Under the crushing killing intent, many shinobi had already lost the ability to think straight. First came the suffocation, spreading through the body like tightening roots. Then the taste of iron, flooding up as if from inside the throat. And then, on top of everything, a scarlet world settling onto their shoulders...
The battle hadn't gone ideally from the very start. The Leaf shinobi weren't insurmountable monsters to the Sand and Sound forces; they were more like equal opponents. The attackers accepted that quickly enough and didn't particularly worry: they'd come with a serious ace up their sleeve. The One-Tail was their main fighting force, the card on which very, very much had been staked.
Which was exactly why watching that ace vanish almost the instant it was unleashed was a spit in the face. Nearly one moment, and their "decisive advantage" was gone. They were deep in enemy territory, outnumbered, and their only real argument had suddenly evaporated.
It only got worse from there. The tailed beast soaring over the village, no longer answering to them, looked like a mockery of their hopes. And then, at the end... the pressure of the past crashed down on them.
The strongest shinobi of an entire era, the man whose actions had left deep imprints on the history of the entire world, Senju Hashirama, had returned from the Pure Land. And he was clearly displeased with them.
But even that wasn't the end of it. Right after, from above, like another blow, came a pressure even harder: alien, new, from no story they knew. The pressure of Uzumaki Naruto. Seemingly just some genius they'd heard a few words about, one of many... What a mistake that was.
Many of them had never been able to imagine that a person could outclass them so completely. Press down on them that hard... The first pressure could at least be chalked up to legend. The second hit like a punch to the gut followed by a kick in the groin. And then...
They noticed their Kazekage was no longer on the roof.
In the heat of battle, many Sand shinobi hadn't tracked the moment their leader was swapped out for Orochimaru. Now, the news of his death became the final nail in the coffin of their fighting spirit.
It was hardly surprising that after Hashirama's direct threat, only one in ten didn't drop their weapons. And even those weren't holding on out of any great courage; quite the opposite. Fear of even twitching had them clenched up tight.
Only two shinobi, on opposite sides of the stands, having completely lost it, decided to charge into one last fight. Pointless. The crowd of Leaf ninja tied them up fast. Fortunately (for whom exactly, hard to say), the Konoha shinobi had the good sense not to kill them on the spot, and so didn't provoke any fresh "heroes."
After that came the mundane business of disarmament: one set of shinobi tying up another. As the process went on, the pressure gradually faded too.
The Leaf ninja had barely been touched by the killing intent. It had mostly pressed down on those whom the Senju, and Uzumaki, considered enemies, or on those who considered themselves their enemy. The difference was as obvious as the difference between someone screaming at you versus at the guy you'd just been fighting. Too obvious to miss.
"Hey, listen, maybe we could... get an autograph?" asked the same not-very-perceptive ANBU who'd taken a moment to figure out exactly who had crawled out of those coffins. Right now, a valuable political burden was dangling on his shoulders: Gaara.
His partner, broader-shouldered and noticeably older, finished the last knot on a Sound shinobi with obvious irritation and turned a gaze full of that exact feeling to the speaker.
"What did I order you to do?"
"Bring the Kazekage's son to the interrogation department... But that can wait! Did you see that?! Two dead Hokage rose from their graves! And Hiruzen-sama is still standing there with them! And Uzumaki-san, he basically single-handedly neutralized the One-Tail, then Orochimaru himself, and on top of that released that pressure! Come on, let's go get an autograph?"
"I don't need one. And you don't need one either. Follow your orders, you animal!" The second was clearly starting to lose his temper.
"But, boss! What if the First and Second leave?! We'll never get another chance like this!"
From the senior of the two came a heavy inhale and an even heavier exhale. He thought it over and, with strong displeasure in his eyes, finally gave a nod.
"Go."
"You're the best, boss!" The first spun around and was already about to take off in a Body Flicker, but was stopped:
"Wait. Get one for me too," his commander added, the tiniest bit embarrassed.
"Me too."
A hand went up, to the surprise of both, from a still-unbound Sand shinobi nearby.
