal hell on earth.
For instance, some desperate individuals were already rushing toward the corpses at the village gates.
Driven by madness yet retaining a sliver of rationality, one such man sprinted to the gates and shouted, "I'm not running away! I've completed the task! I have ten pairs of ears!"
As he shouted, he swiftly harvested the ears from the hanging bodies. He even dug through the rotting, stinking remains of Danzo and the others deep inside the pile.
Once he had collected everything, he dropped the grisly prizes in front of the gate.
Just as he landed, Sasuke appeared with a cold smile on his face.
"Hmph. Finally, someone brave enough to figure it out," Sasuke said. "Congratulations. You've met the conditions and earned the right to live."
Knowing his gamble had paid off, the ninja was overcome with joy. He held up the heads he'd also collected. "I have the heads of the Sarutobi clan, too! I want to trade these for my family and comrades—the right to surrender and live!"
Sasuke nodded. "Go bring them here. I'll wait."
Hearing Sasuke's confirmation, the ninja laughed maniacally as he ran back into the village.
The success of this first man sent a shockwave through the others who had been watching from the shadows. One by one, they scrambled toward the gate, fighting to be next. It was a rush to be reborn—and in a sense, it was.
Of course, some quick thinkers came up with a better plan.
Instead of fighting the mob for the corpses at the gates, they turned and sprinted toward the village's makeshift hospital. They had noticed that Sasuke only checked the heads, not the ears. That meant as long as they had ten pairs of ears, it didn't matter whose they were.
Earlier, four meteorites had slammed into the village, killing most of the civilians. While most bodies had been collected and burned days ago to prevent disease, a handful remained in the hospital, as people were dying of their injuries there daily. With these additions, it would be easy to gather enough "proof" to save several lives.
While the civilian genin frantically scavenged for ears to secure a future for themselves and their families, a different scene unfolded near the Sarutobi clan compound.
Six figures were huddled together, plotting how to take down the Sarutobi clan. On closer inspection, they were Minato's former bodyguards: Hayate Gekkō, Raido Namiashi, Genma Shiranui, and Iwashi Tsubaki. The other two were accomplices they'd recruited: Aoba Yamashiro and Anko Mitarashi.
Aoba, being Raido's partner, was naturally brought in. Anko had spotted the group acting suspiciously, followed them, and upon learning their plan, joined in. She needed a chance to survive, just like everyone else.
They couldn't bring themselves to sacrifice innocent civilians for survival, but using the "parasitic" Sarutobi clan shinobi? That they could do without remorse.
"Seriously," Aoba said, adjusting his sunglasses as he glanced at the four guards. "Are you four really going to take this risk instead of just going to the main gate to surrender to Menma? You were the Fourth Hokage's guards. He might just let you through without all this."
Before the four could answer, Anko scoffed. "So what if you were guards? When Naruto Uzumaki was getting bullied as a kid, where were you? You stood by and did nothing."
"If Menma actually cared about you, he would have told you to go to the Wind Void ages ago, just like he did with Kakashi and Yamato!"
She didn't want them backing out now. She sure as hell couldn't take on the Sarutobi clan alone.
"We'll use the blood of the Sarutobi clan to prove our loyalty," Genma said, spitting out the senbon needle in his mouth. He turned his gaze to Hayate. "But you, Hayate... aren't you bothered by what happened to Yugao Uzuki?"
Hayate's eyes were hollow, his pale face flushed with an unhealthy red. "Everyone has their own fate. Yugao Uzuki died protecting the village. That has nothing to do with this."
Uzuki Yugao, an ANBU member, hadn't died in the massacre of ANBU two years ago. She had died days ago in the devastation of the four Planetary Devastations.
Hayate clearly didn't want to elaborate and immediately formed hand seals.
"Enough talk. I'll cast the Hidden Mist Technique on you now. Let's get this started."
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