Chapter 30

MIKOTO UCHIHA

Mikoto Uchiha was alert, as she accessed every minute detail with her Sharingan as Iwa's jinchuriki stood up, her senses expanded, and as she felt the chakra of the man infront of her, she gulped down in nervousness as her mind raced to figure out a plan to secure the lives of the six genin behind her.

She had already lost her own three students to this wretched war. She was not going to have Ohashi's legacy end like this.

So, she took a deep breath and pushed chakra into her two fans as she gave them their orders.

"All of you listen to me. As I engage him in combat, I want all of you to head for the bridge and complete the mission, and after that…"

And she felt Roshi's chakra stir as the man looked into her eyes.

"I want all of you to escape, and no matter what happens, you are not to glance back at all. No matter what!" she ordered.

"But sensei!" came the voice of Asuma, and she looked back, her eyes blazing, and he shut up as he saw her.

"That is an order!" and that shut them up. She glanced toward Ohashi's brother, Kakashi, who was looking at her with a complicated expression, their eyes met, and she cast a simple genjutsu as she passed him a message.

"Send the signal to Minato and leave the kunai. Complete the mission and retreat. I will hold him back."

His eyes widened as he understood her message, and slowly reached for his back pocket.

"Surrender Uchiha, and I promise you, I shall grant you and your genin a quick and painless death," ventured the Iwa Jinchuriki as he let go of his chakra, literally flooding the whole area with suffocating pressure.

CRACK. CRACK.

The very ground began to crack from the sheer pressure, and she saw her six genin pale as the suffocating pressure nearly forced them all to their knees, and she closed her eyes as she let go her own chakra, and let it crush through the oppressive force and saw as the six genin huffed behind her as the severity of their situation finally dawned on them.

"GO!" she ordered, and she saw a few of them were about to protest but then Kakashi was quick to step up as he gave her a nod and had them all jump back, as Roshi's eyes narrowed towards them.

"Tch, it seems you have made your choice," and she saw him weave a set of handseals as he inhaled and took in a deep breath.

"Katon: Fireball jutsu," but she was quick to react, as she opened and pushed chakra into her two fans as she jumped up.

"Futon: Vacuum Wall," and a massive torrent of wind erupted as it disrupted his fire technique, as the six of them vanished into the forest, as she jumped and positioned herself between Roshi and her six underlings, eyes blazing as Roshi jumped down, and came to a halt as she completely let go her own chakra.

"I am afraid I cannot let you past me, Roshi of Iwagakure," she remarked as she fully opened her fans and took in a deep breath as she felt him raise a brow.

"So, you know who I am, Uchiha. And yet you choose to face me. I must commend you for your courage, Uchiha," said Roshi as he brought together his hands, and she felt him build up a massive amount of chakra.

"But I must end this," and with that, he brought down the hands as he shouted.

"Lava Style: Great Blazing Eruption!" and as soon as his hands touched the ground, the very ground beneath her feet shifted as the ground broke, and sizzling lava erupted, flooding the whole area.

She was forced to jump back, onto a tree branch, as the hem of her kimono got burned, as the temperature of the whole area became sickeningly hot. The Iwa nin was unaffected by the lava and simply ran on it, and jumped towards her, and she knew she couldn't jump away, for this would give him a straight line for the six genin.

So, she pushed Charka into her feet, as she grounded herself on the tree.

"Lava Style: Molten Palm Jutsu!" he shouted as she saw him coat his hand in molten lava, and she gritted her teeth as she pushed her own chakra into her two fans and brought them. Her eyes tracked his every minuscule movement. And just as his punch was about to hit her, she shifted slightly to the right, as she molded her chakra into eh fire nature.

"Fire Style: Fire Storm!" and a massive storm of fire erupted around her, and she felt her attack connect as the Iwa nin was thrown pack and crashed into the lava below.

BOOOM!