"What?" he shrugged. "I can help too."
And sure enough, pulling out some wire, he started tying up the neighboring Sand shinobi, whose eyes were popping out of his head at the sight.
The young Konoha ANBU let out an approving snort of laughter before leaving. The more serious operative just nodded. Nothing could surprise him anymore today.
Uzumaki Naruto's POV
With a strange mix of exhaustion and some kind of crooked irony, I watched the same ANBU I'd tossed Gaara to get a signature from Hashirama... on his bare chest. Before this, the young man with the burning gaze had already managed to beg autographs from me, Hiruzen, and Tobirama on scraps of paper. He'd gotten one on paper from Hashirama too, but apparently decided to go further. And the elder Senju, generous soul that he was, hadn't refused.
"Hm?!" With his mesh guard pulled up, the masked one approached Tobirama next.
The Second's face at that moment, barely changing on the surface, expressed... a lot.
"I'll destroy you."
"Got it, understood," the ANBU reported briskly. Throwing a glance at Hiruzen and me, he hurriedly fixed his clothes. Then, scooping up Gaara, he vanished in a Body Flicker.
"I believe the Leaf shinobi can handle the rest on their own. Shall we change the scenery?" Hiruzen suggested.
We surveyed the arena below, still buzzing with activity, and agreed. Then we moved.
Orochimaru had already been transferred to the interrogation department by other ANBU. As long as my seal was on him, and I was still maintaining it, he was unlikely to be able to do much of anything.
The genjutsu on the stands had been reinforced so the civilians wouldn't wake up amid the scattered remains of foreign shinobi. That particular detail was the Leaf's way of reducing the post-attack tension: quickly pack up the enemies, clean up their own people, make it look like whatever happened here wasn't exactly catastrophic, and that the Leaf shinobi were maximally competent with everything under control.
The three Hokage, accompanied by the humble genin that is yours truly, soon found themselves in a cozy room with several couches in the Residence. It smelled of tea and, faintly, old tobacco. Wide windows offered a view of central Konoha.
"So, Naruto..." Tobirama began, once the split-off portion of his chakra took on its sensor function.
"My family name is Uzumaki," I answered, throwing my arms over the high back of the couch, legs crossed, adopting a relaxed and laid-back look.
At that moment, Tobirama sat across from me in a closed posture; Hiruzen had simply settled in to my right. Hashirama was wandering the room with interest, peering out windows and taking in the Konoha that had changed over the years.
At my answer, Hashirama's face, when he glanced back for a second, seemed to brighten slightly. Tobirama frowned even harder. My chakra was doing a poor job of passing for classic Uzumaki chakra right now, and he clearly felt it.
"What is your background... and what's even going on with you?" the same Tobirama pressed.
When it came to defending Konoha, both Senju had disregarded such "trifles" as my unusual appearance and the no less unusual sensations radiating from my powerful chakra. But now that the fight was over, priorities had shifted.
"Is this an interrogation?" I raised an eyebrow. "I believe I was the one who asked for enlightenment. Which means you should be the ones talking."
"Hm." Tobirama's face darkened; he shifted his arms on his chest. "You speak to us without sufficient respect."
"I believe you're the one who started with the familiar tone," I pointed out.
A heavy sigh came from Hiruzen's direction. But it wasn't him who intervened.
"Hey, hey." Hashirama finally peeled himself away from the window, came back, and plopped down on the couch next to his brother, making Tobirama bounce for a moment. It looked funny. "Tobi, maybe give the kid a break? He just saved the village."
...From the look on Tobirama's face, he was about one more comment away from smacking his relative. Because don't go breaking the interrogation atmosphere.
"Power at this level in the hands of one person is either a blessing or a catastrophe," he still said dryly. "Our era is over. But I want to know what awaits this one."
"And yet I was the first to ask," I continued holding my line. It was starting to smell like I might get nothing out of this meeting at all.
"I insist," Tobirama repeated stubbornly.
At that moment all three were staring at me. The fact that Hashirama was sort of "defending" me from his brother didn't yet mean he was some simple-minded fool who'd keep doing it forever just because. Hiruzen, I figured, saw nothing wrong with me sharing. After all, we weren't playing casino here: first the idea, then the investment. And the knowledge I wanted to get could quite reasonably be called exactly that: investment.
"I'll start from a bit further back," I said. "What you did, you and many of your... colleagues. The Great Villages. That's something. I didn't have to go cut enemy ninja at three years old. Thank you."
The two Senju nodded oddly. My praise was... in a strange form, yes.
"It showed most clearly in the era that followed yours. Hiruzen's era. Thank you, Hokage-sama. You could have ruled the village better. But you held the standard, given the conditions you were working with."
Hiruzen also nodded oddly, then shot a glance at the two Senju. He'd been glancing at them frequently, experiencing complicated feelings. People don't come back from the dead very often in this world.
Tobirama's cheek twitched when he caught the difference in my tone toward him versus the Third. But he said nothing.
"Time passes, tallies up the results," I continued. "A new era has arrived. And it's hungry for change. My goal is to create something greater than just Great Villages. To forge a new world. I will unify this world when my power is sufficient. When that moment comes, the bloodshed on this planet will end."
The three Hokage exchanged glances.
Hiruzen pressed his lips together, clearly weighing how to respond. I can't read minds, but I knew for sure: he'd rather go back to his bubble-bubble-bubble than rack his brain here.
Hashirama tilted his head like a curious child. Tobirama... making his usual displeased face, squinted.
"You'll unify the world. By force," he repeated the gist.
"Exactly," I nodded without a shadow of doubt.
"Let's say you actually manage that someday," the younger Senju continued.
He understood that my power was already comparable to Hashirama's right now. And Hashirama had had a real shot at achieving what I wanted. He also understood that with time, my capabilities would grow even stronger. Maybe not dramatically. But then again, what I already had might genuinely be enough.
"How long do you think a world like that holds? A year? Five? Ten? Sooner or later, you die. And then what? Everything reverts. The villages go back to war. Your utopia collapses."
"That's unlikely. Remember, you asked what's with me? Here's my answer: I've put my body through controlled transformations. I am now biologically immortal."
The three of them froze. The Senju exchanged glances, but you couldn't say from their faces that they immediately disbelieved it. They themselves had just been noting the visible and tangible differences between me and ordinary people. So why couldn't this be true as well? Hiruzen, meanwhile, wanted even more strongly to be as far from me as possible and as close as possible to his chill pill.
"And, getting ahead of your questions," I raised a hand, not letting the conversation devolve into a dozen clarifying questions, "this fundamentally changes the situation. My body won't crumble to dust with the years. Old age won't take my mind. I'm not forced to grab everything right now so I can 'live large now.' I'll have to think ahead so that even a thousand years from now, I'm living no worse than today. Spending eternity stuck in a scorched world is a pretty shit pleasure, I think you'd agree."
I smirked slightly.
"This world thinks in decades. My thoughts span millennia. There's a chasm between us. But I will lead this world across it, so that it finds a peace that may not be perfect, but will be real."
...Tobirama was silent, not knowing what to pick apart first.
"You know, if you hadn't demonstrated your abilities, I'd have thought you were mentally ill," Hashirama said thoughtfully, pressing his fingers to his chin. But then he shot to his feet. "I mean, no! No, that's not what I meant! Sorry-sorry-sorry..."
He started bowing rapidly, at which Tobirama rolled his eyes. I waved my hand, like, it's fine.
"Usually people just see childish ambition in my ideas. But you put it more originally, hah."
"Ha-ha! True," he scratched the back of his head and sat back down, then glanced at his brother.
It seemed to me that leading negotiations wasn't the First's forte. And sure enough, that's how it turned out. The Second took the floor:
"I can barely picture how to implement this in detail. If you intend to govern the world softly, that could genuinely become something qualitatively different. But... shinobi rarely die of old age. And even if you're very strong... the structure you build must withstand your absence. Sooner or later, circumstances will force you to disappear, even if only temporarily. With clearly defined rules and laws, many problems can be solved. You'll need to build a solid system."