Dust and gases rose into the air as his back hit the ground, yet Mikoto could see through the dust.

"Impressive, yet your fire ninjutsu is useless against me, for I am Roshi, of the Lava style," and she felt herself still as she felt him summon a massive volume of chakra, yet this chakra wasn't just regular chakra. It felt more ancient, more sinister, just like what she would often feel from Kushina when she would get exceedingly angry. She watched as his hands transformed as a coat of red corrosive chakra began to coat him, and she knew that she had to stop him.

So, she looked into his eyes and pushed herself inside his mind palace, and found him still as the chakra that had begun to envelop him stilled, as she found herself staring at a massive beast. A monkey with red fur and horns glared at him. Its scream as it attacked her with one of its four gigantic tails was deafening. She used shunshin to dodge the attack and then kept on avoiding the rampage of the tailed beast before she jumped up and looked straight into the beast's eyes.

"Sleep!" she ordered as she saw her reflection in those giant orbs. The beast struggled, trying to break out of her genjutsu, yet she pushed all her chakra into her eyes and felt the bijuu slow down as she felt herself land on that tree once again.

"You! Those eyes!" the Iwa nin said through gritted teeth as he failed to complete his full transformation. The red ominous chakra around him had only reached the stage of two tails, as he glared at her.

Mikoto herself fell to her knees as she huffed for breath. She had underestimated the chakra cost to put genjutsu on an agitated bijuu. Her reserves were half gone now as she felt the Iwa nin gather chakra once more.

"No matter, this is enough to deal with you," he said as he weaved a set of handseals.

"Lave Style: Lava Mountain Eruptions!" and with that, the ground split up once again, and columns upon columns of lava rose in the air, drowning the whole area in somewhat of a lava rain.

She jumped back, and tried to dodge the droplets, as she jumped from tree to tree, branch from branch, yet he was not done with her, and appeared right below her.

"Fire Style: Fire Ball," and spewed a massive fireball at her, forcing her to push chakra into her fans, as she pushed chakra into her fans, as she landed horizontally on a tree.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Storm," and spun as the wind disrupted the fireball, and then she pushed herself off of the tree, pushing her chakra to her legs. Using the maximum control she pushed herself off the tree, in a straight line at Roshi.

She laced her fans with pure wind chakra, as she noticed his eyes widen, at the sheer speed of her approach.

"Eart Style: Mud Wall…" but he was too late, as she used her fans to cut through the hastily erected earthen wall, and aimed a slash at his neck.

CLANG!

She felt metal clashing against metal and glanced back as she landed on the ground, and saw the Iwa nin holding her neck as his face guard cracked and fell to the ground.

He glanced back at her as scarlet blood dripped down his hand, and she knew that this was her moment to strike, and flipped open her fans, laced them in wind-natured chakra once again, and spun them as she threw them at him.

"Ninpo: Fan Flower!" and she pulled on the chakra strings attached to her fans, and they separated into twenty parts each, and rushed towards the Iwa nin. The red chakra around him rippled, and her fang blades pierced through it and hit his body, and she felt as if she had a chance as she made a tiger seal.

"KATSUU!"

BOOOOOM!

The fang blades exploded, the whole ground shook from the force of the explosion, and she herself was pushed back as a thick cloud of dust and debris covered the whole area.

She fell on her knee as she finally felt pain ripple through her from the several burns marring her skin. Her Sharingan vanished as she huffed for breath, yet before she had begun to relax, she felt the atmosphere thicken with a sinister presence and glanced up, and her eyes widened at the sight in front of her.

"ARGH!" the beast infront of her screamed in rage, as the Iwa nin stood there on all fours like an animal, with two tails thrashing the ground behind him, his skin burnt by the corrosive bijuu chakra, his eyes replaced by two white slits, narrowed at her.

Yet the thing that had her stilled was the concentrated orb of chakra gathered right infront of its mouth, and she felt dread pool in her heart as she recognized it for what it was.