"As one option," I confirmed. "And I'm working on that too. But soon, just a few years will pass, and I'll become strong enough that the need for constant propping up with laws will partially fall away. I have plenty of ideas on how to get there. And on becoming so strong that whatever could kill me wouldn't leave this world a chance either. We can talk about that too."
"Hm," Tobirama produced gloomily for the umpteenth time. The other two Hokage waited with interest for more.
I shifted the topic, leading to the next layer:
"Affinity. I've been studying the Sharingan... under conditions safe for the subjects," I clarified, just in case, for the benefit of Hiruzen, who had tensed up. "Embedded within it are the properties of remnants of very powerful techniques. Even more powerful than S-rank."
"You're getting at the idea that our ancestors could have been far stronger than us?" Tobirama clarified.
"That too," I nodded, "and that they were probably capable of traveling between worlds. Not all fairy tales are made up. Beyond us, there are intelligent beasts, and among them, very powerful beings. It's logical to assume there are entities so strong that no human is their equal. They could come here. And if that happens, in our current state, we won't be able to do anything about it. No one will, until someone appears who can reach their level."
The three Hokage exchanged glances again, but this time with considerably more wariness. There was a logic in my words they couldn't simply wave off.
"A stable world in which you can develop stably," I continued, "isn't just a pretty dream, but a necessity. A stable world, with a competent approach, has enormous advantages. I'm ready to invest in that approach... to put it mildly, a lot. This world is lucky that centuries of endless war haven't made it destroy itself yet. Luck doesn't last forever. But right now, this world has gotten lucky again, because I was born into it!"
The three were silent. From their faces, it was clear that a conversation with me was far from the most ordinary thing in their lives. They must have seen plenty of people with inflated, baseless self-importance, but the funny thing was that my words were backed by visible facts.
"But in any case, I'm not forcing you," I continued working the Hokage over. "This world will find stability regardless. Doesn't matter if it takes five years or twenty. I have many promising projects that need continuing, and even more that need starting. Your help would be substantial, but not critical."
Tobirama, arms still folded, lowered his head, his forehead guard clinking against his armor as he thought.
"This all sounds... complicated." Hashirama was noticeably more serious now, thinking about something.
The one closest to voicing the shared thought this time was Hiruzen:
"Naruto... What you're talking about. You want to become a tyrant... This could turn into something very frightening." He tightened his fingers slightly on the armrests. "But I can't say your words have no logic. I ruled Konoha for decades. I lived through three world wars. I watched children die, families shatter, blood run like a river. And I couldn't stop it cleanly, without casualties... because I'm only human."
He raised a tired gaze to mine:
"But to become something more. If you truly can stop the wars... maybe that is what this world needs."
"Hiruzen..." Tobirama began, but the Third raised a hand.
"I'm not saying I approve of everything he's said," he spoke. "But I understand his logic. And I can't refute it."
Tobirama clenched his fists but said nothing. Behind his irritation hid a reluctantly acknowledged feeling: interest and cautious respect.
"And also," Hiruzen added, quieter now, "as someone who watched this boy grow from the moment he was born... I believe the light in his heart won't go out."
"In my view, tyranny is bad when the tyrant can't listen. But I hear you," I addressed Hiruzen, then turned to the other Hokage. "I'm talking with you rather than commanding. As a scientist, I understand perfectly well the value of a different perspective."
At that, Tobirama let out a hm. A loaded one. Then, apparently remembering my actions, the mercy shown to Orochimaru and the jinchuriki of the One-Tail, he let out another hm. A different kind this time.
Hashirama sighed and rubbed his face with both hands. The momentary shadow on him slid off, his mood returning to its usual baseline.
"Alright. Fine. Say we agree to help. What specifically do you want to know?"
"First," I began, "your sage chakra, Hashirama. Its nature, its source, how you apply it. How you made peace with it."
Hashirama thought about it, shifting uncomfortably, as if remembering his own training.
"I've never heard of anyone mastering two types of sage chakra," he noted, hinting I shouldn't overdo it and get myself killed.
"With enough time, the impossible becomes possible," I countered. To which he nodded, accepting it.
Then I continued, turning to the Second Hokage:
"Edo Tensei and the Flying Raijin. I understand both techniques deeply, the second one especially. But I could use details that never made it into any scrolls... details you passed only to Hiruzen. That would significantly speed up my own work."
Glancing at Sarutobi, Tobirama nodded with his eternally sour expression. I was starting to think that was just his default face.
"And anything else you see fit to share. A retrospective of your era, so to speak: the mistakes and the achievements," I added. "So next time, nobody steps on the same rakes."
"You sure don't hold back," Tobirama remarked. "Your scheme sounds like the words of a madman. Or a genius. I'll be blunt: this world has always been in shit. I hope you're not the former and can actually sort this mess out. I'll go first..."
Several hours later, far from Konoha, Hiruzen and I watched as the resurrected Hokage shed their material forms, flaking apart into particles like tiny gray wooden leaves, and floated up into the sky, back to the Pure Land.
I waved at them, and Hashirama, grinning like a boy, repeated my gesture. Tobirama, arms folded with his usual scowl, first pointed two fingers at his own eyes, then at me, as if promising he'd be watching.
"Creepy guy," I gave an involuntary shudder, though I relaxed almost immediately. I seriously doubted he could watch me without me noticing.
When the resurrected had gotten far enough away, or so they thought, Tobirama turned to his brother and... started laying into him. Having gotten a feel for both their characters over this short time, and possessing very sharp hearing, I calmly listened as the Second expressed his displeasure that the First sometimes acted like a child. That he should have backed the harder line more, pressured this mystery upstart (me) more before handing over their knowledge, instead of being so damn friendly. To squeeze out maximum information! In case they'd made a mistake after all.
Hashirama replied that it was all fine. Because the kid was an Uzumaki, Hiruzen believed in him, and he himself was capable of not killing when it wasn't necessary, so there was probably nothing to worry about.
Listening to all of this with a stony, almost expressionless face, I waited until they finally crossed over into the Pure Land for good, then turned to Hiruzen.
"That was a solid political move, Hokage-sama."
"Probably." He shrugged. A tired softness and a shadow of nostalgia flickered through his eyes. "At the very least, it buys us time. As will the next step."
I sighed.
"Yeah..."
We both understood what we meant. We were talking about that wonderful yet not-exactly-pleasant thing called foreign policy.
To put it briefly: soon, the following facts would become known across all the villages. The Leaf had fought off a large number of treasonous Sand shinobi along with Sound forces and won a crushing victory. During the battle, the First and Second Hokage appeared and fought. The international criminal Orochimaru had deceived the Sand shinobi by impersonating the Kazekage, but still lost and was captured. Konoha had a jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails who had shown a level of power that even Orochimaru and the Edo Hokage had to reckon with, and who had neutralized the One-Tail. The latter's fate was officially unknown: probably gone to reincarnation, but in reality it stayed with me. That last part would eventually come out too.
All of this would mark the Leaf as a very strong village that nobody in their right mind would want to pick a fight with anytime soon. The Leaf had a monster like me, and, if things got desperate, could apparently pull out monsters like Hashirama and Tobirama at any time.
It was precisely so that foreign spies would keep guessing whether Konoha could actually summon the two Hokage again that we'd teleported the resurrected far from the village and only then sent them back to the Pure Land. Let them dig their noses into the ground now: where did the dead men go, and had we sealed them to bring out on the day some neighbor decided to attack.
The second move made me sad... though in its own way, it was also elegant.