"AHHHHH!" and with a scream, the beast, screeched as it let go of the orb, aiming it straight at her.

The tailed beast bomb headed straight for her, and Mikoto Uchiha knew that she couldn't get away. Hence she closed her eyes as she pushed all her remaining chakra into her two orbs, she felt her eyes burn up, and blood began to drip down her face, as she resigned herself to use one of Uchiha clan's most destructive kinjutsu.

A technique that could only ever be obtained after an inconsolable loss. The kinjutsu she had obtained after hearing of Ohashi's death, and as she opened her eyes, her eyes blazed red once more, yet the pattern inside them was no longer one of simple three tomoe.

No, it was one of a three-covered flower.

"Susnaoo!"

0000

FUGAKU UCHIHA

The Uchiha patriarch walked with Senju Tsuande as both of them slowly walked down the tunnels hidden underneath the Hokage faces. The tunnels had seals placed on them such that they could only ever be accessed by the Hokage, and since the seals had been made by Lady Mito herself, they were essentially unbreakable.

The tension was palpable as they made their way to the catacombs, the place where the bodies of the Shodaime and Uchiha Madara were placed. A shinobi's body, dead or alive, could be a source of exploitation, and hence that was why villages took great care in retrieving the bodies of their bed, to stop an enemy village from uncovering their secrets.

The bodies of the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha were even more special, with both shinobi being literal gods among men. Their prowess was unrivaled to this day, and hence it had been decided to seal both their bodies to deter any other village from trying to steal their remains.

The body of the Nidaime was also sealed there, and they finally came to a halt infront of a small door.

Tsunade Senju closed her eyes and placed her hand on the door, and then suddenly, seals appeared over the door and began to glow, before vanishing. And then the door opened to reveal a small chamber.

The chamber was littered with seals, and though Fugaku was not a seal master, even he could feel that seals would rip apart anyone who would dare to enter the chamber without the key.

And the reason for all this caution was the three coffins placed in the center of the room. Seals covered the coffins as well. Two of the coffins had the Senju symbol inscribed into them, while the last had the Uchiha clan symbol inscribed into it.

The Fourth Hokage looked towards him, and he gave her a nod as she moved towards the last coffin, the one belonging to the only man said to rival Hashirama Senju, the man who had helped establish this very village.

The Hokage placed her palm on the coffin, and then closer eyes, the seals covering the coffin glowed before, and then they began to unravel. He walked to her side, as she opened her eyes, and pushed the stone slab covering the coffin.

"No!" she gasped out as they saw the inside of the coffin.

The coffin was empty.

And this just gave rise to a lot more questions!

"How could this be?" Lady Tsunade gasped out, and Fugaku pushed chakra into his eyes and felt them clear up as he looked over the coffin with his Mangekyo Sharingan.

Due to the isolated nature of the chamber, the chakra remnants were still there, and he frowned as he leaned down and looked over the coffin once more, his eyes looking for anything remotely hinting towards how Madara Uchiha had pulled this off.

"Grandfather was sure he felt his heart stop! He himself buried him here after their fight, how could this happen?" Lady Tsunade questioned as sweat dripped down her face, and as his mind raced a single explanation came to his mind.

A kinjutsu so powerful that it could cheat death itself, a jutsu that could only ever be used by a shinobi who had gained complete mastery over their Sharingan.

"There is only one jutsu, that can explain this," Fugaku began and saw the Fourth Hokage's head snap towards him.

"You know how he pulled this off, how he cheated death?" she questioned and he shook his head.

"No, but after examining all the facts I can theorize how he could do this, though before I answer you must understand one thing Lady Tsunade," Fugaku began as he looked towards the Fourth Hokage.