We decided to hand the Sand shinobi captured during the attack back to the Village of Sand, as an act of mercy. From a position of strength, naturally. The message, which Hiruzen and I had already roughed out, went something like this:
We repelled your attack and held the village. We captured your fighters. We exposed your "Kazekage," who Orochimaru was using. We bent you over completely. But we won't go all the way. We're returning your people because we understand they were used in a dirty game. We don't want to turn this into a thousand-year blood feud. If you want peace, you have a chance. But remember: next time, there may be no such generosity.
"The Daimyo will whine... And the Fire Council will mutter in our ears," Hiruzen said reluctantly, thinking along the same lines. "It's always easier for them to demand compensation, executions, and blood."
"Remind them that this time we lost almost nothing. And it can't always go that way," I shrugged. "And that a generous act of goodwill right now costs far less than a new war. Especially for those who never set foot on the battlefield."
He gave a humorless hm. But agreed.
Of course, within Sand itself, certain radical individuals would be loudly screaming stupid things about "finishing off the Leaf." But their own people would have to explain to them that to "finish" someone off, you need something to finish them with. And as it turned out, they didn't have that. And since they were being given a chance to walk away, writing everything off as a deception by that nasty Orochimaru and calling it a "big misunderstanding," that's exactly what they should do.
In the long run, this would significantly push back any potential conflict between the Leaf and Sand. And it would lower the temperature of hatred: since we didn't kill anyone we didn't have to, there'd be fewer families with a personal grudge. This would also help me in the end, when I was ruling the world: the people under me wouldn't be quite so eager to slit each other's throats.
Sure, any conflict can be resolved through slaughter. But one shouldn't underestimate human stupidity and stubbornness: the "bloody" method of problem-solving can quickly become quite... expansive. And I'd prefer to keep as many people alive as the situation allows.
"There'll be noise inside Konoha too," Hiruzen noted. "The clans, families of those who were hurt... not everyone will like that we 'forgave' the enemy."
It sounded like the old man was complaining. That was roughly true, but mostly he was just talking problems through out loud so they'd feel lighter later.
"That's something you'll handle better than me, Hokage-sama," I replied. "Thanks to me, our losses were near zero, so our own radicals can be suppressed. But pass along that I have no intention of participating in a dumb massacre at anyone's whim. Then pull the casualty lists from the last war out of the archives... People love to scream for blood until you show them what their wishes actually cost."
At that, Hiruzen gave a satisfied hm and nodded that he'd do exactly that. This attitude of mine would be accepted, grudgingly. Especially coming from someone who was, in effect, in the same camp as the peace-minded Sarutobi.
And so, in the big picture, these two moves, keeping the possible return of the dead Hokage a secret and showing mercy to the Sand, plus the simple fact of my existence, made the start of a new World War practically impossible for the foreseeable future.
The Sand was now extremely unlikely to ally with anyone for war against the Leaf, hoping to "finish the job." They'd been decapitated and would be recovering for a long time. The new dynamic also wouldn't allow them to go there easily.
The Rock, still spooked by the father of the body I was born into, would be cautious, as would their leader, Onoki. That old man, as far as I knew, wasn't one for sharp changes. Faced with the threat from me and the mythical resurrected Hokage, he was unlikely to try anything big.
The Mist was in the middle of a civil war. They couldn't care less about the outside world right now.
The Cloud was a fairly bold neighbor by nature. But given the facts about me and the Hokage, picking a serious fight was wildly disadvantageous.
Granted, the Rock could theoretically attack the Sand, who were extremely vulnerable right now. But considering that the Leaf would once again have an alliance with the Sand, and considering their Kage's old age again, they'd probably think twice. Or maybe they wouldn't. Not everything in this world is perfect. Only I am.
I smirked at my own joke and teleported Hiruzen and myself back to Konoha. The old man had a ton of work ahead of him. Good thing he was the Hokage.
I headed off to my own business.
The fact that the Sand shinobi captured by the girls would be handed back was, admittedly, a little... unfortunate. But not critical. You can always catch more criminals. And besides... I still had the Sound ninja.
Now it was time to put the final touches on the picture of the Chunin Exams. The third item remained on my list, and one last serious threat remained in Konoha. It needed to be dealt with.
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