"The information that I am about to reveal to you pertains to my clan's highest-guarded secrets. Secrets that are only ever known to a Uchiha clan head, even the elders in my clan have no knowledge about the technique I am about to share with you. And so, you shall carry what I tell you with yourself to the grave, and shall never mention it to anyone else, even your teammate, Lord Jiraiya, or your sensei, the Lord Third," Fugaku warned the Senju clan leader who narrowed her eyes, yet nodded.

"I understand," she replied in a grave tone, and Fugaku closed his eyes as he took the name of the technique that could have allowed Madara Uchiha to fake his death.

"It is a technique, a forbidden doujutsu, one so strong that to cast it, one must sacrifice their sight in one eye, a technique that could allow the user to alter the very reality of the world," he began as he opened his eyes.

"It's called Izanagi!"

0000

KAKASHI HATAKE

As the six of them rushed towards the nearest village outpost after planting the explosive seals on the bridge, the atmosphere was essentially chilling.

Even now, Kakashi could sense the ominous chakra, and he could still feel his hand tremble from the sentient chakra that had been possessed by the Iwa.

BOOOM!

Their whole unit came to a halt as a loud explosion rocked the whole forest, and as he glanced back, his heart sank at the sight behind him. A whole portion of the forest had been blown off, with the explosion being strong enough to cause a literal storm.

He paled as he felt Mikoto-sama's chakra falter, as a thick wave of that sentient chakra made them all falter for a second.

"What the hell was that?" Asuma Sarutobi gasped, as he looked towards him and Kureani which much like him had paled as she barely whispered the words.

"Mikoto sensei."

"The explosion happened at the place where Miktoto-sensei was facing that Iwa nin, we have to go and see what has happened," Asuma Sarutobi spoke up.

"Yes, we have already completed our mission we have to go and get her," Obito added from the side as well.

"No," Kakashi cut in.

"She gave us our orders. We cannot go back to disobey her," he added.

"She also sensei's kunai with her. We must believe that eh will respond to the signal," Kakashi added.

"Minato sensei is facing a whole Iwa platoon. What if he fails to respond in time, we cannot just abandon her. Plus, it's just a single shinobi," added Obito, and Kakashi sighed as he explained.

"That is not just a single shinobi Obito. That man in one of Iwagakure's strongest shinobi, Roshi of the Lava style, the jinchuriki of the Four tails," Kakashi added and saw everyone pale as they realized just who exactly the Uchiha matriarch was facing.

"Then, that's more reason to help her. We, move in and rescue her, avoiding a confrontation with the Iwa nin. Kurenai, can you sense her chakra? How is she?" Asuma added as he looked towards his teammate, who was pale as a sheet.

"Her chakra has been depleted to severe levels. We have to do something," she said as everyone looked towards him. He was the one leading the mission. Kakashi gritted his teeth as he thought about what to do.

"We will…" but before he could finish, he halted as his senses picked up another chakra signature approaching them at a blazing fast pace This ninja's pace was nearly as fast as Minato sensei, and Kakashi perked up as he took out his tanto, and turned to face the incoming signature.

Yet despite his best efforts, this ominous chakra signature ran blurred past them, completely ignoring them as it headed straight towards the location of Mikoto Uchiha.

"What was that?" Obito questioned as they saw this foreign shinobi blur past them, and his eyes remained fixated on his grey hair. Sweat dripped down Kakashi's forehead as his mind reeled and found the smell of this shinobi similar to a shinobi that had no place being alive.

"Follow me," he said as the five of them nodded as they rushed towards the battle site again, while Kakashi chewed on his thumb and cycled through a set of hand seals.

"Summoning Jutsu!" he shouted, and then a small red pup appeared with a puff of smoke.

"Pakkun! Carry this to the nearest Konoha post! Have them send reinforcements," he added as he threw a scroll toward his ever-loyal summon.

"Got it, boss!" and with that, Pakkun turned away from them and rushed towards the Konoha base, and Kakashi watched the silhouette of this new shinobi vanish from his site as he blurred away.

0000

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A/N: Ohashi is back in the latest chapter on Patreon.